FEMA Adds Misinformation To Its List of Disasters To Clean Up (theverge.com) 68
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is fighting misinformation on top of a major storm cleanup in Florida as Hurricane Milton rapidly intensifies just after Hurricane Helene rocked the state. From a report: FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters on a call Tuesday that misinformation around the storms is "absolutely the worst I have ever seen," according to Politico. FEMA posted a rumor response page about the hurricane, and though it's not the first time it's taken that kind of approach, Criswell said, "I anticipated some of this, but not to the extent that we're seeing."
FEMA's rumor response page includes fact-checks to claims made by former President Donald Trump, like that the agency will only provide $750 to disaster survivors. FEMA says that's just the amount provided quickly through "Serious Needs Assistance" for food and emergency supplies, but survivors could still be eligible for other types of funds, too. Other fact-checks include debunking the false claim that FEMA disaster response resources were diverted to border issues. FEMA says "Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts."
FEMA's rumor response page includes fact-checks to claims made by former President Donald Trump, like that the agency will only provide $750 to disaster survivors. FEMA says that's just the amount provided quickly through "Serious Needs Assistance" for food and emergency supplies, but survivors could still be eligible for other types of funds, too. Other fact-checks include debunking the false claim that FEMA disaster response resources were diverted to border issues. FEMA says "Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts."
Disaster (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
Ok...sure, technically they are right, as that the Fed Govt. allocates money to "buckets" that are targeted for specific things.
But DHS has allocated at least $300M through FEMA to help communities house and care for illegal immigrants. [dhs.gov]
WTF are we putting money out to help criminals (by definition, illegal aliens are committing a crime by crossing the border illegally
Re: Disaster (Score:3)
Re: Disaster (Score:1)
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This is part of Project 2025's efforts to all but dismantle FEMA. They don't believe government should be helping its citizens but instead, let private industry do it.
In other words, Republicans want to see people suffer and die just to score political points.
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FEMA doesn't need more money. It needs to release the billions of dollars it still has that was appropriated for disasters that occurred over a decade ago.
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Great, have any republicans sponsored any bills to achieve this?
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Perhaps you should pull your head out of Elon's shithole site, and focus on getting your news from reputable sources? You'd find yourself better informed and not prone to posting humilitating content like this...
Re: Disaster (Score:1)
FEMA spent money on things which are surprising to most Americans, such as funds to sanctuary cities. Here are some FEMA grants to sanctuary cities https://www.fema.gov/grants/pr... [fema.gov]
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Did you even LOOK at my links?
They were to the actual real US federal govt. sites like DHS and FEMA....how much better do I need to get than from the actual horses mouth?
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Absolutely. it seems ludicrous to spent such large sums of money helping people. $300m here, $386m there... that's almost enough to buy two F-22 Raptors.
Re: Disaster (Score:2)
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I have no idea. I'm not someone who questions Freedom units, I just wield them irresponsibly.
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... as opposed to the real and verifiable facts that contradict the official FEMA narrative. They just lump them together.
This is effectively a categorical fallacy of false attribution - intentional or not. The presence of false statements doesn't negate that many of the inconvenient things are true.
FEMA has been spinning their lack of response hard - no presence for a week, some verifiable accounts of FEMA redirecting/confiscating privately provided aid to migrants, in conjunction with no aid, and claiming
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Don't forget, "Make batshit crazy claims that the gov can somehow control hurricanes." Yes, man made climate change is "fake" but we can somehow control the weather at the same time. Anything they have only a weak understanding of becomes their target, in this case how cloud seeding works and how much the scale of it is. I also never understood why the conspiracy nuts always go against smaller agencies like NOAA, FEMA and NASA. I don't hear them going off on Medicare which is a massive chunk of the budg
The result of social media (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The result of social media (Score:4, Insightful)
It really shows how many people have little to no analytical thinking and are just knee-jerk, emotional thinkers who immediately go to their biases and assumptions.
For example, even something as simple as showing flooded out cars will make people go "Why aren't they searching them for victims!?" Which makes you wonder how little thought they put into that statement.
1. The assumption that the video is a complete record of the event and also hasn't been edited.
2. The assumption of the timeline position of the video (the cars in the video were just spotted or have been there for days).
3. That responders would care enough to do relief work but for some reason can't be bothered to look in a car. The assumption that everyone else is morally bad.
4. The lack of understanding that the vast majority of cars are just parked and got caught in a flood and no one was in them.
