Author Archives: jackpelham

Why (and for whom) Our Economy Works

Posted on December 3, 2011 by jackpelham

Contrary to popular opinion, it’s fairly simple to understand our national economy. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you that our “economy” is built for the benefit of those who profit every time money changes hands.  Therefore, their priority … Continue reading →

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Why Magic Works

Posted on December 3, 2011 by jackpelham

In what now seems like a former lifetime, I once dabbled in both stage and table magic.  I learned the standards:  card tricks, vanishes, and so forth.  I also designed a few tricks of my own, with appreciable success. While … Continue reading →

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The Painless Recovery

Posted on December 3, 2011 by jackpelham

It is interesting to witness The United States in its present gyrations over the need for economic reform.  It seems that things have gotten bad enough that most of us now believe that something ought to change.  Frankly, however, that’s … Continue reading →

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Striving to Understand Facebook Behavior

Posted on November 11, 2011 by jackpelham

I’m not talking in this post about how Facebook continually changes its rules and its format.  Nor am I talking about how they do dirty tricks like sending you friend requests that they made up themselves, or how they post … Continue reading →

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Tragic Trust

Posted on November 6, 2011 by jackpelham

NOTE:  I suppose this topic is worthy of an entire book, but I shall attempt to address it here only briefly. As I continue to observe the way things go here on Planet Earth, I keep noticing a troubling habit … Continue reading →

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Happy Mindlessness Day! (Halloween)

Posted on October 31, 2011 by jackpelham

Mindless people are generally always mindless, I suppose, but no day is as perfect as Halloween for the direct observation of that mindlessness.  Let me count the ways.

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Now write that down!

Posted on September 14, 2011 by jackpelham

My mom told me this joke a few years back and it seemed like a keeper to me. An aging couple were having problems with their short-term memory.  In the course of time, they decided they’d ask the family doctor … Continue reading →

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Shipwrecked

Posted on September 14, 2011 by jackpelham

This is one of my favorite stories, told as best I can recall it.  I’m sorry I don’t know to whom it should be attributed. A man had been shipwrecked on a deserted island for several years when a rescue … Continue reading →

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The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto

Posted on September 12, 2011 by jackpelham

One book that has been very influential for Kay and me these past few years is: The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation Into The Problem Of Modern Schooling by John Taylor Gatto.

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Is There An Ought?

Posted on September 12, 2011 by jackpelham

This is perhaps one of the most fundamental philosophical questions.  Addressing this question brings us to a philosophical fork in the road, and how we answer will likely have fairly major consequences for our lives. Is there an ought?  Is … Continue reading →

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