I remember every little tab as if I browsed it only yesterday, docking by the desk and there was not another link in sight ...
Three U.S. carrier strike groups and multiple Amphibious Ready Groups with Marine Expeditionary Units are expected in and around the Middle East in the coming weeks.
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 1, 2026
Part of that force is meant to relieve units already deployed. Officials say there could be a window of overlap… https://t.co/hEGpHIiQL7
Ed: A window of overlap that would exist just around or after Election Day. Hmmmm. That may be a coincidence, or it may be a psy-op to freak out the IRGC. It may also be preparation for the potential of more desperate measures from the regime too, as what little revenue the Iranians have been receiving is just about to dry up altogether ...
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WSJ: Before the war, ships carrying Iranian oil would ferry the crude to international waters off Malaysia, where they transferred it to other tankers that would then transport it to Chinese refineries, an elaborate operation designed to evade U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil.
The tankers would then sail back to Iran, pick up more oil, and do it all again. Some tankers are Iranian. Others sail under other flags but have been sanctioned by the U.S. because of their involvement in such subterfuge.
Now, the blockade has dealt this trade a blow. Iranian ships can’t return home. The recent U.S. sanctions blitz means that some Asian ports that once serviced them now refuse them out of fear of U.S. sanctions, leaving the tankers adrift at sea. The squeeze has also affected containerships bringing goods such as corn and industrial materials to Iran. ...
Oil analysts expect that the last of the Iranian oil still waiting to be transferred to buyers will run out in the coming weeks, with payments to Iran to conclude by year’s end. “All revenues drop to zero for Iran by December,” said Homayoun Falakshahi, head of Crude Oil Analysis at Kpler.
Ed: With that in mind, expect the "overlap" to last a while. The Iranian rial has collapsed entirely over the last few weeks, and unrest is picking up as regime opponents see weakness in the IRGC and Basij. When the foot soldiers of the regime lose what little compensation they have been receiving, things might start moving rapidly – and the regime may provoke another period of heavy combat to maintain discipline.
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Two narrowly averted, Iran-linked mass-casualty terrorist events in the space of a week that is not yet over.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) October 1, 2026
The civilized world got lucky. Twice. But luck runs out. And if you’re taking this many shots on goal, you’re gonna make one in eventually. https://t.co/ixZbfTtnVh
Ed: I'm not so sure that luck was as involved in neutralizing the threat in the UK (more later), but it certainly applies to the FlyDubai attempt, if that turns out to be an IRGC operation. I suspect that's what will come out, and I'm not alone in that guess ...
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Yahoo Finance: While crude oil exports from the Persian Gulf region have returned to roughly 98% of their pre-war levels, product exports — of diesel, gasoline, and other derivatives — have recovered only to roughly 3 million barrels per day, or about 58% of their pre-war levels. Goldman Sachs analysts led by Daan Struyven peg that figure lower, at roughly 50% of their 2025 average. ...
The split reflects the complexity added to refined products exports. Infrastructure damage to refineries in the Middle East has kept outages at roughly 2 million barrels per day, so the region is simply making less. Refined products are also more flammable than crude oil, the Goldman analysts note, making refined product exports through the Strait of Hormuz more risky under the threat of fire from Iranian militias.
The refined product market has been under added stress globally due to the war in Ukraine, where attacks on Russia's refining complex by the Ukrainian military have taken capacity offline and prompted Moscow to extend a national diesel export ban through at least October. Before that war began in 2022, Russia was responsible for roughly 10% of global diesel exports.
Ed: This is why prices for refined products remain stubbornly high, especially diesel. It also impacts fertilizer, which is impacting food prices even without the added inflation to transportation costs. The US is filling the diesel gap on world markets, but the shortage has forced prices to skyrocket. We need a lot more refining capacity in the US for future national-security concerns, but we're stuck in this conflict with what we have at the moment.
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Holy shit.
— Kosher (@koshercockney) October 1, 2026
So it turns out Israel had given the UK intel that there was going to be an Iranian sponsored attack on RAF Fairford.
