CBS12: “Florida District 88 Representative Omari Hardy is calling on Palm Beach County to close Mar-a-Lago. ‘I am calling on Palm Beach County to fine Mar-a-Lago and to shut it down. The County must be assured that this business will comply with our local mask mandate before it is allowed to reopen,’ Hardi said in a statement. Hardy references a video of dozens of maskless partygoers and entertainers ringing in the New Year at President Trump’s resort. He says the President shouldn’t be given special treatment and that the club needs to adhere to the county’s mask mandate. ‘I recognize that the President is a powerful person and that his business, Mar-a-Lago, is a daunting target for enforcement, but the law is the law. The County’s mask mandate applies to all businesses in Palm Beach County. The presidency does not confer to the President and his friends a special privilege’ Hardy continued to say.”

Legendary 87-year-old television host Larry King has been hospitalized in Los Angeles with coronavirus, Us Weekly reports.

The infection occurred after King was hospitalized in November with a blood flow issue.  He disclosed last year that he fell into a coma in 2019 after he suffered a stroke in March and a separate operation for angina in April 2019.

One of the four former Blackwater agents who received a pardon from lame duck president Donald Trump after killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad in 2007 stand by his actions that day, claiming “I acted correctly,” the Associated Press reports.

Evan Liberty, 38, was part of a team that was escorting a dignitary through the area when, they claimed, they can under gunfire from insurgents.  Prosecutors, however, found no evidence that anyone was shooting at them and found that the 14 people they killed were all unarmed and seeking shelter or trying to evade the fight.  Among the 14 killed was an 8-year-old boy.

“I feel like I acted correctly,” Liberty said. “I regret any innocent loss of life, but I’m just confident in how I acted and I can basically feel peace with that. … I didn’t shoot at anybody that wasn’t shooting at me.”

“‘Most of the mothers in this country are juggling a lot of different responsibilities, they have a lot on their plate. Many of them are working, many of them are taking care of elderly parents, many of them are paying the bills, and many of them are making healthcare decisions – all of those are impacted by who we elect and who we put into the U.S. Senate. David and Kelly have fought to make sure we keep more money in our pockets. If people vote for Warnock and Ossoff to go to Washington, DC, they will raise taxes. They have endorsed the Green New Deal which means four to five years from now we will have $4 to $5 a gallon gasoline. That will make budgets even tighter, and people will have less money. Our food will be more expensive in the grocery stores. Healthcare decisions would be made by the government'” Breitbart reports.

“‘These are very clear facts that Warnock and Ossoff have embraced and said they will do openly and publicly. They also have a fundamentally different viewpoint of this country, and Warnock especially has had the opportunity to denounce Marxism and socialism and he did not do that. So, that’s the real life choices that I think women and moms are dealing with here in this election cycle, and they need to recognize not only does it change the direction this country is going but it will change their everyday decisions and what resources they have to take care of their families even six months to a year from now'” which is all very nice white Christian Conservative code for “don’t vote for the Black guy or the Jew” from South Dakota Gov Kristi Noem.

New rule proposed by House Democrats:

Members can’t share anything on social media that’s been “distorted or manipulated.”

Who’s making that call? Liberal fact-checkers?

Give me a break.

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 2, 2021

“Hospitals struggling to provide enough oxygen for the sickest coronavirus patients in the Los Angeles area received some relief Saturday when U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crews arrived. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office says crews helped some aging hospitals update their oxygen delivery systems. Besides the shortage of oxygen, they’re also having difficulty keeping with demand for oxygen tanks for discharged patients to take home.”

“The southern half of the state has seen the worst effects, with hospitals swamped with patients and full intensive care units. Makeshift wards are set up in tents, arenas, classrooms and conference rooms. California started the new year on Friday with a record 585 coronavirus deaths in a single day. The state Department of Public Health on Saturday reported more than 53,341 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 2.3 million. There’s been 26,357 total confirmed deaths in California, making it the third state to exceed 25,000 deaths, behind New York (38,000) and Texas (28,000), according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University” – AP.

