The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.09 Secret Sex Ring Busted, Omegle is Dead, Hearst Wants Employees To Report Each Other for “Bad Tweets”

Episode Date: November 9, 2023

Go to https://hensonshaving.com and enter DEFRANCO at checkout to get 100 free blades with your purchase. (Note: you must add both the 100-blade pack and the razor for the discount to apply.) Go to https://incogni.com/defranco and use code DEFRANCO to get 60% off an annual Incogni plan.     https://wakeandmakecoffee.com We Just RESTOCKED! Up to 50% OFF Your First Bag! Catch up on our latest PDS: https://youtu.be/e6ZDWhTUCJ0?si=URrRMoHQ-wSz0qJO –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 0:00 - Feds Bust Ring Catering to Politicians, Tech Execs, and Other Powerful People 1:56 - After 14 Years, Omegle Shuts Down Amid Controversy  2:56 - Hearst Magazines Threatens to Fire Staff that Post or Like Controversial Content 6:15 - SAG and Studios Agree to a Deal to End Historic Strike 8:29 - Sponsored by Henson Shaving 9:45 - Power Grid Unprepared For Harsh Winter Conditions 12:10 - Israel Agrees to Brief Ceasefire in Northern Gaza 14:37 - Mississippi Police Kept Truth From Mother Who Reported Son Missing For Months 18:41 - Sponsored by Incogni 19:34 - Debris, Pollution Pile Up on Moon and in Space With No One to Clean It 25:44 - Your Thoughts on Yesterday’s Show ——————————   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 #ArianaGrande #JennaOrtega ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're talking about the SAG strike finally ending and what that means. Omegle is dead. Massive sex ring catering to some of the most powerful people in the country, including politicians, was just busted. Why you need to care that winter is coming? Gazans are reportedly getting some kind of relief in the form of humanitarian corridors. A mom who hounded police about her missing son for months found out they actually knew where his body was all along.

We got to talk about trash in space not only harming us on the ground, but it could also be deadly. We're talking about all that and so much more on today's extra large Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, so just hit that like button to let me know you like these big shows, and let's jump into it. Starting with... The feds just busted open a secret exclusive high-end commercial sex ring catering to some of the richest, most powerful people in the United States. With the DOJ announcing that the brothels were hidden in Watertown and Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as Tyson's in Fairfax, Virginia, less than an hour drive from

Washington, D.C., for obvious reasons. And there were likely hundreds of customers, including elected officials, military officers, high-tech and pharmaceutical execs, doctors, professors, attorneys, scientists, accountants, and government contractors that possess security clearances. There being postings on websites falsely advertising nude Asian models for professional photography who were apparently trafficked illegally. And then if you were interested, the sellers allegedly provided you with a menu of women's services in the hourly rate as well as a website where you could rate them after you were done. And with this, clients allegedly paid upwards of $600 per hour and some even paid a monthly membership to be pre-cleared

for sex in a process similar to TSA pre-check. And according to prosecutors, all of this going on since at least July of 2020. And what we've seen are three leaders who organize a business being charged with conspiracy to coerce and entice others to travel to engage in illegal sexual activity. And while we've seen none of the customers being named or charged yet,

prosecutors have said they are committed to holding accountable those who, quote, fueled the demand for this ring. And a big thing here is we know that they have names because authorities use surveillance and phone records to identify buyers and interviewed about 20 of them during the investigation. Plus, the verification process for interested buyers

allegedly required them to provide their full names, email address, phone number, employer, and references. So get ready, because if names start dropping, this could be huge. And then, in absolutely horrible news for people that want to creep on children, Omegle is no more. After 14 years of randomly pairing strangers together

for video chats, Omegle has officially shut down After 14 years of randomly pairing strangers together for video chats, Omegle has officially shut down. And this announcement, notably coming after a string of lawsuits claimed that the site was used by pedophiles to target minors. In fact, just days before it shut down, the platform settled a case where an unnamed plaintiff sued for damages, saying Omegle randomly paired a then 11-year-old with an adult man who then abused her online for three years. And that, of course, is just one example of several similar lawsuits brought against Omegle. With Leif K. Brooks, the founder of Omegle, saying in a statement, It was meant to build on the things I loved about the internet while introducing a form of social

