Tex's Place

By Nick Arama The Iranians are playing games in the Strait of Hormuz again.  As we reported, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) opened fire on at least two ships as they were trying to transit the Strait. You can hear the frantic response from one of the ships, the Sanmar Herald, saying that they'd been given clearance, but still got fired upon.  Audio of the Indian oil tanker Sanmar Herald pleading with Iranian forces to stop shooting at it in the Strait of Hormuz this morning. pic.twitter.com/7Y5n7Jb7o0 — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 18, 2026 “Sepah Navy! Motor Tanker Sanmar Herald! Sanmar Herald! Sepah Navy! You gave me clearance! You gave me clearance to go! Sepah Navy! Sepah Navy! This is motor tanker, Sanmar Herald! You gave me clearance to go! My name's second on your list! You gave me clearance to go! You are firing now! Let me turn back!” Sepah Navy is the IRGC Navy, which is different from the regular navy, the Artesh. Both have been decimat...

By Ward Clark In a stunning performance that would have any stage magician green with envy, the amazing sudden wealth of Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar (MN-05) has evaporated, like dandelion fluff on a windy summer's day. The Squad member claims that the $30 million in wealth supposedly in the hands of her and her husband was just a  mistake in accounting records . Rep.  Ilhan Omar , D-Minn., said she is not a millionaire and blamed a major accounting error after a congressional financial disclosure listing her assets as high as $30 million drew scrutiny from Republicans and a congressional watchdog. An amended filing reviewed by  The Wall Street Journal  shows Omar and her husband’s assets were between $18,004 and $95,000, a sharp drop from an earlier disclosure that estimated their holdings between $6 million and $30 million. "The amended disclosure confirms what we’ve said all along: The congresswoman is not a millionaire," Omar spokesperson Jacklyn Rogers...

By Ward Clark My late father, as wise a man as ever lived, was fond of repeating an old caution: "Moderation in all things." Well, I was fond of retorting with Barry Goldwater's famous saying, "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." But Dad wasn't talking about liberty and justice, of course. Moderation is a good idea when it comes to things like adult beverages. But it turns out that beer, enjoyed in moderation, can actually be good for your heart.  Who knew? Some  research  suggests that moderate beer drinking may support heart health, specifically by increasing good cholesterol in the blood, explains Destini Moody, R.D., the founder of The Athlete’s Dietitian and an expert on the panel of  Garage Gym Reviews . Moderate drinking, by the way, is defined by the  CDC  as one drink per day or less for women and two drinks per day or less for men. Well, that CDC definition leaves me out. I do...

By Nick Arama The Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi agreed on Friday that the Strait would be open, albeit using the Iranian-approved route. But he immediately got in trouble for what he said, because he didn't address the U.S. blockade in his tweet. As President Donald Trump said, the U.S. blockade of Iranian ships continued. The attacks showed the chaos their leadership is in. The other main negotiator, Mohammad Ghalibaf, after likely seeing what happened with Araghchi, reneged on the deal and said it would remain closed until the blockade stopped.  So then they decided to punctuate their tirade by firing on ships on Saturday.  But they're still in a position where they can't play these games without winning prizes for being stupid.  If the U.S. blockade of any ships coming to or going from any Iranian ports wasn't enough to put the squeeze on them, their tantrums are about to earn them another  big consequence. The U.S. military is preparing in coming da...

By Ward Clark For the time being, at least, President Donald Trump won't have any more Supreme Court picks to make. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, two of the Court's stalwart conservatives and constitutional originalists, have both now indicated they have no intention of retiring - at least not this year,  according to one report . Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, the subject of intensifying speculation about a potential retirement before the midterm elections, is not expected to leave the bench this year, sources close to the justice have told ABC News. Alito, 76, has been hiring clerks for next term and intends to continue serving into at least 2027, the sources who have spoken to Alito told ABC. Fox News first reported the justice's intentions. Alito has remained an active and engaged participant in the court's work, even after he was  briefly hospitalized  earlier this year for a health scare of undisclosed origin. Justice Alito's health issue...

By Streiff Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy ships fired on two Indian ships attempting to exit the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz. This action underscores the fact that opening the Strait of Hormuz is more of an aspiration than a reality. According to the master of an Indian vessel believed to be a VLCC supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil, two IRGC gunboats approached the tanker and opened fire. The tanker then retreated westward back into the Persian Gulf. United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations  reported the incident . The UKMTO is a Royal Navy-sponsored organization that serves as the primary point of contact for merchant vessels on maritime security matters. UKMTO has received a report of an incident 20NM northeast of OMAN. The Master of a Tanker reports being approached by 2 IRGC gun boats, no VHF challenge that then fired upon the tanker.  Tanker and crew are reported safe.  Authorities are investigating.  As you can see from t...

By Bob Hoge RedState reported the story on Thursday: the extremist California Coastal Commission put the kibosh on the traditional Long Beach Independence Day fireworks display, well, because of course they did.  Their reasons were lame: oh, it might pollute the ocean — even though studies have shown that fireworks displays have but  minor effects  — and it might shut down a parking lot for the evening. Boo hoo. As I wrote: It sure is coincidental that 2026 is the year they pick to shut it down. It is, of course, America’s 250 th  b-day, an event that President Trump has touted relentlessly and has made plans for yuge celebrations. Is the Coastal Commission worried about the water, or do they just want to thumb their nose at the president and patriots everywhere? You decide. The blowback has been intense, as apparently, even voters on the Left Coast are sick of watching our elected officials suck the joy out of all things large and small. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who h...

By Hans Mahncke The disbarment of John Eastman represents the logical endpoint of a systematic abuse of legal and administrative processes commonly described as lawfare, a pattern that has been escalating for nearly a decade. What began in 2016 with the targeting of Trump campaign associates, who at least operated within the political arena, has evolved into the professional destruction of a law professor who held no office, ran no campaign, and whose only “offense” was providing a legal opinion on constitutional law. The modern term “lawfare,” a blend of “law” and “warfare,” was popularized in 2001 by U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap Jr., who defined it as “the use of law as a weapon of war,” specifically the exploitation of legal processes or rules of war to gain military advantage. In the contemporary American context, it increasingly refers to the use of law as a weapon of politics, where those who fail at the ballot box turn to investigations, prosecu...

By Sister Toldjah There are some stories out there to write about where little input from the writer is needed for the point to be made, because the subjects of the stories tell it so much better themselves. This is one of those stories. The only thing I'm going to do is set the stage. On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee held a  hearing , where the subject to be discussed was "The Human Toll of Sanctuary Policies: Stories from Victims and Families."   There were four witnesses. The Democrat witness was attorney Antonio Romanucci, whose law firm, Romanucci & Blandin LLC, is representing the family of Renee Good. After expressing condolences to the other witnesses, Romanucci  described  Ms. Good as someone whose death was "collateral damage" from ICE "rounding up black and brown people [and] terrorizing them." The other three witnesses were Angel Moms who had children who were victimized by criminal illegal immigrants as a result of sanctu...

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