Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/4/2020

A massive explosion occurred today at the port in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The blast destroyed many buildings, including a hospital, and killed at least 73 people while injuring thousands more. The explosion is thought to have resulted from the storage of 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate in close proximity with some kind of fuel oil and fireworks. A spark from a welding torch — which was being used to weld a door shut to prevent theft — ignited the fireworks, which set off the fuel and ammonium nitrate. Videos of the detonation show a huge blast and a mushroom cloud over the port area.

In other news, 435 illegal migrants landed in Spain, and 34 of them who tested positive for COVID-19 escaped from quarantine.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Dean, LP, Reader from Chicago, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

USA
» $5,000 Reward Offered for Culprit Who Put ‘Trump 2020’ Sticker on Bear’s Collar
» “Back the Blue” Mural Painted on Street Outside Tampa Police Department
» BLM Protester Stabbed in Portland as Another Anti-Police Protester Shouts, ‘Call the Police!’
» Commie Leader Endorses Biden; Trump Campaign Says Biden is “An Empty Vessel for the Radical Left”
» Dispute Over Masks Erupts Into Violence in Manhattan Beach
» Domestic Violence Calls Surge After Stay-at-Home Order Lifts
» Full Body Cam Video From Two of the Minneapolis Police Officers Undercuts Charges Filed by Minnesota AG Keith Ellison
» Google Study Predicts Global Increase in Suicide Rate Amid Pandemic
» Houston Mayor Orders $250 Fines for People Who Refuse to Wear Masks
» Illinois High School Teacher Fired for Facebook Post Rejecting Idea of “White Privilege”
» L.A. County Threatens Pastor John Macarthur With Fines, Arrest After Church Holds in-Person Services
» Louisiana Attorney General Slams Facebook’s Censorship of Doctors
» Media TV Veteran Admits “We Are a Cancer and There is No Cure”
» MSNBC Producer Quits, Cites Ratings-Based Coverage, Focus on Fringe Groups: “This Cancer Stokes National Division”
» NY Church Devotes $200,000 to “Reparations”
» NYC Health Commissioner Resigns Over De Blasio’s Response to Coronavirus Pandemic
» NYT Quietly Scrubs Chinese Propaganda
» Poll Shows Almost 2/3 of Voters Anticipate Violence by Progressives if Trump Wins Reelection
» Poll: 82% of U.S. Parents Are Considering Homeschooling Their Kids This Fall
» Seattle Police Chief Sends Letter to City Council After Protesters Target Her Home
» Seattle City Councilwoman Mic Drops ‘Goofy White’ BLM Agitators for ‘Terrorizing’ Her Neighborhood
» Sen. Ted Cruz Chairs Hearing on Antifa Role in Riots, ‘Stopping Anarchist Violence’: Live Updates
» Shelters Prepare for COVID’s Impact on Domestic Violence Victims
» Suicide Rates in Oklahoma Spike Due to COVID-19
» Thousands Campaign to Get Veteran Removed From School Board After Attending Blue Lives Matter Event
» Town Mayor Faces Calls for Resignation After “Aunt Jemima” Joke on Facebook
» Trump: ‘Crazy Nancy’ Pelosi “Slow-Rolling” Coronavirus Aid; Only Interested in Bailing Out Radical Leftists
» Trump Questions Epstein Suicide: “Was He Killed?”
» Violence in Cincinnati Could Set Records in 2020
» Washington Post Pushes Weak Trump/Epstein Connection, Ignores Bill Clinton ‘Pedo Island’ Allegation
» Washington Post Bashed as ‘Morally Bankrupt’ For Glowing Feature on Chinese Communist Party
 
Europe and the EU
» Belgium: Dozens of Sheep Seized to Stop Illegal Muslim Eid Slaughters
» Europe Must Stand United Against China, Writes Top German Minister
» Orban Stands Up to Claims Central Europeans Survive on EU Generosity: ‘Like Hell We Do!’
» Poland: Supreme Court Upholds Presidential Election Result
» Robot Uses Face Scanning AI to Ask People to Wear a Mask
» UK: Bias Against Conservative and Pro-Brexit Academics ‘Chilling’ Free Speech on Campus
» UK: Former Royal Marine Anthony Middleton Dropped From Charity Soccer Match After Tweet Criticizing Violent Protests
» UK: London: Man With Mask Not Fully Covering His Face Lectures Woman About Not Wearing Mask
» UK: Monty Python Star John Cleese Says Woke Cancel Culture is Killing Comedy
» ‘Wild West’ Sweden: 12-Year-Old Child Killed in Suspected Gang Crossfire
 
