Whack Job Conspiracy Theories Over Hurricanes Exhausting And Endangering Meteorologists

The nation's sizable tin foil hat brigade is torturing
meteorologists with whackadoodle conspiracy 
theories about hurricanes and government
weather control. People will believe anything, huh?

 The false information and conspiracy theories I wrote about the other day seemed to have spawned even more out-there wacky stories about weather control and more weird stuff.   

Social media has been rife with stories people make up out of thin air that the government, or meteorologist or somebody is creating huge hurricanes and steering them toward the United States for nefarious purposes.

Just in the past few months, it seems the madness got much worse. 

Instead of blaming meteorologists for inaccurate forecasts, it's now apparently their fault if a bad storm hits, because somehow, through dark magic or something, these meteorologists are steering hurricanes toward United States coastlines,. Or they're at least covering up for the government. 

The wackos think meteorologists are attacking us with bad weather, for gawd knows what reason. We've become a nation of idiots. 

Even a sitting U.S. House member, Marjorie Taylor Greene has joined the chorus. though I have to admit she's never been much of a reliable source. 

In any event, Greene, ever the scientist, posted the following gem on X:

"Yes they can control the weather, It's ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can't be done."

Apparently "they" - who ever "they" are - decided to unleash a flood of epic proportions on a section of the nation that is generally more likely to vote Republican than Democrat.  Apparently evil forces somehow steered two dangerous hurricane over the Southeast to suppress the vote in red counties to boost Kamala Harris. 

I wonder if the people supposedly steering hurricanes like this are the same people responsible for the Jewish Space Lasers?

The conspiracy theories would be hilarious, ore at least eye rolling if they weren't so dangerous.

As The Guardian reports:

"Katie Nickolaou a Michigan-based meteorologist, said she and her colleagues have borne the brunt of much of these conspiracies, having received messages claiming there are category 6 hurricanes (there aren't) and even that scientists should be killed and radar equipment be demolished.

'I've never seen a storm garner so much misinformation, and we have just been putting out fires of wrong information everywhere,' Nickolaou said. 

'I have had a bunch of people saying I created and steered the hurricane, there are people assuming we control the weather.  I have had to point out that a hurricane has the energy of 10,000 nuclear bombs and we can't hope to control that. But it's taken a turn to more violent rhetoric, especially with people saying those who created Milton should be killed."

Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci, quoted in Rolling Stone, said he noticed a huge change on social media over the past few months. 

"Seemingly overnight, ideas that once would have been ridiculed as very fringe, outlandish viewpoints are suddenly becoming mainstream, and it's making my job more difficult," he said.

Alabama meteorologist James Spann, with nearly five decades of weather forecasting under his belt, said he's never seen anything like the current climate. Spann told Rolling Stone he's "inundated" with misinformation and threatening messages like "Stop lying about the government controlling the weather or else."

To be Captain Obvious here, both hurricanes Helene and Milton formed the way they did due to atmospheric and ocean water conditions favorable for such storm development.  

Those favorable conditions were not created by humans, unless you quite fairly want to include the influence of human-caused climate change. 

That human induced climate change contributed to the unusually hot water in the Gulf of Mexico, which in turn helped give the twin hurricanes a boost . 

Steering winds in the upper atmosphere steered the hurricanes toward Florida. An unusual but NOT man-made weather pattern pulled Helene up  into North Carolina.  There was no secret cabal of meteorologists steering the storm.  Mostly because humans don't have any ability to steer a hurricane. At all. 

WHY THE CONSPIRACIES?

To go deeper into the rabbit hole, we should probably figure out what conspiracy theorists think is the reason meteorologists and the government are steering hurricanes. 

The leading theory, as mentioned, seems to be forces aligned against Donald Trump are pushing the storms into areas more likely to vote for him rather than Democrat Kamala Harris. 

It is true that Trump seems likely to do better at the ballot box in northwest Florida, and western North Carolina than Harris would. 

But if I go along with their tin foil hat arguments just for fun,  how would you explain why Hurricane Helene blasted through Atlanta, Georgia, a democratic stronghold?. Plus not everyone in Sarasota, Florida or Ashville, North Carolina favors Trump.

Probably most of the conspiracy theories are from people who've gone under the thrall of Trump and QAnon and other dicey sources of so-called information.  These groups instill distrust in all institutions, including science, leading to the rampant conspiracy theories and threats.

Most of the people who originate and spread these kooky ideas probably don't actually believe them.  But misinformation and conspiracies and threats have long been in the authoritarians' playbook. Distract a gullible population with nonsense so they can so their real dirty work.

It's really a divide and conquer strategy, as the Associated Press explains:

"...even when they fail to convince people, the conspiracy theories embraced by these groups contribute to mounting distrust of authorities and democratic institutions, causing people to reject reliable sources of information while encouraging division and suspicion."

