https://www.sott.net/category/18-Societys-Child Signs of the Times: The World for People who Think. Featuring independent, unbiased, alternative news and commentary on world events. en-us Original content Copyright 2026 by Signs of the Times/Sott.net. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net. Tue, 28 Jul 2026 21:06:09 +0000 https://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net https://www.sott.net https://www.sott.net/article/507638-Houthi-threats-force-Saudi-crude-tanker-onto-Suez-route-to-Asia The Houthi threats to shipping in the Red Sea and its chokepoint, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, have forced at least one oil tanker carrying Saudi crude to Asia to choose the much longer route through the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean, and around Africa. The supertanker Olympic Luck, partially laden with Saudi crude at Yanbu on the Red Sea, transited the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean late on Sunday, according to shipping data monitored by Bloomberg. The U-turn from Bab el-Mandeb indicates that some tanker owners aren't willing to risk crossing southward into the Arabian Sea on the much shorter route to Asia, as the Iran-aligned Houthis have threatened - and struck - Saudi tankers in the Red Sea in recent days. https://www.sott.net/article/507638-Houthi-threats-force-Saudi-crude-tanker-onto-Suez-route-to-Asia Tue, 28 Jul 2026 21:05:41 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507636-Crime-ridden-Chicago-loses-seven-Save-A-Lot-grocery-stores-Taxpayer-millions-couldnt-save-them Save A Lot shuttered seven locations across Chicago's crime-ridden South and West sides over the weekend, once again exposing the dysfunction of a metro area run by unhinged progressives. City officials poured millions of dollars into the grocery outlets in hopes of improving food access, only to watch the stores remain unprofitable amid persistent theft. Local outlet ABC 7 reports "frustration, anger, and concern" among the community as Save A Lot shuttered seven stores on Saturday, with many residents saying this would reduce their access to food. The outlet noted: Save A Lot began a partnership with retail company Yellow Banana in 2023 in an effort to keep grocery stores open on the city's South and West sides and combat food deserts. A company spokesperson cited financial struggles and cuts to SNAP benefits as reasons for the closures. In a statement, the company said, "We are committed to the wellbeing of the communities we serve. We will continue to engage with City and... https://www.sott.net/article/507636-Crime-ridden-Chicago-loses-seven-Save-A-Lot-grocery-stores-Taxpayer-millions-couldnt-save-them Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:25:42 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507627-Democrat-party-struggling-as-black-and-brown-voters-bail-Dont-want-socialism Party battles to keep minority voter support despite rise of democratic socialist candidates The Democratic Party is being hijacked, and the people it claims to fight hardest for are the first ones bailing out. The Democratic Socialists of America have gone from a fringe debate club to a governing faction inside the party in the span of a single election cycle. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani sits in Gracie Mansion. The organization is reportedly drafting a new platform calling for abolishing the U.S. Senate. This is not a healthcare plan. This is not a "tax the rich" bumper sticker. This is socialism, and in places its more radical wings openly flirt with communism, gaining real traction inside one of America's two governing parties. Democratic leadership is too terrified of its own base to say so out loud. Here is what should terrify them more: the coalition they need to win national elections is not buying what the DSA is selling. https://www.sott.net/article/507627-Democrat-party-struggling-as-black-and-brown-voters-bail-Dont-want-socialism Mon, 27 Jul 2026 19:53:31 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507624-Supreme-Court-rules-end-of-TPS-for-Haitians-ICE-prepares-major-removal-operation Ohio will be one state that will be heavily targeted, sources tell Fox News A sweeping ICE enforcement operation targeting Haitian migrants who are set to imminently lose their Temporary Protected Status is expected to begin as soon as this week, Fox News has learned. Last month, the Supreme Court reversed lower-court judgments that had postponed the administration's TPS terminations for Haiti and Syria while litigation continued. TPS was first granted to Haiti following the country's devastating 2010 earthquake. The designation allows eligible foreign nationals from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions to temporarily live and work legally in the United States. https://www.sott.net/article/507624-Supreme-Court-rules-end-of-TPS-for-Haitians-ICE-prepares-major-removal-operation Mon, 27 Jul 2026 19:00:53 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507622-German-industry-bleeding-jobs-business-lobby The country's industrial sector is losing around 15,000 jobs every month, according to manufacturing association BDI. Federation of German Industries (BDI) chief Tanja Goenner has warned Germany is rapidly losing industrial jobs and competitiveness, describing the situation as "critical." The BDI, Germany's main industry association, represents around 39 industrial groups and more than 100,000 companies employing over 8 million people, making it the voice of Germany's industrial core. In an interview with the news agency dpa released on Saturday, Goenner said Germany's industrial sector is losing around 15,000 jobs every month, blaming structural weaknesses and external geopolitical pressures. "The situation in industry is critical," she said, adding that "Germany has lost ground in terms of competitiveness" as a business and manufacturing hub. Goenner pointed to growing market distortions from Chinese exports and US tariff policies, saying they are weighing heavily on domestic... https://www.sott.net/article/507622-German-industry-bleeding-jobs-business-lobby Mon, 27 Jul 2026 18:50:45 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507616-Judge-Boasberg-whines-about-Trumps-power-gets-caught-exceeding-his-own Two groups were arrested for writing pro-life messages while BLM messages went untouched. Chief Judge James Boasberg is frustrated ... and he is not alone. Recently, the D.C. federal judge reportedly groused that the D.C. appellate court had ordered him to reconsider a case about whether the D.C. government engaged in biased enforcement against political graffiti. Conversely, the litigants are equally irked over what they see as Boasberg's bias after he responded by, again, dismissing their claims without a trial. For a second time, Boasberg has barred pro-life groups from access to a jury after members were arrested for writing in chalk, "Black Pre-Born Lives Matter" on a sidewalk while Black Lives Matter writings were left untouched. I wrote earlier about the emerging body of "Boasberg's Law," cases in which the judge has increasingly shown an untethered and expansive view of his own authority. Recently, Boasberg was found to have committed an "abuse of discretion" in twice... https://www.sott.net/article/507616-Judge-Boasberg-whines-about-Trumps-power-gets-caught-exceeding-his-own Sun, 26 Jul 2026 21:54:10 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507615-Russia-blasts-Ukraine-for-drone-mass-casualty-attack-on-holiday-camp-in-Kirilovka-Zaporizhzhia-oblast Russia has blamed Ukraine for a mass casualty event at a 'holiday camp' in the partly Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia region on Saturday. Local Russian officials overseeing Zaporizhzhia have said twelve people were killed and at least 19 more wounded due to a major Ukrainian drone attack. Ukraine did not immediately issue any statements acknowledging the deadly strikes. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that "Striking civilians is the method used by terrorists" in a press briefing. ABC News later reported that "Four children were among 11 people killed in the attack on the resorts in Zaporizhzhia, Yevgeny Balitsky, the Kremlin-installed regional head, said, adding that 16 others were wounded." Russia's RT in an update stated the official number at 12 deceased. https://www.sott.net/article/507615-Russia-blasts-Ukraine-for-drone-mass-casualty-attack-on-holiday-camp-in-Kirilovka-Zaporizhzhia-oblast Sun, 26 Jul 2026 21:32:02 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507614-Its-finally-happened-Arizona-university-made-INFLUENCING-a-college-major As universities churn out debt-loaded leftists who hate America Arizona State University has decided the path to success runs straight through TikTok dances, personal branding, and "strategic storytelling." The school's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication is now offering a full "Bachelor of Arts in Content Creation", explicitly designed to turn students into influencers who can "thrive in the rapidly evolving creator economy." The program's description states that students will learn content planning, video and podcast production, global perspectives, and personal branding. They will analyze performance metrics, experiment with content strategies, and complete a capstone where they pick a platform — TikTok, Instagram, YouTube — and spend a semester growing an actual audience with measurable results. https://www.sott.net/article/507614-Its-finally-happened-Arizona-university-made-INFLUENCING-a-college-major Sun, 26 Jul 2026 21:13:35 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507613-The-legacy-media-hates-Elon-Musk-The-real-reason-for-the-latest-collective-meltdown Some would say that Elon Musk is an enigma; a billionaire entrepreneur with a focus on green tech and environmental impact who used to support Democrat fixtures like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, only to become one of the progressive establishment's biggest opponents. What happened? As Musk readily admits, the progressive movement changed and he did not. One could argue that the progressive movement didn't change, it just pulled the mask off and revealed the monstrous face underneath. Either way, anyone who saw that ugly face during the despotic insanity of the pandemic era and refused to adapt and embrace it was deemed an "enemy of democracy". Musk got a real good look and was clearly repulsed. https://www.sott.net/article/507613-The-legacy-media-hates-Elon-Musk-The-real-reason-for-the-latest-collective-meltdown Sun, 26 Jul 2026 20:50:47 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507600-On-microlooters-and-macrolooters An academic analyzes the ethics of stealing lemons while squeezing taxpayers and living off our largesse. Jennifer Baker, PhD, receives about $100,000 per year in monetary compensation, plus an additional ~$30,000 in benefits. Because she works at a state university — The University of Charleston — supported by both state and federal taxpayers, she is the direct beneficiary of what we might call macrolooting. Her salary depends, at least in part, on compulsory taxation, placing her in the comfortable position of evaluating the ethics of breaching paywalls while leaving the coercive institutions that fund her livelihood unexamined. Yet, as an American and resident of SC, I'm compelled to bankroll her salary and the salaries of most other academics with whom I disagree and who inculcate bad ideas in our smartest kids. In other words, if I wanted to avoid paying her salary, I would have to pay an exit tax to leave the country, and lose my citizenship. With all this in mind, let's turn... https://www.sott.net/article/507600-On-microlooters-and-macrolooters Sat, 25 Jul 2026 17:03:06 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507599-Why-I-m-writing-this-anonymously-and-what-that-says-about-free-speech-in-Britain-today I have wanted to write for the Daily Sceptic for a long time. It should be a straightforward ambition to fulfil. I have opinions, I support free speech and scepticism, and here is a publication built for exactly that. Instead, my first contribution arrives unsigned. I think the reason why is, in itself, the article. Ann Widdecombe's murder has reopened a question that surfaces from time to time: should politicians with 'unfashionable' views get extra protection? The investigation continues, so I won't comment on that, but the fact that the question is even being asked in response to a 78 year-old woman being killed in her own home tells you something regardless of how the investigation concludes. We have been here before. Jo Cox in 2016. David Amess in 2021. A pattern is forming, whatever the final facts of this particular case turn out to be. The debate this triggers is usually framed narrowly: what security do MPs need? I want to push it wider: what if politicians are not... https://www.sott.net/article/507599-Why-I-m-writing-this-anonymously-and-what-that-says-about-free-speech-in-Britain-today Sat, 25 Jul 2026 16:32:28 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507592-Californias-civil-rights-mafia Gavin Newsom is running a shakedown campaign against major companies. In 2018, two women filed a class-action suit against Riot Games, the video-game colossus responsible for League of Legends, Valorant, and other popular titles. They claimed that the company had denied them and other female employees "equal pay," favored men for promotions, and created a "hostile work environment." The women wanted Riot Games to pay out and to "cause social change." One year later, the parties agreed to a $10 million settlement. It was a massive sum, but not enough for California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which intervened to block the agreement and claim that Riot Games could be on the hook for a staggering $400 million. Facing a court battle against a deep-pocketed state agency, Riot Games later agreed to a $100 million settlement, about ten times the original amount. California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing, now called the Civil Rights Department, has turned the... https://www.sott.net/article/507592-Californias-civil-rights-mafia Sat, 25 Jul 2026 16:13:04 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507591-The-Views-Sunny-Hostin-hates-privilege-except-for-her-own Her efforts to prevent her allegedly law-breaking son from being arrested are laughable when you know her history. No one hates "privilege" more than Sunny Hostin. The slightly black co-host of The View, who earns $2 million annually and lives with her orthopedic surgeon husband in a 12,000-square-foot New York City