spontaneity that I felt didn't exist elsewhere. But then going on to add, there can be no honest accounting of Omegle without acknowledging that some people misused it, including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes. The stress and expense of this fight, coupled with the existing stress and expense of operating Omegle and fighting its misuse are simply too much. Operating Omegle is no longer sustainable financially nor psychologically. But with this news also kind of feels like a certain chapter of the internet has closed. What are your thoughts? And then one of the biggest media companies in the U.S. is going full Big Brother. We're talking Hearst Magazine, which owns major names like Esquire, Cosmopolitan, and Town & Country. And they are reportedly warning staff that posting or even liking what

it calls controversial content can get them fired. And a big thing here is they're also calling on their workers to snitch on their colleagues if they violate those rules. And all this outlined under a new social media policy that the company sent to staffers in an email that was obtained by the Washington Post. And according to the Post, that document, which employees were asked to sign, specifically stated, We should be careful to consider the impact that a controversial statement on a hot-button issue may have on Hearst's reputation. And while the new rules reportedly do not directly mention the Israel-Gaza war, it is clear that is what they are referring to. With the Post noting that this

move comes as the media industry is flush with the divisions around the war. In fact, some of Hearst's own people have been at the center of controversy. Like last month, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar sparked backlash after she posted an Instagram story where she said that Israel cutting water and power to the Gaza Strip was the most inhuman thing I've seen in my life, with her then later apologizing for those comments, which she called deeply insensitive. Also in response, Hearst promised to donate $300,000 to charities in the affected region. We see people saying, you know, the connection is clear. And with all this, a document warning staff that social media posts that do not meet their editorial standards should not be posted on social media, whether on a Hearst account or a personal one.

And if that sounds extreme, that's actually because it is. As even the Post notes, while many media companies have social media rules for their employees, this does go much further. Because to be clear, this is a publishing company saying that its employees can't post anything on their personal social media accounts that would go against company editorial standards. And what's more is that the new policy also reportedly gives managers the ability to tell an employee to delete objectionable content. And it explicitly states that reposting or just liking content also qualifies as breaking the rules with a document declaring.

Just because you didn't say something on social media and instead only liked it or reposted it, it still may suggest to our audience that you approve of a particular statement or view. But also, very notably here, despite the fact that these new rules are so serious that violating them could result in termination, the document doesn't include examples

of what kind of content it considers a violation. So you have people saying, you know, they literally don't even know what they could get fired for posting or even just liking. And beyond that, you have people saying the document appears to be intentionally vague, right, as to allow the company to cast a wide net, with a warning that even posts about seemingly apolitical

or local topics could be controversial enough to be a problem. Adding, many social movements even posts about seemingly apolitical or local topics could be controversial enough to be a problem. Adding many social movements are politically charged, and apolitical events and movements can quickly become controversial and political. Even local community organizations can become politicized. And so with all of this, you have some staffers making it clear they will not stand for it. With a union that represents Hearst editorial staffers filing an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

And arguing there, the company should have negotiated the new policy with the union first. And also with this, urging employees not to sign the document agreeing to the new policy. With the union even going as far to release a statement condemning Hearst for, quote, declaring that our channels for personal expression are company property, even when we're off the clock. With the union also going on to express concern that the insanely vague policy could give Hearst an excuse to just fire staff or police how LGBTQ plus employees express themselves in online spaces. And I'm also taking particular issue with a part of the policy that urge employees to report their co-workers, specifically calling that a frighteningly authoritarian flourish. And so this is going to

be an interesting situation to watch for two reasons. One, because it's just interesting by itself, but also two, it's going to be interesting if other media companies or other public facing businesses take similar actions. Right, because Hearst isn't the only entity cracking down on this right now. With, for example, the editor of the magazine Artform being fired last month after his magazine published a letter supporting Palestinians. And you also had an award-winning New York Times magazine writer resigning last week

