- 'Sup, you beautiful bastards?
Welcome back to "The Philip DeFranco Show"
ya daily dive into the news.
We got a lot to talk about today,
so buckle up, hit that like button,
and let's just jump into it.
Starting with some what in the actual hell news
though there are a few of those stories today,
but specifically we're starting with Asiana Airlines.
Right, 'cause there are a few understoods
on an airplane that you just don't do.
You don't listen to something without headphones.
You don't jam that seat into recline before you take off.
I mean, some people even argue you should never recline.
But I'll let the group debate that.
But something that I thought there was no debate on
was no one should try to open the doors.
But in Korea, just as the plane was landing,
it was about 700 feet from the ground,
a man decided to open the emergency exit
before being subdued.
Now, before I instill a lifelong fear into you,
I want you to know,
normally this wouldn't be actually possible
for a number of reasons, right?
Normally the outside winds pushing down on the door,
the air pressure difference
between inside and the outside of the plane,
it just makes it impossible.
But this was possible here
because the plane was so low,
and it was slow enough that neither of those factors
were really at play.
Also, as far as why this man did it,
in there, it looks like the guy was having a panic attack,
telling investigators that he was stressed from losing a job
he was feeling claustrophobic,
and he wanted to get off quickly.
So, obviously before you land, too quickly.
But the good news is that of the 200 other people on board,
really only about a dozen got minor injuries
from hyperventilating.
The man also now apologizing and saying, quote,
"I'm very sorry to the kids."
But ultimately we're gonna have to wait to see
how things play out for him
'cause an arrest warrant was issued for the guy on Sunday,
and he could be facing up to 10 years in prison.
And then in the least shocking news of the day,
that idiot Mizzy has been arrested again.
He's a TikTok prankster,
though I've seen him more accurately described as a pest
with him last Friday being arrested
for the second time last week
for allegedly breaching a criminal behavior order
after posting this video.
(indistinct chatter)
- [Mizzy] Hey, how did you get in there?
Let me get in here. (laughing)
We outside!
(indistinct chatter)
- [Friend] Aye, we outside!
(train blares) (Mizzy laughs)
Yo!
- We outside! - [Friend] We outside!
Hello, can call the police?
There's people on the train.
Reality! Reality is an illusion!
- And what's even crazier,
though crazier is not really the word.
What's even dumber is that this video was done
just after being told by the court to stop posting pranks
without people's consent.
But again, we see this stupid
and dangerous behavior on display,
and luckily nothing awful happened.
And keep in mind, this is just the stuff
he wants people to see.
I mean, reportedly, his neighbors are afraid
to leave their homes,
and you have some demanding
that he get banned from the neighborhood.
And again, I said it last time and I'll say it again.
All of this is gonna come down to the law.
How seriously or not they're gonna take this situation
'cause there's no reason, again,
to believe that he's actually going to stop.
Clout is a hell of a drug,
and this dumpster fire of a human being
wants it at all costs.
And in quickie celebrity news,
we got Billie Eilish just taking some swings
posting on the story, "Suck my absolute cock and balls.
You women hate ass weirdos."
And this appearing to be in response
to a wave of comments she has received recently,
but they're explaining in no longer available stories.
"I spent the first five years of my career
getting absolutely obliterated by you fools
for being boyish and dressing how I did.
Constantly being told I'd be hotter if I acted like a woman.
And now when I feel comfortable
to wear anything remotely feminine or fitting,
I changed and I'm a sellout.
'What happened to her?
Oh my God, it's not the same Billie.
She's just like the rest.' Blah blah.
You guys are true idiots.
I can be both you fucking bozos.
Also going on to say,
"Did you know the women can be multifaceted?"
Also saying, "Femininity doesn't equal weakness."
And with this story, there are a specific takeaways,
like what it's like to be a famous woman on the internet,
how it's another example
of women's bodies being policed on the internet,
sometimes by even so-called fans.
