Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/25/2020

An 82-year-old COVID patient was beaten to death in a California hospital by his roommate, who was also a coronavirus patient. The killer was reportedly upset when his victim said his prayers out loud. There’s no word yet on whether the cause of death will be reported in statistics as COVID-19.

In other news, President Trump has been briefed on this morning’s vehicular explosion in Nashville.

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

Thanks to Caroline Glick, Dean, DV, JD, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, 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
» “Mike Pence Must Do This” — President Trump Retweets “Operation Pence Card” Urging His VP to Act on Fraudulent Election
» Andy NGO’s Lawsuit Against Rose City Antifa, Protestors Can Move Forward Judge Decides
» Boxer Bryant Jennings: Wishing Muslims Merry Christmas ‘Idiocy’, ‘Disrespectful’
» Breaking: Human Remains Discovered Near Nashville Blast Site
» Breaking: President Trump Briefed on Nashville Explosion
» Caged by Lockdowns & Curfews, Flocks of People & Businesses Are Fleeing California
» COVID Patient Accused of Killing Roommate in Hospital
» Did Fauci Just Admit He Lied About Herd Immunity to Trick Americans Into Vaccine?
» Downtown Nashville Explosion Knocks Communications Offline
» Drexel Opens $9 Million ‘Anti-Racist’ Research Center
» Exclusive Audio: Democrat Whistleblower Exposes Biden Campaign Voter Fraud Investigation
» Founder of Vaccine Safety Website, Ex-Pharma Insider Found Dead
» Harvard-Affiliated Researcher Admits He Tried to Smuggle US Cancer Research to China
» ‘Intentional’ Car Explosion Rocks Downtown Nashville
» Lin Wood: “The Chinese Communist Party Has Infiltrated This Country”
» Our Country Has Been Stolen and Republicans Did Not Prevent the Theft
» Police: Explosion in Nashville Believed to be ‘Intentional’
» Portland Cops Abandon the Force After Calls to Defund the Police
» Republican Congressman Reportedly Urging Trump to Pardon Edward Snowden
» Requiem for Donald Trump
» Rutgers Pays New ‘Equity’ VP $300,000, Despite Projected $200 Million COVID Losses
» Texas Gives Vaccination Priority to Elderly Over Essential Workers, Ditching CDC Guidelines
» The Five Key Events in the Fake Pandemic
» The United States of Fakery: Politically Correct Leftist Version
» ‘This Vehicle Will Explode in 15 Minutes.’ Witnesses Describe Surviving the Nashville Explosion
» US Requires All UK Travelers to Test Negative for COVID, CDC Rules
» Video: BLM Storms Shopping Mall, is Quickly Routed by Security and Police
» Why Do We Continue to Follow Nonsensical COVID Rules?
 
Europe and the EU
» Eight Times the UK Govt and Its Scientists Tried to Ruin Christmas
» EU Nations Review Brexit Deal, UK Parliament Expected to Approve it Next Week
» Farage: Europe is Divided, And Brexit is the Beginning of the End of the EU
» Farage: Blame China for Christmas Being Cancelled for Millions in the UK
» France: Muslima Tells Hospital Staff, ‘I Will Burn Everything, on the Qur’an. I’m Going to Cut Off Your Head’
» French Interior Minister Calls for Heightened Security at Churches Over Christmas
» Man Spits at French Police Officers, Calls Them ‘Dirty Whites’
» New Study Suggests Asymptomatic COVID Patients Aren’t “Driver of Transmission”
» Pictures: Wearing Hard Hats, Choir Sings Carols in Paris’s Fire-Wrecked Notre Dame
» Tyrannical Contagion: France Eyes Banning Anti-Vaxxers From Public Transportation
» UK Woman Warned by Police for Anti-Lockdown Leaflets — So Rebel News Stepped in!
» UK: ‘Our NHS’ — Surgeon Who Branded Patients’ Organs With His Initials Not Struck Off
» UK: Vicious Criminal Neil Ferguson Playing Key Role in New Lockdowns
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» The Israeli Left is Far From Dead
 
Middle East
» U.S. Sanctions Put Spotlight on Iran’s International Network of Religious Seminaries
 
South Asia
» India: ‘People From Muslim Community Are Threatening to Kill Me: Qasim Receives Death Threats After Voluntarily Converting to Hinduism
 
Far East
» Chinese Producer, 39, On Netflix’s ‘The Three-Body Problem’ Is Hospitalized After Being ‘Poisoned by a Co-Worker Following Fights Among His Company’s Executives’
» Chinese Activist Who Tweeted Support for Hong Kong Retried in Yunnan Court
» Human Rights Day: Recalling Tibetan Political Prisoners Who Died or Were Jailed in 2020
» Pope Francis Again Snubs Uyghurs in Christmas Blessing
» Tibetan Jailed for Celebrating Dalai Lama’s Birthday Released After Serving Five-Year Term
 
Australia — Pacific
» China Fires Another Salvo in Trade War as it Bans Timber From New South Wales and Western Australia
» Luxury Superyacht at the Centre of a COVID Scandal in Queensland Records Another Infection — as Police Investigate Whether the Vessel Was Even Allowed to Dock
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Worship Structures in Sudan Burned, Christians Threatened
 
