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. Fri, 22 May 2026 12:26:04 +0000 https://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net https://www.sott.net https://www.sott.net/article/506462-Very-rare-ice-halo-in-Sicily-Italy-on-May-15 Experts call it a "suncave Parry arc." Usually, you have to go to the Arctic to find one. Last week, however, Marcella Giulia Pace saw the rarity in Sicily. "On May 15th, I was in my garden, surrounded by the quietness of the Sicilian countryside, when, lifting my eyes to the sky, I saw an extraordinary halo display," says Pace. "With my camera in hand, I began running along the country road beside my home, searching for an open field that could reveal the entire composition." The luminous network included a circumzenithal arc, a supralateral arc, a suncave Parry arc, an upper tangent arc, a 22° halo, a parhelic circle and a sundog. "As I ran, the complex display kept transforming before my eyes," says Pace. "The greatest surprise came when I saw a Parry arc forming above the upper tangent arc--the rarest phenomenon of all!" Suncave Parry arcs are exceptionally rare because they require sunlight to pass through column-shaped ice crystals suspended in a very specific, improbable,... https://www.sott.net/article/506462-Very-rare-ice-halo-in-Sicily-Italy-on-May-15 Fri, 22 May 2026 12:16:40 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506419-Israel-Uber-Alles-Rep-Massie-loses-Kentucky-primary-Trumps-MAGA-purge-continues Comment: We're being asked to believe that the electorate is upset at Massie for forcing the release of the Epstein Files... Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie lost his Republican House primary Tuesday in another test of President Donald Trump's power over his party after he handpicked challenger and ultimate winner Ed Gallrein to oust the incumbent. The result showed the president's persisting influence over GOP voters, adding to a growing number of Trump-backed primary challengers to defeat Republican lawmakers who angered him in his second term. Comment: Yep, that's Gaetz, Taylor-Greene, and Massie gone - the core of the 'MAGA Caucus' in the House. Also Tuesday, in Alabama, former Senate race rivals U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville and Doug Jones are headed to a rematch in the Alabama governor's race. https://www.sott.net/article/506419-Israel-Uber-Alles-Rep-Massie-loses-Kentucky-primary-Trumps-MAGA-purge-continues Wed, 20 May 2026 09:53:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506297-Europes-mid-May-cold-trough-digs-deep-ENSO-swamps-the-attribution-machine Keraunos puts the cold pool at 500 hPa at -32C (-26F) over western and central Europe on May 14. For May, that ranks as the fourth-coldest such setup in 30 years of record-keeping. The benchmark remains May 2012, with ERA5 reanalysis coming up with -33C (-27F). A deep upper-level trough is locked over the continent, with blocking over the North Atlantic allowing polar air to drive far south. That cold air aloft is steepening lapse rates, destabilizing the atmosphere, and turning mild spring air at the surface into showers, hail, thunder, mountain snow and frost risk. The cold is already showing up. In Croatia, Puntijarka on Zagreb's Medvednica has recorded May snow for only the sixth time since observations began in 1981. https://www.sott.net/article/506297-Europes-mid-May-cold-trough-digs-deep-ENSO-swamps-the-attribution-machine Thu, 14 May 2026 10:11:20 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506284-Racing-toward-Absolute-Zero It's very real: the Epstein class is dead serious about 'getting rid of the poor people,' and creating an Orwellian totalitarian society. Last week, a British farmer reported that he received a letter from the government, informing him that, "... by 2030, there is to be a 50% reduction in farmed animals. And by 2050, 100% - zero farm animals systems in place. And guess who's signed up to that? Yes, the two biggest arseholes in the world: Starmer and Bill Gates. What more proof do I want, and I've got it in writing. So it looks like their little takeover is coming along nicely for them, but unfortunately we've now got the document. So... let World War 4 commence. We don't need to be at war with Russia, we're going to create our internal one." https://www.sott.net/article/506284-Racing-toward-Absolute-Zero Wed, 13 May 2026 15:35:52 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506271-Inside-Israels-AI-targeting-system-How-data-from-a-phone-become-a-death-sentence The buzz of the Israeli drone was constant that day, and every time Ahmad Turmus looked up, it seemed to be circling over him, like an all-too-patient bird of prey. So when the phone rang as he was visiting family one Monday afternoon in February, Turmus wasn't too surprised that the person speaking accented Arabic was an Israeli military officer. What surprised him was the question. "Ahmad, you want to die with those around you or alone?" Turmus, according to family members interviewed, answered with one word before hanging up: "Alone." The targeting of Turmus, which Israel acknowledged, demonstrates how, time and again, its military has mastered an intelligence war for which Hezbollah appears to have no answer. Ever since the spectacular pager attacks of September 2024 — when Israel remotely detonated explosives hidden in pagers carried by Hezbollah members — foot soldiers, support personnel, field commanders, chiefs of staff and even a revered secretary general have been felled... https://www.sott.net/article/506271-Inside-Israels-AI-targeting-system-How-data-from-a-phone-become-a-death-sentence Tue, 12 May 2026 20:56:14 