Did you find out yesterday or today that your printer isn’t working?  If you’ve got a Windows 10 machine then chances are your printer’s just fine, and the reason it’s not working is because Microsoft security update kb5003637 broke your print spooler. If you restart your computer your printer will make a noise like it’s about to start printing then freeze as soon as the print spooler crashes on your computer.

“There are many reasons to admire the octopus, including its ability to instantly pop up tiny protrusions of various shapes from its skin to match the texture of its background. This technique, combined with other camouflage tricks such as changing its color, allow an octopus to blend into to almost anything—even boats. Those protrusions, called dermal papillae, were the bio-inspiration behind a new elastic material that can morph into various shapes, and could provide a shape-shifting surface for soft robots,” reports IEEE Spectrum.

Country music superstar Reba McEntire says she won’t be appearing at a $500 per ticket fundraising barbeque for South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem, saying that she didn’t even know about the event, the Daily Beast reports.

“Last night, an invitation to a political fundraiser with my name attached was sent out without my knowledge or permission. I had and have no plans to attend this event and had told the event organizers as such,” McEntire wrote on Twitter. “Throughout my career, I have stated that I do not get involved in politics and that remains true today.”

Noem’s spokesperson, Ian Fury, said Noem is a big fan of McEntire’s and claimed that they had a “written confirmation” for her appearance.

Daily Beast: “Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions is telling associates that he had no idea his Justice Department seized phone records of two top Democratic Congressional critics of then-President Donald Trump. In the hours since the New York Times broke the news on Thursday that prosecutors subpoenaed Apple metadata from Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, former Attorney General Sessions has privately told people that he wasn’t aware of, nor was he briefed on, the reported data seizures while he led the Trump DOJ. This week’s revelations were a surprise to him, according to a source familiar with the matter, and another person close to Sessions. ‘[What’s been reported] is explicitly the kind of thing that Donald Trump would often say he wanted out of his Justice Department,’ said the individual familiar with the matter. ‘But right now, it’s unclear how many top officials [at the time] even knew about this.’ Sessions did not immediately respond to a phone call or messages seeking comment on Friday afternoon.”

“Ordinarily, the Attorney General would’ve been aware of such politically-sensitive subpoenas. But Sessions’ tenure was anything but ordinary. And he famously recused himself from the broader Russia probe following revelations that, as an Alabama senator, he privately met with the Russian ambassador, despite public testimony to the contrary. ‘In a normally-functioning Department, that is not a call that would be made without the Attorney General’s approval,’ Matthew Miller, a former top spokesperson for the DOJ under the Obama administration, told The Daily Beast. ‘The question to me would be whether he [Sessions] was recused or not. We know he was recused from the Russia investigation, and so if he decided that recusal extended to related leak investigations, then it would make sense that he wouldn’t know. Recusals are bright lines,’ he added.”

Since the untimely demise of his stupid blog earlier this month, finding statements from Former President Apeshit is once again a pain in the ass, forcing us at National Zero to rely on journalists from bigger organizations to tweet out screenshots of the statements emailed to them, upon which we OCR it and paste it into our article text here to annoy the shit out of our readers.

All of this is to say we don’t know if Trump has already addressed the New York Times’ bombshell Thursday night report detailing secret subpoenas to Apple for personal data from Congressmen Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, their staffs, staff on the House Intel Committee, and even a minor related to one of those persons. We did see he put out a statement on Friday spouting some nonsense about having been asked to write books but he’s “working on a much more important project right now”, whatever the hell that means, but no sign yet of one on the NYT report.

Now of course this could change by the time I hit publish on this article, but it is curiously inconsistent with the way Trump reacted to other articles in the New York Times since he’s been out of office. At least twice by our count he’s put out statements specifically denying their reporting, both in early April, the first about his recurring campaign donations scam, the second on Matt Gaetz allegedly asking him for a pardon. So we’ll see if he “punches back” at this one too, but don’t be surprised either if he wants to pretend he never saw it.

“The treatment that these political prisoners describe is the very definition of a Soviet Gulag. And we tolerate this?”

– The current top comment on The American Greatness article “Letters from a D.C. Jail“, posted early Friday. The subhead reads: “The rule of law for anyone involved in the events of January 6 has been flipped on its head by the U.S. justice system; defendants are presumed guilty before proven innocent” as if that presumption is supposed to be applied for any reason other than standard due process for people caught on video committing acts of assault and destruction in the Capitol riot.

The Teamsters union was the victim of a ransomware attack in 2019 that paralyzed one of the group’s email systems and data, but the FBI at the time told them to pay the ransom because they could not help, according to a report from NBC News.

Consulting with their insurance company, the Teamsters opted not to pay the ransom, which was originally set at $2.5 million but the union had negotiated down to $1.1 million.  When the union approached the FBI for help, the Bureau declined to help, advising the union to pay the ransom to get the encryption key to unlock the system.

