https://www.sott.net/best-of-web 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. Mon, 02 Nov 2026 16:57:24 +0000 https://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net https://www.sott.net https://www.sott.net/article/509254-Poland-Is-the-Symptom-and-Europe-Is-the-Patient The midnight brawl at Poland's Constitutional Tribunal is not a Polish problem. It is the local flare-up of a continental disease. Across Europe, when voters pick the wrong candidate, the establishment reaches for a judge, an intelligence service or the EU's checkbook, and calls the result "defending democracy." The Journal of Democracy wrote the textbook. Warsaw is the teaching hospital. ***** In December 2023, two months after Donald Tusk's coalition pushed Law and Justice (PiS) out of power, Jarosław Kuisz and Karolina Wigura of Kultura Liberalna published a how-to guide in the Journal of Democracy. The title says it all: "How to Dismantle an Illiberal Democracy." Consider the provenance. At the time, the Journal was the flagship publication of the National Endowment for Democracy, the outfit that does in daylight what the CIA used to do at night. It split from NED this year after DOGE cut off NED's funding in 2025, and it is now independent and partnered with Stanford's CDDRL.... https://www.sott.net/article/509254-Poland-Is-the-Symptom-and-Europe-Is-the-Patient Mon, 02 Nov 2026 16:57:03 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509221-Iran-targeted-US-air-defenses-then-hit-aircraft-and-buildings-on-Mideast-bases-AP-analysis-finds Iran's strikes on more than two dozen U.S. bases in the Middle East focused on early-warning systems before hitting aircraft and buildings, causing billions of dollars in equipment damage, according to an Associated Press analysis. The AP independently verified damage to American targets using satellite imagery from multiple providers and spoke to four regional officials who were briefed or have firsthand knowledge of what was hit. The AP found that, through August, more than 115 drone or missile strikes claimed by Iran or Iranian-backed militias damaged or destroyed structures on 26 military bases and other sites with U.S. equipment. The AP found that Iran initially focused its attacks on aircraft hangars and systems that detect incoming strikes, clearing the way for further strikes on warehouses, troop housing and more. The damage has significantly reshaped the American foothold in the Middle East, with two regional officials saying the U.S. has moved many of its assets out of... https://www.sott.net/article/509221-Iran-targeted-US-air-defenses-then-hit-aircraft-and-buildings-on-Mideast-bases-AP-analysis-finds Sat, 31 Oct 2026 20:47:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509210-Fire-pollution-killed-3560-people-in-Indonesia-in-September-report Pollution from smoke emitted by months of wildfires across Indonesia caused an estimated 3,560 deaths in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago in September, according to a new study. The same month, about 57.8 million people in Indonesia were inhaling unhealthy to hazardous air, said the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Helsinki-based think tank. "Worsening air quality due to forest and land fires in Indonesia pushed the estimated death toll to 3,560 cases in September 2026, a twofold increase from the August estimate," said a CREA statement on Thursday. The CREA study estimated the number of deaths brought about by PM2.5 pollution in the short-term, meaning a matter of days. PM2.5 particles are small enough to penetrate the lungs or bloodstream and the World Health Organization has linked exposure to a higher risk for illness and premature death. Most estimated deaths occurred on Indonesia's part of Borneo island as well as on Java and Sumatra islands and in... https://www.sott.net/article/509210-Fire-pollution-killed-3560-people-in-Indonesia-in-September-report Sat, 31 Oct 2026 10:01:25 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509038-Powerful-magnitude-7-earthquake-in-Tibet-China-kills-at-least-16-people A magnitude 7 earthquake has killed at least 16 people in China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Search and rescue efforts were continuing on Friday after the quake, whose epicentre was in a remote region of northern Tibet, struck at 10:33pm (14:33 GMT) on Thursday. A level-II earthquake disaster emergency response was activated in the area, the Xinhua news agency said. Electricity and communication lines were reported to be down. Officials in Nagqu, a sparsely populated, ⁠high-altitude city, said up to 65 people have been injured, according to the Reuters news agency, although other reports suggested a slightly lower figure. It was the strongest quake to hit China since January 2024. Officials reported the collapse of at