Sure enough, as Haas was saying this the NATO secretary-general tweeted about the “shocking scenes” in Washington and demanded that Joe Biden’s election “must be respected.” British and French leaders followed suit, as did the Organization of American States. Turkey “expressed concern.” Canada and India chimed in. Keep in mind that the US has refused to recognize Venezuela’s elected president or parliament, attempting for the past two years to install an unelected ‘interim president’ instead and call it democracy. While the Trump administration has led this effort, the Democrats – now poised to have absolute power in the US – have been fully on board.

Likewise, the only time the Republican establishment and the Democrat ‘Resistance’ banded together in near-unison was to override Trump’s veto of the NDAA military funding bill, which contained a provision that would block him or any future president from withdrawing troops from overseas endless wars without prior congressional approval. The commitment to the Empire runs deep in the Washington ‘swamp’, as Trump used to call it. “We are seeing images that I never imagined we would see in this country – in some other capital yes, but not here,” said Haas.

Democrats and their neocon allies have spent the past four years blaming Trump’s ‘America First’ policy, lamenting that he was acting unilaterally, antagonizing “allies” and creating a “leadership vacuum” in the world. Those are the talking points of the incoming administration as well. Except they’ve clearly forgotten the events of January 2020, when Trump ordered the drone assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. There were no protests from US “allies” – or should we say vassals? Instead, they fell in line with amazing alacrity.

Basically, the entire US establishment was so consumed by the desire to burn Trump at the proverbial stake, they chopped up the scaffolding that held up the Empire to use as firewood. In a speech recently, Joe Biden vowed to “rebuild, reclaim America’s place in the world” as a country that will “champion liberty and democracy once more.” That’s a daunting task, on par with putting the genie back into the bottle, un-spilling milk, or putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.

“Canadians are deeply disturbed and saddened by the attack on democracy in the United States, our closest ally and neighbour,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on Twitter.

“[UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres] is saddened by today’s events in Washington,” a spokesman for the international body said, adding “In such circumstances, it is important that political leaders impress on their followers the need to refrain from violence, as well as to respect democratic processes and the rule of law.”

Indian PM Narendra Modi said he was “distressed to see news about rioting and violence in Washington, DC.” “Orderly and peaceful transfer of power must continue. The democratic process cannot be allowed to be subverted through unlawful protests.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called the scenes of unrest a victory for “the enemies of democracy,” saying they would be “delighted at these terrible images from Washington, DC” while addressing the president and his backers: Trump and his supporters must accept the decision of American voters at last and stop trampling on democracy.

“Very distressing scenes at the US Congress,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in his statement on Wednesday’s events. “We condemn these acts of violence and look forward to a peaceful transfer of Government to the newly elected administration in the great American democratic tradition.”

The outpouring of statements followed similar responses from leaders in the UK, France, NATO and Latin America, among others, earlier in the day, each condemning political violence in turn.

#1 How Did Protesters Get Near The Capitol In The First Place?

Well, it turns out that police actually opened up the barricades that were surrounding the US Capitol and purposely allowed protesters to storm the building. You can see this on video right here… And once the barricades were open, at least one police officer was actually waving protesters onward… Viral video appears to show a US Capitol Police Officer waving protesters past barricade at complex Wednesday.

#2 Who Was Breaking The Doors And Windows At The Capitol?

The general consensus in the media is that it was Trump supporters that did this, but in this video you can see Trump supporters actually trying to pull Antifa activists away as they were smashing the glass…

#3 Once Protesters Got Inside The Building, Why Did A Guard Lead Them Up Several Flights Of Stairs?

To me, this video footage is absolutely jaw dropping… Either the US Congress has the worst security personnel that any of us have ever seen, or this was allowed to happen on purpose.

#4 Who Arranged For Antifa Buses To Be Brought Into The Heart Of Washington DC With An Escort?

There have been multiple reports that Antifa activists were brought into DC by bus. In fact, one patriot actually recorded video of four Antifa buses that were brought right into the heart of Washington DC with an escort…

#5 Were Trump Supporters Responsible For Some Of The Vandalism Inside The Capitol?

Yes, sadly there were some Trump supporters that committed crimes inside the US Capitol.

#6 Were Radical Leftists Identified Among The Protesters Inside The US Capitol?

Yes. Utah resident John Sullivan, the founder of a violent far-left organization known as “Insurgence USA”, was photographed inside the Capitol… Over the coming weeks, we will learn much more as law enforcement authorities conduct their investigations. But it is interesting to note that Congressman Mo Brooks is admitting that he was warned of a potential Antifa attack on the Capitol in advance.

All of this just seems very odd to me. Just as a debate about the evidence of election irregularities was about to begin in the halls of Congress, riots conveniently broke out directly in front of the US Capitol. Members of Congress were quickly evacuated, and the millions of Americans that were watching never got to see an honest debate about the 2020 election.

