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Elon Musk is the new emperor of misinformation

Here's the latest from Elon Musk about the LA wildfires:

Every single thing on this list is either badly misleading or flat-out wrong:

  1. Reservoirs and emergency water tanks were all full before the fires started.
  2. The fire budget was increased by $50 million.
  3. The donations to Ukraine were in 2022 and included only small amounts of unused surplus equipment such as boots, hoses, nozzles, body armor and medication. None of this had any impact on current fire fighting.
  4. A grand total of 12 LAFD workers were fired for neither getting a COVID vaccine nor requesting an exemption. They have long since been replaced.
  5. Brush clearing is problematic for sure, but I'm not sure who "they" is in this sentence.
  6. California has a poor record of doing prescribed burns. That said, only the US Forest Service—not California—halted prescribed burns temporarily in October. Everyone else, including Cal Fire, the US Park Service, BLM, native tribes, and private property owners, kept on burning. Overall, California burns about 125,000 acres per year and increased that to 250,000 acres in 2023 with plans to burn 400,000 acres in 2025.
  7. Storm water has always drained primarily to the sea in order to prevent flooding, especially in rainy years that produce too much water to be captured. However, a significant amount is captured to recharge groundwater aquifers, and that amount has been growing ever since LA voters approved a tax levy in 2018 that goes toward storm water capture projects.

As for climate change: yes, virtually all of the increase in California wildfires is due to warming. There's overwhelming evidence for this. Here's the conclusion of a recent study:

It was found that nearly all the observed increase in burned areas over the past half-century is due to human-caused climate change. It is estimated that from 1971 to 2021, human-caused climate change contributed to a +172% increase in burned areas, with a +320% increase from 1996 to 2021. In the coming decades, a further increase in annual forest burned areas is expected, ranging from 3% to 52%.

This is what Musk has become: a machine for reposting red meat for the MAGA base that he almost certainly knows to be bogus.

But he doesn't care. In addition to having an audience about a thousand times the size of mine, it took him only five seconds to repost that comment. It took me two hours to write this one. It's not possible to keep up with his firehose of lies and misinformation.

76 thoughts on “Elon Musk is the new emperor of misinformation

  1. Justin

    In times of war, propaganda is a weapon. Of course, the proper response is to say that one of musks followers set these fires and are enjoying watching them burn. It’s like bombing enemy cities. The Russians, Israelis, Iranians, and Palestinians etc. do it every day.

    1. Justin

      For another example of how the media / social media are completely terrible…

      “ABC’s ‘narcissistic’ David Muir roasted for sprucing up ‘svelte’ looks while reporting on deadly LA fires.”

      You’re losing the war, by the way.

      1. go-grizzlies

        Yes, re. ABC's Muir, that was so ridiculous, so depressing. Whoever wasted time pointing it out and labeling him with the worn-out word "narcissistic." He wore an oversized safety vest, so he clothes-pinned it in the back. So gross that the media played it up, wasted time and breath, in the midst of tragedy and great emergency. Hoping we can become better people and fight the dire challenges from a climate undergoing change, wreaking havoc, and from a frightening new administration that plans to look the other way and "drill."

  2. Dana Decker

    I guess we'll have to wait until a natural disaster takes place in a solid red city in a solid red state and see what MAGA has to say, including Baby Musk (who is anti-vax now?).

    Probably blame Jewish space lasers controlled from Dominion servers in Ukrainian bioweapons labs that Soros funded with profits from his Deep Pedophilia operation, which will be confirmed by Fox News, Joe Rogan, and Dinesh D'Souza. I mean, the siloing is complete, so anything goes.

    1. J. Frank Parnell

      You left out the Italian Leonardo satellites communicating with the Dominion servers through the Honeywell wireless thermostats.

      1. aldoushickman

        In recent years I've lived through not one but two muliday power outtages in Texas that resulted proximally from storms but more generally from complete policy and planning failures (examples: ERCOT lacks a forward capacity auction; distribution utilities lack the ability to assess line damage absent driving around and physically eyeballing all the trees on wires, like it was the 1950s or something) and I am absolutely shocked at the absolute lack of political accountability entailed.

        If I had to hazard a guess, it's because the state is so firmly Republican in terms of leadership that lefties are demoralized and righties perceive no wrongs; I'd also guess that many folks around here are so little traveled even within this country that they aren't aware of how godawful their infrastructure really is.

        Since this is Jabberwocking, probably worth noting that Fox News likely skews public perception of other parts of the country that many Texans/redstaters think that the Blue states are hellholes of taxes/antifa/drag queens/rampant crime/high property values, so they may be slow to recognize the relative causes of redstate disasters.

