Ron Paul: Failing to Make the Argument Against War

Posted on December 17, 2011 by jackpelham

In Fox News’ Wednesday night Republican presidential debate, candidate Ron Paul got into a notable spat with candidate Michele Bachmann over the issue of Iran’s ostensible race to achieve nuclear weaponry and to attack Israel and the United States with it.  Paul, whom I do not trust because of his continued affiliation with a patently corrupt political party (both major parties are patently and incorrigibly corrupt), squandered an excellent opportunity to make some points that America desperately needs to hear, and launched instead into a barely-comprehensible rant that is now being used by pundits everywhere as the look-no-further reason to dismiss Paul’s campaign as hopeless. Continue reading →

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Why Exaggeration is Lying

Posted on December 8, 2011 by jackpelham

NOTE:  Congratulations!  The article you are about to read is one of the most popular articles on this entire site, getting visits from all over the world.  It is also one of the most popular articles on the Internet for this topic.  You are searching one of life’s most important questions of morality, and your decision on how to answer this question about lying can have a huge effect on the rest of your life, as well as on those around you.  Thanks for exploring such an important topic!  Feel free to drop me a line when you’re done and let me know what you think!  Jack

Many people would readily opine that to exaggerate is not the same as to lie.  To them, the difference is assumed to be quite obvious.  Ask them to define that difference, however, and it becomes immediately apparent that no rational definition can be found.  And when no rational defense can be made for a paradigm, it’s time to drop it! Continue reading →

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Sour Milk

Posted on December 7, 2011 by jackpelham

I watched one morning as a college roommate of mine shuffled sleepily into the kitchen.  He poured a cup of coffee and reached into the refrigerator for the milk jug.  He removed the cap and took the obligatory sniff, at which he reflexively scrunched his face and moved the sour jug to arm’s length.  I then watched in amazement as he replaced the lid and put the milk back into the refrigerator.

From my seat across the room, I asked him, “Do you think that milk will be better tomorrow?” Continue reading →

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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 is simply to keep the machine running. As long as money is changing hands, profits are being earned….even in a “poor economy”, such as the one we are currently suffering. 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 I was no superstar, generally, it seems that my act worked pretty well.  So here’s what I learned about why magic works.  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 not so big a deal, since Americans are generally complaining about something or other.  What’s particularly interesting, though, is to keep an eye on whether we’re actually moving closer to doing something. 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 your email address and birthday for the world to see, even when you didn’t request any of that.  For that matter, I’m not even 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 shared by millions and millions of people:  They seem eager to put their trust in people and things that they have not vetted for themselves.  Perhaps the best way to explain what I’m getting at here is simply to give some examples.  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. Continue reading →

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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 about it to see if he had any way to treat it.

“Well, there’s nothing I can prescribe for memory loss, Continue reading →

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