Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Dec 16 2021
URGENT: Mike Hendrix of Cold Fury in Critical Condition
I just received this from Big Country Expat: Mikes in the Critical Care/ICU. I’m waiting to find out -where- exactly. I just got word that my brother-from-another-mother Mike Hendrix, late of the famed rockabilly band The Belmont Playboys and more recently of the Blog “Cold Fury” has gotten seriously hemmed up medically …
Dec 15 2021
Assorted
These grab-bag pieces have always helped me to de-escalate in the past. Let’s see whether this one follows the pattern. *** A few days ago, the New York Times published a piece about rising French politician Eric Zemmour that was hysterical even by that paper’s standards. John Hinderaker at Power Line provides a …
Dec 14 2021
Brutal But More Likely Than Not
Yes, I’m back. I needed a few days off, in part to get The Discovery Phase released, but in larger part to flush the static out of my head. Anyway, it’s hard to type with your fists. Puts a lot of stress on the keyboard, too. This morning, I encountered an unusually frank …
Dec 12 2021
New Fiction
Loren was good looking, well mannered, and highly intelligent. He was broadly competent in applied mathematics, the physical sciences, and computer technology. He could fix almost anything, and would do so happily. Yet for years he’d spent most of his days doing janitorial work at a state college. While at age forty-eight he had …
Dec 12 2021
Presented Without Comment
I hadn’t paid much attention to Jesse Watters before this. I will henceforward.
Dec 10 2021
Intentionally Untitled
“When it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and acts like a duck, I call it a duck. Call it a bunch of roses. It still quacks.” – Robert A. Heinlein, Glory Road Some pieces need no titles. Others can’t abide them. As for the quote above, hang in there. …
Dec 09 2021
Monopolies And What They Want
I’ve got news for you, Gentle Reader: You are a monopoly. Surprised? It’s true, though: You are the one and only source for goods and services made by you. Because of the 13th Amendment, you have absolute control over the source of those goods and services. Assuming you’re not incarcerated for a felony …
Dec 08 2021
The Speculations Of Unbelievers
Many persons who lack faith claim to be disturbed by those of us who have it. In some cases, this is because the unbeliever fails to understand the nature of a religious faith. In others, the unbeliever misunderstands or misconstrues an important characteristic of religious faith: inasmuch as it is unprovable by its nature, …
Dec 07 2021
Separations
(No, not “reparations.” Spelling matters at Liberty’s Torch. We’re carful about it. We proofread very carfully, both for spelling and to make sure we don’t any words out.) These days it seems like every noisy group in America wants “our own space.” That means different things to different people, of course, but the …
Dec 06 2021
Running Scared Edition
…or “running hard trying to scare you, Mr. and Mrs. America.” These days, the principal ammunition of the Left is fear. They fire barrages of it at virtually everything in sight. We’re repeatedly and stridently told to fear: Racists; Pro-lifers; Fossil fuels; Sincere Christians; Large white families; White identity defenders; Guns (especially if …
Dec 06 2021
Stylings
One of my perennial quandaries, which rises afresh every time I complete a novel, is expressed in a simple question: “What is style?” Perhaps even more tellingly, I could ask: “Where is style?” How does it manifest itself in a story? I’ve batted this around with other writers, other avid readers, and my Newfoundlands …
Dec 05 2021
Images Of Perfection
Good morning, Gentle Reader. Yes, I “took yesterday off.” After a fashion, anyway. I spent it finishing the first draft of my novel-under-construction, which is now in the hands of my test readers. And with that elephant off my back, I feel years…well, maybe a month or two younger. So I’m back at my …
Dec 03 2021
Well, Well! What Do We Have Here?
I’ve been having a lot of “What’s the use?” days lately. For the reasons, start with the Glenn Beck video below, add a few issues of a personal character, and stir briskly. And then, every so often someone adds an olive: Augustin Garcia, 63, was arrested thrice last week for stealing a 12-pack …
Dec 02 2021
This Man Speaks For Me
I’ve admired Glenn Beck ever since his days on “Headline News.” After viewing the video below, I admire him even more. I’ll bet, after you’ve watched it, you’ll say he speaks for you too: Does he?
Dec 02 2021
The Price Of Admission
Most “exclusive” groups have a membership test: a specific course of action the applicant must fulfill to qualify for admission. Often, within such a group there exists an inner circle with even more demanding requirements for entry. In each case, the advantages that accrue to the member will be proportional to the severity of …
Dec 01 2021
Timing Is Everything
We’ve had enough politics and current events for now. Let’s talk fiction. If you undertake to write suspense or thriller fiction, you will come to grips with the problem of timing: in your staging of the conflicts, in your characterizations of the antagonists, and above all in the selection and narration of events …
Nov 30 2021
Club Membership Uber Alles!
If you have any memory of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee a few years back, you might remember this: To me, the most important snippet of Senator Graham’s tirade is when he points to the Democrats on the committee and says “These have been my friends.” It’s a massively …
Nov 29 2021
The Will To Disbelieve
The one thing of which there is no shortage in these United States is wishful thinking. It’s more pandemic than the WuFlu and orders of magnitude more destructive. Sadly, some of that wishful thinking is on the Right. The rioting and organized theft in the larger cities has revealed an ugly truth. Many …
Nov 28 2021
Peering Over The Horizon
(With observations from an assortment of Freds.) First, a helpful graphic: Next, an observation from a Fred: “A country deserves what it tolerates, and will assuredly get more of it.” – Fred Reed The point appears to have eluded about half the country. We’re being impoverished, overrun, and generally abused …
Fran’s Recent Novels
Margaret’s Recent Novels
