Liberal watchdog American Oversight, plaintiffs in a disclosure lawsuit against Republican Wisconsin state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos asked Dane County Circuit Court Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn to hold Vos in contempt for providing basically jack shit about his chamber’s inane “review” of the 2020 Election in discovery on Thursday, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.

Bailey-Rihn indicated she was moving in that direction, asking why the assembly didn’t even submit the receipts for when they flew their fat idiot with braces investigator to observe the “CyberNinjas” shitshow in Arizona. “Does he not have any itinerary and did he not have any work product for what he did out in Arizona while he was there?” Bailey-Rihn asked. “It seems strange to me that this could be going on for three months (as of August) with I think one if not more attorneys working on this and they did nothing. They provided nothing? They don’t even have a copy of the receipt showing that they paid for their plane tickets?” Bailey-Rihn then scheduled a hearing for Jan. 24 to hear from Vos’s team, indicating contempt could be the next step if they don’t satisfy the requests.

Virginia state and Richmond city officials announced a tentative plan on Thursday for the Confederate monuments removed from the state’s capital, including the notorious Robert E Lee statue, to be given to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the Associated Press reports. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said the plan awaits final approval from the city council, which he would seek next month. Stoney did not say if the statue would be decapitated and its head turned into a semi-private, open-air urinal, though National Zero would encourage all readers residing in Richmond to submit public comment to the city council suggesting such a plan.

Brandon Brown, the until recently allegedly politically reluctant NASCAR rookie whose name accidentally sparked a revolution in insufferable MAGA memes is now officially sponsored by LGBcoin, the inane cryptocurrency named after the meme, the Post Millennial reports.

“Let’s Go Brandon” originated on October 2nd, when Brown was being interviewed by NBC NASCAR reporter Kelli Stavast following his first ever win in an Xfinity Series event. On camera, the crowd began screaming “FUCK JOE BIDEN!”, to which Stavast mistakenly (though most likely willingly pretended to have) misheard them as yelling “LET’S GO BRANDON!” The original incident we admit was pretty funny, but to say the fanboys have driven it into the ground would be an understatement. Brown himself stayed out of it – or at least gave the appearance he was.

On December 19th, the New York Times published a profile of Brown, where he told them “I have zero desire to be involved in politics” and “If they’re going to use my name, I’d like for it to be productive,” in an interview that Brown himself had initiated – specifically telling them he was having trouble finding sponsors – as typical consumer brands didn’t want to get involved.

Brown’s full of shit. Here’s why: One day earlier an LGBCoin staffer leaked to Arizona Right Wing Watch they were working on a deal to sponsor Brown (even posting screenshots of LGBCoin hilariously begging AZ RWW to take down the tweet reporting the scoop on the 23rd). So this kid, while he was telling the Times he had no interest in being political and could not find a sponsor, was in the process of signing a sponsorship deal with a right wing meme crypto. Fuck you Brandon.

On Wednesday following Jeffrey Epstein’s girlfriend/madam Ghislaine Maxwell being found guilty on most of the charges in her sex trafficking trial in federal court, the BBC reached out to a certain American criminal law expert and frequent media presence to weigh in, to predictable backlash:

Statement on interview with Alan Dershowitz pic.twitter.com/MlXkqdJI8u

— BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) December 30, 2021

Because, you know, putting the guy who “kept his underwear on the whole time” on camera was kind of a what you might call a “conflict of interest” as they say out there in the media world.

North Dakota state public service commissioners voted 2 to 1 to approved an electric utility’s plan to remove 61 wind turbines at the Tatanka Ridge facility in Dickey County, the Bismarck Tribune reports. The lone dissenter, Commissioner Randy Christmann said it was basically like they were chopping down trees – which is hard to argue with as the Tribune described the plan, writing “At each tower, workers would then attach a cable to the top of the structure and to a piece of heavy equipment such as a bulldozer. They would then use a cutting torch to remove wedges from the steel tower so that the spot would serve as a hinge as the bulldozer pulls down the tower onto the site’s access road.” No mention at all was made of replacing the wind turbines in the Tribune article, nor on the Tatanka website. The other half of the facility in South Dakota, remains operational.

1. You know what is necessary about threatening a divorce?

It’s a wake up call to the one offending the other that they’ve had enough.

And if the other party cares at all, they look at what they are doing wrong and care to fix it.

National Divorce is not civil war.