Middle East
» Beirut Explosion: Large Blast Near Port Rocks Lebanon’s Capital
» Beirut Blast: Dozens Dead and Thousands Injured, Health Minister Says
» Jihadist Terrorist Flag Displayed in Hagia Sophia
» Lebanon: At Least 73 Killed as Huge Explosion Rocks Beirut
» Trump Says U.S. Generals Believe Beirut Explosion Was Not an Accident But “An Attack … a Bomb of Some Kind”
 
Far East
» Escaped Chinese Virologist Claims Coronavirus Came From Communist Military Lab
» Greatfire Introduces App Maker to Bypass China’s Censorship
» Locusts Plunder Crops in Southwest China
» UK Lawmakers Urge Sanctions Over Hong Kong Police Violence
 
Australia — Pacific
» Stranded Sailors Rescued From Uninhabited Island After SOS Signal Spotted in Sand
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» 14 Baptist Christians Killed, 6 Wounded in Muslim Attack in Nigeria
 
Immigration
» 435 Illegal Migrants Land in Spain, 34 Escape Quarantine Despite Testing Positive for COVID-19
» Fordham Student Banned From Campus Over Social Media Post Files First Amendment Lawsuit
» Germany: Migrant Drags 47-Year-Old-Woman Off Her Bike and Rapes Her at Knife Point in Munich
» Syrians Arrested for Pushing German Man Into Path of Oncoming Train
» UK: Another 120 Migrants on Eight Boats Stream Into Dover in a Day as People Smugglers Urge Hundreds to Make Channel Crossing Now Before Brexit ‘Closes the Door’
» Watch: Migrant Boat ‘Shadowed’ Into British Waters by French Ships
 
Culture Wars
» 309 Female Athletes Attacked for Signing Letter Against Transgender People in Sports
» Screenshot Reveals Unreleased Twitter Tool for Flagging and Monitoring “Misinformation”
 
General
» UN Warns Nearly 24 Million Children Will Never Return to School After Coronavirus Pandemic
 

$5,000 Reward Offered for Culprit Who Put ‘Trump 2020’ Sticker on Bear’s Collar

A $5,000 dollar reward is being offered to identify the culprit who put a ‘Trump 2020’ sticker on a bear’s collar in North Carolina.

Yes, really.

Local activists in Asheville were apparently “outraged” at the sight of the sticker, which was seen on the collar of a black bear.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

“Back the Blue” Mural Painted on Street Outside Tampa Police Department

A pro-police mural was painted outside the Tampa Police Department headquarters over the weekend to help boost police morale.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

BLM Protester Stabbed in Portland as Another Anti-Police Protester Shouts, ‘Call the Police!’

Before the nightly radical action in Portland, the BLM folks in the park near the federal courthouse had a little earlier drama.

A woman was apparently filming in the Lownsdale Square Park. That disturbed a couple of other people in the park resulting in an argument. The woman then allegedly took out a knife and stabbed a protester in the chest, why is not clear as of yet.

The video starts post stabbing where the woman stabbed who has an Antifa tattoo shows blood on her chest and three people follow the woman with the knife.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Commie Leader Endorses Biden; Trump Campaign Says Biden is “An Empty Vessel for the Radical Left”

After the founder and leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party USA endorsed Joe Biden for President, the Trump campaign responded by warning that Biden is “an empty vessel for the radical left”.

“Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield just this morning made clear that ‘everybody who believes that Joe Biden should be president’ is ‘welcome into this campaign.’ That now includes Bob Avakian, the radical founder and leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party who just endorsed Joe Biden and instructed fellow communists to support Biden in the election.” reads the Trump campaign’s statement.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Dispute Over Masks Erupts Into Violence in Manhattan Beach

Video captured a brawl over masks in Manhattan Beach last week that erupted after a couple poured hot coffee on men who’d been expressing their disapproval of masks.

The incident occurred Friday morning after a pair of friends, Matt Roy and James Hernandez, say they had been at a local coffee shop, discussing how they feel about people wearing masks. Roy and Hernandez say they are anti-mask.

“This couple overheard us, and they took offense to it,” Roy said. “It really triggered them.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Domestic Violence Calls Surge After Stay-at-Home Order Lifts

Franny Cole’s now-estranged husband had been emotionally abusive and financially controlling. She thinks sometimes about what might have happened had she not gathered the strength to leave prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have the fear that you’re going to be physically hurt, although I can’t be certain that it wouldn’t have gone that way had, we’d been stuck for six straight weeks under the same roof” We are using a pseudonym to protect the identity of the. 48-year-old St. Clair County woman at her request. “I can imagine that escalates things immensely.”