Once they do that, the authoritarian types can step in and take power, and by the time we realize we're screwed, it's too late.

The purveyors of the conspiracy theories have already gained more strength in part because of the existence of AI, which can quickly and easily produce convincing content that looks "real" and convincing.

It doesn't help that players like Russia and China and Iran have bot farms that flood social media with conspiracies and lies that a malleable public that lacks critical thinking would readily absorb. Then you have people like Elon Musk, who doesn't seem to give a crap about the stuff that goes on  his platform X, formerly Twitter, as long as it boosts his buddy Donald Trump. 

Birds of a feather flock together, ya know. 

So the meteorologist being tortured by conspiracy whack jobs is just a small part of the big, big problem.

For all of you who live in the real world and not the crazy town of the conspiracy nut jobs, one word of advice: Vote wisely this year.  

Insidious Neo-Nazi Front Group "Helping" Flood Victims In Vermont

Members of a neo-Nazi group, heads blurred in
photo from VICE, infiltrate Montpelier after the
July flood, offering to "help." 

 Tons of people have helped Vermont flood victims in the month since the torrents roared out of the mountains and inundated Vermont communities from Ludlow to Johnson and many towns in between.

Everyone is grateful to all the volunteers who have helped us recover. Except for one group of "volunteers" who are decidedly not welcome.  It turns out this batch of young men are neo-Nazis using the disaster to conduct an underhanded recruiting effort.  

According to a report in Vice by Tess Owen: 

"The men, who called themselves PINE - The People's Initiative of New England - responded to the aftermath to assist clean-up efforts, clear debris from the streets and homes, and pass out bottled water.

PINE describes itself as a 'grassroots effort founded to advocate for and advance the interests of New Englanders,' which sounds innocuous enough - and that's by design.

But PINE is a new front for the neo-Nazi street gang NSC-131, which formed in 2019 and has chapters across New England. While NSC-131 brazenly touts Nazi symbols and throws up Hitler salutes during public appearances, PINE is intended as a softer, more socially acceptable mask. The goal of this is for NSC-131 to broaden their appeal, especially to those who agree with their messaging but may not want to publicly affiliate with an explicitly neo-Nazi organization."

I reached out for comment to Vermont Flood Recovery Officer Doug Farnham about the neo-Nazis. I haven't heard back yet, mostly because I first sought comment late Friday afternoon, which wouldn't have afforded Farnham much time to respond, given his array of responsibilities.

If I hear back from Farnham, or receive additional information about the neo-Nazis, I will of course provide updates.  

EVIL PLAYBOOK

As Vice points out, this all is a pretty familiar playbook to anyone who knows even a little about extremist groups and how they infiltrate communities.  They exploit moments of crisis and confusion and instability to make gains.

This type of group will point to either real or imagined government incompetence in responding to a disaster and show themselves as the real "saviors" in place of a "useless" bureaucracy. 

The administration of Vermont Gov Phil Scott has reacted pretty skillfully to the disaster so far. The complexity of the flood calamity and its aftermath will inevitably lead to a few blunders, delays, paperwork, miscommunications and other issues, no matter how competent state and federal leaders might be. 

This street gang,  NSC-131, takes their act right out of the authoritarian handbook, which is full of tricks to advance the cause of right wind terrorists. 

Sure, it's nice to distribute water, shovel mud out of basements, move damaged property away and that kind of thing. However, that's comparatively easy compared to managing the bureaucracy and complexity of government disaster recovery.

NSC-131 would of course pounce on what I just said.  They'd probably describe me as a elitist dismissing the hard work of all these great volunteers who get their hands dirty, spending time, energy, sweat, effort and money helping their neighbors.

But the neo-Nazi group ignores a critical element. There's two essential pieces of heroism. There's what you do, and perhaps more importantly, why you're doing it.

If I asked you why you distributed water and food, moved ruined furniture to the curb, mucked out a muddy basement, etc. and you reply, "My neighbors, friends and fellow Vermonters were in trouble. I had to help,'" that makes you a hero. Full stop.  

If your motivation for "helping" - like this group of neo Nazis -  is a sneaky way to influence people to be like minded in this sordid ideology, you're a wimp, not a coward. You can't support your disgusting ideas, so you resort to subterfuge.  I hope they've left Vermont already, but these weird groups don't usually give up so easily. 

Vermont's experience with NSC-131 in the aftermath of our flood disaster is by no means an isolated case.  As Vice reports:

"This is a trend that experts say they expect to see more of in the coming years. As the effects of climate change grow more severe, communities that have been destabilized by natural disaster may increasingly find themselves leaning on wolves in sheeps clothing - extremists dressed up as good Samaritans."

Although there are racists and others in Vermont that might be open to these disgusting  entreaties, I like to have hope that most of us are sober enough to resist this bullcrap. 

That's not guaranteed, though. 