But also to me, I think it showcases
how people aren't viewed as people anymore.
How people are seen as products or content.
Right, 'cause if you were angry
at Billie dressing like a boy in the past,
or you're angry that Billie's, like,
dressing more feminine now,
you didn't really care about her as a person,
you just wanted something
that backed up your own worldviews,
that made you confident and cozy in your feelings.
And we see it in other avenues.
One of the closest ones that comes to mind is Lizzo.
I've seen Lizzo get attacked
because she feels confident in her body.
But then I've also seen Lizzo attacked
because she talked about trying to get healthier.
And I just truly don't know
how anyone can experience any amount of, like,
meaningful fame without losing their mind.
Like, life's already fucking hard enough
just listening to that one voice in your head,
let alone you enter a situation
where all of a sudden you have thousands,
tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands,
even more feeling attacked or invalidated
because you're all of a sudden making a change in your life
where people are like, "Hey, you suck, stop that.
You're you-ing it wrong."
It's all just so exhausting when you really think about it.
And then the biggest drama of the year just ended.
And I'm actually not talking about "Succession,"
even though wow,
talk about a show that stuck its landing,
has left me wanting so much more
which is often when a show should end
even though we don't actually want it to.
Rather, I'm talking about the debt ceiling
'cause yesterday President Biden
and Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy,
announced they had actually come to an agreement.
While there were concessions from both sides
and different people will tell you different things,
it really does seem like the Republicans came out on top.
And I'll give you some of the highlights
of the 99-page bill.
First, there are the new "Pay-As-You-Go" requirements
which would require new government agency actions
that affect revenue and spending to be offset by savings.
Also, speaking of agencies
the IRS is losing about $20 billion in funding.
Then he had the Biden Administration agreeing to new rules
that make it easier for energy projects,
including fossil fuel ones.
Student loans are being touched as well
with Biden being forced to agree
to end his pause on student loan repayments.
However, the deal also didn't kill his plan
to forgive $430 billion in student loans.
That's just stuck in the Supreme Court right now.
We'll also be seeing changes to SNAP benefits.
Right, the current rules state that if you're under 50
you need to work to qualify.
That's being pushed back to 54 years old.
And finally, for these highlights,
there's between 50 and $70 billion
of unused COVID relief funds.
And pretty much all of that's getting clawed back.
But all with this,
we have a compromise though not a done deal.
Right, because we really won't know until Wednesday
because that's when house lawmakers are gonna be voting
on this 99-page bill.
And with that, there are some questions
about how many people are actually on board.
Now, McCarthy claims that 95% of Republicans
will vote for this bill,
but so far, quite a few have come out against it.
They generally have the same arguments
as South Carolina's representative, Ralph Norman,
who said, "Republicans are the only ones
who can bring fiscal sanity to Congress.
This," quote, "'Deal' with the White House
fails to uphold that responsibility."
And then across the alley of many Democrats frustrated
that the administration gave ground on student debt,
SNAP, and the environment.
And those concerns have led to some,
like Representative Ro Khanna, saying,
"My sense is a large majority
of the House Democratic caucuses in flux
as to where they're going to be on this."
And under that's even considering the Senate,
where nine Republicans would need to decide
with Democrats to pass the bill.
And again, if anything fails along the way,
if this is not passed,
the US would default for the first time ever
and that would likely be catastrophic for the economy.
And then on-time viewers note
that I talk about my Vessis all the time
and it's because I love my go-to for anything shoes.
So, a massive thank you to Vessi
for being a great partner and sponsor of The PDS
but also for having an amazing Memorial Day sale.
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That's Vessi.com/PDS.
And then there's this growing problem out there
that you might not even realize.
More and more in America,
private security is replacing police.
And as that demand has been growing,
it's becoming harder and harder
to properly vet and train those guards.
And with this being a largely unregulated industry,
these problems are just the tip of the iceberg.
Right, it's not a secret.