Her sense that Illinois’ stay-at-home order — between March 21 and the end of May — would create stressors pushing abusers to the boiling point is accurate, say advocates of survivors of domestic abuse. Calls to Illinois’ domestic violence hotline were up 17 percent compared to last year during the same March 21 to May 29 period.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Full Body Cam Video From Two of the Minneapolis Police Officers Undercuts Charges Filed by Minnesota AG Keith Ellison

Late on Monday, The Daily Mail posted full body cam videos from two of the officers charged in connection with the death of George Floyd. These videos have been kept out of the public domain by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and now we know why.

The videos are from the body cams worn by Officer Thomas Lane and Officer Alex Kueng. The two videos are different lengths but cover a sequence of events lasting just over 18 minutes. Full versions are linked to below, and after the links I have comments with time-stamps referenced.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Google Study Predicts Global Increase in Suicide Rate Amid Pandemic

More and more people are googling how to deal with financial troubles and disaster relief as the pandemic continues. Research suggests that this behaviour may eventually be followed by suicidal tendencies.

As the pandemic continues, researchers are collecting data on its effects on mental health. Studies done in the US show that suicide rates drop drastically following national disasters but often peak a few months later. This was the case following 9/11, the SARS 2003 Hong Kong outbreak and the flu pandemic of 1918.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic first began, countries across the world are reporting elevated mental health issues, from the US to South Africa and beyond. Mental health has taken a backseat as health establishments across the globe struggle to handle the increase in demand.

International studies have now linked Google search behaviour with suicidal manifestations. A study done at Columbia University Irving Medical Center used a Google algorithm to directly link terms related to suicide and known risk factors associated with suicide.

Financial distress is often linked with suicide mortality according to statistics.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Houston Mayor Orders $250 Fines for People Who Refuse to Wear Masks

Democratic Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has announced that police will begin issuing citations against people not wearing masks, hitting them with a fine of $250 dollars.

“For months, we have been focusing on education and not citations, but now I am instructing the Houston Police Department to issue the necessary warnings and citations to anyone not wearing a mask in public if they do not meet the criteria for an exemption,” the mayor said Monday at a press briefing.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Illinois High School Teacher Fired for Facebook Post Rejecting Idea of “White Privilege”

Jeanne Hedgepeth, a Palatine High School, Illinois, social studies teacher, has been fired over one of her social media posts after the Township High School District 211 board members voted 5-2 to terminate her employment.

“I am about facts, truth-seeking and love,” Hedgepeth wrote in the Facebook post that led to her termination. “I will speak on any topic I choose because I live in a free country. I find the term ‘white privilege’ as racist as the ‘N’ word. You have not walked in my shoes either so do not make assumptions about me and my so called privilege. You think America is racist? Then you’ve been hoodwinked by the white liberal establishment and race baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Travel the world and go see that every nation has racism and some more than others but few make efforts such as we do to mitigate or eliminate it.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

L.A. County Threatens Pastor John Macarthur With Fines, Arrest After Church Holds in-Person Services

Officials in Los Angeles County have sent Pastor John MacArthur a letter threatening fines and possible arrest if he continues to hold in-person church services in defiance of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lockdown order.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Louisiana Attorney General Slams Facebook’s Censorship of Doctors

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, accusing the platform of political bias for removing the video of doctors promoting hydroxychloroquine.

In the letter, Landry accuses Facebook of using algorithms to silence dissenting voices.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Media TV Veteran Admits “We Are a Cancer and There is No Cure”

MSNBC producer Ariana Pekary explained that the reason for her deciding to quit her job was that the mainstream media blocks “diversity of thought” in favor of promoting hysterical voices for ratings and that a TV veteran admitted to her “we are a cancer and there is no cure.”

Pekary, who was an “integral member” of Lawrence O’Donnell’s primetime show, says that the media’s obsession with Trump is actually costing lives because it is preventing reasoned discussions about how to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

MSNBC Producer Quits, Cites Ratings-Based Coverage, Focus on Fringe Groups: “This Cancer Stokes National Division”

Former MSNBC news producer Ariana Pekary recently published an open letter on her website describing coverage decisions and other practices at the liberal news network that led her to resign from her position in July.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

NY Church Devotes $200,000 to “Reparations”

A New York City church has vowed to allocate $200,000 in “reparations” by providing housing assistance and anti-racism training.

