The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 10.11 Israel Hamas War Updates Expose How Much Worse This Can Get, MrBeast’s AI Takeover, & Today’s News

Episode Date: October 11, 2023

Go to https://pdsdebt.com/defranco to get our quick and easy debt assessment today!  Go Buy http://WakeandMakeCoffee.com 50% OFF select orders! This new batch won’t last long. Catch up on our latest PDS: https://youtu.be/Ywra4ho-2dE?si=aZuPyEn6KBisHnxp Check out our daily newsletter! http://dailydip.co/pds  Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillydefranco/?hl=en  –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Israel, Hamas War Updates Expose How Much Worse This Can Get 06:48 - George Santos Charged With 10 New Felonies  10:25 - Sponsored by PDS Debt 11:18 - Meta’s Celebrity AI Chatbots Criticized  13:38 - NC Legislature Overrides Governor’s Veto to Implement Sweeping Voting Restrictions  16:35 - CA Gov. Gavin Newsom Has Until Saturday to Decide on Hundreds of Crucial Bills 18:52 - Your Thoughts on Yesterday’s Stories  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxx Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  ———————————— #DeFranco #Israel #Palestine ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're talking about huge updates on the Hamas-Israel war, as well as breaking down the confusion that's now spreading with Hezbollah in Israel. George Santos got hit with 10 new wild felonies. The celebrity AI revolution is here, but many are creeped out by it, sparking a massive debate. But people are saying democracy and the will of the people are dead in North Carolina now, and the truth about the so-called Skittles ban. We're talking about all that and so much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, so just make sure you're subscribed and let's jump into it. Starting with, we have to continue to talk about this Israel-Hamas situation

because every moment this situation becomes more dire and feels like it's spiraling out of control. Starting with, as everyone knew it happened, Gaza continues to be pummeled by airstrikes. With what little footage we've seen from the territory showing that massive sections have been absolutely leveled. And while there are reports that it's areas where Hamas leadership lives, we have no way to confirm that. And either way, when you're blowing up that much, you're bound to hit innocent people and homes. But again, I need to emphasize that we've seen very little from the region, and that's largely because there's no water, fuel, food, or electricity being sent there. It's a stuff like the internet where we get all our information now is just largely dead. And this especially as reports

have come out from places like the Wall Street Journal that the last power plant there has officially run out of fuel. And for the people of Gaza, there's still the massive issue of where exactly do they follow Israel's warnings to get out now. Egypt is still facing pressure to take on refugees with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan saying America was in talks with Egypt and Israel about setting up a safe passage for Gazans. But it's also unclear if Egypt is on board with that plan. So instead of letting Gazans into Egypt, Egyptian officials are saying that they're in talks with the US, Qatar, and Turkey about sending humanitarian aid into Gaza by having a limited ceasefire and opening up the Rafah border crossing, which notably is the one that we talked about yesterday that Israel bombed.

And you know, if you look online, the reactions to the bombings and just the situation overall continue to be a completely mixed bag. We saw groups like BLM Chicago facing backlash after posting a now deleted image saying, I stand with Palestine, which generally at other times wouldn't be controversial by itself, except it also included a stylized paraglider and made many feel like they were celebrating the weekend's attacks. With them since having kind of apologized, but also some saying completely not, writing Zionists, we know we hurt your feelings yesterday. We do sincerely apologize. And y'all are going super low with really basic, boring, not clever racism, Zionism, and violence, and you're just organizing people for us.

Are you missing? The more you act up, the more followers we get. But then on the flip side, we've seen some abhorrent videos of people calling for the eradication of all Palestinians. Kill all Palestinians! All of them! Not one left from the river to the sea, Palestine will be deceased! And others showing images of Gaza edited to be completely flat and wiped off the map. We gotta wipe them off the fucking map. I'm talking about every fucking flat, it's like a parking lot. However, it does need to be noted, while the things that stand out the most are the most extreme,

not everyone's being insane. With, for example, people like Senator Bernie Sanders writing, Hamas's terrorist assault on Israel will have horrific short and long-term consequences. And as a result of this attack, thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, including many women and children, have been killed and injured. That toll will rise. The gunning down of young Israelis at a music festival is an image the world will not soon forget. Adding longer term, this attack is a major setback for any hope of peace and reconciliation in the region and justice for the Palestinian people. With a man going on to talk about how people across the world, including Israeli, have fought against