Immigration
» France Facing New Wave of Ultra-Conservative Migrants From Afghanistan
» France: Muslim Migrant Who Stabbed 9, Killing One, Because ‘They Do Not Read the Qur’An’ May Not Stand Trial
» France: Muslim Migrant ‘Already Known for Acts of Violence’ Stabs Man in Random Knife Attack
» Germany: ‘Moderate’ Migrant Imam Recommends Removal of Women’s Clitorises to Reduce Their Sexual Desire
» Nearly 100 Mayors Pressure Norwegian Government to Take in More Refugees From Moria Camp in Greece
 
Culture Wars
» Rights Campaigner: ‘Merry Christmas’ As Default Greeting is ‘White Supremacy Culture’
» WHO: ‘Naturally Acquired Immunity’ Removed From Website
 

“Mike Pence Must Do This” — President Trump Retweets “Operation Pence Card” Urging His VP to Act on Fraudulent Election

Many experts believe that Vice President Mike Pence has the duty to throw out electoral college recommendations in the 2020 election that are based on fraud. This will then force these states to have their legislatures choose the set of delegates they believe will best represent the state’s election results.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Andy NGO’s Lawsuit Against Rose City Antifa, Protestors Can Move Forward Judge Decides

A right-wing Portland journalist’s legal battle with left-wing activists will move forward after a Multnomah County judge rejected a courtroom maneuver that would have tossed out the case as frivolous.

Circuit Judge Kathleen M. Dailey denied on Dec. 15 a special motion to strike down the suit, which was filed by plaintiff Andy Ngo against Rose City Antifa, five named protesters who are alleged to have attacked or harassed him, and numerous other unnamed defendants in June. It seeks $900,000 in damages.

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

Boxer Bryant Jennings: Wishing Muslims Merry Christmas ‘Idiocy’, ‘Disrespectful’

Heavyweight world title contender Bryant Jennings has slammed people wishing Muslims a “Merry Christmas” or even “Happy Holidays” as ignorant, idiotic, and disrespectful.

“To say Merry Christmas or Happy holidays to a Muslim is ignorance, idiocy, and out right [sic] disrespectful,” wrote Philadelphia-born Jennings, 36, on Twitter.

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

Breaking: Human Remains Discovered Near Nashville Blast Site

Law enforcement officials anonymously told The Associated Press and multiple local media outlets, that human remains have been located in the vicinity of the explosion that shook downtown Nashville early Christmas morning.

It is not clear if the remains belong to a victim or a person responsible for the blast which authorities have called “an intentional act.” Three people were taken to area hospitals for treatment after the blast, although none were listed in critical condition. Authorities have not said if anyone was inside the RV when it exploded. Authorities added that some people were taken to the department’s central precinct for questioning but declined to give more details.

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

Breaking: President Trump Briefed on Nashville Explosion

US President Donald Trump has just received his first briefing on an explosion that rocked downtown Nashville on Friday morning.

The explosion occurred on Second Avenue North in the heart of the city of Nashville, and it is considered to have been “deliberate” in nature.

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

Caged by Lockdowns & Curfews, Flocks of People & Businesses Are Fleeing California

Compounded with the exorbitant real estate prices, gouging tax rates, and a prohibitive cost of living, the draconian Covid-19 restrictions have made Californication all but untenable.

2020 has brought an unprecedented exodus from California, once a preferred destination for millions. Now people are bolting almost as quickly as they once rushed in. And who can blame them? The place is virtually unhabitable.

The Covid-19 pandemic — or rather, local governments’ responses to it — have proven to be the catalyst for the unprecedented emigration. For the first time since 1900, California’s population has declined, this year by over 70,000 residents. With the prospect of losing a congressional seat, the implications are politically significant. Let’s hope the emigres don’t take their politics with them.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

COVID Patient Accused of Killing Roommate in Hospital

A coronavirus patient is accused of beating his 82-year-old hospital roommate to death with an oxygen tank in Lancaster, Calif., last week because he was upset with his Catholic prayers, according to authorities.

The victim shared a two-person room at Antelope Valley Hospital with the suspect, 37-year-old Jesse Martinez. They were both undergoing treatment for COVID-19, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The two did not know each other, but the elderly victim’s praying upset Martinez on the morning of Dec. 17, authorities said. The suspect is accused of grabbing an oxygen tank and pummeling the victim.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Did Fauci Just Admit He Lied About Herd Immunity to Trick Americans Into Vaccine?

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Democrat-approved ‘science’ in ‘trust the science,’ appears to have just admitted to lying about COVID-19 herd immunity in order to goad more people into taking the vaccine, according to a new report in the New York Times.

At issue is the percentage of the population which must require resistance to the coronavirus — through infection or vaccination — in order for the disease to disappear.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Downtown Nashville Explosion Knocks Communications Offline

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A recreational vehicle parked in the deserted streets of downtown Nashville exploded early Christmas morning, causing widespread communications outages that took down police emergency systems and grounded holiday travel at the city’s airport.

Police were responding to a report of shots fired Friday when they encountered the RV blaring a recorded warning that a bomb would detonate in 15 minutes, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said. Police evacuated nearby buildings and called in the bomb squad. The RV exploded shortly afterward, Drake said.