Middle Collegiate Church in Manhattan is donating approximately one tenth of its $2.3 million budget to make amends.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

NYC Health Commissioner Resigns Over De Blasio’s Response to Coronavirus Pandemic

New York City’s top health official resigned Tuesday over Mayor Bill de Blasio’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said she was leaving her post with “deep disappointment” that the “Health Department’s incomparable disease control expertise was not used to the degree it could have been” during the “most critical public health crisis in our lifetime.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

NYT Quietly Scrubs Chinese Propaganda

The New York Times quietly deleted hundreds of advertorials that the Chinese Communist Party paid to publish on its website.

A Times spokeswoman told the Washington Free Beacon that the move is a reflection of a decision to stop accepting ads from state-run media. “We made the decision at the beginning of this year to stop accepting branded content ads from state run media, which includes China Daily,” she said.

The Times‘s decision to end its partnership with China Daily is part of a society-wide reckoning about the cozy relationships between the Chinese government and American institutions, from the NBA to Harvard University. While the paper is responsible for some of the most gut-wrenching stories about Chinese government oppression, it has also run more than 200 propaganda articles in the last decade, some of which sugar-coated China’s human rights abuses. One 2019 video ad, for example, promoted Xinjiang tourism by depicting the oppressed Uyghur people as content under Chinese rule.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Poll Shows Almost 2/3 of Voters Anticipate Violence by Progressives if Trump Wins Reelection

Nearly two-thirds of American voters believe progressives are somewhat or very likely to be violent if President Trump wins re-election in November, according to results of a new poll by Rasmussen.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Poll: 82% of U.S. Parents Are Considering Homeschooling Their Kids This Fall

As the school year begins around the country, a recent study has found a shocking 82% of parents are at least considering keeping their children home through 2021.

OnePoll surveyed 2,000 parents as to their choice between open or closed schools, and found that one in four said they would not be sending their children back to classrooms regardless.

Although 81% of those considering homeschooling point to worries over COVID-19 spread as the motivating factor, much of the concern seemed focused less on fears about the precautions taken by schools and more on the personal responsibility of their own children. Nearly 6 in 10 said they do not think their children would properly wash their hands while at school.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Seattle Police Chief Sends Letter to City Council After Protesters Target Her Home

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best sent a sharply worded letter to the city council about its failure to respond effectively to the lawlessness plaguing the region after a group of agitators descended upon her home Saturday night.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Seattle City Councilwoman Mic Drops ‘Goofy White’ BLM Agitators for ‘Terrorizing’ Her Neighborhood

A Native American Seattle city councilwoman is blasting back after repeated instances of Black Lives Matter agitators aggressively targeting her home and scaring her family and neighbors over her stance on defunding the police.

As my colleague Nick Arama has previously reported, “peaceful protesters” have paid unfriendly visits to the homes of several city council members including feckless Mayor Jenny Durkan and police chief Carmen Best in recent weeks as part of their radical commitment to defund the police.

Councilwoman Deborah Juarez, in particular, has faced numerous incidents of demonstrators invading her neighborhood because even though she has proclaimed she’s a proponent of partially defunding the police, she will not sign on to any pledge from “protesters” to defund them by 50%.

Last week, Juarez ripped them a new one in an epic rant, suggesting that marchers who she alleged were co-opting the BLM movement were a classic example of “white privilege” in action.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Sen. Ted Cruz Chairs Hearing on Antifa Role in Riots, ‘Stopping Anarchist Violence’: Live Updates

Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday is chairing a hearing on the role of Antifa and other radical groups in recent riots across the country.

The hearing, “The Right of the People Peaceably to Assemble: Protecting Speech by Stopping Anarchist Violence,” is being held by the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution.

Follow the hearing on Fox News’ live blog below. Mobile users click here.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Shelters Prepare for COVID’s Impact on Domestic Violence Victims

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Domestic violence shelters are afraid COVID may soon cause them to run out of room, and that’s just one of many recent hurdles.

As the coronavirus spread in Memphis and the city sheltered in place, one group braced what was to come.

“Our hotline increased. Most of the calls were people who were seeking how can I stay safe,” said Marquiepta Odom, executive director of the YWCA in Memphis, a shelter assisting victims of domestic violence.

Odom and her staff were concerned because they knew a lot of victims would be forced to shelter with their abuser.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Suicide Rates in Oklahoma Spike Due to COVID-19

TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa mental health experts said there has been a sharp increase in suicide and suicidal thoughts in Oklahoma since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

They said most of these cases have occurred among teenagers who lack the normal structure without their school routines.