Messaging among PINE members on Gab and Telegram showed they were encourage about the possibility of exploiting Vermonters during the flood crisis in July. They found hints of support in the Green Mountain State, apparently. 

"VT is so far left I too assume there are no like minded people. Good to see this," read one of those messages.  

I'm also not as confident about how people might react in other places in the U.S. or the world in general to this neo-Nazi messaging. It's why authoritarianism is on the march. It's not just climate change that's destabilizing everything.  There's income inequality, political lies, out of control technology, corruption, gullibility among large swaths of the population and plain stupidity that neo-Nazis are exploiting.   

Still, right wing extremists have a solid partner in weather and climate disasters to advance their loathsome agendas. 

Vice again:

"Militias like the Oath Keepers have historically pounced on any opportunity they can to expose weaknesses in federal agencies like FEMA (which is a go-to source of anti-government conspiracy theories). Members of this group, including their founder Stewart Rhodes, who was recently convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 riot, responded to calls for volunteers in the aftermath of Category 4 Hurricane Harvey in 2017."

You can see how easy it can be for these groups to conduct their exploitation. It's inevitable that many people, many Vermonters will be disappointed in FEMA. They won't get enough relief funds. The application process might be kafkaesque, and FEMA decisions will be unpopular an hard to appeal.

Oath keepers and other militias hopscotched to a series of other disasters, such as hurricanes in Puerto Rico and Florida in 2017, Hurricane Michael in 2018, and a series of destructive tornadoes that trashed parts of Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee in 2021.

For all I know, neo-Nazi groups are on their way to Maui to interfere with the deadly wildfires there. 

Among all the problems Vermont has to face after the flood, the last thing we need is this crappy group of thugs invading our space. It's sad that we now have to remember to be careful about who we accept help from when trouble arises.  

Foreign Media Attacked In China Flood Zone

Severe flooding in China this month. Journalists covering
the disaster have been attacked by people after the communist
government whipped up nationalistic fervor. 

Well, this is alarming.

Western journalists sent to and near Zhengzhou, China to report on extreme flooding there have been attacked and harassed by locals, almost surely egged on by the authoritarian and nationalistic Chinese government. 

The Guardian reports:

"As recovery and rescue efforts continue in Henan province after last week's deadly floods, groups including Reporters Without Borders and the Foreign Correspondents Club of China have condemned recent harassment and threats toward journalists covering the disaster."

Reporters from the BBC, Los Angeles Times, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, CNN, Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press, among others, have been harassed.

Local Chinese employees of foreign news outlets have also been harassed and doxed.  

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China released a Twitter thread Tuesday detailing examples of the abuse. 

A crew with the Associated Press was stopped and reported to police for filming in a public area. Reporters with Agence France Presse were forced to delete footage by hostile residents. 

Local employees of the news agencies received death threats, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China said. 

Meanwhile, the BBC said the Chinese Communist Party put up social media posts asking citizens to post the whereabouts of BBC  crews covering the flood. Public comments posted to the Communist Party message included death threats against journalists. 

Chinese government minions are doing this because, as usual, there's a truth to power thing going on. Reporters are documenting a lack of preparedness, relief shortfalls and post-disaster relief missteps in China, and the Powers That Be don't like that. 

So, the Chinese Communist Party resorts to whipping up nationalistic sentiment to discourage journalists. The citizens become pawns and do the dirty work of the Communist Party. 

It is always difficult for residents of a disaster zone to deal with the media.  People generally want to tell their stories and journalists are always willing to oblige, But the heavy presence of the media sometimes feels like the rest of the debris: They're in the way and have to be moved. 

This dynamic is usually manageable, but not always in China and other authoritarian regimes. Worse, even many western democracies are becoming more authoritarian and encouraging harassment of journalists. 

This happens even in the United States. You see how the Trump cult often attacks journalists who don't stick to the cult's whackadoodle idea of "reality." Trump kept calling reporters "enemies of the people," after all. Jeesh! 

As climate change accelerates, so too will big weather disasters.  Big disasters tend to both increase political stability and in large segments of the population, increase the appeal of authoritarian governments. 

We talk about feedback loops in climate change.  An example: Arctic ice melts, exposing darker water. Darker water absorbs more of the sun's heat than ice, so the warmth in the Arctic accelerates, melting more ice and on and on. 

What we're seeing in China is perhaps a political dimension of a climate change feedback loop, or at least an example of what we could see more of.

Climate change creates or worsen a disaster.  Governments then try to muzzle the press to hide their own missteps, to deflect the spotlight away from their own disaster or climate change policies. That prevents needed information from getting out, and erodes democracy.  It becomes the new normal, and it feeds on itself, and spreads. 

News organizations and others should really keep up the pressure on China and anyone else who interferes with the media gathering information on disasters, or anything else for that matter.

I would like to see the Biden administration call out China on this as well. 

We can't ignore these abuses.