apartment, repeatedly castigates those — usually white — who exercise their "privilege." However, when it came to throwing her weight around with the cops to protect her son from allegedly illegal conduct, the whole idea of "privilege" vanished from Hostin's mind. Hostin, a former federal prosecutor with a pretty face, landed herself a gig on The View, a show that is aggressively woke. In that context, Hostin often complains about privilege — all kinds of privilege that imply that talent and hard work are meaningless. Here are some notable examples: In April 2019, when he was running for the Democrat nomination, Pete Buttigieg made obeisance to the race and sex hustlers... https://www.sott.net/article/507591-The-Views-Sunny-Hostin-hates-privilege-except-for-her-own Sat, 25 Jul 2026 15:48:59 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507590-The-Odyssey-and-the-tiresome-woke-war-against-White-culture We've all heard the argument for most of our lives: "White culture doesn't exist." It's perhaps the most common racial refrain because it's the most socially acceptable to repeat. If someone said "Black culture doesn't exist because black people all herald from different tribes..." that person would be browbeaten as a bigot by the woke mob. When it comes to white culture, such claims are applauded. The question is, why is it okay to diminish or denigrate white culture while worshiping every other culture? Furthermore, if white culture doesn't exist, why are woke minority groups constantly trying to hijack white history and accomplishments? I want to explore this issue a little more deeply, mostly because of the endless targeting of western civilization through the leftist deconstruction of our most popular figures and mythologies. This time, the Hollywood elites have chosen Homer's The Odyssey, an ancient Greek classic deeply rooted in western history (white history), as their... https://www.sott.net/article/507590-The-Odyssey-and-the-tiresome-woke-war-against-White-culture Sat, 25 Jul 2026 15:37:26 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507583-Election-integrity-Is-representative-democracy-a-foolish-fantasy The US Constitution is perhaps the most significant historical and governmental document in a millennia. It established the modern conception of the western Republic, along with true representative government designed to answer to the people rather than rule over the people. The Bill of Rights outlined clear restrictions on federal and state powers to legislate away the inherent and God given freedoms of the citizenry; an accomplishment which had been attempted in the past but was never truly realized until the war for independence and the creation of the United States. Until that moment, the idea that common men answer to authority and authority answers to no one was the accepted norm. It's a document and an ideal that gave birth to an epoch. However, our constitutional republic was created based on conditions that, frankly, no longer exist. The American population was 95% Christian. The implementation of "patriarchy" was widespread and embraced as the most solid foundation for... https://www.sott.net/article/507583-Election-integrity-Is-representative-democracy-a-foolish-fantasy Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:00:58 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507572-The-Fourth-Turning-Global-war "THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." - Thomas Paine - The American Crisis * * * "At worst, should at least one desperate country resort to WMDs, the outcome of a great-power war could prove to be even more devastating than that of a civil war. The toll could be almost unimaginable - with multiple cities destroyed, many millions killed, and many tens of millions displaced - all perhaps triggered by some ill-fated combination of the wrong leader making the wrong choice at the wrong time." - Neil Howe - The Fourth Turning Is Here My previous two articles about this Fourth Turning: Prophets, Nomads and a Fourth Turning Accelerating Towards a Bloody Climax... https://www.sott.net/article/507572-The-Fourth-Turning-Global-war Thu, 23 Jul 2026 21:55:25 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507568-Oregon-sees-disturbing-spike-in-gender-transition-therapy-for-children If you're curious to see what the US would look like under an entrenched progressive regime, deep blue states like Oregon offer special insight. Four years of woke Democrats running the show under the Biden Administration was bad enough - Pride flags draped across the White House and naked transgenders dancing across the lawn was an embarrassing moment for the nation. However, for people living on the West Coast, the agenda continues unabated. The children of blue states are still on the menu, and Oregon is surpassing them all with an acceleration of gender-based indoctrination. According to a recent study published in Oxford Academic's Research Connections, children in Oregon are up to three times more likely to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria compared to the national average. The study maintains that the rate of gender treatments in Oregon remains "rare", but when the numbers are compared to most states across the country a disturbing trend becomes visible. Using insurance... https://www.sott.net/article/507568-Oregon-sees-disturbing-spike-in-gender-transition-therapy-for-children Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:10:45 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507566-Academic-says-get-used-to-a-few-blackouts-to-keep-costs-down A little piece of the third world has just arrived in Australia What bad luck eh? Electricity prices are rising again in the Renewable Superpower known as South Australia. But it's not the fault of renewable energy, it's your fault see, for "demanding the highest standards of reliability." — you unreasonable perfectionist, you. If the unwashed masses can just let go of that extravagant notion and live with a few blackouts, the experts can make electricity prices slightly lower. (But not actually cheap, just at nosebleed level, not the full ischemic stroke grade power bill, right?) For the last twenty years they've been beating us over the head with the message that renewables are the cheapest form of energy there is, bar none. But now that has categorically failed, they are not just moving the goal posts, they're trying to change the game. Make no mistake, this is a big pivot. They are admitting (quietly, and without the honesty to actually say so) that it's more expensive to run a... https://www.sott.net/article/507566-Academic-says-get-used-to-a-few-blackouts-to-keep-costs-down Thu, 23 Jul 2026 18:32:43 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507556-The-conflicts-brewing-in-Americas-ten-socioeconomic-classes What we do know is that things have internal structures with dynamics that operate whether we "like" them or not. Correspondent Manoj S. recommended an essay from the always-insightful John Michael Greer on the dissolution of unproductive classes behind the smokescreen of AI: A Game of Musical Chairs "You can sell Americans on anything, no matter how wretchedly unsatisfactory it is, by labeling it as progress. That's what's being done now, with AI being used as a justification for firing useless workers, deleting unnecessary departments, cutting office