least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds. https://www.sott.net/article/509038-Powerful-magnitude-7-earthquake-in-Tibet-China-kills-at-least-16-people Fri, 23 Oct 2026 10:48:01 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509024-Trucker-protest-against-rising-fuel-prices-leaves-supermarket-shelves-and-gas-pumps-empty-in-southern-Italy Some supermarket shelves and gas station pumps were empty in the southern city of Naples on Tuesday due to a weeklong protest by truck drivers against the high cost of diesel driven up by the Iran war. Protesters blocked the loading and unloading of fresh food and other goods at supermarket distribution warehouses near Naples on Monday, Sky TG24 reported. The truckers are adding their voices to demonstrations that have spread across Europe as the war disrupts economies. One supermarket in the city posted a note on empty shelves apologizing that "some products may be temporarily unavailable or available in a reduced range" due to the truckers' strike. Shortages of fresh pasta, packaged cheeses and meats as well as produce have been reported in Sicily, partly due to stockpiling by shoppers. Partially empty supermarket shelves were also reported in the southern regions of Calabria and Puglia. https://www.sott.net/article/509024-Trucker-protest-against-rising-fuel-prices-leaves-supermarket-shelves-and-gas-pumps-empty-in-southern-Italy Thu, 22 Oct 2026 07:43:14 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509012-Idaho-NV-OR-WA-residents-report-large-green-meteor-fireballs-on-October-14-15 Several Idaho, Oregon, and Washington residents reported a bright, large green fireball streaking overhead on the evening of October 14. A meteor shower has been active in North America over the past few days, and the object is thought to be a larger chunk of space debris that strayed off course. Activity on the North Idaho News Meta page spiked into Thursday morning (October 15) with numerous witnesses sharing their experiences. The Southern Taurid Meteor Shower, nicknamed the 'Halloween Fireballs,' should peak tonight in the northwestern United States, according to space.com. 'Someone is getting probed tonight,' said one person on the NIN Meta chain. Another witness wrote, 'I saw it in Oregon! Driving on the 84 in the Columbia Gorge, disappeared behind the hills on the Washington side! Totally bright green.' https://www.sott.net/article/509012-Idaho-NV-OR-WA-residents-report-large-green-meteor-fireballs-on-October-14-15 Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:09:22 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509008-Severe-weather-in-southern-France-one-dead-near-Marseille-one-missing-in-Corsica-2-FEET-of-rain-in-24-hours In Haute-Corse, a person went missing in Ghisonaccia on Tuesday evening; another was found dead in Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts in the Bouches-du-Rhône. Cars swept away, neighbourhoods and homes flooded: a new bout of severe weather has lashed south-eastern France, moving from Occitanie towards Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The heavy rain, which began on Monday, was easing in intensity by around midday on Tuesday. On Tuesday 20 October, a 75-year-old was found dead in Istres, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, after being swept away by floodwaters in the commune of Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts. A helicopter had been deployed in an attempt to locate the missing person. In Haute-Corse, one person is missing in Ghisonaccia, the prefecture announced. Two people were on board a 4x4 when it was carried away by the Fium'orbu river. One managed to escape through the window, but the other is being searched for by rescue teams. https://www.sott.net/article/509008-Severe-weather-in-southern-France-one-dead-near-Marseille-one-missing-in-Corsica-2-FEET-of-rain-in-24-hours Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:37:54 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508988-The-coming-food-crisis-may-look-nothing-like-a-crisis-until-its-too-late Just after the morning deliveries and before the first customers, a supermarket looks both ordinary and slightly deceptive. The lights are on, the coolers hum, and the shelves hold exactly what they held last week. Strawberries show up in February, lettuce comes from ground that was desert two generations ago, and on the same shelf beef raised across three states sits beside bread baked from grain cut a thousand miles away. Someone pushing a cart through the whole store can finish the errand without once wondering how any of it got there. That is part of why the American food supply is so easy to take for granted. Nobody praises the trucking fleets, the cold storage, the seed suppliers, or the packing houses, because a thing that rarely fails stops being noticed. Two or three generations have grown up treating food the way they treat