“This morning’s attack on our community was intended to create chaos and fear in this season of peace and hope. But Nashvillians have proven time and time again that the spirit of our city cannot be broken,” Mayor John Cooper said at a news conference after issuing a curfew for the area.

Police believe the blast was intentional but don’t yet know a motive or target, and Drake noted that officials had not received any threats before the explosion.

The chief said investigators at the scene “have found tissue that we believe could be remains, but we’ll have that examined and let you know at that time.” Police could not say whether it potentially came from someone inside the RV.

Three people taken to area hospitals for treatment were in stable condition Friday evening, Cooper said.

Surveillance video published on a Twitter account Friday that appeared to be across the street from the blast captured the warning issuing from the RV, “… if you can hear this message, evacuate now,” seconds before the explosion.

The blast sent black smoke and flames billowing from the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene, an area packed with honky-tonks, restaurants and shops. Buildings shook and windows shattered streets away from the explosion near a building owned by AT&T that lies one block from the company’s office tower, a landmark in downtown.

“We do not know if that was a coincidence, or if that was the intention,” police spokesman Don Aaron said. He said earlier that some people were taken to the department’s central precinct for questioning but declined to give details.

AT&T said the affected building is the central office of a telephone exchange, with network equipment in it. The blast interrupted service, but the company declined to say how widespread outages were.

The AT&T outages site showed service issues in middle Tennessee and Kentucky. Several police agencies reported that their 911 systems were down because of the outage, including Knox County, home to Knoxville about 180 miles (290 kilometers) east of Nashville.

AT&T said that it was bringing in portable cell sites and was working with law enforcement to get access to make repairs to its equipment. The company noted that “power is essential to restoring” service.

The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily halted flights out of Nashville International Airport because of telecommunications issues associated with the explosion…

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Drexel Opens $9 Million ‘Anti-Racist’ Research Center

Drexel University in Philadelphia is opening a $9 million “anti-racist” public health research center.

According to a Drexel University press release, the Center on Racism and Health will “advance multidisciplinary, anti-racist public health research and scholarship rooted in historical context, contemporary theoretical frameworks and rigorous, innovative methods.”

The center will provide “anti-racist public health educational and training opportunities” for students and public health professionals, as well as “foster engagement in anti-racist practice and advocacy to advance health equity and racial justice through alignment with social justice movements and equitable local, national and global partnerships.”

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

Exclusive Audio: Democrat Whistleblower Exposes Biden Campaign Voter Fraud Investigation

Democrat political strategist Damien Thaddeus Jones, who served as regional political director for Beto O’Rourke’s U.S. Senate campaign, has come forward to blow the whistle on a massive voter fraud ring in Harris County, Texas. The voter fraud ring is overseen by Dallas Jones, who served as Texas Political Director for the Joe Biden presidential campaign. In this stunning audio obtained exclusively by NATIONAL FILE, Damien goes into detail about Dallas Jones’ fraudulent activity and work for Biden. On the tape, “Sheila” refers to Sheila Jackson-Lee. This article below delves into the massive evidence of voter fraud — including photographic evidence and sworn affidavits — that emerged in Harris County in 2020, and how its direct link to the Biden campaign provides even more justification for President Donald Trump’s ability to claim victory in the presidential election.

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

Founder of Vaccine Safety Website, Ex-Pharma Insider Found Dead

Brandy Vaughan, a former sales executive for the pharmaceutical company Merck and the founder of learntherisk.org, a website dedicated to educating people on the risks associated with vaccines, was apparently found dead by her nine-year-old son on December 8.

According to Children’s Health Defense, Vaughan is reported to have died of “gallbladder complications,” although the source of the report has not been cited, nor has it shared the specific cause of the complications (such as a gallbladder rupture).

Soon after learning of her death, a friend of Vaughn’s, Erin Elizabeth, shared screenshots of a Facebook post Vaughan had written in December of 2019, in which she assured readers that she was not suicidal and did not take any drugs that would cause her to die suddenly.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Harvard-Affiliated Researcher Admits He Tried to Smuggle US Cancer Research to China

Zaosong Zheng, who worked in research at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, pleaded guilty to lying to customs officials about his attempt to take biomaterial to China.

According to a Department of Justice press release, Zheng was arrested in December 2019 at Boston’s Logan International Airport, where he had attempted to board a flight to China. Federal officers found 21 vials of biological research material stuffed into a sock in one of his bags.

According to the release, “the charge of making false, fictitious and fraudulent statements provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.”

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

‘Intentional’ Car Explosion Rocks Downtown Nashville

A parked recreational vehicle exploded in downtown Nashville, Tennessee early Christmas morning in what police are describing as an “intentional act,” Tennessean reports.

First responders have blocked off portions of the downtown core after the explosion rocked the city and blew out the windows of nearby buildings. Smoke could be seen rising from the exploded vehicle.

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

Lin Wood: “The Chinese Communist Party Has Infiltrated This Country”

“I believe the president of the United States is struggling to find out who, in his own staff, he can trust,” says Georgia attorney

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Our Country Has Been Stolen and Republicans Did Not Prevent the Theft

Other than President Trump, no one cares enough about America to protect it. So why are we spending $1,000 billion annually to defend ourselves from alleged foreign threats when there is no defense against our country’s theft by the ruling Establishment and woke Democrat identity politics ideologues? Why vote Republican when the party does not defend us?

