Tex's Place

By David Manney A family paying the electric bill doesn't care how noble a subsidy sounds in Washington. They care whether the lights stay on, the furnace runs, the air conditioner works, and the bill leaves enough money for groceries. President Donald Trump's tax law set July 4, 2026, as the deadline ending federal tax credit subsidies for new wind and solar projects not already under construction. U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright called the deadline the end of roughly 35 years of federal support for wind and solar , and he noted that in 2025 they comprised about 3% of total U.S. primary energy consumption. From Just the News : The Working Families Tax Cuts, a signature piece of President Trump's tax legislation signed a year ago, set Saturday as the deadline for federal tax credit subsidies on any new solar or wind projects not currently under construction. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright touted the subsidy deadline and criticized solar and wind...

Bishop Robert Barron By Bishop Robert Barron Like many others, I have been alarmed by the success of certain politicians in our country who identify as extreme socialists or communists. This is not a matter of classical liberals triumphing over standard-issue conservatives; this is the victory of people who stand athwart the fundamental principles that undergird our country. There are many reasons why I detest communism, but I want to draw attention to just one issue of supreme importance. Karl Marx said that the first critique is the critique of religion. He meant that, before a complete reworking of the politics and economics of a society can take place, religion has to be taken down. This is because religion, as he saw it, is the "opium of the masses," a drug taken to dull our sensitivity to the suffering caused by economic exploitation. As long as the suffering populace is lured into complacency by fantasies about God's providence and the promise of eternal lif...

By Ward Clark New York's communist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has regularly revealed himself to be a real piece of... work. He's abysmally ill-informed, and he appears to harbor a lot of hate for a country that took him in, making it something of a mystery as to why he left his wealthy family's expansive Uganda compound. Unless, of course, you assume that gaining control of one of America's largest cities was the goal all along. Now, on Friday, the day before we celebrated 250 years of American liberty, Mayor Mamdani took the opportunity to trash America, and to add insult to injury, we see that the commie mayor did so from behind a desk that once belonged to George Washington, although his people set it up facing the wrong way. Mamdani was able to talk a load of Schiff about America regardless. He had to attempt some damage control later, on Saturday, when he attempted to walk it back. But the mask is off. Today marks 250 years since a small group of newspaper editor...

By Ward Clark Put any two gun people in a room and ask them one question, like, say, "What's the greatest semi-auto pistol of all time?" Just watch: From those two gun guys, you'll get at least three different answers. Honestly, that's part of the fun. A lot of us gun guys like talking about guns as much as shooting them, and the American history of firearms gives us a lot to talk about. Trust me, I'm approaching the start of the fourth year of my Sunday Gun Day columns, and I've still got plenty to write about. Since this weekend sees us celebrating 250 years of American liberty, and since the Second Amendment and our right to bear arms are one thing that's unique about American liberty, it may be fun to toss some "all-time greats" out there for discussion/argument. So here are what I think are America's greatest commercially-produced guns; for discussion, let's look at two sidearms, two rifles, and two shotguns. First, handguns....

The Griswold Inn, Essex, Conn., dates back to 1776. By Michele Herrmann In Colonial America, taverns were more than places for food and drink. They also offered entertainment, lodging and served as a hub for sharing important news and discussing politics, providing headquarters for those conducting official business and strategizing amid the American Revolution. The first tavern in what would become the United States of America was credited to Samuel Cole in Boston, opened on March 4, 1634. Taverns would grow rapidly across the colonies but started fading out in the 19th century, as they were replaced by specialized venues that served specific needs, such as bars, restaurants and inns. Despite the passage of time, there are still a few original Colonial taverns remaining in the United States. While some have become museums or refitted for other purposes, others were reinvigorated for serving in the modern era. The Black Horse Tavern, Mendham, N.J. Back in 1742, when Mendh...

By Bob Hoge Like Christmas, Independence Day is famous for its songs.  There are so many of them that bring home the patriotism of the holiday, our gratitude for our forefathers for creating a more perfect union, and our love of America. Think, the Star‑Spangled Banner , America the Beautiful , Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. , and lately, during the World Cup, John Denver’s Country Roads . Of course, one of those patriotic favorites is God Bless America , and it’s still sung by the massive crowds across the country. But when was it first performed, and who wrote it? Although the first public performance was in 1938 to celebrate Armistice Day (the end of World War I), the story actually goes back to 1918 and “The Dean of American Songwriters,” the great Irving Berlin. He’d written the tune 20 years earlier, but it wasn’t until 1938 that a revised version was sung publicly : November 9, 1938 In [a] remarkable letter, songwriter Irving Berlin writes to fellow composer Harry ...

WELCOME to The Corral! This is an open chat forum like REVEILLE, but for Sat and Sun.  Have a wonderful weekend, and please be civil! TEX

By Scott Pinsker It’s called Betteridge’s law of headlines : “Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no .” Like Occam’s razor, it’s not a bulletproof absolute, but Betteridge’s law is right a helluva lot more often than it’s wrong.  Which takes us to today’s (July 3) headline from the New York Times’ 47-paragraph-long feature story: “ A Big Gamble for the Left: Can Socialism Appeal in a Swing State? ” (Hint, hint.) But first, let’s take a step back. When you’re planning an adversarial PR campaign, there are plenty of ways to skin the cat. You could focus like a laser beam on your own strengths and attributes. Or what animates your target audience. Or what you hate the most about your opponent. But sometimes, your best bet is to shut up and listen: If you pay attention, your opponent usually tells you where he’s most vulnerable.   Again, this isn’t an absolute. It’s possible your opponent suffers from proximity blindness: He’s so close to the ...

(The Free Press photo illustration) By Caitlin Flanagan I didn’t go to first grade in the United States; I was overseas on one of my academic father’s endless sabbaticals. I got home in time for the new school year, and I learned that in my absence, my cohort had been charged with a new obligation: saying the Pledge of Allegiance each morning. Nobody took me aside to tell me what it meant (Allegiance? Indivisible?); I just stood up with everyone else and picked it up. We took it seriously. When the morning bell rang, we’d climb the wide stone steps that led from the playgrounds to the school buildings, hang up our jackets and store our lunch boxes in the cloakroom (why cloak? Had that, too, been explained in first grade?), and then hustle over to our desks for duty. Each week there was a different Pledge of Allegiance monitor, and that person walked importantly to the front of the room and stand beneath the flag. The monitor’s hand was placed (more or less) over the monitor’s hea...

By Dave Urbanski One of the two teen suspects named in connection with the murder of a Penn State University senior in South Philadelphia less than a month ago was arrested by U.S. Marshals over 1,700 miles away from the crime scene — in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore announced Wednesday night that 16-year-old Azzubair Outen-Fleming was arrested, WPVI-TV reported . Police are still searching for a second suspect, 16-year-old Kaiseem Smith, the station said. Authorities said the suspects stole 22-year-old Billy Schmidt's cell phone in the 1900 block of Durfor Street on June 6, WPVI reported, adding that as Schmidt chased after the suspects, one of them turned and shot Schmidt in the chest. Schmidt was pronounced dead a short time later, the station said, adding that family members said Schmidt had been returning home from a nearby bar where he was watching an NBA Finals game with friends. Both Outen-Fleming and Smith ...