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506251-May-blizzard-buries-the-Russian-city-of-Noyabrsk Unusual snowfall was reported in the southern Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, Russia, on Sunday, May 10, 2026. Wind gusts reached 23 meters per second. A high alert status was declared in Noyabrsk. Traffic was also restricted on regional highways in the Noyabrsk, Muravlenko, Gubkinsky, and Purovsky districts. Drivers were advised to avoid traveling outside the city. Public transportation was also suspended in densely populated areas. https://www.sott.net/article/506251-May-blizzard-buries-the-Russian-city-of-Noyabrsk Tue, 12 May 2026 09:52:47 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506238-Trumps-deadly-trap-By-rejecting-Irans-proposal-US-enters-a-strategic-nightmare-with-no-escape In a theatrical move that fooled no one, US President Donald Trump rejected Iran's comprehensive plan to end the war he illegally imposed on the country 70 days ago. The US president postured as a victor, dismissing Tehran's proposal with the bluster of a leader who expects capitulation. But the reality on the ground tells a starkly different story. By every measurable metric, America is the defeated party in the asymmetric war that was imposed on Iran amid the nuclear talks in Geneva on February 28. And his rejection of Iran's terms in a social media post has not opened new options for Washington, but it has only trapped the US in a deadly three-way crossroads from which there is no easy escape. Trump's rejection of Iran's plan, which was submitted early on Sunday through Pakistani mediators, is a grave strategic error as Americans hold no winning cards. Iran's proposal: Fundamental, natural, and uncompromising Iran's plan to permanently end the war was never meant to please... https://www.sott.net/article/506238-Trumps-deadly-trap-By-rejecting-Irans-proposal-US-enters-a-strategic-nightmare-with-no-escape Mon, 11 May 2026 19:18:23 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506052-The-UFO-Question-Demons-and-High-Strangeness Demons Out! When I was a young boy, my family often enjoyed watching and laughing at televangelists — especially Ernest Angley, who would regularly cast out demons for us on TV. Suffice to say, demons were considered a humorous component to my slight evangelical upbringing, not something to be considered seriously. Chevy Chase captured the zaniness perfectly in Fletch Lives-The Preacher J.D. Vance-Aliens are Demons Tucker, too Turns out, lots of quite well-known people, and several commenters on The Unz Review believe these UFOs are demons. I would like to take a stab at seriously looking at this possibility. There is a version of the UAP problem that is safe to discuss in polite company. It involves military pilots seeing objects that outperform known aerospace technology, radar systems confirming what the pilots saw, and a government that has spent decades lying about its level of interest in the subject. This version has congressional hearings, credentialed witnesses, and the... https://www.sott.net/article/506052-The-UFO-Question-Demons-and-High-Strangeness Fri, 01 May 2026 20:30:38 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505980-Hayek-Orwell-and-the-end-of-truth Even in free societies, "the most intelligent and independent people cannot entirely escape [the] influence" of state propaganda. In 1942, after fighting in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1937), a disillusioned writer returned to London to write about his experience. It wasn't just that the fascists in Spain had won and his side — a small, anti-Stalinist Marxist group — had lost. What frightened him was the ease with which truth itself had been erased and replaced by propaganda. I saw great battles reported where there had been no fighting, and complete silence where hundreds of men had been killed. I saw troops who had fought bravely denounced as cowards and traitors, and others who had never seen a shot fired hailed as the heroes of imaginary victories...and I saw newspapers in London retailing these lies and eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that had never happened. The writer was George Orwell, and the quote appears in his book Looking Back on the... https://www.sott.net/article/505980-Hayek-Orwell-and-the-end-of-truth Mon, 27 Apr 2026 21:05:24 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505966-Spring-freeze-tightens-grip-on-eastern-Europe Cold air has settled over the eastern half of Europe. Forecasts keep temperatures well below average through the coming week, with another cold front deepening anomalies. Frost is still biting far into spring, even in France where low-lying regions such as Mourmelon-le-Grand dropped to -2.3C (27.9F) on Sunday morning — another hit to early-season crops. The cold intensifies as we look east. Arctic air surged into Belarus on April 26, flipping rain to snow across large parts of the country. Cities such as Grodno, Nesvizh, and Slutsk reported scenes more typical of January than late April. https://www.sott.net/article/505966-Spring-freeze-tightens-grip-on-eastern-Europe Mon, 27 Apr 2026 11:37:35 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505940-Poland-struck-by-meteorite-after-fireball-lights-up-skies-on-April-17-impact-crater-and-rock-found-on-April-22 Scientists in central Poland have recovered a rare iron meteorite believed to be the remnant of a spectacular fireball that streaked across the sky on April 17. The 2.9-kilogram meteorite was discovered near Łódź in the village of Zadzim on Wednesday, just five days after it flew over Poland. The rapid recovery makes it the first iron meteorite in Poland to be found so quickly after