The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.28 Selena Gomez Matt Rife Accusations & Scandals Have Divided The Internet & Today's News

Episode Date: November 29, 2023

Numbers don’t lie! In a clinical study, 93% of participants reported Dream helped them get better sleep. Click https://shopbeam.com/defranco or scan the QR code to shop my most exclusive sale with Beam and get up to 50% off. Go to http://hellofresh.com/defrancofree and use code defrancofree to get one free breakfast item per box while subscription is active. Https://BEAUTIFULBASTARD.COM BLACK FRIDAY SALE JUST DROPPED! UP TO 75% OFF!! shhh this is a secret link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV56FtmzXzE –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 0:00 - Plastic Surgery Rumors Swirl About Selena Gomez, Matt Rife & Other Celebrities  3:10 - Priest Stripped Of Admin. Duties After Okaying Sabrina Carpenter Video 4:51 - Miners in India Rescued Weeks After Tunnel Collapse 6:33 - Tommy Tuberville Complains U.S. Military Is the “Weakest” He’s Ever Seen 9:26 - Sponsored by Beam 10:21 - Indigenous Groups Who Invented Lacrosse Can’t Play at Olympic Games 16:31 - Russian Troops Want Out of Ukraine Front 19:03 - Sponsored by Hello Fresh 20:09 - Amazon Becomes the Largest Delivery Service in America  25:18 - 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 #SelenaGomez #MattRife ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're talking about Selena Gomez's plastic surgery scandal and accusations, Sabrina Carpenter got a priest removed for what he did, the amazing rescue of these minors, the truth about this Olympics controversy goes deeper than you'd expect, and I got a little secret for you at the end of today's show. We're talking about all that and so much more on today's brand new extra large Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, so just make sure you hit that like button, otherwise it will punch you in the throat, and let's jump into it. Starting with celebrities and plastic surgery. They go together like peanut butter and jelly.

I mean, it's really gotten to a point where you have a lot of people assuming that celebrities just get plastic surgery these days. With the latest person getting the spotlight being Selena Gomez. And that's because you had outlets like PopBase and PopTings both sharing new photos of her. People then looking at those photos and saying she looks very different. Writing things like, she showed a picture of Lily Rose Depp to the surgeon. Almost unrecognizable. How many faces does this woman have?

Is it just me or does her face change every time she posts? And with that, people accusing her of getting things like a full facelift or getting work done on her cheeks. With tons of people making fun of her, saying that it looks botched and joking that she deserves to look bad after the way she spoke about Israel and Palestine. But then at the same time,

you have, of course, people defending her, noting that she has lupus and the disease itself and medications for it can cause weight fluctuations. Right, and if you gain or lose weight in your face, you might look different. So you had people saying things like, y'all know you can hate Selena Gomez without being weirdos about her lupus, right? And so every time she loses weight, everyone is going to say that she has surgery and has a new face, even when we all know she has lupus. And the dopamine rush some of y'all get when talking shit about someone with an autoimmune disease won't change your sad realities, by the way. On top of that, there are photos of her in one of the same outfits,

so taken seemingly on the same day as those pictures, where her face doesn't seem as angular. And all this obviously coming as we don't know Selena's situation, right? She hasn't said one way or the other, which, I mean, even that is a topic. I mean, accusations already get thrown around all the time, but, I mean, at this stage of the internet, where engagement farming is so fucking insane, I think it borders on weird to actually expect celebrities to comment on every accusation, especially when we're talking about things like that aren't crimes.

