Francis W. Porretto
Mount Sinai, NY USA
Author's posts
Nov 20 2021
What It Took
Quite a lot, actually. It took personal courage: both from the judge, who will probably be the focus of left-wing fury for the rest of his life, and from the twelve men and women who sat in ultimate judgment. The jurors knew that someone would be able to identify them afterward. They knew …
Nov 19 2021
A Very Weak Point
There are many weak points in American life, by which I mean areas or subjects of vulnerability that afflict the majority of American families. These past two years, one that has come under the spotlight – and for more reasons that one – is the education of our children. The nationalization of education …
Nov 18 2021
From The Smoke-Filled Rooms (UPDATED)
“Control the coinage and the courts. Let the rabble have the rest.” – attributed to Shaddam IV, Padishah Emperor of the known universe at the time of the rise of Paul Atreides a.k.a. Muad’Dib It’s been a while since that image was used as a metaphor for the machinations of central bankers. I’m …
Nov 16 2021
Is Freedom Possible And Achievable?
Among my heroes, the great Herbert Spencer (1820-1902) stands very high indeed, not far behind Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Jefferson, and whoever it was that invented pasta. At one time, Spencer was the most popular writer in the English-speaking world. Two of his books, Social Statics and The Man Versus The State, are considered indispensable …
Nov 15 2021
A Bridge Out In The Highways Of The Mind
Just a little while earlier, I was grumbling over my inability to get my snowblower serviced for the coming winter. It led to other, semi-connected thoughts. The first was why, at my advanced (and still advancing) age I should be wrestling with a deadly device that’s more than twice as heavy as I am. …
Nov 14 2021
How It’s Done
As liberals shy away from the word “woke,” the media has blamed Republicans’ negative use of the term for its downfall. What actually happened to “woke” may be more complicated, and cause problems for Democrats in coming elections. — Kelsey Koberg, Fox News This isn’t the first time the Right has successfully wrested …
Nov 13 2021
A Note On Contemporary Political Combat
Just a brief piece today, as I’m plunging toward the completion of The Discovery Phase…well, if a snail shackled to a boulder can be said to “plunge”…anyway, have three links that share a thesis: Satan Loves To Slice Salami Thou Shalt Keep Masking, Thou Peasants! The Normalization of Pedophilia I recommend that you …
Nov 12 2021
Masks Are Dropping Everywhere
Yes, Gentle Reader, the time has come for full disclosures. (No, not by me; I have nothing interesting to disclose, except that I was once a crazed Albanian dwarf with a harelip and a hump, but was rescued from a life of squalor by master surgeons in the employ of a Communist conspiracy that …
Nov 11 2021
The Politicization Of Justice Is Now Complete
Unless you’re more sensible than I am you’ve ceased to pay attention to the news, you’re already aware of the “Hunter Biden laptop” controversy and the way the Usurper Regime, and its Big Tech and media allies have striven to prevent any public discussion of it. The evidence on that laptop, combined with other …
Nov 10 2021
Which Is To Be Master? (UPDATED)
My most recent novel, In Vino, provides the culmination of several themes threaded through the Onteora Canon. One of the most important of them is expressed compactly in this passage: [Ray] glanced around the table. All the glasses were empty. No cheese and only a few crackers remained on the tray he’d prepared. …
Nov 09 2021
The Eternal Exculpation Effort
I am frequently bemused by the extent to which the bien-pensants will go in their determination to avert their eyes – and ours – from verifiable facts. Some of them seem sincerely to believe that their wishes can remake reality. Others, of course, are simply practicing the tactics of obfuscation and deflection that have …
Nov 08 2021
From The “Je M’accuse” Files
For some years, I fought back against being called a racist. For some time after that, I simply ignored it. Today I embrace the characterization. I maintain that there’s enough evidence to do so. Evidence such as this report from the Kyle Rittenhouse trial: George Floyd’s nephew, Cortez Rice, has issued veiled …
Nov 07 2021
Brilliance That Must Not Blush Unseen
I’ve long had a high regard for Paul Joseph Watson. I know, I know: “he’s not to everyone’s taste.” But he strikes the jugular with great regularity. I have yet to catch him in a falsehood or a deliberate distortion, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I’m alert to such things. So …
Nov 07 2021
Wishful Thinking In Its Rawest State
On May 1, 2015, I retired from employment as a software engineer, a trade I practiced for nearly five decades to great satisfaction and profit. I keep in touch with old colleagues, both for friendship’s sake and so I can have a sense for how developments affect the kind of work I once did. …
Nov 06 2021
Kind But Deadly Assumptions
Some things must be seen and heard to be believed, like an “Energy Secretary” laughing about skyrocketing gas prices: If the rapid increases in energy products have affected you, I’d bet you’re not laughing. Homeowners whose homes will cost twice as much to heat this winter won’t laugh either. But why did Granholm …
Nov 05 2021
Tools For Predation
Every thief has his favorite tools. Car thieves once carried “slim jims” they used to defeat the locks on car doors. House burglars carry whatever will help them to defeat homeowners’ locks and other provisions. Street muggers, of course, carry weapons: knives or guns. Activists “carry” your compassion for others, which they seek …
Nov 04 2021
Always Reinforce Success!
One of the harder tactical lessons to learn, if we judge by the behavior of field commanders throughout history, is rather simple: Cut Your Losses;Reinforce Your Successes. The first part of that maxim is on all fours with “Don’t throw good money after bad.” It’s remarkable how many people will nod sagely when …
Nov 03 2021
When Princes Meet
Just because I feel like it…and because it is exactly what princes do: When princes meet, the poor little men must tremble In judgment seat. they speak of their wars while great armies assemble Their armor shines to shame the sun They move like gods they do resemble All bow their necks to iron …
Nov 03 2021
Has The Bitching Begun?
It appears (note that carefully selected verb) that Glenn Youngkin has prevailed over former governor Terry McAuliffe in the race for governor of Virginia. The margin wasn’t a large one – slightly more than 1% of the votes cast – but it appears (yes, again) to be safe at this time. So for the …
Nov 01 2021
A Bellwether Election?
Apparently, the polls are now unanimous: Glenn Youngkin commands a significant lead over Terry McAuliffe in the race for governor of Virginia. Even the blatantly partisan Washington Post has called out McAuliffe on his lies, gaffes, and dirty tactics. Were the polls a reliable indicator of anything, Virginia would elect Youngkin its next governor…but …
Fran’s Recent Novels
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