running water: as a fact of the world, unremarkable and about as interesting. Reliability, though, is not the same as resilience, and the two are easy... https://www.sott.net/article/508988-The-coming-food-crisis-may-look-nothing-like-a-crisis-until-its-too-late Mon, 19 Oct 2026 22:21:36 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508980-Two-dead-and-thousands-evacuated-as-Storm-Adam-dumps-record-25-inches-of-rain-in-24-hours-on-eastern-Spain A night and day to forget across eastern Spain, particularly in the Valencian regions of La Marina and La Safor. Unprecedented rainfall exceeding 600mm overnight has left rivers including the Girona and Vernissa overflowing their banks, trapping dozens of residents in their homes - with several forced onto rooftops to await rescue. Appearing alongside Government Delegate Pilar Bernabé following an emergency Cecopi coordination meeting early on Monday morning, Regional Minister for Emergencies Juan Carlos Valderrama issued an urgent warning to residents along the southern coast of Valencia and northern Alicante. "People must not travel; they must stay at home. There is heavy, continuous rain, which is causing significant flooding in towns such as Pego, Oliva, Piles, and Miramar," Valderrama said, confirming that "many people are trapped" and that emergency vehicles were initially unable to navigate flooded roadways. Units from the Third Intervention Battalion of the Military... https://www.sott.net/article/508980-Two-dead-and-thousands-evacuated-as-Storm-Adam-dumps-record-25-inches-of-rain-in-24-hours-on-eastern-Spain Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:05:31 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508953-Replacing-Europe-Undercover-film-follows-money-behind-Europes-taxpayer-funded-mass-migration-pipeline Introduction: A new documentary from investigative outlet Muckraker traces the migrant route from West Africa through Spain and France to Britain, examining what the outlet describes as a network sustained by taxpayer-funded aid programs, NGOs, and even Western governments. The 47-minute film, Replacing Europe, draws on months of reporting and undercover footage to investigate the logistics and top NGO players behind the nation-killing mass migration into Europe. "The entire migration is a game," says Sheikh M. Kromah, identified by Muckraker as a worker for the UN's International Organization for Migration. He alleges that Spain has a financial incentive to maintain arrivals because reducing them could jeopardize EU funding. Muckraker claims that publicly funded institutions help sustain the migration flows that European governments publicly promise to control. Its interviews raise questions about oversight, spending incentives and the boundary between humanitarian assistance and... https://www.sott.net/article/508953-Replacing-Europe-Undercover-film-follows-money-behind-Europes-taxpayer-funded-mass-migration-pipeline Sat, 17 Oct 2026 19:58:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508945-El-Nino-rains-flood-South-America-sending-residents-fleeing-and-cattle-swimming Rivers swollen by heavy rains linked to El Niño continued flooding swaths of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay on Friday, forcing thousands of people from their homes and sending ranchers scrambling to move cattle to higher ground. In Argentina's northeastern Corrientes province, the Paraná River rose to a dangerous 4.7 metres (15.4 feet) on Thursday in the riverside town of Ituzaingó, prompting evacuations there and in other towns across the province. Herds of cows waded across flooded pastures as ranchers guided them toward dry land. The calves struggled against a current thick with floating clumps of river plants. Provincial officials said they were digging canals and installing drains to prepare for more heavy rain. The floodwaters come from three major rivers that start in Brazil and flow south through the region: the Paraná, the Uruguay and the Iguazú. Torrential rain has pushed all three waterways higher for days, spilling them over their banks in northeastern Argentina,... https://www.sott.net/article/508945-El-Nino-rains-flood-South-America-sending-residents-fleeing-and-cattle-swimming Sat, 17 Oct 2026 12:00:08 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508839-The-Gaza-Method This essay was first published on The Ninth Wave substack in February 2024 The West's evolving blueprint for controlling a poly-crisis world by mass-murdering and subjugating the poor, the rebellious, and those deemed "superfluous." When Israel started its latest and ongoing round of genocide-with-ethnic-cleansing against the Palestinians (and then, of course, every crime against humanity and war crime in the book, all the books), I learned that, at a resistance demonstration in New York, there had been a sign saying "Gaza is a Method." I intuitively