When proceedings finally resumed, the entire atmosphere had completely changed, and all of a sudden hardly anyone was interested in debating whether the election results were legitimate or not. So who actually benefitted from the riots? I think that question is the key to this whole thing.

Also, it is important to note that these riots have dealt a severe blow to any political future that President Trump hoped to have.

So with one stone, activists have neutered the debate over the legitimacy of the election and they have devastated the Trump movement as well.

Yes, the increasingly radical Democratic party still controlled the House of Representatives, but as long as the Republicans won one of two Senate run-off races in Georgia in January, the crazies would be checked by a Republican majority in the Senate. The markets rallied. All was well in establishment la-la land, despite the pandemic.

Well, guess what? On Wednesday morning, it became clear that the Democrats had won both those Georgia races. Rev Raphael Warnock, a Baptist pastor, defeated the Grand Old Party’s Kelly Loeffler and will become Georgia’s first black Senator. And Jon Ossoff, a 33-year-old former documentary filmmaker, appeared to have unseated right-wing businessman David Perdue. Both races were extraordinarily close, and will be disputed — that’s American democracy these days. Yet the almost inevitable result, assuming Trump doesn’t magically undo the Electoral College process in the coming days, is that the Senate will now be split 50-50. All hail Kamala Harris, the incoming vice-president, who will also serve as Senate president and therefore cast the decisive vote on all the most controversial legislation.

The Democrats will control the executive and the legislative branches of government. All that stands in the way of a left-wing takeover of the most powerful country in the world is a doddery 78-year-old president who never had any firm convictions. Oh, there’s the conservative-majority Supreme Court, but the Democrats can now vote to ‘pack’ that venerable institution, appointing enough justices to make sure the judiciary supports its agenda.

Perdue accused his opponent of being endorsed by the Communist party, which was right-wing hyperbole. Yet the dreaded triumph of socialism in the land of the free, which American conservatives have been banging on about since the 19th century, suddenly looks dangerously real. Expect the new Democratic majority to use their power, and the excuse of the pandemic and/or climate change, to push through enormous spending projects, which will plunge America into ever deeper debt. Expect more government shutdowns, higher taxes, more open borders — all issues on which the Democrats are far to the left of the American public. Yet somehow, they find themselves in charge.

It isn’t all good news for the Democrats. Their party is also hopelessly split between its old establishment, represented by Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and a younger progressive wing demanding social, racial, environmental and transgendered justice now. For decades, party bigwigs have kept the radicals at bay by blaming the Republicans for their failure to, as Biden would put it, ‘transform the soul’ of America. That excuse is now vanishing. Either the party will have a civil war as it tries to stop the woke revolution, or it could face a massive middle America backlash in 2022, and perhaps the return of Trump in 2024.

But this year, the system is facing the added pressure of preventing coronavirus spreading between patients while anticipating surges in cases. The changes this year include:

- Less space for beds due to the need for larger gaps between them.
- The division of wards into three zones: those for people with coronavirus, those awaiting test results and those who have tested negative.
- Increased infection control - including cleaning and putting on personal protective equipment (PPE) - which takes up staff time.
- Increased critical care beds and patients, which require more intensive staffing.

Combined, these factors mean that hospitals have less capacity than usual, meaning fewer beds are available for fewer patients. In total, NHS hospitals in England have about 7,000 fewer available beds than usual.

The data shows that hospitals were at about 87% occupancy in December and early January, however this figure increases to just over 90% in London and the South East. This means that for every 10 hospital beds available across England, roughly nine had a patient in them on any given day. This occupancy rate is actually noticeably lower than a usual year. In a normal winter, occupancy tends to average between 93% and 95%.

But NHS England warns against using direct comparisons because - as mentioned - you wouldn't exactly be comparing like for like in the way the hospitals are being run. Effectively, bed occupancy shows how many beds are available should patients need them, but what it doesn't paint a picture of is how much work is needed to tend to these beds. And this year, with increased infection control and the movement of staff to intensive areas, that workload has increased.

In a statement, Mr Zuckerberg said: "We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.

"His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world. We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect - and likely their intent - would be to provoke further violence."

Then they headed to the Capitol. Members of smaller white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups also were spotted in the crowds. Police were photographed stopping a man identified as a leading promoter of the QAnon conspiracy theory from storming the Senate floor.

Online forums popular with Trump supporters lit up with gleeful posts about the chaotic scenes broadcast from the Capitol. Thousands of messages on Parler, a right-wing alternative to Twitter, included the hashtag #civilwar or other variations of the term.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said the mob’s actions were "clearly consistent" with the conspiratorial rhetoric of QAnon, the baseless belief that Trump has been secretly fighting deep state enemies and a cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibals operating a child sex trafficking ring. "QAnon has been calling on this kind of madness for years," Mr Greenblatt said. "This is a dark day for democracy," Mr Greenblatt said. "I never would have imagined in my lifetime that we would be witnessing armed protesters storming the halls of Congress."