Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Jun 30 2023
The Totalitarians And The State Of Fear
My acquaintance with the works of the late Michael Crichton isn’t deep. However, I have read what many consider to be his best novel, State of Fear, and was greatly impressed by his insight into the desires and methods of contemporary power-seekers. A fearful populace, that shrinks from terrors real and imagined, is …
Jun 29 2023
Some Music For A Summer Afternoon
Have an old favorite from a group that far too many dismissed as “pretentious” and “unoriginal:”
Jun 29 2023
They Call It Anarchy, But It’s Actually Hell
Heard the name of Gonzalo Lira lately? If you have, it’s probably because the Zelensky regime in Ukraine has thrown him into prison him for writing stuff Zelensky doesn’t like. But at one time, Lira was better known for this essay, which embeds this critical observation: When the backbone of a country starts …
Jun 28 2023
Assertions Are Not Evidence
I have a grueling day before me, so I must dash off a quickie and bid my Gentle Readers a good day. However, we do have a newsworthy story before us. Concerning the death of accused teen-sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Justice Department Inspector-general Michael Horowitz has issued a “report.” It does nothing to …
Jun 27 2023
Music As Prayer
“He who sings prays twice.” – Catholic maxim I was in the middle of the Rosary when I was seized by a powerful desire to hear this piece: Jennifer Warnes’s rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Song of Bernadette:” (Yes, I finished five decades before succumbing.)
Jun 27 2023
The Great Retreat
What follows will be rather lengthy, I fear. So if you have other obligations that mustn’t be postponed for too long, please see to them before embroiling yourself in this piece. Among other things, it will embed quite a lot of citations from other, better known writers. As I know this displeases some readers, …
Jun 26 2023
Some Thoughts On Technology
Even though I was once an engineer, I’m something of a dinosaur when it comes to acquiring and using new gadgets. I’m not a Luddite, but I’m far from a “first adopter.” My experiences as a user of relatively new technology have been decidedly mixed. Most people are unaware of the full range …
Jun 26 2023
Critics Circle…And Pounce
Despite my general disdain for the professional critic [“Those who criticize the most are the ones who create nothing.” – Helmut Schoeck] I must admit to a soft spot for acerbic reviewers with a creative flair for the English language. The following, taken from this review of a Guns ‘n’ Roses performance, tickled me …
Jun 25 2023
An Early-Sunday-Morning Thought
A huge portion of the popular reaction against “public” schools arises from clashes over values: i.e., moral and ethical principles for living that undergird all other decisions. All education of any kind must be founded upon some set of values, because literally everything involved in human life is founded thus. It’s literally impossible to …
Jun 24 2023
Mask Droppings
(Alternately, “Leftist Droppings”) This article is highly informative: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and a group of 14 other attorneys general penned a letter to Target CEO Brian Cornell this week expressing concern about the store’s removal of some of its Pride products. Target lit a media firestorm last month when …
Jun 23 2023
Digressions
It strikes me that today, after the fulminations of the previous few days, it’s time for something a bit less…well, less like the past few days! So this will be a ramble of sorts, and as divorced from the most recent national news as I can make it. *** Among the things I …
Jun 22 2023
Too Brilliant Not To Steal: Banana Republic Bingo!
I just filched this from WRSA: I’d enjoy a game. Trouble is, all the boxes are filled already. 😢
Jun 22 2023
On Pulling Triggers
These statements by baseball great Curt Schilling have just come to my attention: “We’re up against a side and a force that doesn’t play by the rules – refuses to play by the rules,” he said, adding of conservatives: “We get excited, and we get emotional; that’s it. They break the law; they …
Jun 22 2023
Powerful Or Powerless?
Anyone who follows the storms of political commentary will be aware that the Left is angry that the Supreme Court of the United States is currently moderately conservative. (I make it roughly 5.33 conservatives to 3.67 left-liberals, as Chief Justice John Roberts has proved that he cannot be trusted.) This morning, John Hinderaker comments …
Jun 22 2023
The Hunter Biden Saga
Yes, it’s been going on for quite a while now. Many are asking whether it’s genuinely important or one of the Establishment’s diversions. I’m no longer sure. But of this I am certain: developments are telling us in the plainest possible manner that the American ideal of classlessness has been overthrown. There is now …
Jun 21 2023
They Will Not Let Us Be
Every day brings fresh proof: Violence broke out again in Glendale, CA, after Antifa showed up to a school board meeting at which parents were protesting the school’s promotion of “pride month” and gender ideology. Videos showed police on the scene in riot gear as well as temporary barriers being set up. …
Jun 21 2023
Once More…
…The Big Based Book Sale is underway! A large number of ebooks of all kinds, written from a pro-freedom, pro-reality perspective, are available for $0.99 or absolutely free, and are guaranteed to remain so through June 27. (Yes, my crap is in there again.) If your reading stack is getting short, surf on over …
Jun 21 2023
Frontiers In Doublespeak
If you’ve never visited the Baseline Essays collection, I exhort you to spend a couple of minutes there perusing what’s on offer. Yes, it’s all old blather from one of the wordiest people ever to infest the Web. Still, some of those pieces are actually…ahem…interesting. My focus today is on the wildly popular Dictionary …
Jun 20 2023
The Explosion Of Criminality
I know of two ways to create a crime wave: Outlaw many ordinary actions and undertakings; Refrain from prosecuting and punishing crimes already on the books. Can anyone suggest a third? Today, John Hinderaker comments on the crime explosion in Minnesota, with emphasis on a specific recent event: Derrick Thompson was …
Jun 19 2023
They’ve Discarded All Pretense
Donald Trump is today the most popular political figure in the United States, and one of the most popular this century past. The Usurpers are aware that unless they put him behind bars, come November next year he’ll wipe the floor with whoever they nominate. So they’re denying him a fair trial: Joe …
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