      2. jdubs

        They blamed windmills for all the gas , coal and nuclear power plants tripping offline. And liberals for creating the windmills.

  3. D_Ohrk_E1

    I am shocked, just absolutely shocked I tell you, that people believe the birdsite is a source of information. It's a source of cheap, smack talk and loudmouth bitching in-between the bots and propaganda.

  4. Traveller

    Actually misinformation is very dangerous...I spent several of my past days defending a church, of which I am not a member, but they are a client, where over on Facebook there were generated rumors of new construction on church property, (not even remotely true), that a new entrance was being sought to be opened on a private road, (again ridiculously not true)...nothing at all is happening at the church at all...!

    Many, many complaints to the city...a call to maybe block the church entrance to teach them a lesson...I had to stamp all this...(these wicked)...rumor mongering out. It has been a crazy time...this is a great, well established church...but a whipped up mob, is still a mob....Sigh

    PS in a smart, moderately affluent, population of misguided citizens.

    1. cephalopod

      That's got two flavors of current day crazy:
      1) People in a tizzy over a completely untrue story spread online
      2) NIMBY freakout over something that is pretty benign.

    2. coldhotel

      “ smart, moderately affluent, population of misguided citizens.”

      In that case I would be putting out fires on NextDoor as well.

    3. Josef

      People like being angry over things, anything really. Rageaholics I guess you could call them. Social media is full of shit to be angry about.

  5. Jim B 55

    Elon Musk has always been an emperor of disinformation. His constant promises of features coming in 6 months, that are still not there a decade later.

    1. Crissa

      The only feature that's delayed a decade is FSD and he never said closer than next year.

      And it does exist and is getting better, somewhat following Kevin's guesses rather than Elon's.

      If you're going to be pissed at him, be pissed at actual things he's done that actually get trans people killed or something.

  6. Jasper_in_Boston

    ...red meat for the MAGA base that he almost certainly knows to be bogus.

    And your certainty comes from where, Kevin?

    It's true Musk obviously doesn't care what's true and what's not. But I suspect that, with most of this stuff, Musk barely glances at it, much less investigates the claims for validity.

    Also, Musk's expertise pretty clearly isn't that broad-based. He's very smart indeed on some things, but it is evident that he has vast gaps in his general knowledge. So, I think it's highly likely a lot of the lunatic memes and claims that come his way (and that he subsequently retweets) don't even get his "skepticism" antennae to buzz. He's really quite gullible. Just like Trump.

    1. iamr4man

      Musk cares about what’s true if it affects him. If the truth helps him he will have the facts and trumpet them. If his point of view is helped by lies he will use his trumpet to spread them. If lies hurt people he doesn’t like he will spread them without bothering to fact check them. He is impervious to criticism because he has a cult following, a trumpet that is one of the loudest in the world, and an unimaginable amount of money that he can use to silence his critics. He is a scary guy.

    2. emjayay

      "OK, now that a month or two later I've spent two minutes actually looking at the federal budget, that two trillion in savings may have been just a tiny tad optimistic."

    3. Massive Gunk

      One of President Musk's claims is a little tricky to call flat out wrong and would need more sourcing than what was given to call badly misleading.

      Los Angeles did cut $17.5 million from the fire department budget. The Fire Department’s (LAFD) total budget for 2024 2025 was reduced by $17.5 million compared to the previous fiscal year. The records show a decrease from $837.2 million to $819.64 million.

      Source:
      https://abc11.com/post/los-angeles-cut-175m-fire-department-budget-months-before-palisades-signed-mayor-karen-bass/15782731/

      https://x.com/lacontroller/status/1848567178334736414

      As of one month ago, the Chief of the Fire Department sent a letter to its board complaining about significant operational challenges due to budgetary cuts, particularly a $7 million reduction in overtime staffing and the elimination of civilian positions. This document supports the notion that certain budget areas faced reductions, affecting the department’s ability to maintain operations.

      Source:
      https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gg44aShWcAAQulF?format=jpg&name=large

      Drum cited a source that contained a claim from Mayor Bass’ office, asserting that the LAFD's budget increased because additional funding was set aside in a separate reserve during budget negotiations. This reserve was meant to be allocated after finalizing contracts with the fire department in November 2024, effectively raising the department’s available funds. But there is no evidence as of yet those funds were ever disbursed or allocated. Drum would need to provide such a source to make a claim that what Musk wrote was badly misleading.

