The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.13 Billie Eilish is Wrong, Israel-Hamas War Hospital Crisis Gets Worse, Wild Glass Scams & Today’s News

Episode Date: November 13, 2023

Start your free trial today: http://www.Squarespace.com/Phil  & enter offer code “Phil” to get 10% off your first purchase!  https://wakeandmakecoffee.com We Just RESTOCKED! Up to 50% OFF Your First Bag! Catch up on our latest PDS: https://youtu.be/z9kNIv89x6g?si=hwYhs5l4RprFf1ra –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Billie Eilish Discusses Body Shaming 03:02 - FL Glass Repair Shops and Lawyers Exploiting Legal Loopholes for Profit 05:46 - Government Days Away From Shutdown 08:44 - Sponsored by Squarespace 09:28 - More Democrats to Follow Joe Manchin Out the Door 12:33 - Concerns Mount as Israel Approaches Hospitals in Gaza 18:01 - Your Thoughts on Thursday’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 #BillieEilish #Gaza ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're talking about the war on bodies and shaming, thanks to Billie Eilish. And this one hit a little at home for me. We're days away from a catastrophic government shutdown just in time for Thanksgiving travel. How you're getting screwed over because people are scamming car insurance companies. And the Israel-Hamas war is playing out at more hospitals in Gaza, with patients getting caught in the crossfire. 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 hit that like button and let's jump into it. Starting with, let's talk about this Billie Eilish situation. It's a little

bit entertainment, societal drama, and this time it all stems from this Variety article titled, Billie Eilish was made for this. Being a woman is just such a war forever. And adding in the piece, especially being a young woman in the public eye is really unfair. Well, there's a number of things talked about in the piece. There's this section that has gotten a lot of attention. She's talking about how she's been talked about and seen as she's been growing up, and there's a number of things talked about in the piece. There's this section that has gotten a lot of attention. She's talking about how she's been talked about and seen as she's been growing up. And there's this bit there where she says, I have big boobs. I've had big boobs since I was nine years old. And that's just the way I am. That's how I look. With Variety saying that she became exasperated as she recalled the media frenzy when she first dared to wear a

tank top in public at age 16. And Eilish going on to say you wear something that's at all revealing and everyone's like, oh, but you didn't want people to sexualize you. With that saying to the trolls, you can suck my ass. I'm literally a being that is sexual sometimes. Fuck you. But then also Variety saying she went off into a rant. With Eilish reportedly saying, nobody ever says a thing about men's bodies. If you're muscular, cool.

If you're not, cool. If you're real thin, cool. If you have a dad bod, cool. If you're pudgy, love it. Everybody's happy with it. You know why? Because girls are nice. They don't give a fuck because we see people for who they are.

And there, I gotta say, uh, no. I'm not gonna go as far as to say Billie Eilish is lying here, but she is, uh, I think wildly misinformed. Everyone is capable of body shaming. Now, before I go on, I want to preface it all by saying I am in no way trying to make a one-to-one comparison to what women deal with on a daily basis. The way women's bodies are perceived, discussed, and even weaponized on a daily basis is such a different thing. And the sexualization aspect that Billy was talking about is mostly a uniquely women's issue, no doubt.

And honestly, I probably would lose my fucking mind if I was subjected to that. But then, to go as far as to say women don't care about men's bodies, they just like you for you. That is just not true. And I say this as someone whose body has been wildly different over the years.