The journalist Katerina Blinova writing in Sputnik International captured the meaning of the stolen presidential election. Democrats are turning America into a “one-party system”…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Police: Explosion in Nashville Believed to be ‘Intentional’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An explosion shook the largely deserted streets of downtown Nashville early Christmas morning, shattering windows, damaging buildings and wounding three people. Authorities said they believed the blast was intentional. The FBI is leading the investigation.

Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said police responded to a call of shots fired just before 6 a.m. but found no immediate signs of a shooting, although officers noticed a suspicious vehicle and called for a hazardous unit. While they waited, the vehicle exploded.

Aaron said three people were taken to area hospitals for treatment, although none were in critical condition. He said some people were taken to the department’s central precinct for questioning but declined to give more details.

The FBI will be taking the lead in the investigation, said spokesman Joel Siskovic. Federal investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also on the scene. The FBI is the primary law enforcement agency responsible for investigating federal crimes, such as explosives violations and acts of terrorism.

Black smoke and flames were seen early Friday billowing from the area, which is packed with bars, restaurants and other retail establishments and is known as the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene.

Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard.

Buck McCoy, who lives near the area, posted videos on Facebook that show water pouring down the ceiling of his home. Alarms blare in the background and cries of people in great distress ring in the background. A fire is visible in the street outside.

McCoy says he says he heard gun fire 15 minutes before the explosion rocked his building. McCoy said the windows of his home were entirely blown out.

“All my windows, every single one of them got blown into the next room. If I had been standing there it would have been horrible,” he said.

“It felt like a bomb. It was that big,” he told The Associated Press.

“There were about four cars on fire. I don’t know if it was so hot they just caught on fire, and the trees were all blown apart,” he said…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Portland Cops Abandon the Force After Calls to Defund the Police

Police officers in Portland, Oregon are abandoning the force, taking a hit to their livelihoods to do so.

The large number of officers leaving the force is “unprecedented,” Assistant Chief, Michael Frome told the Portland Tribune. “We really have not seen this many people leaving at this stage in their career.”

Nine officers have resigned from the Portland police department since November, with another 14 officers preparing to leave by the end of January. Seven other officers have made initial filings in preparation for retirement. Approximately 25 officers are seeking to transfer to other police departments.

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

Republican Congressman Reportedly Urging Trump to Pardon Edward Snowden

During what is apparently Trump’s last days in office, the US president has issued a series of pardons, including his former campaign consultants Roger Stone and Paul Manafort, prompting hopes that he could also grant clemency to the former NSA contractor.

Several GOP members are asking President Trump to issue a pardon for NSA spying scandal whistleblower Edward Snowden, who used to work for the National Security Agency (NSA), Politico reported.

According to the report, US senator Rand Paul and Rep. Matt Gaetz have recently aligned in pushing Trump to issue a pardon that would drop the criminal charges and end the prosecution of Snowden, who’s been in exile in Russia since 2013. Trump’s former advisor Roger Stone, who was recently granted clemency by the president, has also joined them in the request.

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

Requiem for Donald Trump

Barr has again repeated in the face of conclusive evidence that the November presidential election was organized to be stolen and successfully was stolen that the Trump Justice Department has not found evidence of fraud sufficient to overturn the election. But as we all know, the Department of Justice, like the courts, did not look at the evidence. If they look at the evidence, they will see massive electoral fraud, and they do not want to see it. They want to be rid of Trump.

Barr has now added to his support of massive electoral fraud his statement that there is no basis for seizing the voting machines and software for examination. But, of course, there is basis. There has been abundent testimony from professionals explaining how the machines were programmed to elect Biden. There are hundreds of signed affidavits from witnesses documenting the use of hundreds of thousands of fraudulent mail-in ballots to complete the theft of the election. For an attorney general to say affidavits are not evidence is to fly in the face of the Department of Justice’s own practices. If an affidavid signed under penalty of perjury is not evidence, the DOJ will never be able to again bring a case.

What is really going on is that Barr, a member of the establishment, is doing the establishment’s business of getting rid of a non-establishment president who is in the way of the establishment’s agendas. A president who represents the interests of the people rather than the interests of the establishment is a threat to the establishment and must be removed. John F. Kennedy was removed with a bullet. Trump was removed with a stolen election.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Rutgers Pays New ‘Equity’ VP $300,000, Despite Projected $200 Million COVID Losses

Rutgers University announced it will hire its first-ever senior vice president for equity — a position that will earn $300,000 per year.

Enobong (Anna) Branch, who was hired for the position, will provide “strategic leadership to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of the university” as she oversees the school’s Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement.

According to a report from NJ.com, which Campus Reform was unable to independently confirm, Branch is slated to earn $300,000 per year in her new role.

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

Texas Gives Vaccination Priority to Elderly Over Essential Workers, Ditching CDC Guidelines

I recently noted that the Centers for Disease Control proposed guidelines prioritizing “essential workers” over the elderly, using race to justify the decision. These recommendations run counter to those issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and scientific evidence that the pandemic would be quelled more quickly if the more vulnerable populations were protected first.

