The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.12 Andrew Tate Arrested After Adin Ross Leaked His Escape Plans, The Sydney Sweeney Leaks Problem, &

Episode Date: March 12, 2024

I'm genuinely amazed at how stupid he was... PDS Debt is offering a free debt analysis. It only takes thirty seconds. Get yours at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco Beam’s Dream is clinically shown to improve sleep. Click https://shopbeam.com/defranco and use code DEFRANCO to get up to 35% off.  ==== Today's Show Notes/Sources (This is a temporary site as we get something standard set up): https://decagon-trombone-gb9c.squarespace.com/blog-1-1/march-12-2024  ==== Get yourself new https://BeautifulBastard.com shirts, crews, and hoodies! –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Andrew Tate Detained Again, Will be Extradited From Romania to UK 04:11 - Sydney Sweeney Malware Scam Spreads on X 06:21 - Elon Musk’s Foundation Donates Half Its Money to Business Interests & Family 09:47 - Sponsored by PDS Debt 10:36 - FAA Audit of Boeing Max Production Finds Dozens of Issues 13:54 - FL Lawsuit Settlement Clarifies “Don’t Say Gay” Law 16:08 - Lab-Grown Meats Facing Resistance For Impacting Ranchers 18:09 - Ukraine Launches Drone Strikes on Russian Oil Facilities  20:44 - Sponsored by Beam 21:35 - State Medicaid Programs Are Prescribing Housing, Food, & Other Social Needs 28:50 - Your Thoughts on Yesterday’s Show Boy Boy North Korea video: https://youtu.be/2BO83Ig-E8E?si=1UpBDEIGg--KJDOR  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on Medicaid Programs: Lili Stenn ———————————— #DeFranco #AndrewTate #AdinRoss ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards. You're watching the Philip DeFranco Show, and we got a lot of news to talk about today. So just hit that like button to train YouTube, let it know you like these big daily dives into the news, and let's jump into it. Starting with, Andrew Tate just got detained again. And the why, the when, the how this allegedly happened

is kind of wild. Because Tate is already facing charges in Romania over an alleged human trafficking scheme. Last night, he and his brother Tristan were detained in Romania over warrants from the UK pertaining to sexual offenses, with the authorities further explaining that they were issued for allegedly exploiting people in the UK. Right, and those allegations come from back in 2012 to 2015. And just today, Romanian courts decided that the brothers can be extradited

to the UK. Notably, the judge said that that will have to wait until after the trial in Romania. And with this, the Tates' representatives gave a statement to the media shutting down the accusations out of the UK, saying both brothers are dismayed and adding, they categorically reject all charges and express profound disappointment that such serious allegations are being resurrected without substantial new evidence, and saying they are fully committed to challenging these accusations with unwavering determination and resolve. Write in this, as it's not the first time that Andrew's been accused of sexual assault in the UK, though notably the authorities decided not to prosecute him previously.

Right now, details about the specific claims in the new warrant remain unclear, but one London-based law firm has actually chimed in on this, with McHugh Jury and Partners releasing a statement saying it represents four British women who accused Andrew of rape as well as physical and sexual assault, claims that were subject of an investigation in the UK, with them adding that they became aware today that he had been detained over allegations during the same period in which our clients alleged Tate raped and assaulted them. And then continuing, last week we received information that Tate might have been planning to flee Romania. We wrote to the British police to bring this to their attention and to urge them to immediately seek a warrant for Tate's detention in Romania

and extradition to the UK. And going on to say, while we cannot and do not comment on any knowledge of ongoing investigations, we are grateful that the British authorities have decided to take action and take heed of our concerns and the concerns of our clients. Tate is accused of serious criminal offenses against a large number of victims and must be held accountable for those actions. And also, here's what's kind of wild with all this. As for how they may have been tipped off that Andrew was considering leaving Romania, well,

a lot of people's fingers are pointing at none other than Aiden Ross. He's one of the biggest streamers in the world. He is a friend to Tate. But the reason people are pointing to him is because during one of his live streams, this happened. Andrew had hit me up. He said, hey, I'm gonna be leaving Romania soon and probably never coming back. If you wanna come over and do a week of long streams and content before I leave,

I think it'll be big. And it's never, it's, I'm sorry, he said it's not, it's basically now or never. And in fact, this is no longer just a theory. A legal representative for McHugh Law told Rolling Stone it was Aiden Ross who kicked this off. Though notably with this, a spokesperson for the Tates told the outlet, we unequivocally deny any accusations that Andrew or Tristan Tate intends to abscond from Romania to evade the judicial proceedings, and Aiden Ross misconstrued Andrew's message to him. Which to

that, whether Aiden misconstrued Andrew's message to him or not, man, with friends like Aiden, I mean, most non-clout chasers in the space know like his stupid is like weapons grade level. But to see the friendly fire go down like this was wild. Now that said, following all this news, you know, we've seen Free the Tate trending over on Twitter. Tons of people using the hashtag to support the brothers. While a lot of his fans are saying things like he's innocent, there are also a number of conspiracies flying out there left and right. Some saying he was arrested for pissing off the elites because he recently condemned the bit of John Cena at the Oscars. By calling it a humiliation ritual. Because yes, the professional wrestling jorts wearer who's carved out a career of being a big tough guy that doesn't take himself too seriously and does gags like this.