Louisville Courier Journal: “United States Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Louisville home has been vandalized following his blocking of $2,000 stimulus checks to most Americans. As of Saturday morning, messages like ‘where’s my money’ and other expletives were written with spray paint across the front door and bricks of the Kentucky Republican’s Highlands residence.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “Someone left a pig’s head on the sidewalk in front of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s house in Pacific Heights and spray-painted graffiti on her garage door overnight, the San Francisco Police Department said Friday. Police responded to the scene at 2 a.m. No one has taken credit for the vandalism and the political graffiti is now covered by black garbage bags. Pelosi’s Washington office did not respond to a request for comment.”

Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016

“A call to police about a shoplifting incident has turned into something much bigger for an officer in Somerset who felt the punishment didn’t necessarily fit the crime. Five days before Christmas, Patrolman Matt Lima of the Somerset Police Department was dispatched to the local Stop and Shop for a reported theft. ‘There was nothing else on there like health and beauty items, shampoo, anything like that. It was all food,’ he said.”

“Lima, who firmly believes in following the law, cut them a break and decided not to press charges. ‘Obviously, this family was in need and I can’t imagine having to make the decision to go to Stop and Shop and just only pay for what I can afford – or do I go there and try to take things for Christmas dinner for the kids?’ said Lima. ‘They were very thankful, they were kind of shocked. I’m sure a lot of people in that same situation would be thinking that there was going to be a different outcome, and maybe they would be arrested or have to go to court.’ Lima took things a step further in an effort to help the family. He purchased a $250 gift card so the family could buy the food the right way. ‘I bought the gift card close in value to what would’ve been taken,’ said Lima. ‘I just did what I felt was right. It’s not about me, I just tried to put myself in that family’s shoes and show a little bit of empathy.'” – WJAR.

Axios: “A growing number of Republican senators – led by Ted Cruz – are set to announce today they also will object to certifying state Electoral College votes on Wednesday, congressional sources familiar with their conversations tell Axios. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had hoped to avoid the spectacle of his party leading a last-ditch effort to prevent Joe Biden from being declared the 2020 election winner, but Josh Hawley of Missouri said he would raise a general objection and now other Republican senators plan to air more specific grievances. Cruz, who, like Hawley, is thought to be considering a 2024 presidential bid, plans to release a statement this afternoon announcing his plans. Once the Texas Republican does so, several other senators from his party are expected to follow in a coordinated effort they consider distinct from Hawley’s.”

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2021

“Many of Donald Trump’s most dogmatic supporters see a mass protest in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 – just two weeks shy of Inauguration Day 2021 – as their last chance to disrupt President-elect Joe Biden’s win. But for the president himself, it’s just another day to complain. Two people familiar with the matter say that in recent days, Trump has told advisers and close associates that he wants to keep fighting in court past Jan. 6 if members of Congress, as expected, end up certifying the electoral college results. ‘The way he sees it is: Why should I ever let this go?… How would that benefit me?’ said one of the sources, who’s spoken to Trump at length about the post-election activities to nullify his Democratic opponent’s decisive victory” – Daily Beast.

Christian Post: “With the high-stakes Georgia Senate runoff elections just days away, a prayer march is set to take place in the state’s capital and largest city of Atlanta on Saturday. Chaired by Bishop Wellington Boone of Atlanta and Jim and Rosemary Schindler Garlow of San Diego, California, the Georgia Prayer March will take place at the Georgia Statehouse on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It will also be streamed live online for those who want to attend virtually.”

“The event is open to all followers of Jesus Christ who care ‘deeply about biblical values including the sanctity of life in the womb, the sacredness of one man-one woman marriage, the scripturally-based free market system and supporting Israel.’ The march comes as two Senate runoff elections that will determine which party has control of the Senate for the next two years are scheduled to take place on Tuesday. Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler will face off against Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, respectively. The goals of the march are to ‘get people to pray for the election’ and to fast Jan. 3-5 until polls close on Tuesday. Participants will march around the Georgia Capitol seven times. Each trip around the Capitol will represent an issue of importance identified by Well Versed, the nonprofit organization that is putting on the march.”