The uncertainty of the pandemic, along with everything that comes with living in quarantine, has taken a huge toll on mental health. Some have taken their own lives.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Thousands Campaign to Get Veteran Removed From School Board After Attending Blue Lives Matter Event

lsewhere in the world, it might sound like the most logical position to hold and the least controversial declaration you will ever make — saying that all lives matter, that is.

But in the US, where the phrase is associated with those critical of the Black Lives Matter movement, it is tantamount to an expression of overt racism and has been known to spark calls for “canceling,” especially of celebrities and public figures, who had ventured to use it on social media over the past months.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Town Mayor Faces Calls for Resignation After “Aunt Jemima” Joke on Facebook

It was only in mid-June that Quaker Foods North America announced its iconic Aunt Jemima brand was rooted in racial stereotyping and that it would “cancel” the name, and the image representing it — that of a black woman.

And it was only after social media users started calling out the brand and the company that Quaker decided on the move — all at the height of racial and social tensions in the US at the time.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Trump: ‘Crazy Nancy’ Pelosi “Slow-Rolling” Coronavirus Aid; Only Interested in Bailing Out Radical Leftists

President Trump blasted ‘Crazy Nancy’ Pelosi Monday, saying that she and the Democrats have zero interest in the well-being of Americans, and are blocking coronavirus aid in favour of bailing out radical left governors and mayors.

“What the Democrats want, they’re slow-rolling it and all they’re really interested in is bailout money to bail out radical left governors and radical left mayors,” Trump urged during a press conference.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Questions Epstein Suicide: “Was He Killed?”

During an interview with Axios, President Trump questioned whether Jeffrey Epstein actually killed himself, while also reiterating that he didn’t want to see Ghislaine Maxwell die in jail.

Trump previously faced criticism from the media about him wishing Maxwell well, but clarified again that he simply meant he did not want to see her killed or commit suicide before her trial.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Violence in Cincinnati Could Set Records in 2020

The Cincinnati Police Department is tracking an alarming increase in the number of homicides and shootings in the city for 2020.

Through early Tuesday morning there had been 57 homicides in the city Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate told City Council’s Law and Public Safety Committee. That’s a 36.6% increase from the same period in 2019.

“If 2020 continues on the pace that it is, this will probably be the worst year for homicidal violence that we’ve had on record,” Neudigate said.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Washington Post Pushes Weak Trump/Epstein Connection, Ignores Bill Clinton ‘Pedo Island’ Allegation

The Washington Post attempted to connect elite pedophile Jeffrey Epstein with President Trump following unsealing of court documents, yet completely ignored witness assertions that Bill Clinton was present on the infamous ‘pedo island’ in the Caribbean.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Washington Post Bashed as ‘Morally Bankrupt’ For Glowing Feature on Chinese Communist Party

The Washington Post was roasted on Tuesday for publishing a glowing piece praising China’s Communist Party that was quickly compared to Beijing’s propaganda.

The piece, headlined “Trump views China’s Communist Party as a threat. Young Chinese see it as a ticket to a better future,” and written by Beijing bureau chief Anna Fifield, was accused of reading like a “press release” by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Belgium: Dozens of Sheep Seized to Stop Illegal Muslim Eid Slaughters

Belgian authorities seized around 70 sheep in total in the provinces of Brabant and Hainaut, preventing the animals from being illegally slaughtered for the Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday.

The seizures came shortly before the Islamic festival, which took place over the weekend in the two Wallonian provinces, and police say the seizures this year were far higher than the year before.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Europe Must Stand United Against China, Writes Top German Minister

The European Union must be more firm in its stance against China, writes German Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth in an op-ed piece in Der Spiegel.

His comments come fresh on the heels of another symbolic move by Germany against Beijing. Last Friday, in response to China having had postponed the Hong Kong elections by a year, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced that his country was suspending its extradition agreement with Hong Kong.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Orban Stands Up to Claims Central Europeans Survive on EU Generosity: ‘Like Hell We Do!’

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has pushed back on claims that conservative-led Central European countries defying Brussels on migrant quotas and other globalist policies survive on EU funds, saying simply: “Like hell we do!”

Hungary and other Central European countries with governments leaning towards national conservativism and national populism, such as Poland, have come in for heavy criticism from the European Union establishment in recent years for refusing compulsory migrant redistribution, enforcing strong border controls, and introducing policies to support marriage and motherhood as an alternative to mass migration, among other things.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Poland: Supreme Court Upholds Presidential Election Result

The Polish Supreme Court has released an official resolution on Monday, which validated the election victory of President Andrzej Duda on July 12, 2020.