That was a humiliation ritual. Ha! Look at his giant muscles. He must be so humiliated that we can all see his giant muscles. Y'all, this dude essentially went dong out and train wrecked. Did we already forget that movie? But anyway, sorry, the John Cena shit was just so stupid. But then also extra stupid is saying that Tate got arrested because of that. But also, I do want to note that I don't think that this happening was completely a surprise to Tate. He even recently publicly said that England was going to try and hit him, though notably with what he called imaginary charges. But with all that said, as far as where

things stand now, as of filming, the court has said that the Tates could be released from custody following their detainment. Andrew was actually seen speaking after all this. We're very innocent men and in time, everybody's going to see that. And we're very excited to finish this judicial process. For now, obviously, there's a lot more for us to see play out. We have to see if the extradition leads to the Romanian trial coming up faster, what other news might break about the warrant, and the list goes on and on. But while we wait to see what happens, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts here. And then, dear perverts, please do not click the Sydney Sweeney leaks over on X.

Both for the normal reasons as well as accounts right now are using the false promise of not safer work Sweeney photos to get people to click malware links. And to most people, you know, you'd think that it is obvious that these links and these posts, they are suspect. But one, they are absolutely everywhere. And two, never underestimate how stupid horniness will make someone. There is no limit to the level of stupid and or dangerous that will get some people. And so with this specific Sweeney situation, you have places like 404 Media doing a report on how it's taken off on X. Calling it yet another example of how under-moderated the platform is now.

Because these malware posts actually started popping up and gaining traction after Sydney hosted Saturday Night Live, right back when the discussion about her online got like to a horny high. Also, don't worry, the writer for 404 Media, they put on a cape. They decided today was the day they were a hero, writing, I clicked around on a bunch of these to the peril of my own safety, and not only didn't see any boobs, sweenies's or otherwise, my antivirus software blocked me from accessing the sites and flagged them as potential risks. And at the time, outlets like that and Gizmodo, when they covered it, it looked like X had done absolutely nothing to combat this. So I will say, now it does look like they've done a little something, even though it's nowhere near close to solving the problem. For example, right

now, you can't search Sydney Sweeney leak on the platform. It just gives you an error. But of course, you're talking about people on the internet. There are tons of ways around this. Some incredibly simple. Like if you just search her name alone, you get the results. And in fact, just this morning, the second suggested post with her name was one of these links. And that is there just more and more popping up online. Though I will say, like if you're scrolling, you're mostly going to find stuff posted either

this morning or just in the last few hours as the platform is trying to work to take down the links. But again, new stuff just keeps popping up. It's a game of whack-a-mole. Though again, a shitty game of whack-a-mole, as some posts from last week are actually still up. With some of the workarounds being like, hey, just follow me and I'll DM you. And so while you have outlets saying, you know, moderation on the platform is never good, it seems like it's only gotten worse. Right? And lending itself to that argument are the countless celebrity

not-safe-at-work trending topics we've seen over the past few months, AI-generated or otherwise. And so it just begs the question, like, if Elon Musk and co were taking this seriously, or at least as serious as Musk seems to be taking community notes on his post that somehow disappear, you know, when it's pointed out that he's just spreading misinformation. Seemingly just another example of a billionaire that has the mindset of rules for thee, but not for me. And all of this just kind of begs the question of, you know, is it misplaced priorities and or a skill issue? Though also, on the note of Musk, he is in the news for a different reason. Because Elon Musk's charity, well, it may not actually be so charitable.

At least that's the conclusion of this New York Times investigation that said that Mr. Musk's philanthropy has been haphazard and largely self-serving, making him eligible for enormous tax breaks and helping his businesses. Right, because for those that don't know, Musk actually started the Musk Foundation

with his younger brother back in 2001, just a year before selling PayPal for $1.5 billion. And for a few years, at least, it does seem like he made a bit of an effort. This is what his website looked like in 2004. But by 2005, this is what it looked like. Though, I do want to give Musk credit where it's due. It's not like he hasn't updated the website at all. This is what it looks like today. Shit. Okay. I mean, there are several more lines. But, you know, being serious, this is not about the foundation's hilariously low-effort website. Instead, it's about things like how, according to the investigation, Musk's foundation regularly fell short of the minimum required donation under tax laws.

