“Browser is your nightlight, tabbing is your dream,” and then as I blogged it, she said, “See what I mean” …
NEW VIDEO shows the chaos aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the Israel-bound plane, sending it plunging nearly 14,000 feet before passengers and crew intervened and the flight made an emergency landing in Saudi… pic.twitter.com/ol0PUouWFJ
— Salem News Channel (@WatchSalemNews) October 2, 2026
Ed: This is the story of the week, and it’s not over yet.
===
Times of Israel: Anwar Gargash, an adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, on Friday described the attempted crashing of a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv earlier in the week as an “act of terrorism,” becoming the first senior Emirati official to publicly characterize the incident in those terms.
In a post on X, Gargash praised Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who was stabbed several times by his Omani copilot as part of the latter’s alleged attempt to crash the plane. Machchhar still managed to open the cockpit door, allowing three Israeli passengers to rush in and subdue the attack before off-duty airmen — who happened to be on the plane — were able to conduct an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Gargash wrote that Machchhar deserved recognition because he “showed the meaning of courage when he confronted a dangerous and potentially catastrophic act of terrorism.”
He also warned against “simplistic interpretations” and conspiracy theories surrounding the incident, saying vigilance was essential in confronting the dangers posed by extremism and terrorism.
Ed: And in other breaking news, water is wet. What’s surprising is that the UAE is (relatively) out front with this explanation; it certainly is an admission against interests, given the liability that it places on their state-owned airline and the security apparatus of the state. This puts more pressure on American media outlets to report on this attack honestly rather than just as an “altercation” between pilots. As for ‘conspiracy theories,’ the UAE owes us an explanation for how this jihadi got assigned to this flight in the first place. See below.
===
— Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld) October 1, 2026
Ed: I’m glad we can laugh about this now. We are incredibly fortunate to be able to do so. If we don’t take this threat seriously, however, we won’t laugh for long.
===
WSJ: The FlyDubai co-pilot who stabbed his captain and sent Flight 1073 diving toward the ground had previously been banned from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted radical ideological views, people familiar with the matter said.
Despite the ban, the pilot, an Omani national, was hired by FlyDubai, the people said, allowing him to pilot on the sensitive route connecting the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
It couldn’t be determined whether Oman shared concerns about the pilot’s radicalization with other countries or airlines. The nature of his radicalization couldn’t be learned. …
Aviation-security analysts said the incident represented a significant security failure. While a screening error might have let a weapon through, a motivated assailant should have been detected and caught long before reaching the airport, they said.
Ed: (Update: fixed.)The nature of the radicalization couldn’t be learned? Child, please. Give it a rest. This was a radical-jihadi terrorist in a pilot uniform who attempted mass murder and nearly succeeded. Why can’t the American media even make reference to the obvious, even as the clear probability?
===
Just FYI, this ad wouldn’t exist if @AbdulElSayed actually condemned the IRGC and answered my questions. It was Abdul’s cowardly non-answer that created a viral moment that led to me officially meeting the Rogers campaign. https://t.co/ILD5yUcaZ2
— Iman Dashti (@dashti_iman) October 2, 2026
Ed: If you want to see the full exchange, check out the embeds at Twitchy. El-Sayed’s sophistry played well with the audience at the time, but the argument was nonsense on stilts. We don’t need Iran’s oil; we now pump enough of our own to be a net exporter to the global markets.
===
David Harsanyi at WashEx: “Breaking News,” the New York Times posted on X this week, “a plane flying from Dubai to Israel was diverted after an altercation between the pilot and co-pilot, Israeli officials said.”
The “altercation” entailed what looks to be a radicalized Islamist Flydubai pilot stabbing his Indian co-pilot and attempting to hijack a plane filled with around 180 Israelis aboard and crash it. He nearly succeeded. While the plane plummeted over 17,000 feet, passengers and crew got into the cockpit — reportedly the door had been opened by the wounded captain — and neutralized the terrorist. One passenger, a doctor, worked to save the captain. Another passenger took over the controls and landed the plane.
