The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.21 Elon Musk’s “Nazi or Autism” Problem & What Trump's 26 Executive Orders Actually Do

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

So...Much...Is...Happening. Let’s talk about it Head to http://www.grifindefranco.com today to invest where you spend! Use code “PHILD5” for $5 towards your new favorite habit! Enter “PHILD5�� before February 1st, 2025 and be automatically entered for a chance to win $1,000! Use code defranco at https://incogni.com/defranco to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan. https://BeautifulBastard.com Get your new "God is Testing Me", "Silly Goose", & "F With Politics" Shirts, Crews, & Hoodies right now. – To the extent that this communication includes references to securities, those references do not constitute a recommendation to buy, sell or hold such security. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee or indicate future results. Please consider, among other important factors, your investment objectives and risk tolerance. Fees and other charges may apply. Terms and conditions apply.  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Elon Musk Sparks Backlash After Hand Gesture at Inauguration  05:23 - Meta Addresses Claims that Instagram is Blocking Searches for Democrats 08:00 - Sponsored by Grifin 09:10 - Trump Starts Term with Spree of Executive Orders 20:27 - Sponsored by Incogni 21:25 - Internet-Connected Bassinet Company Slammed for Paywalling Key Tools 26:51 - Group of 200 Former Spies Oppose Virginia Casino Over Espionage Fears  29:34 - Comment Commentary  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino  ———————————— For more Philip DeFranco: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V Twitter:   https://x.com/PhillyD Instagram:   https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco Newsletter: https://www.dailydip.co TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco?lang=en ———————————— #DeFranco #DonaldTrump #ElonMusk ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk is in the midst of a Nazi salute or autism scandal. You've got people claiming that Meta is now forcing them to follow Donald Trump and banning liberal content. And Donald Trump signed an avalanche of day one executive orders that we're gonna run through, including an attempt to kill birthright citizenship with him immediately picking a fight with the Constitution. We're gonna be talking about all that

and even more on your brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, how it's being covered and how people are reacting. So with that said, first up, let's talk about something that the internet's been debating nonstop for the past 24 hours. And that is, did Elon Musk just do a Nazi salute?

And this was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human civilization. Okay. This, this, you know, there are, there are elections that, elections that come and go. Some, some elections are, you know, important, some are not. But this one, this one, this one really matters.

And I just want to say thank you for making it happen. Thank you. My heart goes out to you. Right, so that was a video of Elon Musk speaking to Trump supporters at the Capital One Arena in DC yesterday. And with that, you saw a lot of people saying that Musk appears to be doing what's known

as the Roman salute, which was used by Hitler, Mussolini, and other European fascists during the early 20th century. Though, of course, it has widely become associated with Hitler, with it being used alongside Chants, Heil Hitler, and Sieg Heil. And also, since World War II, the salute has continued to be used by fascist, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist groups. Which is why you had a lot of people on social media

expressing concern about Musk's gestures, with many arguing that he was clearly doing a Nazi salute. And this is you also had some media outlets like The Guardian and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz running headlines describing Musk as doing what appears to be a fascist salute. Also, you had some historical experts chiming in, including a history professor at New York University

who wrote, historian of fascism here, it was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too. As well as a historian who specializes in Nazism within the United States who posted, Yes, I've seen the Elon Musk Sieg hail. And adding, my professional opinion is that you're all right. You should believe your eyes

and you don't need me to tell you all what you already know is true. Beyond that, we saw a lot of left-leaning European leaders also condemning the gesture, this notably including the German health minister who tweeted, such a gesture, given his already known proximity to right-wing populace and the fascist tradition, must worry every Democrat. Right, and that was also a point we saw many others echoing, right, arguing that this gesture, that it can't be interpreted in a vacuum, but in the context of Musk's other actions and beliefs, with one article published in Time saying, Musk has previously been

criticized for allowing pro-Nazi accounts to flourish on his platform and for posting right-wing memes and seemingly supporting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, which led to an exodus of advertisers from X in 2023, and for recently supporting Germany's far-right populist AFD party, whose leaders have made anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-democratic statements, according to the ADL.'"