staff down to scales that actually make sense, and shutting down the classroom-to-cubicle pipeline that once poured new graduates into salary class jobs. We can expect that process to accelerate dramatically in the years ahead." https://www.sott.net/article/507556-The-conflicts-brewing-in-Americas-ten-socioeconomic-classes Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:16:43 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507549-AI-abundance-Part-5-meaning-beyond-work Discussions of artificial intelligence typically begin with the question, What happens when the machines take our jobs? For thousands of years, work has been the means by which we fed our families, earned our place in society, and gave structure to our lives. We have come to equate paid employment with identity. That presumption may soon be obsolete. When Elon Musk proposed replacing Universal Basic Income with what he calls a Universal High Income — a level of income sufficient for everyone to live comfortably while intelligent machines produce much of the goods and services society requires — critics warned that people would become lazy. They would stop pursuing college degrees, stop starting businesses, stop inventing, stop contributing. Without jobs, it was argued, life itself would lose meaning and purpose. Interestingly, humanity's oldest written history begins with the premise that the purpose of humans is to work. The earliest known writing was impressed into clay tablets... https://www.sott.net/article/507549-AI-abundance-Part-5-meaning-beyond-work Wed, 22 Jul 2026 20:15:01 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507546-Suicidal-empathy-Three-quarters-of-refugee-linked-households-in-Vienna-rely-on-taxpayer-handouts Statistics Austria data shows 47% of 103,000 refugee-linked households nationwide are not self-sufficient, with welfare dependence rising to 75% in Vienna Three-quarters of households in Vienna connected to migrants from popular asylum-origin countries are unable to support themselves without government benefits, according to figures analyzed by Statistics Austria. The analysis, cited by Kronen Zeitung, covered approximately 103,000 households across Austria containing at least one recognized refugee, asylum-seeker, or person granted subsidiary protection from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, or Chechnya in the Russian Federation. Vienna recorded by far the highest rate of welfare dependence. About 75 percent of the households examined in the capital relied on minimum-income payments or comparable state support, meaning only one in four was considered economically self-sufficient. https://www.sott.net/article/507546-Suicidal-empathy-Three-quarters-of-refugee-linked-households-in-Vienna-rely-on-taxpayer-handouts Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:06:36 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507544-Vagrants-wire-NYCs-growing-Intrepid-Museum-homeless-camp-with-stolen-electricity-cops-forced-to-step-in Now they got juice. A shameless vagrant at the putrid homeless encampment that has sprouted up along a wide stretch of Manhattan's West Side tapped into city utility lines for electricity on Tuesday, as the unsightly shantytown continues to flaunt City Hall. The brazen utility theft at a makeshift red shelter at 34th Street between 11th and 12th Avenue, part of a 12-block-long encampment near the Intrepid Museum, is the latest slap in the face to Big Apple tourists and neighborhood workers and residents. "Almost one month now - getting a little bigger every time I come back," one Flixbus driver told The Post. "They put the garbage here on the sidewalk so the people have to wait in the street when I come with the bus. "They're asking the people waiting for the bus for money," the driver said. "It's no good. My boss called and complained and they do nothing." https://www.sott.net/article/507544-Vagrants-wire-NYCs-growing-Intrepid-Museum-homeless-camp-with-stolen-electricity-cops-forced-to-step-in Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:44:40 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507542-Trumps-taking-on-right-to-repair-What-does-it-mean Questions persist over what it means for drivers to have the right to repair their cars and trucks after President Donald Trump's recent memorandum, which aims to open up access to aftermarket vehicle repairs. The June 29 memorandum impacts a slice of the controversy between auto makers, car owners, and independent workshops over who can technically and legally conduct certain auto maintenance and repair jobs. The memo specifically targets emissions components that are strictly regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the federal Clean Air Act. Automotive and legal experts who spoke to The Epoch Times explained what types of repairs the memorandum impacts, what this means for vehicle owners, and some of the potential consequences for the industry as a whole. "What Trump's trying to do here is figure out, is there an alternative to let people basically work on their cars if it's something relating to emissions?" Joe Luppino-Esposito, federal policy director of... https://www.sott.net/article/507542-Trumps-taking-on-right-to-repair-What-does-it-mean Wed, 22 Jul 2026 14:45:38 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507535-Start-Spreadin-the-News-New-York-losing-billions-as-millionaires-flee-the-Big-Apple Below is my column in the New York Post on the sharp decline in millionaires in New York, costing the state billions as many flee. The exodus has been building for years but may now be accelerating. As Mayor Mamdani holds another press conference promising to end the "violence of evictions," businesses are reading the writing on the wall. Rather than work to make the state more attractive to wealthy residents and businesses, Democrats are seeking to diminish the appeal of two-tax states. They want to tap into a long-barred area of taxation: the wealth rather than just the income of citizens. By passing a national wealth tax, Democrats will reduce the benefit of fleeing high-tax states like California and New York. Here is the column: "Start spreadin' the news, I'm leavin' today" — that's how the famous song "New York, New York" captures the Big Apple's draw. Today, the line is becoming more ironic than iconic: Many people are indeed leaving ... from "New York, New York". Worse yet,... https://www.sott.net/article/507535-Start-Spreadin-the-News-New-York-losing-billions-as-millionaires-flee-the-Big-Apple Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:56:50 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507534-Houthis-announce-blockade-on-Saudi-shipping-threaten-drone-missile-attacks-on-kingdom Yemen's Houthi rebels have announced they are imposing a new maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia in response for a recent attack on Sanaa Airport, and after years of the kingdom leading a blockade of Houthi-controlled Yemeni ports. A military statement by Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the maritime ban on all Saudi shipping will be effective immediately in what he declared as an "equation of 'an eye for an eye.'" However, details of what this 'embargo' will look like, in terms of where or what chokepoints the Houthis might seek to blockade were not given. Last week the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen attacked the Houthi-controlled Sanaa International Airport, threatening a fragile truce that has been in place since 2022. Saudi jets had prevented an Iranian passenger plane from landing there, after the US-Saudi recognized Yemeni government warned against any Iranian planes entering the divided country's airspace. https://www.sott.net/article/507534-Houthis-announce-blockade-on-Saudi-shipping-threaten-drone-missile-attacks-on-kingdom Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:56:01 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507530-Academia-embarrasses-itself-again Over at Twitchy, a publication that curates the news in funny yet insightful ways, a headline reads, "Head of Medical School Tells Congresswoman the Vast Majority of Pregnancies Occur in Women." Sure enough, Twitchy is telling the truth. During witness testimony before a congressional committee examining the impact of forced "diversity," preferential (non-merit-based) admissions, and "woke" ideology upon the quality of medical schools, the chancellor of UC San Francisco testified under oath that not all pregnancies come from women. That chancellor, Samuel Hawgood, is not some administrative bureaucrat with a made-up bachelor's degree in the discriminatory effects of man-made "climate change" upon "transgender" Pakistanis (and an obligatory master's in why American taxpayers must foot the bill for all "sex change" surgeries around the world). No, Hawgood is an actual pediatrician who previously served as UCSF's dean of the School of Medicine. A man who did his residency at the Royal... https://www.sott.net/article/507530-Academia-embarrasses-itself-again Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:28:23 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507521-Mamdani-weighs-possible-Netanyahu-arrest-at-September-U-N-General-Assembly New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said city attorneys are reviewing whether local authorities could legally detain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he attends the United Nations gathering in Manhattan. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration is examining whether the city could attempt to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when world leaders gather for the United Nations General Assembly in September. Mamdani acknowledged that he has not determined whether the mayor's office or the New York Police Department possesses the legal authority to detain a visiting foreign leader. He said the question is being discussed with city attorneys and that any action would depend on their interpretation of applicable law. "Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that's what we will do," Mamdani said in an interview published Saturday by The New York Times. The mayor argued that Netanyahu should face proceedings before the International Criminal Court,... https://www.sott.net/article/507521-Mamdani-weighs-possible-Netanyahu-arrest-at-September-U-N-General-Assembly Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:13:23 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507520-The-DSA-and-the-myth-of-Scandinavian-socialism This week, Darializa Avila Chevalier was asked if there has ever been a "successful model of socialism anywhere in the world outside the United States in terms of both human rights and widespread economic justice." The member of the Democratic Socialists of America responded by citing Sweden and Norway. It is a common false claim made by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and others. I address the claim head-on in Rage and the Republic. DSA figures have been claiming that the socialist measures that they are pushing are proven successes in other countries. They often raise the Scandinavian myth. https://www.sott.net/article/507520-The-DSA-and-the-myth-of-Scandinavian-socialism Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:10:47 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507519-Europes-heatwave-is-becoming-an-energy-crisis The intense early summer heatwave in Europe is warming the biggest rivers and drying up their water levels, disrupting energy deliveries, power generation, and key supply chain routes. Europe's heatwave is disrupting energy and transport, with low river levels restricting barge traffic on the Rhine and driving up shipping costs for fuel, coal, and other goods. High river temperatures have forced France to cut nuclear power generation, reducing electricity output as reactors face cooling constraints. The extreme weather is adding to Europe's energy challenges, increasing inflationary pressures and threatening economic growth alongside ongoing disruptions from the Strait of Hormuz crisis. The heatwaves in Europe started as early as June, with record-breaking temperatures for weeks on end in Europe's biggest economies, Germany and France. As a result, rainfall was severely limited, and key inland transportation river routes were affected by navigation restrictions, with curbs on the... https://www.sott.net/article/507519-Europes-heatwave-is-becoming-an-energy-crisis Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:10:18 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507518-Wheres-Israel It is interesting that the country that goaded the United States - well, goaded Trump - into starting the war is no longer an active participant in the war. Let's you and him fight, as the saying goes. While Israel watches. Quietly. One hears almost nothing about Israel all of a sudden. "Bibi" isn't to be seen. Previously, it was hard not to see him. It's almost as if this war doesn't involve Israel when, of course, it is all about Israel. There would be no war were it not for Israel. Trump has admitted this, telling the world he had to attack Iran because Israel was going to. This somehow makes sense to Trump. More finely, he hopes it makes sense to Americans. The premise seems to be that had the United States not attacked Iran - had only Israel attacked Iran - somehow that would have resulted in harm to America. Well, that's exactly what happened. Americans have been killed and something on the order of $100 billion has been lost - so far. Americans are paying $4 for gas (again)... https://www.sott.net/article/507518-Wheres-Israel Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:48:35 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507516-The-Great-Woke-College-Experiment-Is-Collapsing-Under-the-Weight-of-Reality Today is dot-connecting day again! Something profound is happening in American higher education, and you'd never know how profound. Over a two-month period, a series of seemingly disconnected events — the return of standardized testing, the sudden panic over grade inflation, plunging business trust, and a relentless crackdown by the Trump administration — are, in fact, tightly connected. They represent the Great Unwinding of a core ideological project that systematically dismantled academic standards to achieve woke demographic outcomes. Three days ago, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported, "Janet Napolitano Helped Kill the SAT. She's Reconsidering." If her name sounds familiar, it's probably because Janet Napolitano was Obama's DHS Secretary from 2009 to 2013, during which tenure she implemented DACA and the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA). After