And what did the Labour government do the next day?
They announced sanctions on Israel. pic.twitter.com/sakWrvsRDH
Ed: Indeed. We need to recognize the threat in the UK and the absolute uselessness of the British government to act rationally against it. There was no luck involved here, except to the extent that the plotters turned out to be so clumsy as to necessitate some intervention.
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Times of Israel: US President Donald Trump suggests the flydubai pilot who tried to crash a plane full of Israelis may be linked to Iran.
Asked by reporters outside the White House whether the pilot is linked to Iran, Trump responds, “We’re working on it. They’re being very open with us. I would say the answer based on what I’m hearing is yes.”
A reporter then pushes him on whether the pilot was either planted by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps or radicalized some other way, and Trump gives a less definitive answer.
“Could have been, yeah,” he responds.
Ed: As I wrote earlier, this terrorist gained access to this route far too easily for it to be just an administrative screw-up.
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Just say it ... how much money is Jimmy losing for ABC?https://t.co/cvNwOJJo1q
— Christian Toto (@HollywoodInToto) October 1, 2026
Ed: Answer – a lot. The article is heavily paywalled, but Disney president Dana Walden refused to commit to another extension of Kimmel's show when his extension runs out in May. ABC wants a 20% cut in the budget first, and even then, as Walden said, it's still a "challenging" business model. Late night as we know it is dying, and probably already dead.
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Jon Levine at The Free Beacon: New York City's first lady is currently wrapping up a week as an "artist-in-residence" at a luxury Islamic wellness retreat that has called for the destruction of Israel and openly celebrated Palestinian terrorism, the Washington Free Beacon can reveal.
While Rama Duwaji went from the river to the spa, her husband rolled out his own "strategy to combat antisemitism"—a move widely panned by Jewish New Yorkers. ...
Nur began doing retreats—which she calls an "ode to Allah"—in September 2023 and from the get-go made the destruction of Israel a front-and-center issue of the programming.
"Abolish the colonial apartheid state of Israel. Free Palestine," the Women Sanctuary said in an October 2025 Instagram post during a retreat in Corsica (during the Middle Ages, Muslim raiders terrorized Corsican villages and sold the Christian villagers into slavery).
Ed: Imagine if a mayor's wife went to a white-supremacist retreat. This is no different. And the "Handmaid's Tale" shriekers are awfully silent about the hijabs and chadors that attendees adopt for these conferences, too.
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🚨 JUST IN: Former Clarence Thomas clerk John Yoo reveals TN death row killer Christa Pike might face the FIRING SQUAD after TWICE-botched lethal injections.
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) October 1, 2026
Tennessee must fix its methods. She was rightfully sentenced to CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Make it swift, execution is long… pic.twitter.com/C0oCRBy7rI
Ed: Like many people today, I wonder why they just don't use fentanyl as a method of execution. The electric chair is sufficient too, but there have been botched executions using that method too. The most fail-safe method, historically, has been the firing squad. No one has to worry about "blown veins" or the expiration date of the lead bullet. As my colleague argues next, that could be on the table ...
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Aaron Walker at Twitchy (VIP): In any case, that made us curious enough to actually look up what the law in Tennessee says about execution methods, and it’s a humdinger. We are talking about Tenn. Code § 40-23-114, and it starts off straightforwardly enough ...
Basically, they are saying that if the courts take lethal injection off the table, or if for some reason the state of Tennessee can’t actually carry it out, then the inmate gets the chair.
So, it seems that if they really can’t execute her, she goes to the electric chair. Methods such as the firing squad don’t come into play unless they are blocked from using that method, under subsection (d).
And before you ask, yes, there is even more to the statute, dealing with when the death sentence must be expedited, but that has no application here. So we won’t be quoting it or running that gif gag again.
Now that you know the law, you will also understand how disingenuous her lawyers are being in this piece[.]