In 2022, for example, the Musk Foundation donated $234 million less than required. And on top of all that, they found that about half of the money that the Musk Foundation actually did donate went to people or organizations with links to Musk or his businesses. With this including $55 million to help a major SpaceX customer meet a charitable pledge, $10 million to OpenAI, the chat GPT developer where Musk once sat on the board of directors. Musk also founded a non-profit school called Ad Astra, whose students included his own children and the children of high-level SpaceX executives. With two of those former SpaceX execs who spoke to the Times on the condition of anonymity saying, it was understood to be near impossible for the offspring of rank-and-file employees to gain admission.

And it kind of just keeps going. Tax filings showing that Musk hasn't hired any staff for his foundation. Also that its board consists of only himself and two volunteers, one of whom reports putting in so little time that it averages out to six minutes per week. This is Musk's charity is reportedly

one of the largest in the country. I mean, in 2022, its total revenue is $2.5 billion. And according to Musk, it takes him and the two other people a couple hours a week to decide what to do with all of that money. And when looking at this, like a lot of billionaires, Musk's charity is also a way for him to pay less in taxes. In 2021, for example, Musk gave $5.7 billion worth of Tesla shares to his own foundation, a move the tax experts say could have saved him more than $2 billion on his tax bill. Though,

you know, with all this, this isn't to say that Musk's businesses or charity hasn't done any good. Though there is a range there, starting with things that are kind of still self-serving. There's situations like Musk giving money to Cameron County, Texas, which is where the SpaceX launch site's located, and that popping up in the news because, you know, one day back in March of 2021, around 8.05 a.m., a SpaceX rocket blew up and it showered the area in debris. And I'm not kidding, just an hour, 22 minutes later, the Musk Foundation began releasing funds to the county, with Musk simply characterizing it as money for downtown revitalization. Though also, to this day, the mayor of Brownsville tells the Times that they've received less than half of the $10 million that was promised

by Musk. But again, also, there are good things that happen. You know, unlike seemingly sporadic, he donated $1 million to plant trees after Mr. Beast prompted him to on Twitter. Also donating $1 million to help small businesses during the pandemic after Dave Portnoy pushed him. Though again, there are also examples of him over-promising. Like in 2018, he said he would fund fixing the water in any house in Flint that has water contamination above FDA levels. While the Musk Foundation did chip in, it was a little more than a million dollars to schools and a charity for Flint kids. And when the city asked him to fund new water infrastructure and wide-scale pipe replacements in homes, you know, like the stuff that he talked about, Musk did nothing. And then

you have things like in 2021, he said he'd give the UN World Food Program $6 billion if it could describe how it would spend the money. So they answered with an actual plan to support 42 million people on the brink of famine. But what happened? Nothing. But again, you know, with all this, we don't have data on his foundations giving in 2023. Maybe there's a sudden change. And the thing is, it is to his benefit at least to do a little something. Because if the organization doesn't meet the 5% minimum bar for donations, then it could face a stiff penalty tax equal to 30% of the shortfall. And then some things in life can just be so overwhelming

that we just, we put them off. But when it comes to increasing debt, just do yourself a favor and don't put it off. If you're at the point where you're making payments every month on your debt and your balances aren't going down, today's sponsor, PDS Debt, has a program that rolls all of your payments

into one low monthly payment. And more importantly, just one low monthly payment based on what you can afford. And everyone with over $10,000 or more in debt qualifies. And get this, there is no minimum credit score required. PDS Debt offers options that allow you to pay off your debt in a fraction of the time, saving thousands in interest and fees. And PDS Debt is giving you beautiful bastards a free debt analysis just for completing the quick and easy debt assessment at pdsdebt.com slash DeFranco. Yeah, you'll receive a full breakdown on how to save on interest each month and the quickest way to take care of your debt. Just go to pdsdebt.com slash defranco and get your quick and easy debt

assessment today because it's time to take back control of your life and live for you, not your debt. And then, no, I'm not just reusing a story from yesterday. Boeing is in trouble yet again with an FAA audit of Boeing's 737 MAX production finding dozens of problems. And this, according to a slideshow presentation of the audit that was viewed by the New York Times, which looked at both Boeing and the supplier Spirit Aerosystems, which makes the body of the 737 MAX. So for the portion that looked at Boeing, the FAA led 89 product audits that looked at specific elements of the production. And of those 89 audits, the company passed 56 and failed 33, with a total of 97 instances of alleged noncompliance.