5. The domination of their critical thinking by their emotions. "I'm upset! Fix this video!!!"
The internet is full of armchair generals and "experts" with zero experience or education on the topic beyond seeing some videos and maybe some propaganda conspiracy sites.
Re: The result of social media (Score:2)
Sad but true. Most people are incapable or unwilling to actually look at things rationally. This is, directly or indirectly, the root of all the things wrong with the human race.
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>It really shows how many people have little to no analytical thinking and are just knee-jerk, emotional thinkers who immediately go to their biases and assumptions.
I think humanity in general is irrational and emotional thinkers. What we tend to call "rational thinking" is more of a special case and not the norm. The problem is those who are "critical thinkers" get shouted down from all the noise. Social media has made this worse but it's always existed. It's always been a problem. Even Plato talked abo
Depends on the election (Score:2, Flamebait)
FEMA's rumor response page includes fact-checks to claims made by former President Donald Trump, like that the agency will only provide $750 to disaster survivors.
Since Senate Republicans voted against emergency aid, and it typically takes a long time to get paid by FEMA (the last payments for Katrina went out THIS YEAR) if Trump gets elected he will probably make this one true.
Never-ending (Score:2, Insightful)
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Funny how they (the leaders and their cult/supporters) will go on about how bad the gov is yet they want to be the gov. They better be careful because they are creating a two edged sword that can be used against them too.
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"Funny how they (the leaders and their cult/supporters) will go on about how bad the gov is yet they want to be the gov. They better be careful because they are creating a two edged sword that can be used against them too."
Project 2025 aims to irrevocably destroy 40% of the Federal Government, coupled with tax cuts for the top10%, such that it can never be rebuilt - if implemented (Gaia forbid) that will end the cycle you describe.
Well that's an odd choice of wording (Score:4, Interesting)
Other fact-checks include debunking the false claim that FEMA disaster response resources were diverted to border issues. FEMA says "Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts."
Oh, so Disaster Relief Fund money wasn't diverted to non-disaster related efforts. But that's not the claim. The claim was that said fund's amount was reduced in order to fund something on the order of a half billion dollars to provide housing to people in the US illegally.
No one really cares the exact funding sources being spent on this. Could the money have been used by FEMA to fund other things, including the Disaster Relief Fund? Who knows. The US government's budget is absurdly complex. Ultimately, it's up to Congress to say how money can be used. Just saying "it wasn't Disaster Relief Fund money" doesn't really refute the claims.
Re:Well that's an odd choice of wording (Score:4, Insightful)
The claim is "the government spends money on stuff I don't like." A tale as old as time.
Re:Well that's an odd choice of wording (Score:4, Insightful)
FEMA wasn't constructed to give migrants housing, phones, food, welfare, education, and hotel stays in the most expensive city on the planet. Agreed, I don't like it, but neither should most reasonable people.
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I actually have no problem with the government providing this kind of welfare to people. I like how we throw "the government gave them phones!" in there, like that's some kind of bridge too far. Even if someone is in *jail* they are entitled to make phone calls. Anyone claiming to be reasonable should have some minimum standard of critical thinking.
>hotel stays in the most expensive city on the planet
My dude, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott (R), has been bussing people to NYC. Thank goodness NYC h
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> he could very easily find these people other places to stay.
Like the other side of the wall, in Mexico, like how it was 4 years ago.
The legality of requesting asylum requires the asylee to seek asylum in the first country they encounter (Mexico). Moving again to the US is a breach of contract and is illegal. Following the rules is all I'm asking. Look, a country of 400 million cannot absorb the billions of people who want to live here. Not without turning the US into a garbage patch resembling wher
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Re:Well that's an odd choice of wording (Score:4, Interesting)
If Greg Abbott actually gave a shit about what he's talking about, he could very easily find these people other places to stay.
He has, they have places to stay back in their home countries. That's why he's using state resources to defend the border where the feds won't. The feds even went to court to force him to stop, and failed.
Anti-immigration attitudes
Why don't you just call them racists? You know you want to. It's not about being against immigration. You want to come here legally and not cut the very long queues of people waiting to come in? Very few people have any issue with that. Want to flood in over the unprotected southern border? That's a problem. An immigration system can't work that way. You need to control the numbers and make sure we're not letting criminals or diseases in.
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NYC's responsibility as a governmental entitiy is to deport the individuals who are in the country illegally and advocate for better controls at the border in Texas (Abbott's goal).