If you look at polling,
you see police are becoming less popular across the country.
And following the death of George Floyd in 2020,
recruitment numbers went from sliding to plummeting.
We're seeing an uptick in retirements around the same time.
Philadelphia alone seeing a 10% drop
in police staffing levels from 2019 to 2022.
As the police force was dwindling,
according to the Brennan Center for Justice,
crime was rampant with murders, assaults,
and carjackings all rising in 2020,
and that in addition to an increase in homelessness.
We also saw with less police and more crime,
anxiety about safety rising,
and all this causing the already growing
private security industry to absolutely explode.
Bring us to the point now where you have 3.1 security guards
and 2 cops per 1,000 people in the US.
And that being roughly double the number
of hired securities 20 years ago.
And one of the things we've seen
is that this jump in private security
is both caused by income inequality in America
and it exaggerates it.
Right, 'cause who hires private security?
Rich people and businesses who have things to protect
which is why I have people like this one professor
who studies the global security industry
is saying that inequality causes us to, quote,
"Think of security in narrower and narrower ways,
protecting our stuff rather than generating communities
where we are all safe."
And that's not coming outta nowhere, right?
Many civilians don't necessarily feel safer
around private security, armed and otherwise,
especially as there's so much gray area
regarding what security is legally allowed to do.
And there even seems to be a disconnect
between what guards, their employers,
and the public think they can do.
Right, many security companies say
that hired guards are just a deterrent, right?
If they witness a crime,
they're supposed to call the police.
But then you have a security guard hired
to protect a gas station in Philadelphia saying,
if he witnesses someone's shoplifting,
he's "allowed to pursue that person
to get the property back."
However, with that, the Pennsylvania State police disagreed,
saying the guard does not have the legal authority
to act as a police officer.
Then you have industry professionals saying that,
"Pennsylvania, along with 30 other states,
allows for private citizens to be trained as police officers
and gives them arrest powers on property they're employed."
And all of that disconnect is only exacerbated
by the limited regulations within the security industry.
According to the National Association of Security Companies,
21 states do not require any training for security guards.
And even in states that do require training,
private security is so widespread
that it's hard to enforce anything in a meaningful manner.
And beyond just a lack of training,
many of these massive security companies
are applying the quantity over quality method
to their hiring process.
With Rick McCann, the founder of an association
that tracks trends within the industry saying that
major companies "dominate the market
by hiring in mass and assuming turnover will be high."
And on top of that,
they keep their costs low by paying the guards
about half of what law enforcement typically makes, right?
So for example, Allied Universal,
the largest security firm in North America
and the third largest employer in the United States,
says that its San Diego employees make just $19 an hour
with them also notably facing several allegations
of just skipping paychecks.
Now all of that isn't to say there are not companies
that do the legwork, right?
Hiring qualified candidates, right,
former law enforcement or military,
and spending the time and money to train them.
But the market's in a place right now
where those that do have a hard time competing.
And that hiring by the dozen method
has led to some pretty catastrophic outcomes.
Right, just in the last few months,
we've seen several incidents
where you have security injuring, shooting,
or even killing people following an altercation.
And that method of mass hiring
also leads to drastically under-prepared guards
going out into the world
not ready for the danger they may face.
Right, oftentimes, these guards are just told
they're a deterrent for crimes,
but then customers turn to them for help
or the guards find themselves in dangerous situations.
With for example, one former Allied security guard saying,
"I've had gun lasers and guns pointed at me,
I've had a boulder thrown through my rear window,
I've had a guy admit to pistol whipping his wife
when I responded to a noise complaint.
All for $16 an hour."
And another example,
you had a former Allied Guard telling time she was placed
into a very physical position at a hospital
with no training or supervision,
a place where she was injured twice
within the first several months and saying,
"We were getting hurt on the job,
nobody was backing us up,
and we'd call the police, and they wouldn't come.
It was just so poorly managed."
And deaths on the job are not unusual.