And also notably all of this playing out as you had other big names shutting down rumors about themselves. Right, you had a plastic surgeon posting a video about how he gave his famous client a good jawline only for the person to get canceled a week later, suggesting in the hashtags that it was a stand-up comedian, so many thought that it was Matt Reif. With Matt then actually commenting that lying about someone's medical history is illegal, seemingly implying

that it wasn't him. Though whatever the situation, there's also a whole conversation about medical professionals putting out shit like this. And on top of that, you also had Jennifer Lawrence and Kylie Jenner having a conversation in Interview Magazine, with their rumors about their faces coming up, with the women noting that a lot of the time it's just makeup that creates these illusions, and Jennifer saying, I also think it's incredible what makeup can do because I work with Hung Van Gogh who overlines lip and I call him a plastic surgeon because everybody in the last few months since I've been working with him is convinced that I had eye surgery. I'm like, I didn't have eye surgery. I'm doing makeup. Jennifer also saying that simply growing up will change your face, explaining I lost baby weight in my

face and my face changed because I'm aging. Everybody thought I had a nose job and I'm like, I've had the exact same nose. My cheeks got smaller. Thank you for bringing it up. Kylie also saying the same thing happened to her, but also noting she had lip filler. Then people will also use photos of her now and compare them to when she was like a child. And they are Kylie saying, I'll see before and after photos when I'm 12 years old versus 26 and my eyebrows are filled differently. I have contour on. I'm like, how can you compare my 12 year old face and say I've got my jaw shaved and eyelids removed? I'm like, what are we talking about? You know, with the overall aspect of this story or any of the individuals mentioned, I'd really love to know your thoughts on this. And then Sabrina Carpenter

just got a priest in major, major trouble, though I just in his defense, this is the least controversial or disturbing way I've seen a priest get national news attention in the past two decades. So let me explain. Right. She filmed part of her music video, Feather, in a church in Brooklyn. And in the video where she either watches the deaths of or just straight up murders men who have wronged her, she then attends their funeral at a church, then dancing up and down the aisle and on the altar in front of their caskets, all while wearing maybe a not church appropriate outfit, right? She's got a short black tulle dress and sky high heels, you know, an outfit that maybe I could rock after a few more months and not skipping leg day. And this video came out just I could rock after a few more months and not skip in leg day.

And this video came out just before Halloween. And a few days later, the Catholic News Agency reported that Bishop Robert Brennan was appalled by the video and planned to investigate how the video was allowed to be filmed there. With that, claiming that the parish did not follow policy regarding the filming on church property,

which includes a review of the scenes and script. Though notably here, the parish apparently claimed that it was the production company who misrepresented what the video's content would be. And actually with this, we have an update with a new report from the New York Times saying, the M production company who misrepresented what the video's content would be. And actually with this, we have an update with a new report from the New York Times saying the Monsignor who greenlit the video's filming was taken off

administrative duties at the church. Though apparently this actually happened not long after the video came out. It's just reports are being released now. And you know, for his part, the priest has apologized to his community for any distress this incident caused, but also adding that when he looked Sabrina up, he found nothing alarming and thought it would be a good opportunity to create a bond with young artists. He claimed that the final edit of the funeral scene was not what he was initially presented with. And right now, it does seem like his community is willing to forgive him, with one parishioner telling the New York Times, the punishment did not fit the crime. We still love him. We still back him. Which I will say,

I think shows the forgiveness that the church should have. Even though, and I think the Catholic church would agree with me here, this is the worst thing to happen in the Catholic Church in the past two to three decades. No doubt. And it shows how dedicated they are to their flock's safety. And then, in huge international news, India just announced that they've rescued 41 construction workers who were trapped underground for over a week. So these 41 men were working on the $1.5 billion Char Dam Highway, which is meant to connect four Hindu pilgrimage sites and is one of Prime Minister Modi's prize projects. However, while they were digging through the Himalayas, the tunnel collapsed and trapped the men for 17 days. And while it's unclear right now what exactly caused the collapse, the mountainous region is well known for earthquakes, floods, and landslides.

