Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. And, also, Jobs.

Last updated on: August 9, 2011 at 3:50 pm By Fred Clark

Joe Gagnon points out that the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve have plenty of tools available to boost hiring and generate growth — tools that could not be held hostage by the Teaocrats in the House of Representatives: Many actions that would be helpful — extension and enlargement of the payroll tax cut, extension of unemployment benefits, extension of aid to the states, and a substantial and accelerated infrastructure program — require Congressional approval. I have no insights as... Read more

A bit of housekeeping

Last updated on: August 9, 2011 at 11:44 am By Fred Clark

You may have noticed I’ve started indexing the Left Behind posts in their new home here at Patheos. That should make it easier for anyone wanting to start at the beginning and read through them in order. (It should also make it easier to adapt those posts into some sort of e-book or some such, which may be in the works.) I should be finishing that index this week in convenient 50-post chunks, each of which will be linked in... Read more

'Aristocrats were always anarchists'

Last updated on: June 24, 2012 at 3:54 pm By Fred Clark

It’s been three years since I last quoted this, from G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare. So it’s about time I quoted it again. “You’ve got that eternal idiotic idea that if anarchy came it would come from the poor. Why should it? The poor have been rebels, but they have never been anarchists; they have more interest than anyone else in there being some decent government. The poor man really has a stake in the country.... Read more

Left Behind Index II: Posts 51-100

Last updated on: August 9, 2011 at 2:03 am By Fred Clark

51. Nice people finish last | Aug. 17, 2004; pp. 59-66 52. Get in Line | Dec. 20, 2004; pg. 68 53. Unmotivated Close-up | Dec. 22, 2004; pp. 68-71 54. Cursed are the peacemakers | Dec. 23, 2004; pp. 68-71 55. Nero’s fiddle | April 1, 2005; pp. 71-73 56. Ars poetica | April 8, 2005; pp. 66-68, 73-76 57. 10 pages in the men’s room | April 15, 2005; pg. 77 58. Buck & Jules | April 15,... Read more

On the road to Weehawken

Last updated on: June 24, 2012 at 3:55 pm By Fred Clark

Or consider the role and duty of a ferry boat captain. Her job is to pilot a ferry boat from Point A to Point B and back again according to schedule while ensuring the safety of her passengers. That is her primary responsibility. It’s what she was hired to do and what she is paid to do. That duty and responsibility means that she must not stray from her assigned route. Any such deviation will put her ferry and its... Read more

Subsidiarity and Saddleback

Last updated on: June 24, 2012 at 3:54 pm By Fred Clark

My frustration was showing a couple of weeks ago in a post titled: “Responsibility is differentiated, mutual and complementary, not exclusive, binary and competitive.” That post consisted almost entirely of the sentence “Responsibility is differentiated, mutual and complementary; responsibility is not exclusive, binary and competitive,” repeated 10 times with each repetition linking to a different longer and deeper discussion of subsidiarity, “sphere sovereignty” or some other framework explaining and exploring the nature of moral responsibility as unavoidably differentiated, mutual and... Read more

Job Seekers Open Thread, Aug. 8

Last updated on: June 24, 2012 at 3:52 pm By Fred Clark

. Job seekers: Let us know where you are and what you’re looking for. Everybody: Skim through and see if you know something, or know someone, or know someone who knows someone, who might help out one of our job seekers. Read more

Left Behind Index I: Posts 1-50

Last updated on: August 7, 2011 at 9:05 pm By Fred Clark

Bossypants and The Og Story

Last updated on: August 7, 2011 at 3:42 pm By Fred Clark

So last week my wife and I wound up stuck in a room — well, in a series of rooms — with no way to leave and just one book between us. The obvious solution to this dilemma was to have one of us read aloud to the other. The book we happened to have was Tina Fey’s Bossypants. It’s wickedly funny, sharp-eyed and engaging. You know that right-wing slur about “humorless feminists”? Some of the funniest parts of Bossypants... Read more

Sunday favorites

Last updated on: June 24, 2012 at 3:46 pm By Fred Clark

Ecclesiastes 7:16-17 Do not be too righteous, and do not act too wise; why should you destroy yourself? Do not be too wicked, and do not be a fool; why should you die before your time? Read more