the blockade of Gaza and called it an open-air prison before adding, Hamas's terrorism will make it much more difficult to address the tragic reality and will embolden extremists on both sides, continuing the cycle of violence. But then calling on the international community to reduce humanitarian suffering and protect innocent people on both sides of this conflict, saying that the targeting of civilians is a war crime no matter who does it, and adding Israel's denial of food, water, and other necessities to Gaza is a serious violation of international law and will do nothing but harm innocent civilians. With them then calling on the U.S. to still back Israel, but also pressure them to have some restraint when bombing Gaza and ending that with children

and innocent people do not deserve to be punished for the acts of Hamas. But of course, with all of that, with people as divided as they are now, mixed bag of reactions. Well, that post got a lot of love and support for others. It wasn't enough other people saying, better you said nothing at all, which continues to be kind of the trend of anyone that has like a nuanced opinion of this, the same person putting out the same statement by some as being called a Zionist, others calling them a Nazi. Now, with all that said, that could have normally been the extent of the updates for today, except for the fact that as we were recording this, things were reportedly heating up in northern Israel. I mean, we've talked about how Israel's been trading blows with Hezbollah.

They're a militant group that controls large sections of Lebanon, including pretty much the entire border region with Israel. And at first, it was things like mortars or targeted missile strikes, but now it's seemingly a more constant stream between the two sides. There are even widespread reports across social media as we were recording this morning that Hezbollah had conducted drone strikes across northern Israel and had paragliders entering the country, and notably because of fog of war making it difficult to confirm anything, that was the narrative for a few hours.

But then, it seems like that was a false alarm, partly sparked by Israel setting a notification to residents to shelter in place, according to the IDF. However, that does not mean that Hezbollah isn't a serious concern. In fact, not only have the United States and other allies warned them to stay out of the conflict, the US has even sent a carrier strike group to the region

that an American official said was, quote, a deterrent signal to Iran, Lebanese, Hezbollah, and any other proxy across the region. And you have outlets like Business Insider and The Wall Street Journal reporting they were even sending a second one. However, it still wouldn't be a complete surprise if Hezbollah attacked. The two sides have fought before, and Hezbollah is known to do potshots across the border whenever groups like Hamas act up. But also, the last time it happened on a massive scale, Israel pummeled them. But that notably was well over a decade ago, and Hezbollah's capabilities are much greater now, especially when compared to Hamas. Hamas can do things like shoot small rockets and carry out horrific surprise attacks like it did this weekend.

But Hezbollah is closer to what some countries are actually capable of. Things like advanced anti-tank ship aircraft missiles, much larger rockets than Hamas, and even combat tanks and artillery. And that's on top of having an organization that is much larger than Hamas. Which actually brings us to the next thing we need to talk about. And I kind of haven't because it's always been on the edge of this discussion. Iran. But there is a reason U.S. officials mention them when talking about why we have a carrier strike group in the area. Iran has threatened Israel from doing what they call any foolish acts.

And despite warnings by American generals to not get involved, they have been since before fighting broke out. With outlets like the Washington Post reporting that for years, Iran has trained and armed Hamas. And Iran has openly helped Hezbollah for years and is the primary reason the group is now so heavily armed, something that was made even easier due to the conflict in neighboring Syria, which has a ton of Iranian-backed groups. And if you're wondering why Iran is so actively involved, there are religious and practical reasons. Right, it supports Hezbollah because both are Shia Muslims, a large minority within the Islamic world. But then also, like in the case of Hamas, it's apparently willing to set aside its religious differences to fuck with Israel. And so because of all this, it won't

be surprising if this conflict turns into Israel not only invading Gaza, but also fighting on its northern border. And then that could even expand from there with countries like Syria being warned not to enter the conflict after reports that mortars were fired from there into Israel, leading to artillery fire to be returned. And that is Syria and Israel have had a longstanding border dispute over the Golan Heights that sometimes leads to skirmishes. And so all of that kind of connects to why I say that the situation feels like it's getting worse and worse by the minute, like a set of dominoes ready to top over. And all of this happening is, I think, the last thing any reasonable person wants is for more innocent people to die, regardless of where they're from. Especially because the second you start calling for everyday and innocent Israelis, Palestinians, anyone to be killed, you have fucking lost the plot. But of course, with everything that we've covered here as a situation