Meanwhile, Spirit Aerosystems had 13 product audits, and of those, the supplier passed just six but failed seven. And as always, the devil is in the details, and the details here are super fucking alarming. Right at one point during those audits, the FAA reported that they saw Spirit Mechanics using a hotel key card to check a door seal, an action that the documents say was, quote, not identified slash documented slash called out in the production order. And at another time, the agency saw Spirit Mechanics using liquid dish soap check a door seal. An action that the documents say was, quote, not identified, slash documented, slash called out in the production order. And at another time,

the agency saw spirit mechanics using liquid dish soap on a door seal as lubricant in the fit-up process and then clean that up with a wet cheesecloth. Right, and those are just kind of specific examples because these audits were very broad and covered many different parts of the 737 Max. And the Times reporting with that, many of the problems found by auditors fell in the category of not following an approved manufacturing process, procedure, or instruction, though some other issues dealt with quality control documentation. For example, when auditors interviewed six Boeing engineers on how well they understood the company's quality control processes, the average score was just 58%, a solid F for fuck you, I guess.

But apparently, when we're building a plane that's going to have actual human beings in it, the scale should be kind of loosey-goosey. You know, just because lives are at stake doesn't mean we need to grade on a strict scale. We don't want people feeling bad about themselves, apparently. But arguably the most significant detail of this Times report is the fact that some audits at Boeing and Spirit actually focused on the Max's door plug, which is what blew off the Alaska Airlines jet mid-flight back in January. And very notably here, the presentation showed that Boeing actually failed that audit. And while the exact reasons weren't provided, some of the issues flagged involved issues with inspection and quality control documentation. And similarly, the audit at Spirit that concentrated on the door plug found five problems, with one of those being that Boeing failed to provide evidence of approval of minor design change under a method acceptable to the FAA.

Also beyond that, Spirit failed another audit that concerned the installation of the door plug. With that audit expressing concerns about the Spirit technicians who did the work and finding that the company quote failed to determine the knowledge necessary for the operation of its processes. So a bunch of really concerning and really relevant stuff because I mean there are many other ongoing investigations. I mean just yesterday we talked about reports that the DOJ has now opened a criminal investigation into the door plug debacle. Then I mean as far as how these companies have responded, spokespeople for both basically just gave the expected buzzwordy responses about how they're making changes to strengthen safety and integrate recommendations. But all of this now also coming as it's been revealed that a former Boeing employee and

whistleblower was found dead. And so with that, we've seen a ton of people thinking the timing here is extremely suspicious. Some online even outright speculating that Boeing assassinated him, especially because last week he gave a formal deposition. And just this past Saturday, he was supposed to have appeared for more questioning, but he was a no-show and authorities later found his body at his hotel. Now that said, right now, officially, there is no evidence of foul play actually being reported with reports saying that this was a suicide. And with that, you had his family saying that, you know, the mental toll his time at Boeing had on him was extreme, saying that he suffered from PTSD and anxiety

attacks and claiming that the hostile work environment at Boeing led to his death. But with that said, of course, all of this is still developing. I definitely subscribe to stay in the loop on this. But in the meantime, I got to move this situation into the court of public opinion. You know, what are your thoughts regarding this whole situation? Let me know in those comments down below, and it may pop up in tomorrow's yesterday, today's segment. And then, also, it took almost two whole years, but we now finally know what Florida's don't say gay law actually does. Because back when Ronnie Boyce signed it in in 2022, the law was widely criticized for being extremely vaguely worded, with it prohibiting instruction on sexual

orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through eighth grade after being revised, as well as giving parents the option to sue a school district if they felt like the policy had been violated. So teachers and students understandably felt afraid of crossing any lines and they self-censored. Hence the informal name, Don't Say Gay. But also with this, we saw a collection of students, parents, educators, and LGBTQ groups quickly suing the state of Florida. And all of that leading to now, where both sides agreed to a settlement that finally clarified what the law does and does not do. Right, namely that students and teachers are allowed to talk about sexual identity and gender orientation in public schools as long as it is not part of a formal classroom instruction.