agreed: It is obvious that the mass murder in Gaza outlines a pattern, a set of tools and measures of extermination, subjugation, and expulsion that are ready for export and will be in high demand - just like so much else of Israel's spying, policing (if that is the word), and murder skills and tech have always been. Of course, this Gaza Method - clearly, whoever made that perspicacious sign was alluding to the Cold War "Jakarta... https://www.sott.net/article/508839-The-Gaza-Method Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:47:16 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508824-Post-tropical-Isaias-leaves-at-least-4-dead-in-US-Southeast-as-flood-threat-heavy-rains-persist-900000-customers-without-power-wind-gusts-of-116mph At least three deaths were reported from Post-Tropical Storm Isaias, which made landfall Friday as a dangerous Category 2 storm, lashing the northern Gulf Coast with destructive winds and life-threatening storm surge. The powerful storm made landfall at 9:30 p.m. ET near Destin, Florida, with sustained winds of 105 mph. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the storm became post-tropical early Saturday, meaning that it has lost its tropical characteristics and is no longer being fueled primarily by warm ocean water. However, the storm's impacts are far from over. On Saturday morning, a death was confirmed in Birmingham, Alabama, when a tree fell on a home. https://www.sott.net/article/508824-Post-tropical-Isaias-leaves-at-least-4-dead-in-US-Southeast-as-flood-threat-heavy-rains-persist-900000-customers-without-power-wind-gusts-of-116mph Sat, 10 Oct 2026 19:23:09 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508816-Tsunami-warnings-issued-after-shallow-magnitude-7-7-earthquake-strikes-Panama-aftershocks-of-mag-6-6-and-6 A magnitude 7.7 earthquake has hit southern Panama, triggering tsunami warnings across Central and South America. The US National Weather Service issued tsunami warnings for Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala on Friday following the quake. Chile's naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service also issued a tsunami warning. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was centred about 10km (6 miles) southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba along the Pacific Ocean coast. Residents of Panama City reported feeling tremors, with buildings shaking and people evacuating into the streets. "We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we're okay, though we're very scared," 60-year-old Rosendo Dominguez, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press news agency by phone. "Everyone is outside, scared," Dominguez added. https://www.sott.net/article/508816-Tsunami-warnings-issued-after-shallow-magnitude-7-7-earthquake-strikes-Panama-aftershocks-of-mag-6-6-and-6 Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:31:36 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508804-Why-real-intelligence-is-something-more-than-optimisation If intelligence is merely optimisation then machines will outrun us. Kant tells us why human reason is so much more A few months ago, I sat in a packed university auditorium listening to a celebrated computer scientist explain the brilliance of large language models (LLMs). These systems optimise, he said. And they improve at optimisation on the basis of past experience. He paused. That, he said with a smile, is intelligence. The audience nodded along approvingly. Meanwhile, a philosophical alarm bell began sounding in my head. Not because the speaker's claim was implausible. On the contrary, as a description of much contemporary artificial intelligence, it seemed apt. AI systems are built around objectives, losses, rewards, predictions, preferences, benchmarks and feedback loops. They are trained to perform better relative to some standard of success. In one form or another, they optimise. That is a great part of their technical power. What troubled me was the ease with which a... https://www.sott.net/article/508804-Why-real-intelligence-is-something-more-than-optimisation Fri, 09 Oct 2026 15:38:04 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508731-Pre-emptive-nuclear-war-The-role-of-Israel-in-triggering-an-attack-on-Iran The text below is Chapter III of Michel Chossudovsky's book entitled: The Globalization of War. America's Long War against Humanity, Global Research Publishers, Montreal, 2015. This chapter provides a historical perspective of US war plans directed against Iran, including the use of a preemptive nuclear attack, using low yield, "more usable" tactical nuclear weapons. This analysis is of particular relevance to the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran. *** While one can conceptualize the loss of life and destruction resulting from present-day wars including Iraq and Afghanistan, it is