Currently, I am probably in the best shape I've ever been in, except maybe around the time I got married. And then I've also had a lot of weight on me. And the first thing I can tell you, the way a majority of people, including women, treat you is drastically different. And for anyone else out there who has lost a lot of weight, you know what I'm talking about. It is enough to almost make you fucking hate everybody because you're like, I'm the same person as i was at just a different weight and then just to go a little further because obviously weight is just one aspect have you ever fucking seen the open contempt short guys get i gotta stand up for a second for my short kings out there i'm just gonna leave it at those two for now because like this is not like an incel rallying cry it's like oh he's one of us all women

are that's not what this is rather what i hope i'm getting across is I think that it does a disservice to the argument and conversation around the way people talk about everyone's bodies, women's bodies, to just dismiss anything that men go through. But, you know, that is a story that set things off online, some of my personal opinions on it. And of course, now I'll pass the question off to you, whether you agree or you disagree with me, what are your thoughts here? And then this whole scheme that was just exposed is so interesting. So there's this network of auto glass repair shops and lawyers who are raking in the money by exploiting legal loopholes

and screwing over insurance companies, which I will say, I am not gonna ask you to feel bad for massive insurance companies. But we also need to talk about the ripple effects of this whole scheme and how it could be disastrous for Florida's residents. Okay, here's how it works. Auto glass shops will offer car owners

a free windshield replacement. And in some cases, they even offer freebies to entice owners to agree, like gift cards or steak dinner, sometimes worth as much as $200. They then get the signature from the car owner, which transfers the assignment of benefits to the auto glass company

and allows the company to sue in their name, with them then repairing the glass and sending an outrageously high bill to the insurance companies. When the insurance denies or pays only part of the claim, lawyers will then sue them for payment and legal fees. And a key thing, often lumping together hundreds of these cases and getting the insurance company to settle for a huge sum,

because it ends up being cheaper for the insurance company than litigating each one separately, even if some of the cases are winnable. And while here, the total cost of the claims made were unknown, those working to shut the loopholes put it in the tens of millions of dollars per year. And very notably, this tactic happens almost exclusively in Florida, where there have been more than 46,000 auto glass lawsuits this year alone, according to the Department of Financial Services. And in many cases, those who are having lawsuits filed in their name have no idea.

And if their insurance company is forced to pay out, all those people could see some steep repercussions. With Mark Friedlander, director of communications for the Insurance Information Institute, saying, Not only will it most likely lead to a higher rate at their next renewal date, but it has the potential to generate a non-renewal at the end of their current policy period. But also beyond the effect that these specific people can feel, there could be wider consequences. Because while car insurance rates across the country are already rising, nowhere is it felt more than Florida, where the average premium is $2,560, the highest in the country. I mean, that premium is 88% higher than just 10

years ago. You know, usually insurance companies cite hurricanes and uninsured drivers as the reasons for raising rates, and they don't often mention passing off litigation costs onto their customers. But advocate groups say the, quote, unscrupulous auto glass shops and lawyers are a leading factor behind the rising costs of insurance in Florida.

Now, also, with this, obviously insurance companies aren't exactly fond of having their money squeezed from their wallets, which is why when these auto glass lawsuits spiked in 2019, a collection of insurance groups started calling for changes to the state's laws, an initiative called Fix the Cracks. And since then, the initiative has actually helped pass two laws intending on closing those loopholes.

One of which actually makes offering gifts or perks in exchange for services illegal. And it also actually prohibits the transfer of assignment of benefits or policies reissued or renewed after May of 2023. But that grace period still leaves a 6-12 month gap for lawyers to file as many lawsuits as possible before existing policies are renewed. And so in the meantime, these suits have just continued to roll in. But for now, we're gonna have to wait to see what happens when that grace period ends. Though I don't think that there's gonna be a happy ending for like all consumers. Like I don't predict the insurance companies to go, well, that's done. Let's lower the rates for everybody and make less money. But time will tell. And of course, as often as the case, I'd love to be wrong there. But in the meantime, I'd also love

to hear from you if you had any experience with this as well, or just what your thoughts are in general. And then it's here, as promised, it is finally time. We are less than a week from the government possibly shutting down the November 17th deadline. But notably over the weekend, we saw our new house speaker, Mike Johnson, who is definitely a real person and not an amalgamation of anti-abortion ads and January 6th minimalism turned into a person, introducing his new plan to keep the government open. Though notably here, Speaker Johnson's proposal is just a temporary solution to keep the government open, right? So it's known as a stopgap measure. And while a stopgap is a common practice that allows them to keep the government open so lawmakers

