Top Trump official calls for Christianity mandate nationwide

Today's Top Stories:

Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn calls for one religion in America
Flynn, who recently talked about his faith in an effort to refute QAnon claims that he worships Satan, called for Christianity to become the singular religion of the United States.

---

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Jen Psaki knocks asinine question out of the park
The White House press secretary was actually asked what the president could be doing to appease legions of right-wingers who have recently popularized a stand-in phrase for "f*ck Joe Biden." Seriously.

---

Democrats FINALLY score massive win
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: New extremists in Congress are taking their districts for granted while delivering nothing for them. United Rural Democrats are organizing on the ground to shock Republicans by winning back Middle America. But they need your help!

---

Nations reach climate change agreement in Glasgow but follow-through in doubt
The final agreement, which came following contentious negotiations, arrived more than 24 hours after the conference officially ended. But it did not go as far as many in the scientific community have said is necessary to keep the world from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius rise over pre-industrial levels, which was the main goal of the conference itself.

---

Video: Mark Meadows lambasted DOJ official in 2018 for "stonewalling" subpoenas from GOP Congress
MSNBC unearthed a video clip of then-Rep. Mark Meadows attacking an official he accused of "stonewalling" congressional subpoenas — issued during Trump’s administration. On Friday, Meadows ignored a subpoena to appear before the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot. Oops.

---

Oklahoma National Guard rejects Pentagon's coronavirus vaccine mandate
Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, appointed this week by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt as adjutant of the state's 10,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen, notified those under his command that they are not required to receive the vaccine and won't be punished if they decline it.

---

US military hid airstrikes that killed dozens of civilians in Syria
The US military covered up 2019 airstrikes in Syria that killed up to 64 women and children, a possible war crime, during the battle against Islamic State, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

---

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Madison Cawthorn, and Lauren Boebert's extremism costing them support from their voters
United Rural Democrats: New extremists in Congress are taking their districts for granted while delivering nothing for them. United Rural Democrats are organizing on the ground to shock Republicans by winning back Middle America. But they need your help!

---

Trump is calling on people to challenge a laundry list of Republicans who voted for Biden's infrastructure bill
The disgraced ex-president said he'd back anyone who challenged a number of Republican lawmakers in the next election, all of which either voted in favor of President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill or supported an indictment for Steve Bannon.

---

Trump's ex-communications director thinks Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, and Mike Pompeo will run against Trump in 2024
This should be interesting.

---

Retiring GOP House rep says he hopes the indictment of Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress "sends a chilling message"
Rep. Adam Kinzinger said he hopes that the indictment of Trump's former chief strategist reaffirms that individuals asked to speak before the House panel "cannot ignore Congress."

---

South Carolina governor calls for LGBTQ book to be banned in schools
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster urged his state Department of Education this week to remove a book (he undoubtedly has not read) about gender identity from school shelves, calling it "obscene and pornographic," and to "investigate" similar content.

---

Seriously?

Southwest Airlines employee hospitalized after passenger attack in Dallas

Former 'Apprentice' contestant abruptly ends suit against Trump

Hackers sent spam emails... from internal FBI accounts

Disgraced coach sues NFL for leaking emails that led to resignation

Yes. Seriously.

Off-duty Baltimore cop getting haircut ends gunman's killing spree

Austria putting millions of unvaccinated on nationwide lockdown

New Delhi schools close for one week due to severe air pollution

500 National Guard troops called up for Rittenhouse verdict

100 lawsuits filed over AstroWorld catastrophe

Hope...

GoodGoodGood: Afghan girls are bypassing the Taliban through underground coding classes

Longest partial lunar eclipse of the century just days away

94-year-old Polish Nazi resister to rightwing extremist: 'Shut up, you lousy bastard'

    North Carolina man wrongly imprisoned for 24 years pardoned

Sunday Funnies

---

---

---

 

Covid-19 Vaccines In Salad Dressing? Here’s What Michael Flynn Claimed

Bruce Y. Lee

Senior Contributor

Healthcare

I am a writer, journalist, professor, systems modeler, computational and digital health expert, avocado-eater, and entrepreneur, not always in that order.

Listen to article

6 minutes

Michael Flynn, former National Security Advisor to President Donald J. Trump, said on a video panel ... [+]

 CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES

Lettuce be clear about what Michael Flynn said on a video that’s been making the rounds on social media.