impossible to fully comprehend the devastation which might result from a Third World War, using "new technologies" and advanced weapons, until it occurs and becomes a reality. The international community has endorsed nuclear war in the name of world peace. "Making the world safer" is the justification for launching a military operation which could potentially result in a nuclear holocaust." The stockpiling... https://www.sott.net/article/508731-Pre-emptive-nuclear-war-The-role-of-Israel-in-triggering-an-attack-on-Iran Mon, 05 Oct 2026 19:48:36 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508647-NAZA-documentary-review-Portrait-of-Israel-as-a-nation-stuck-in-a-moral-abyss On 24 August, only nine days before the start of the Venice International Film Festival, a report in The Guardian announced an addition to the lineup. NAZA, by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the Israeli co-directors of 2024 Oscar-winner No Other Land, would premiere in the main competition. On the Venice Lido, the film, which "reveals in detail the systems behind Israel's calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza", was met with a 25-minute standing ovation and later won the Special Jury Prize. Within days, France's mk2 films announced that it had come on board as sales agent, while several major autumn festivals, including San Sebastian and New York, confirmed its inclusion in their lineups. Building on this, NAZA is being rushed into cinemas across the world, including Germany and the US in the coming weeks, which will surely intensify interest, before streaming for free on The Guardian. https://www.sott.net/article/508647-NAZA-documentary-review-Portrait-of-Israel-as-a-nation-stuck-in-a-moral-abyss Tue, 29 Sep 2026 19:39:29 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508622-Mammoth-Spring-freezes-September-snow-buries-the-Himalayas-Antarctic-winter-wont-let-go-Net-zeros-China-problem-Sunspots-crash-again Mammoth Spring Freezes A freeze has reached northern Arkansas, with Mammoth Spring falling to 32F (0C) on Sept 25 and breaking a daily record. The previous Sept 25 benchmark was 34F (1.1C), set in 1995 in books extending back to 1904. Even more impressively, in that 122-year history this year's Sept 25 freeze is the earliest on record—beating the previous earliest by four days. The 32F reading also ties the third-lowest temperature ever observed there in September. Mammoth Spring's typical first-frost window falls in late October, putting this year's freeze roughly a month ahead of schedule. September Snow Buries The Himalayas An exceptional September snowstorm has buried the high Himalayas along the India-Tibet frontier, dumping deep snow across northern Uttarakhand before hammering western Tibet with blizzard conditions. In Uttarakhand, two days of persistent snowfall whitened the remote Lapthal region near the Tibetan border, with unusually heavy accumulation reported across the... https://www.sott.net/article/508622-Mammoth-Spring-freezes-September-snow-buries-the-Himalayas-Antarctic-winter-wont-let-go-Net-zeros-China-problem-Sunspots-crash-again Mon, 28 Sep 2026 18:58:07 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/212625-Why-Israelis-Danced-on-911 It was stated recently on Facebook that investigating 911 is a waste of time, that nothing was 'likely to be proven'. That's obvious! It is the purpose of a cover up to make of 'investigations' a 'waste of time'. On this point, whomever perpetrated 911 won when Bush made of the pursuit of justice a 'waste of time'. The lesson learned is that if you are sufficiently rich and/or powerful, you can subvert justice, the rule of law, the truth! Our nation is lost if truth is abandoned because the pursuit of it is a 'waste of time'. In such a society, no one is free; everything is based upon a lie and, based upon a lie, is unjust. Such a society is a police state, at best a tyranny of an uninformed 'majority'! The 'establishment' is not appalled by widespread ignorance; it depends upon it and promotes it. Such a society is finished! The U.S. will fall ignominiously as did Rome of its folly, arrogance and incompetence. Only the guilty are sufficiently motivated to cover up a crime. Just as... https://www.sott.net/article/212625-Why-Israelis-Danced-on-911 Fri, 11 Sep 2026 16:01:39 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/266135-Exposing-the-names-and-connections-behind-the-9-11-conspiracy Was 9/11 really an inside job? After reviewing this documentary, and checking the evidence, I think the answer will be clear to you. Special thanks to Michael C. Ruppert, Mark H. Gaffney, and Kevin Ryan for solving the crimes of 9/11 with their amazing research. This video is a compilation of evidence they have uncovered. https://www.sott.net/article/266135-Exposing-the-names-and-connections-behind-the-9-11-conspiracy Fri, 11 Sep 2026 16:00:49 +0000