      But Musk was correct that the budget was cut by 17.5 M. And as of December 4, 2024, LAFD leadership was still describing the negative impacts of budget cuts, with no mention of additional funding to address these challenges.

  7. pokeybob

    Gullible arsonists light fires to burn it all down. Until it affects the arsonist personally, no lessons will be learned. [But that would take self-awareness I think].
    I heard that you can fight fire with fire? Is that our truth weapon? Reacting is so twentieth century.

  8. bizarrojimmyolsen

    “ This is what Musk has become: a machine for reposting red meat for the MAGA base that he almost certainly knows to be bogus.”

    You have more faith in Musk’s knowledge than I do. I think he actually believes it and only great men like himself can save everyone. Hmmm…who does that sound like?

  9. Chip Daniels

    Say it again with me:
    All Trumpists are liars. They lie about everything, all the time and nothing they say can ever be trusted.

    They are not mistaken, they are not in need of facts, they are just liars.

  10. NotCynicalEnough

    The bigger point though is that the fire cycle in California is normal. What isn't normal are the extremes of wet weather and hot dry weather. Reservoirs and fire fighters have nothing to do with it.

  11. spatrick

    "Clearing brush" is interesting given the millions and millions and millions of acres of brush all over Southern California in various jurisdictions and private property. One just doesn't do it in a day week or month. Proscribed burns go on but they are regulated by air quality, winds and liability. Imagine the reaction if it was found out these fires were started by proscribed burns. Bottom line is the most dangerous fires,extreme and damaging have all occurred this century and people want to keep saying it's a coincidence.

    1. SeanT

      LAFD has vegetative management requirements
      L.A.M.C. 57.4906.5.2
      responsibility of homeowners
      I don't know how they monitor and enforce.

      1. aldoushickman

        "I don't know how they monitor and enforce."

        Or whether they were monitored or enforced, or if monitoring and enforcement would have made a difference.

    2. MF

      You obviously have to take into account winds and liability, but "air quality"?!?!

      What is the air quality impact of the god damned wild fires?!?! How much do the lives of the 7 people confirmed dead already count against air quality?!?!

      This is the idiocy of liberal environmental fetishism. When lives are at stake or major environmental disasters little problems like temporary air quality impact should be ignored.

      This is similar to the laughable fools who claim that global warming will wipe out humanity and who then claim that nuclear power is too dangerous and polluting. Sorry - if we are really facing an existential crisis then we go nuclear even if it means we will have a Chernobyl every few years, because Chernobyls suck but they are not a threat to the existence of humanity.

  12. ProgressOne

    "But he doesn't care."

    Yes, he learned from Trump that you can shamelessly lie in public and it works to gain and retain followers and keep them fooled. You win by overwhelming opponents with the number of lies you tell. To live by this moral code requires a deep narcissism. Musk has learned how good it feels to feed his narcissism. And our republic (and the world!) pay the price.

    1. Timpie

      The fire that burned Paradise blew through several control burn areas. My son worked on fire "treatments" in Sequoia NP 20+ years ago and look what happened there recently. All it does is add more CO2 to the atmosphere.

      1. rick_jones

        Are controlled burns supposed to mean no fire, or that any fire in that area won’t be as “bad”? With of course caveats about things beyond control such as winds…

        1. golack

          They're just meant to reduce fuel load--with the fuel load being the undergrowth in forested areas--so fire wouldn't be so bad. The main native trees are fire resistant and a normal fire will just go around them and never get into the canopy. The under story will then grow back, but the build up of material over year(s) will be gone--so much less fuel for a passing wildfire.
          Controlled burns are different than firebreaks, where trees are usually absent. Backfires, if conditions permit, are a controlled burn in front of an advancing wild fire. In that case, no time for the under story to grow back. They wouldn't be doing controlled burns with winds up to 90 mph.

          you asked.

      2. MF

        Hate to break it to you, but that CO2 would have been added anyway when the area burned in the wildfire.

        If the controlled burn areas are too small then make them bigger or just burn enough so that there is not enough fuel left for a major wildfire.

  13. KJK

    He is a MAGA Nazi Scumbag, just like his Orange vassal. So how much does California provide to Tesla's annual sales? Does the South African High Chancellor think that Californian fossil fuel loving conservatives will make up the difference if the progressives move onto other brands of EVs?

    1. aldoushickman

      As if two assholes with full-time jobs already could possibly review the entire federal government and make meaningful recommendations as to where efficiency gains could be made. The toplevel OMB budget apendix clocks in at nearly 1300 pages long; just reading that is probably more than Musk and Ramaswamay have time for. The whole idea of this nonexistent "DOGE"* nonsense is farcical.