And as far as how the Char Dan 41 managed to stay alive so long, it's because rescue crews drilled little passageways under the chamber and pumped in oxygen, water, and food. And at the same time, crews were working around the clock to open up a passage big enough to get the men out. And while they tried a number of methods, the one that proved to be the most effective, despite many snags along the way, was just to drill through the debris that was blocking the tunnel. But eventually, the workers connected a three-foot-wide pipe to the outside. And with this, initial reports indicated that a wheeled stretcher was sent to them to help them out. But, according to the chief minister of the local state, the workers actually preferred to crawl out on their own. Which also, after all that time, was a good indication of their health,

with the minister adding that they were all healthy. And so with this, we saw crews and locals celebrating each time a man came out of the tunnel, although the rescued workers understandably didn't stay long as they were sent away in ambulances to make sure that they were actually fine. And reportedly after this whole ordeal, the workers are getting $1,200, which I know is not and does not sound like a lot, but at the same time, these workers are from India's poorest states and working a low paying job. So that twelve hundred dollars ends up actually being equal to six months of the average salary in the state. Also with this, the local chief minister reportedly asking the company that these 41 workers be allowed to go home and spend

time with their family for 15 days, 20 days or even a month. Though also for me personally, I can't imagine being in these men's shoes because I mean, the reality is they are likely going to have to go back to this job. I know my soft Plato ass would be completely traumatized. So the idea of going back is almost unthinkable. But hey, for now, let's live in the now and just be happy that everyone's okay. And then the U.S. politics. We got to talk about Tommy Tuberville because Tommy is either the biggest hypocrite or the

biggest idiot in Congress. And I know some of you were thinking, why not both? But I remind you, this is Congress we're talking about. There's a lot of competition out there. I can't be just handing out trophies willy nilly. George Santos compared himself to Mary Magdalene the other day. But specifically what I'm talking about with Tuberville today is this clip of him that went viral where he's talking about the $114 million requested by the Pentagon for its diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs for the next fiscal year. $114 million on diversity training. You gotta be kidding me.

You know, we've got the weakest military that we've had in probably a year in my lifetime. Now we've got a lot of good military people, but infiltrating our military is all this wokeness. And it's coming from the top, coming from Joe Biden, coming from Secretary of Defense Austin. Which I know people are gonna have their opinions on the military has gone woke or whatever,

but specifically with saying that the US military is so weak, it is important to remind you what Chupaville is probably hoping that you've not realized or maybe forgotten. He is the man who is literally single-handedly preventing the transfer of power in the highest levels of the military by holding up hundreds and hundreds of officer promotions. And his supposed reasoning being that he doesn't personally like a Pentagon policy that gives service members time off and travel reimbursements for abortions or other reproductive care like fertility treatments. And so he's gone full baby boy blowout temper tantrum, insisting that until that policy is reversed, he will block the Senate from mass confirming military promotions. A process that he thinks for decades has typically been bipartisan and totally non-controversial.

And he has continued this for months despite widespread criticism. And that criticism also coming from many members of Tuberville's own party, with tons of Republicans condemning him for jeopardizing military readiness and damaging the U.S. military at a time when we're dealing with multiple international crises. Which is why with this clip, we saw a ton of people immediately hitting back at Tuberville, noting one, he's never actually served in the military, and two, saying that he's a big fat hypocrite. Arguing that yes, the military actually has been weakened, but it's literally Tuberville who's doing that.

And this has been echoed by people who served high up in the military and Republican lawmakers, with the likes of former U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman tweeting, I agree with you, Tuberville. The U.S. military is weakened, but not by wokeness. It is weakened by your attacks, obstruction of military promotions, and you're serving our enemy's interests. But adding, despite you, the U.S. military remains the most powerful force in the world. As well as Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger writing, Tuberville is an idiot, wrong, and obviously doesn't understand the absolute lethality of the U.S. military remains the most powerful force in the world. As well as Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger writing, Tuberville is an idiot, wrong, and obviously doesn't understand the absolute lethality of the U.S. military. Come on, Alabama, do better.