actually have the time to hash out spending details, Johnson's actual plan here is unusual because it's a two-step bill, one that sets two different deadlines by which Congress had to agree to fund certain parts of the government, right? And that, instead of just having them agree to fund the whole government all at once in one sitting. And specifically here, the stopgap forces Congress to first deal with less controversial areas like military construction, veteran benefits, transportation, housing, agriculture, the FDA, and energy. With the goal being to fund those areas until January 19th. And then funding for all other federal operations, including major areas like defense, those will be extended until February 2nd. But a key thing is that right now, it remains to be seen if that plan actually has enough support. I mean, Johnson's proposal at least seems to be aimed at uniting both the far

right and more moderate factions of his messy, chaotic party. It includes different funding deadlines, which is what the hardliners wanted. But it's also a clean bill that leaves out the more controversial measures pushed by the far right, like steep budget cuts. And also, very notably here, it excludes other priorities like border security funding and aid for Ukraine and Israel. Though, in his attempt to keep everyone happy, Johnson has, of course, pissed off the far right. With now numerous top members from that faction coming out and saying they oppose this proposal. Meaning that Johnson will almost certainly need the support of some Democrats if he wants to pass this stopgap in the narrowly controlled House. Though on that front, House Democrats have been relatively quiet. And some

saying that lack of criticism could signal that they could be open to passing a stopgap. But at the same time, it's believed they don't want to lose their negotiating leverage on key issues like aid to Israel and Ukraine. While we've seen some Democrats in the Senate more directly indicating they are open to this plan, others have condemned the two-step funding for being messy and unnecessary. With House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling this idea ridiculous last week before Johnson officially unveiled his proposal. And a very big thing, this was also echoed by the White House, which mocked Johnson's plan, calling it unserious and accusing the GOP of just wasting time. Though on the note of time, that is key because it's not just a few days away. There is a fear out there of just how disastrous this shutdown could be ahead of the holidays.

Because I mean, just one aspect of this is that if the government shuts down, 3.5 million federal workers will be forced to go without pay. And that includes 50,000 airport security officers and 13,000 air traffic controllers who will still be forced to go into work. And that could create a huge dumpster fire ahead of Thanksgiving. I mean, some of the busiest travel days of the entire year with around 4.7 million people expected to fly over the five-day period. I mean, we're talking about the most in almost two decades. And also, you know, I say those airport workers would technically be forced to come in, but you might remember during the last shutdown in 2019, massive numbers of workers just happened to call in sick as the shutdown dragged on. And with that, we saw huge lines and delays at airports nationwide. I mean, that's just one

sector of the economy that's going to be impacted. Of course, the one not impacted are the members of Congress who will still get their paychecks, even as their famously underpaid staffers don't. And so for now, the dumpster fire just rages on and we'll keep our eyes on it. And then for any of you focused on getting your business off the ground, creating a place to share your homemade goods or even a personal blog, I got a great solution for you. And it comes from and I want to thank the fantastic sponsor of today's show, Squarespace. And I've been partnering with Squarespace for years now. And I have to say it is just so easy. There's nothing to install, patch or update ever. And creating a beautiful website with Squarespace's fluid engine is so easy. You just drag things where you like no coding necessary. And if you need a starting point, Squarespace has