leaving DHS, she immediately became president of one of the nation's largest progressive public university systems —... https://www.sott.net/article/507516-The-Great-Woke-College-Experiment-Is-Collapsing-Under-the-Weight-of-Reality Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:11:26 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507514-Best-Picture-no-longer-means-best-Why-most-contemporary-movies-suck How Oscar rules forced Nolan to cast for face, gender, & identity. To compete for Best Picture, Nolan first had to agree not to make it Christopher Nolan may have made The Odyssey to adapt Homer, but Universal also had to make it for the Academy's confidential diversity, equity, and inclusion spreadsheet. Before the Academy will even consider a 2026 film for Best Picture, the studio must document compliance with it's identity-based standards covering race, sex, and gender identity of the actors, crew members, interns and even executives. Nolan's cast contains many excellent performers. But under the Academy's rules, excellence alone is no longer the measure, and that changes how we should read every casting announcement coming out of Hollywood, including this one. Start with what the rules actually say, because most moviegoers have no idea they exist. Since 2024, a film cannot compete for Best Picture unless its distributor submits a confidential Representation and Inclusion... https://www.sott.net/article/507514-Best-Picture-no-longer-means-best-Why-most-contemporary-movies-suck Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:19:19 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507508-Oil-traders-warn-the-market-is-running-on-fumes-We-ve-burned-through-all-the-buffers Brent crude futures jumped a little more than 4% to nearly $88 a barrel, putting the crude oil benchmark on track for its biggest weekly gain since April. That move followed an Axios report that said the Trump administration had notified Israel it was deploying additional aerial assets to the region, signaling the US military could expand strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend. Financial Times spoke with energy traders at the end of the week who warned that slowing tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could trigger a more severe supply crunch than the first round of the US-Iran war because emergency reserves and stockpiles around the world that cushioned the earlier disruption have been mostly depleted. "We've burned through all of the buffers we had. Everything," said one trader. "All of that's now gone. https://www.sott.net/article/507508-Oil-traders-warn-the-market-is-running-on-fumes-We-ve-burned-through-all-the-buffers Sun, 19 Jul 2026 21:34:44 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507507-Survey-finds-nearly-half-of-Poles-now-want-to-stop-arming-Ukraine The reason is Poles' radically shifting views towards Ukraine since the start of their spiraling dispute sparked by Zelensky's state-level glorification of the Volhynia Genocide's OUN-UPA culprits. Leading Polish conservative newspaper Rzeczpospolita published the results of a survey that it commissioned showing that 45.2% of Poles now want to stop arming Ukraine. The majority are from the opposition, which includes conservative and libertarian-nationalist (populist in American political parlance) groups who a separate survey recently showed could form a coalition government after fall 2027's next Sejm elections, and is almost three times larger than the 18.3% from December 2022. Krzysztof Bosak, one of the populist Confederation's co-leaders, is quoted as reaffirming his party's consistent policy of supporting conditional aid to Ukraine that tangibly advances Polish interests. Its rapid growth in popularity per the second-mentioned survey above is likely due to the public... https://www.sott.net/article/507507-Survey-finds-nearly-half-of-Poles-now-want-to-stop-arming-Ukraine Sun, 19 Jul 2026 21:04:14 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507505-Secret-nazis-are-fine-If-they-advance-DSA-agenda-Member-Emma-Vigeland-inadvertently-exposes-socialist-playbook Far-left podcaster and Democratic Socialists of America member Emma Vigeland appeared to inadvertently expose the far-left movement's ends-justify-the-means political calculus: Even a "secret Nazi" would be acceptable if the candidate advanced a national socialist agenda. Vigeland, a former field reporter, producer, and commentator for The Young Turks and identified as a DSA member, also co-hosts The Majority Report with Sam Seder. She explained on a separate Vox podcast that she doesn't care if a progressive or socialist candidate has "Nazi" skeletons in their closet. "I am wary of over-focusing on an individual's personal character over their platform. You know, I've said this before. I don't really care if say like Bernie Sanders or AOC go home and they're a secret Nazi, but they go out and they vote for the right things. Like we're talking about politician," the DSA member said earlier this month. https://www.sott.net/article/507505-Secret-nazis-are-fine-If-they-advance-DSA-agenda-Member-Emma-Vigeland-inadvertently-exposes-socialist-playbook Sun, 19 Jul 2026 20:40:01 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507502-France-is-building-an-Orwellian-state-in-plain-sight Europe's got talent, a very specific one - a politico-administrative dystopia. And France is once again leading the way. First, a bit of recent history. In 2015, after the Maidan coup in Kiev and the beginning of the confrontation between Russia and the West, the EU created the East StratCom Task Force to fight foreign disinformation campaigns supposedly orchestrated by Russia. This agency is a part of the European External Action Service and its goal is to fight Russian activities and promote EU ones in eastern countries such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Belarus, etc. It's not double standards, it's a basic war for influence. So far, nothing surprising. Following suit, in 2021, the French authorities created VIGINUM, the Vigilance and Protection against Foreign Digital Interference Service, a national agency working as a watchdog for foreign interference in elections - incidentally, months before Macron's reelection after his first disastrous mandate. You know, just to be sure... https://www.sott.net/article/507502-France-is-building-an-Orwellian-state-in-plain-sight Sun, 19 Jul 2026 20:24:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507501-First-1-billion-now-50-million-Khanna-says-wealth-tax-must-not-stop-at-billionaires Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) - fresh off endorsing California's November ballot measure to seize 5% of billionaire wealth - published a Substack essay Wednesday titled, no really, "Why I Support a Billionaire Wealth Tax." He makes it roughly a dozen paragraphs before explaining that it isn't one. "The tax should not stop at billionaires, it must reach centimillionaires," Khanna writes, before spelling out exactly what that means: every fortune of $50 million and up, hit with a 2% federal levy on wealth above that line - every year, forever, on top of everything else you already pay. The vehicle is Elizabeth Warren's Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, which Khanna notes he has cosponsored every single year it's been introduced. And before anyone reaches