It's not entitlement, it's the reality of how a country o
No... (Score:4, Insightful)
The claim was that said fund's amount was reduced in order to fund something on the order of a half billion dollars to provide housing to people in the US illegally.
You should check in with FEMA then as they're saying no money has been diverted https://www.fema.gov/node/fund... [fema.gov] . Feel free to cite a source to contradict me though.
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Here you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Actual CONGRESS discussing EXACTLY THIS! You'll notice that FEMA's is reallocating money from one bucket to the other. It's just trickery and weasel words that they are using to say FEMA isn't reallocating funds.
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> The claim was that said fund's amount was reduced
aka "Diverted" (nothing was diverted).
> to provide housing to people in the US illegally
aka "non-disaster related efforts" (providing housing to illegal immigrants is not even a thing, let alone a disaster related effort)
> Just saying "it wasn't Disaster Relief Fund money" doesn't really refute the claims.
The claim is "Funding for FEMA disaster response was diverted to support international efforts or border related issues." I feel that say
Re: Well that's an odd choice of wording (Score:2)
SSP provides financial support to non-federal entities to provide sheltering and related activities to noncitizen migrants following their release from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
I'm not saying these are disaster funds but that money that is being spent, presumably, and not just an empty app office.
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"Non-citizen migrant" is not the same thing as "illegal immigrant." If illegal immigrants are being given housing in any form, it's in a detention center.
Also, first sentence from your link: "The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) is funded through U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)"
That's CBP money, not FEMA money. I should clarify that by "providing housing to illegal immigrants is not even a thing" I'm referring specifically to funds allocated to FEMA which are allegedly being diverted.
=Smidge=
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Ya, but you can say "No disaster relief funds were reallocated" and also build a new bucket and fund both every year and have a smaller disaster relief fund as a result. See, they aren't stealing from the disaster relief fund, it just is smaller this year.
You can see congress discussing this here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Anyway, it's just word play - funds were absolutely taken from FEMA to fund migrants.
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Trump, is that you?
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You're missing the point. The point is that republicans are bad.
FEMA during Katrina? Evil.
FEMA during Helene and Milton? So brave, so bold.
The only people who ever make false claims are republicans. When democrats make false claims, they're just being knuckleheads, and grew up in the middle class.
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
Other fact-checks include debunking the false claim that FEMA disaster response resources were diverted to border issues. FEMA says "Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts."
. Just saying "it wasn't Disaster Relief Fund money" doesn't really refute the claims.
We know what's going on here. This is election-campaigning on Slashdot. Any other time they'd be ripping FEMA to shreds for their usual, customary bloat and incompetence. FEMA was one of Jimmy Carter's worst ideas, and should be be deleted from existence. No one really likes bureaucracies like FEMA, save a couple of true believers (you all know who they are), and this is just the latest round of Orange Man Bad whining. The truth is, this stuff should mainly be handled by the governors involved and their st
You are wrong. (Score:2)
No. What they are claiming requires agency. Intent. the claim is specifically stated in a way that is intended to elicit an unpleasant response. It is that somebody said, "I need money to pay for this illegal immigrant stuff - hey, look. I'll just reduce FEMA funding to cover it." The line is drawn directly.
The idea that they really mean that in an ocean of micro-adjustments some budgets ticked up and others fell in an unrelated fashion, is NOT what is being stated. If that was what they intended they would
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Oh, so Disaster Relief Fund money wasn't diverted to non-disaster related efforts. But that's not the claim.
The fuck it wasn't. I'm tired of people who watch Fox news all day coming to me livid about all the disaster relief money being stolen to house illegals. Before that it was they are eating the pets eating the dogs.
"Mayorkas and FEMA immediately stop spending money on illegal immigration resettlement and redirect those funds to areas hit by the hurricane. Put Americans first."
"Maybe, just maybe the Biden Harris Administration should stop diverting FEMA funds - meant to help AMERICANS during disaster recove
Dereliction of duty (Score:4, Informative)
When a public figure - especially say a president or former president with a shot at re-election - is spreading lies that are a significant risk to public health, they ought to be held to account for that.
Trump's trying to scare people into thinking they're endangered by the current government so they will elect him to save them. His lies are going to get people killed. Then again, how many Americans already died because of his COVID lies? (Millions, by the way, when comparing American deaths to other similar countries). Yet he's still a viable candidate somehow.
Social media is a secondary risk when people who can sway public opinion are using their soap box to spread self-serving lies.
