Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Dec 10 2021
Intentionally Untitled
“When it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and acts like a duck, I call it a duck. Call it a bunch of roses. It still quacks.” – Robert A. Heinlein, Glory Road Some pieces need no titles. Others can’t abide them. As for the quote above, hang in there. …
Dec 09 2021
Monopolies And What They Want
I’ve got news for you, Gentle Reader: You are a monopoly. Surprised? It’s true, though: You are the one and only source for goods and services made by you. Because of the 13th Amendment, you have absolute control over the source of those goods and services. Assuming you’re not incarcerated for a felony …
Dec 08 2021
The Speculations Of Unbelievers
Many persons who lack faith claim to be disturbed by those of us who have it. In some cases, this is because the unbeliever fails to understand the nature of a religious faith. In others, the unbeliever misunderstands or misconstrues an important characteristic of religious faith: inasmuch as it is unprovable by its nature, …
Dec 07 2021
Separations
(No, not “reparations.” Spelling matters at Liberty’s Torch. We’re carful about it. We proofread very carfully, both for spelling and to make sure we don’t any words out.) These days it seems like every noisy group in America wants “our own space.” That means different things to different people, of course, but the …
Dec 06 2021
Running Scared Edition
…or “running hard trying to scare you, Mr. and Mrs. America.” These days, the principal ammunition of the Left is fear. They fire barrages of it at virtually everything in sight. We’re repeatedly and stridently told to fear: Racists; Pro-lifers; Fossil fuels; Sincere Christians; Large white families; White identity defenders; Guns (especially if …
Dec 06 2021
Stylings
One of my perennial quandaries, which rises afresh every time I complete a novel, is expressed in a simple question: “What is style?” Perhaps even more tellingly, I could ask: “Where is style?” How does it manifest itself in a story? I’ve batted this around with other writers, other avid readers, and my Newfoundlands …
Dec 05 2021
Images Of Perfection
Good morning, Gentle Reader. Yes, I “took yesterday off.” After a fashion, anyway. I spent it finishing the first draft of my novel-under-construction, which is now in the hands of my test readers. And with that elephant off my back, I feel years…well, maybe a month or two younger. So I’m back at my …
Dec 03 2021
Well, Well! What Do We Have Here?
I’ve been having a lot of “What’s the use?” days lately. For the reasons, start with the Glenn Beck video below, add a few issues of a personal character, and stir briskly. And then, every so often someone adds an olive: Augustin Garcia, 63, was arrested thrice last week for stealing a 12-pack …
Dec 02 2021
This Man Speaks For Me
I’ve admired Glenn Beck ever since his days on “Headline News.” After viewing the video below, I admire him even more. I’ll bet, after you’ve watched it, you’ll say he speaks for you too: Does he?
Dec 02 2021
The Price Of Admission
Most “exclusive” groups have a membership test: a specific course of action the applicant must fulfill to qualify for admission. Often, within such a group there exists an inner circle with even more demanding requirements for entry. In each case, the advantages that accrue to the member will be proportional to the severity of …
Dec 01 2021
Timing Is Everything
We’ve had enough politics and current events for now. Let’s talk fiction. If you undertake to write suspense or thriller fiction, you will come to grips with the problem of timing: in your staging of the conflicts, in your characterizations of the antagonists, and above all in the selection and narration of events …
Nov 30 2021
Club Membership Uber Alles!
If you have any memory of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee a few years back, you might remember this: To me, the most important snippet of Senator Graham’s tirade is when he points to the Democrats on the committee and says “These have been my friends.” It’s a massively …
Nov 29 2021
The Will To Disbelieve
The one thing of which there is no shortage in these United States is wishful thinking. It’s more pandemic than the WuFlu and orders of magnitude more destructive. Sadly, some of that wishful thinking is on the Right. The rioting and organized theft in the larger cities has revealed an ugly truth. Many …
Nov 28 2021
Peering Over The Horizon
(With observations from an assortment of Freds.) First, a helpful graphic: Next, an observation from a Fred: “A country deserves what it tolerates, and will assuredly get more of it.” – Fred Reed The point appears to have eluded about half the country. We’re being impoverished, overrun, and generally abused …
Nov 27 2021
Perverse Lessons
I wasn’t going to post anything today, as I’m driving toward the end of the novel-under-construction and wanted to reserve the day for that. However, a YouTube video that most would deem quite harmless caught my attention: A sweet story, eh? Yes, it’s nice that the clerk was ultimately rewarded for his kindness. …
Nov 26 2021
Doing The Old Thing
Caught you scratching your head over the title, did I? No doubt you’re wondering what the “old thing” is. Well, skipping all the subtleties to jump right to the entirely justified conclusion, it is I. Your humble commentator. As I am feeling benevolent (which is seldom the case in these latter days) and pleasantly …
Nov 25 2021
A Double-Edged Gift
[This piece first appeared at The Palace of Reason on November 27, 2003 — FWP] *** Thanksgiving Day, alternately known here at the Fortress of Crankitude as the Feast of St. Gluttony, has finally arrived. Across America, three- and four-person families will open their doors to company, prepare quantities of food sufficient to …
Nov 24 2021
The Information Crisis
Yesterday’s piece seems to have rubbed a few raw nerves even rawer. I meant every word of it, so those who took umbrage at it for whatever reason can kiss my red-white-and-blue ass. That goes for the anti-Semites, the “flyovers” who think the disease is confined to the coasts, the militant atheists who can’t …
Nov 23 2021
A Walking Corpse
This piece will be rather brutal, I fear. I have some ugly ground to cover, and it’s not easily compressed into a thousand exquisitely appropriate and entirely non-vulgar words. Someone once posited that the way to structure an exposition is to lead off by telling your audience what you will tell them. You …
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