continues to develop, I'd love to know your thoughts and feelings in those comments down below. And then Representative George Santos just got bitch slapped with 10 new felony charges with a new indictment, which was unsealed yesterday, charging the congressman with two counts each of wire fraud, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, falsifying records to obstruct the FEC and aggravated identity theft, and then just sprinkle on top one count each of conspiracy to commit offenses against the FEC and aggravated identity theft. And then just sprinkle on top one count each of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States and access device fraud.

According to the indictment between December of 2021 and August of 2022, Santos devised and executed a fraudulent scheme by stealing personal identity and financial information of people who had donated to his campaign. With Santos then allegedly making charges to those people's credit cards repeatedly without authorization,

racking up tens of thousands of dollars that were transferred to his campaign, the campaigns of other candidates, and his personal bank account. And what's more, prosecutors also claim that Santos attempted to conceal the source of the money and avoid campaign contribution limits by lying and saying that the donations were made by other people, including his own relatives. And to that point, we're not talking about small amounts of money here. For example, in one instance outlined by the indictment, Santos allegedly used one donor's credit card billing information repeatedly to eventually rack up nearly $45,000

in unauthorized charges. And this including at least one instance where he transferred $11,000 directly to his own bank account. And that's not even the only fraudulent scheme Santos is accused of orchestrating. Prosecutors also allege that Santos convinced two donors to contribute $25,000 each to a company that he was associated with by falsely claiming the business was a non-profit or an independent expenditure-only committee and their money would go to his campaign. But not only was that a complete lie, Santos then allegedly transferred that to his own accounts and used it for his own personal benefit, including to make cash withdrawals, personal purchases of luxury designer clothing, and pay off debts and associates. Also, it's not

just donors that Santos is accused of defrauding. The indictment also says that the congressman, along with his campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, lied to the FEC, the Republican Party, and the public about the amount of money his campaign had raised. Right, and this so he would be considered a serious candidate who could qualify for financial and logistic support from the GOP

under benchmarks set by the party. And specifically, he did this by claiming in FEC filings that his family members had made significant financial contributions to his campaign and that Santos himself had loaned his campaign a huge amount of money when, in reality, he had done no such thing. And again, we're not talking about petty cash. Santos claims he loaned his campaign half a million dollars. But that total was an absolute fabrication, a flat out lie with the prosecutor saying that at the time he had less

than $8,000 in his personal and business bank account. So we're talking about some insanely serious allegations here. And what's more, these 10 new counts are just that, new counts. These allegations build on the 13 existing felony charges he was hit with back in May as part of the same investigation. Those older charges related to allegations that the congressman defrauded his donors, used donor money for his own personal benefit, and wrongfully claimed unemployment benefits. And very notably here, the new claims come just mere days after Marx, Santos' campaign treasurer, pleaded guilty to conspiring with a congressional candidate to commit wire fraud, make false statements, obstruct the FEC, and commit identity theft. With prosecutors saying that Marx had explicitly implicated Santos and saying that he conspired with her to report the fake $500,000 loan the congressman fraudulently

claimed he donated to his own campaign. And that in addition to falsely reporting donations from family members that were never actually made. Now Santos, for his part, has repeatedly denied the previous charges against him, pleading not guilty and attempting to blame Marx for any of the financial irregularities. And now, in remarks just today, responding to the new accusations, Santos remained defiant, fervently denying all the new charges, claiming they didn't have any merit, and promising to fight them in court. And him also notably telling reporters he would not take a plea deal and that he still plans to run for re-election. Now, as far as what happens from here, we're going to have to keep our eyes on this. Honestly, with everything we've seen,

there's really no reason not to expel him. In fact, you have a group of House Republicans from New York trying to revive efforts to get him expelled. But with how thin their majority is, the question remains, could they get enough Republicans to vote along with expelling him? But for now, we'll wait and see

what happens in the short term, especially because, of course, not only is everything important now, we're just, 2024 is just around the corner. We got a whole election cycle nightmare that we're gonna have to trudge through together. And then are you feeling the effects of inflation right now? I mean, I know in L.A. gas is like six, sometimes seven dollars. And if you feel like you're working to get ahead, but seem to be falling further into debt with credit