Yes, the CDC guidelines were not mandates, and states could opt to take a different approach. Texas did, selecting the priority based on reason and epidemiology.

Texas is deviating from the CDC’s recommendations on who should receive the COVID-19 vaccine next.

The CDC suggests teachers, first responders and other essential workers should be next in line.

Texas says it will concentrate on people 65 years and older, and those with certain chronic medical conditions in what’s known as Phase 1-B.

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

The Five Key Events in the Fake Pandemic

This article is a summary. I’ve written extensively on each of the five key events.

ONE: The false claim that a new virus was discovered and isolated.

No true isolation has been performed. The so-called genetic sequencing of the virus was actually a concoction, a cobbling together of pieces of data referencing segments of RNA. These segments were PRESUMED to be parts of the new virus — but researchers didn’t have the virus, so their presumptions amounted to fraud.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The United States of Fakery: Politically Correct Leftist Version

  • The vaccine is so safe you must be threatened to take it
  • Covid is so dangerous you have to take a test to even realize you have it
  • The vote was so secure you are NOT allowed to exam the Dominion voting machines that ran it, or ask questions on Twitter

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘This Vehicle Will Explode in 15 Minutes.’ Witnesses Describe Surviving the Nashville Explosion

(CNN) — Betsy Williams recalls being awoken just after 4:30 a.m. Friday by what sounded like gunfire from an automatic weapon.

After Williams called 911 and police cordoned off Second Avenue in downtown Nashville, a “computerized message” from a parked RV captured her attention.

“Evacuate now,” Williams remembers the female voice saying — over and over again.

Williams told CNN hours after the vehicle exploded, injuring three, that she and wife Kim clearly heard another message emanating from the RV.

It was a countdown.

“This vehicle will explode in 15 minutes,” the countdown said, according to Williams.

Then, “This vehicle will explode in 14 minutes.”

The countdown caused Williams and her family to immediately heed the warning and start making their way downstairs from their third-floor apartment.

“When the time started, that’s when we went, ‘oh sh*t’,” she said. “We need to get out of here.”

Dressed only in their pajamas, they made their way to their car — with their cat — and over the Cumberland River and to Nissan Stadium. There, she says they had a clear view of the area and could see if any explosion would occur.

Thinking they sat there long enough and that it was clearly a hoax, Williams said they made their way back home. As they were driving down Second Avenue before they reached the cordoned-off area, they saw the explosion in front of them, Williams said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said. “It shook everything…

           — Hat tip: LP [Return to headlines]
 

US Requires All UK Travelers to Test Negative for COVID, CDC Rules

In a late Christmas Eve surprise, the US government published a statement requiring airline passengers from Britain to test negative for COVID-19 three days before departure.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the statement last night, indicating that the new rule requires all UK travelers to test negative on a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or antigen tests three days before departure for the US. All passengers must have “written documentation” of their test results.

“If a passenger chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger,” the CDC said in the statement.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Video: BLM Storms Shopping Mall, is Quickly Routed by Security and Police

A group of Black Lives Matter militants attempted to storm Virginia Beach’s Lynnhaven Mall on Monday night, only to be quickly routed by security guards and local police.

The action came following a caught-on-video incident two days prior in which Jamar Mackey, a black man, was briefly detained by officers of the Virginia Beach Police Department because he matched the description of a suspected credit card fraudster.

Following local media reports on the incident and eventual input from Shaun King and rapper T.I. via social media, the Black Lives Matter 757 chapter, which has been involved in numerous riots and violent clashes across Virginia announced that it would “be shutting down Lynnhaven Mall,” going on to demand that the City of Virginia Beach install a “citizens overview panel” with investigative and subpoena power over the city.

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

Why Do We Continue to Follow Nonsensical COVID Rules?

The only demonstrable result of government-imposed COVID-19 lockdowns has been the destruction of national economies, the crippling of domestic and cultural life, the suffering and death of multitudes due to untreated prior medical conditions, and the drastic rise in suicide rates. The lockdowns themselves have seemed to do little to prevent the onset of the disease, hence one lockdown after another has led to no discernible effect — apart from the fact that the virus appears to strike primarily a designated older cohort of the population already suffering from comorbidities. A recent graph charting the effects of repeated lockdowns in the province of Ontario would appear to indicate that the lockdowns themselves are super-spreaders. Texas Tech professor Gilbert Berdine sums up: “After taking the unprecedented economic depression into account, history will likely judge these lockdowns to be the greatest policy error of this generation.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Eight Times the UK Govt and Its Scientists Tried to Ruin Christmas

With the UK under some form of lockdown or restrictions since March, many Britons had hoped for a return to normality by Christmas.

However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s reported plans from as early as September to let Britons have a day off from a long-impending second lockdown for Christmas did not augur well for the festive season ahead. And since October, government scientists have threatened death and further waves of lockdown if citizens tried to enjoy the holy season too much.

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

EU Nations Review Brexit Deal, UK Parliament Expected to Approve it Next Week

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union ambassadors were convening on Christmas Day to start assessing the massive free-trade deal the bloc struck with Britain that should kick off next next week when the acrimonious Brexit divorce process finally comes to an end.