And this, as others have pointed to, "'Right-wing extremists, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis online, openly celebrating the gesture across the internet. Of course, while all of that is happening, there are plenty of people defending Musk, arguing that the gesture was not a Nazi salute. With many arguing that Musk was just trying

to do a hand gesture for my heart goes out to you, but it just came out awkward because he has Asperger's. And among those, you had a history professor at Maryville College in Tennessee who wrote, "'I have criticized Elon Musk many times "'for letting neo-Nazis pollute this platform, "'but this gesture is not a Nazi salute. "'This is a socially awkward autistic man's wave to the crowd

"'where he says, my heart goes out to you.'" As well as seeing the opinion editor at Newsweek who posted, "'As a person with a strong track record "'of criticizing Elon Musk, I feel extremely confident, "'asserting that this was not a Nazi salute. "'Elon Musk is a friend to the Jews. "'This is a man with Asperger's exuberantly throwing his heart to the crowd.

We don't need to invent outrage. You also had right-leaning outlets like Fox News painting this whole thing as false liberal outrage. But also most notably, you have the previously mentioned ADL, right? The Anti-Defamation League, which has long been a leading source in interpreting and defining hate speech,

arguing this was not in fact a Nazi salute. But then posting a statement reading, this is a delicate moment. It's a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed and social media only adds to the anxiety. It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute. But again, we appreciate that people are on edge.

With them then adding, in this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let's hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead. Then you also had a ton of people slamming the ADL for their response, and that included major names

like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with AOC posting, just to be clear, you are defending a hail Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity. Continuing, people can officially stop listening to you as any sort of reputable source of information now. You work for them. Thank you for making that crystal clear to all.

You also had political commentator, Hasan Piker getting into the mix, sharing a tweet with screenshots of the gesture and the ADL's response and writing, "'Come on, man.'" With Hasan, to a certain degree, also becoming part of the story because the video where he saw the gesture

and reacted to it went massively viral. Did he just Sieg Heil? It is thanks to you that the future civilization- And then also in another tweet, he wrote, "'It's okay though, he's pro-Israel. Don't worry guys.'" Now with all that said, as far as how Musk himself has responded,

he's been replying to several different posts about the controversy, thanking the ADL for its statement, mocking AOC, and agreeing with a post that read, "'Can we please retire the calling people a Nazi thing?'' Elon then echoing that comment in a post of his own writing, frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The everyone is Hitler attack is so tired. But ultimately, that is where we are on this one. And so with it, I got to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? And I'm very

interested because really depending on where you go on the internet, there are drastically different opinions and reactions to this whole situation. But then let's talk about something I got so many messages about over on our text line, 813-213-4423. And that involved the news and the question, is Meta and specifically Instagram suppressing searches of Democrat related content now? Right, and that because last night and early this morning,

you had a ton of people reporting that when they searched the hashtag Democrat on Instagram, they got a message saying we've hidden these results. And then at the same time, also claiming the search for the Republican hashtag did elicit results. With posts around this going super viral, outlets like Mashable testing it for themselves

and finding that, yeah, that was indeed happening on both mobile and desktop versions of Instagram. But then also outlets like Axios reporting that it wasn't just the word Democrat that was being censored, that some couldn't search for things like January 6th. Also with this, around seven, I tested it. And yeah, when I searched liberal or Democrat,

things wouldn't pop up. But when I searched conservative or Republican, things did. But then one, about 10 or 15 minutes later, I started getting results. And two, we've now seen Meta telling outlets like BBC News that quote, we're aware of an error affecting hashtags across the political spectrum and we are working quickly to resolve it.

