Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Nov 17 2024
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up Dept.
If you occasionally find yourself thinking, of some government official, “He’s nuttier than a fruitcake,” have a bite of this: is actually seeking treatment for her phobia of bananas, and government staff has to sweep rooms before official visits on ‘health grounds.’ The Telegraph reported: “Paulina Brandberg, the Swedish minister for …
Nov 17 2024
The State Of Fear
“The State is based on threat.” [Illuminatus!] A great many people believe that government is there to “protect and serve.” After all, doesn’t it say that on the sides of the police cars? But the messaging on a package need not conform to its contents. In this case, the message is diametrically opposed …
Nov 17 2024
The Morning’s Prayer
An Act of Hope: O my God, relying on thine almighty power and infinite mercy, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the gift of thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer. Amen.
Nov 16 2024
The Republican Circular Firing Squad Has Assembled
Some of its members have distinguished histories: Once highly respected, former South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy has proven to be an abject disappointment, particularly when it comes to spewing asinine rhetoric as a Fox News contributor against President Trump and his allies. […] Gowdy said he liked most of Trump’s picks …
Nov 16 2024
I Can’t Stop Laughing…
…and you won’t either, if you watch to the end: Wait for it, surprise ending.pic.twitter.com/Yd9i0rlDXr — Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) November 15, 2024 Shamelessly stolen from my hero David De Gerolamo.
Nov 16 2024
What’s Done Cannot Be Undone
An action once taken is embedded indelibly in history. Regardless of its magnitude and direction, it cannot be undone. It happened, full stop. Even if it’s redressed somehow afterward, it will always have happened, and people will remember it. Words cannot be unsaid. A minor actress who’s too full of herself has learned …
Nov 16 2024
You Can Feel The Hatred From Here
So! Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who recently changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, has been selected to be Director of National Intelligence, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t like it: New York Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Tulsi Gabbard for the position of director of national intelligence, …
Nov 16 2024
The Morning’s Prayer
[I plan to make this a regular feature. We have enough gloom and doom; we could use some uplift. Besides, this is how I start my day at 4:30 AM. What better way is there? – FWP] An Act Of Faith: O my God, I firmly believe that thou art one God in …
Nov 15 2024
Quote Of The Day
Today, the palm goes to Stephen Kruiser: The Democrats struggle with things like reality and the truth. Say it loud, Steve. It provides the explanation for why they can’t understand that their policies are unpopular and destructive. In conjunction with their assumption of moral and intellectual superiority, it also explains why they …
Nov 15 2024
The “Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion” Pox
The Fortress “cut the cord” a few years ago. As of today, neither the C.S.O. nor I misses what we forsook. We’ve mostly watched Amazon Prime, Acorn, and BritBox when we’ve wanted visual entertainment. But lately the DEI plague has made inroads there as well. Among my disappointments with the fare the above …
Nov 15 2024
The Small Of Soul Are Many And Vicious
According to Christian theology, humans are a race unto ourselves. We can’t become angels or demons; those creatures are of a prior order of Creation. Yet when I look upon the behavior of some of our kindred, I can’t help thinking “she would make a ‘good’ demon.” In his novel of black magic …
Nov 14 2024
It’s Time For Music!
Let’s see, what haven’t we heard any of lately? Perhaps a little prog-metal: That’s The Gleam of Sword and Spear, the first track from Wyzards’ album The Final Catastrophe.
Nov 14 2024
How Long Has It Been Since Your Last Hyperbola?
Here’s one, just in case you’ve forgotten: All right, it’s a little glitchy. However, it illustrates a critical relationship: the one between the size of the money supply and the value of the dollar. What’s that you say? The chart doesn’t graph those things? Ah, but it does! The size of the …
Nov 14 2024
I Don’t Care Whether She’s Got ANY Degrees
Melania Knauss Trump is head and shoulders above “Dr.” Jill Biden: “After receiving the horrific news of the tragedy in Pennsylvania, Jill Biden took the initiative to contact me directly. I do not know, however, if her concern was genuine, since, just days before, she had called my husband “evil” and a “liar.” …
Nov 14 2024
When They Speak Dismissively…
…it’s even money or better that they’re actually terrified: U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., described President-elect Trump’s choice of Rep. Matt Gaetz to serve as his next attorney general as a “God tier kind of trolling.” […] “It’s just kind of like a God tier kind of trolling just to trigger …
Nov 13 2024
Signposts To A Cultural Restoration?
“Politics is downstream from culture.” – Andrew Breitbart Pastor and writer Paul Anleitner thinks he sees a few: I don’t study politics, but I do study culture, and here are some of the signs that a cultural shift has been brewing for years in America that most of the professional political analysts just …
Nov 13 2024
The Unholy Grail
According to the Wall Street Journal: WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump picked Tesla CEO Elon Musk and biotech company founder Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, to lead an effort to cut spending, eliminate regulations and restructure federal agencies. Trump said in a statement Tuesday night that Ramaswamy and Musk—the wealthiest person in …
Nov 12 2024
Unanswered Questions Dept.
Nasty habits usually come with their own punishments. My nasty habit is talking about money. Not how to make oodles of it; that’s an arcane art. At any rate, I haven’t mastered it. No, I talk about the nature of money, and why it’s no longer with us. I shan’t repeat the litany …
Nov 11 2024
The Scapegoat Tarantella
Like I tell my boys at the J.O.B.: if’n ya fuck up, OWN IT. Shit’s gonna suck for a bit, but the respect you gain by owning up to it will balance in the end. (so long as no one died, right?) I’ve seen time and time again since I started paying attention to …
Nov 11 2024
For Armistice Day
“Weapons of mass destruction” go back further than 1945. Even in World War I, there were flamethrowers… and gas. Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. …
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