But also, here's a big thing. That brain-melting stupidity aside, we might actually see some movement on the nominations that Tuberville is holding up soon. That's because this past weekend, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to his colleagues where he outlined his agenda for December and made it clear breaking Tuberville's blockade would be a priority, and saying they could achieve this by bringing a resolution to the floor that was already advanced by the Senate Rules Committee and would circumvent Tuberville by

allowing the block promotions to be considered in large groups by the full Senate. And in order for that to happen, it would need to receive at least 60 votes. So Republicans would need to get on board. But given all of the Republicans who have spoken out against Tuberville, it seems like that could actually happen. But could and should and will are not the same thing. So we're going to have to wait and see how this plays out. And then, you know, this is really the best time of year to get the best deals on the things that you hear me talking about a lot. And today's fantastic sponsor, Beam, is one of the deals I'm excited to share with you. Because Beam has an all-natural nighttime blend, clinically shown to improve your sleep. And let me tell you, it works. It helps me stay asleep and I wake up feeling refreshed and energized.

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really up to 50% off when you go to shopbeam.com slash DeFranco or just scan the QR code. And then we're still years away from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and the International Olympic Committee is already fucking shit up. Which, honestly, I could be referring to a number of things there, but specifically what I want to talk about today is lacrosse. Because just a few weeks ago, the IOC approved lacrosse to be added to the 2028 roster, marking the first time in over a century that the sport will return as a medal event. And as a part of that decision, the IOC also approved four other sports,

baseball or softball for women, cricket, flag football, and squash. And in a statement announcing the move, IOC President Thomas Bach argued, the choice of these five new sports is in line with the American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world. And adding, their inclusion will allow the Olympic movement to engage with new athlete and fan communities in the U.S. and globally. Each of the five sports committee added is intended to represent different aspects of American culture. And lacrosse, which is widely considered the oldest team sport in North America, is meant to represent the indigenous tribes in North America that invented the sport. In fact, it's been reported that organizers for the Los Angeles

Olympics and World Lacrosse, a sports international federation, leaned heavily into the indigenous history of the sport to sell the IOC on the idea. But despite all that, the IOC is refusing to let a team of indigenous players whose ancestors literally invented lacrosse play in the 2028 Games. And the team in question is the Haudenosaunee Nationals, formerly known as the Iroquois Nationals. And they represent the Haudenosaunee Confederacy,

which is a European-like alliance representing the six Native American nations whose territory included the parts of upstate New York and neighboring Canada, where lacrosse was conceived in the 1100s. And according to historians, Native American nations in the region would play with as many as 100 to 1,000 men on fields that could stretch for miles and in games that could last for days. And the importance of this word in Native American culture really can't be understated here. I mean, it was

played to prepare for war, to settle disputes, and as a social event where tribes would get together to play and trade. But the value of the game also went beyond just practical purposes. Many tribes also believed that lacrosse held medicinal powers, earning it the name the medicine game, a name that's actually still used today by some indigenous folks. And the true significance of the sport for these cultures was perfectly illustrated by Neil Paulus, a member of the Onondaga Nation and former professional player who said, lacrosse is part of that story of our creation, of our identity, of who we are. So when we play the game, we always say that there's a simultaneous game going on in Skyworld and our ancestors are playing with us. And adding lacrosse isn't just a game, it's a medicine. It heals. You hear it time and time again how the spirit of the sport

itself has healed people because they believe that it's medicine that speaks to the spirit and the soul. Those sentiments and values hold true for many indigenous people today and lacrosse sticks are actually still given to babies of those Native American nations at birth. But for many indigenous folks, lacrosse also goes much further than culture. It's a key element of indigenous sovereignty. Native Americans played the game for centuries before European colonists settled the land. But like many aspects of North American history, the modern game as we know it today was shaped by European influences.