After the deal was announced on Thursday, EU nations already showed support for the outcome and it was expected that they would unanimously back the agreement, a prerequisite for its legal approval.

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

Farage: Europe is Divided, And Brexit is the Beginning of the End of the EU

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has said that the UK’s final exit from the bloc is not the end of the EU’s woes. Rather, it signals the beginning of the end of the European Project.

When Prime Minister Johnson announced the agreement of a deal on Christmas Eve, he claimed in his closing remarks to the public from Downing Street: “I say again directly to our EU friends and partners: I think this deal means a new stability and a new certainty in what has sometimes been a fractious and difficult relationship. We will be your friend, your ally, your supporter, and indeed, never let it be forgotten, your number one market.

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

Farage: Blame China for Christmas Being Cancelled for Millions in the UK

Nigel Farage said that as millions of Britons remain under lockdown during the Christmas holiday season, the ire of the British public should be aimed at the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for their complicity in the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.

Mr Farage said that he has been “astonished at how little criticism of China” there has been, despite nations across the globe suffering in blood and treasure as a result of the actions taken by the dictatorship in Beijing.

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

France: Muslima Tells Hospital Staff, ‘I Will Burn Everything, on the Qur’an. I’m Going to Cut Off Your Head’

Yes, she just lost her temper. Nothing to be concerned about, right? But it is noteworthy that this woman did not think it incongruous to mention the Qur’an in connection with issuing a death threat. Where did she get this idea?

“Yvelines. A mother explodes with anger in the pediatric emergency room in Poissy,” translated from “Yvelines. Une mère explose de colère aux urgences pédiatriques de Poissy,” by François Desserre, 78 actu, December 22, 2020 (thanks to Mason).

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

French Interior Minister Calls for Heightened Security at Churches Over Christmas

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has called for significantly strengthened security measures to be enacted at churches across the country over the Christmas holiday.

Darmenin made the request for extra security to the regional and departmental prefects across the country, saying in a memo that he wanted to see a “significant” strengthening of security measures, which will include soldiers as part of the anti-terror Operation Sentinel.

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

Man Spits at French Police Officers, Calls Them ‘Dirty Whites’

A man in Montpellier, France, spat at police while claiming to have the Chinese coronavirus, calling the officers “dirty whites”.

The incident took place at around 6:40 pm at the Comédie tram station on Sunday. Police were called to the location to investigate reports that a man was harassing passengers. When police arrived to determine if the suspect were intoxicated, he immediately became violent.

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

New Study Suggests Asymptomatic COVID Patients Aren’t “Driver of Transmission”

Thanks in part to a massive investment in research by the British government, a lot of interesting data has come out of the UK, including a study which supposedly found evidence that immunity to COVID ‘degrades’ in the months after infection. Now, other studies have come to seemingly contradictory conclusions. It’s just another reminder how fraught and complicated the process of study and research can be during an unprecedented pandemic.

It should also be a reminder, particularly as all the world’s top COVID-vaccine manufacturers reassure the public that their vaccines will work against the more infectious mutated strains allegedly discovered in the UK and South Africa, among other places, that the leading scientific and public health authorities aren’t always 100% certain when it comes to — as they like to call it — “the science”.

And in yet another reminder of this principle, the American Medical Association’s JAMA Network Open journal has published new research from a government-backed study that appears to offer new evidence that asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 may be significantly lower than previously thought.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Pictures: Wearing Hard Hats, Choir Sings Carols in Paris’s Fire-Wrecked Notre Dame

PARIS (AP) — Wearing hard hats and protective suits, members of the choir of Notre Dame Cathedral sang inside the medieval Paris landmark for the first time since last year’s devastating fire for a special Christmas Eve concert.

Accompanied by an acclaimed cellist and a rented organ, the singers performed beneath the cathedral’s stained-glass windows amid the darkened church, which is transitioning from being a precarious hazardous clean-up operation to becoming a massive reconstruction site. The choir initially planned to bring in 20 singers but for safety reasons they were limited to eight.

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

Tyrannical Contagion: France Eyes Banning Anti-Vaxxers From Public Transportation

With 59 percent of French citizens refusing the vaccine, French Technocrats will make a deal that they cannot refuse: get jabbed or give up public transportation. This kind of extortion is being observed all over the world, including the U.S.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK Woman Warned by Police for Anti-Lockdown Leaflets — So Rebel News Stepped in!

When Kelly Hayhoe went leafletting in her local area the last thing she expected was a visit from the police.

However, due to the contents of her leaflets the police paid her a visit and issued a warning stating that her anti-lockdown literature was causing distress to residents.

Had she been posting advertising material, party political leaflets, or annoying circulars this would not have been an issue: the issue was what the leaflets said.

It is becoming clearer and clearer in the UK that the ‘wrong’ opinions are illegal.

The police warning stated that Kelly could not publish any anti lockdown material. This is nothing short of an assault on free speech.

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

UK: ‘Our NHS’ — Surgeon Who Branded Patients’ Organs With His Initials Not Struck Off

A surgeon convicted for branding patients’ internal organs with his initials has not been struck off.

The General Medical Council had been pushing for 55-year-old Simon Bramhall, formerly a consultant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, be struck off, but the Medical Practitioners Tribunal decided that this would not be “appropriate”.