Also, literature, classroom discussion, students' academic work, and its review can make references to LGBTQ identity. And so can anything having to do with teachers, spouses, classroom discussion, students' academic work, and its review can make references to LGBTQ identity. And so can anything having to do with teachers, spouses, or partners, or any other context outside of instruction. Also, notably, the law doesn't apply to school library books, so long as they're not being used for instruction. It also allows for LGBTQ student-run organizations, book fairs, musicals, or plays with LGBTQ references and characters, and expressions and clothing that do not conform with a person's perceived gender identity. The lead lawyer for the plaintiff stating, Simply put, the state of Florida has now made it clear that LGBTQ plus kids, parents, and teachers in Florida can in fact say that they are gay. And Equality Florida, one of the organizations who brought the lawsuit, celebrating the decision on Twitter, saying,

We've reached a historic settlement with the state that puts an end to some of the most dangerous impacts of this law for students, parents, and teachers. Though interestingly, at the same time, you have supporters of the law trying to play off this settlement as a victory as well, pointing to the fact that the law technically remains in place, with Governor DeSantis' office calling this settlement a major win against activists and extremists who mobilize to smear and stop the law. Also, right-wing media like Florida's Voice describing the outcome as lawsuit fails to strike down Florida's Parental Rights and Education Act,

with a group Moms for Liberty also sharing that tweet. And so while you interestingly have both sides celebrating this decision, it's also important to note that this settlement comes after, you know, it's too late to prevent the culture of fear and hostility around queer people, not just in Florida, but nationwide. With a new analysis of FBI data showing that school hate crimes targeting LGBTQ plus people have sharply risen in recent years, climbing fastest in states that have passed laws restricting LGBTQ student rights and education. I mean, looking at K to12 campuses, we're talking about a quadrupling in hate crimes in recent years. And then, America's ranchers are under attack by, uh, science.

That is what lawmakers across at least 16 states want you to believe after moving to stifle the upcoming lab-grown meat industry. For many, calling this a war on ranching and what constitutes real meat. So far, 16 states have passed laws that prevent labeling lab-grown meats as meats, which is definitely a preventative measure since no such products are even on the market yet. But for these lawmakers, it also comes with the added bonus of applying it to other fake meats,

like vegan products or those made with insects. Then there are also states like Alabama, which are going further and planning to criminalize lab-grown meats. And actually, if a bill that's working its way through the legislature passes, it would actually be a misdemeanor punishable with three months in jail and a $500 fine.

That's if you're selling, manufacturing, or distributing cultivated food products. One of the general arguments here is that it's unknown how safe these meats are, although notably federal agencies have begun to approve them, so take that how you will. Really, the biggest issue for many states that are passing these laws is that it just directly competes with cattle farmers. For example, one Alabama lawmaker is saying, lab-grown meat or whatever you want to call it, we're not sure of all of the long-term problems with it, and it does compete with our farming industry. And this ties into a big argument for supporting domestic agriculture in general. It's a national security concern and you need it or you face being reliant on foreign imports. But that, I mean, it really

doesn't apply here as the company is looking to push the industry forward or from the U.S. and making the foods here. In fact, one CEO for a company that's developing seafoods even argued this ban will create Chinese jobs at the expense of small American businesses like mine. And he definitely has an argument there, as the vast majority of seafood that we consume is actually imported from places like China. Also, supporters for the industry point to other perks, like it cuts down on the ethical dilemmas of eating meat, whether that be the potential suffering of any cattle, as well as a massive reduction in greenhouse gases. And that last one's big, because if you don't know, agriculture

accounts for 11% of the US's greenhouse gases. And cows in particular are methane-making machines. And methane's like 80 times more effective at warming than carbon dioxide. Right, so there's definitely perks here, but where I'll leave you with this. I think this is more for the non-vegan, non-vegetarians out there.

If it tasted close to as good or as good or better, and the price was much or close to or the same as, you know, regular meat, would you make the switch? Because personally, I'm not a vegan or a vegetarian, but I'm interested. And then we've got big Russia-Ukraine news we got to talk about today, starting with how Russians near the Ukrainian border were shocked waking up this morning, seeing Ukrainian armored vehicles rolling through their town. But this is because Russian volunteers fighting for Ukraine crossed the border and fought with Russian forces within Russia. Right, these volunteers largely fight across three different groups. The Freedom of Russia

Legion, the Siberian Battalion, and the Russian Volunteer Corps, with all three claiming to have made successful attacks. Although Russian authorities say they actually failed to capture any town or territory. Though that's being disputed by the groups who say they're actually still holding a town, but with the fog of war it's really hard to tell exactly what's going on. But either way, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if they already left Russia, as past raids have always been kind of a quick thing. They're not really meant to hold territory, but rather to send a message. Also notably, these raids coincide with a series of devastating drone strikes by Ukraine deep into Russia, both of which are meant to keep Russia off balance.