The New York Times responded to criticism about its misleading headline, contending that live coverage contained “all the facts we’re able to confirm” at the time. “Unlike activists and partisans, we don’t publish speculation or unverified information.”
Of course it does.
The New York Times could not have known all the details at the time, but it immediately downplayed the potential terrorist angle. It’s what the New York Times has been doing for decades.
Ed: Say, where’s the verification for the “Israeli rape dogs” story that the NYT ran? Or how about the destruction of the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, which they rushed to print before the sunrise proved it false? That took the “Paper of Record” six days to retract, and even then only grudgingly. The NYT and the rest of the Protection Racket Media are water-carrying for the radical Left that hates Israel and Jews. It’s just getting a lot more obvious these days.
===
I am deeply principled, and Abdul isn’t a socialist. Honestly the reason why he associates with them is worse than being one in my opinion. He does so out of pure manipulation of the movement, in order to advance his standing with young voters. They didn’t trust him in 17/18, so… https://t.co/mLrPOyMBPg
— Jordan Domingue (@DomingueJordan) October 1, 2026
… They didn’t trust him in 17/18, so he got close after losing. They are an election mule, he wanted to cultivate for his next run. Hoping to rise as AOC did off of their organizing and energy. No one wants power more.
Ed: Most socialists aren’t socialists in the theoretical sense. The entire movement is built on seizing power, not applying Marxist economic theory, which fails every time it’s tried except for maintaining power. El-Sayed fits right into that paradigm, and so does AOC, Bernie Sanders, Darializer Chevalier, and the entire progressive Left.
===
NY Times: The top super PAC for Senate Republicans is canceling all the remaining ads it had booked in North Carolina as of Friday, shifting away tens of millions of dollars in a move that signals that Republicans no longer see a path to winning the state this fall.
At the same time, the super PAC, called the Senate Leadership Fund, is making its first investment of the cycle in Kansas — a sign of rising concern among Republicans in red states — with a new ad attacking the Democratic nominee there.
If Republicans lose North Carolina, it would give Democrats one of the four seats they need to flip the Senate in the fall — if Democrats hold all of their own seats.
Ed: This hasn’t been an ‘if’ for a long time. North Carolina has been a purple state for a while, trending blue. That’s a result of the draw from the Raleigh-Durham “Research Triangle,” which I wrote about in “Going Red” a decade ago (the Wake County chapter). Thom Tillis’ retirement more or less doomed the GOP in this cycle, and if they are moving their money now, it likely will do them more good elsewhere.
===
I’m worried that Francisco Franco may be ill. https://t.co/CCYUefSsc1
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) October 2, 2026
===
This is bonkers. The family of Rene Good has filed a lawsuit accusing me of participating in a “conspiracy” with President Trump, Nick Shirley, and Palantir to violate the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. It provides no evidence for that conspiracy. Reads like a left-wing QAnon fantasy. pic.twitter.com/2c6wDhApOp
— Christopher Rufo (@christopherrufo) October 1, 2026
Ed: Anyone with $500 and an attorney can file a lawsuit. Winning one is entirely different. Good is a cause celebre among revolutionary radicals, but in reality, she interfered in a law-enforcement operation and then drove her vehicle at one of the LEOs after a lawful order to exit the vehicle. She created her own risk and liability, and the video shows her striking the officer who responded with appropriate lethal force to stop the attack.
===
Matt Margolis at PJ Media: Start with his claim that the two women were driving home together. Renee Good stopped her car sideways with the deliberate intent of obstructing ICE. Her partner Becca got out of the vehicle to film the ICE operation. This was all by design. When an agent ordered Renee out, yelling, “Get out of the f*****g car,” and tried to open the door, Becca tried to get back in on the passenger side but couldn’t open the door. So she shouted, over and over, “Drive, baby, drive!” Renee then backed the Honda Pilot up, turned the wheels, pointed the SUV at the agent, and hit the gas. The tires spun on the ice for a moment, and then the vehicle rammed into him.
Becca knows this better than anyone, because she said so herself. A later video shows her acknowledging her role in the tragedy. “I made her come down here; it’s my fault,” she said.
So Becca admitted they were there on purpose, not just part of their usual drive home. Innocent people who randomly encounter ICE agents in the middle of an operation don’t say that. The Goods were there to obstruct and antagonize. Becca taunted agents, then told Renee to drive, and Renee did, with an agent in her path, forcing him to defend himself after she struck him.
None of this fits the “ordinary people” story the media has been pushing on us since January.
Ed: Again, Good and her wife created the risk and liability. People do not have the right to interfere with law enforcement. They should be suing the activist groups that organized these “street actions” to interfere with ICE, not the federal agency that enforced legitimate immigration warrants and the law.
===
They’ve already decided who, by definition, is guilty and it’s only a matter now of going out and punishing them.
Kathy Hochul should indeed have great confidence in Letitia James—to act in total accordance with the pre-determined narrative, like the political hack that she is.… https://t.co/SHXaYpnTNW
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) October 2, 2026
Ed: This is akin to hiring an arsonist to put out a dumpster fire. In fact, that’s exactly what this is.
===
Politico: The Trump administration’s full-court pressure campaign on Europe to release diesel supplies or face a U.S. export ban heading into the winter has split and angered European leaders, entangled oil companies and raised private charges of “blackmail.” It also appears to have worked.
Senior White House officials led a pressure campaign on European governments to open the spigot on their strategic reserves, according to 10 oil industry executives and European government officials who were granted anonymity to describe the negotiations. Their tactics ultimately led to G7 countries announcing they would release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from their strategic reserves over the next four months. …
One European diplomat characterized the White House’s demands for a release against the threat of a U.S. export ban explicitly as “blackmail,” an official briefed on a call between EU energy officials early Friday told POLITICO.
“EU member states took the U.S. request as blackmail and see it as a broader security issue,” the official said.
Ed: Maybe if the EU had taken a more active role in disarming Iran, and maybe if the EU had understood the necessity of relieving pressure on refined goods by easing their hoarding of them, it wouldn’t have come to this. That, by the way, is why it “worked.”
===
.@FareedZakaria says California is a “case study in failed governance.”
He says Democrats have struggled to provide “public order” on a local level.
Far too often, he says, they’ve prioritized the rights of the homeless over the rights of home owners.
“The Democratic Party… pic.twitter.com/dbE3Fj9YT4
— Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) October 2, 2026
“The Democratic Party needs to think with it’s head and not just with it’s heart.”
So…why do Democrats keep winning?
“What has happened with partisan alignment now is it’s almost tribal.”
What can be done to break the cycle?
Zakaria says San Francisco Mayor @DanielLurie is a “good example” of how to make government work more efficiently.
The moderate Democrat with a business background has focused on improving public safety and economic revitilization.
“You can tackle these in a way that’s not inhumane but does solve the problem.”
Ed: Isn’t that the city that’s installing pedophiles near schools? I don’t see much cycle-breaking going on here, but Zakaria isn’t wrong about California’s complete governing failure. And I don’t think that tribal alignment is the only reason Democrats keep winning those elections, either.
===
He may not win the election, but Steve’s team wins the Oscar for the cycle. 😂👭 https://t.co/zFvrGZZbvX
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) October 2, 2026
Ed: Let’s hope he wins both!
===
Last night’s lyric: “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” by Meat Loaf. I apologize in advance for tonight’s. 🙂
Editor’s Note: If we thought our job in pushing back against the Academia/media/Democrat censorship complex was over with the election, think again. This is going to be a long fight. If you’re digging these Final Word posts and want to join the conversation in the comments—and support independent platforms—why not join our VIP Membership program? Choose VIP to support Hot Air and access our premium content, VIP Gold to extend your access to all Townhall Media platforms and participate in this show, or VIP Platinum to get access to even more content and discounts on merchandise. Use the promo code FIGHT to join or to upgrade your existing membership level today, and get 60% off!
Read the full article here
