Question of the day
Monday, Mar 11, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Chicago Tribune’s story about Illinois Republican National Convention delegate candidates…
Joining Rickman as a delegate candidate in the 2nd Congressional District is Kelly Vera, a Navy veteran and a nurse at the state Veterans’ Home at Manteno since February 2020, according to her social media and public records.
Vera joined Manteno at a time when COVID-19 was spreading rapidly and, after a vaccine was developed in December 2020, the state imposed a vaccination mandate on health care workers in veterans’ homes. Court records show she was among a number of state employees who filed losing lawsuits challenging the directive.
Vera’s social media is filled with COVID-19 conspiracies and repudiations of the vaccine, including links to movies alleging the disease was a government plot. At least three COVID-19 outbreaks occurred at the Manteno facility since her employment.
Vera also has shared links to a conspiracy account on TikTok that includes an explanation of how human technology is used to stage alien visits from outer space and a fake video using a fake voice of Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin saying he never went to the moon and that the International Space Station is fake. The account also features a false report that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is moving to the United States and is getting Secret Service protection.
Last August, she posted a meme reading: “Go out and get yourself a conspiracy theorist friend. You’re going to need one to explain what’s about to happen.” Above it, she wrote: “That’s me. I’m that friend! Grab some popcorn and a bottle of adult beverage and hold on to your boot straps. ITS A BUMPY RIDE!”
* The Question: Have you seen any new conspiracy theories floating around? Explain.
- ArchPundit - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 11:44 am:
I don’t know about completely new ones, but Naomi Wolf has been claiming that 5g and vaccines are making the world less colorful. I’d explain, but I have no idea. It was suggested she should have her eyes checked for cataracts.
- Cheswick - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 11:50 am:
Cuckoo.
- Todd & Margo - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 11:53 am:
Not necessarily a new conspiracy theory but Samantha Gasca who is running in the GOP primary for Senate District 19 has a facebook post saying and direct quote from her post… “My stance on who was elected president - only god knows. People are looking for a “yes” or “no” answer, but it’s arrogant to act like we know everything in this particular case”
- DuPage Saint - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:00 pm:
I suppose there are new conspiracy theories around but I think in some respects they are just old ones recycled and updated. I mean that tunnel from the Vatican to the White House that kept JFK informed of the Pope’s orders has just been repurposed to bring in exploited children. And the fluoridation of water has made many into unthinking trolls not to mention how correct the Birchers were about that commie Eisenhower
- Route 50 Corridor - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:01 pm:
Just started watching the Octopus Murders on Netflix, pretty interesting stuff.
The interesting thing to me is the same people that do not think government cannot do anything, also think it can do everything. Both of those things cannot be true.
- Michelle Flaherty - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:04 pm:
There’s one going around about a couple Chicago professional sports teams getting government help for new stadiums. Where do people come up with this stuff?
- Lincoln Lad - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:06 pm:
Pretty sure that Nikki Haley had multiple primary wins stolen from her… No way people would vote for someone who tried to stop the transfer of power through fake electors and a violent mob. Just wouldn’t happen, and we all know it. Stop the steal! /s
- Proud Papa Bear - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:12 pm:
The number of substitute teachers who believe in school-based conspiracy theories, some of which I don’t feel comfortable typing, is disturbing.
- Cool Papa Bell - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:19 pm:
Rich has covered this one in the recent past, but every town’s closed CVS or big box will become a migrant shelter.
There is a new COVID vaccine one every few weeks that my in-laws post on “The Facebook”
- jimbo - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:24 pm:
How about this one –The defective LED street lights that turn purple when the phosphors fail- aren’t actually defective, but are on purpose to ‘activate’ some government mind control implanted by vaccines
- Stix Hix - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:25 pm:
Lipstick now has thousands of wireless mics imbedded in each application.
- Huh? - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:27 pm:
I boggles my mind that a seemingly educated person, working in the medical industry thinks that covid was a hoax. That vaccines are dangerous.
- taco - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:36 pm:
The White Sox having a winning season this year…
- TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:38 pm:
“in some respects they are just old ones recycled and updated”
When I was younger I loved conspiracy theories for the story value. As I became older, and learned of the origins of many of them, they became much less entertaining. Most became repulsive once their history was learned.
Example - Most of the illuminati/Freemason conspiracy theories were created and perpetuated by - the church. The reaction of the church to the enlightenment, was about the same as the republican reaction to Obama being elected. It broke their brain and they never recovered.
I’m not sure if there are any new ones. The conspiracy theories of today are just madlibs and mutation of conspiracy theories of days gone by. Pick just about any of them, and there’s an equivalent one from the past with different Nouns.
People were freaked out at the invention of radio over 100 years ago. That and the invention of Electricity was the 19th century equivalent to 5G.
The only constant over time, is uneducated people trying to find simple solutions they can understand, for explaining the extraordinary complexity of a world they live in which they don’t understand.
