Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Aug 22 2023
PolSpeak For The Masses
If you’ve been a regular Gentle Reader of Liberty’s Torch for any length of time, you’re surely aware of two things about my crap: It’s long, wordy, and circuitous; There’s a lot of it. Well, that’s your humble Curmudgeon. I’ve had that sort of writing style all my life, though I struggle against …
Aug 21 2023
Reinhold Niebuhr Was A Cockeyed Optimist
Why are you here, Gentle Reader? I don’t ask that question in the metaphysical sense that demands a discussion of theistic cosmogony and the alternatives to it, but rather in the immediate and supremely practical sense. Why are you here, at Liberty’s Torch? What has brought you here, and – should you decide to …
Aug 20 2023
An Unmet Need
These days, I am perpetually weary. I know I’m not alone in that. A great many Americans feel more beleaguered than they’ll openly admit. We’re supposed to be the “Can Do” nation, ready for anything and fully prepared to cope with the worst. (“We walk around with hardons and guns blazing all the time.” …
Aug 19 2023
Right, Wrong, Or Socially Unjust?
In analyzing the phrase “social justice,” we see how prefixing the word justice with any modifier inverts its meaning. It turns something easily understood – inherently unambiguous, in fact – into something for noisy groups to argue and negotiate. But then, attempts to redefine “justice” to accommodate some trendy Cause are as old as …
Aug 19 2023
News Tokenism
Tokenism usually refers to the inclusion of a member of some group perceived as “victimized” or “a dispreferred minority.” But there are varieties of tokenism that are unconcerned with such things. Tokenism in the news media can mean grudgingly mentioning something unfavorable to the Left. Here’s an example from CNN: TAPPER: Yes. And …
Aug 19 2023
Attitude Adjuster
You say your country’s been stolen from you? That the man in the big chair is a vegetable, his administration is filled with lunatics, and his son is a degenerate? That the “woke” military you pay a trillion a year for couldn’t beat Equatorial Guinea? That your throat is hoarse from hollering, your ballot …
Aug 18 2023
What Is Seen And What Is Not Seen
If memory serves, Frederic Bastiat was first to use that phrase. He employed it in a discussion of what’s usually called the “broken window fallacy,” an important example of how choosing not to look at some of the consequences of an event or a decision can fatally warp one’s perception of economic reality. Henry …
Aug 17 2023
Scattered Thoughts, Late Morning Edition
I allowed myself to sleep a little later than usual this morning, so my spleen and bile levels are a bit depressed: ergo, I have insufficient agita for a “traditional” tirade. However, I have a couple of tidbits for general amusement. *** 1. The War On Catholics Continues. The FBI classifying us as …
Aug 16 2023
Sexual Disjunctions
Sarah Dawn Moore, with whose oeuvre I’m largely unfamiliar, has posited five major reasons for the trend of “men going their own way:” Marriage: An Unattractive Proposition for Men Men are questioning the value of traditional marriage, given the increasing divorce rates and financial risks they face. With no guarantee of stability and …
Aug 16 2023
Dead Giveaways Dept.
Consider this tweet: OMG a Black Person did a totally normal thing anyone with proper training can do!!! This post got nearly 150,000 likes too by the way. Why does society treat black folks like this? https://t.co/DMiUdUTlgm — TheQuartering (@TheQuartering) August 15, 2023 …in the light of this revelation: And contemplate this …
Aug 15 2023
Window Of Credibility
“Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.” – Attributed to Hassan-I Sabbah, founder of the Hashshashin When contradictions, deceits, and miscellaneous frauds have multiplied past a certain point, the very existence of truth is called into question. This has a curious, anti-intuitive consequence: propositions previously on the borderline of credibility become much more credible. …
Aug 14 2023
Monday Morning Coming Down
Brenda Ann Spencer, eat your heart out. *** 1. Impassioned But Misguided. Or perhaps arrantly idiotic: We are not calling for massive new entitlements nor are we repeating the Bush follies of subsidizing mortgages for people who can’t afford a home. We simply accept that big government is here to stay—at least …
Aug 14 2023
Your Morning Stupidity
Just a little something to kickstart your day. However, some of it has a point, an edge, or both, so watch your fingers. *** 1. The Anchor Men On The IQ Curve. From Divemedic, we have this: …which – of course! – reminded me of this: Yes, Gentle Reader: there really …
Aug 13 2023
Schisms
I was minded to take the day off, but I started thinking about St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans: Brothers and sisters: I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing me witness that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my …
Aug 11 2023
Alternatives
Utopia is not one of the options. — David Bergland This is likely to be a ramble, but it addresses one of the most important of all axioms in…well, in life, so I hope my Gentle Readers will bear with me for a few hundred words. Every human being engages in a …
Aug 10 2023
Are We Awake Yet?
Until they [the proles] become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious. — George Orwell New York writer James Howard Kunstler has an impressive piece up today whose title – “Normies Awake!” – somewhat belies its actual content. That’s not a criticism, mind you; I …
Aug 09 2023
Don’t Give Up On Life
Pascal just forwarded this: A father took a gun into hospital to stop doctors taking his son off life support – and during the three-hour stand-off the young man squeezed his hand. The sign that he wasn’t brain dead meant he was kept alive – and he is now recovering and doing …
Aug 09 2023
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Apparently they’re not all stupid: Money – “free” money from a supposed benefactor – is more addictive than heroin. Washington has used money addiction to subjugate the fifty states and a number of small countries. If the people of Niger are aware of the danger that comes with “free” money, they’re more aware …
Aug 09 2023
Laugh, Cry, Or What?
I’m an admirer of Paul Joseph Watson. He’s done many excellent, entertaining-while-informing videos on various aspects of our milieu. Moreover, now and then he touches on something that would otherwise escape the notice of someone like me (i.e., an old fart who sits at a computer whenever he’s not laboring over his house and …
Aug 08 2023
What Remains To Be Seen?
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. – Originator unknown Have you ever heard someone use the phrase “That remains to be seen” to dismiss an argument someone else was making? If you’re above-average eloquent, perhaps you’ve used it yourself. It’s a polite way of doing an impolite thing, much the same …
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