Cont’d

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) December 30, 2021

Thread continued: “Divorces happen in court or perhaps for a country can happen in Congress. I’ve been married 26 years, clearly I’m not in favor of divorce. Happy marriages are the result of 2 committed people working together resolving differences and changin behavior that hurts the other [Note: Greene’s been credibly accused of cheating on her husband with a “tantric sex guru” and gym manager]. But the state of our union is currently far from happy, and I really don’t care how many Democrats I offend by calling it out. For your information, you like our red states BECAUSE of our politics and it’s OUR Republican politics tha create the very environments you like.”

“So I will NOT apologize when I muse or discuss ideas that stop Democrat voters and donors, who are moving out of the shitholes they created with their Democrat votes and donations, from ruining GREAT red states b bringing your disastrous ideas and destructive votes with you. For your information, we Republicans don’t want your blue votes ruining our red home states! We don’t want high taxes, high crime, high amounts of perverse school curriculums, loss of freedoms, & AUTHORITARIAN big government in our red states! That’s what you Dems vote for! If you are so offended by my comments about #NationalDivorce then take a real hard look inward and ask yourself why it’s sadly such a popular idea with Republicans. We are serious about our freedoms and we feel very threatened by Democrats that constantly tread on them. I don’t want a National Divorce, but I not will tolerate is Democratic Communism. Leave your blue votes in your blue states. If you move to a red state, learn from your blue state experience that your Democrat ways failed. Then we welcome you.”

Former Trump campaign operative Matt Braynard, organizer of the under-attended “Justice for J6” rally in September, is planning to get the crew back together on the one-year anniversary of the Capitol riot for a candlelight vigil in memory of the two women who died at the Capitol that day, the Washington Times reports. “With the anniversary of January 6 fast approaching, I wanted to ask you to consider hosting or participating in a candlelight vigil to stand in solidarity with all of those who have been politically persecuted and in remembrance of Ashli Babbitt and Rosanne Boyland” said Braynard in an email, naming the two female rioters left dead by the insurrection.

Noticeably absent from Braynard’s call for remembrance are Kevin Greeson and Ben Philips, the two male rioters who died of unspecified medical emergencies during the riot, Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died of a stroke the next day – likely but not definitively a result of the riot – and Capitol Police officer Howard Liebengood, DC Metro Police officers Kyle DeFreytag, Gunther Hashida, and Jeffrey Smith, who took their own lives in the aftermath. This candlelight vigil is for one who got shot and the one who died of a meth overdose, Braynard seems to say by omission.

“Ya, we all wish Trump would do the right thing… In fact, maybe – you know what – to get Trump’s attention, maybe I should just dish all the dirt – you know what, you know what – I am going to dish it all on Trump next hour… It’s not to hurt Trump, it’s so people can know how pathetic he is when you think he is playing 4D chess, going to save you and he’s not!” said Alex Jones on Wednesday, per the Daily Beast. The hardest of the hardcore MAGA are still not happy with their Orange Pharaoh over his endorsement of vaccines earlier this month.

False. The ⁦@January6thCmte⁩ hasn’t dropped requests for any necessary records. In fact, we’re actively litigating to obtain White House records Trump is trying to conceal. We will not allow him to hide the truth about January 6th, or his conduct, from the American people. pic.twitter.com/q2YBqVlyXq

— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) December 30, 2021

It appears that the Brilliance of Ted Cruz has again shined on us, as he got into a Twitter battle decrying the oppressive Democratic governor of Washington State for instituting a ban on dancing on New Year’s Eve:  “Blue-state Dems are power-drunk authoritarian kill-joys.  Washington State: NO DANCING ALLOWED!!!  Any rational and free citizen:  Piss off.”

The problem:  Washington State instituted no such ban.

As a screenshot of the since-deleted tweet shows (seen after the fold), Cruz retweeted a screenshot from a Facebook Q&A relating to a edict by the “WA Government” which Ted assumed meant “Washington Government.”  It’s actually from the government of Western Australia, where a ban on dancing (except at weddings) was put into effect because of comparatively high coronavirus infection rates.

Performances of “The Music Man” on Broadway were canceled through the end of the week after its star performer, Hugh Jackman, announced that he’s tested positive for the coronavirus, the Washington Post reports.

“I just wanted you to hear it from me,” a masked Jackman told his 30 million Instagram followers. “I tested positive this morning for covid. My symptoms are like a cold … but I’m fine,” said the actor, known for playing the indestructible Wolverine in the X-Men movie franchise.

The production had a number of cast members test positive, including the show’s leading lady, Sutton Foster, who had to withdraw from the Christmas Eve show.  Her understudy, Kathy Voytko, took over the role after just three hours of rehearsal.  The producers have announced confidently that Jackman, who is fully vaccinated, would return to the production January 6th.

