“International outrage mounted on Monday as new details emerged about a brazen operation by the country’s strongman leader to divert a Ryanair passenger jet and arrest a dissident Belarusian journalist traveling on board. Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, an Irish-based low-cost carrier, called the operation, which was directed by President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus, a ‘state-sponsored hijacking'” New York Times reports.

“Leaders from the European Union were expected to meet Monday night to discuss possible penalties. Sofia Sapega, the girlfriend of the arrested journalist, Roman Protasevich, was also detained when the plane landed in Minsk on Sunday after a bogus bomb threat during its flight from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, her university in the Lithuanian capital said. Ms. Sapega, a Russian citizen, was detained at the Minsk airport along with Mr. Protasevich under ‘groundless and made-up conditions,’ the European Humanities University in Vilnius said in a statement demanding her release. There was no word Monday morning from the Belarusian authorities on their whereabouts.”

Politico: “During Jane Timken’s tenure as Ohio’s GOP chair, Donald Trump won the one-time bellwether state by a whopping 8 percentage points. She put 150,000 miles on her car driving to the state’s 88 counties as a surrogate for the president. And she raised a total of $5 million for his two campaigns. But that sterling record of MAGA support might not be enough to guarantee the former president’s support in her bid for the GOP Senate nomination. Timken’s sin? In her capacity as state party chair, she failed to immediately condemn home-state Republican congressman, Anthony Gonzalez, for voting to impeach Trump in response to the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6.”

https://youtu.be/BXtDyU7YkoU

Former Republican Congressman and current soulless minion of Fox News Jason Chaffetz went on a Fox show hosted by a Midnight Oil cosplayer to explain that the role of the government in coronavirus vaccines is to “provide the information” and seems to suggest that following speed limits is simply a suggestion:  “We say, ‘Hey, we’d rather you not do this’,” which wouldn’t be a defense against a speeding ticket in court.

Saying that “there are LOTS of diseases kids could potentially get,” Chaffetz forgets that there are LOTS of vaccines kids must get before going to schools or colleges. 

Twenty-one participants in an 100-kilometer (62-mile) marathon in China died Saturday as temperatures plunged, bringing on wind, hail and a landslide that caught the lightly-clothed marathoners by surprise, the Washington Post reports.

The event, at Yellow River Stone Forest Park in Gansu province, took place at high altitudes reaching 6,500 feet.  In all, 172 runners started when the the weather was pleasant, but as runners scaled the mountain, it became more treacherous.  Rescue efforts were hampered by the altitude, winds and a landslide.

Here’s a live feed (via Youtube) from the Monterey Bay Aquarium shark cam.

America's Audit resumes. More Democrat lawsuit threats and Maricopa County roadblocks. Thousands at America First Rally in Arizona support audit, border wall, oppose mask mandates, vaccine passports and Fauci. AZGOP Chairwoman @kelliwardaz has latest #AzAudit #AmericasAudit pic.twitter.com/Hy5oZsIeZs

— Republican Party of Arizona (@AZGOP) May 23, 2021

“Three researchers from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in November 2019 that they sought hospital care, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report that could add weight to growing calls for a fuller probe of whether the Covid-19 virus may have escaped from the laboratory. The details of the reporting go beyond a State Department fact sheet, issued during the final days of the Trump administration, which said that several researchers at the lab, a center for the study of coronaviruses and other pathogens, became sick in autumn 2019 ‘with symptoms consistent with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illness.'”

“The disclosure of the number of researchers, the timing of their illnesses and their hospital visits come on the eve of a meeting of the World Health Organization’s decision-making body, which is expected to discuss the next phase of an investigation into Covid-19’s origins. Current and former officials familiar with the intelligence about the lab researchers expressed differing views about the strength of the supporting evidence for the assessment. One person said that it was provided by an international partner and was potentially significant but still in need of further investigation and additional corroboration” – Wall Street Journal.

AP: “A prominent opponent of Belarus’ authoritarian president was arrested Sunday after the airliner in which he was traveling was diverted to the country after a bomb threat, in what the opposition is calling a hijacking operation by the government. The presidential press service said President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered that a MiG-29 fighter jet accompany the Ryanair plane – carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich and traveling from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania – to the airport in the capital Minsk. Deputy air force commander Andrei Gurtsevich said the plane’s crew made the decision to land in Minsk, but Ryanair said in a statement that Belarusian air traffic control instructed the plane to divert to the capital.”

“Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda also claimed the plane was forced to land in Minsk and said Lukashenko’s ‘regime is behind this.’ The Belarusian Interior Ministry said Pratasevich was arrested at the airport. Pratasevich is a co-founder of the Telegram messaging app’s Nexta channel, which Belarus last year declared as extremist after it was used to help organize major protests against Lukashenko. Pratasevich, who had fled the country for Poland, faces charges that could carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years. The presidential press service said the bomb threat was received while the plane was over Belarusian territory. Officials later said no explosives were found on board. Flight-tracker sites indicate the plane was about 10 kilometers (six) miles from the Lithuanian border when it changed course.”

There’s been a great deal of hand-wringing lately over the fact that several developed nations have already seen massive declines in birth-rates and may soon face a population decline.  A recent article in the NY Times pointed out that this phenomenon appears to be accelerating, “Maternity wards are already shutting down in Italy. Ghost cities are appearing in northeastern China. Universities in South Korea can’t find enough students, and in Germany, hundreds of thousands of properties have been razed, with the land turned into parks.” Although increasing immigration levels is a solution in the near term, as more of the world’s countries become economically developed, declining birth rates may become a global phenomenon.

Not even saying it like “Hahaha! National Zero got to it first” kind of way. Saying it like “This is a serious crime and an act of state terrorism and why the hell is it not bigger news already” kind of way. And it’s still frustrating as hell. The plane was almost at Vilnius. The Ryanair pilot could’ve stalled and bullshitted with the MIGs for another two minutes and Pratasevich would’ve been in the clear. Belarussian agents were on board the plane, following him. Their fighter jets probably would not have shot down a passenger jet and killed them too. Read the CNN article here.

In an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, Lt. General Russell Honore demonstrated obvious frustration with the intransigence of Congressional Republicans. In the interview Honore said that, “One of the missions they will not be able to probably accomplish as designated by both houses and old parties, is the open campus. That will be- they will not be able to return immediately to the open campus where people can openly visit the Capitol because of the strain on the Capitol Police. Their numbers are down over 230. And that was as of the date we completed our report. But God bless the National Guard. They’ve done significant work and they are leaving today, 137 days after the attack on 1/6.”

“Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday affirmed President Joe Biden’s commitment to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, arguing that without solutions that afforded Palestinians more dignity, the cycle of violence was likely to continue,” reports Politico. “Ultimately, it is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, and of course the only way to give the Palestinians the state to which they’re entitled,” he told host George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week,” while acknowledging that it would take some time to get to that point.”

Warming waters in the Atlantic Ocean are apparently leading to a lengthening of the hurricane season, as the National Hurricane Center announces the first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Ana, before we’ve even reached the end of May. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminitsration (NOAA) has been predicting an active Atlantic hurricane season for 2021.

As global climate change causes temperatures to rise, and the breakup of the polar ice caps leads to more sunlight being absorbed by ocean waters instead of being reflected back into the atmosphere, ocean temperatures are rising at a faster rate each year.  Hurricanes and Tropical Storms are sometimes described as “heat engines” that help to disperse that excess energy.

“Roman Protasevich, founder of the opposition telegram channel Nexta, was detained in Minsk. He was aboard a Ryanair flight en route from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania. The flight landed at the national airport of Minsk after receiving a message about a bomb threat. The passengers were removed from the plane and sent to the airport for a second inspection, during which Protasevich was detained, reports Nexta. Before the flight, according to this telegram channel, Protasevich said that he had noticed that he was being followed.”

“At the Minsk airport, TASS confirmed that the Ryanair plane landed after the signal about a bomb planted on board, and the luggage and passengers were sent for re-examination. ‘After completing all the necessary procedures, the plane will take off on the route,’ – said the representatives of the airport. In November 2020, the co-founders of Nexta, Roman Protasevich and Stepan Putilo, were included by the Belarusian KGB in the list of individuals involved in terrorist activities. The Investigative Committee of Belarus has charged journalists with organizing riots in Minsk and inciting social hostility towards representatives of the authorities and police. The telegram channel Nexta itself and its logo are recognized as extremist materials on the territory of Belarus” – Meduza, translated from Russian by Google, edited by National Zero for clarity.

“Christopher Grider said he came to Washington on Jan. 6 with no intention of rioting. But he got caught up in the mob of angry supporters of then-President Donald Trump as they surged into the U.S. Capitol, breaking through police barriers and smashing through doors. It wasn’t his fault, he said, that he ended up inside the building with a yellow ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flag around his neck as lawmakers ran for their lives. Grider, 39, a winery owner and former school teacher in Texas is among at least a dozen Capitol riot defendants identified by The Associated Press who have claimed their presence in the building was a result of being ‘caught up’ in the hysteria of the crowd or that they were pushed inside by sheer force. For some, blaming the mob is part of an attempt to restore reputations tarnished by their presence at an event of such infamy. Others may try to broach the issue at trial or at least during sentencing in bids for leniency. Social scientists have long observed how individuals can act in ways they never would on their own when they are in crowds of like-minded people who are whipped into a frenzy.”