for the estate planner: Khanna wants the levy to pierce irrevocable trusts, with the tax billed to the grantor who set them up - because parking a fortune in a trust, in his telling, shouldn't take it off the government's books. Former Microsoft... https://www.sott.net/article/507501-First-1-billion-now-50-million-Khanna-says-wealth-tax-must-not-stop-at-billionaires Sun, 19 Jul 2026 20:23:53 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507486-Sip-your-coffee-while-watching-the-sunrise-How-Israel-is-colonizing-the-West-Bank-by-selling-Palestinian-land-to-Jewish-Americans Israeli real estate companies are marketing land belonging to Palestinians in the West Bank to Jewish American buyers. We spoke to the Palestinians who are being displaced in order to make way for new Jewish settlement construction. In mid-May, protesters gathered outside a synagogue in Brooklyn to demonstrate against a real estate expo being held inside. The properties advertised for sale were not located in New York City, but in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the target clientele was members of the Jewish American community. The "Great Israeli Real Estate Event," organized by the Israeli company, My Home in Israel, was one of many property fares held across the U.S., Canada, and the UK, targeting prospective Anglophone Jewish buyers. A recently scheduled London event carrying the same name drew widespread condemnation last June from human rights groups and over 100 British lawmakers. https://www.sott.net/article/507486-Sip-your-coffee-while-watching-the-sunrise-How-Israel-is-colonizing-the-West-Bank-by-selling-Palestinian-land-to-Jewish-Americans Sat, 18 Jul 2026 19:50:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507481-Humanoid-Loses-Its-Head-In-Worlds-First-Full-Size-Robot-Combat-Tournament-And-Keeps-Fighting A humanoid robot was knocked headless during the world's first free-combat tournament for full-sized machines, but that didn't stop it from swinging, Newsweek reports. The bizarre scene unfolded at the Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend (URKL) competition, which kicked off Thursday in Shenzhen, China. A white robot named White Eagle landed a high kick on its black opponent, "Matador," sending the loser's head rocking violently before it popped completely out of place. https://www.sott.net/article/507481-Humanoid-Loses-Its-Head-In-Worlds-First-Full-Size-Robot-Combat-Tournament-And-Keeps-Fighting Sat, 18 Jul 2026 15:50:26 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507470-West-Hollywood-water-main-break-floods-homes-cars-opens-massive-sinkhole-in-key-roadway Multiple major roadways in West Hollywood have been closed after a water main break at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive caused major flooding, damaging parked vehicles and rushing into apartments and homes in the trendy city. The leak stems from a rupture in a 36-inch steel pipe that occurred around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, according to Anselmo Collins, chief operating officer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Water was shut off in the area by around 7:30 a.m. local time after the water main break was first reported, according to the city of West Hollywood; the city's Department of Public Works quickly deployed personnel to the scene. The city said it is now working with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Metropolitan Water District to determine next steps. There is currently no timeline for water main repairs, the city said in a statement Thursday. https://www.sott.net/article/507470-West-Hollywood-water-main-break-floods-homes-cars-opens-massive-sinkhole-in-key-roadway Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:30:23 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507464-Is-private-enterprise-best Western free market ideology says, yes; but empirical evidence and real life experience says, no. Private enterprise often destroys value rather than create it. One of the axioms of Western free market system is that privately owned enterprises are superior to state owned enterprises in just about every way. However, this axiom is largely based on ideology, not evidence: it is assumed that the nature of ownership is the key factor determining an enterprise's performance, and that private ownership aligns owners' interests with those of the company's customers. As a rule, the magic of free market capitalism ensures that the customers get better service, better quality and variety of products, and bien-sur, lower costs. To boot, the owners make profits and everyone lives happily ever after. However, empirical evidence simply doesn't support this. At the very least, real-life experience suggests that not all private enterprises are superior, nor are all state-run enterprises inferior.... https://www.sott.net/article/507464-Is-private-enterprise-best Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:16:56 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507463-The-lockdown-disaster-must-not-be-forgiven We're now rapidly approaching the six-year anniversary of "15 Days to Slow the Spread." That policy has to have been one of the most disastrous in world history, created by "experts" who took all established pre-pandemic planning documents and tossed them out the window at the first opportunity. It was a policy based on inaccurate reports out of China, which claimed that their lockdowns effectively stamped out transmission of Covid-19 within a matter of days. It was a policy that ignored solid research - from established epidemiologists like Dr. Jay Bhattacharya - which found that the coronavirus had already spread much more widely than previously realized. It must be noted forever that lockdowns and the associated mask mandates, vaccine passports, and school closures continued in some places for several years. The ramifications of those wretched policies will be quite literally endless. It's not an exaggeration to say that lockdowns, our policies, and responses have quite... https://www.sott.net/article/507463-The-lockdown-disaster-must-not-be-forgiven Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:38:01 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507462-Britons-urged-to-take-small-steps-to-prepare-for-potential-national-crises Government to launch campaign to help people cope with events such as weather emergencies or cyber-attacks. The British public should begin taking "small but important steps" to secure and protect water, power supplies and basic phone signal in case of further severe weather emergencies, national crises or cyber-attacks, Downing Street has said. Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, told MPs "the risks we face from climate change cannot be underestimated", and warned of the "significant and prolonged disruption to essential services" extreme weather events could cause. Jones also said the combination of increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence, and the conflict in the Middle East and Russia's war in Ukraine could enable criminals to carry out "hostile cyber-attacks against businesses and critical infrastructure". As a result the UK's national risk register has been updated with seven new crises, including: - The threat of foreign interference in UK... https://www.sott.net/article/507462-Britons-urged-to-take-small-steps-to-prepare-for-potential-national-crises Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:36:58 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507458-How-the-American-Republic-became-a-Managerial-State The United States Constitution was revolutionary. "A republic," Benjamin Franklin is reported to have said, "if you can keep it." They couldn't. It wasn't supposed to be this way. The United States was the land of the free. Limited government. Checks and balances. Separation of powers. The Bill of Rights. But America has instead become a managed society. Its government dominates the lives of its people. How did it go wrong? Lots of bad steps helped to transform the American republic into a managerial state. Here are eleven of the moments that sent the ship off course. https://www.sott.net/article/507458-How-the-American-Republic-became-a-Managerial-State Fri, 17 Jul 2026 04:55:40 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507453-The-Digital-Euro-Control-and-the-end-of-financial-privacy European Union lawmakers in Strasbourg have now agreed on their position regarding the digital euro, approving it in a vote on the 8th of July 2026. With this position, the European Parliament can start talks with national governments on the details of the design and functioning of the digital euro. The European Central Bank (ECB) argues that the digital euro is required to preserve the benefits of cash in a digital age and protect Europe's monetary sovereignty, while offering a fast, secure, widely accepted public means of payment. However, it is not a neutral or purely technological upgrade to Europe's payments infrastructure. It is a political and technological project that may embed surveillance, monetary control, and fiscal dominance into the very structure of the currency. EU lawmakers are now debating the regulation that will define the legal status, privacy framework, and holding limits of the digital euro, with the ECB openly lobbying for strong legislation to support what... https://www.sott.net/article/507453-The-Digital-Euro-Control-and-the-end-of-financial-privacy Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:23:36 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507450-While-the-Political-Circus-Distracts-Us-Flock-Builds-the-Digital-Police-State "You had to live — did live, from habit that became instinct — in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized." — George Orwell, 1984 While Americans remain transfixed by the political circus — cheering for their preferred party, jeering at the opposition, obsessing over every manufactured outrage and waiting for the next spectacle — the Surveillance State continues its steady march forward. The government is watching. It watches where you go, whom you meet, where you worship, what medical offices you visit, what political rallies you attend, what protests you join, what books you read, what websites you visit and what causes you support. It watches through your phone, your car, your doorbell, your appliances, your purchases, your social media accounts and the cameras positioned along the roads you travel every day. https://www.sott.net/article/507450-While-the-Political-Circus-Distracts-Us-Flock-Builds-the-Digital-Police-State Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:44:37 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507447-CrossTalk-Generational-Rejection There is a sense of change in the air. The belief in long held social and political pieties are questioned and even rejected. Boomers - in power for well more than a half century - are being rejected by younger generations. The world they are inheriting is broken and with few prospects. CrossTalking with Jason Zaharis, Zarefah Baroud, and Ethan Levins. https://www.sott.net/article/507447-CrossTalk-Generational-Rejection Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:44:53 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507445-Widow-of-Butler-rally-victim-Trump-assassination-attempt-was-an-inside-job Two years after a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one attendee and wounding President Donald Trump, the widow of the man who was slain has expressed deep skepticism about the circumstances of the attack. Helen Comperatore, whose husband Corey, a 50-year-old volunteer firefighter and father of two, was fatally shot while shielding his family, told NewsNation that she believes the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt was "an inside job." In the explosive interview, Helen Comperatore stopped short of alleging a second shooter but claimed that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old identified as the gunman, did not act alone. https://www.sott.net/article/507445-Widow-of-Butler-rally-victim-Trump-assassination-attempt-was-an-inside-job Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:27:43 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507444-The-People-vs-Flock-Redpill-Real-Talk Does it get more quintessentially American than illegally knocking off Flock cameras that enable the government to conduct illegal mass surveillance of the "citizens" whom it doesn't actually view as citizens at all but rather as cattle? Via WUSA9: "A growing number of Flock surveillance cameras are being intentionally vandalized across the country, including in Virginia, as critics raise concerns about privacy and how the data collected by the cameras could be shared among law enforcement agencies. Arlington County police confirmed to WUSA9 that two Flock cameras were spray-painted on May 31. No suspect description has been released. Flock cameras are automated license plate readers that use artificial intelligence to record when and where a vehicle is seen, along with its license plate, make and model. The cameras can also identify distinguishing characteristics, such as roof racks, bumper stickers and other visible features... "I think the police need these tools," said Sean... https://www.sott.net/article/507444-The-People-vs-Flock-Redpill-Real-Talk Wed, 15 Jul 2026 20:50:25 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507435-New-York-is-hemorrhaging-millionaires-Exodus-costing-billions-in-lost-revenue Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood outside Ken Griffin's $238 million Manhattan penthouse in April and declared victory. "When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today we're taxing the rich," he said in a social media video marking the debut of New York City's first pied-à-terre tax, an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million whose owners do not live in the city full time. He promised the tax would raise "at least $500 million directly for the city," money he said would fund free child care, cleaner streets, and safer neighborhoods. "This is a fundamentally unfair system that hurts working New Yorkers," Mamdani said. "Now it's coming to an end." Three months later, a new study suggests the mayor picked an odd moment to celebrate. The Citizen Budget Commission published an analysis Monday, finding that New York's shrinking share of the nation's millionaires cost the state an estimated $10.7 billion in lost personal income tax revenue in 2022 alone.... https://www.sott.net/article/507435-New-York-is-hemorrhaging-millionaires-Exodus-costing-billions-in-lost-revenue Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:44:09 +0000