McCann estimates that over 140 security guards
are killed every single year.
And 85% of those are just murdered,
saying, "Clients still don't recognize the changes
in overall duties and responsibilities, dangers, and risks.
They set the limits of what they'll pay the security company
and security companies have no choice
but to hire from the same labor pool as retail,
fast food, general labor, and retirees."
Right, so, that's the situation. That is a problem.
What's being done?
Well, we've seen several states moving
to place more regulations on the industry, like California,
where they already have to complete 8 hours of training
and pass a background check.
They just passed a law mandating 32 hours of training
after they've begun their jobs.
In Tennessee, they just passed act
that requires security guards
that work in businesses that serve alcohol
to be trained in deescalation, safe restraint,
CPR, and first aid.
And with that, any business that's caught
with unlicensed guards could risk losing their license.
However, as I mentioned before,
it's hard to enforce these types of laws
on an industry that so readily ignores them.
So, you can change the rules,
but if it's not actually being enforced,
you didn't really change the rules.
Especially as you have people in the industry going,
"Hey, if we follow these rules,
it could mean that we lose both contracts and employees."
Right, someone's applying for two jobs,
a fast food job and a security job,
but they have to wait a month for a background check
and training to start one of them.
If you're talking about similar pay rates,
they're gonna choose the fast food place.
But ultimately with this story,
where I want to leave it is I'd love to know your thoughts
in those comments down below
and specifically, yes, I'd love everyone's opinion,
but if you or someone you know works
in the security industry, please share.
And then, y'all not to give you another fear,
but pedestrian deaths in the US right now
are through the roof.
They are at a four-decade high
with the number killed rising 13% in 2022
over the prior year, and rising more than 70% since 2010.
And this is very much an us problem,
with the United Nations saying that,
"The US had more pedestrian deaths in 2019
than any other country by nearly a five-to-one margin."
Though, when I looked further into that data,
there is a massive asterisk.
That data doesn't include China and India
which is meaningful 'cause that's, like,
almost 3 billion people.
But even with that, these numbers are wild.
And it turns out a key thing
with this trend we're seeing in the United States
is the rise of trucks
with those being far more likely
to kill people than smaller cars.
And this not only because of their size
but also because they tend to hit people on the head, neck,
or chest rather than the legs,
something that's actually even worse
for children who often can't be seen
in a truck driver's blind spots.
And in the case where they hit bicyclists,
they tend to knock the person down toward the ground
whereas a sedan knocks them up onto the hood.
Which is also why it's not surprising
that in the same decade that trucks became more popular,
cycling fatalities rose by more than 50%.
A while back in 2010,
Americans bought and leased roughly equal numbers
of cars and trucks.
By 2021, nearly 80% of their sales and leases were trucks,
and it's to the point where trucks outnumber cars
in every single state.
And those vehicles have gotten bigger and heavier.
The pickup trucks actually weighing 32% more
in 2021 than they did in 1990.
Which also makes sense
'cause when you look back to the 1980s,
about half of pickup trucks were classed small or mid-size
but by the 2010s, fulls-size trucks dominated the market.
And today's mid-size lifestyle truck,
they're about as big as full-size pickups were
three or four decades ago.
And apparently a lot of this is just driven by aesthetics
with a third pickup owners actually saying they
"rarely or never use their vehicle"
for things like hauling large freight.
And as far as why this is happening,
there's no definitive answer,
but experts have several guesses.
Some say things like, you know,
there's a culture of hyper-masculinity, right?
You got people wanting huge powerful cars.
It's kind of a version of peacocking.
Though in my non-expert opinion, there is maybe for some,
but that doesn't seem like it would
be a massive game changer.
And if anything, I find myself agreeing more
with the idea of it being a "race to the bottom"
where you have people buying bigger cars
to feel safer around everyone else's big cars.
Or as The Hill recently wrote,
"American drivers gravitate to pickups and SUVs
because they are big, bold, and safe,
cocooning the driver within a 6,000-pound cage,
perched high above the humble sedan."
