Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Feb 02 2023
If You’re Interested In Contemporary Irrationality
…you’ve simply got to check out this ultra-bizarre site. IQfy.com bills itself as “non-partisan.” Decide for yourself. To me it appears to be the product of certifiable Leftists – “certifiable” in both senses. It’s possible that its masters are using it to parody extreme Leftism, but its tone suggests that the writers are …
Jan 31 2023
Paywalls: A Demurrer
I’ve been asked by several Gentle Readers why there’s no way to create a regular monthly or yearly “paid subscription” to Liberty’s Torch. I received another such inquiry a few minutes ago. It’s simple: My opinions are mine alone and freely dispensed, so that’s what I charge for them. The Blogosphere started as a …
Jan 31 2023
“Give Me A Ho! Give Me A Hum!”
It’s time to exercise our arithmetic skills: A group of two dozen Senate Republicans have signed a letter vowing to oppose any increase in the nation’s debt limit unless Congress agrees to spending cuts to help pay down the national debt. “We, the undersigned members of the Senate Republican Conference, write to …
Jan 31 2023
Feminist Tactics
Beware, Gentle Reader. There’s one set of rules for men, and another for women: A Google executive claims he was booted by the tech giant for rejecting a high-ranking female colleague’s grabby advances at a posh company dinner. Ryan Olohan, 48, accuses Google of firing him after one its top executives, Tiffany …
Jan 31 2023
As Long As The Subject Is Abortion
There has been some good news: Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck on Monday was found NOT GUILTY on both counts of federal charges. Mark Houck was charged with two counts of violating the federal FACE Act for shoving a pro-abortion volunteer who threatened his son outside of Planned Parenthood in Philadelphia in …
Jan 31 2023
One In The Eye For The Feminists
If you’re a “feminist,” it would logically follow that you favor the protection of women, wouldn’t it? If so, the information in this article “should” upset you: 100 Percent Fed Up reports – Did you know that between 1970 and 2017, there were 45 million “missing” female births due to prenatal sex selection? …
Jan 31 2023
A Badly Crafted Yet Revealing Article
Here’s the first sentence: After previously advertising they would wear LGBTQ+-themed warmup jerseys and use rainbow tape for their seventh annual Pride Night, New York Rangers players reversed course. Who did the “advertising?” Was it the players, or someone from the non-playing front office? The article continues to be nonspecific to …
Jan 29 2023
None So Blind Dept.
It’s amazing the contortions some people will twist themselves into to avoid acknowledging an unpleasant fact. The fact, of course, is the measurable, race-correlated differences between blacks and the other races as regards aggression and lawlessness. Charles Murray went to considerable difficulty to pin it down factually and firmly, without recourse to anecdotes. The …
Jan 29 2023
This Writer Has An Uncanny Foresight
I’ve mentioned Mackey Chandler’s April series more than once here. I liked it enough that I’m now reading his other works. Just now I’m enjoying his 2011 novel Paper or Plastic, an unusual first contact story in several ways. A moment ago I encountered this passage, in which a very human alien is explaining …
Jan 29 2023
The Most Obscure Beatitude
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:3 Have you ever pondered the first of the Beatitudes, Gentle Reader? Were you uncertain about what it might mean? Perhaps, given that the Sermon on the Mount is deemed an indispensable roadmap to living a Christian life, …
Jan 28 2023
The Ugliest Front In The Race Wars
Full disclosure: I’m married. I’m not going anywhere except to the grave. Hopefully, neither is my wife. So you wouldn’t think the subject of racial preferences in dating would be of intense personal interest to me. However, as it happens, I have some relevant experience with interracial dating: all of it bad. It’s …
Jan 28 2023
Conditional Hypotheticals
“Say, what if there were no hypothetical questions?” – Originator unknown I found this at Ace’s place: I can’t speak to whether the figures cited are accurate. However, the suggestion that persons of below-average intelligence would have trouble understanding such propositions seems like that most uncommon of all things, “common sense.” Moreover, …
Jan 28 2023
It’s Plain And Open Now…
By now you’ve heard about the Project Veritas capture of a Director of Pfizer, Jordon Walker, talking about how his employer might perform a “directed evolution of the COVID-19 virus so it can devise new vaccines for the variants. Here’s the video: Here’s James O’Keefe himself to tell you why YouTube is suppressing …
Jan 28 2023
One Of My Heroes Is No Longer With Us
Gerard Vanderleun:December 26, 1945 – January 27, 2023 For many years, Gerard set the Web standard for graceful and evocative writing. Whether in poetry or in prose, and regardless of the subject, his pieces consistently demonstrated what I call “The poet’s gift:” The right words in the right order. One who loves this language …
Jan 27 2023
Why I Am Not A Republican
Republican Party partisans and assorted functionaries have on several occasions striven to persuade me that I “belong” in the Republican Party. I countered that I belong elsewhere – specifically, in that void where no party goes – but my interlocutors seldom take me seriously. A nice person on Gab has developed a graphical …
Jan 27 2023
More Likely Than Not?
One of the enduring characteristics of the Leftist is that he refuses to accept the responsibility for anything that goes wrong. This is utterly evident in matters of public policy, but it’s also visible as regards personal decisions. Two graphics – one intended as black humor; the other a fake headline – illustrate the …
Jan 27 2023
“Shoulds”
Among the utterly invaluable bits of life advice I’ve received from older and wiser heads – no, not recently — several stand out as gems of wisdom that deserve to be immortalized: “Get a shot off fast.” “Don’t sit with your back to the door in a public place.” “Don’t go ‘round breakin’ young …
Jan 27 2023
Qualifications For The Federal Bench
…don’t include intimate familiarity with the Supreme Law of the Land: Q: “Judge, tell me what article V of the Constitution does?” Biden judicial nominee: “Article V is not coming to mind at the moment.” “How about article II?” Nominee: “Neither is Article II” pic.twitter.com/MvdLR3TDKZ — Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) January 26, 2023 …
Jan 27 2023
The Good Old Days Dept.
Being old, my memories contain a great deal that pertains to “those halcyon days of yore:” i.e., when I was young, dumb, and full of…well, never mind. Just a minute ago I ran across an image that brought many such memories flooding back: (Courtesy of Bustednuckles.) The engine is sweet-looking, but that …
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