after she violated the publisher's policies by signing an open letter about the conflict. And then, oh my God, guys, huge news. I'm gonna be able to see Beyond the Spider-Verse before I die. I guess the other way to describe this story is that after 118 days, the actor strike is finally over, with this notably being the longest actor's strike against film and TV studios in the industry's history. And as of 12.01 a.m. today, Hollywood can finally

come back, with SAG releasing a statement last night saying its negotiating committee voted unanimously to approve a tentative deal with the studios, and explaining, in a contract valued at over $1 billion, we have achieved a deal of extraordinary scope that includes above-pattern minimum compensation increases, unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI, and, for the first time, establishes a streaming participation bonus. Now, we won't get the full details of the deal

until it's reviewed by SAG's national board, but that review will likely happen as soon as tomorrow. And also, with this, we saw SAG closing its statement by thanking its union siblings, especially the WGEA, for their solidarity at this time, as well as its members for their dedication throughout this. And this is obviously really welcome news, especially because negotiations between SAG and the studios

were kind of touch and go for a while, with residuals in AI being major points of friction. So while we wait for the details, reports have suggested that both sides had to kind of meet in the middle on those fronts. And of course, remember, union members will eventually have to vote on it themselves before anything is official.

But still, in the meantime, actors can now go back to work. And I imagine everyone's going back to work pretty fucking fast because, of course, there are now a lot of concerns around release schedules, late 2023 and, of course, 2024, especially with certain projects like the Wicked movie. That project starring names like Ariana Grande, right? There's just tons of buzz around it. And after news of the deal, director John M. Chu tweeted yesterday, let's get back to work. That is reportedly being split into two parts, but a big thing is that reportedly the strike actually stopped them from wrapping. They were just a few days away. And reportedly they weren't alone there with Beetlejuice 2 having two days left of filming before actors headed to the picket lines. That, starring the

likes of Michael Keaton and Jenna Ortega, another highly anticipated movie, but potentially they could now be filming as soon as this week. And that speed makes sense because during the strike, so much money has been lost. But the LA Times saying that early estimates indicate that both the actors and the writers strike cost the state's economy a whopping $6 billion and further adding, as for the psychological effects, those may be incalculable. How many talented people did the entertainment industry lose when the studios seem to go out of their way to make it clear that writers and actors, and by extension, everyone else who makes film and television, were not worth the trouble of coming up with a fair deal in time to avoid the strikes. But again, overall fantastic news. And hopefully all of this doesn't just

happen again in three years. And then, y'all, dare I say I have found the best razor I have ever used. And of all things, it is from a family owned aerospace parts manufacturer, like for the International Space Station and the Mars Rover. And this is a key thing. I've actually been using them for long before they were a sponsor of the show. So thank you, Henson Shaving, for giving me the best shave I have ever had. Today doesn't count. When I'm going into the weekend, I like to let it grow for a second. Sometimes I like to look trashy. Henson Shaving razors are ridiculously well-built and have given me the closest shave I've ever had in my life. And with no nicks or cuts. Razor blades are like diving boards. The

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Just make sure to add them to your cart. That's 100 free blades when you head to H-E-N-S-O-N-S-H-A V-I-N-G dot com slash DeFranco. And you use code DeFranco. And then I'm about to give you the news before it's news. Your winter at times may suck incredibly. And not just because of seasonal depression or it's dark at five o'clock. It's so stupid. But specifically today, I'm talking about how thousands upon thousands of people in the U.S. are currently at risk of losing power this winter.