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And that, thanks to their new AI celebrity chatbots that have caused a massive debate. And you might have seen the news over the past few weeks, because it's not just Kendall Jenner and Mr. Beast. Tom Brady, Charli D'Amelio, Snoop Dogg, and more are all a part of it, with their faces and likeness being used for characters that you can interact with on meta platforms like Instagram and Messenger. For example, Mr. Beast isn't Jimmy, instead he is Zack. And I guess he's supposed to be this kind of funny guy

you can talk to. And Kendall Jenner is Billy, your loyal older sister who gives advice. And Tom Brady is Brew, who just loves to talk about sports. Some of those accounts have been sharing videos and other images to build out these characters. And the thing is, a lot of people can't tell if it's the actual person or AI,

including this one from Kendall slash Billy. What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. I am here to chat whenever you want.

Message me for any advice. I am ready to talk. Right now, while videos of them get posted to their pages, you can only interact with them via text. You can send them DMs on Instagram and ask them questions. They respond with advice or comments in line with their characters. As far as why these celebrities were like, yeah, you can use my likeness, it's because they care about this technology. So I'm just kidding. Reportedly, the paydays were massive with at least one big name being paid $5 million over two years for just six hours of work in a studio. And while Meta announced this several weeks ago, the reason

we're talking about this now is that those accounts have been posting and people have been interacting with them. So the conversation around this has really only increased. And honestly, most people are pretty freaked out by it, thinking that it's weird that the AI looks like a celebrity but has a different name. Also, others commenting on posts of Billie saying things like, why would people want to message a computer simulation of Kendall Jenner? Please make it make sense. And so cool, this makes me never want to use the internet again. Others feeling like this is just straight up out of Black Mirror, saying these celebrities have essentially sold their souls and adding, here's your celebrity in your pocket,

sellout, bullshit, non-intimacy, what the fuck are you doing, future, courtesy of Meta. And can't wait for one of these characters to endorse or say something horrific and have it be attributed to the celebrity who sold their likeness away. But adding, it would be deserved.

In all this, as you have many concerned about the kind of human and social element, thinking it's only gonna make people, especially teens, lonelier, this just being yet another thing, furthering them from human connection. Some even bring up the parasocial relationships that already exist with celebrities. What happens when all of a sudden they're your new playmate? Now, all that said, unless something else happens, this is very likely a field that's

going to grow. And that's because, as Variety reported, Meta announced that over time, it will make AI chatbots available for businesses and creators, and said it will release its AI studio tool for people to build their own AIs. And personally, I think creators and businesses are gonna flock to this once the walled garden is gone. But with that said, I'd love to know your thoughts here. And then democracy is once again being threatened. And this time it's happening in one of the most important swing states

that could determine the outcome of the 2024 election. So what I'm talking about is that yesterday, North Carolina enacted a sweeping new restrictive election law after the GOP controlled legislature overrode the Democratic governor's veto of the bill. And this bill has many of the greatest hits that we've seen in similar election laws implemented all over the country since 2020. This, including imposing new voter ID requirements for same-day registrants that will make it harder to cast ballots in the early voting period, as

well as scrapping the three-day grace period for receiving absentee ballots after election day, banning private money for election administration, and giving partisan poll observers the power to watch the voting process. And those changes could make all the difference in a state like North Carolina, where elections are super, super close. I mean, Trump only beat Biden by around 74,000 votes in 2020. And that same year, the three-day grace period allowed for another 12,300 ballots to be counted in. One of the races for a state Supreme Court seat was decided by less than 500 votes. But also beyond those changes, the new law will get rid of the governor's power to appoint members of state and county election boards. Currently, the boards are controlled by the party of the governor, meaning that they've been Democratic for the last few years.