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And while there's in no way just one issue, we're gonna start with one of the most significant, which is the recent announcement from Joe Manchin, or the so-called Democrat senator for West Virginia who said in a video on social media that he will not be seeking his seat again next year. And that is absolutely massive because while yes, while yes,

while many, when they hear Joe Manchin and Democrat mentioned in the same sentence, their eyes roll back in their head so far, they're at risk of getting stuck. He was at least in name and on some policies, a Democrat, which gave them a majority. And one of the key things with Manchin is that he represents a very solidly red state. I mean, he is literally the state's only Democrat

in statewide office. So his decision to resign makes it pretty damn clear that a Republican's gonna get elected, which seriously threatens Democrats already tenuous 5149 control of the Senate. And while some might say, hey, if everything else stayed the same, you still have a 50-50 split in the Senate. You got VP Harris. But I mean, there's no guarantees. I mean, I understand that we're a little less than a year away and numbers can drastically change. But have you seen Biden's numbers? And while, hey, I very much believe that voters decide elections, not polls, to disregard them would be a disastrous mistake. Going back to the Senate,

there is no guarantee that everything else would remain the same. I mean, Senate Dems are already looking at an absolutely brutal map heading into 2024. They have 23 seats to defend compared to Republicans who have just 10. Some of those 23 seats are incumbents in red and purple states who are seriously vulnerable to losing. All right, so Manchin's decision there makes West Virginia, which was already expected to be an incredibly tough case, almost impossible. Because the key thing about elections is that incumbents usually have a massive leg up on the competitors. They have the name recognition, institutional backing, meaning they'll almost always out-raise opponents because donors are more willing to bet on a more likely winner. So this just opens up the playing field. And also at the same time, we're seeing

movement in the House. I mean, just today we saw Representative Abigail Spanberger announcing that she is not seeking re-election for her seat representing Virginia's 7th District and will instead run for governor. And that's especially significant because Spanberger's district is very competitive and conservatively. So that seat, which is imperative to Democrats' chances at reclaiming the House, could very easily be scooped up by a Republican candidate. And her announcement comes just one day after another Democrat in the House announced their departure, though, for very different reasons. And that member being Representative Brian Higgins, who said that he will leave the House in February because he just, he's done. He's over it. Saying

that after nearly 20 years in Congress, he can't even stomach finishing his term because the chamber is so dysfunctional. Like, he's genuinely leaving in February. Though notably, with Higgins, his district is in upstate New York, and it's pretty heavily blue. So that really just highlights how fucking miserable and dysfunctional the government is right now, rather than, like, a problem for Dems there. And actually, all in all, as of today, a total of 31 members of Congress have said that they will not run for re-election in 2024. But that including seven senators, five Democrats and two Republicans and 24 members of the House. So of those 24, 14 are running for other office. With most of these folks, largely Democrats, running for those seats vacated by those seven senators. While the other 10 representatives who

are equal parts Democrats and Republicans are just leaving the House altogether. So yeah, just, you know, the lead up into another one of those most important elections of our lifetime things. Again, cool, fun. Though if I can end on a constant, I would say regardless of the changes, regardless of the polling, when it comes time, just vote. Polls don't decide elections.

Voters do. Because the only guarantee I'll give you is you will not get closer to the world you want to see by not voting because you are overconfident it's going to go your way anyway, nor if you're doom and gloomy and you're like, it could never go our way. Knowledge is just half the battle. The other half is action. And then, so as always, coming out of the weekend, it means that there are a ton of updates on the war between Israel and Hamas. And with that, I'm going to try and keep this lean because there's a lot to get through. So first off, the actual war on the ground continues to grind on,

with Israel making consistent headway into Gaza City. And that, of course, leading to more and more deaths. But the biggest concern for many are the region's hospitals. According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Israel has attacked Al-Quds Hospital, tweeting, Israeli tanks and military stationed near Al-Quds Hospital from all directions. Bombardment is ongoing. We had Israel claiming that Hamas fired on its soldiers from inside the hospital,

