Author Archives: jackpelham

“Not Yours to Give” by David Crocket

Posted on November 11, 2012 by jackpelham

NOTE:  The following piece is in the public domain, so I host it here without hesitation as one of the most poignant and powerful witnesses against the injustice of providing charity (whether personal or corporate) from the public treasury.  WARNING: … Continue reading →

Posted in Character, Politics | 2 Comments

Advantages of the Paleo Diet

Posted on November 11, 2012 by jackpelham

Our family has been working on switching to the Paleo diet this past year.  We’ve had our struggles doing it—issues such as travel and living far from suitable markets, as well as more embarrassing items such as the occasional lack … Continue reading →

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New Definition of “Liberalism”

Posted on November 9, 2012 by jackpelham

I don’t normally like to get into discussions about “conservatism” or “liberalism” because not only do I find those words troublingly undefined, but I find those who use them to be far too cavalier for my taste—bantering about without really … Continue reading →

Posted in Character, Politics | 3 Comments

Where Have All the Inventors Gone?

Posted on November 9, 2012 by jackpelham

NOTE: The following thoughts were posted in response to someone at DailyPaul.com asking the question posed by the title of this page. To your question, where have all the inventors gone?, I have no statistics to offer, and I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Politics | Leave a comment

Entitlement is Unnatural

Posted on November 8, 2012 by jackpelham

If we were to observe nature at work, and if we were willing to anthropomorphize the cosmos, as if it had human qualities, what might we say that the cosmos “owes” to new humans who are born into it? For … Continue reading →

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On the Quarrelling in the Ron Paul / Liberty Movement

Posted on November 4, 2012 by jackpelham

What follows is an essay I posted in response to a participant’s complaint at DailyPaul.com.  The complaint was about quarreling amongst Liberty Movement people.

Posted in Character, Politics, Ron Paul | Leave a comment

The Irony of Solving Puzzles About Which Hardly Anyone Cares

Posted on November 3, 2012 by jackpelham

“Eureka!  I’ve got it!” “Ah, so that’s the answer!” “Holy Cow!  We’ve been wrong all along!” “OK, I think I’ve finally got it figured out.” These kinds of moments are fairly common in my house.  Between Kay’s studies and my … Continue reading →

Posted in Ambitions, Character | Leave a comment

On the Foolishness of Single-Issue Voting

Posted on October 28, 2012 by jackpelham

I have long been a critic of LO2ERS, which is my preferred shorthand for Lesser-Of-2–Evils voteRS. My primary concern is that they typically congratulate themselves after having “held their noses” and picked the candidate they consider to be the “lesser … Continue reading →

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Observation on the Fitted Sheet

Posted on October 28, 2012 by jackpelham

I observe that a properly-folded fitted should should approximate the shape of a basketball.

Posted in Humor | Leave a comment

Pelham’s Law of Cognitive Error

Posted on October 14, 2012 by jackpelham

Pelham’s Law of Cognitive Error:  “I am most likely wrong about many things.” Cognitive science has solidly identified certain traits of human behavior by which people operate habitually at a sub-optimal level.  We make frequent cognitive errors, some of which … Continue reading →

Posted in Character, Pelham's Laws, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Science | Leave a comment