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The reason "the other guy" is a viable candidate is because the party which fought a war to continue slavery is running a candidate chosen not by a vote, but by executive fiat.
The last decade has revealed the limitations of Democracy; regardless of their political leanings, voters today can't choose a candidate which represents their political leanings, only one who is less objectionable than "the other guy". Remember when their were more than a handful candidates in each party's political primaries? R
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Wow. You need to travel, get outside the US for awhile and the local Koolaid supply. Your post reads like you've ingested all the talking points a certain political party would like to see take hold.
The 'limits of democracy' part is an idea that should frighten you. Not inspire you.
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Frightened because it's true (it is) or because it makes him sound crazy? I agree it sounds crazy... because it's absolutely true. Did anyone vote for Kamala? No. Did RFK Jr. get banned from throwing his hat in the ring in a primary? Yes. Do popular democrat spokespeople (Hillary Clinton) suggest people be criminally prosecuted for misinformation? Yes. All verifiable, all with a dozen receipts... But somehow you think the parent is crazy and drinking the kool-aid. I think it's YOU who's drinking the l
Re:Dereliction of duty (Score:4, Interesting)
If the thought of the people losing control of their government is inspiring, you're a fascist. For the rest of us, it's depressing, not inspiring.
And the limits of Democracy idea is not a new one. Do you ever wonder why, if democracy was such a great form of government, the colonists fought a rebellion against the British, and the laws passed by democratically elected representatives?
People conveniently forget that democracy serves more as an escape hatch for particularly bad politicians than as a means of ensuring freedom from oppression. Iran is a democracy. Russia is a democracy. China is a democracy... Starting to see a trend here? Democracy alone does not guarantee freedom, or even particularly good governance. How does democracy serve the interests of the public when the voters' only options are bad, and even worse?
There is this idea that democracies go through stages - the first is optimistic, then realistic, and finally fascism takes hold before the empire crumbles. This pattern happened in ancient Greece and Rome, it happened during the colonial era, and it's happening now to the United States. I would like to say I'm wrong, but I've seen the erosion of freedoms happen in my lifetime, and if you want a preview of things to come, you can look at the UK. The UK does not have freedom of speech, and they are actually putting people in prison for having memes on their own phones. The mere private possession of speech which could make others feel uncomfortable is illegal in the UK - even if no one is ever actually offended.
Granted, we're not there yet, but we're headed that direction.
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Other than the votes of 90% of that political party's representative convention delegates, all of whom were by the rules of the private membership organization that is a political party uncommitted and free to vote for whomever they thought best - as their fellow party member elected them to do.
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When a public figure - especially say a president or former president with a shot at re-election - is spreading lies that are a significant risk to public health, they ought to be held to account for that.
Now THERE'S an interesting idea! How about legislation that raises the bar for high public office such that a well-specified, legally enforceable and strictly-enforced standard of conduct applies to the office holder until death? Imagine that - having to commit to a standard of behaviour for the rest of your life in order to to be a senator, congress-critter, VP, or president.
Impractical as that may sound, a successful implementation could result in a quality of governance that hasn't been seen in decades.
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When the party in power has enough power to decide what the law calls 'the truth', this kind of system fails and becomes a tool for oppression rather than the common good.
I am not confident the US is currently able to implement such a system without it doing more harm than good.
!misinformation (Score:2, Informative)
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And you got marked Troll for saying facts.
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And you got marked Troll for saying facts.
The Jacobin subscribers have mod points this morning.
Media Playing Cover (Score:2, Informative)
FEMA has absolutely been tapped to fund the migrant crisis. You can see congress talking about exactly this here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
The way Mayorkas can say disaster relief is not impacted by the migrants is because they sliced up FEMAs budget into different buckets where one is used for disaster, the other for (other stuff). This 'other stuff' budget didn't need massive funding before the migrants, but they do now... so yeah, FEMA is drained by the migrants, but because of semantics and tri
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Of course you're in the know and have actually personally seen this evidence, from reputable sources, and found independent confirmation.
Or... You're repeating the bullshit and amplifying it because you are a credulous believer. Based on your accusations without citations, I know I'm going to go with the latter explanation.
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Or maybe they watch congress sessions?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
FEMA is... (Score:1)
Information is dead. (Score:2)
And it's a failing of the average fucking moron who takes everything they agree with as gospel, and everything else as false.
When summed up, we average out to "shithead". And it's not going to get better in our lifetime.
Regardless (Score:2)