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, 04 Sep 2026 12:53:17 +0000 https://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net https://www.sott.net https://www.sott.net/article/508235-Typhoon-Saudel-brings-torrential-rain-floods-to-China-32-3-inches-of-rainfall-in-3-days China's southern coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong are bracing for further torrential rain after severe downpours linked to Typhoon Saudel triggered ‌flooding in urban and rural areas, swamping vehicles and causing a three-storey brick building to collapse. In ‌Fujian's city of Fuding, known for its tea plantations and lush greenery, firefighters on Friday waded through ‌waist-deep floodwaters to carry elderly people to safety, social media footage verified by Reuters showed. In nearby Jinxi village, a tea-growing community surrounded by mountains, raging floodwaters inundated residential buildings and brought down a three-storey house, social media footage verified by Reuters showed. https://www.sott.net/article/508235-Typhoon-Saudel-brings-torrential-rain-floods-to-China-32-3-inches-of-rainfall-in-3-days Fri, 04 Sep 2026 12:52:55 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508097-At-least-1280-killed-5620-missing-after-flash-flood-hits-Nepal-and-Tibet-UPDATED At least 160 people have been killed and hundreds are missing after a huge flash ⁠flood swept away villages in Nepal, damaging roads, bridges and power projects in areas near Tibet, authorities said. Nepali police said late on Wednesday that they had recovered 157 bodies and that officers were continuing to try to move people away from risk areas. Officials said at least 384 tourists were reported missing as a result of the flash flood, including 291 foreign nationals, among them tourists from the United Kingdom, the United States, India and Malaysia. Police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle said that 28 police personnel were also missing. Chinese authorities said at least three people had died and 265 others remained missing on their side of the border in Tibet's county of Gyirong. State broadcaster CCTV said that specific casualty figures were still being verified. Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah urged the Himalayan nation to stand united following the disaster. https://www.sott.net/article/508097-At-least-1280-killed-5620-missing-after-flash-flood-hits-Nepal-and-Tibet-UPDATED Thu, 03 Sep 2026 17:57:49 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508140-Nodes-not-poles-Why-the-new-geoeconomic-order-is-multinodal-not-multipolar [Before diving into tonight's featured article I want to offer a brief comment on John Ratcliffe's strange visit to Moscow. The key for me is the C-17. Why use that plane? The CIA Director has a Gulfstream V (GV), which has a published maximum range of about 6,500 nautical miles, more than enough to reach Moscow. Commodore Steve Jermy has offered up the best possible explanation... Ratcliffe was picking up the bodies of dead CIA officers that the Russians had collected. Coffins travel better on a C-17 than a GV.] Every commentator now reaches for the same word. The American century is ending, the dollar's grip is loosening, new blocs are forming, and the world, we are told, is becoming "multipolar." The word feels precise. It is not. "Multipolar" imports a set of twentieth-century assumptions that actively misdescribe what is emerging in the global economy, and because the word we choose determines what we look for and what we measure, the wrong word produces the wrong analysis.... https://www.sott.net/article/508140-Nodes-not-poles-Why-the-new-geoeconomic-order-is-multinodal-not-multipolar Sat, 29 Aug 2026 20:31:37 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/508074-Why-medicine-wont-cure-youand-how-thats-finally-changing The predatory business model that requires lifelong patients faces its first federal challenge with Kennedy's historic SSRI initiative When I was in high school, I observed a few discouraging events which led me to postulate: "no industry, organization or cause tasked with solving a problem will actually solve it because the problem disappearing threatens their economic livelihood or political power." Since that time, I have observed more examples than I can count in so many different spheres that I've accepted this dynamic is a common feature of society, and likewise, have come across many similar observations by others, my favorite of which was: Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program — Milton Friedman Recently a noteworthy examples of this principle came to my attention after I learned all of the online dating apps had switched from formats which allowed people to find suitable long term partners to ones which prevented people from matching, because if someone... https://www.sott.net/article/508074-Why-medicine-wont-cure-youand-how-thats-finally-changing Mon, 24 Aug 2026 21:29:43 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507999-The-Cruelty-Of-DEI This past week ended with shock and sadness at the news that Jason Arday ended his own life in the midst of an investigation over his intellectual credibility. He was the vaunted education sociologist at Cambridge