Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
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, …
May 02 2012
Tension And Habitat
Part 1: Racial Tensions In recent weeks, talk of an impending race war has become commonplace — far more so than one would expect from the people of a deliberately multiracial, multi-ethnic nation. Moreover, in light of the multiple nationwide attacks on innocent Caucasians by Negroes (including gangs and impromptu bands of Negroes), it cannot …
Apr 19 2012
Pragmatics
Pragmatics Some time ago, when embroiled in a quarrelsome encounter, I challenged my adversary in a fashion he found troubling. “Define Milwaukee,” I said. “Huh? Why?” he replied. “To prove to me that you know both how to do it and why to do it.” At first he rejected it as absurd, but I persisted, …
Apr 15 2012
Heroes
Yesterday afternoon, Beth and I indulged our taste for action movies and went to see Lockout, Guy Pearce’s near-future star vehicle about a breakout on an orbital prison. Yes, we enjoyed it quite a bit, though perhaps for different reasons. Pearce’s character Snow is the archetype of the American hero of yesteryear: masculine, cool, fearless, …
Nov 14 2011
The Three Systems of Man
Some years ago, a DEC software engineer by the name of Mike Gancarz wrote an intriguing little book called “The UNIX Philosophy.” In it, he propounded his conception of the Three Systems of Man. The First system occurs when some genius with time and CPU cycles on his hands thinks up a nifty new idea: …
Jan 18 2009
Life Stories
[The following was written by a dear friend – a young woman who can fairly be said to have saved my sanity – named Duyen Ky. It first appeared at the late, lamented Eternity Road on January 18, 2009. Today she lives in Southern California with her husband. – FWP] Welcome to Sunday! …
Aug 05 2003
Gamblers
[This essay first appeared at the old Palace Of Reason on August 5, 2003 — FWP] *** Once upon a time, a group of gamblers who controlled the nation of Japan looked around them at a vista that gleamed with opportunity. A host of prizes stood temptingly near, theirs for the taking. There …
Sep 18 2002
Reason, Death, And Unholy Desire
When confusion abounds and a multitude of strident voices make the world into one giant cacophony, I retreat to the classics. No, not Shakespeare or Milton, though they too have their place. I’m thinking of the great theorists of war and international relations, the RAND Corporation and Hudson Institute conflict-resolution scholia: Albert and Rebecca …
Jun 07 2002
Sex!
Being of a certain age — I’m certain of it even if you aren’t — I came to manhood amid the loudest and rowdiest years of the Sexual Revolution. Being of a certain height, build, and facial conformation — see the Personal page if you really need to know — mostly I didn’t participate. …
Jun 07 2002
Dictionary Of Government Doublespeak
Ever wondered why you simply can’t understand bureaucratese? It’s a problem that daunts many people, what with phraseology like “firmly tentative,” “bold caution,” and “interim final rules.” But never fear: your old friend Fran is on the job, and herewith presents the First Edition (collectors be alert!) of his fabulous… DICTIONARY OF GOVERNMENT DOUBLESPEAK Like …
May 31 1997
Private Knowledge
I consider myself a Catholic. I also consider myself an agnostic. And while you’re catching your breath from that seeming contradiction, I’m going to indulge in a little word-splitting, hopefully of the consciousness-expanding kind. The original Gnostic controversy propelled a great deal of the early unrest within the Church. On one side stood …
Jan 01 1997
Overheads
Economists tend to partition the world’s goods into: Capital goods (made because they help to produce something else), Consumption goods (made because they’re desirable in and of themselves). This is an incomplete partition, and its failings have cost us dearly. There is a third category: overhead. Overhead goods aren’t made for productive …
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