THERE IS A WORD FOR THAT, CONGRESSMAN: Representative Thomas Massie (R, KY) created a bit of a stir on the eve of the 4th of July by tweeting that he had been “contacted by members of our voluntary military who say they will quit if the COVID vaccine is mandated.” Massie went on to say that he has introduced a bill in the House that would prohibit requiring members of the Armed Forces to be forced to get a COVID shot. For the benefit of the Congressman and his military sources, several twitter observers pointed out that “quitting” the military has another name: “desertion.” Others recalled that when going through boot camp - and at other times during their military careers - they were lined up, told to present arms (or butts) and given shots with no opportunity to opt out. The difference with COVID, is that vaccinations are being given under an “Emergency Use Authorization” and so far, the military has elected not to mandate the jabs. But the Army has recently indicated they may require soldiers be fully vaccinated as early as September 1. What happens if the masses follow Massie’s advice and just say no? We have one colorful example – the so-called “QAnon Shaman,” Jacob Chansley (AKA Jake Ageli) who was accused of breaching the Capitol wearing fur and horns. He was reportedly once a sailor who refused to take an anthrax vaccine – and, according to reports, was subsequently discharged. Hey, it could have been worse.
FRANCE SURRENDERS TO RUSSIA: Well, not the entire country – but the Moet Hennessy company that makes champagne has reportedly agreed to label their product “sparkling wine” to comply with a new law in Russia that says only bubbly made in the Motherland can be labeled as champagne. Moet is apparently pandering to Putin by downgrading their fizzy beverage to a name that gives the Russian juice a leg up. This is not the first time our gallant Gallic allies have been involved in an identity crisis. Remember Freedom Fries?
YURI KIDDING ME: Since UFOs (or UAPs or whatever you want to call them) seem to be hot these days – it is no surprise that lots of folks are getting into the game. Perhaps the Pentagon hoped when they dumped out their long-awaited unclassified report on inexplicable flying objects on a Friday afternoon – that the matter would quickly die down. Hah. As if. Now The Jerusalem Post says Israeli psychic – Uri Geller claims he once worked with NASA in the early days of the space agency and was shown a piece of debris from a UFO crash while visiting Werner Von Braun’s office. Then he says he was taken to a special subterranean refrigerated room and shown something really spooky – so spooky he won’t tell us what. Geller, who is famous for seeming to be able to bend spoons with his mind, DID conduct some paranormal perception experiments with the CIA during the early 1970s. At the time, the CIA believed Geller was pretty good at seeing stuff – via the “STARGATE” program but so far, no one’s said anything about having frozen extraterrestrials in the basement.
BOOK REPORT: Country music star Craig Morgan best known for his song, That’s What I Love About Sunday has landed a book deal to write about his “unconventional path to stardom” which includes nine and a half years on active duty in the Army and another six plus years in the reserves. Over the years, Morgan reportedly has helped raised money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The book will be published by Blackstone Publishing – but no word on when. In addition to his Army background – Morgan also has nautical ties. Another of his songs is titled: “Redneck Yacht Club.”
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
BLONDE BOMBSHELL BOMBSHELL: This week former LA PD cop Mike Rothmiller published a book in the UK titled: Bombshell: The Night Bobby Kennedy Killed Marilyn Monroe. Spoiler alert: in the book, the author accuses RFK of murdering Marilyn Monroe. It turns out that Rothmiller worked in the LAPD’s “Organized Crime Intelligence Division” a couple decades after Monroe died and claims he learned in that job that the actress was visited by Bobby Kennedy on the night she died. The intent of the visit he says was to shut her up about affairs she had with JFK and RFK and eventually the then-Attorney General spiked her drink with “a top-secret drug invented by the CIA.” We guess the allegation is that the Agency was passing samples around other parts of the government. Rothmiller has published several previous “true crime” books in the US but had to go to the UK to find a publisher for this book – which suggests to us that American publishers found his story hard to swallow.
RETURN TO INTELLIGENCE: Peacock TV has launched a six-episode Season 2 of “Intelligence” a UK-produced comedy starring David Schwimmer playing the character Jerry Bernstein, who is described as an ego-centric, manipulative NSA officer on loan to Britain’s GCHQ. The sophomore season features Schwimmer’s character getting deeply involved in a Russian cyberweapon situation. Where do they come up with these wacky ideas? There are rumors, but no confirmation yet, of a possible Season 3.
GOT ANY SCOOP ON EGO-CENTRIC, MANIPULATIVE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS? Don’t spike their drinks. Just send the details to The Dead Drop at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