And we got to talk about it. Because over the summer, we spent a lot of time talking about Texas and how their power grid couldn't handle the heat. But now the power problems, spent a lot of time talking about Texas and how their power grid couldn't handle the heat. But now, the power problems, they go beyond Texas, stretching all the way up to even the Canadian border. And according to a new report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation,

an expansive part of the power grid stretching across the U.S. is not adequately prepared for harsh winter conditions. With Nurk specifically saying in the report, much of North America is at an elevated risk of insufficient energy supplies this winter and is highly exposed to risks of energy emergencies in extreme winter conditions. With John Mora, the director of reliability assessment and performance analysis at NERC, adding,

We've seen the system become more vulnerable to winter conditions. For decades, the system has been built and planned around summer peaks. And while this problem is not limited to just one area of the U.S., the NERC warned that Texas is at a higher risk of energy shortages this year compared to last year because it's not bringing in enough power to meet growing demand. So that's on top of their existing infrastructure not being weatherized to handle the coming winter. And as far as the broader problem, the report went on to say that the regional grid serving 15 states from Arkansas to Wyoming, it'll be operating with significantly lower backup energy reserves this year. And there, like in Texas, we can thank increasing energy demand for that along with power plans going offline. One of the big key things here is while there are likely enough resources to make it through a normal winter, in the case of a bad

storm or prolonged cold snaps, there could be what the NERC calls energy emergencies or blackouts. Then moving east, New England is struggling with their natural gas infrastructure, which poses a threat coming this winter. You have a number of mid-Atlantic and southeastern states seeing increases in demand for energy, while their power levels have just remained about the same as last year when winter storm Elliott led to serious energy problems in the area. And now with this, one of the biggest concerns is the potential for natural gas disruptions because power plants and infrastructure that delivers fuel to those power plants can be destabilized by extreme cold and then adding renewable energy onto the grid it presents its

own problems with nurk officials pointing to the installation of solar panels in texas right and saying they will do little to actually help the problem because demand for energy peaks after sundown so ultimately that report concluded that the power grid operators are struggling to bring on the new generation of equipment and weatherize it at a pace with increased demand and more extreme weather. And so with that, the NERC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which also contributed to the report, called upon both federal and state lawmakers to establish reliability rules for natural gas infrastructure covering cold weather preparedness, regional coordination, and critical infrastructure. But also, in the meantime, you know, we know how good lawmakers are at doing their damn job. So buckle up and be prepared, because while we hope

for the best, you need to be prepared for the worst. And then it looks like Gazans are actually getting some relief, although really only for a second. According to the White House, Israel agreed to a four-hour ceasefire that'll be focused on northern Gaza, which is where the fighting is heaviest right now. And on top of that, the U.S. has said that it secured a safe passage for civilians to flee the area. And this being the second such small window for Gazans to flee, with the IDF announcing a six-hour one earlier in the day. And actually, just as I was filming, we got the news that this should be a daily thing. So that's at least something. And while we're seeing this small amount of relief for Gazans stuck between Hamas and Israeli forces,

it also hasn't really stopped the calls for a more broad ceasefire. For example, French President Emmanuel Macron saying at a Paris humanitarian summit that the protection of civilians is not negotiable. And you also have the U.S. believed to be working with Qatar on an up to three-day ceasefire deal. However, important thing, it seems unlikely that Israel will accept such a deal. For like 12 hours, it was reported that a five-day ceasefire was negotiated in exchange for freeing 50 hostages. It's not about an hour before we started our workday here, we got news that Israeli sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he rejected such a deal. And the sad and horrifying reality is that without a longer ceasefire,

civilian deaths will continue to rise. So far, nearly 11,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Gaza, with about 4,400 of them being children. And this is the Israeli toll has continued to stay static at 1,400 killed, despite the fact that we know that they're not reporting military deaths due to the operations in Gaza. But also, with this outside of Israel and Palestine itself, there are serious concerns that the war could spread,

which is a sentiment that was echoed by UNAid Chief Martin Griffiths, who warned that it was, quote, wildfire that could completely consume the entire region. We've already been seeing these sparks for weeks now, as Iranian-backed militias continue to target Israel itself, as well as U.S. bases all across the region. I mean, the U.S. and Israel have both intercepted multiple massive Houthi missiles from Yemen. And then yesterday, they actually shot down a large U.S. drone over international waters in the Red Sea, according to the Department of Defense, although they claim that it was over territorial waters that they control. Elsewhere, such as in Iraq and Syria, U.S. bases have been hit by at least 40 attacks since October 17th. Though there, I don't know if anyone told those groups, but attacking U.S. assets in the region is a great way to get missiles headed your way, which is why it wasn't surprising to hear that the U.S. struck multiple groups across Syria and Iraq in particular. With U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin saying of these strikes, this precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in