And again, it now does look like the issue is generally solved. But for example, a search of the Democrats hashtag bringing up posts and a search for the word Democrats alone, bringing up relevant accounts and suggested searches. So there you also have people arguing that the suggested terms did kind of seem to skew a little anti-Democrat, right? Things like Democrats crying memes and Democrats melting down. But that also may just speak to the popularity of the posts that use that hashtag. Now, of course, with all that, given the timing of everything, there's also been a ton of discourse

over the fact that these searches were ever blocked intentionally or not. Because this happened after Trump swearing in just yesterday and met a CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, was in attendance alongside other tech and business moguls, but also donated a million dollars to the inauguration and recently changed things in its company because of the election, like its fact-checking system.

And so with all that, you had social media consultant Matt Navarro telling BBC News, in a hyper-partisan environment, even unintentional errors like this can escalate into accusations of partisanship. And saying if these issues are not resolved quickly, they risk fueling conspiracy theories

and damaging Meta's reputation. Though there, this comes as Meta's reputation, for many, has faced some hits. Right amid its policy changes, there have been calls for boycotts. But then this also is people on the other side didn't instantly become Mark Zuckerberg fans. We're seeing a number of Trump supporters thinking that Mark Zuckerberg is just kind of going whichever way the wind blows. Though also,

I will say, this is not the only political issue that's being reported with meta platforms right now. You've had many today saying that they're now following accounts for Donald and Melania Trump against their wishes. And while reports there have noted, at least in many cases, some people were just following POTUS and White House accounts that transitioned from the Biden administration to Trump yesterday. The problem didn't quite stop there, right? And that because as outlets like Forbes have noted, some users have said they're now unable

to unfollow those accounts. And we have tons of outlets, you know, running articles, fact checking the problem, that this whole thing, it just feels like a mess and it adds fuel to the fire. And then we'll get back to more news in just a moment, but you know, in 2025, I'm even more committed to creating better daily habits, small changes that over time build a better me. And among those is a new concept called action-based investing. A simple yet powerful concept where you invest in companies you already spend with. And thanks

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And as expected, there is already too much we need to talk about. Because while more is obviously coming, he reportedly issued 26 executive orders, 12 memoranda and four proclamations on his first day back in the Oval Office. And so where we'll start is with where he started, with a single order revoking

78 Biden-era executive actions. With those having dealt with everything from racial and gender discrimination to immigration, healthcare, climate change, and virtually any other issue you could imagine. And along with that, he had him signing an order stopping executive departments and agencies from proposing or issuing new rules

until someone directly appointed or designated by Trump has a chance to approve them. With all of that sort of meant to start clearing the way for Donald Trump to begin issuing and implementing his own agenda, which notably included potentially going after the Biden administration. Because we also saw him issuing an executive order to have the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence review the activities of law enforcement and intelligence agencies over the past few years. With him accusing the Biden administration of targeting individuals who voiced oppositions to its policies, including by, quote, ruthlessly prosecuting more than 1,500 individuals associated with January 6th.

And with that, saying it is now the policy of the U.S. to, quote, correct past misconduct by the federal government related to the weaponization of law enforcement and the weaponization of the intelligence community. And with that, we saw Donald Trump already taking some of the first steps there, with him issuing sweeping pardons or otherwise granting some form of clemency to those involved in the insurrection, including rioters who violently attacked police. But many of both people and publications highlighting people like, for example, the leader of the Proud Boys who was serving a 22-year prison term after being convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Which was definitely something that stood out as that was the longest sentence that was handed down against any of the nearly 1,600 people who were charged in connection with January 6th. But then moving forward, we're gonna break down the rest of Trump's day one policies by category. And so here, let's start talking about a few of the executive actions affecting federal workers. And in general, these are the ones roughly aimed to make good on Trump's promises to dismantle

the deep state, drain the swamp, or improve government efficiency. So we saw, for example, he ordered a freeze on the hiring of federal civilian employees, with that one stating that the heads of executive departments and agencies shall seek efficient use of existing personnel and funds to improve public services and the delivery of federal civilian employees. With that one stating that the heads of executive departments and agencies shall seek efficient use of existing personnel and funds to improve public services

and the delivery of these services. But also notably the order does not apply to military personnel or what was described as positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety. You also then had Trump making the action to end remote work policies and ordering federal workers back to the office full time,

as well as one granting top secret security clearances to White House staff without going through traditional vetting procedures. And then one of the most significant things here is that it reclassifies thousands of federal employees, strips them of protections, and makes them easier to fire. And according to the White House here, it's about restoring accountability.

