Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Dec 14 2012
The New Lunatics
[The following two pieces first appeared at the old Palace Of Reason, on September 8, 2003 and February 26, 2004, respectively. — FWP] Come on, guys and dolls. It’s all getting to be a bit much. Is it only a Curmudgeon Emeritus’s privilege to note — and comment on — lunacies parading naked-faced in the …
Dec 04 2012
Blood Simple
Yes, things change: “Similar Cases” There was once a little animal, No bigger than a fox, And on five toes he scampered Over Tertiary rocks. They called him Eohippus, And they called him very small, And they thought him of no value – When they thought of him at all; For the lumpish old Dinoceras …
Nov 29 2012
Principles And Politics
A couple of days ago, Democrat pollster Pat Caddell, who has become a fairly frequent guest on various Fox News programs, decided to offer Republicans and conservatives his advice on how to get things turned around: As Breitbart.com readers know, I have been extremely critical of the current Democratic Party, which I see as having …
Nov 19 2012
The New Segregationists
[In recognition of this incredible story, and of Mark Steyn’s unflinching penetration of America’s ongoing suicide-through-uncontrolled-immigration, I present the following two pieces, which were first posted at Eternity Road on April 22, 2007 and April 24, 2007, respectively. — FWP] Fran here. This is an angry column on an ugly subject. If you have any …
Oct 24 2012
“We The People,” Who?
[The following essay was first posted at Eternity Road on June 19, 2007. In light of the furious debates over current immigration-reform proposals, it struck me as pertinent for a repost — FWP] In mid-2004, there was born a Website which proposed to hold an international plebiscite on the upcoming American elections. The thesis was …
Sep 28 2012
Dark Gods Part 2: The War On Truth
[This essay is a companion to the previous “Dark Gods” piece. It originally appeared at Eternity Road on January 23, 2006. — FWP] I often come to the end of a typical Eternity Road essay thinking that there’s more to say on the subject, but that I’ve already tried my audience’s patience to the limit. …
Sep 25 2012
Damage
[This essay first appeared at the old Palace Of Reason, on August 13, 2004. I chose to reprint it today in light of the unusual degree of attention Mark Butterworth’s post A Distasteful Subject has been getting. As usual when sexual mores and conduct are the topics, I expect disagreement – but given the facts, …
Sep 17 2012
Dark Gods
[This essay originally appeared at Eternity Road on January 4, 2006. Given the chaos of the moment, and the overwhelming significance of the election almost upon us, I felt it appropriate to repost it here.] Fran here. In pondering the huge list of things I had in mind for this piece, which started life as …
Aug 26 2012
Shamans
[The following essay first appeared at Eternity Road on September 29, 2006. Inasmuch as the Left’s principal remaining weapon in the current campaign is their attempt to cause the Right to self-censor with charges of “racism” and such, it feels quite relevant to the moment. Decide for yourself, as always.] Fran here. Those who know …
Aug 22 2012
“The Good Ship NEWF”
[This essay first appeared at Eternity Road, on July 1, 2006. I claim that one cannot have a defensible position on either abortion or cloning until he has satisfactorily answered the questions here.] Who are you? I mean, really? And how do you know? That phrase “identity theft:” what does it mean? Is the thief …
Aug 20 2012
A Cabal Of Its Enemies
[The following essay was first posted at the Palace Of Reason on September 2, 2003. I consider it a useful adjunct to the ongoing series on the nature and behavior of systems of all kinds.] Robert Conquest’s Three Laws of Politics: Everyone is conservative about what he knows best. Any organization not explicitly right-wing sooner …
Aug 16 2012
Disparates
[This essay first appeared at the old Palace Of Reason, on December 17, 2003. Inasmuch as the Democrats have recently been promulgating the notion that the Republicans are conducting a “war on women,” with specific reference to abortion and birth control, it strikes me as especially pertinent today.] In response to this Curmudgeonly tirade, reader …
Aug 09 2012
The Desiccated Remains
[This essay first appeared at Eternity Road, on January 23, 2009. It strikes me as extremely pertinent to the machinations of the Left today.] *** The list of well known writers on liberty includes some names that don’t belong there, such as John Stuart Mill, and omits some names that should appear at its head, …
Jul 09 2012
Giantism
(The following first appeared at the old Palace of Reason, in 1997.) Part One: The Comedians. Is Bigness to be distrusted? Well, yes, but not because of any difference of motives between the people who staff and run big organizations and the people who staff and run small ones. It’s more a combination of two …
Jun 29 2012
Egos The Size Of Cathedrals
Perhaps, given yesterday’s events, I should stay away from politics for awhile. At any rate, today’s topic is non-political. *** “These people, it’s no mystery where they come from. You sharpen the human appetite to the point where it can split atoms with its desire. You build egos the size of cathedrals. Fiber-optically connect the …
Jun 22 2012
The Stupid-Or-Evil Trilogy
Once in a great while, someone who’s emitted as much political blather as I will find that something he wrote long ago has become pertinent once again. We confront exactly that phenomenon today. Under which flimsy rationale I hereby present, as they first appeared at the old Palace Of Reason: The Stupid-Or-Evil Trilogy 1. Stupid …
Jun 17 2012
The Helix
[Inasmuch as I just recently had a most striking reminder of the power of prayer, it seems appropriate that I reprise the following article, which first appeared at Eternity Road on April 2, 2006.] C. S. Lewis has proposed that the human tastes for constancy and novelty are best conjoined — that they are intended …
Jun 10 2012
The Food Chain
We who believe often speak of the need to “grow in faith.” I’ve never been certain exactly what that means. But as time has passed, my own faith has become ever more important to me: not as a comfort against the certainty of bodily death, and not as some sort of confirmation of my own …
May 23 2012
King Cash
There are mornings when every columnist must feel he faces an embarrassment of riches. For me, this is one such. Telling of his recent sailing vacation around the coasts of Italy, Michael Ledeen reports thus: The spring weather has been unusually unpleasant, which no doubt accounts for at least part of the problem, but this …
May 19 2012
The Naked Face Of The Enemy
I’ve considered long and hard. I’ve agonized. I’ve cast about for alternatives until all the skin has worn off my fingers. I’ve repeatedly refused to accept the implications of what my senses repeatedly told me. I simply can’t do it any longer. The evidence is overwhelming. America is currently in a state of civil war, …
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