Iraq and Syria by IRGC Quds Force affiliates. The president has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today's actions to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests. And the real risk of all these little strikes is that the U.S. is not just placing the blame on them, with a senior defense official saying, we hold Iran accountable for these attacks, not just the militia groups. is not just placing the blame on them, with a senior defense official saying, we hold Iran accountable for these attacks, not just the militia groups. And of course, with all this, there's the rise of non-military violence

that we need to worry about. Things like hate crimes across the world. But for now, we'll have to wait to see how a lot of this continues to play out. And of course, you know, this is still a developing situation. So we'll obviously have our eyes on it. And then, now this is crazy.

A mother reported her son missing back in March, and the police actually kept the truth about his death from her for months and buried him in a pauper's field. Like, that is the reality for this mom in Mississippi. And we now know about it thanks to NBC News piecing together the account of this missing man and the story about how his family finally found him buried unceremoniously. Right, so this is 37-year-old Dexter Wade, and he went missing back in March.

Right, so Dexter grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, and he started getting into trouble in his teens, running with a rough crowd who did drugs and stole cars. And eventually, Dexter found himself in prison twice. You then saw him released in 2017. And according to his mother, Betterston Wade, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. But still, she says he was a doting father to his two daughters and stayed on good terms with their mother. He spent most of his days at home cleaning and maintaining the yard. He'd hand out food to the homeless, give the local kids homemade popsicles, and Betterston said that he wasn't often away from home for more than a day

or two without calling. But then, on March 5th, Dexter and his mother got into an argument over a broken window, and he left with a friend. Within days going by and nobody hearing from him, while Betterston weighed the idea of calling the police. But very notably, her family didn't have a good relationship with the Jackson cops, because they filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officers for excessive force in attempting to cover up the death of Betterston's 62-year-old brother in 2019, with him dying after an officer slammed him into the ground, and the family is currently working through a legal battle. But on March 14th, after still not hearing anything from Dexter, Betterston finally reported her son missing. She says an investigator came to her house to take a statement. She sent them an email

with a photo of Dexter, and two days later, she sent another picture to a different officer and found that the initial investigator had misspelled Dexter's name on the report. So she called them for weeks, asking for updates, asking them to put his picture on television. She also hunted for him on her own, searching abandoned houses, tracking down his friends, regularly posting his picture on social media, asking for him to come home or for anyone to share any information about his location. And all the while, Betterston kept calling the police about her son. And shortly after the lead investigator retired back in August, his replacement called to say they had actually found Dexter. They're telling Betterston they would be sending an officer to her home,

so she knew that her son was dead. And as it turns out, on March 5th, about 30 minutes after Dexter walked out of his mother's house, he was crossing Interstate 55 on foot, and he was hit by a Jackson Police SUV driven by an off-duty corporal. Now, the corporal was left unscathed, but Dexter suffered severe injuries, including to his head, and his death was ruled accidental. And when an investigator from the county coroner's office showed up on the scene, they didn't find ID on Dexter,

but they did find a bottle of prescription medication in his pocket with his name on it. And three days later, the investigator, LeGrand Elliott, found Betterston's name as Dexter's next of kin. Now, Elliott says he got Betterston's number and left a voicemail, but just never heard back. But she says she doesn't remember ever receiving a call and couldn't access her phone records to check. Elliot then confirmed Dexter's identity on March 9th and said that he passed on what he found at the Jackson Police Department's accident investigation squad, so they could notify Dexter's family of his death. The day after Betterston reported Dexter missing, Elliot followed up with the police department and received no updates. And that's what he heard again and again when he called to follow up on Dexter's case every few weeks. Then on March 31st, the coroner's office sent a request to the Hines County Board of Supervisors for approval to bury Dexter in a pauperous field at the Hines County Penal Farm.