“The insurrectionists descended on the nation’s capital that day to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Many attended a rally by Trump, who was refusing to concede even though there was no evidence to suggest the election had been rigged and his own administration said it wasn’t. Hundreds of Trump supporters broke through police barricades and overwhelmed officers, violently shoving their way into the building to chants of ‘Hang Mike Pence’ and ‘Stop the Steal.’ Some came prepared with pepper spray, baseball bats and other weapons. More than 400 people have been charged; it’s the largest prosecution in the Justice Department’s history. Grider, accused of helping to break a glass door to the House chamber, never planned to storm the building, his lawyer has said in filings and comments to reporters after Grider, was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. ‘He would never have anticipated finding himself in the situation, but for the president and the rally and the way everything went down,’ Brent Mayr told the Houston Chronicle. ‘We’ve heard ‘mob mentality’ – and he describes it to a T.’ Mayr more recently declined to comment further” – AP.

Politico EU: “Dominic Cummings, one-time senior adviser to Boris Johnson and now a perpetual thorn in the U.K. prime minister’s side, claimed the government pursued a policy of herd immunity to combat the coronavirus, while launching personal attacks against Johnson and his health secretary, Matt Hancock. In a 42-tweet tirade late Saturday, Cummings, who was sacked by Johnson in November last year after a vicious power struggle, claimed that if ‘competent’ people had been in charge of the coronavirus strategy, it may have been possible to avoid the first lockdown and there would ‘definitely’ have been no need for lockdowns two and three.”

“He said the COVID plan ‘was supposed to be ‘world class’ but turned out to be part disaster, part non-existent.’ Cummings said herd immunity was the government’s plan all along – until less than two weeks before the first lockdown was enforced. It was abandoned, he claimed, only when ministers were warned that it would lead to “hundreds of thousands choking to death” in hospitals. In another tweet, he wrote that in early March 2020, “No10 was made aware by various people’ that the official plan would ‘lead to catastrophe. It was then replaced by Plan B. But how ‘herd immunity by Sep’ could have been the plan until that week is a fundamental issue in the whole disaster.’ He also wrote that ‘media generally abysmal on covid but even I’ve been surprised by 1 thing: how many hacks have parroted Hancock’s line that ‘herd immunity wasn’t the plan’ when ‘herd immunity by Sep’ was *literally the official plan in all docs/graphs/meetings* until it was ditched.'”

A three-year-old boy in Florida found a gun hidden in couch cushions and used it to shoot his two-year-old sister in the chest, with the bullet trajectory damaging her pancreas and intestines before exiting, USA Today reports.

The gun, a Hi-Point CF-380, was hidden in the cushions by one of three men in the home to watch the NBA basketball playoffs.  The gun belong to 23-year-old Kevonte’ Wilson, who will be charged with failure to safely store a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

After hearing the shot, the men raced the girl and boy to the hospital.  On the way, they got involved in a traffic accident.  A Good Samaritan took the girl and one of the men, who was hut in the accident, to the hospital.

https://youtu.be/oLIoFrKCoEE

“There’s always been an anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic voice on the far left,” Senator Ted Cruz (R-Quintana Roo) said while talking to a strangely upright Jeanine Pirro.  Perhaps Rafael just conveniently forgot the whole “Jewish Space Laser,” Rothschild-funded, George Soros, globalists, Hollywood elite memes put forth by Trump supporters and Fox News in the past decade.

They’re calling @TedCruz by the name #KremlinCruz on Twitter now.

Whenever they start lying about Russian collusion, you know you’ve hit a nerve.

Keep driving them mad, Senator!

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 22, 2021

They’re calling Cruz #KremlinCruz because he got all excited about a recruitment ad for the Russian military, and suggested the Russian military is superior to US forces.  Those kinds of comments are simply not acceptable coming from a US Senator.  The comments about Ted Cruz have nothing to do with the Trump campaign being aware of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election and intending to benefit from that interference.  Claiming that Cruz’s asinine behavior was an effective strategy for “owning the libs” just makes Boebert look like a total dumbass.  Then again, she proves that on a daily basis so…par for the course.