Francis W. Porretto

Mount Sinai, NY USA

Author's posts

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 …

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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 …

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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, …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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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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 …

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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, …

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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, …

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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: …

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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! …

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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 …

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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 …

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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. …

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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 …

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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 …

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