an observed fall, and one of only a handful worldwide with a precisely reconstructed orbit, the Skytinel meteor research network said on Friday. https://www.sott.net/article/505940-Poland-struck-by-meteorite-after-fireball-lights-up-skies-on-April-17-impact-crater-and-rock-found-on-April-22 Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:10:56 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505895-Israels-ethnic-cleansing-of-Area-C-and-the-slow-erasure-of-West-Bank-Palestine-through-sexual-violence-and-humiliation Palestinians are not leaving their villages in the West Bank because of "tensions" or "clashes." They are being driven out through a calculated campaign that weaponises sexual terror, military impunity, and land bureaucracy to make life unlivable. This article lays bare an illegal project of forcible transfer, enabled by the Israeli state and met with open international complicity through inaction. A Palestinian family does not abandon its home in darkness because life has become merely difficult. A mother does not send her daughter away because conditions are unpleasant. A shepherd does not give up the land that fed his family for generations because he has suddenly changed his mind about where he belongs. These are decisions made after something far more sinister has taken hold, when the home is no longer safe, when the road to school is charged with dread, when a woman fears the walk to a latrine, when a family sleeps listening for footsteps outside the shelter, and when armed... https://www.sott.net/article/505895-Israels-ethnic-cleansing-of-Area-C-and-the-slow-erasure-of-West-Bank-Palestine-through-sexual-violence-and-humiliation Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:02:13 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505843-Germanys-energy-minister-admits-commitment-to-renewable-energy-is-ruining-the-country When Simon Wakter, Political Adviser to Sweden's Minister for Energy, posted on X last Wednesday with a simple "Wow, incredible article" and a clapping emoji, he captured the shock rippling through Europe's energy commentariat. The target of his applause was not some fringe sceptic but Germany's own Economy and Energy Minister, Katherina Reiche. In a guest column for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Reiche delivered a verdict that would have been career-ending heresy only a year ago: "One fact has been concealed for too long: an energy transition that ignores system costs will ruin the country it claims to save." To anyone who has watched Germany's Energiewende — that totemic experiment in decarbonisation-by-decree — unfold like a slow-motion train wreck, Reiche's words land like a thunderclap from the Establishment itself. Here is a senior CDU Minister in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Government openly admitting that two decades of Green-inspired fantasy have saddled the... https://www.sott.net/article/505843-Germanys-energy-minister-admits-commitment-to-renewable-energy-is-ruining-the-country Mon, 20 Apr 2026 19:34:59 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505839-The-British-Ruling-Elite-As-A-Subject-Of-Cultural-And-International-Terrorism This article examines the ingrained greed and historical ruthlessness of the Anglo-Saxon elites toward other nations and peoples, and substantiates, explicates, and introduces into scholarly usage the new authorial concepts of "British cultural terrorism", "cultural decolonization", and "historical anti-Russianism". It analyzes British involvement in numerous Ukrainian terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage on Russian territory outside the zone of the special military operation (SMO), as well as the specific features, criminal plans, and international unlawfulness of the British-Ukrainian terrorist alliance that has taken shape to date. Britain's complicity in such unlawful Ukrainian activity on Russian territory is classified as international terrorism carried out through the sponsorship and organization of the killing of Russian citizens, as well as acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks against military and civilian infrastructure. Relevant practical recommendations and... https://www.sott.net/article/505839-The-British-Ruling-Elite-As-A-Subject-Of-Cultural-And-International-Terrorism Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:24:16 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505808-The-EUs-digital-gulag-is-apparently-ready-to-roll "It is for parents to raise their children, and not the platforms." Those were the words of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday as she announced the readiness of the EU's online age verification, ahem, platform. As we've been warning since November 2024, these platforms are ultimately a Trojan Horse for digital identity systems, which are in turn intended to serve as the cornerstone for the digital gulags being quickly assembled around the world. What gets rarely mentioned in the public debate, including in Von der Leyen's 11-minute speech below, is the fact that online age verification inevitably traps everyone, not just minors, in its web. "Protecting the children", however, is always a seductive pretext for launching otherwise socially unpalatable policies. And there are few more socially unpalatable policies than the controlled death of online privacy and anonymity. https://www.sott.net/article/505808-The-EUs-digital-gulag-is-apparently-ready-to-roll Sat, 18 Apr 2026 20:58:09 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505712-Palisades-Tahoe-California-snow-report-22-inches-in-24-hours-and-43-inch-3-day-storm-total The latest Palisades Tahoe, California, snow report tells a story of remarkable late-season resurgence. A sustained storm cycle has transformed conditions on the upper mountain, logging a foot of new snow overnight and driving the three-day storm total to 43 inches. The resort is now among the last Tahoe areas still operating. Most ski areas across the western U.S. have endured one of their worst seasons in recent memory, with dry and mild conditions since November, leaving many resorts struggling to open meaningful terrain. Palisades has been an exception to that late-season trend this week. Sunny breaks are emerging across the mountain on Monday, though forecasters have not ruled out additional snow showers that could add another inch to the upper elevations before conditions settle. Long-range models continue to show troughing over the region through the third week of April, with additional storm systems possible and a cooler-than-normal pattern expected to persist. The weekend... https://www.sott.net/article/505712-Palisades-Tahoe-California-snow-report-22-inches-in-24-hours-and-43-inch-3-day-storm-total Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:53:48 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505658-Army-survivors-of-deadly-attack-in-Kuwait-dispute-Pentagons-account-say-unit-was-unprepared-to-defend-itself Survivors of the deadliest Iranian attack on U.S. forces since the war began have disputed the Pentagon's description of events and said their unit in Kuwait was left dangerously exposed when six service members were killed and more than 20 wounded. Speaking publicly for the first time, members of the targeted unit offered CBS News a detailed account of the attack and its harrowing aftermath from the perspective of those on the ground. The members CBS News spoke to disputed the description of events from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who described the drone as a "squirter" — in that it squirted through the defenses of a fortified unit inside Kuwait. "Painting a picture that 'one squeaked through' is a falsehood," one of the injured soldiers told CBS News. "I want people to know the unit ... was unprepared to provide any defense for itself. It was not a fortified position." https://www.sott.net/article/505658-Army-survivors-of-deadly-attack-in-Kuwait-dispute-Pentagons-account-say-unit-was-unprepared-to-defend-itself Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:50:11 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505596-Whos-behind-the-mysterious-Iran-backed-terror-cell-haunting-Europe Claims that an Iran-backed group is carrying out attacks in European cities raise questions about why they're not targeting countries directly involved in the US-Israeli war, and why they appear to communicate like Israelis. Strangely, suspects arrested in the attacks have been released on bail. A specter is haunting Europe - the specter of Ashab al-Yamin. Officially known as "Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI)," or the "Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right," the group mysteriously appeared in early March, and, according to mainstream media, it's taking the continent by storm. But a closer look at the supposedly Iran-backed terror organization suggests that it does not exist in any concrete form, and may be a confection of Israeli intelligence. Though the nebulous HAYI claimed credit for torching ambulances belonging to a Jewish community organization in London on March 23, two suspects in the attack have been released on bail, and are not charged with any... https://www.sott.net/article/505596-Whos-behind-the-mysterious-Iran-backed-terror-cell-haunting-Europe Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:06:04 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505593-Right-as-Artemis-II-astronauts-passed-behind-Moon-multiple-meteoroids-hit-it Artemis II were giddy (their words!) on the evening of April 6th when they witnessed explosions on the lunar surface. Meteoroids were hitting the Moon. "We saw at least five," reported mission commander Reid Wiseman. The meteors appeared in middle of a solar eclipse. About an hour after the crew made their closest approach to the farside of the Moon, the sun disappeared behind the lunar disk, giving the astronauts a chance to view the first solar eclipse ever seen by humans from behind the Moon. https://www.sott.net/article/505593-Right-as-Artemis-II-astronauts-passed-behind-Moon-multiple-meteoroids-hit-it Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:46:52 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/505587-Why-Iran-is-becoming-Trumps-forever-war As long as attacks and demands continue unabated, reasonable voices for peace will never be heard More than a month into the war with Iran, Washington is confronting the strategic nightmare it tried to avoid. What began as a campaign that many in the US and Israel appear to have imagined as short, punishing, and politically manageable has instead become prolonged, expensive, globally destabilizing, and increasingly difficult to define as success. The battlefield logic is now inseparable from the political logic, and on both fronts the pressure is mounting on Donald Trump's administration. Reuters reports that the conflict, launched on February 28, has disrupted global energy flows, driven oil sharply higher, pushed US gasoline prices above four dollars a gallon, and dragged US President Donald Trump's approval rating down to 36%, the lowest level since his return to office. How to sell a war A domestic audience can be persuaded to see a short war as an act of decisive leadership,... https://www.sott.net/article/505587-Why-Iran-is-becoming-Trumps-forever-war Mon, 06 Apr 2026 19:35:32 +0000