The head of the judiciary staff responsible for the resolution, Ewa Stefanska, explained that the supreme court considered all circumstances in its decision, including those which were not officially filed as election protests.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Robot Uses Face Scanning AI to Ask People to Wear a Mask

A robot normally used to provide customer service now has a new mission; Scanning your face with AI technology to check whether you’re wearing a mask and asking you to put one on.

With masks now becoming mandatory in many countries inside supermarkets, public buildings and transport systems, SoftBank Robotics Europe has reprogrammed its “cutesy” Pepper android to help enforce the new rules.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Bias Against Conservative and Pro-Brexit Academics ‘Chilling’ Free Speech on Campus

Left-wing bias has created a “chilling effect” in British academia which is forcing conservative and pro-Brexit academics to self-censor on campus, a report has found.

A report from the Policy Exchange think tank found that many conservatives in higher education feel there is a “hostile climate” for their political beliefs in their departments. A survey of educators found that 44 per cent of ‘fairly right’ and 63 per cent of ‘very right’ academics felt that the political climate has impacted what they teach or research.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Former Royal Marine Anthony Middleton Dropped From Charity Soccer Match After Tweet Criticizing Violent Protests

In the latest example of someone losing a job or job opportunity due to intolerance of their social media posts, Former British Royal Marine and presenter on the UK’s Channel 4, Anthony Middleton, has been excluded from the annual charity match between the Soccer Aid Foundation and the England team after a tweet that was critical of Black Lives Matter-related riots.

Middleton is known for his honorable performance in the military and his multiple roles on television. Currently, it is possible to see him as the main presenter of SAS: Who Dares Wins. However, lately, he has been the target of a strong backlash over a tweet and has been forced to apologize.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: London: Man With Mask Not Fully Covering His Face Lectures Woman About Not Wearing Mask

A video shot in the London underground shows a man wearing an ill-fitting mask that isn’t even fully covering his mouth aggressively lecturing another woman for not wearing a mask.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Monty Python Star John Cleese Says Woke Cancel Culture is Killing Comedy

British actor and comedian John Cleese said that the woke mob are destroying comedy through political correctness, saying that many people who try to enforce the newfangled speech codes have “no sense of humour”.

The star of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers lashed out at the modern iteration of cancel culture, claiming that proponents of the movement — which has sought to ban political and media figures for expressing supposedly uncouth political beliefs or making off-colour jokes — don’t understand the nature of comedy.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘Wild West’ Sweden: 12-Year-Old Child Killed in Suspected Gang Crossfire

A 12-year-old Swedish girl was shot dead over the weekend while walking her dog as one criminologist has warned Sweden is becoming like the “Wild West”.

The shooting took place in the municipality of Botkyrka on Sunday night outside of a local McDonald’s restaurant while the 12-year-old victim was walking her dog.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Beirut Explosion: Large Blast Near Port Rocks Lebanon’s Capital

A massive explosion ripped through central Beirut on Tuesday, injuring thousands of people and blowing out windows in buildings across the city.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Beirut Blast: Dozens Dead and Thousands Injured, Health Minister Says

A large blast in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has killed at least 70 people and injured more than 4,000 others, the health minister says.

Videos show smoke billowing from a fire, then a mushroom cloud following the blast at the city’s port.

Officials are blaming highly explosive materials stored in a warehouse for six years.

President Michel Aoun tweeted it was “unacceptable” that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was stored unsafely.

[Comment: Watch the video. The blast is incredible.]

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Jihadist Terrorist Flag Displayed in Hagia Sophia

A flag of an Islamic extremist terrorist organisation inside Hagia Sophia, has been filmed and published on social media.

“Afghan Taliban flag was raised in Hagia Sophia, Turkey by pro-Taliban activists,” said Noor Dahri on Twitter.

“The conversion of Hagia Sophia was a motivational message [from the] Muslim Brotherhood to the world’s Islamist extremists and terrorists,” added the expert in Islamic extremism.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Lebanon: At Least 73 Killed as Huge Explosion Rocks Beirut

Thousands injured in blast, which occurred in city’s port area

Two huge explosions have rocked Beirut, killing at least 73 people, injuring thousands more, and sending an enormous blast wave across the city that shattered windows, knocked down doors and shook buildings.

Hundreds of homes were left uninhabitable after the blasts ripped through a section of the Lebanese capital’s port.