And a few days later, that request was approved. So on July 14th, after no one claimed his body, Dexter was buried in a field among other unclaimed remains. All the while, remember, Bedderston and the rest of Dexter's family kept searching for him, begging the police department for any updates. When the officer finally showed up to this mom's door in August, she was put into contact with Elliot, who ended up telling her that he had known Dexter's identity since the day that he died and that he passed that information on to the police. He was also the one to tell her about Dexter's burial, which she then had to pay a $250 fee to claim her son's body. But they're then having to spend several more weeks trying to find exactly where he was buried and how to get there. But then finally, on a Tuesday in October,

this mom finally got to pull up to the gates of Hyde's County Penal Farm, driving down a bumpy road through a forest, passing countless clearings littered with small signposts. And then finally, they pulled up to the last clearing and walked up to a grave marked 672, where Dexter was buried. And so she stood by her son's unnamed grave and she cried, still confused as to why she wasn't told for so long about her son's death and whether this was a vendetta by the police department for her family's lawsuit regarding her brother's death. So now she and the rest of Dexter's family are figuring out how to get him into a proper grave where his name can be read by all. And for their part, the Jackson Police Department has said that they did not intentionally harm Dexter or his family. With a

spokesperson saying in an interview, there was miscommunication, but there was no malicious intent anywhere in this whole situation. But as far as who believes what there, I'll leave that up to you. And actually with that, I'll pass the question. What are your thoughts here? And then, I don't know about you, but to me, privacy is huge when it comes to me and my family. And I say that with being on YouTube actually having nothing to do with it. All of us are at risk of having our data breached by third parties who spend their time

trying to do just that, steal our information. Thanks to the sponsor of today's show, Incogni, they've brought me some peace of mind. When I signed up, I immediately saw how many data brokers had my information, and I was kind of fucking shocked and appalled. I felt kind of violated. But then, I also saw within a week, Incogni had already started to reach out and

is having them scrubbed out as they speak to you. I mean, with as little as a phone number, old address, or a name to start them off, complete strangers can buy records containing an alarming amount of your sensitive information. But Incogni can automatically remove your personal data from these kinds of websites. So if you're privacy conscious or just don't like the idea of a random finding out where you live or your work, it just makes sense to take advantage of a service that keeps this information private. So just go to incogni.com slash DeFranco and don't forget to use code DeFranco to get 60% off. That's incogni.com slash DeFranco and use code DeFranco to take your personal data off the market. And then human beings are nasty, messy creatures. And understand I include myself in that. It's a point of shame

for me, but human beings just leave shit around. And when talking about astronauts, I mean that literally. Like when they went to the moon, right, for the Apollo missions, they actually left behind 96 bags of human poop, pee, vomit, and other waste. And they're still up there possibly teeming with microbial ecosystems, right? Because the men who led humanity into the space age also had plastic bags wrapped around their butts with adhesive tape. And they just dumped that shit on the ground before they left. And now, well, there's a high likelihood that any life in those bags are dead from 50 years of exposure to the moon's harsh conditions many scientists actually want to bring that shit back from our next lunar landing and study them to see if anything survived but also very notably poop aside there is far more trash

zero scientific value littering the lunar surface we're talking rocket boosters orbiters rovers modules golf balls boots cameras backpacks blankets towels hammers tongs rake shovels wet wipes food packaging and much more that list, while it sounds long, is also expected to grow as up to 100 lunar missions are planned in the next decade by governments and private companies. And while, yeah, the pollution on the moon's surface could become a nuisance in the future, the more immediate problem is all the garbage that we're leaving between the moon and the Earth. Because that space junk includes everything from entire rocket stages and dead satellites to stray nuts and bolts and flecks of paint.

