LISTEN SUG, DON’T FORGET TO SAY YOUR PRAYERS: US Says Iran Preparing to Attack Israel With Ballistic Missiles.

The US has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel, according to a senior White House official.

The US is actively supporting preparations to defend Israel against the possible attack, which would carry severe consequences for Iran, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

The warning comes after Israeli forces moved into southern Lebanon in an escalation of its campaign against Tehran-backed Hezbollah.

More here: Pentagon chief says US supports Israel’s ‘right to defend itself’ — while warning Iran of ‘serious consequences’ if it attacks.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the US supports Israel’s “right to defend itself” with its ground invasion of Lebanon — while vowing “serious consequences” for Iran if it attacks the Jewish state.

So will that mean even larger, or perhaps slightly smaller pallets of cash airlifted into Iran during the waning days of Obama’s third term?

UPDATE: “Israeli media reported 102 ballistic missiles — capable of reaching Israel in 12 minutes — were headed toward the Jewish state.”

UPDATE (1:27 pm): “The Jerusalem Post has updated its earlier report to set the number of ballistic missiles at 500. If accurate, it’s clearly an attempt to overwhelm Israel’s defenses — and a clear provocation now to launch a devastating response. Now we’ll see if the Mossad has as good an idea where IRGC and regime leaders are as they did with Hezbollah.”

UPDATE (8:51 pm): Linking to an Axios report that the only death so far in the Iranian missile attack was “One Palestinian civilian [who] was reportedly killed in the West Bank,” Ed Morrissey adds, “Res ipsa loquitur. It appears that the earlier reports of 500 missiles were an overestimation, but 180 ballistic missiles is still a full-scale attack. And Israel plans on retaliating soon, too.”

(Classical reference in headline.)

GLEICHSCHALTUNG: Uh-Oh. Now, Even Barbells Are Problematic. “A CrossFit coach shared that a female who attended his class freaked out after he mentioned that the gym had both men’s and women’s barbells and suggested the latter might be a better fit for her. The woman got angry, accused him of discrimination, and went to the gym owner to complain about said discrimination.”

DISPATCHES FROM WEIMAR BY THE BAY: The San Francisco Standard has some handy Winter Solstitial Holiday Shopping Tips: “Black Market, Black Friday: What $20 gets you at the 16th Street BART plaza. Granted, much of it might be stolen, but it is possible to start your holiday shopping on the sidewalk.” (Emphasis mine.)

Black Friday seems to have become a ghost of its former self. The orgy of Walmart tramplings and riot-adjacent runs on major appliances appear to have gone the way of the plasma TV, amid a wave of big box bankruptcies and a growing distaste for aggressive crowds swiping KitchenAids from each other’s carts.

Retail may be struggling, but the thirst for deals is eternal — especially at BART plazas in the Mission, where unlicensed vendors sell all manner of stuff for cheap. It’s not always pretty: While some folks sell homemade handicrafts and enterprising home cooks hawk empanadas, it’s likely the vast majority of what you’ll find at the plaza is stolen. But many of the people there — buyers and sellers alike — struggle to make ends meet, facing city crackdowns, threats and exploitation. So I spent Black Friday outside the 16th Street station, buying from vendors and getting to know their stories.

In Accordance with the Prophecy:

And in accordance with NPR’s infamous 2020 promotion of the author of a book entitled In Defense of Looting.

Also, keep plenty of eye bleach on hand if you click on the author’s profile. As a commentator at Hot Air noted, “Between the tales of theft and the unapologetic creation of demand for said stolen goods, homelessness and drug abuse and the profile and pic of the she/ they/it reporter/editor, virtually everything wrong with SF is distilled and encapsulated in a single article.”

TIME FOR A CHANGE: Canada’s New Young Conservatives: While Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government self-destructs with radical identity politics, the Conservatives are winning over young voters with a pragmatic economic agenda.

WHERE IS THE GOP?

NEW

The FCC just released the text of its 3-2 decision to approve a Soros backed group’s purchase of 200+ radio stations.

The Commission’s decision today is unprecedented. Never before has the Commission voted to approve the transfer of a broadcast license—let alone the… pic.twitter.com/gnMbl2z8Jb

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) September 30, 2024

More:

Federal law requires applicants like these with excessive foreign ownership to file a petition for declaratory ruling at the same time that they seek FCC approval for the relevant licenses, they must then complete that process before the FCC can approve the assignment of licenses, and that process must enable Executive Branch agencies with national security and specific policy expertise to weigh in.

But in this case, the Applicants decided that they did not need to comply with any of those legal requirements. The Applicants expressly state that they will have foreign investment in excess of the statutory 25 percent benchmark.

Did they file the petition for declaratory ruling required by the Code of Federal Regulations? No, they did not.

Did they obtain approval from the FCC for their excessive foreign ownership? No, they did not.

Did the Applicants afford the Executive Branch agencies with national security and relevant policy expertise an opportunity to consider their application as well as the source and amount of foreign investment? No, they did not.

The Commission has never done this before. So why are we voting for a first-ever fast track today?

We know the why.

From the replies: “I thank God that Elon Musk bought Twitter.”

Indeed.

WHILE JOE VACATIONED AND KAMALA FUNDRAISED WITH CELEBRITIES: Heartbreaking final photo shows NC grandparents trapped on roof before they were swept away by floodwaters along with grandson.

WELL, THEY AREN’T WRONG:

TRUTH BOMB 💣

Dockworkers who have officially gone on strike say that the biggest reason is because their wages have not kept up with Kamala's inflation crisis. pic.twitter.com/k9xJoni47a

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 1, 2024

The irony is that if the strike goes on long enough, the next big round of price hikes will be on the strikers.