And actually with that, it's an amended and updated version of an executive order that Trump signed back in 2020, establishing a new Schedule F employment category for federal employees. In that new category, it increases the president's power to remove civil servants, people who notably have historically been shielded from shifts in administration.

Though also with that, last time Biden actually took office and repealed the order before the Trump administration had a chance to implement it, which is why since then it's been long on the conservative wishlist, which I mean, on that note, for example, Project 2025 reportedly called for the original order

to be reinstated. Now, you know, this new one, it basically does the same thing, essentially by means of reclassifying certain federal employees as political appointees and specifically targeting those whose jobs are, quote, of a confidential policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character. So what that means is that could reportedly give Trump power over as many as 50,000 federal workers out of a workforce of more than 2 million. And while that may sound like a small number, for reference here, new presidents typically only get to replace more than 4,000 political appointees to oversee the running of their administration.

Now that said, the order is clear that employees are not required to personally or politically support the president or his administration's policies, but it does go on to say, they are required to faithfully implement administration policies to the best of their ability, and failure to do so is grounds for dismissal." So of course, that language,

it hasn't eased concerns for many that this might be a way for Donald Trump to get rid of those who disagree with him. Though the White House, for their part, they have framed the order as necessary to rein in rogue bureaucrats, saying, "'There have been numerous and well-documented cases of career federal employees resisting

and undermining the policies and directives of their executive leadership.'" But then, on the other side of this, you have people like Everett Kelly, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, saying, President Trump's order is a blatant attempt to corrupt the federal government

by eliminating employees' due process rights so they can be fired for political reasons. And continuing, this unprecedented assertion of executive power will create an army of sycophants beholden only to Donald Trump, not the Constitution or the people. But then, an attempt to include even more, you know, another big chunk of Trump's executive action

dealt with hot button conservative issues like gender and diversity. With Trump here, signing an executive order just straight up ending DEI across the federal government, or at least ordering each agency, department, or commission head to terminate to the maximum extent allowed by law all DEI, DEIA, and environmental justice offices and positions.

And that, including any related plans, programs, initiatives, and performance requirements. And notably, you know, this is happening as Trump's reelection has seemingly already sparked a wave of backlash against DEI. You know, companies like Meta, McDonald's, and Walmart being among the major companies announcing the end of some or all of their diversity practices.

And then also, building on that, we saw Trump sign an order saying that it is now the official policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female, and adding, "'These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.'" With that, among other things, the order requires that government-issued

identification documents, including passports, visas, and global entry cards, accurately reflect the holder's sex, which obviously is a big shift since back in 2022, the Biden administration allowed US citizens to be able to select the gender-neutral X as a marker on their passports. Also beyond that, the new Trump policy makes it so you can bar transgender people

from accessing single sex federal prisons, detention centers, or shelters that best align with their gender identities as well as halting the use of federal money for gender affirming care. Which notably there is something that several incarcerated trans people have successfully challenged in court.

And so actually with that, I do wanna say, almost everything that we're talking about here, it could very well and probably will be challenged in court, which actually brings us to the next big category. And that is immigration and the border where in fact, multiple lawsuits have already been filed. With one, for example, being in response to Trump's efforts to make good on his promise to end birthright citizenship, which if you didn't know, and it's a key thing here is a right guaranteed by the 14th amendment of the constitution. And it was affirmed by the Supreme court more than 125 years ago.