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

UK: Vicious Criminal Neil Ferguson Playing Key Role in New Lockdowns

Who is on television promoting the need for the lockdown? None other than Neil Ferguson, the disgraced and failed computer modeler.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Israeli Left is Far From Dead

Over the past several weeks, Israel’s political commentators have repeatedly declared the demise of the political left. On the face of things, they are right. The polls all show that the right-religious bloc will win a comfortable majority in the Knesset elections scheduled for next March. There is no way that the left-Arab bloc will win a sufficient number of seats to form a government.

The commentators insist that given the polls, today the name of the game is the contest between the right-wing leaders. Will Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party win enough seats to maintain their dominant position? Will his opponents Gideon Sa’ar and Naftali Bennett win sufficient seats to unseat him?

With all due respect to the polls and the commentators that interpret them, the left is far from dead. True, its parties aren’t popular enough to form a government. But that has been the case since the mid-1990s. The left long ago accepted that it has lost the public. Rather than reconsider its positions, the left developed a strategy that compensates for its lack of public appeal. That strategy enables the left both to seize and wield power without public support and prevent the right from wielding the power it wins at the ballot box.

The left’s post-democratic strategy has two main components. The first is the so-called deep state. The deep state in Israel is an amalgam of senior government officials, the legal fraternity including the state prosecution, the attorney general’s office and the Supreme Court, and the media. Members of these groups are overwhelmingly associated with the left. They use their powers to advance the ideological and political goals of their camp while stymying the right’s efforts to implement its own policy and ideological agenda.

This week we were witness to two spectacles of the deep state in action…

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Sanctions Put Spotlight on Iran’s International Network of Religious Seminaries

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran’s clerical establishment has used religious organizations to expand its clout abroad.

Key among them is the Al-Mustafa International University, a network of religious seminaries based in the Shi’ite holy city of Qom that has branches in some 50 countries.

The university claims to teach Shi’ite Muslim theology, Islamic science, and Iran’s national language, Persian, to tens of thousands of foreign students across Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America.

But Tehran’s adversaries say the university has been involved in espionage and recruited foreign fighters for Iran’s proxy war in Syria.

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

India: ‘People From Muslim Community Are Threatening to Kill Me: Qasim Receives Death Threats After Voluntarily Converting to Hinduism

A 28-year-old man by the name of Qasim Khan has been receiving death threats from his own community members after he willingly left Islam and embraced Hinduism.

While talking to the media, he said, “My name was Qasim and after I converted people from Muslim community are threatening to kill me & my family. I need police protection.” Aligarh Superintendent of Police (Crime) Arvind Kumar informed that a case has been registered based on his complaint. He added that Qasim is being threatened by some people and that security has been deployed outside his house in Aligarh.

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

Chinese Producer, 39, On Netflix’s ‘The Three-Body Problem’ Is Hospitalized After Being ‘Poisoned by a Co-Worker Following Fights Among His Company’s Executives’

Lin Qi, the chairman of Chinese company Yoozoo Group, was poisoned on December 16, acccording to Shanghai police, who has named his co-worker Xu Yao as the lead suspect.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Chinese Activist Who Tweeted Support for Hong Kong Retried in Yunnan Court

Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan on Thursday held the retrial of an activist who expressed support for last year’s protest movement in Hong Kong.

Xu Kun, a resident of Panlong district in the provincial capital, Kunming, stood trial by video link at the Panlong District People’s Court from the Panlong Detention Center, where he has been held since August 2019.

Xu is accused of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” a charge frequently leveled at peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

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

Human Rights Day: Recalling Tibetan Political Prisoners Who Died or Were Jailed in 2020

The human rights situation in Tibet and Tibetan-populated areas of western Chinese provinces continued to deteriorate this year, with many Tibetans detained arbitrarily or held as political prisoners, and others disappearing in custody with no word on their whereabouts given to family or friends.

On Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, RFA’s Tibetan Service remembers five long-serving political prisoners who passed away this year inside Tibet or in exile:…

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

Pope Francis Again Snubs Uyghurs in Christmas Blessing

ROME — Pope Francis has again snubbed the Uyghur Muslims in his Christmas blessing Friday, calling attention to suffering and injustice around the world while omitting any reference to those suffering under China’s Communist regime.

In his annual verbal global tour of areas plagued by conflicts, violence, and natural disasters, given during his Urbi et Orbi blessing, the pope recalled the people of Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, the Yazidis, Israelis and Palestinians, the Lebanese people, Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, Ethiopia, Mozambique, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Cameroon, Chile and Venezuela, the Philippines and Vietnam.

In turning to Asia, Francis said, “I cannot forget the Rohingya people: may Jesus, who was born poor among the poor, bring them hope amid their sufferings.”

Noteworthy by its absence was any mention of the atrocity of more than a million Uyghurs held in concentration camps in the autonomous Xinjiang territory of northwest China, where there have been credible reports of genetic testing, organ harvesting, torture, and forced abortions.

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

Tibetan Jailed for Celebrating Dalai Lama’s Birthday Released After Serving Five-Year Term

A Tibetan political prisoner jailed by China for five years for celebrating the 80th birthday of the Dalai Lama was released this month after serving his full term in prison, Tibetan sources said.