Thousands of people sought treatment in nearby hospitals, which were struggling to cope with the casualties. Cars were left strewn across the surrounding highway, and the blast was heard up to 80km (50 miles) away in the country’s north. The health ministry put the confirmed death toll at at least 73, with at least 3,700 injured…

           — Hat tip: LP [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Says U.S. Generals Believe Beirut Explosion Was Not an Accident But “An Attack … a Bomb of Some Kind”

After a massive explosion rocked Beirut, killing dozens and injuring thousands, President Trump told the press that he’s “met with some of our great generals” and they believe it was a deliberate attack — “a bomb of some kind.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Escaped Chinese Virologist Claims Coronavirus Came From Communist Military Lab

A Chinese virologist who escaped her communist homeland to the United States is claiming that the coronavirus came from a Chinese military lab. The whistleblower, Dr. Li Meng-Yan, said she fled to the United States out of fear that she would be killed for exposing the truth.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Greatfire Introduces App Maker to Bypass China’s Censorship

GreatFire, an anonymous China-based organization dedicated to monitoring and circumventing China’s internet censorship system known as the Great Firewall, has announced the release of an app creator for the Android market.

The GreatFire AppMaker is meant to allow third parties blocked in mainland China to build apps that will bypass those restrictions.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Locusts Plunder Crops in Southwest China

Aug. 4 (UPI) — Swarms of locusts have destroyed crops in China’s southwestern Yunnan Province, as the country braces for more flooding in other regions.

The Forestry Department of Yunnan Province said farmers in Pu’er, a city in the province, and other areas have reported severe damage to crops over nearly 40 square miles of land, China Central Television and Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday.

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UK Lawmakers Urge Sanctions Over Hong Kong Police Violence

LONDON — British lawmakers urged the U.K. government Tuesday to sanction Hong Kong’s leader for allowing “excessive police violence” against humanitarian workers who tried to help people injured during pro-democracy protests.

A report by members of the bipartisan All Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong said first aid workers, doctors and nurses, have been subjected to intimidation, threats, physical violence and arrests during months of clashes between police and protesters that began in the semi-autonomous Chinese city last year.

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Stranded Sailors Rescued From Uninhabited Island After SOS Signal Spotted in Sand

Three men stranded on a small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean were rescued Sunday after a U.S. Air Force plane spotted a giant SOS signal the sailors had written in the sand.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

14 Baptist Christians Killed, 6 Wounded in Muslim Attack in Nigeria

Fourteen Christians were killed and another six injured during a recent attack on a village in Nigeria carried out by Muslim Fulani herdsmen.

Victims of the attack belonged to Bethel Baptist Church in Agbadu-Daruwana, and 13 of the people who died were members of the same extended family. Within that family, only one person now remains alive.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

435 Illegal Migrants Land in Spain, 34 Escape Quarantine Despite Testing Positive for COVID-19

Since Friday, 435 migrants from Africa have arrived at the Spanish coast in small boats, with most of them landing on the Canary Islands and the Andalusian coast. Police are also currently searching for 34 migrants infected with coronavirus who escaped from quarantine.

Of the 435 migrants, 168 arrived in the Canary Islands, eight in the Balearic Islands, 128 in Andalusia, and five in the neighboring region of Murcia, according to Europrvy.cz.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Fordham Student Banned From Campus Over Social Media Post Files First Amendment Lawsuit

Fordham University student Austin Tong is suing the New York City school after he was banned from campus over a social media post showing him holding a firearm.

The lawsuit alleges that Tong’s posts should be “permitted exercise of free expression protected under Fordham’s policies and rules.”

As Campus Reform first reported, on the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, Tong, who immigrated to the U.S. from China at a young age, posted a photo of himself holding a legally-owned firearm on Instagram. On that same day, two Fordham Department of Public Safety agents were sent to Tong’s house around midnight, and they proceeded to interview him for any perceived threats.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Migrant Drags 47-Year-Old-Woman Off Her Bike and Rapes Her at Knife Point in Munich

German police are actively searching for a migrant who is accused of pushing a 47-year-old woman off her bike in Munich and raping her at knife point in an adjacent corn field, according to a police report from the Munich Police Department.

On Thursday, July 30, at approximately 7:00 p.m., the woman was in the area of Pappelallee on her way to Röhrichtstraße, when she was suddenly pushed off her by bike by an unknown male and pulled into a field. The male is described as speaking German with a foreign accent and having a foreign appearance. According to the victim, he has darker skin, a slim figure, was between 20 and 30 years old, between 170 and 175 centimeters tall, and had short brown curly hair.

The woman said the man hit her and threatened her with a knife while accusing her of stealing money. He then began to search through her clothing.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Syrians Arrested for Pushing German Man Into Path of Oncoming Train

Two Syrians, both asylum seekers, were arrested in the city of Waghäusel after allegedly pushing a 54-year-old German man in front of an oncoming train.