Publix Grocery Stores, the sixth largest grocery chain in the United States with more than 1,200 stores primarily in the Southeast, announced Wednesday that it will offer up to one year of paid parental leave starting in 2022, the Associated Press reports.

Eligible full- and part-time employees will be able to take leave during the year after having or adopting a child.  With 225,000 employees, the Lakeland, Florida-based company is facing a worker shortage, as are many companies seeking low-wage labor.  Schnuck’s, a Midwestern grocery chain, recently gave workers a $600 retention bonus.

“Publix is committed to being a great place to work, and we frequently review our benefits to continually offer a comprehensive package to our associates,” Maria Brous, Publix’s communications director said in an email.

In this episode of “People You Should Never Take Seriously,” South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem–she leads the state with the 5th highest per capita infection rate in the nation–tells people that the best thing they can do during the pandemic is… wash their hands.

Federal officials arrested a California man who was driving across the country with an assault kit and a hit list that included President Biden, former President Obama, federal health official Anthony Fauci and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, NBC News reports.

Kuachua Brillion Xiong, a 25-year-old grocery clerk from Merced, was pulled over outside Council Bluffs, Iowa Thursday when officers found an AR-15, multiple loaded magazines, body armor and medical kits in his car.  When questioned, he said he was driving to the White House to eliminate evil people.

Xiong was very talkative with investigators, telling him the list of evil persons he was going to assassinate and even discussing “weak spots” in White House security with Secret Service agents.  “He added that if released from custody, he would immediately resume traveling to the White House … and ‘do whatever it takes’ to complete his plan,” the criminal complaint said.  “Xiong stated that he has no intention of returning to California to see his family because he plans on dying while fighting evil demons in the White House.”

“In his petition, President Trump explained that the Committee is acting as an inquisitorial tribunal seeking evidence of criminal activity. Pet. for Writ of Certiorari, 16-17, Trump v. Thompson, et al., (Dec. 23, 2021). Such a purpose is outside of any of Congress’s legislative powers. See U.S. Const., Art. I, Sect. 8. Now the Washington Post has confirmed what was already apparent – the Committee is indeed seeking any excuse to refer a political rival for criminal charges, and they are using this investigation to do so” write Trump’s lawyers in the brief.

House January 6th Select Committee Chair Congressman Bennie Thompson told ABC News House Minority Worm Kevin McCarthy is welcome to come sit for an interview with the committee staff at any time he wants. “If he has information he wants to share with us, and is willing to voluntarily come in, I’m not taking the invitation off the table,” said Thompson, adding that he’s considering sending a formal request in a manner similar to that of Congressmen Scott Perry and Jim Jordan. “If Leader McCarthy has nothing to hide, he can voluntarily come before the committee” said Thompson. McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment from ABC.

Thanks to increases in minimum wages in more than fifty jurisdictions around the country, hundreds of thousands of American workers will enjoy an increase in their paychecks, CBS News reports.

In 21 states and 35 cities and counties, laws will raise the prescribed minimum wage in those areas, with 33 of the jurisdictions jumping the rate to $15 per hour.  Seventeen other districts will raise their minimum wage to $15 per hour at some point in 2022.  The 81 jurisdictions mandating an increase in the minimum wage in 2022 will be a record.

The wage increase comes as employers are finding a tightening job market, with workers setting records for voluntary “quits” from their jobs, typically to find steadier employment or better benefits, after living through the pandemic.

Ghislaine Maxwell, British socialite and girlfriend of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, lived long enough in jail to see herself found guilty on five of the six charges against her, the Associated Press reports. National Zero will update on the specifics of which counts Maxwell was convicted on and if Donald Trump wishes her well again as she heads for a likely lengthy sentence in the tombs.

Alaskans experienced a relatively balmy Christmas holiday, with temperatures reaching historic highs of 67 degrees Fahrenheit on Kodiak island and interior areas getting soaked under a deluge of rain when the region typically gets inches of snow, the Guardian reports.

Temperatures around the state have been running about 10 degrees above normal, with the normally dry December weather changed to rain, threatening towns like Unalaska with flooding.  Fairbanks has been hit by a storm unseen since 1937, which dumped inches of snow on the ground followed by a rainstorm, which iced over roads, roofs and fields.

“Ice is extremely difficult to remove once it has binded to the road surface. Even though air temps were warm during ‘icemageddon2021’, roads were at sub-zero temps, which caused ice to bind to the surface,” the state Department of Transportation said on Twitter.