Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
May 02 2022
A Time For Candor
There is no longer any politics in our political contests. There is only slander. As pleased as I was to see Andrew Cuomo resign the governorship of New York, the accusations that elicited his departure depressed me rather badly. Cuomo, for all that I dislike him as a man and a public official, …
May 01 2022
Need To Know
No, this won’t be about federal security regulations. And I know a father Who had a son He longed to tell him all the reasons For the things he’d done. He came a long way Just to explain, He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping Then he turned around and headed home again. …
Apr 30 2022
Fetishes And Fears
Regard well: That’s a crucifix pendant. It’s a large one as such things go, because it’s meant to be worn outside the clothes. I don it when I leave the house. Does anyone else out there wear a crucifix pendant? Or a Miraculous Medal? Perhaps one of those cute “bracelet rosaries” that …
Apr 30 2022
Stolen From Bookworm
Simply this: It says a lot, doesn’t it? And for the cherry on top, those illustrious names are all white males. No wonder the activist identity groups are up in arms about them. White men invented the modern world. The lunatics raving about “cultural appropriation” would prefer that you not notice that. …
Apr 29 2022
The “I Can’t Even” Edition
Do you have “I can’t even” days? Given my commitment to staying in touch with developments so I can blather about them here, I have a lot of them. Usually I keep them to myself, but today I…can’t even. To the strong of stomach: Feel free to read on. To others: Perhaps it’s …
Apr 29 2022
No Law Abridging!
[The following essay first appeared at the Palace of Reason on December 12, 2003. In light of the Usurper Regime’s new Disinformation Governance agency Ministry of Truth, it feels appropriate to repost it at this time. – FWP] *** Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free …
Apr 28 2022
Bombardment
I’ve been told, by Gerard Van der Leun among others, that the image displayed in this recent piece is a hoax or a put-on. That may be so; I’m unable to trace the image’s true provenance. However, I’ve also been told that the image did appear on Facebook, and did persist there, for a …
Apr 27 2022
Perhaps Nothing Could Have Prevented It…
…but whatever the case, actual government censorship has arrived: The Department of Homeland Security is setting up a new board designed to counter misinformation related to homeland security, with a focus specifically on Russia and irregular migration. The board will be called the “Disinformation Governance Board, and will be headed by executive director …
Apr 27 2022
Abridgements
“Anyone who is angered by the prospect of American citizens expressing their opinions is a Stalinist and should be feared.” – Tucker Carlson The above is yet one more bit of evidence that Tucker Carlson is the most trustworthy voice in broadcast and cablecast journalism. Carlson knows whereof he speaks, for he himself …
Apr 26 2022
Another Episode In The Polarization Chronicles
Yes, yes: Twitter’s board of directors has approved the sale of the company to Elon Musk and his partners. Though it wasn’t exactly foreordained, it was much more likely than not that a sale would occur at some price. Otherwise the Twitter board would have had to defend the decision to deny its stockholders …
Apr 26 2022
A Quick Morning Giggle
Not long ago, I stumbled over the following bit of cartoon genius: ‘Fess up, now: isn’t that just too plausible to dismiss out of hand? I mean, one of my cats sits atop my router several hours per day. And the trucks and the boxes keep arriving. More than coincidence? But just …
Apr 25 2022
Because Today My Years Are Weighing Heavily Upon Me
I hit the big Seven-Oh recently, and it’s had me…remembering: Stood there boldly Sweatin’ in the sun Felt like a million Felt like number one The height of summer I’d never felt that strong Like a rock I was 18 Didn’t have a care Working for peanuts Not a dime to spare But I …
Apr 25 2022
Rejecting The Evidence…(UPDATED)
…doesn’t make it dissolve into the mists and float away. We’ve had a rather substantial amount of evidence to the effect that organized pedophilia is rampant among the higher-ups in government, entertainment, and the media. Jeffrey Epstein was incarcerated for suspicion of it, and died while awaiting trial. Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of …
Apr 24 2022
The Touch-Off
It doesn’t take much to get the Left shrieking as if it were being castrated without anesthesia. But you may be sure that the screams and howls will erupt at maximum volume whenever any executive or legislator dares to “infringe” upon their “academic freedom.” Consider this spate of lunacies from Randi Weingarten of …
Apr 23 2022
Sorry!
Apologies, Gentle Reader. I’ve been fighting a rearguard action against the destroyers of my lawn until just a few minutes ago. (See here for further commentary on this vital suburban chore.) At this point I’m wiped out, so no essay today. Tomorrow…if I recover by then from being bent double for six hours.
Apr 22 2022
The Educracy’s Pincers Are Closing
Only the day before yesterday, I wrote: The escalation in the cost of living, which includes rapidly rising levels of taxation, is making it ever more difficult for families with minor children to forgo public schooling. Just to maintain a decent suburban standard of living practically requires two incomes. There are exceptions; certain …
Apr 22 2022
Perhaps It’s To Be Expected
Persons who develop high expertise in a specialty purely hate to see that specialty abused. That’s certainly the case with me. During my wage-earning years (I refuse to call them my “working years;” I work more and harder today than I ever did when I was getting paid for it), I became an expert …
Apr 21 2022
Some American Music
Yes, I’m old. Yes, my tastes are “fossilized,” even “petrified.” But I know what I like – and I claim I have good reasons to prefer it to the modern crap, even if I decline to discuss them. Accordingly, have a terrific tune from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s classic album Uncle Charlie …
Apr 21 2022
From The “No Comment Required” Files
If this isn’t a mask-drop, what could possibly qualify? Former Obama era intelligence officials, those who helped construct, organize and assemble the public-private partnership between intelligence data networks and supported social media companies, have written a letter to congress warning that any effort to break up Big Tech (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google, Microsoft, …
Apr 21 2022
A Comment On Contemporary Journalism
Some Gentle Readers might have seen this joke in an “earlier edition.” *** One fine day a young mother brought her toddler to the zoo. It wasn’t for educational purposes; she merely wanted her daughter’s attention on the animals so she could chat with her friends on her cellphone for most of the …
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