Ajaja, formerly a monk at Kirti monastery in Sichuan’s Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was released on Dec. 10 and returned to his family home, Tibetan sources living in India said.

“Ajaja arrived at his home earlier this month,” Kanyak Tsering—a spokesman at Kirti’s Dharamsla-based branch monastery in exile—said, citing contacts in Ngaba.

“He was believed to have been arrested for organizing a grand celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday in Ngaba,” Tsering said.

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

China Fires Another Salvo in Trade War as it Bans Timber From New South Wales and Western Australia

China has suspended imports of Australian timber from New South Wales and Western Australia after local customs officers said they’d found pests in the cargo.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Luxury Superyacht at the Centre of a COVID Scandal in Queensland Records Another Infection — as Police Investigate Whether the Vessel Was Even Allowed to Dock

The ‘Lady E’ yacht charter arrived in Cairns from the Maldives on Monday with 14 guests and six crew members on board.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Worship Structures in Sudan Burned, Christians Threatened

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) — Muslim extremists in Sudan who have burned down a church’s worship structure five times threatened to kill congregation members if they put up another tent and continue worshipping, sources said.

Police this month arrested nine of the 14 radical Muslims who burned down the temporary worship structures of the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) in the Dar El-Salam area of Omdurman, across the Nile River from Khartoum, said the attorney representing the Christians, Shanbago Awad Mugadam.

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

France Facing New Wave of Ultra-Conservative Migrants From Afghanistan

France faces a new wave of asylum seekers from Afghanistan, with many coming from conservative areas and some openly supporting groups like the Taliban.

Over the last five years, the number of Afghans arriving in France has increased fivefold from just over 2,100 asylum seekers at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015 to nearly 10,000 reaching in the country last year.

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

France: Muslim Migrant Who Stabbed 9, Killing One, Because ‘They Do Not Read the Qur’An’ May Not Stand Trial

Four years ago, I wrote an article entitled “The Global Outbreak of Mental Illness,” detailing some of the instances in which jihad attackers were classified as mentally ill, with authorities denying that the attack was jihad at all. I could update that article now, but with all the new examples of this it would be much, much too long for a single article, and I already have a book in progress.

“Knife attack in Villeurbanne in 2019: a third psychiatric examination of the attacker was requested,” translated from “Attaque au couteau à Villeurbanne en 2019: une 3e expertise psychiatrique de l’auteur a été demandée,” BFM TV, December 22, 2020.

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

France: Muslim Migrant ‘Already Known for Acts of Violence’ Stabs Man in Random Knife Attack

Was this man vetted before he entered France? Was any effort made to determine his views and perspectives? Why, when he became known for acts of violence, was not action taken to try to prevent him from committing more?

“Bordeaux: knife attack in the Capuchins district,” translated from “Bordeaux : agression au couteau dans le quartier des Capucins,” by Elisa Artigue-Cazcarra, Sud Ouest, December 23, 2020 (thanks to Michaela).

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

Germany: ‘Moderate’ Migrant Imam Recommends Removal of Women’s Clitorises to Reduce Their Sexual Desire

He is a “moderate,” but he knows that female genital mutilation (FGM) is justified in Islamic law.

“It is a religious thing. Do you want to change religion?” said one Egyptian in response to a campaign to eradicate female genital mutilation. “You only listen to what the West is saying.”

The establishment media ignores the fact that FGM is mandated in Islamic law: “Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr ‘clitoris’ [this is called khufaadh ‘female circumcision’]).” — Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

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

Nearly 100 Mayors Pressure Norwegian Government to Take in More Refugees From Moria Camp in Greece

In a letter to the government, 93 mayors want answers as to why the municipalities are not allowed to take in as many children as they want from the Moria refugee camp.

According to the newspaper Klassekampen, the mayors are asking the government to let willing municipalities receive children in need of emergency help.

“We have still not received a proper answer as to why we can’t receive the municipalities’ desired number of refugees. A total of 128 municipalities have sent a clear message that we can accept far more than the 50 proposed by the government “, the letter states.

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

Rights Campaigner: ‘Merry Christmas’ As Default Greeting is ‘White Supremacy Culture’

Disability rights campaigner Jen Bokoff warned that using “Merry Christmas” as a “normal greeting” over the festive period is “white supremacy culture at work”.

Bokoff, Director of Development at the Disability Rights Fund and the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund, slapped followers on Twitter with an “annual reminder” that “not everyone celebrates Christmas!” and that, moreover, the “default” to the Christian salutation “as a normal greeting” is also “white supremacy culture at work”.

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

WHO: ‘Naturally Acquired Immunity’ Removed From Website

The mind of a Technocrat is clearly revealed as the WHO declares that the vaccine is the only solution to fix the pandemic. A person’s own immune system is deemed inadequate but the vaccine can remedy that, they say. This discards 150 years of proven scientific fact.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

3 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/25/2020

  1. “Kamala Harris Recalls Childhood Memories of Kwanzaa.” No doubt if she had been asked first if she had any such recalls there might have been accusations of “race-ism” or far worse. I imagine from now on there will be a spear crossed background and patriotic rap. Will some reporter or other ask?

    • She might have served as Kwanzaa founder Ron Karengas mattress like she did with Willie Brown.

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