And since then, Republicans have been fighting and fighting to try and change the state level board. And while those attempts have been struck down by courts, including the state Supreme Court for violating the state constitution and even rejected by voters, now that Republicans have a veto-proof majority, they're saying, fuck the judicial system and the people and going forward with their own agenda. And so as a result, the GOP legislature is taking away the governor's power to appoint members and give it to, you guessed it, themselves. With a new election law mandating that state lawmakers fill the boards with equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans. And as part of this, the law also stipulates that the current five-member state election board, which oversees the election administration for the entire state, will now be dissolved and replaced with a new eight-member board. And now, because four of those members

will be chosen by Republicans and four will be chosen by Democrats, there are serious concerns that the board will get deadlocked on incredibly important decisions. Things like, you know, certifying the election in a swing state that could decide the winner of the 2024 election. And what's more, the state board is also in charge

of determining early voting sites when a county board can't decide unanimously. And a key thing, if they get deadlocked there, the county will only get one early voting site, which has prompted concerns that Republicans are going to prevent Democrat-heavy areas from getting multiple locations. To make the situation even more insane, the Republican law literally doesn't even say what would happen if the boards deadlocked on most of the decisions they'll have to make. With some Republicans just saying the courts would have to figure out what to do if

the state board can't certify an election, which just so happens, random happenstance to be super convenient for them. Since last year's elections, the North Carolina Supreme Court has a five to two conservative majority that has recently ruled in Republicans favor on a number of key election issues. So we're talking about super troubling shit, especially with this being a crucial battleground state, which is also why you had Democratic Governor Roy Cooper arguing in his veto last month that this bill, quote, creates a grave risk that Republican legislators or courts would be empowered to change the results of an election if they don't like the winner. And now beyond that, immediately after the GOP overturned the governor's veto, we also saw the Democratic National Committee and the

state Democratic Party filing a lawsuit against the bill, arguing that it amounts to voter suppression and is designed to undermine the right to vote in North Carolina. And that, in addition to a coalition of pro-voting rights groups led by Voto Latino, also filing a separate suit challenging the new law on multiple fronts. So as we often have to do in situations like this, we're gonna have to wait to see what happens, especially with these legal challenges. But 100%, this is an important thing to keep an eye on. And then Gavin Newsom is going buck wild with a shotgun blast of legislation right now. Right, and the other day, you know,

we talked about the bills that he vetoed over the weekend, a magic mushrooms, an insulin price cap, condoms for high school students, and a ban on caste discrimination. And they are bringing down the reasons they said why they did that, because on the surface, it just really seemed like a weird move for Newsom.

But also it's incredibly important that we talk about all the other stuff that's happening because it turns out the governor has until Saturday to make a decision on hundreds of bills that were sent to him by the California legislature last month. And so until then, he's just signing these bills like it's his fucking job, which I mean, it is his job. Like that is one of the main things. So let's just go down the line, starting with a law that bans Skittles. Except not really, that's not what it does, but that is what some people online are twisting it to be. Right, so what the law actually does is ban four food additives commonly found in candies, sodas, and fruit juices.

And this because they've been linked to cancer and other ailments in animals, which is why many other countries have already banned them as well. And as far as that Skittles rumor, the bill's first draft included titanium dioxide, a chemical in that candy, but the final version left it out. And on top of that, a big thing is that the law doesn't even go into effect until 2027. So companies have until then to modify their recipes, meaning that they're not going to just be pulling candies from the shelves. You don't need to run to the store right now, like a lot of content creators are saying. Then next up, you got a new law, make it easier to force people with untreated mental health issues or addiction into treatment, with supporters arguing that it gives authorities more power to provide care for members of the state's homeless population who refuse help. But then you have critics countering that and saying it violates people's civil rights and

will only lead to more of them getting locked up. Then you got another law that's going to force major companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. With supporters saying it could impact the fight against climate change, not just statewide, but nationally and globally as well. But then you also have some industry leaders who oppose the measure because it'll cost them money and for other, you know, obvious reasons. Next up, you've got a law that makes social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram liable if they fail to stop the spread of content depicting child sex abuse,

with supporters arguing it'll help clean up these platforms and give abuse survivors a means of legal recourse. But then you have tech industry groups opposing this change because they say it'll chill free speech and cause social media firms to censor a broad range of content, some of which may be legitimate. And all of that, including so much more,

like Newsom entitling workers to five days of paid sick leave instead of three, allowing California legislative staff members to unionize banning so-called junk fees or hidden charges on purchases, and creating a tool to help Californians request that data brokers erase their personal information.