- Formerly Unemployed - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:41 pm:
Not Illinois-centric. or even US-centric, but there are some doozies about Kate Middleton. The palace needs a new PR team.
- @misterjayem - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 12:41 pm:
The theories behind Kate Middleton’s “disappearance” and the subsequent “cover-up” have been mostly harmless and mildly amusing.
– MrJM
- @misterjayem - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 1:44 pm:
“The only constant over time, is uneducated people trying to find simple solutions they can understand, for explaining the extraordinary complexity of a world they live in which they don’t understand.”
That and the inevitable antisemitism.
– MrJM
- Rabid - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 1:52 pm:
Flat earthers say it’s sea level not sea curve
- TinyDancer(FKASue) - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 1:57 pm:
And lest we forget…..
Paul is Dead.
- Im Kidding - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 1:58 pm:
Birds aren’t real is always my favorite theory
- Gruntled University Employee - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 2:01 pm:
Two conspiracy theorists are traveling to a conspiracy convention when they get into a car wreck and are killed. At the pearly gates St. Peter tells them that he knows who they are and what they’re about and he will answer 1 question from each. The first guy asks “who killed JFK”? Without batting an eye St. Peter says Lee Harvey Oswald and he acted alone. The first guy whispers to the second “it’s even bigger than we thought”.
- Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 2:05 pm:
Heard this doozy the other day about the Republican party having a presence in Illinois.
- JoanP - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 2:22 pm:
= The theories behind Kate Middleton’s “disappearance” and the subsequent “cover-up” have been mostly harmless and mildly amusing. =
I was a fan of the “she’s growing out her bangs” theory.
- Al - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 2:27 pm:
I saw a comedian Bill Hicks performance where he suggests President Kennedy was assassinated in a coup.
I saw a video the USS Liberty was not mistaken attacked by Israeli Defense Forces, but deliberately targeted in Operation Cyanide to prevent the disclosure the IDF was engaged in massacres and mass burial of Egyptian POWs. The idea was to sink the ship and blame Egypt so they could get sympathy and free stuff from the United States.
I got more but CIA agent Rich Miller will delete this anyway so why bother.
- Grimlock - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 2:37 pm:
A former Governor was saying Rich Miller worked for Madigan.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 2:38 pm:
As a young woman, Virginia McCaskey fell madly in love with Sid Luckman. She promised him that she’d never allow any future Bears quarterback to threaten his many passing records. As long as she’s the matriarch, the Bears will never have a Hall of Fame QB.
- Give Me A Break - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 3:00 pm:
The mother of all Sprinpatch rumors has yet to surface this session.
You know the one; Someone’s cousin’s uncle’s brother’s son-in-law saw the bill that will mean an early retirement early out for state workers will happen this year.
- Benjamin - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 3:07 pm:
This whole thing with Taylor Swift, the NFL, and the Biden reelection campaign. I’m so bored by it I confess I didn’t even listen to teh whole conspiracy theory, but at least it’s relatively new.
- Frida's boss - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 3:28 pm:
You should see the stuff being said about Haiti, Barbecue, the Clintons, Illuminati… it’s definitely over the top.
- Amalia - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 3:32 pm:
obvi- that Eileen O’Neill Burke is a Republican. because of big business donations. Which is a really long play because of her runs as a judge on the Democratic ballot. but somehow people project into the future and someone has been a Republican in hiding for 30 years.
- McGyver Pants - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 3:34 pm:
The Left: Victor Orban smuggled an offshore bank account from Putin to Trump when visited Mar-a-Lago.
The Right: Biden secretly flew 320K immigrants to cities across the US to vote for him in the 2024 election.
- ArchPundit - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 3:34 pm:
===Virginia McCaskey fell madly in love with Sid Luckman
As they say, some conspiracy theories are true.
- Lordy lordy - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 3:39 pm:
Any Dems on this blog who DIDN’T help push the Russia collusion hoax for 3 straight years despite a total lack of even a shred of evidence? If we’re talking crazy conspiracy theories, the stuff in that article is very tame compared to what hate obsessed left-wingers fell for.
- Jaguar - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 3:40 pm:
Not new, but the litter boxes in schools story has had a long shelf life. I heard it again last week. In the telling, it is always at a school in Wisconsin.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 3:42 pm:
===…some conspiracy theories are true.===
Cade McNown? Peter Tom Willis? You think those guys were drafted by accident? You think we traded up because Mitch Trubiskey was a can’t-miss QB?
- 47th Ward - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 3:47 pm:
Lordy, do you mean this Russian hoax?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/senate-panel-finds-russia-interfered-in-the-2016-us-election
- Lurker - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 4:03 pm:
The ones involving libraries have scared me the last few years but in the last week I heard a real weird one opposing bringing libraries back into schools, especially grade schools, and they had all kinds of conspiracies attached.
- Which one is Pink - Monday, Mar 11, 24 @ 4:59 pm:
Don’t forget those 51 former intelligence officials signing off on the letter stating Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop was likely Russian disinformation and just in time for the election, too. That was a good one, yuk yuk.