      Musk and Ramaswamay have never worked in government, never studied policy, and have never really interacted with government aside from as recipients of federal contracts (meaning everything they'd do would be slathered in blatant conflict of interest problems), and yet somehow I guess these dickheads are going to collaborate with the likes of Pete Hegseth to cut hundreds of billions out of the federal budget, and then I suppose propose a budget to Congress.

      ______
      There is no Department OGE, and it would take an act of Congress to make one. Such as, for example, the act of Congress in 1921 that created what became OMB.

  14. ChasB

    The paper you cite that relates increase in CA wildfire frequency to climate change applies to summer wildfires, which exclude fall-winter wildfires like those associated with SA conditions. There's no study yet establishing a connection between increasing the occurrence of SA conditions and global warming. There is some evidence of shift from Fall to Winter but that's weak. There are about 10 SA events per year.

    1. SeanT

      Yes, there may not be a surefire link between Santa Ana winds and climate, but there is a link between climate and the more frequent dry falls and winters that provide fuel and conditions for winter fires.
      And summer and winter are related, esp if you don't get winter rain - CA just had its hottest summer on record after a wet winter last year, creating all the tinder

  15. cld

    Trump thinks if Putin can seize Ukraine I can seize Greenland and there's nothing more to it than that.

    I think Putin almost certainly put him up to it because Trump would probably never have thought of it himself because it sounds too risky and too hard to blame on someone else if it goes wrong.

    And now, having set that ball rolling, I think Musk is manipulating Trump into putting all his nutzo notions front and center and all at once because he is the one guy with the resources to counter Trump among the wingnuts, so when Ding Dong Don finally really hangs himself with his big mouth he and Tiel will be able to replace him with the guy they've cultivated for years to be their perfect, ideal puppet, J.D. Vance.

    Am I wrong?

    1. aldoushickman

      "I think Putin almost certainly put him up to it because Trump would probably never have thought of it himself"

      Ronald Lauder (a cosmetics businessman) back in like 2018 recommended that Trump buy Greenland, and Trump thought it was a banger of an idea, but the Danes said "um, no"* and then Trump got in a huff and canceled some scheduled diplomatic meetings with the Danes, and has been nursing this as a grievance ever since. I doubt Putin has anything specific to do with it.

      As for the risks/difficulties, I honestly think that Trump (dimly, and incoherently, to be sure) thinks that the Presidency is all-powerful and that if it weren't for backstabbing deepstaters in his first term, he would have gotten XYZ then, and so now, armed with lickspittles and toadies, Trump will be unstoppable. I doubt he's even aware of what an armed campaign to conquer territory would involve. I doubt he has the capacity to even formulate the question.

      ________
      *Much like how your neighbor might respond with puzzled negativity if you offered to buy their son.

    2. Josef

      If Trump seizes Greenland China might use it as an excuse to seize Hong Kong. He has no clue what kind of Pandoras Box this type of foolishness can trigger. He's a blithering idiot.

      1. OwnedByTwoCats

        Too late. China refused to extend the UK lease on Hong Kong, and has been in control since 1997.

        China might use military force to seize Taiwan.

      2. MF

        The stupid... it burns.

        China became sovereign in Hong Kong in 1997 and took full control in violation of its commitments in the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 2018.

    3. Josef

      He might be using Greenland in a deal to annex all of Ukraine. I wouldn't put it past Putin to try to manipulate Trump into doing that.

      1. golack

        The cities have burn through the last of the Covid money the last year and have to adjust budgets accordingly. Not sure if the cut is the a return to the norm or a real change. Either way, not having a 2% cut wouldn't have made a difference. Maybe if it was doubled in size? Of course those complaining wouldn't want to pay the taxes needed to do that.

        I haven't found chart or table showing LAFD budget over time.

  16. kylezacharysmith

    Elon Musk almost certainly has ZERO idea if any of this is true or not. Why would he? Why would Kevin think he does? Aside from some weird affinity bias?

  17. rick_jones

    Am I reading the chart correctly when it seems the error bars are at least an order of magnitude in size for burned area?

  18. OldFlyer

    Everyone had at least 8 years to observe Trumps handling of ethics, truth, facts and revenge. Then they saw a primary field of alternatives perfectly capable of pushing extremely conservative agendas

    But almost all republicans and 50% of all voters were fine with Trump

    Makes me so proud to be an American

  19. kaleberg

    You surely know that Republicans will vanish in a puff of smoke if they utter a true statement. Think of modern politics as being one of those logic problems set on an island of truth tellers and obligate liars. Don't inhale the smoke.

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