The European Space Agency estimating that near-Earth space is cluttered with some 36,000 pieces of debris larger than 10 centimeters. And that's in addition to a million pieces between 1 and 10 centimeters and 130 million bits smaller than 1 centimeter. And I know it's easy to think like, okay, a few centimeters, who cares? That's nothing. Well, one, don't size. Shame it's 2023, y'all. And two, the size matters less than the speed here, right? Because you have to consider how fast orbital velocity is. Think of it like a gun and a bullet. Bullets in general are pretty small. And when we're talking about space and space junk, even the tiniest piece of debris traveling at over 17,000 miles per hour, 10 times

faster than a bullet, it can puncture a space suit or damage a sensitive piece of equipment. And very unfortunately with that, we cannot track any of the smallest fragments which make up most of the debris. So there's actually no way to avoid getting hit by them without warning. So then the more debris there is, the more likely some pieces are to crash into other pieces, breaking them into clouds of even smaller pieces that in turn crash into others.

Right, and all of that creating a chain reaction experts call the Kessler syndrome. And while it's a general concern, also more specifically that endangers astronauts on the ISS, who notably with this problem had to take cover in a spacecraft dock with a station while debris flew by in 2021. And all of that also posing a threat to all the functioning satellites that make GPS possible, provide internet access, and monitor the climate and agriculture. But also, as the space economy

expands and low Earth orbit gets crowded, those satellites themselves may become an issue. Right, because there are nearly 8,000 satellites, both dead and alive, within several hundred miles of the Earth right now. And according to one estimate, that number could actually grow to as much as several hundred thousand by 2027. And a chunk of those coming from mega constellations or vast networks of satellites meant to provide continuous coverage of the Earth, like a web. You know, the big ones right now are SpaceX's Starlink, Amazon's Kuiper OneWeb, and China's envisioned Guowang system. And there, Starlink in particular getting a lot of complaints from astronomers who say that its satellites are leaving bright streaks across their telescopes telescopes images of space. But the problem that most

experts are worrying about with this is the congestion and risk of collision that these things cause. I mean, just talking about Starlink, Starlink satellites reportedly performed more than 25,000 maneuvers to avoid potential collisions with other spacecraft and debris during just the six months ending back in May, which to give you some context and a comparison, that is double the number of avoidance maneuvers during the previous six months period. And keep in mind, SpaceX has only put up a little over 10% of the more than 40,000 satellites it plans to deploy. And the key thing here is the increase in maneuvers is exponential, not linear, meaning that as we put up more and more stuff up there, the likelihood of a collision doesn't just increase, it increases faster and faster. So according to astronautics

expert Hugh Lewis, by 2028, Starlink will have to maneuver about a million times every half year, which among other things could end up depleting the satellite's fuel supply before their five-year lifetimes are up. Now, with this, thankfully, at their altitude, Starlink satellites should naturally fall back to Earth pretty soon after they die, because atmospheric drag pulls them down. But then that could just pump a steady stream of vaporized metals into the stratospheres as they burn up in reentry, which notably, as a recent study showed, could potentially affect the Earth's climate, similar to how sulfuric particles do. With about 10% of sulfuric acid particles right now containing trace amounts of metals from spacecraft, but that could also rise to as much as 50%. And one day, the authors here warned that

aerosols linked to space debris could actually outnumber particles produced by meteors naturally burning up. And in addition to that, the higher that you go in altitude, the longer it takes for things to naturally fall back down, and anything above 600 miles just sits there. And so in an attempt to fix that, you have satellite operators like OneWeb pledging to leave enough fuel in each craft for it to push itself up or down out of popular orbits. But with that, there's always the possibility of technical malfunctions, which we've actually seen before.