University, media darling and beneficiary of a big book contract, the toast of the town, and the subject of countless hagiographic profiles in media venues. Plenty of people had whispered for years that he nowhere near qualified for all this celebration. He was not a genius. He was a fabulist. Saying it, however, was dangerous to one's career. As a result, he kept getting away with it. His luck ran out when a U.S. academic pressed the issue. The tissue of lies collapsed. The circumstances surrounding his absurd appointment to a full professorship with a named chair - the youngest black professor to enjoy such privilege - are hardly unique to him. When the full truth coming out about his plagiarism and autobiographical embellishments hit the international news, despair... https://www.sott.net/article/507999-The-Cruelty-Of-DEI Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:24:35 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507967-EXCLUSIVE-interview-with-top-IRGC-adviser-to-Irans-Supreme-Leader Rising oil prices, the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and other Middle East sticking points — all that and more was discussed in an exclusive interview with Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the IRGC's top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader. https://www.sott.net/article/507967-EXCLUSIVE-interview-with-top-IRGC-adviser-to-Irans-Supreme-Leader Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:10:26 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507927-Strong-shallow-7-7-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-eastern-Indonesia-killing-at-least-68-UPDATE A powerful 7.7-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, killing at least 20 people, causing widespread panic and collapsing buildings and homes in a region prone to deadly earthquakes. Authorities had issued a tsunami warning, which has since been lifted, but there have been dozens of aftershocks, including one with a magnitude of 6.1. Tsunami waves of ⁠less than one metre (three feet) were recorded in several areas. Indonesian geophysics agency BMKG recorded the first quake at 4.58 am local time at a depth of 15 ⁠km (9 miles) in Indonesia's Flores region. Rescuers around the port town of Maumere found 20 dead, six injured and two trapped under the rubble, said Fathur Rahman, head of the city's rescue agency. Maumere is the main town in Sikka Regency on Flores Island in the east of Indonesia's vast archipelago. https://www.sott.net/article/507927-Strong-shallow-7-7-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-eastern-Indonesia-killing-at-least-68-UPDATE Mon, 17 Aug 2026 11:23:55 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507952-180000-people-left-without-power-in-Hawaii-amid-Hurricane-Lalas-fury-up-to-43-inches-of-rain-dumped-in-72-hours More than 183,000 people in the US state of Hawaii have been left without electricity following the strike of Hurricane Lala. Weather forecasts had indicated that Lala could be the first hurricane to make a direct landfall in Hawaii in 155 years of US history. However, the storm weakened into a tropical storm before hitting the archipelago. Hawaii Governor Josh Green stated on Sunday that at least one person died in a car accident caught in the storm. Additionally, reports indicate that over a hundred homes have been damaged. According to Reuters, citing power outage tracking data, 183,123 customers across Hawaii were without electricity as of 3:30 PM local time on Sunday. https://www.sott.net/article/507952-180000-people-left-without-power-in-Hawaii-amid-Hurricane-Lalas-fury-up-to-43-inches-of-rain-dumped-in-72-hours Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:25:03 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507915-Anthony-Fauci-and-the-Collapse-of-Scientific-Authority Academics celebrated a dishonest science administrator, exposing the decay of the biomedical enterprise Anthony Fauci is now facing intense scrutiny. His diaries, emails, and testimony have raised fundamental questions about what he knew, what he then told the public, and how he exercised authority during the pandemic. Many outside of academia read these documents and view this moment as his fall from grace, while universities and medical institutions seem willing to ignore this new evidence and continue to celebrate Fauci as a heroic public servant with unmatched scientific authority. Academics' unconventional viewpoint cannot be ignored. Fauci matters not only because of his individual conduct, but because he exposes the institutions that produced, empowered, and continue to protect him — Georgetown rewarded him with a prestigious position after he retired from the government in his 80s. The pandemic did not create the dysfunction inside biomedical science. It placed a magnifying... https://www.sott.net/article/507915-Anthony-Fauci-and-the-Collapse-of-Scientific-Authority Fri, 14 Aug 2026 19:16:38 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507912-Unprecedented-rain-in-Japan-kills-6-people-14-inches-of-rainfall-in-24-hours At least six people have died and five others are wounded in eastern Japan as record rainfall pummelled the Chiba prefecture near the capital Tokyo. The