Unlike the raids, which would be a symbolic victory at best, the drone strikes have very tangible effects. They not only show Russians that war can and will affect them days ahead of the presidential elections, but they also seriously damage key infrastructure for Russia's war effort. Though on the note of the upcoming elections, you know, Russians really don't have a choice. But of the drone strikes, one of the most successful was against the Lukoil's North Sea Refinery, which is east of Moscow. It's Russia's fourth largest and the attack forced it to be shut down. Also, other drones managed to make their way all the way to the Leningrad region, which is where St. Petersburg is. While Russia reportedly shot those down, it is a sign of just how deep Ukraine's able to send their drones when needed. And those also aren't the only Ukrainian successes. It looks like they've

managed to stop Russian advances in the east, at least for the time being, which is a pretty big damn deal because, I mean, they've been struggling with a lack of new arms and ammunition as their Western allies struggle to get the ball moving, especially here in the U.S. where Republicans continue to block any new funding or arms deals for Ukraine. So we've seen in the news, if Trump wins, that'll likely be the policy moving forward, with Hungary's leader saying that Trump told him after a private meeting that he plans to let Ukraine lose by starving them of supplies and money. And so the EU as a whole is actually pretty scared of that possibility. So much so, in fact, that they're ramping up their own arms productions. In fact, it's now at the point where France has overtaken

Russia as the second largest arms exporter in the world. Though, of course, that's partially because with Russia's invasion, they can't really afford to sell weapons abroad anymore. But it is a clear indication that Europe is serious about arming itself. And the rhetoric over there is increasingly that they need to prepare for a confrontation with Russia. Whether they want it or not, it is coming. With many leaders even suggesting that may be sooner than later as they're keeping the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine open. Though that said, it's not quite to that point according to Zelensky. He recently spoke to French outlets and said that as long as Ukraine is able to remain said, it's not quite to that point, according to Zelensky. He recently spoke to French outlets and said that as long as Ukraine is able to remain armed,

it won't need any foreign help, especially as the idea of foreign troops in Ukraine is something that many Ukrainians are wary about. Zelensky even going on to assure the French people that your children are not going to die in Ukraine, which hopefully remains to be the case, although it is a fucking horrible shame that Ukrainians can't also live with that reality

because of Putin's stupid war. And then, for a long time now, you've heard me talk about my experience with Beam, and specifically their Dream Powder. I've taken it for years now, and it's a delicious hot cocoa with five natural ingredients that helps me fall asleep and wake up feeling amazing. Because sleep is everything. A good night's sleep is life-changing. What I really like about Dream is waking up feeling refreshed. And if a good night's sleep is evading you right now, you gotta check out our fantastic partner, the PDS, Beam. You know, using Dream, it helps me unwind from my busy day and get the deep sleep my body needs. I've tried a lot of sleep aids over the years, and Dream is my favorite because it doesn't make me feel groggy. Plus, Beam's Dream

Powder is clinically shown to help you sleep better. So if you're someone who struggles with sleep, you should give it a try, especially as they have a lot of delicious flavors to choose from, like peanut butter or their original flavors, cinnamon cocoa and white chocolate peppermint, which I will say that one does sell out fast. It's one of my favorites. But hey, just head on over to shopbeam.com slash DeFranco and use code DeFranco or scan the QR code to get up to 35% off.

Take advantage of this limited time offer. And then imagine going to a doctor and you can get a prescription for food and housing. Well, here's the thing. Actually, in a growing number of states, you basically can't. But recently, you've had a handful of states expanding their Medicaid health care programs to cover a much wider range of social needs. And this including assistance not only for housing

and food, but also transportation, people transitioning into life after prison, and domestic violence survivors. With the idea here being that it's been long established that a person's overall health is enormously dependent on social factors, and especially living conditions. And in fact, even more so than actual health care in the traditional medical sense, with studies showing that medical care is actually only responsible for just 20% of the difference in a patient's health. But social risk factors, things like access to housing and food, that determines as much as half to 80%. With Seth Berkowitz, an associate professor of medicine at the UNC School of Medicine, telling the Washington Post, if you're trying to offer healthcare to improve health and a patient is not able to afford a

healthy diet or have a place to live, you end up spinning your wheels. So with that in mind, there's been this growing push to integrate these different elements we're talking about into the healthcare system. And the most comprehensive actions by far have been through Medicaid, the largest public source of health insurance in the US, providing health insurance to low-income and at-need adults and children for decades, with the overarching goals here being to improve the health of already at-risk populations while also chipping away at the insanely high medical costs that America has compared to every other high-income country.

