Hurricanes are deadly enough, but the storm of conspiracy theories surrounding them is proving just as destructive. Perhaps more so.

The recent devastation caused by Helene and Milton has unleashed not only catastrophic winds but also a torrent of disinformation, with platforms like X, TikTok, and YouTube fueling wild claims that the storms were engineered for sinister purposes.

Theories about government weather-control lasers, man-made disasters, and nefarious plots to mine lithium have spread unchecked, overshadowing the actual work of emergency responders. It would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous.

These aren’t just idle rumors. They’re deliberate lies, engineered to prey on fear and undermine trust in institutions when trust is needed most.

While thousands of rescue workers put their lives on the line, social media buzzes with absurd ideas that FEMA workers are part of a secret government operation to mine for lithium or manipulate elections. Some theorists claim the hurricanes were directed toward Republican districts as part of a Democratic plot to disrupt voting. Others insist sound waves or microwave weapons were used to create the storms for financial gain, citing investment firms like BlackRock as culprits.

Nearly always tied to the far right, conspiracies seek to stoke distrust in the government and institutions, pushing the absurd over the real dangers at hand.

Scientists have repeatedly explained that hurricanes are natural phenomena, not the product of government control. We can no more control the weather than we can time.

But in a world where facts are optional, reason falls on deaf ears. It’s easier to believe in villains than to accept the chaos and randomness of nature.

They aren’t just misinformed—they’re actively sabotaging efforts to save lives.

In the real world, these conspiracies have devastating consequences. Emergency workers are being harassed, people are refusing to follow evacuation orders, and some are avoiding rescue operations altogether, convinced it’s all part of a nefarious scheme.

Take Matt Huggins, a police officer in Marion, N.C., who spent days rescuing people from flooded homes. After helping save lives, he logged onto Facebook only to find himself accused of being part of a FEMA conspiracy to mine lithium. “They aren’t mining for lithium,” he wrote. “They’re running their bodies into the ground to search for and help people they don’t know.”

Even officials who have dabbled in conspiracy theories themselves are trying to stop this wave of misinformation. Republican congressman Tim Burchett, a Trump ally, felt compelled to speak out against the lies swirling around relief efforts in his state. That’s how bad it’s gotten—election deniers are now pleading with their followers to stop spreading storm-related disinformation.

But where’s the accountability for those who created this monster? Social media companies profit off the lies, funneling clicks and ad revenue into their pockets while our collective ability to discern fact from fiction deteriorates.

There is no incentive for them to act, not when their business models thrive on the engagement that these conspiracy theories generate.

When truth drowns beneath waves of disinformation, it’s not just facts that are lost—it’s lives.

Here’s an ad you won’t see this election year, but should: The migrant crime crisis is bullshit.

It’s a convenient, easy scapegoat used to justify harsh policies, sow division, and fuel the fearmongering machine that keeps their poll numbers afloat. But when you strip away the hysteria and actually look at the data, the truth is clear: migrants don’t drive crime.

Let’s get one thing straight. Migrants are fleeing violence, persecution, and economic despair. They aren’t coming to your country to commit crimes—they’re coming to escape them.

And yet, conservative leaders and media outlets continue to sell this fear that somehow, immigrants are turning neighborhoods into war zones.

It’s a lazy, harmful narrative with no statistical backbone. If anything, it’s a reflection of how little politicians want to focus on the real causes of crime—like poverty, inequality, and broken social systems.

But don’t just take my word for it. Let’s look at the numbers:

• According to a 2018 DOJ and DHS report, non-citizens make up only 6.4% of the federal prison population, despite being 13.7% of the U.S. population.

• The American Immigration Council found that immigrants are less likely to commit serious crimes than native-born citizens, with increased immigration correlating with decreases in violent crime.

• FBI data reveals that as immigration increased over the past several decades, violent crime rates dropped significantly across the U.S., with no evidence linking higher immigration to more crime.

These are the facts. Yet, we’re bombarded with news stories that magnify the rare instances of crime committed by immigrants, creating the illusion that migrant crime is rampant. It’s not.

The migrant crime myth thrives because fear is a hell of a motivator. But it’s time we started demanding more from our leaders than using immigrants as political piñatas.

It’s not the migrants who are the problem. It’s the bullshit narrative that blames them for everything wrong in society. And that’s what needs to change.

The undecided voter is a lie we tell ourselves every election. They show up on TV, wringing their hands. Campaigns spend millions to convince them.

But they’ve already decided. They just don’t know it yet.

These voters aren’t liars. They believe their own story. But their gut knows the truth, even if their mouth won’t say it.

We love this myth. The media gets its drama. Campaigns get their strategy. And these “undecided” voters get to feel important. It’s a dance that makes everyone happy. Everyone except democracy.

The truth is harder. Most people made their choice long ago. Not with their head, but with their tribe. Their family. Their fears. Their wallet. The rest is just theater.

What matters isn’t the voter still thinking it over. It’s the American who stopped thinking about voting at all. While we chase the undecided, millions have decided to stay home. That’s the real crisis.

Voters do change their minds. But they don’t do it in October because of a TV ad. They do it slowly, when their life changes. When their job vanishes. When their kid gets sick. When their town dries up.

It’s time to kill this myth. Let’s stop pretending elections hang on some mystical group of deep thinkers. They hang on the people who show up.

The undecided voter isn’t torn. They’re just not paying attention. And that’s the biggest problem of all.