REMEMBER JOE? Biden Can Check Out Any Time He Likes (And He’s Basically Left).

The chat on X at zero-dark-thirty on Tuesday — unconfirmed as yet — is that “the first numbers of deceased Western North Carolinians are in the mid-hundreds,” and that’s just in Asheville. Meanwhile, the old man on the beach griped — our POTUS in name only — on Monday that he “was on the phone for at least two hours” on Saturday and Sunday, so he’d done all he could for Hurricane Helene relief.

Whether or not Biden was actually in “command,” as he put it during a press conference that he coughed his way through before another one of his curt exits, the optics of POTUS lounging on the beach while his fellow Americans waited on rooftops for rescue were awful.

Besides, few people believe Biden is in command of anything anymore. World leaders — particularly Israel’s Bibi Netanyahu, thank goodness — no longer give a rat’s patootie what the Formerly Most Powerful Man in the World™ has to say about anything. So why should his cabinet? Or FEMA?

Much more at the link.

READER FAVORITE: Etekcity Camping Lanterns for Power Outages 4 Pack. #CommissionEarned

DEFLECTION DURING A NATURAL DISASTER IS NOT A GOOD LOOK, GOVERNOR:

And yet, NC Gov. Roy Cooper shamed his citizens at today's press conference, saying that "people in low-lying areas were told to evacuate."

This isn't a low-lying area, Gov. Many of the hard-hit areas were not. This is a point so many are missing. https://t.co/BQqsDaZjHc

— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) September 30, 2024

EXPECTATIONS BEING LOWERED: Is Walz ‘Spazzing’ — or Dekeing — Ahead of Debate?

“THE RETURN OF THE PRIMITIVE” WAS NOT MEANT TO BE A HOW-TO MANUAL: Efforts growing to ‘braid Indigenous knowledge’ into science, UChicago biologist warns.

YOU START BY IGNORING THE PENTAGON: Hey Pentagon, Pay Attention. Israel Is Showing You How to Win Wars.

CHANGE: UNCW dismantles DEI positions, redirects almost $1.5 million to help students.

WELL, GOOD: Taiwanese military report says China lacks full invasion force.

China has stepped up deployments of new types of anti-ship ballistic missiles and ultra-high-speed hypersonic missiles, which will provide opportunities for strikes against foreign military forces in the seas between the Chinese coast and what Beijing calls the “second island chain” — islands stretching from Japan to Guam, the report said.

The report also disclosed that the Chinese coast guard is being bolstered with new weapons and the addition of small warships from the Chinese navy.

But despite China’s overall buildup, the report concludes that China’s current capabilities are not sufficient to move large amounts of forces across the 100-mile Taiwan Strait that would be needed in a military strike. The lack of amphibious forces and supply capabilities for cross-strait warfare means the Chinese military is “not fully prepared to conduct a full-scale invasion on Taiwan,” the report said.

A military source said one of the lessons China has learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is that an assault on Taiwan will be much more difficult than originally anticipated.

Giving China pause gives us time to fix our Navy.

FORGET IT, HE’S RESTING:

They are called "helicopters," Joe.

UH-60s and CH-47s, to be precise.

And there are a whole crapload of them on Fort Campbell and Fort Bragg (not that woke name), just a couple of hundred of miles away from the carnage in each direction.

They can: (i) bring in supplies,… https://t.co/Oi33mNbTgN

— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) October 1, 2024

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: More Helene Destruction — Kamala’s ‘President for All Americans’ Shtick. “I’m in Michigan right now and there is a Harris ad in heavy rotation in which she promises to be a president for all Americans because she doesn’t ask people in need if they’re Republican or Democrat.”

LIGHTNING DEAL: Emergency Radio,10000mAh Solar Radio.#CommissionEarned

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: A historic strike is underway at U.S. ports — and the impact on global supply chains could be huge.

PUSHBACK WORKS: Florida City Gun Sales Ban Was ‘Mistakenly’ Ordered, Not Enforced After National Blowback.

THE COUNTRY IS IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS:

CNBC: What are you hearing will happen if dockworkers strike and it goes longer than a week?

Harris-Biden Commerce Sec. Gina Raimondo: "I have not been very focused on that."

😳 pic.twitter.com/Q6rpqsoiO8

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 30, 2024

What do ports and dockworkers have to do with commerce, anyway?

SERIOUSLY, WHAT DOES SHE BRING TO THE TABLE? ‘The Worst Democratic Performance in a Generation’: CNN Sounds Alarm on Harris’s Waning Support Among Union Voters.

PETTY POLITICS ARE THE ORDER OF THE DAY IN THIS ADMINISTRATION: Harris/Biden Denied Starlink to Hundreds of Thousands; Now They Rely On It. “Donald Trump is public enemy #1 for the Democrats, and Elon Musk comes in a quick second place. They hate him so much that hundreds of thousands of people are being denied broadband, and North Carolina is 19,500 Starlink terminals short of where it would be if the original FCC contract had been honored.”

Hate is their main motivator. Well, and greed.

Plus: “Donald Trump and Elon Musk will have done more to restore communications to stricken regions than Biden and Harris. They have done more already, actually.”

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Is Iran’s Nuclear Program Next on Israel’s Target List?

WHY DO DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES FAKE UP THEIR BIOS? Tim Walz Said He Was in Hong Kong During the Tiananmen Square Massacre. He Was Home in Nebraska. “Walz’s claims in 2014 congressional hearing are a tall tale, video and local news reports show.”