And so the executive order seems to be trying to argue for a strange reinterpretation of the amendment, with it appearing to wrongly claim that it never was meant to be interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States. And then, arguing that undocumented individuals and their children are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and therefore are not entitled to citizenship at birth. With us seeing outlets here like Axios, for example, reporting that Trump is acting on a once fringe belief that U.S. born children of undocumented immigrants have no right to U.S. citizenship and

are part of a conspiracy rooted in racism to replace white Americans. With the men also going on to point out that Trump has repeated the theory and said that immigrants today are poisoning the blood of our country. Also here, I will say, you know, the birthright citizenship stuff, it is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Donald Trump and immigration. Because you also had him declaring migrants crossing along the US-Mexico border to be a national emergency, with him then signing separate executive orders entitled,

"'Securing our borders, "'guaranteeing the state's protection against invasion' "'and protecting the American people against invasion." And those, in addition to ones authorizing the US military to draft a plan for sending troops to the border, creating a process which would allow cartels to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations, suspending the refugee admissions program for at least four months, and finally directing the Attorney General to seek the death penalty for the murder of law enforcement officers and capital

crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. And here, I do want to stress, there is a whole lot of detail that we could get into about exactly what all of these say. But today, I am trying to get to as many things as possible, and we're going to be definitely talking about all this more as more of these are implemented and then challenged in court. But for now, let's talk about how we're already seeing the impact just a day in. So there, you know, you have an example like the CBP One app, which helped facilitate the legal entry of nearly 1 million migrants since January of 2023. Well, now it's just been shut down. And with that, tens of thousands of appointments have reportedly been cancelled

Upending plans and leaving people stranded near the border with nowhere to go and similarly thanks to Trump's suspending refugee admissions You have the Guardian reporting that panic is spreading among more than 1600 Afghans eligible to enter the United States as refugees with them now effectively stranded in Afghanistan or neighboring Pakistan and many reportedly in danger And having time sensitive reasons to leave the country So of course the whole situation there and with immigration in general It's something that we're reasons to leave the country. So of course, the whole situation there and with immigration in general, it's something that we're gonna really have to keep an eye on.

But next up, we have another big area, and that is economics and especially international trade. Because there, Trump has famously promised massive tariffs against everywhere from China to Mexico to Canada. Of course, when I say tariffs against foreign countries, again, they are really taxes being paid by Americans on imports from those countries. So again, very notably, that is not how Donald Trump has repeatedly described it.

I mean, he even said it again in his inaugural address. Instead of taxing. What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. And then also, since saying that, he suggested that he might impose tariffs of as much as 25% on goods coming from Mexico and Canada. Though there, at least as of recording this, he has not

unveiled a solid plan. But in terms of executive action, you had him announcing an America First trade policy. With among other things, Trump floating the idea of creating what he called an external revenue service to collect tariffs, duties, and other foreign trade related revenues. But then also the executive order calling for an investigation into things

like the country's persistent trade deficits and the so-called de minimis tax exemption for imported goods worth less than $800. We then also saw Donald Trump making moves on energy and climate change, which notably are topics where the Republican party has almost the opposite stance in general of the Biden administration in every way. And here we saw one of the biggest and most vague being implementing a review on, quote, all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders, and any other agency actions that are an undue burden on developing energy sources.

With this, including pretty much every non-green energy source, like coal, oil, and natural gas, but also on nuclear and even some green energy sources like hydro power. With that, then naturally tying into a move to make it easier to drill in Alaska, as well as trying to reverse a ban that Biden implemented on offshore drilling. And then there are other attacks on Biden-era policies,

such as the total halting of leases of offshore wind farms, or the removal of regulations on tailpipe pollution that incentivize manufacturers to make electric cars, as well as other regulations on dishwashers, shower heads, and gas stoves. And a lot of this is going to be aided by Trump's national energy emergency. It is the first of its kind, and under the guise of an emergency, it lets the president skirt rules and regulations. And one offshoot from this is that it's probably going to be easier for energy, mining, and other companies that heavily impact the environment to get permits. And then lastly here, the United States

is gonna be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Treaty again. But if you don't remember, Trump did this the first time he was in office and then Biden rejoined it. But now in 2025, we're back to being one of the only countries that's not part of it. But again, none of that is really a surprise.