While on what appeared to be a video panel, Flynn, the former National Security Advisor under former U.S. President Donald Trump, mentioned that “Somebody sent me a thing this morning where they’re talking about putting the vaccine into salad dressing, or salads.” So basically Flynn was sharing his “thing” or someone else’s “thing” with whomever happened to be watching the video panel. Was Flynn actually tossing around a conspiracy theory about Covid-19 vaccines being secretly put in salads or salad dressing? Did he leave any context behind what he said? Was their any chard evidence behind what he said?

Well, take a look at what he said in the video accompanying the following tweet:

Flynn, by the way, is not known to be a medical doctor nor a public health expert. Flynn had served as an adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign. After Trump had assumed the position, as U.S. President, that is, Flynn then became the U.S. National Security Advisor for the Trump Administration. Flynn lasted for approximately two Scaramuccis (just a few days over 20 days) before resigning amidst questions about whether he had secret discussions with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., as reported by Julina Borger for The Guardian. He eventually pled guilty to lying to the FBI during a investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller but Trump subsequently pardoned Flynn.

Flynn did not say on the video segment whether he actually agreed with the salad claim. He only added, “I’m thinking to myself, this is the Bizarro World, right,” and did not clarify that there is no evidence that anyone is secretly putting Covid-19 vaccines into salads or salad dressing. He also did not elaborate where his or someone else’s “thing” came from or what exactly this “thing” was. In general, it’s a good idea to be careful about sharing your “thing” with other people without providing more details or warning. Sharing something without offering enough context can be a way of spreading misinformation.

This left folks searching for Flynn’s “thing.” Dan Evon, writing for Snopes, offered a possibility. A September 16 article by Jules Bernstein for the University of California-Riverside (UCR) News began with the lines, “the future of vaccines may look more like eating a salad than getting a shot in the arm. UC Riverside scientists are studying whether they can turn edible plants like lettuce into mRNA vaccine factories.” Note that Juan Pablo Giraldo, PhD., an associate professor in UCR’s Department of Botany and Plant Sciences and his team of collaborators at UCR, UC San Diego, and Carnegie Mellon University are studying this possibility but have not achieved it yet. They’ve received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to do such work. They will attempt to use plant cells to produce enough mRNA to serve as a mRNA vaccine.

MORE FOR YOU

Canadians End Up In ICU After Attending ‘Covid Party’

What’s Going On In Florida? Are They Trying To Bring Back Deadly Infections?

R.1: Another In The Growing List Of SARS-CoV-2 Variants

OK. Trying to get plants to produce mRNA is very different from someone secretly putting Covid-19 vaccines in your salad or salad dressing. Plus, researching something is not the same as doing it. For example, researchers have tried gluing sticks to chickens’ butts. But that doesn’t mean that this will be a widespread practice beyond the lab. Similarly, trying to get plants to produce mRNA is not the same as already accomplishing it. And getting a plant to produce mRNA is not the same as putting it in your salad dressing or salad.

So these certainly are not the salad days yet when it comes to the Covid-19 vaccines. That didn’t stop Stephen Colbert from dressing things up during last night’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert:

As you can see, Colbert managed to weave various salad dressing names into his monologue but didn’t include all possibilities due to limited thyme.

Colbert wasn’t the only one to Caesar the opportunity to lay it on thick. For example, this tweet managed to combine Flynn’s statement and Nicky Minaj’s unverified claims about what supposedly happened to her cousin’s friends balls after he got the Covid-19 vaccine:

As I covered for Forbes last week, there’s no hard evidence that the Covid-19 vaccine is linked to testicular swelling or impotence. Salad dressing shouldn’t cause such swelling either, depending of course on where you put the salad dressing and how exactly you are eating the dressing. If your balls start swelling after you get the Covid-19 vaccine or eat a salad, check first to see if there is another cause. For example, make sure that no one is punching you in the balls at the same time.

Flynn’s comments were yet another example of how sharing information without enough context can lead to the spread of misinformation. While it’s not completely clear what Flynn’s intentions may have been, what he said could lead others to think, “oh my goodness, they’re secretly putting things in my salad dressing now,” whoever “they” may be. It can be dangerous to toss around bits of information when it really only represents just the tip of the iceberg.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website. 

Bruce Y. Lee

 

LINK

Mike Flynn warns the world of dark forces putting vaccines in your salad dressing

 

This article explains where the idiocy originated - growing vaccines for future use....and some Dim Wit shared....

From the RochesterFirst.com story linked in the tweet:

Researchers at the University of California-Riverside are working on a way to grow edible plants that carry the same medication as an mRNA vaccine.

