Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Sep 06 2023
The Bioethics Scam
As one who loves words and delights in their proper use, it offends me when words used to express important concepts are twisted away from their public meaning to serve a political agenda. For example, we’ve seen the word justice brutalized by the addition of one modifier after another, none of which have any …
Sep 05 2023
Day Off
I have a great many things to attend to this fine day, so it’s unlikely there’ll be anything from me until tomorrow. However, before I depart I must commend to you this tirade from Kurt Schlichter. Kurt foresees a great turning of the worm, in which he might be correct. He feels duty-bound to …
Sep 04 2023
Worthy As Few Are Worthy
Does anyone here remember the old “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s” rye bread commercials? They had a good point. Similarly, you don’t have to be Catholic to love Anthony Esolen. Dr. Esolen’s most recent column is a clarion call. While he reminds us to “expect no help” in our …
Sep 04 2023
There Are Days The Satires Write Themselves
They seem to be particularly rife on Mondays. Consider this bit of nonsense: Anti-chippers are the latest group of awful people we now have to worry about They’re paranoid, don’t believe in science, many have white supremacist tendencies, and most importantly they want you to know that microchip implants are super duper …
Sep 03 2023
Self-Denial And All That
Today’s Gospel reading includes one of the most disturbing, even ominous, of all Jesus’s statements: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” This passage resonates with particular power in the aftermath of viewing Nefarious. For in that remarkable movie, the demon made its …
Sep 03 2023
Skip The Talking-Head Shows
This is all you need to see or hear: Applause to Hans G. Schantz for unearthing this gem.
Sep 03 2023
The Drones Of Labor Day: An Unpacking
This tidbit should be inspiring more questions than it is at present: The New York Police Department will dispatch drones to monitor backyard parties and private social gatherings over Labor Day weekend in response to any complaints. However, some are saying that drone surveillance by police would be an invasion of privacy. …
Sep 02 2023
Percentages And Concentrations
There have been several posts by other bloggers that address what happens to a society when Muslims reach various percentages of the population. History confirms the dangers such accumulations of Muslims present to a previously free and peaceful society. Moreover, Muslims’ reproduction rate far exceeds that of Western non-Muslim whites, which puts time on …
Sep 01 2023
Conversations, Unfunny Category
There are a number of news and opinion sites that put a paywall between the reader and “premium content.” It’s their perfect right, of course; how could one who sells his fiction claim otherwise? Among those sites are several I’d like to patronize, both because I deem the site worthy of reader support and …
Sep 01 2023
The Vilest Slanders
He who dares to tell the exact truth about some popular fraud will always be reviled: as a hysteric, a liar, a troublemaker, perhaps as a fraudster himself. The reason is simple: people prefer comforting lies to upsetting truths. They don’t want their illusions shattered. They will cling to those illusions even as the …
Sep 01 2023
Money And The Processes At Work
Bustednuckles deposeth and sayeth: One of the things that is amazing to me is the gamble the people in charge of the money supply system are taking. They are deliberately killing the dollar as they have run it as far as it will go before it becomes completely worthless, while thinking that they …
Aug 31 2023
Actualizing Their Fear
In the usual case, making them fear us takes a show of defiance and a demonstration that you mean to stand your ground. Bureaucrats hate that; it means they’ll be forced to deal with you…and they cannot know in advance what kind of forces you command. The power of stubborn defiance has recently been …
Aug 31 2023
Symptoms Of The Disease
Man, proud man, drest in a little brief authority, most ignorant of what he’s most assur’d, glassy essence, like an angry ape, plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, as make the angels weep. – Shakespeare, Measure for Measure Experience constantly proves that every man who has power is impelled to abuse it. …
Aug 30 2023
Once In A Great While…
…the true battleground of our time is made plain. Consider the following snatch of dialogue from a recent, brilliant movie: “Do you believe I’m evil, James?” “Evil isn’t a clinical diagnosis….good and evil are societal constructs, effectively subjective value statements.” “I think I love you.” Ponder that for a moment. …
Aug 30 2023
A Must-Watch
Tucker Carlson has distinguished himself as one of the bravest media figures of our time. Perhaps in times past he was inhibited against speaking his mind by the attitudes and dictates of his employers at FOX news. No longer. The two-minute video below is an example of what he’s willing to say now: …
Aug 30 2023
The Need For Clarity, Part 1
As attached as I am to it, I must nevertheless allow that Curmudgeonry is not enough. There must be clarity. We must say what we mean distinctly, openly, and fearlessly. I try to be as clear as possible…but others devote their efforts to muddying the waters, and it’s unclear which way the battle is …
Aug 29 2023
Upsetting, Terrifying, And Vital
You can approach a movie many ways. Directors view it as a kind of statement. Cinematographers and set designers view it as a kind of visual art. Actors view it as a demonstration of their skills. And producers – mustn’t forget them! – view it as a kind of muscle-flexing: “See what I can …
Aug 28 2023
The Entertainer’s Narrow Path
“Pictures were made to entertain; if you want to send a message, call Western Union.” – Samuel Goldwyn Yesterday’s brief piece about film director Peter Weir evoked quite a bit of comment and email. Our Gentle Readers largely concurred with my sentiments. I expected that, as our readers tend to be older than …
Aug 27 2023
Massive Concurrence
Every now and then, an artist in some medium will come along to remind us about what really matters. Today, AoSHQ co-blogger “The James Madison” highlights one such artist: Listening to [Australian film director Peter] Weir in interviews, I find it hard not to really like the guy. He’s soft-spoken, unassuming, and very …
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