But again, all of that's kind of just scratching the surface of what the governor's up to right now. I mean, he's just gonna be signing more and more in the coming days. And after this week, there's gonna be no more bills until the next legislative session in January. And then let's talk about yesterday today, where we take a look back at yesterday's extra large show, where we covered a lot of news. We dive into those comments to see

what y'all are talking about, your opinions, your feelings, your experiences. And while of course, there was some continued conversation around Israel and Hamas, the comment section actually largely got taken over by two different stories. The first being about that public school principal that was forcing his religion onto a student, using it to shame her because she was dancing, harming her prospects and getting a scholarship to go to a good school. And there we saw y'all saying things like, interrogating a public school student about her religious beliefs and quoting scripture at her because she danced at an off-campus party is absolutely inappropriate and never should have happened. It's not your business what your

students believe and it's not your duty to do what that principal did. Freedom of religion doesn't mean you impose your beliefs on students in a government-run public school. And adding, I say this as a religious person myself, that is not what the Bible tells us to do, and I feel so sorry for the girl having to endure that. There's people also going on to speculate some, saying things like, as someone who grew up in the church as a pastor's kid, what most likely happened with that student is the principal saw her dancing and he quote, stumbled. He had sexual feelings for his student, felt guilty, and did what many Christian men in power usually do, punish her for what is seen as her fault. And saying this is something that happens so often in the church. Women and girls get punished and ostracized because people can't handle their own feelings towards girls

just existing. But also saying it's not just men punishing them. Women are doing it too, trying to placate their insecurities and internalize misogyny. It's always an overaction, but people go along with it because what did she think would happen? And then, doing my job for me, adding something you didn't mention, Phil, the party was hosted by several parents. They paid for the venue and DJ and were there in the room. This party happens every year for homecoming. And in the meeting between the VP, principal, and student, her mother was not allowed to be a part of the meeting. Well, honestly, I could fill a whole video with just these responses.

I'll end it with a comment. I love the thought of Kaylee and her peers watching Phil call their principal an embarrassing loser. But yeah, I would love if that was the case. And also for this segment, the second story that really took over the comment section was that deep dive we did into D&D in prison. I was delightfully surprised how much people loved that segment. A lot of people sharing their own D&D stories, some just a regular social situation, some found it therapeutic, some actually talked about doing it in prison. And again, this is another one that could fill up a whole video. People sharing things like the D&D story.

I stopped the game I was running when my dad had a brain injury and I regretted a lot. Saying the stress of the situation consumed a lot of my life. And when I finally started the game up, I immediately knew I made a mistake stopping it. I wasn't reducing my stress. I was removing a coping mechanism. The creative outlet and the connection to friends that I didn't have to see through the lens of grief like everything else was huge. Healing. People saying hearing how a 92-page manuscript was confiscated literally made me tear up.

Saying that was a whole world that was stolen from that man. That was hope and confidence and change that was stolen saying i'm a dm myself and i know at least one other dm who keeps his world building backed up in five different places or fear of ever losing and adding aside from that i'm constantly using dnd as a therapy tool for myself and others i even converted my own therapist to the metaphor of spell slots instead of spoons which if you haven't gone to therapy that's like a whole thing of like you only have so many spoons you can give you have to select how you give your energy because you only have so much of it. Something that I know, but then disregard and I end up burning out. But then this person going on to describe a situation, saying,

One of the members of my current group was able to use D&D characters as a stepping stone for coming out as trans, and she is so happy now that we play every week. And adding being a DM helped me learn important mediation skills that helped me with performance anxiety, gives me an outlet for the overwhelming inventive pressure that can build up in me, and most importantly, it lets me have friends, like really good friends that I have incredibly healthy relationships with. And also more connected to what we were covering yesterday, you had people who actually played the game in prison. Some of y'all sharing that it was essential to your pod's function, saying we were all friends at the table, black

guys and guards coming up behind us to watch us play with nobody thinking anything of it, no fears of attacks or anything stupid. We were all just having fun and being nerds. I think that group is still running even now, and I hope so. I bought them a lot of books and a map when I got home. But that brings us to the end of your daily dive into the news today. Now remember, for more news you need to know, I got you covered right here. You can click or tap, or I've got links in the description down below. And of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in.

I love your faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow for more news.