and, quote, During the exchange of fired on its soldiers from inside the hospital and quote, During the exchange of fire, civilians were seen leaving the hospital building and other terrorists who came out of adjacent buildings hid among them and joined the attempted attack. Al-Quds is hardly the only hospital where fighting is taking place. At al-Shifa hospital, Gaza's largest, there is extremely intense fighting that has led to thousands seeking treatment and shelter there to flee. Which I mean, that alone has led to many innocent people dying despite Israel claiming that it provides safe corridors for people to flee. Which, I mean, that alone has led to many innocent people dying, despite Israel claiming that it provides safe corridors for people to flee. With people saying things like, imagine being told an area is safe when you can hear and see the fighting going on right next to it. But regardless, gunfire is hardly the only problem at the hospital. There's also a massive fuel shortage. But since October 7th, fuel supplies to Gaza have been cut off, and the aid convoys

making their way to the south of the region haven't included any. Hamas health officials at the hospital saying that at least 32 patients, including three premature babies, have died over the past three days because of lack of fuel. They're expected to be many more deaths as the life-saving machines that require fuel slowly run out. And that number could be in the hundreds, as according to the World Health Organization, there are between 600 and 650 patients at Shifa, not to mention the nearly 2,000 healthcare workers and displaced people seeking shelter there. Now, for its part, Israel claims that it has tried to allow 300 liters of fuel into Shifa, but saying Hamas blocked it. And all of this as Israeli forces continue to advance on the hospital, which of course just increases the chances of civilian deaths.

Now also here, it does need to be noted that it doesn't seem like Hamas is firing from the hospital, whereas Israel claimed was the case for Al-Quds. However, the IDF has long, long claimed that Hamas has used Shifa as a prime place to hide bunkers by placing massive tunnels under the hospital. And it's because of this placement alongside the alleged actions at Al-Quds that the EU has issued a statement saying, the EU condemns the use of hospitals and civilians as human shields by Hamas. Civilians must be allowed to leave the combat zone. But they also made it clear that this does not give Israel an excuse to indiscriminately just start targeting civilians in hospitals, saying, hospitals must be supplied immediately with the most urgent medical supplies and patients that require urgent medical

care need to be evacuated safely. In this context, we urge Israel to exercise maximum restraint to ensure the protection of civilians. And also the fuel shortage has had an impact on way more than just the hospitals in the region. Most areas haven't had power for weeks and UN agencies in Gaza are now saying they'll have to cease operations within 48 hours if they don't get fuel. That being said, this isn't the first time they've made such claims. And so you have all of this happening on the ground, but then there's also a war of words happening, right? And that's in addition to both sides making claims. You have things like, for example, Israel's agricultural minister, Avi Dichter, describing the ongoing war as Gaza's Nakba, which for many Palestinians, that connection

is extremely dark. Nakba is Arabic for catastrophe, and it's what they call the mass displacement of Palestinians that arose after they, alongside many Arab countries, tried to wipe Israel off the map in 1948. Then you also have the heritage minister saying that nuking Gaza was an option in response to an interview question. With the other option, according to him, being, quote, to work out what's important to them, what scares them, what deters them. And both of them landing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in some hot water. With Netanyahu even telling his cabinet yesterday, Every word has meaning when it comes to diplomacy.

If you don't know, don't speak. We must be sensitive. And he's not wrong there. Every word has meaning when it comes to diplomacy. If you don't know, don't speak. We must be sensitive. And he's not wrong there. Every word has meaning when it comes to diplomacy. And stupid and dangerous comments, it makes it that much harder. Especially when you're talking about a situation where there are so many lives on the line, including the many hostages out there. Which, I mean, speaking of that, Netanyahu even admitted that there were actually talks for a possible exchange. With outlets reporting that it could involve upwards of 80 Israeli hostages in return for some prisoners. However, because of the ongoing fighting at Shifa and other hospitals, it's possible those talks were derailed. Also, outside of the Middle East, we've seen major things happening from this war. Out in Europe, we've continued to

see massive pro-Palestinian protests and marches. With many European countries, according to reports, deeply concerned that such movements are a mask for groups like Hamas. Leading to places like France trying to tackle the issue as broadly as possible and issuing a blanket ban on those marches and displays of support for Palestine. We've also seen Berlin banning the use of the slogan, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, under the pretext that it allegedly calls for the elimination of Israel and Jewish people. Which, I mean, we've talked about this before, but to clarify there, to some people, that is indeed what it means,

but also for many others, it's a call for the political freedom and autonomy of Palestinian people, not a call for violence. But then also, with this, these bans have led to widespread backlash that European countries are ditching their commitments to freedom of speech. With people having takes like, you can burn Korans in Europe in the name of freedom of speech,

but you can hardly express your opinion on the Palestine-Israel conflict. As well as others saying, Europe seems to be freedom of speech absolutist until you scream free Palestine. What a weird time to be alive. And so with this, while it may have curbed some marches, it definitely hasn't stopped signs of solidarity for Palestine.

Although we've seen it happening often in ways that anger many. With examples popping up like in France, they had a World War I memorial to face with a Palestinian flag. Also, as all this is playing out in the UK, we've seen some key government positions getting shaken up. Home Secretary Suela Braverman was ditched after accusing the London police of having a double standard with how they dealt with protests. Saying on the one hand that they clashed with far-right protesters while pro-Palestinian ones, something that Braverman called hate marches, were left largely unchallenged. But I mean, the totality of her remarks

left British police angry with the former head of counterterrorism policing in the UK telling BBC, you have a chance of inflaming both sides when you make such divisive remarks. Making comments that are potentially divisive is a very dangerous thing to do. No home secretary we've served under

would have done the same thing. So we saw for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that was too much and Braverman was out. But we've also seen some other surprises, like Sunak bringing in former Prime Minister David Cameron as foreign secretary. With that likely to be a controversial choice, as Cameron's the prime minister who resigned

after the disaster that was the Brexit referendum. But as this developing situation on all fronts continues, we're gonna keep our eyes on it. And in the meantime, of course, I'd love to know what are your thoughts here on any aspect of it. And then let's talk about yesterday, today, where you take a look back at the last show.

We dive into those comments and see what y'all had to say. And if you happen to miss that episode, definitely check it out after this one. But there was definitely a lot of talk about the Dexter Wade situation. With y'all sharing that you felt so strongly for the Wade family, saying it seemed so cruel to intentionally keep them in the dark. Others arguing police now reporting to the mother about her dead son is an encapsulation of police at its finest. Saying at best, they are painfully incompetent, and and at worst they are dreadfully spiteful and malicious. Some of y'all shared your own experiences, saying I work at a funeral home. I work with families that have lost their loved ones. I see the suffering that the families go through in losing a loved one in a normal way,

and I cannot fathom how much harder it must be for the Wade family. And going on to say that this family has been failed on so many levels and there's no coming back from the suffering they must be dealing with due to these numerous failures. To lose a family member and deal with knowing nothing about what had occurred for months to then finding out that the answers were there

from the very beginning must be utterly devastating. But then others saying, you know, what if it wasn't just, you know, them being inept? Saying,

it's wild to think we live in a world where police can hit and kill a pedestrian, claim it was somehow the pedestrian's fault after conducting their own little investigation

and then throw a human being into a shallow grave with basically zero legal recourse. Vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving are two charges that come to mind, and that's if we're optimistic enough to think that he died instantly. No telling how long he was suffering without proper medical care because some cop had his career to worry about. And then I was going to close this segment by talking about all the comments about Omegle's shutdown, because many people shared their stories, but just to be transparent, if I repeated many of the stories that thank you for sharing, because it was great to see conversation happening, you can go to the comment section yourself and look through it. If I

include that in this show, they will suppress this video as well. What I will say, though, is, yeah, it sounds like Omegle was an incredibly unsafe place, and I will just leave it at that. And that is where your daily dive into the news is going to end today, But for more news, you need to know that you might have missed. I got you covered right here. You can click or tap. I 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 to talk more news.