“They said ‘this is happening all over D.C. … and we’re not doing anything about it,'” a source told NBC. 

Jeffrey Toobin returned to CNN, and predictably, conservative pundits are up in arms about a repentant person being provided a second-chance to recover his career.

First, the awkward details.  Toobin was seen masturbating on a Zoom call for New Yorker magazine staff last October.  He was ultimately fired from the New Yorker and a gig at WNYC radio.  Toobin accepted responsibility, claiming that he did not realize he was on camera when he started pleasuring himself.

Now, nine months later, he returned to media with a job on CNN as chief legal analyst.  In his appearance last night, he again offered a full apology–not a conditional “I’m sorry if I offended anyone” sidestep–calling his actions moronic and indefensible.

Business Insider: “Senator Ron Johnson has been suspended from YouTube for a week after his account uploaded a video of him spreading medical misinformation, in violation of Google’s detailed policy on the matter. The conflict is the latest episode of a running feud the Republican from Wisconsin is waging against the video-sharing website, accusing the company of censorship when it enforces its terms of service. ‘Big Tech and mainstream media believe they are smarter than medical doctors who have devoted their lives to science and use their skills to save lives,’ Johnson said in a statement to Insider. ‘They have decided there is only one medical viewpoint allowed and it is the viewpoint dictated by government agencies.’ Johnson, who actively promoted the ‘Big Lie’ that led to the assault on the US Capitol in January, has used his position as a senator to promote baseless conspiracy theories and undermine trust in public institutions.”

“A Kansas Proud Boy charged in the Capitol riot has asked a judge to release him from jail due to chronic back pain – a condition, prosecutors say, which didn’t prevent him from allegedly wielding an axe handle against police outside the Capitol. William Chrestman, 47, was arrested in February along with four others connected to the Kansas City chapter of the Proud Boys. Photos from the Capitol riot appear to show Chrestman in tactical gear and a respirator and carrying a wooden axe handle. He faces multiple charges, including conspiracy, civil disorder and threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer. A magistrate judge initially approved Chrestman’s pretrial release – but that decision was overturned by DC District Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell on February 23.”

“Since then, the U.S. Army veteran has remained in custody in the D.C. Jail. Chrestman’s attorneys have tried a number of strategies to explain his alleged actions and secure his release, including blaming former President Donald Trump. In a filing in February, Chrestman’s lawyers said he believed he had an ‘official endorsement’ from Trump to participate in the storming of the Capitol. ‘It is an astounding thing to imagine storming the United States Capitol with sticks and flags and bear spray, arrayed against armed and highly trained law enforcement. Only someone who thought they had an official endorsement would even attempt such a thing. And a Proud Boy who had been paying attention would very much believe he did,’ they wrote” – WUSA.

Politico: “Former Attorney General William Barr on Friday distanced himself from reports that the Trump Justice Department seized communications records belonging to two prominent Democratic lawmakers who were spearheading investigations into then-President Donald Trump. In a phone interview, Barr said he didn’t recall getting briefed on the moves. Barr’s comments came after The New York Times reported that in 2017 and 2018, the Justice Department seized the records of at least 12 people connected to the House Intel Committee, including its current chair. Barr became attorney general in 2019. The Justice Department’s internal watchdog announced Friday it would open a review of the records seizures, and Democratic leaders are starting up their own probes.”

“According to the Times, the leak investigation swept up the metadata of the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who has since become its chair, and Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, another prominent Trump critic who sits on the panel. Barr said that while he was attorney general, he was ‘not aware of any congressman’s records being sought in a leak case.’ He added that Trump never encouraged him to zero in on the Democratic lawmakers who reportedly became targets of the former president’s push to unmask leakers of classified information. Trump ‘was not aware of who we were looking at in any of the cases,’ Barr said. ‘I never discussed the leak cases with Trump. He didn’t really ask me any of the specifics.'”

“I am announcing that within the next 30 days, we will double the division’s enforcement staff for protecting the right to vote. We will use all existing provisions … to ensure that we protect every qualified American seeking to participate in our democracy” – Attorney General Merrick Garland.

New York Times: “Kim Jong-un called it a ‘vicious cancer’ corrupting young North Koreans’ ‘attire, hairstyles, speeches, behaviors.’ His state media has warned that if left unchecked, it would make North Korea ‘crumble like a damp wall.’ After winning fans around the world, South Korean pop culture has entered the final frontier: North Korea, where its growing influence has prompted the leader of the totalitarian state to declare a new culture war to stop it. But even a dictator may have trouble holding back the tide. In recent months, hardly a day has gone by without Mr. Kim or state media railing against ‘anti-socialist and nonsocialist’ influences spreading in his country, especially South Korean movies, K-dramas and K-pop videos. As part of a panicked attempt to reassert control, Mr. Kim has ordered his government to stamp out the cultural invasion.”

“The censorship is anything but a peevish dictator’s tantrum. It comes at a time when the North’s economy is floundering and its diplomacy with the West has stalled, perhaps leaving the country’s youth more receptive to outside influence and challenging Mr. Kim’s firm grip on North Korean society. ‘Young North Koreans think they owe nothing to Kim Jong-un,’ said Jung Gwang-il, a defector from the North who runs a network that smuggles K-pop into North Korea. ‘He must reassert his ideological control on the young if he doesn’t want to lose the foundation for the future of his family’s dynastic rule.’ Mr. Kim’s family has ruled the North for three generations, and loyalty from millennials in the country has often been tested. They came of age during a famine in the late 1990s, when the government was unable to provide rations, causing millions to die. Families survived by buying food from unofficial markets stocked with goods smuggled from China, including bootlegged entertainment from the South.”

“DOJ OIG Initiates a Review of the Department of Justice’s Use of Subpoenas and Other Legal
Authorities to Obtain Communication Records of Members of Congress and Affiliated Persons, and
the News Media – Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced today that: The DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is initiating a review of DOJ’s use of subpoenas and other legal authorities to obtain communication records of Members of Congress and affiliated persons, and the news media in connection with recent investigations of alleged unauthorized disclosures of information to the media by government officials.”

“The review will examine the Department’s compliance with applicable DOJ policies and procedures, and whether any such uses, or the investigations, were based upon improper considerations. If circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider other issues that may arise during the review. The review will not substitute the OlG’s judgment for the legal and investigative judgments made in the matters under OIG review” – DOJ Press Release.

2020 was built on endless lies:

—Lafayette Square protest
—Atlantic troops story
—Russian Bounties
—Biden Laptop coverup
—Trump owned stock in HCQ
—Trump told GA officials to “find the votes”
—“Mostly peaceful” BLM protests

The question is—who orchestrated all of it and why?

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 11, 2021

“Senate leaders demand former Attorneys General Barr and Sessions testify about seizure of Democrats’ data under Trump” Jonathan Lemire, AP.

“Late on the night of April 24, the wife of Georgia’s top election official got a chilling text message: ‘You and your family will be killed very slowly. ’A week earlier, Tricia Raffensperger, wife of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, had received another anonymous text: ‘We plan for the death of you and your family every day.’ That followed an April 5 text warning. A family member, the texter told her, was ‘going to have a very unfortunate incident.’”

“Those messages, which have not been previously reported, illustrate the continuing barrage of threats and intimidation against election officials and their families months after former U.S. President Donald Trump’s November election defeat. While reports of threats against Georgia officials emerged in the heated weeks after the voting, Reuters interviews with more than a dozen election workers and top officials – and a review of disturbing texts, voicemails and emails that they and their families received – reveal the previously hidden breadth and severity of the menacing tactics” – Reuters.

“A digital marketing firm closely linked to the pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA was responsible for a series of deceptive Facebook ads promoting Green party candidates during the 2018 US midterm elections, the Guardian can reveal. In an apparent attempt to split the Democratic vote in a number of close races, the ads purported to come from an organization called America Progress Now (APN) and used socialist memes and rhetoric to urge leftwing voters to support Green party candidates. Facebook was aware of the true identity of the advertiser – the conservative marketing firm Rally Forge – and the deceptive nature of the ads, documents seen by the Guardian show, but the company determined that they did not violate its policies.”

“Rally Forge would go on to set up a pro-Trump domestic ‘troll farm’ for Turning Point Action, a ‘sister’ organization of Turning Point USA, in 2020, earning a permanent ban from Facebook. ‘There were no policies at Facebook against pretending to be a group that did not exist, an abuse vector that has also been used by the governments of Honduras and Azerbaijan,’ said Sophie Zhang, a former Facebook employee and whistleblower who played a small role in the investigation of the Green party ads. She added: ‘The fact that Rally Forge later went on to conduct coordinated inauthentic behavior with troll farms reminiscent of Russia should be taken as an indication that Facebook’s leniency led to more risk-taking behavior.’ Devon Kearns, a spokesperson for Facebook, said: ‘We removed Rally Forge from our platforms for violating our policy against coordinated inauthentic behavior. Since the 2018 midterms, we have strengthened our policies related to election interference and political ad transparency. We continue working to make political advertising more transparent on our platform and we welcome updated regulations and help from policymakers as we evolve our policies in this space'” – The Guardian.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RED BEAN AND RICE. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RED BEANS AND RICE. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RED BEANS AND RICE. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RED BEAMS AND RICE. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BEAMS AND RICE. WHAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/x97tzoytH3

— Greg Kelly (@gregkellyusa) June 11, 2021