The COVID-19 vaccine is one of the many inoculations which use messenger RNA (mRNA) technology to defeat viruses. They work by teaching cells from the immune system to recognize and attack a certain infectious disease. Unfortunately, mRNA vaccines have to stay in cold storage until use or they lose stability. The UC-Riverside team says if they’re successful, the public could eat plant-based mRNA vaccines — which could also survive at room temperature.

Thanks to a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, researchers are now looking to accomplish three goals. First, the team will try to successfully deliver DNA containing mRNA vaccines into plant cells, where they can replicate. Next, the study authors want to show that plants can actually produce enough mRNA to replace a traditional injection. Finally, the team will need to determine the right dosage people will need to eat to properly replace vaccinations.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/9/22/2053787/-Mike-Flynn-warns-the-world-of-dark-forces-putting-vaccines-in-your-salad-dressing?detail=emaildkre

For a brief period, Michael Flynn was the actual national security adviser to an actual U.S. presidential administration. He left in disgrace (i.e., was fired) after lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. Ultimately, he was fired by Donald Trump. For being a liar.

Let that sink in for a moment. Trump fired a guy for telling one lie. That’s a little like Jeffrey Dahmer ratting out a fellow grocery shopper for stealing a grape in the produce aisle.

Anyway, after being unceremoniously cut loose, Flynn became a hero of the bonkers far-right, and he’s still plying his trade as a purveyor of pernicious piffle. The latest? Well, if you laid down a big bet on “the libs want to put vaccines in your salad dressing because they hate our freedoms,” well, you’re about to be a very wealthy individual.

FLYNN: “Somebody sent me a thing this morning where they’re talking about putting the vaccine in salad dressing. … And I’m thinking to myself, this is the Bizarro World, right? This is definitely the Bizarro World. … These people are seriously thinking about how to impose their will on us in our society, and it has to stop.”

Yes, this is very much the Bizarro World. You sure got that one right, Mike.

Of course, this story wasn’t concocted out of whole cloth. As is typical with these sorts of wild assertions, there may be a kernel of truthiness to Flynn’s dystopian fever dreams:

From the RochesterFirst.com story linked in the tweet:

Researchers at the University of California-Riverside are working on a way to grow edible plants that carry the same medication as an mRNA vaccine.

The COVID-19 vaccine is one of the many inoculations which use messenger RNA (mRNA) technology to defeat viruses. They work by teaching cells from the immune system to recognize and attack a certain infectious disease. Unfortunately, mRNA vaccines have to stay in cold storage until use or they lose stability. The UC-Riverside team says if they’re successful, the public could eat plant-based mRNA vaccines — which could also survive at room temperature.

Thanks to a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, researchers are now looking to accomplish three goals. First, the team will try to successfully deliver DNA containing mRNA vaccines into plant cells, where they can replicate. Next, the study authors want to show that plants can actually produce enough mRNA to replace a traditional injection. Finally, the team will need to determine the right dosage people will need to eat to properly replace vaccinations.

So great news, right? While it appears this technology is a long way from coming to fruition—assuming anything comes of it at all—it would be a great way to encourage vaccination, especially among the needle-phobic (like, for instance, me). Who wouldn’t rather tuck into a hearty and delicious bowl of romaine (with croutons!) than tromp into a doctor’s office for a needle jab?

But, naturally, if you’re predisposed to thinking the government is out to get you—and to get that Bill Gates Windows patch into you by any means necessary—your mind is naturally going to gravitate toward the serial depredations of killer salads.

But how many people will see the original story Flynn’s cockeyed comment was based on? How many will understand that if the government—which regularly inspects our food—wanted to poison us, it could readily do so? Besides, if the government wanted to ensure Trump supporters got the vaccine, the last place they’d put it is in a salad. If he’d said they’re looking into dosing nougat or Keystone Light, I’d be more inclined to believe this.

But then, where’s the fun in spreading rumors that the government cares about you and wants to save your life? Especially when you can trash well-meaning scientists and researchers more than you already have?

That said, if Flynn is right and the government does want to spike my salad, I’ll take the pomegranate vinaigrette. And please don’t skimp on the kalamata olives, or I’ll send it back.

It made comedian Sarah Silverman say, “THIS IS FUCKING BRILLIANT,” and prompted author Stephen King to shout “Pulitzer Prize!!!” (on Twitter, that is). What is it? The viral letter that launched four hilarious Trump-trolling books. Get them all, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.