But, big thing, because Medicaid is a shared responsibility between the federal government and states, federal approval is needed for these projects. And while some of these state experiments have been going on for a while now, they've significantly ramped up in the past few years. In fact, in the very final days of the Trump administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, they gave states suggestions for ways that they could use Medicaid and other public insurance programs to assist social needs. And so with that, we've actually seen the Biden administration massively expand this front. After working with the White House for over a year, CMS released guidelines

in November for additional social services that states could add under Medicaid, that including up to six months rent, utilities, subsidies, and nutritious food. And in the three years Biden's been in office, CMS has approved these pilot programs in eight states, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington. This also is nine other states have applied to have their projects approved. And this also is California, Massachusetts, and North Carolina have all asked to update and expand programs that they already started. And these already approved states, they're doing some super cutting edge work. For example, Oregon is currently expanding an already existing program

to help put people on the path to stable housing. With the state set to phase in a $1 billion project that'll give services to people who are at risk of becoming homeless or are going through other big transitions like being released from jail or mental health facilities. And under the project, those people will receive a wide range of services

such as help moving, up to six months of rent, assistance paying for utilities, meals designed for specific medical conditions and climate controls like heaters and ACs. And this isn't going to just like affect a small part of Oregon's population. These services are expected to help around 250,000 of the 1.4 million Oregon residents on Medicaid. This also is California's working on a new experiment launched in 2022 called CalAIM, which is a broader effort to overhaul Medi-Cal, the state's version of Medicaid. And under the program, assistance is provided to Medi-Cal recipients who are most at risk of using hospital beds and emergency rooms when those resources could have been avoided, as well as

folks with severe mental health or addiction troubles and those who are experiencing homelessness or transitioning from incarceration. And in its first year alone, the project connected 140,000 people with community support, things like housing, meals for certain medical conditions, and respite care after hospital stays. Also another similar experiment is North Carolina's Healthy Opportunities Pilots Project, which was actually approved back in 2018, but rolled out in the spring of 2022 after pandemic delays. And like the other programs, this $650 million program provides services such as food, housing, transportation, and assistance with toxic stress and interpersonal violence. And as of December, it was reported that nearly 16,000 Medicaid recipients had received at least one service. And one of those people is Montiara Brown. She hasn't had a steady job

since the beginning of the pandemic when the local phone company contractor she worked for closed down. And at the time, she was on maternity leave pregnant with her son. So she joined Medicaid in the summer of 2020. And while it gave her some basic coverage for things she needed, like new glasses, it just didn't go far enough. She was still suffering from asthma, struggling with depression, and living with a toddler in a small one-bedroom apartment. But they're telling the Post, I was sinking and didn't have any way out. But then, last summer, the company that handles her Medicaid told her about the Healthy Opportunities pilot. So a coordinator for the program, they call her, they ask her questions about her health.

One of those questions was actually whether she could afford to pay rent month-to-month. With Brown saying she could cobble together the money between babysitting her sister's kids and her dad sometimes helping her out. But getting a new place is expensive, and after paying a security deposit and the first month's rent and utilities, there was just no way she'd have enough money for month-to-month payments. But then because of this program, North Carolina said, hey, we got you. With a pilot program paying for the cost and helping Brown move into a two-bedroom apartment with a full kitchen and, for the first time in her life, new furniture.

And that's exactly what these programs are meant to do. They're not intended to totally prop up people's lives. They just plug holes and provide paths. Because hopefully, while part of a society is, yes, having safety nets for people, it is also hopefully a society that helps you get back up. Maybe points you to the stairs. Maybe they give you a ladder.

Though notably, none of this is perfect. All of these are experiments. And when you have experiments, there are inevitably going to be failures and hurdles to learn from. For example, officials from the same North Carolina provider that coordinated assistance of Brown, they told the Post that they are still finding things that need to be tweaked or done completely differently. And some of those challenges include

building trust with patients, teaching small community groups, providing services to navigate the Medicaid bureaucracy, and issues with software that result in services being paused or delayed. Also, leaders of Arizona's Medicaid experiment said that they struggle with teaching organizers to comply with federal medical privacy rules and building relationships with landlords to make sure they have enough housing stock. And then, of course, there is the big, big question. Will any of this actually work to enhance patient health and cut costs? And right now, that's just unclear. With Laura Gottlieb, a professor of family and community medicine at UCSF, telling The Post, there is this incredible enthusiasm this will be a magic pill. But adding, the evidence is not

anywhere close to supporting these activities. The research is running behind the policymakers. There was actually a 2022 report by the Department of Health and Human Services that looked at older projects, mostly outside of Medicaid, that try to provide this kind of help. While it did find that safe and stable housing

and access to nutritious foods have been connected to better health, the study itself still had a lot of limitation, which made it hard to determine if the services were actually the reason for health improvements. There was also a 2018 study on projects that provided permanent housing and other support to people who had been chronically homeless, which concluded