The incident took place at the local train station in Waghäusel last week on Tuesday evening but the two suspects were not arrested until two days later after being identified by local police.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Another 120 Migrants on Eight Boats Stream Into Dover in a Day as People Smugglers Urge Hundreds to Make Channel Crossing Now Before Brexit ‘Closes the Door’

Another 120 migrants streamed into Dover today as people smugglers urge hundreds to make the Channel crossing now before Brexit ‘closes the door’.

Pictures show men wearing masks and lifejackets being brought into the Kent port of Dover on a Border Force speedboat.

The Home Office confirmed Border Force and partner agencies intercepted eight boats while the Coastguard earlier said it was dealing with ‘multiple incidents’.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Watch: Migrant Boat ‘Shadowed’ Into British Waters by French Ships

French ships were seen apparently escorting illegal migrants in small boats across the English Channel again on Tuesday morning, confirming earlier reporting from Breitbart London and Brexit leader Nigel Farage, who uncovered the practice.

ITV’s Good Morning Britain filmed the migrants crossing into British waters after being “shadowed” by French naval vessels in the Channel — reporting that at the time of filming they witnessed four or five migrant boats attempting to make the journey.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

309 Female Athletes Attacked for Signing Letter Against Transgender People in Sports

Last week, more than 300 female athletes signed a letter sent to the Board of Governors of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), expressing their opposition to the inclusion of transgender people in sports.

Former Czech tennis player Martina Navratilova is also among the signatories, most of whom initially wished to remain anonymous. Despite that wish, the Outsports website has published their names in an attempt to shame the signatories.

With the 309 signatures to the letter, the Save Women’s Sports group wanted to appeal to the leadership of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that announced in June that it would discuss the abolishment of an existing rule banning transgender students from competing according to their authentic gender.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Screenshot Reveals Unreleased Twitter Tool for Flagging and Monitoring “Misinformation”

App researcher Jane Manchun Wong has discovered an unreleased Twitter tool that allows moderators to flag tweets containing “misinformation,” vote on whether the tweets are “misleading,” and add additional notes about the tweets.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UN Warns Nearly 24 Million Children Will Never Return to School After Coronavirus Pandemic

With more than one billion children across 160 countries already missing school this year, the United Nations predicts nearly 24 million will never return to formal education after the coronavirus crisis subsides.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday said COVID-19 “has led to the largest disruption of education ever.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

16 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/4/2020

  1. Regarding the bear with a Trump 2020 sticker on its collar; the outraged leftists need to be using metal detectors to find the dude with the giant steel balls. Much more dangerous than putting Maga hats on pigeons! Not likely to be any soy drinking hipster snowflake that would have dared a stunt like this!

    • Nothing makes me smile better than when the left are having a complete meltdown, the caterwauling is like music to ones ears. . LOL I don’t care who you are, the guy who managed to put a Trump sticker on a bear has my admiration and tip of the hat.

  2. Saving children from Marxist indoctrination is the only positive to come out of the Chinese Fever pandemic.

  3. Isn’t that odd with the Black Death 2.0 raging across the planet with cries of bring out your dead on every corner and the immigration replacement continues?
    The comrades didn’t get a vote on that on as part of the democracy Kool-Aid.
    The replacements aren’t all that bright and won’t complain when utopia doesn’t materialize.
    If they do complain the benefits package will be revoked.

    • Well for chrissakes! That is what used tires are for, it is always a bloody shame when they accidentally catch on fire.

  4. I really wonder if the elites of our country and the foreigners who make these spam calls realize how much of people’s time is wasted by this foolishness.

    Sounds to me like we need to put people’s money in the game. It should take $10 per phone call into the US. Any country’s telecon doesn’t pay up gets disconnected.

  5. Who was that imbecile that said that the “penny has dropped”?
    It hasn’t dropped and will not drop.
    When you own the mechanism of intellectual engagement, then you own the conclusion.
    Only an imbecile would conclude that wasn’t so.
    The rapes will continue. The funding of Islamic scum will continue.
    It will only end when you get off your [ample fundament] and do something.
    But you wont.
    So they have won, until those like me with vested interests say I will destroy you because you have stopped me from living and have restricted my freedom.
    You sir, are a [fragment of ordure] that I wouldn’t [micturate upon].
    And my forebears wouldn’t [make water] on you either.

    • It comes sooner or later Dawg, there is nowhere to flee from this invasion and backs are now against the walls. The weak who refused to get off their backsides will perish, the strong will find their backbones and go Ole Testament upon those who wrought this upon us. I do like how you think Dawg.

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