Ed: Be sure to read it all. The state of Tennessee has plenty of options. However, I suspect that Governor Lee will end up commuting Pike's sentence to life without parole before he leaves office in December. It's the path of least resistance.
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But, if we're going to do the death penalty, let's not pussy-foot around about it. Firing squad is the most reliable, painless, and instantaneous method we have readily available short of the guillotine or some other horrific method. Just kill the fucker that needs killing https://t.co/4D82Tnzjdl
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) October 1, 2026
Ed: This is pretty much where I land these days. It's absurd that it took 30 years for the state of Tennessee to get to an execution, and it's equally absurd that they twisted themselves in knots over "humane" injections to the point where they can't succeed in the purpose. If we want executions, the firing squad is the proper solution.
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Kira Davis: The strategies were clear and divided along the very lines that divide our current political state. Becerra’s strategy was just like his campaign ad strategy…TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! The former HHS Secretary tied every inquiry back to the President, often accusing Hilton of being a “Trump puppet.” Becerra mentioned Trump over 40 times during the debate. At one (hilarious) point, Hilton asked his opponent about Susan Rice’s description of him (Becerra) as a certified idiot, to which Becerra responded, “I’m not going to worry about what other politicians say about me. I’m running for Californians.” It was an amusing response considering his only argument all night was TRUMP.
Hilton’s strategy was simple and the same one he’s been using throughout his entire campaign - California needs change. He largely ignored the Trump obsession, laughing it off occasionally and pointing out its absurdity as California continues to sink in every measurable metric. I would have liked to have seen a more aggressive response to Becerra’s nonstop Trump-ing, but I suspect Hilton was just steering clear of anything that might get him engaged in a back and forth about Trump.
Perhaps the most infuriating moment came when Hilton pointed out Becerra’s shocking record as HHS Secretary - hundreds of thousands of migrant children lost, unaccounted for or turned over to cartel and human trafficking entities. While Hilton laid out the facts and figures, the Democrat candidate picked up his coffee cup and began casually sipping, a smirk on his face as Hilton described the horrific suffering of migrant children being sold into sex slavery under Becerra’s watch.
Ed: Man, I wish I could be optimistic about California voters finally rejecting the disaster of Democrat one-party rule. Unfortunately, I think much of that vote has left the state already. Read it all to catch up.
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Texans, the guy who thinks America deserved 9/11 supports Talarico. Do you? https://t.co/RokorTWLDX
— Definitely Not Allen Covert (@Covert61) October 1, 2026
Ed: Unfortunately, some of those who fled California for economic purposes failed to learn the proper political lessons, and a number of those came to Texas. Let's hope they don't Californicate Texas this cycle. I wrote about this clip earlier today, too.
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NBC News: Sean “Diddy” Combs has been placed in solitary confinement following an NBC News report on his VIP lifestyle inside prison, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
The disgraced hip hop mogul arrived at the Fort Dix federal prison in New Jersey in October after he was sentenced to 50 months behind bars for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters.
Since then, he has spent thousands of dollars a month to bring his high-end lifestyle to the low-security prison, NBC News reported Tuesday in a story based on interviews with four men who spent time in the same unit as Combs.
They said he had no trouble acquiring contraband items such as cellphones and premium liquor, including Hennessy. He also pays several inmates who cook special meals for him, clean the toilet and shower areas before he uses them, do his laundry, make his bed and even give him Chinese-style massages.
Ed: A follow-up to yesterday's Final Word entry, which was straight out of "Goodfellas." He won't be in solitary long – just long enough to get the heat off the story.
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School officials are in panic mode over kids revolting against “Pride Day”
— WWG1WGA🇺🇸♥️ (@WWG1WGA_QQ) September 29, 2026
Kids refused to wear colors and some even chanted that their pronouns are USA pic.twitter.com/3Wf7ClgogQ
Ed: I guess that not all activism is created equal, eh? Why didn't the school celebrate THEIR truth?
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Last night's lyric: "Jet Airliner" by the Steve Miller Band. Here's a surprisingly good live performance from 2007.
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