that with the exception of folks with HIV slash AIDS, there is no substantial published evidence as yet to demonstrate that housing and other help improves health outcomes or reduces healthcare costs. But notably here, that was before the big expansion of all these other new programs under Biden. But still, some experts have raised concerns, like there being a lack of expertise Medicaid has on housing, as well as the fact that when more people are being screened for these risks, it uncovers more problems that could cause costs to go up. And if Medicaid is putting these funds towards something that isn't actually effective, that's money that could have been spent on other useful things. But this is even many of those who have expressed doubts said that it is a good idea to

try. And so that's exactly what these experiments are doing. And this is now we're seeing some of this focus on risk factors expanding beyond Medicaid. In 2022, the White House announced a coalition that aims to standardize patients' records to see if they've been screened for these social risks. Last year, a data tool used by 90% of health plans was updated to require them to report whether they have screened people for shortages of housing, transportation, and food. Medicare also ordered doctors to participate in an incentive pay program to ask their patients about food insecurity, housing uncertainty, and safety.

And the group that accredits U.S. hospitals started requiring them to ask patients about health-adjacent social needs and offer advice for getting assistance. So clearly, we are seeing a greater shift in general in the way that patient care is looked at holistically. But as far as how revolutionary this will or will not be, we'll have to wait and see.

Although the answer is probably not as fucking revolutionary as giving universal healthcare would be. But that's the situation, the news, and of course now I'll pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? And then finally today we have yesterday. Today we dive into the comments on yesterday's show and see what y'all had to say, for better and sometimes worse. Also, I sometimes accidentally talk more like an actual human being, not an information machine gun. And regarding all of the Oscars controversies, actually one of my favorite top comments was, my one Oscars gripe is when are they gonna stop making jokes about animation being for kids? Literally none of the shorts were made for kids and The Boy and the Heroine was rated PG-13. It's getting old and

tired at this point. The peaceful bystanders saying a lot like the Oscars themselves and maybe Hollywood as a whole. Peaceful bystander? What are you talking about? You came for war. Yeah, I will say the animation category is the most hit or miss. And I genuinely believe it is because there is a disconnect that people have this mindset that you're talking about. I think a decent chunk of the voting body for this either like voting because they happen to see something with their kid or they just don't give a shit about the category, which is really unfortunate because it feels like more than ever, there's just fantastic animated movies out there you know from a storytelling aspect a voice acting aspect a pushing the whole medium forward aspect at the very least like from a visual standpoint i think across the spider-verse

just like it still boggles my mind how into and across the spider-verse get all those different animation styles to work i mean visually even the the teenage mutant ninja turtles movie that would stand out to me as well also i will I will say in the comments, there was a lot of discussion around flying. Jack Desperado saying, 1980, if it ain't Boeing, I ain't going. 2024, if it is Boeing, I ain't going. I mean, even my wife, we have a trip that's coming up. She's like, hey, just checked. We're on an Airbus. And for me, I will say, while I understand the concerns, maybe I'm stupid for this. I'm personally not too concerned when I'm getting on a flight. It is still the safest way to travel. Granted, I do think that is at risk because of corporate greed. But still, just because

of the historical data, I just, when I get on a flight and the thing's rocking around, I just, I don't care anymore. Like, I used to be the guy that had, like, a death grip on the armrest when there was any turbulence. Now, I'm just putting my hands up enjoying the ride. That's also probably because I'm like, well, this sucks, but I won't be stressed tomorrow. So, you know, just looking on the bright side of things. Also regarding the story yesterday about the Taliban working with YouTubers, Miliardo said the Taliban story just feels painfully interchangeable with how North Korea handles its internet in general image of everything is totally fine here, which I will say, yes, I very much agree. But also I think it's also important that we don't just believe every like insane or negative story about a country we may

not be friends with. And actually with that, I think back to this video from, I don't know if you're familiar with the channel, boy, boy, I'll link to it down below. It's like over six years old, but it's titled, we went to North Korea to get a haircut. And while I think some people might critique that video for, for normalizing North Korea too much, specifically the leadership, not the people who are victims and, you know, under it, but it really does highlight like how fast a bogus story can just be accepted because you want to believe it. And then finally, there was a lot of love that we just we covered that missing base story, which, you know, I'm glad you liked. I like every now and then when we get a break from everything being on fire or in the dumpster or being both a dumpster fire. You know, when it comes to relaying information, sometimes there's cool shit.

Well, they're often not by themselves, something that you'll see on the front page of news, it's kind of the thing we get to touch on more and more, especially since we've expanded these shows to around 30 minutes. Yeah, I'm glad you like it. But that is where today's show is going to end. As always, thank you for being a part of these daily dives into the news. And don't worry, you're not going to have to miss me too much. Y'all, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in.

I love your faces. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow.