Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Jan 27 2022
Just In Case I’ve Never Mentioned This Before…
…there is a novel – a remarkably brave and optimistic novel – that addresses the possibility of an America without government. It’s clear-eyed; it allows that there would be some difficulties and some dangers. It also allows that such a project would probably have a limited lifetime. But it is among the most cheerful …
Jan 27 2022
Something That Desperately Needed To Be Said
Today – indeed, for some years now – any attempt to argue with someone on the political Left has been met with vituperation and accusations of evil motives. “Racist!” “Sexist!” “Xenophobe!” and so forth have become the Left’s standard responses to any sort of disagreement. These pejoratives have lost some of their ability to …
Jan 27 2022
What You Don’t Know You Know (Or Pretend That You Don’t)
Most Gentle Readers probably remember Donald Rumsfeld, when he was the Secretary of Defense in the Busy the Younger Administration, talking about “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns:” gaps in our knowledge that we’re aware of, and others that we’re not. Rumsfeld’s comments were important not only at that time and for those circumstances, but …
Jan 26 2022
Bullies, 2022 Edition
During today’s early-morning news sweep, my eye caught on three stories in particular: Antifa Wins At Dartmouth OSHA Drops Vaccine Mandate Savor the Democrats’ Humiliation All three are relevant to the subject given by the title of this piece. The first is an example of how bullies prevail when not opposed by forces …
Jan 25 2022
Self-Defense (UPDATED)
I have to run off virtually at once, so I hope my Gentle Readers will be satisfied with a short piece today. Not that “short” should be taken to mean unimportant. Indeed, the short stuff is often more important than the long rambling rants. Writer and “professional tinkerer” Alexander Rose, author of Pay …
Jan 24 2022
WTF Department
Sometimes, there are no words: Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Mimi Cave’s “Fresh” is a movie about cannibalism. Yes, cannibalism, the eating of people. Yes, Disney. It’s not a parody or a satire like “Get Out.” It’s a straight up horror film about a charming doctor, played by Sebastian Stan, who seduces …
Jan 24 2022
There Have Been Days…
…when an image I encountered by chance has infiltrated my thought processes and refused to budge. Those Gentle Readers who remember this short story will know how that can affect me. Well, today, courtesy of Knuckledraggin’ My Life Away, we have another such image: …and it has compelled me to recycle an …
Jan 23 2022
Status Report
“The world’s in a bad way, my man, And bound to be worse before it mends; Better lie up in the mountain here Four or five centuries, While the stars go over the lonely ocean,” The old father of wild pigs, Plowing the fallow on Mal Paso Mountain. — Robinson Jeffers — Say, are …
Jan 22 2022
Day Off
The week was a strenuous one for us at the Fortress, and I need to attend to a few domestic matters at once, so I’ll be taking the day off from Liberty’s Torch. Expect to see fresh rantings tomorrow. Until then, be well.
Jan 21 2022
But No More Mean Tweets!
How’d you like to have the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics back, along with the Warsaw Pact? Russia wants Nato to remove all of its forces from Bulgaria, Romania and other ex-communist states in eastern Europe that joined the alliance after 1997, the foreign ministry said on Friday, underlining Moscow’s hardline position …
Jan 21 2022
Something Else To Not-Care About
My most recent novel, The Discovery Phase, is now available in paperback at Amazon.
Jan 21 2022
On Not Caring
There are innumerable Causes in circulation these days. You could probably name a dozen off the top of your head, so I feel no need to do so for you. The Cause plague started well before I was born, propelled by early American “progressives” and Communists. The Causes of those early years usually featured …
Jan 20 2022
Conversations
Ours is a “mixed” household: One (1) Catholic husband (me); One (1) agnostic-Jewish wife (Beth, a.k.a. the C. S. O.); Three dogs (Sophie, Precious, and Joy); Four cats (Uriel, Fluffy, Chloe, and Zoe). (The cats sacrifice to Bastet. I have no idea whom the dogs worship. Possibly Dick Van Patten.) The consequences …
Jan 19 2022
Chronicles Of Anarcho-Tyranny, Continued
I seldom regret canceling the TV service. It helps that Tucker Carlson’s show is usually available on YouTube the next day: Carlson calls it “the collapse of civilization – in real-time.” And indeed, there is no better description for it. Pace Milton Friedman, economists may not know much, but they know this: …
Jan 19 2022
Trial Balloon Warning
It’s almost a pity people have stopped watching CNN. That makes it far too easy for the network to slip something like this past us: London (CNN Business) – People are paying a lot more for food, gas, cars and services, and inflation isn’t over yet as the pandemic continues to distort the …
Jan 19 2022
Inflammation Of The Ego
At one time, I held, albeit inarticulately, that the largest egos in the known universe were possessed by celebrities: entertainers, sports figures, and others who are “famous for being famous.” However, in recent years new evidence has emerged that suggests that it’s really politicians who hold first place: With President Joe Biden rounding …
Jan 18 2022
Revolutions Without Bloodshed Part 2
We possess unfortunate inclinations, embedded in our psyches by hundreds of years of habituation, toward leaving the most important of all things to the State: Police services; Community safety; Education of the young. It isn’t just Americans who possess such inclinations. They’re uniform across the First World. As “natural” as they may seem, …
Jan 17 2022
A Little…Afternoon Music?
I have a great fondness for the folk artists of the Sixties, particularly for the ones who started out with nothing but a guitar and a folder full of song lyrics. Most faded away and were forgotten. A couple of them became famous. A handful failed to reach Dylan’s heights but retained a following. …
Jan 17 2022
Revolutions Without Bloodshed Part 1
They’re rare. The State that finds its hegemony threatened almost always responds with violence. Violence, after all, is the State’s stock in trade. It’s the characteristic method of rulers to use force and violence to work their wills upon us. In the majority of cases, they could get their way in no other …
Jan 16 2022
Do You Pray?
Not a lot of people pray these days. To my sorrow, that includes many self-nominated Christians of every denomination, including mine. I understand some of the reasons. Our lives have never before been as cluttered as they are today. The world around us presents us with a multitude of distractions, some seemingly so imperative …
Fran’s Recent Novels
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