And unfortunately, European colonizers treated lacrosse much like they treated the land of Native Americans. They saw it, they stole it, they made it their own, and then largely excluded the indigenous people who came first. With the modern game of lacrosse as it's played today, first evolving outside of Native American tribes in Canada during the 1800s. And as the game became increasingly popular, it spread to the U.S. and eventually extended to other parts of the world outside North America. Over the course of the 20th century, clubs, leagues, and federations popped up all over the world at all levels from peewee to college to professional. The history of Native

American involvement in those lacrosse organizations is spotty at best. I mean, it wasn't even until 1983 that Hody and Ashoni formed their own national team. They then called Iroquois Nationals with a women's team being founded the year later. When the leaders of the Confederacy officially sanctioned the team, they hoped that the move would help put them on track

toward national recognition. And five years later, they got their wish when the International Federation that governs lacrosse admitted the team into the organization, allowing them to play internationally as their own nation. While that might sound like a small thing to some, that was absolutely massive. Because while the Confederacy was once recognized as a nation, it has since become an unrecognized state. And its independence is mostly established in treaties with other nations, but not by sports leagues or international institutions. So having an international sports league recognize them as a nation was a huge step for the Confederacy to be viewed as a nation and sovereign entity.

In fact, it wasn't even until the team formed that that the Confederacy designed its own flag and composed a national anthem. That recognition also spread internationally with members of the team traveling abroad using Hody Nashony passports. Now that said, they have run into trouble sometimes like when the UK refused to honor the passports and block both the men's and women's teams from crossing their borders. The team was also initially excluded from last year's 2022 World Games. So they were eventually allowed to compete after the US and Canadian Olympic committees gave them the sign-off and Ireland dropped out to give the team their slot. And despite the road bumps, the team has been able to rise through the ranks to become one of the best teams in the whole world, with the

men's team winning three bronze medals at international championships, including one this year. Right now, they're actually ranked third out of nearly 50 international teams, only falling behind the U.S. and Canada. And so all of that brings us to the question, why is the IOC preventing the third best men's lacrosse team in the world from competing in the 2028 Olympics? And there, well, the Hody Nashony is not a member of the IOC or the United Nations. And in a statement to the media, the IOC explained, only National Olympic committees recognized by the IOC can enter teams for the Olympic Games. Now, notably, the committee did say that the U.S. and Canada could include athletes from the Confederacy in their respective teams, depending on their passports. But notably,

it's unclear how many of those members have U.S. or Canadian passports, or if they would even want to do that. Because again, their passports are a major point of pride and a symbol of their pursuit of sovereignty. Back in 2010, when the U.K. blocked the men's team from entering, the athletes refused the State Department's offer to give them emergency U.S. passports. But with all that said, there is some hope here. There is still arguably a lot of time for the IOC to change its mind or come up with some kind of way for the team to compete. With spokespeople for both World Lacrosse and the LA Games saying they will work to find what was referred to as creative solutions that also respect IOC rules. And very notably here, there is in fact past precedent for the IOC allowing

exceptions to the national team rules. For example, a handful of territories including Puerto Rico and Hong Kong are contracted in some form to countries through agreements that allow them to compete with their own teams. And since 2016, a team of refugees from numerous countries like South Sudan and Afghanistan has also competed. In fact, there is even specific historical precedent of Native American teams playing lacrosse in the Olympics. Right back in the 1904 Olympics, Canada sponsored a team of Native Americans from the Mohawk tribe, which notably is now part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to compete in lacrosse. With that year being the first time the sport was included in the Olympics, the Mohawks actually won a bronze medal. So it really feels like they could super easily make this happen. But also with that, it is the IOC that we're talking about. And for all it's preaching

about peace and brotherhood and honoring cultures, it really doesn't seem like they're going to walk the walk here. But for now, I'll wait to see if they prove me wrong, and we'll just kind of have to keep our fingers crossed that they decide to include the people who literally invented the game. And then, you know, things in Ukraine continue to be an absolute shitshow as the war slowly approaches its second anniversary in just a few months, with the biggest fighting being focused on the city of Avdivka,