Right, in 2012, for example, the European Space Agency failed to remove its 8.8 ton Earth observation satellite from orbit. It's now just one of the most dangerous pieces of space debris out there, and it'll be flying around up there for centuries. And so that's something to consider as you have many different countries

that are geopolitical rivals, not to mention a whole economy of private actors with their own profit motives just throwing tons of shit into orbit. And with that, it's easy to see why experts are ringing the alarm about the sustainability of space. With, for example, Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell putting it in simpler terms, saying it's going to be like an interstate highway at rush hour in a snowstorm with everyone driving much too fast, except there are multiple interstate highways crossing each other with no stoplights. But there's also a question of can that change, right? Getting some kind of space traffic management system

into place will require international cooperation, and relations between the US, Russia, and China have only grown colder. Plus, you have many critics arguing here that the current legal frameworks governing space are just out of date. I mean, you have the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, but that just says no one country

can own any part of the moon, and that celestial bodies should only be used for peaceful purposes. But, you know, that says nothing about companies or private individuals, and either way, if no one owns the moon, no one is responsible for cleaning it up either. Then, I mean, you also have the 1979 Moon Agreement, declaring that the moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of humanity. But, you know, a key thing there, the United States, China, and Russia never actually signed it. Nor have Russia and China signed the U.S.-led Artemis Accords, which seek to establish similar norms. But all that said, we have at least seen some progress within what we can control, right? Last year, the FCC proposed a rule requiring satellite operators to dispose of their assets within five

years of completing their mission. Last month, we actually saw the agency fine a company for violating its anti-debris rules for the first time ever. With that happening after Dish Network failed to properly de-orbit one of its satellites, though, the fine was only $150,000, right? So with that, if you're gonna try and force these companies to actually do the right thing, the penalties, they just have to be massive. Some would say maybe almost even ridiculous. Because I mean, $150,000 for some of these companies,

it's probably negligible. But with this concerning and fascinating situation, in the meantime, as we wait to see how everything develops, I'd love to know your thoughts here. Let me know what you're thinking in those comments down below. And then let's talk about yesterday today where we take a look back at yesterday's show.

We dive into those comments to see what y'all were saying. Your thoughts on stories, your opinions, your feelings, sometimes your experiences connected to them. And on yesterday's show, which YouTube ended up suppressing and put a content warning on, because one line in a 25 and a half minute video mentioned something that they were not a fan of. You know, we're commenting on a number of things, starting with

Mr. Beast. Regarding that whole so-called scandal, you had some saying, every day we get closer to if someone cured cancer, there would still be people who complain becoming a reality. Others sharing from Kenya, I appreciate what Mr. Beast did, and I'm sure all the people who are directly benefiting from the wells are even more grateful. I'm wondering, I mean, why do simple things seem to be so difficult to get done by the people who are in power? I was going on to claim and say as a Nigerian who lives in Nigeria, if people really cared about the Mr. Beast thing, they would cancel the corrupt politicians that are running our countries under the ground. But no, they'll cancel Mr. Beast for some weird ego boost moral grandstanding bullshit. There are also some really

detailed takes on it. One of y'all saying, and a lot of people agreeing with the take, I think John and Hank Green's take on philanthropy with needing to pick a thing and stay with it to make long systemic change is an amazing way to keep up with the sustainability crux of crisis donating, jumping from cause to cause, natural disaster to natural disaster. The work they're doing alongside partners in health in Sierra Leone to decrease the maternal death rate in pregnancies is years in the making and in stemically improving the area. Local people are being trained and skilled labor to build the hospital that they help fund. It's just happy feels all around. Then, on the story that ended up getting yesterday's show suppressed, y'all said things like qualified immunity needs to be federally banned. Authorities

clearly cannot be trusted with the responsibility. Others saying what happened to those poor inmates made my jaw drop. The sheer inhumanity of the guards makes me sick. Qualified immunity needs to go. I don't often comment on videos, but Florida prison guards are unbelievably cruel. Some also just saying simply, there needs to be accountability when power is given. But that is where your daily dive into the news is going to end. Though for more news you need to know, like yesterday's suppressed show, you can click or tap right here to watch those, or I got links in the description. And of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco.

You've just been filled in. I love yo faces, and I'll see you next time.