“Attorney L. Lin Wood, who has made some of the boldest claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, tweeted Friday that Vice President Mike Pence could face arrest and imprisonment for treason, and execution by firing squad. Wood seems to believe that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would reverse the results of the Electoral College… Breitbart News reported last month that Wood has voted for and donated to Democrats in the past” says a story with “? LIN WOOD ? CLAIMS VP MIKE PENCE FACES ARREST FOR TREASON, EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD” as the link on the homepage. The commenters aren’t too happy about it.

Try to imagine yourself going to Disney World. Only you weren’t going as a tourist but as a super-powered freedom fighter whose mission was to liberate the Magic Kingdom from the Disney corporation. You join up with other members of an underground resistance to Disney’s mercenaries, infiltrating heavily guarded areas, sneaking around and causing all sorts of mayhem. Maybe while hiding in the shadows you throw a piece of meat near one of the guards, which causes a panther to suddenly appear and maul the guard to death. Or you hack a power transformer to explode and kill him. Or you shoot an arrow at a conveniently placed construction crane’s hook and drop a bundle of steel girders on his head. Or you call in a mortar strike from other members of the resistance and blow him sky high. The world is your canvas and violence is your paintbrush.

If the guards find you and start shooting, you could die right away, or after getting hit by 25 bullets, depending on the difficulty level. Whatever happens, you wake up in your hotel room, all fresh and ready for more wanton destruction of life and property. Rinse and repeat, gaining new weapons and abilities, liberating Tomorrowland, Frontierland, etc, until you’ve worked your way up the chain, killing Goofy, Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse, and finally the resurrected Zombie Walt Disney himself. Then a few months later, you pay an extra $30 to access the Epcot Center and Disney’s Hollywood Studios areas of the map to do the same stuff. The whole trip could take you about 30 or 40 hours, or maybe as much as 100 if you want to explore everywhere and collect all the secret weapons and data files hidden around Disney World.

If you don’t know much about modern video games, I hope that’s explained it well enough what it’s like playing one made by the French publisher Ubisoft and maybe given you an idea why the volume of stories here at National Zero is a bit lower than what it had been before the election.

WJHL: “Virginia state Sen. Ben Chafin (R-Lebanon) died Friday from COVID-19 complications, the senator’s office confirmed Friday night. Chafin had been hospitalized at VCU Medical Center for two weeks, according to a news release. The Russell County native represented the 38th District, which includes several Southwest Virginia counties. He first served in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2013 before being elected to the state Senate in 2014. Voters re-elected Chafin in 2019. In a statement, Gov. Ralph Northam said ‘we have all lost a good man.’ Del. Terry Kilgore called Chafin a true leader and a strong advocate for Southwest Virginia. U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith said Chafin was a ‘dedicated public servant’ who cared deeply for the people of Southwest Virginia.”

To be clear: I do not support the statements from Attorney Lin Wood. I support the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution.

— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) January 2, 2021

On Friday night Congressman Louie Gohmert tweeted that he’ll be appearing on Newsmax with an “important update on the Pence lawsuit. We must fight to #SaveTheRepublic #StopTheSteal” so yeah, it’s pretty obvious that Gohmert is appealing.

Appealing the verb, not the adjective. If anyone finds this toothless yokel appealing then they ought to take a look at their lives and figure out where the fuck they went wrong.

Politico: “A federal judge has tossed out a GOP-led lawsuit aimed at empowering Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, contending that the plaintiffs – Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and 11 Arizona Republicans who would have been electors for Donald Trump – lacked standing to sue. U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump appointee based in Tyler, Texas, said the suit, which was filed against Pence, couldn’t be brought by an individual member of Congress, since it alleged an injury that would apply to the entire House and Senate. Gohmert had asked the court to declare that Pence, who is constitutionally required to preside over the Jan. 6 session of Congress to certify the results of the 2020 election, had the sole authority to decide whether some of Biden’s electoral votes should be rejected – and whether alternative slates of Trump votes could be introduced instead. But Kernodle said Gohmert’s argument relied on entirely speculative circumstances.”