Trump has spoken on this, including during his inauguration. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. And that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill. We will be a rich nation again. And it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it. With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke

the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers. You know, now with all that, I got to pass the question off to you. And I will preface this by saying I know we did not cover every single thing we are. We are trying to put in as much as possible. And this is going to be a continuing conversation this by saying, I know we did not cover every single thing. We are trying to put in as much as possible. And this is going to be a continuing conversation. You know, I'd love to hear from you on what stood out with anything and everything we covered here. Also, what has stood out on what we haven't talked about yet.

And then, you know, just generally to extend it, how are you otherwise feeling? And then we'll get right back to the news in a moment. But first, you know, something that we all have in common, sadly, it's easily becoming victim to data breaches, exposing all of our personal information. I mean, thousands of companies are collecting, aggregating, and trading your personal data without you knowing anything about it. But with today's sponsor, Incogni, they can do what we all wish we could, automatically scrub your personal data off the market. I mean, it could take you years to manually request your data be deleted, but Incogni, they can do it for you automatically to protect your privacy. And I'll

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completely unrelated story, we need to talk about technology. Because I like, maybe a lot of you, I get excited when I see tech advancements. But then sometimes, and it's often in the pursuit of extra money, we just do stupid shit. And specifically today, I wanna talk about how, you know, over the past several thousand years, humans have made a lot of progress

in the way we take care of our babies. We've gone from raising them in caves and presumably fighting off predators to swaddling them in luxurious bassinets decked out with smart devices that track sleep, crying, digestion, and hunger. But there's one thing that these cavewomen back in the day didn't have to deal with while they were battling the elements, and that is surprise paywalls. And while I know that sounds random, I'm talking about this today because there's this ongoing controversy surrounding the SNOO bassinet. And that because it's an electric internet-connected bassinet that comes

with a host of features meant to improve your baby's, and by extension, your sleep. With it lulling the baby to sleep using sound and motion throughout the night, and then when it detects fussing, it automatically responds with gradually increasing levels of both to soothe them. The thing is, ever since July, a lot of parents who have come to rely on those features have been surprised by a paywall. With the ironically named Happiest Baby, the company that sells the snoo, making them sign up for a $20 monthly premium subscription to continue using some of the most popular features. There were those including the sleep tracker and the so-called weaning mode,

which helps transition the baby to a bigger bed among others. And so in the wake of this, you had a lot of people up in arms over what felt to them like a rug pull. With one user writing on the product subreddit, it's actually disgusting to take advantage of parents who are just trying to get their kids to sleep

and already paying a large sum for the pleasure of something that A, may not work, B, can only be used for a short period before becoming useless, C, requires ongoing payments to use full features. And this is another mother told The Verge, I am not opposed to the concept of premium membership if they want to add more features, but adding, I am surprised to see existing features that were advertised as coming with the SNU suddenly being paywall. It's like a mechanic intentionally breaking your car just so they can sell you the repair. But there you have Happiest Baby defending itself, pointing out that every new purchase of the SNU comes with a free premium subscription for nine months, which covers pretty much the entire time your baby would use it. So essentially, the argument

is that the only people who have to pay are secondhand buyers who get the SNU at a discount from previous owners. And with that, Happiest Baby telling the Washington Post that secondhand market, it creates a burden on the company. With them arguing that without an ongoing subscription, it makes no money from the new owner, but it still has to keep and present information for them and help with any issues. But for the parents who already forked over hundreds of dollars for features they assumed would be free,

it's irrelevant who that money went to, right? It's fucking expensive. And this, as you have critics arguing that the SNOO is just one example of a growing tactic that's become so infamous, it's earned a name, software tethering. For example, the $400 Miku baby monitor dropping a $10 monthly subscription

for most of its features in 2023. It felt like robbery to me, honestly. What does this device do now if you don't pay that subscription? It is a camera, that's it. Like it's the technological equivalent to a $40 baby monitor. And sometimes you don't even get an option

of a subscription. The software support just ends. Like for example, when Spotify told customers who bought its $90 car thing device that it would stop supporting it in December, just 22 months after launching the product. Or also like when Levi's did the same thing for its $350 smart jacket,

which came with sensors on the sleeve that let users control their phones. Which is why in recent years, we've seen consumer advocates demanding stricter regulations on smart devices. For example, public interest research groups leader for the design to last campaign telling the post, "'This new technology is actually allowing manufacturers