which is right on the doorstep of the breakaway Donetsk, with Russia reportedly losing thousands of men trying to advance in the little town of 30,000, although I should say formerly of 30,000, with now just 1,350 people still living there, as most of the town is a ruin and the home of a growing battle. There are also now reports that Russian troops are advancing from many sides of the town, although notably at the cost of the highest Russian casualties since the war began, according to UK Defense Intelligence. Right, they're now averaging 931 losses per day, which is even higher than the Battle of Bakhmut, which averaged 776 losses per day. But unfortunately, that doesn't mean that Russia's not gaining ground because they are in

the region, but it's at the cost of human lives. And that's definitely been taking its toll as that's been the strategy since day one. AP and intelligence officials just releasing intercepted phone calls of Russian soldiers from the front lines, with most of these coming from the start of 2023 during the Battle of Bakhmut. But if this was the sentiment back then, it is probably worse now. In some calls, they're pretty candid about the war, saying things like, no one fucking needs this. This is simply genocide, a fucking genocide. Others also well aware of the fact that Ukraine was getting more and more advanced arms from the West, saying this is just a huge testing ground where the whole world is testing their weapons, fuck it, and sizing up

their dicks. That's all. And there were also many calls for people to just dodge the draft with one man telling his friend, I'm telling you honestly, if there's even a slight chance, get exempted from service. But if the summons comes for mobilization, fuck it to hell. Join Wagner or the contract soldiers or wherever you can. God forbid the mobilized. The mobilization are the lowest. But I'm then going on to explain that the contract soldiers at least get some days of leave and get to bathe and launder their clothes regularly. But for the regular soldiers, often there's no leave for months on end and no regular way to clean themselves or their clothes. And all in all, there is a sentiment that what would have already been a miserable experience,

you know, getting sent to war, it's being made so much worse by the way that Russia treats its drafted troops. The Russia isn't just stopping at treating its troops poorly. It's also now moved to weaponize the migrants it has, but not with guns. Instead, it's being accused of funneling them to the Finnish border to attempt them to have Finland take them on. I mean, before last month, Finland would get less than one asylum seeker a day from the border. But over this last month, there's been 900. And it's actually gotten to a point where Finland has closed every border crossing with Russia except one in the Arctic. And when Russia started using that one, Finland moved to close every border crossing.

So now if someone's seeking asylum, they need to use a maritime port or an airport. And unfortunately, the people suffering the most in this exchange are the asylum seekers who are stuck in frozen northern Russia with few resources. And the border is set to remain closed until December 13th. So as this war grinds on, I'm sure that we're going to continue to get developments like this, especially as everyone's dealing with the various ways Russia's trying to strike back at every perceived diplomatic insult. But hey, follow to stay in the loop. And then the holidays are here. So let the fantastic sponsor today's show HelloFresh help to take the stress out of dinner by delivering everything you need to cook up tasty meals right to your door, saving you tons of time. Because you know, HelloFresh's 15 minute meals are

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billion. But also, here is a key thing and what we're going to dive into where it gets really interesting. Amazon's number, that count, it's limited to packages they shipped from beginning to end, right? From warehouse to front door. Whereas the UPS and FedEx numbers, those include packages they hand off to the U.S. Postal Service. Which on that note, I mean, the U.S. Postal Service, of course, still has everyone beat by far with the highest volume, handling hundreds of millions of packages from each of the other big three. You know, with everything that we're seeing, it's really wild to think of how recent all of this is. I mean, less than a decade ago, no one really thought Amazon had a prayer of making it this far. I mean, back in 2016,

the then CEO of FedEx called the idea fantastical. But we saw in the following years, Amazon building a massive delivery business and now operating dozens of warehouses and managing nearly 280,000 drivers worldwide. However, even though Amazon is handling billions and billions of their own packages every year in bigger cities, they have increasingly relied on the USPS for the last mile deliveries in rural areas. And so what that means is that these local post offices are being absolutely flooded with Amazon boxes and bags. Like with what we've seen in the small Minnesota town of Bemidji, about 100 miles south of the Canadian border, where notably we have seen the local implementation of a deal between the USPS and Amazon to deliver packages along with traditional mail, absolutely leaving their

