Elon Musk’s Attack on Wikipedia; Cats and the Threat of Bird Flu–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Dec. 26, 2024

Indy Digest: Dec. 26, 2024

Wikipedia is one of the greatest sources of information ever created.

I visit Wikipedia several times almost every day. A lot of times, I wind up there looking for some bit of non-crucial information, like how many episodes of a TV show I’m watching are left in the current season. Other times, I use it for work research; while I don’t generally cite what’s in the body of a Wikipedia article, the annotated references to authoritative sources are treasure troves of reliable information.

Wikipedia is truly a fantastic resource. I am sure you heard about the terrible airplane crash in Kazakhstan yesterday; as of now, The New York Times reports that 38 of the 67 people on board died when the plane was forced to attempt an emergency landing after possibly being hit by fire from a Russian air defense system.

Just one day later, Wikipedia includes a detailed article on the crash. As of this writing, the article is more than 2,000 words long, annotated by 101 links to various news articles and other sources. Amazing.

Of course, Wikipedia isn’t perfect; given that literally anyone on the internet can create articles and make edits, it’s subject to shenanigans and occasional misinformation-spreading attempts. However, experts agree that, at least when it comes to articles on popular or important subjects, Wikipedia is amazingly accurate.

I bring this all up, because Wikipedia has come under attack in recent days—and it’s gotten a shockingly small amount of mainstream media coverage.

The attacker is none other than Elon Musk. And the reason? Wikipedia is allegedly woke.

The New York Post, of all publications, is one of the few large American news outlets to report on this so far:

Elon Musk urged his supporters not to donate to the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia after the organization budgeted more than $50 million to spend on controversial diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

“Stop donating to Wokepedia until they restore balance to their editing authority,” Musk wrote Tuesday on X, where he has nearly 210 million followers.

The Tesla mogul, and key adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, was responding to a post by the right-leaning commentator “Libs of TikTok,” who shared a pie chart that showed 29% of Wikipedia’s $177 million budget for 2023-24 was targeted for “equity” and “safety & inclusion.“

If you want to go directly to the source, here’s the Musk tweet referenced above.

Furthermore, Musk reiterated—and we are NOT making this up, as much as we wish we were—a previous offer that he would happily buy Wikipedia for $1 billion, as long as they changed their name to “Dickipedia.”

Ugh.

When you visit Wikipedia as of this moment, a window pops up asking for a donation.

“Wikipedia is not for sale,” the window says at the top. Thank heavens.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Today’s recall news involves … frozen pet food contaminated with the bird flu! Yikes! NBC News says: “A voluntary recall was issued for a line of raw and frozen pet food after a cat died of bird flu, a case that Oregon officials connected to the feline’s contaminated food. Northwest Naturals told consumers Tuesday to toss their Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food if its sell-by date falls between May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026. The company’s website said the batch, which was sold across the United States, tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), more commonly known as bird flu. … State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz said the department was confident that the cat’s bird flu was contracted from the Northwest Naturals food.”

• Related: Cats can get the bird flu from infected birds. The Associated Press reports: “Though cases of infection are rare, cats seem especially susceptible to the bird flu virus, or Type A H5N1. Even before the cattle outbreak, there were feline cases linked to wild birds or poultry. Since March, dozens of cats have caught the virus. These include barn and feral cats, indoor cats, and big cats in zoos and in the wild. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating the deaths of four house cats that drank recalled raw milk. Dogs seem to be less vulnerable than cats, but they should eat only thoroughly cooked foods, (veterinarian) Dr. Michael Q. Bailey said. … Cats should not drink unpasteurized dairy products or eat raw meat. Pet owners should keep cats away from wild birds, livestock and poultry. Don’t let them wander freely in the outdoors, Bailey said, ‘because you don’t know what they’re getting into. Cats are natural hunters, and one of the animals they love to hunt are birds.’ Avoid touching sick or dead birds yourself. Thoroughly wash your hands after handling poultry or animals.”

• A new California law is designed to keep medical debt from harming credit scores. Our partners at Calmatters report: “Starting Jan. 1, a new state law will prohibit health providers and debt collectors from reporting medical debt information to credit agencies. That means unpaid medical bills should no longer show up on people’s credit reports, which consumer advocacy groups say is a boon for patients with debt. Here’s why: While the law will not forgive someone’s debt, by keeping it off credit reports, it might provide some reassurance that a hospital stay or trip to urgent care won’t later affect their credit standing. Lower credit scores usually result in higher interest rates and make it harder for people to qualify for a home rental, a car loan or even employment. During legislative hearings, the law’s author, Sen. Monique Limón, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, contended that because people don’t choose to have a medical emergency or illness, this type of debt should not count against them. Supporters also argued that medical debt is more prone to inaccuracies because of billing mistakes by health providers and insurers.”

• Universities are encouraging international students to return to the U.S. before Jan. 20. CNN explains: “Fear and uncertainty are spreading across many U.S. college campuses ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration, with some schools advising international students to return early from winter break amid promises of another travel ban like the one that stranded students abroad at the start of Trump’s last term. In a country where more than 1.1 million international students enrolled in US colleges and universities during the 2023-24 academic year, the former president has pledged more hardline immigration policies upon his return to the White House, including an expansion of his previous travel ban on people from predominantly Muslim countries and the revocation of student visas of ‘radical anti-American and antisemitic foreigners.’ … Some universities have urged students to put off or cut short travel plans outside the US before the inauguration. Cornell University’s Office of Global Learning advised students who are traveling abroad to return before the January 21 start of the spring semester or to ‘communicate with an advisor about your travel plans and be prepared for delays.’”

• Also from CNN, and also alarming, comes this headline: “The bird at the center of the worst single-species mortality event in modern history isn’t recovering, scientists say.” The article says: “A marine heat wave has killed approximately half of Alaska’s common murre population, marking the largest recorded die-off of a single species in modern history, research has found. The catastrophic loss points to broader changes in marine environments driven by warming ocean temperatures, which are rapidly and severely restructuring ecosystems and inhibiting the ability of such animals to thrive, according to a new study. The Northeast Pacific heat wave, known as ‘the Blob,’ spanned the ocean ecosystem from California to the Gulf of Alaska in late 2014 to 2016. … While murres have experienced smaller die-offs in the past as a result of environmental and human-induced factors, they typically recover quickly when favorable conditions return. However, the magnitude and speed of the die-off during this heat wave was particularly alarming to (scientists).”

• And finally … a woman at LAX tried to slip some things—a LOT of things—past TSA agents in her carry-on bag. It didn’t work. The Los Angeles Times reports: “A woman flying from Los Angeles to Philadelphia wound up on the TSA’s naughty list after an officer discovered a trove of almost 90 forbidden items inside her carry-on. A Transportation Security Administration officer flagged the woman’s bag during a routine X-ray screening at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday after noticing what appeared to be several prohibited items, officials said in a statement. The officer opened the bag in front of the passenger and was shocked to see what was inside: 82 fireworks, three knives, two replica firearms and a canister of pepper spray—none of which are allowed in carry-on luggage. Although TSA officers are used to sometimes seeing bizarre items inside passenger luggage, officials in a news release said this discovery surprised even the most-tenured officer. … Fireworks and other explosives are never allowed on an airplane, according to the TSA. Replica firearms and knives, on the other hand, are permitted in checked baggage.”

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