"'to change the way the status quo has been for decades, "'which is that once you buy something, you own it, "'and you can do whatever you want.'" And adding, right now consumers have no trust that what they're buying is actually going to keep working. And then further arguing that, "'This doesn't just hurt consumers, it hurts the earth, right? Because you've got all this perfectly good hardware that just ends up getting dumped in landfills because the manufacturer pulled software support from it.

Though also going back to the case of the SNU, we're seeing some people pushing back. With now, customers reportedly filing dozens of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau. And that notably is in addition to 17 consumer protection and tech advocacy groups sending a letter to the FTC about the SNOO car thing and other smart devices. And there they propose five reforms that they argue could improve the industry. First, they wanna require companies to put a guaranteed minimum support time

on their products packaging. Second, require core functions like an e-bike starting up and oven heating up or a thermostat changing the temperature to work even if the internet fails or software support ends. Third, they wanna encourage companies to distribute tools and software to repurpose products after support ends. Third, they want to encourage companies to distribute tools and software to repurpose products after support ends. Fourth, they want to force companies

to let competitors or third parties create tools so people can reuse or modify the products. And fifth, encourage manufacturers to build longevity into the design of their products. But notably, all of those are just suggestions, so we're gonna have to see if the regulators actually jump on this market or not. And as far as my opinion here,

I think SNHU and other companies like this, they are in the wrong. It feels like their thinking here is flawed, that it is anti-consumer. If they wanted to be less predatory, they could have some sort of buyback program or some sort of thing that incentivizes repurposing. And all I know is if the device that I paid hundreds of dollars for to calm my baby down and keep my baby asleep just fucking stopped working and someone was trying to exploit me and get even more money out of me. I would, while slowly going insane on getting less sleep because I have a baby, find out who made these decisions and then go to every aspect of their day-to-day life and hide a smoke detector

that needs a battery. Or every waking moment of their life, they just hear a beep and then another beep and they start to think they're slowly going insane because it's already hard being a parent. And then those first months and those first years, sleep is everything. It will make or break you. And you purposely built something in your product to make it worse so you could pull money from people down the road. But hey, one, that's just my opinion. I don't need everyone to agree with me on that. And two, most people probably don't need this device. But then moving on to some other interesting news, according to a group of nearly 200 former CIA, defense and intelligence figures,

this casino could be a national security threat. And this notably is going down as a bill, which would be the first step in paving the way for Virginia six casino is making its way through the state Senate. And this is also many are taking issue with the proposed location, right? They're talking about building this new casino

in Fairfax County. And then even more specifically, they're looking at the city of Tysons within the county. And here's the thing, if you're unfamiliar with the proposed location, right? They're talking about building this new casino in Fairfax County. And then even more specifically, they're looking at the city of Tyson's within the county. And here's the thing, if you're unfamiliar with Fairfax, it's just outside of Washington, D.C., and it's home to a whole slew of defense and intelligence organizations. We're talking the CIA headquarters, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and that's without mentioning the countless contractors. And according to the National Security Leaders for Fairfax, right, that group of former spies, Fairfax County is probably home

to more security clearances than anywhere else in the country, which they say prompts a serious problem if a casino is built, saying in a letter to state and local officials, the proximity of a Tyson's Casino to a significant population of government, military, and contract officials

with access to highly secretive government intelligence, diplomatic, and defense information will not only attract organized crime. Saying casinos always do, but also adversarial intelligence services looking to recruit those with such access whom they hope to blackmail. With Sally Horn, the former senior director

of the office of the secretary of defense telling the Washington Post, "'Problem gamblers who go into deep debt and or fear losing their clearances and jobs if their gambling problem comes to light are prime targets for compromise and recruitment by Russia, China and others who would do us ill. And that argument, you know, it's not entirely unfounded. In fact, according to a 1992 report by the Defense Technical