mail service in disarray. I mean, since November, the Bemidji post office has been buried underneath Amazon packages and local postal workers saying they have orders to deliver those first, which then results in other mail like checks, credit card statements, and health insurance documents getting backed up for days at a time. Which, hey, you know, I love Amazon Prime getting some shit I randomly thought of a day later, but probably less important than someone getting their bills. So you see things like a local engineer having to worry about getting checks for tens of thousands of dollars from clients on time, you know, while other businesses are worried about their own checks making it to vendors on time,

and even just residents are experiencing delays on their time-sensitive bills. But the ones getting hit the hardest are the local mail carriers, the ones actually delivering the packages. Because many carriers in rural areas like Bemidji use their personal vehicles to deliver what used to be a couple dozen small parcels on the paper mail on an eight or nine hour route. But now those same routes are taking 10 to 12 hours, with trucks jammed so full of packages that some drivers can barely see out of the windows. And this is they're not getting any

additional pay. Their days off have been canceled and the offices even banned sick leave for the rest of the year, which is a thing I didn't even know you could legally do. And so in Bemidji, at least five carriers have quit so far. And veteran mail carrier Dennis Nelson organized a symbolic strike earlier this month outside post office. Though an important note there, that is not a strike as we know it. And that's because the USPS union actually signed away the right to strike over a hundred years ago. But still, you had Nelson gathering people outside the post office on a cold morning a couple weeks ago, carrying signs expressing their frustration. And so you have carriers asking Congress to just grant postal workers the right to even strike with Nelson saying, without the right to strike,

our union does not have a dog in the fight. We're considered an essential service. If Amazon is our priority, we don't see how delivering toilet paper and shoes for Amazon makes us an essential service. And here's the important thing. This problem is not limited to just Bemidji or even just Minnesota. When the deal was first negotiated back in 2013, it was only implemented in major cities like Los Angeles and New York City. But according to Nelson, as the implementation spread to smaller towns, local post offices haven't gotten the necessary support, saying they've introduced Amazon packages and quite a few other offices, but they've never put the infrastructure,

equipment, or personnel in place to handle the volume. Those other offices lost many, many carriers and even years later are still struggling to get the job done. And another picketer in Bemidji is saying, every small city that Amazon hits, it just crushes their mail system. It's too much to put on your workers

and every time this place asks for help, they get denied, which does seem to be the case with the mayor of Bemidji reaching out to local members of Congress who said that their power over the USPS is limited. Now, notably with this, Senator Tina Smith sent a letter to the US Postmaster General regarding the reports that, quote,

Amazon is interfering with timely deliveries and stretching the agency's already overburdened workers too thin. And in that, she said, as Postmaster General, you are responsible for ensuring that the Postal Service meets its service standards and it is clear right now that things are not working as they should.

Entering into contracts that your system cannot support is a breach of your responsibilities. But this notably as a Postal Service spokesperson said that they are unaware of any significant delivery issues in Bemidji. And so now you have the situation where mail carriers are pushing other rural carriers across the country to rally their public around them as they fight against this onslaught. With Nelson saying, we need the public to get behind us on this. We're the face of the post office to the public. We're the ones out in all kinds of weather doing our jobs, the ones the public sees every day. And adding, I am encouraging all rural carriers across the nation to do exactly what we are doing. Let the public, let the people that you

serve know exactly what's going on. And with this, for their part, Amazon has responded to the situation saying that the Postal Service approves their forecasts every week. And adding, we work directly with the USPS to balance our delivery needs with their available capacity. We recognize that, like us, other major retailers, small businesses in the communities they serve rely on the local USPS to deliver, which is why we'll continue to collaborate on package volume each week and adjust as needed. Though obviously it is one thing for them to say that and then another thing for that actually to be implemented in a proper way. Because we can talk about company statements and spokespeople,people when the people on the ground actually doing the fucking job or saying, hey, this is crazy.