And there are also other market factors
that make certain people want these bigger vehicles.
Right, automakers love them.
Usually bigger trucks mean bigger profits.
And often they have horrendous fuel efficiency,
at least compared to other vehicles.
And so, it's a big win for oil and gas companies.
And so, with this, you have some wondering,
"Well, what is the solution?"
Well, either one: we either invest in sciences
that make people taller,
build a human being designed to flip onto the hood
of a Ford F-150,
or two: you have some arguing that there should be a tax
on heavier, larger vehicles, so less are produced.
So, I will say that would be a drastic change
from the current situation.
I mean, to speak to this personally,
while it's not a one-to-one comparison,
part of the reason years ago I bought a Model X
is it's over a certain weight,
and so, there are tax benefits,
Right, 'cause you may not realize this,
the tax structure is actually biased
in favor of larger vehicles.
Or to be more specific to what we're talking about today,
you know, "work trucks and light trucks
are subject to less CAFE standards than family sedans."
Also, all trucks are exempt from the so-called
"gas guzzler tax,
which adds between 1,000 and $8,000
to the price tag for sedans
that get less than 22.5 miles per gallon."
But then separate from the idea of, you know,
we need to restrict or penalize these vehicles
is to give more to others,
and the market might naturally change,
with one of those ideas
being to redesign urban and suburban spaces
to focus on pedestrian safety over driver convenience.
Things like more speed bumps,
more crosswalk timers, more sidewalks, more bike lanes,
better lighting, lower speed limits.
And in fact, there, many US cities
have already adopted some combination of those,
like in Charlotte, for example,
where the city council adopted a plan in 2021
to "expand their transit system
by adding shaded bikeways, bus routes,
commuter rail lines in the next two decades."
You also have people saying a solution
is to just reduce our cultural reliance on cars altogether,
be they big or small.
Because arguably, and this makes sense
when you look to a number of other countries,
like, everyone relying on their own personal vehicle,
it's both unnecessary and inefficient.
Right, if you look at the Europeans,
they're more likely to ride bikes,
and if they do drive, more likely to use cars than trucks.
And so, you have people saying,
"We need to invest more in public transit,
make cities more walkable and bikeable."
But also I would say that's easier said than done, right?
In a place like New York City, you could go,
"Yeah, I could get around easy without a car."
But if you've ever been in a place like Southern California,
shit's spread so far out for no reason.
And then just the sheer amount of insane bureaucracy
to try and do anything regarding public transit,
it's enough to make you think,
"Oh yeah, this is literally never gonna happen." Right?
I mean, how many years have they talked
about a high-speed rail system
from San Francisco to Los Angeles?
Though, again, there are arguments to be made
that certain legislation can actually fix things.
Right, you have things like, unlike in the United States,
Europe mandated that by 2024,
all new car models have to include
intelligent speed assistance,
which is a software technology
that discourages drivers from speeding
with cameras or GPS detecting the speed limit
then alerting the driver if they're exceeding it
and sometimes even reducing power
to the motor to slow them down.
And with that, according to a projection
by the EU-funded project PROSPER
that mandate alone could cut fatalities
down between 26 and 50%.
And that's why with this, I would say one:
if you are someone that loves your truck or your car,
please don't take this story as, like, an attack on you
but rather an explanation of the situation
backed up by numbers
and a bunch of people
proposing a bunch of different solutions
of varying understandability or annoyances or whatever.
And that's where I'm gonna end today's show.
I hope the rest of your Memorial Day goes well.
And as always, thank you for watching.
My name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in.
I love your faces, and I'll see you tomorrow.
- [Trey] Hey, I am Trey DeFranco.
This is my Henry Stickmin play through,
and
(dance music)
that's awkward.
Okay, this is where I'm gonna end off my recording.
Hope you guys enjoyed my first ever episode,
and I'll do some more episodes later.