Information Center, gambling debts drove at least seven Americans to sell government secrets to the Soviet Union. Though also with that, you have some state officials not convinced that this is actually a threat. And that includes people like state Senate Majority Leader Scott Soroville, who notably introduced the bill, where he says that if convenient gambling is enough to corrupt government spies, then there are bigger issues to address. Especially considering the proximity of other casinos to Fairfax County with Sorovell saying to the Post,

we already have a massive slots parlor, 45 minutes West in West Virginia, MGM Casino right over the river in Maryland, and sports gaming on every phone in the state. So I guess the Chinese already know everything. Which notably, I will say, is a point that the former spies opposing the Fairfax Casino have acknowledged.

But they argue that building a casino right there, it would magnify the temptation exponentially. And there you have folks like State Senator Jennifer Boyce goes saying, you could go on your lunch break, right? Or happy hour after work. Now with all that, I do wanna know that outside of spies going turncoat, there are other arguments

against the potential casino. But those are kind of boring things unless you actively live there. There are arguments about that specific area that's gonna be used in potential gridlock and who's getting the tax revenue. And in general, it just kind of got me wondering, I wonder how big of an issue blackmail is

with people that have security clearances. Especially in 2025, where more vices than ever, both legal and illegal, are readily available at your fingertips or at least in your zip code. But then, finally today, let's talk about yesterday in some comment commentary brought to you by Beautiful Bastard, the most comfortable way to wear your feelings. Whether it be anything from our new drop this week, like God is testing me and I refuse to study, a silly goose in this economy, and or the re-release of You May Not Fuck With Politics,

But Politics Will Fuck With You, or any of the other goodness on site, with much of it 20% off. But in diving into those comments yesterday, I saw a lot of people talking about health insurance, which I will say, despite how troubling and infuriating those stories were, I was glad that it stuck with people. It didn't just do 18 minutes of a deep dive into the topic for shits and giggles.

It's something that's really concerning to me. I think it connects to a lot of people, but also it weirds the hell out of the people watching from outside the country. I mean, a ton of the top comments were things like, as someone having universal health care in Germany, the deep dive on health insurance made me angry. Here in Germany, when a doctor deems a treatment to be necessary,

insurance companies have to pay. Period. No discussion of the treatment is necessary. As well as, I live in Japan, and hearing the stories about the medical insurance is mind-boggling to me. Just last Saturday, I went to get a health check, totally free, or rather, taxes pay for it, which is exactly how taxes should be used,

and saying I got a breast ultrasound and a barium swallow test plus blood work and didn't have to pay anything out of pocket. This is yearly, this is preventative healthcare. And honestly, the bare minimum. And this is also people in the United States were sharing their stories. But they're seeing people like Tim saying,

my wife was in a serious accident last year and dealing with health insurance and bills while also being a full-time caregiver for a few months brought me to edge. I find myself to be a pretty compassionate person, but the CEO getting shot was a long time coming. For-profit healthcare is insanity. As well as folks like Maria sharing,

"'As a chemotherapy nurse, prior authorization "'is the bane of mine and our whole practice's existence.'" The fact that we can get different answers on what is covered based on which insurance representative picks up the phone is the most infuriating. The peer-to-peer, our doctor to insurance's doctor part you mentioned, wastes so much of the time of the already limited time the oncologists have.

Just the amount of time we as the oncology nurses have to spend on hold with the insurance companies is ridiculous. And again, all of this as people are sharing their individual stories, I'm including some on screen. You can pause to read through those yourself. And thank you to everyone that takes part in those comments, especially when you're opening up and sharing personal stories. Yeah, that is where your Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning dive into the news day is going to end. I want to thank you for being in this with me every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Also, hey, follow me on any of these platforms that you use right here. Links in the description. There's just been a fire hose of news and we're trying to stay on top of it for you. But that said, yeah,

thank you for watching. I love your faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.