We should probably open our ears, ideally use our mouths, and maybe fuckers in Congress will do something. I mean, other than just find ways to fill their and their friends' wallets. And then let's talk about yesterday. Today, we take a look back at yesterday's show. We dive into those comments and see what y'all had to say about the news. Starting with the news and debate on is Disney dying? And there y'all saying things like the problem I have with Disney is that they are just not bringing in quality movies. Why would I go see a Disney film I know will be mediocre over an actually interesting film that's experimenting?

A good example is why watch Wish when this year and last year have brought about some of the best animated movies that are evolving the genre. And with that, people responding, it's the trailers. Elemental was actually really good, but the trailers made it seem like a Romeo and Juliet knockoff. And saying, wishes trailers make it look like crap too. Which I will say about Elemental, they did advertise that movie weird. Like I remember one trailer focusing on a character that is kind of a throwaway character. I am glad I ended up bringing the kids to watch it, but it really was because I was like, I got to do something with the boys today and I don't know what. You also had others arguing. From my perspective, the issue with Disney seems to be one or both of the

following. One, a lack of effective advertising and marketing, as I had literally no clue about any of the movies mentioned. At least one of which I would have been interested in seeing, and I am chronically online. Or two, they are pushing out too many movies too fast and not putting enough time and effort into each one to make sure it will be good and successful. I will also add to that and say, I wonder how movies like the Marvels, for example, how much that was impacted by the actor's strike. Because the actors weren't able to promote that movie until practically the day it came out,

so there was just nothing in the lead up to it. Also, that's conjecture. We have no idea if it would have done just as bad, good, whatever. Because I will say, I ended up watching it in theaters, and I was like, oh, actually, this is a pretty good movie. I definitely will say, with Marvel stuff, it's become more of a pick-and-choose thing thing rather than I have to watch everything. And for me personally, I think that's because some of the series have really fell flat. Though I am not including Loki

in that, both seasons of Loki, I had a lot of fun. And then I will say the other thing that got a lot of attention and conversation in the comments, and I was happy to see that was the Apple story, which I will say I found fucking fascinating. I was like, I really wish this could have been the lead story, but Apple's, you know, not the most sexy story, but it was so fascinating. I was like, I really wish this could have been the lead story, but apples, you know, not the most sexy story, but it was so fascinating. And it left some of y'all even comments like apple story made me teary eyed growing up with food insecurity and working as an adult with the unhoused community. I cannot tell you how groundbreaking I want this surplus initiative to be for the sake of kids like I was in their families, as well as as a food insecure

family in West Virginia. We have absolutely been benefiting from the apple abundance that our local food banks. I didn't understand why it was happening until now, but I was so grateful to get bushels of apples every single week. Our household includes a pregnant person who has been craving apples like crazy, and our dog absolutely loves the homemade Kongs that we've been able to make from a cored apple and all natural peanut butter. And this blessing has been so much healthier than some of the other foods that we can afford. Not to mention that it's a quick and easy snack when you're too exhausted from working all day to even try to cook something. To which I will say my favorite response to that comment, uh, cause, cause dad

jokes. Wow. With so many apples, there can't be a doctor within miles from where you live. I hate that that made me laugh, but I will say in general with the comments, it was so fascinating to see how many people are actually being impacted by a story that we just covered. And hopefully, you know, we can provide a bigger and bigger spotlight on all the good that's provided. And we see more of it in the future. I mean, it is so atrocious that we just covered. And hopefully, you know, we can provide a bigger and bigger spotlight on all the good that's provided and we see more of it in the future. I mean, it is so atrocious that we can have people that are, you know, so food insecure and at the same time have so much food waste. It is a math problem that currently makes no sense and we should try to remedy that. But that is where your daily dive into the news is going to end. Now, as promised for your secret video of the day, I got you covered right here. You can

click or tap to watch that or I got a link in the description. But of course, with that said, 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 break down more news.