rains, which authorities have described as "unprecedented", cut power to more than 20,000 households while 7,000 travellers were stranded overnight at Tokyo's Narita airport. Local authorities issued a level five emergency warning, its highest alert, on Thursday. This was downgraded to a level four by Friday morning, but they continue to warn of landslide and flooding risks. The deluge comes after a series of storms swept through Japan and neighbouring countries this week, in what's been forecast to be an unusually active typhoon season. https://www.sott.net/article/507912-Unprecedented-rain-in-Japan-kills-6-people-14-inches-of-rainfall-in-24-hours Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:52:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507851-Earthquake-with-7-4-magnitude-hits-Colombia-killing-at-least-254-UPDATE At least 111 people were killed, and dozens of buildings collapsed in cities across western Colombia after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the South American nation. Colombia's Geological Service said Monday that it had been "the highest magnitude earthquake registered in Colombia in the last decade." The quake trapped residents under debris, leaving more injured and forcing people to evacuate their homes as far as the capital of Bogota. Colombia's newly inaugurated President, Abelardo de la Espriella, declared an emergency to expedite funding for quake recovery and has plans to visit the disaster zone. "We aren't going to leave people alone. They are in our hearts and we are going to tend to people with our full determination," he said. https://www.sott.net/article/507851-Earthquake-with-7-4-magnitude-hits-Colombia-killing-at-least-254-UPDATE Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:29:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507822-Popocatepetl-volcano-eruption-in-Mexico-on-August-7-ash-plume-3-5-kilometres-above-the-crater Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano erupted on Friday, sending an intense plume of ash, gas and water vapour around 3.5 kilometres above the crater, authorities said. The volcano is located about 43 kilometres from the city of Puebla and remains under close monitoring due to its proximity to densely populated areas. According to Mexico's National Centre for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred), Popocatépetl recorded 35 exhalations over the previous 24 hours. The Volcanic Alert Traffic Light remains at Yellow Phase 2, indicating low to moderate explosive activity. https://www.sott.net/article/507822-Popocatepetl-volcano-eruption-in-Mexico-on-August-7-ash-plume-3-5-kilometres-above-the-crater Sun, 09 Aug 2026 13:35:03 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507821-Huge-eruption-of-Sakurajima-Volcano-Japan-on-August-8-ash-plume-2200-meter-high Huge Eruption of Sakurajima Volcano, Ash Falling Across Kagoshima, Japan, Pacific Ring of Fire https://www.sott.net/article/507821-Huge-eruption-of-Sakurajima-Volcano-Japan-on-August-8-ash-plume-2200-meter-high Sun, 09 Aug 2026 13:21:30 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/495987-The-CDC-Planned-Quarantine-Camps-Nationwide No matter how bad you think Covid policies were, they were intended to be worse. Consider the vaccine passports alone. Six cities were locked down to include only the vaccinated in public indoor places. They were New York City, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and Seattle. The plan was to enforce this with a vaccine passport. It broke. Once the news leaked that the shot didn't stop infection or transmission, the planners lost public support and the scheme collapsed. It was undoubtedly planned to be permanent and nationwide if not worldwide. Instead, the scheme had to be dialed back. Features of the CDC's edicts did incredible damage. It imposed the rent moratorium. It decreed the ridiculous "six feet of distance" and mask mandates. It forced Plexiglas as the interface for commercial transactions. It implied that mail-in balloting must be the norm, which probably flipped the election. It delayed the reopening as long as possible. It was sadistic. Even with all that,... https://www.sott.net/article/495987-The-CDC-Planned-Quarantine-Camps-Nationwide Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:16:45 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507641-Shallow-6-8-earthquake-kills-at-least-34-as-rescuers-race-to-find-survivors-in-Japan-UPDATE The death toll from a powerful earthquake in south-west Japan has risen to 13, as rescue workers race to find more survivors from underneath the rubble. The magnitude 6.8 quake struck Kumamoto prefecture late on Tuesday, damaging roads and buildings, shutting rail networks, and forcing thousands to evacuate to shelters. Three of the fatalities are from the Aeon Mall in Kashima, where a portion of the second floor collapsed, the fire department said. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gave her condolences to those who had died and thanked emergency services for their continued efforts. "It's a race against time," Takaichi said in an update on Wednesday morning. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) measured the earthquake magnitude at 7.1 and the US Geological Survey later placed it at 6.8. Quake magnitude figures are often updated as seismologists obtain and analyse new data. https://www.sott.net/article/507641-Shallow-6-8-earthquake-kills-at-least-34-as-rescuers-race-to-find-survivors-in-Japan-UPDATE Fri, 31 Jul 2026 11:21:00 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507635-Fauci-Files-A-megalomaniacal-egomaniac-milking-Covid-for-everything-its-worth Anthony Fauci's personal diary reveals an obsession for soliciting awards, squelching dissent, & and circumventing independent agencies On May 28, 2021, Anthony Fauci learned that the Department of Health and Human Services would refer EcoHealth Alliance — the New York nonprofit that had routed NIAID money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology — to its inspector general. That night he wrote in his diary: "I am certain that there will be some deficiencies that the IG will find as is always the case with IG audits. Certainly, whatever they find it will be misconstrued by those who want to make a case for our involvement in the outbreak. I am starting to feel that it is important for me to write an editorial or an opinion piece giving our side of the story." (p. 753) Our involvement in the outbreak. Followed closely by a plan to get out in front of it. That instinct — get ahead of it, control the story, decide what the public needs to believe and then saturate every channel with it —... https://www.sott.net/article/507635-Fauci-Files-A-megalomaniacal-egomaniac-milking-Covid-for-everything-its-worth Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:08:29 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507601-The-Authentication-Layer Why digital ID is the hill to die on A friend and I got into it recently. He's smart, freedom-minded, and totally gets the danger of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). Expiring money, programmable control, carbon budgets - he sees most of the expanding tyranny clearly. And yet he dismisses Digital ID as a distraction. When I try to make the case that digital ID is the gateway to the gulag in the metaverse, he demands I name ONE thing Digital ID gives the government that they can't already do. My answer: it enables CBDC. Of course, governments have already encroached on our privacy and freedoms in ways our forefathers couldn't have imagined. But even with the creeping surveillance state, the government can't fully implement programmable currency without authenticated identity on every transaction. They're components of the same beast. Digital ID is the authentication layer while CBDC is the currency that runs on top of it. Stop Digital ID and you prevent CBDC from being built... https://www.sott.net/article/507601-The-Authentication-Layer Sat, 25 Jul 2026 18:16:52 +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/507578-Ukraine-bafflingly-battles-warehouse-chain-as-Russia-pulls-plug-on-Port-Odessa The crisis in Ukraine has come and gone, with Zelensky appointing Mykhailo Drapatyi as new Commander-in-Chief of the AFU after ousting Oleksandr Syrsky. However, the issue over Minister of Defense Fedorov remains unresolved. After being offered several lesser positions by Zelensky, Fedorov himself declared that he will not accept anything lower than Defense Minister owing to his belief that no other role provides the ability of shaping the future of the armed forces. "Today there are only three positions in the country that, alongside the troops on the battlefield, actually shape the course of the war: the President of Ukraine, the Minister of Defense, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Fedorov said. "That is why I will not accept any position other than Minister of Defense. No other role carries the actual authority to combat procurement corruption, complete the army's transformation, plan and execute asymmetric operations against the enemy, root out a... https://www.sott.net/article/507578-Ukraine-bafflingly-battles-warehouse-chain-as-Russia-pulls-plug-on-Port-Odessa Fri, 24 Jul 2026 16:15:23 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/507533-Debasification-Iranian-Air-War-Strategy Over the past few days, the US/Israeli/GCC ("US Axis" from here on) war against Iran has reached a pace not seen since the opening hours of the conflict. Waves of Iranian missiles and drones have been striking targets across the region, with an apparent shift in target selection concentrating unprecedented amounts of Iranian firepower against Kuwait and Jordan. The war between the US Axis and Iran can be arbitrarily divided into several theaters. There's the war for control over the Strait of Hormuz, countervalue strikes against infrastructure, Iran's campaign against Kurdish proxies staging for ground operations on its western flank, and so on. Today we'll be focusing on a narrow slice of the conflict: the air war, with IRGC missile and drone forces (IRGCASF) on one side and the USAF, IAF, and GCC air forces on the other. As we'll see, this theater of the war has profound implications that cut across all other areas of the conflict. https://www.sott.net/article/507533-Debasification-Iranian-Air-War-Strategy Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:40:53 +0000