- 'Supp you beautiful bastards.
Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show.
Hit that like button to help support
some common sense news coverage,
and or if you want me to consensually assault your throat
and let's just jump into it.
Ah, you know, the first thing
that we're gonna talk about today,
that's not super in the mainstream right now,
but I do believe it's gonna get bigger and bigger.
Let's talk about why people are plastering Logan Paul's face
up on walls and tons people demanding
he get the hell outta town.
Now, how the independent journalists has been
covering this topic, explain it for you.
- Told you that tensions are rising in Puerto Rico,
and here's another example,
flyers, like these can be found in San Juan and they read,
"this is what our colonizers look like."
This is written in a major highway in San Juan,
and if you've been following my reporting,
you know that there is backlash against tax breaks
that are inviting wealthy people,
mostly from the continental US to move to Puerto Rico.
- All right, so essentially while Logan Paul is not
the specific problem, he represents the greater issue
for a lot of people and he is a part of it.
Because the story ultimately boils down
to wealthy investors are moving to Puerto Rico
at record rates and it's causing serious issues for locals
with many of the mainlanders settling the island
doing so to take advantage of tax incentives
that were created to attract outside money to Puerto Rico,
which is climbing out of bankruptcy.
And under the tax break law
resident investors must acquire residency
and buy property in Puerto Rico within two years of moving
to qualify for reduction of income taxes
on long term capital gains, dividends,
interest as well as revenues from their services.
Now, notably this law has been in place
in some fashion since 2012,
but the appeal of the tax breaks
have increased significantly in recent years.
Right after hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017
displacing thousands from their homes,
housing prices dropped and investors moved in
to swoop up the cheaper properties.
And the number of applications from people trying
to become resident investors has skyrocketed
during the pandemic, as more people move to remote work.
In fact, as of this passed October,
the island had received a record 1,349 applications in 2021,
with the New York Times noting while there are new settlers
beyond just those who want tax breaks.
It is the finance and tech investors
who have formally applied for tax break status,
who have drawn the most attention.
With the island specifically attracting
many cryptocurrency traders,
but also other prominent names as well.
And of course, among those last February,
you had Logan Paul announcing on his podcast
that he was moving from Los Angeles to Puerto Rico.
And while he claimed there that the tax breaks
weren't his primary reason.
He did cite them as one of the reasons.
- It's getting crazy here in California,
you know, paying taxes.
- [Man] Everybody is leaving here.
- And for what?
Because the potholes in the streets are not fixed.
- [Man] Homeless people.
- Homeless people everywhere,
a Darth of employment,
COVID not handled the, like, I don't know, it just,
I don't love it.
- And, and so with that many people,
including many many local see Logan Paul
moving to the island and buying a massive 13 million mansion
is part of the big problem, rapid and severe gentrification.
Like this influx of resident investors snapping up houses
has dramatically driven up rent and housing prices
forcing many of the people that lived there
out of their homes,
and in some cases out of their towns entirely
as the real estate boom moves from the capital of San Juan
to smaller towns.
And it's not just that resident investors
are moving to the island.
Many of them are also buying other residential
properties that they either resell at higher prices
or turn them into vacation rentals.
And so not only does this turn,
what used to be regular neighborhoods into Airbnbs
for wealthy tourists,
it's also creating a housing shortage that makes it harder
for residents who have been pushed outta
their homes to afford new ones,
especially given that 43% of Puerto Ricans
live under the federal poverty line.
And what's absolutely insane is to make matters even worse.
The over 3 million Puerto Ricans already living
on the island do not get the same tax breaks
that are causing all of this in the first place.
Because in order for an investor to qualify
for the tax breaks,
they have to prove that they have not been
a resident of Puerto Rico for at least 10 years prior,
which is why you have hundreds of thousands,
if not millions of Puerto Ricans
looking to their government going,
why are you incentivizing them to fuck us?
With many pushing for the end of the tax breaks
and for the resident investors to leave.
You see in graffiti around the place saying
go home or go home gringo.
Last month we also saw protestors gathering on old San Juan
to call for the tax breaks to end.
And that's of course, in addition to a number of protests
we've seen regarding this, also access to beach,
there's a whole situation going on
but as far as what the Puerto Rican government
is going to do, as of right now, probably nothing.
The Puerto Rico's governor, Pedro Pierre Luisi
having championed the policy,
and him seeming very unlikely to remove it,
with him telling Time last year,
my stance has always been that statehood for Puerto Rico
is the best option.
And adding that until then,
the law is part of the ongoing effort
to attract population and new investments.
So that's why with this,
you do have some people saying, well,
at least this may increase pressure to give
Puerto Rico statehood, which the majority of the island
has voted for multiple times,
including most recently in 2020.
But the power to do so ultimately resides
in the hands of Congress,
and you know, you watch this show,
that's not happening with this Congress anytime soon.
Ultimately that's where we are,
now you know the full situation
as well as why you might see people on social media
calling Logan Paul, a colonizer.
But with all of that said,
I now do you wanna pass a question off to you?
What are your thoughts on this whole situation?
Whether it be Puerto Rico, the government,
the the people like Logan Paul and these Bitcoin investors.
Let me know what you're thinking
and why in those comments down below.
And then let's talk about a story
that starts with a question.
What is the furthest you've ever gone for revenge?
And it's a rhetorical question.
Stop typing.
Why are you type, this is a public website.
Some of y'all are too comfortable.
Say it with me.
Self-incrimination, that's a bad thing.
You don't wanna do that. It's also part of the reason
why we don't know the name of the guy
that's actually at the center of this story.
He hasn't given outlets his real name.
He goes by P4x.
To make it more fun for me, I'm gonna call him Perry.
And the way the story goes is that Perry
has his vendetta against North Korea,
and more specifically North Korean hackers,
because he was targeted by those hackers
likely due to his work as a security researcher.
You know, that's not too shocking.
For a while now, North Korea has carried out attacks
against this group,
in the hopes of acquiring some of the more sophisticated
hacking tools that researchers in the US have access to.
While this specific hack did not amount to much
because Perry was able to stop it.
He was pissed off.
Perry goes to US officials about the hacks,
they end up just ignoring it.
And so for a year, Perry just sits there
and he simmers until ultimately deciding, fuck this.
I'm gonna go digital John Wick,
and he engages in his own war
and attacks against North Korea over the last two weeks.
And North Korea, they have very few websites
but they are key.
The things like news outlets and government pages,
buying tickets online for its airlines.
Yeah, all of those were taken down by Perry
who saw that North Korea infrastructure
was full of vulnerabilities
that made them susceptible to DDoS attacks.
Now, as far as the vulnerabilities in particular,
we don't know because he won't tell us
because it appears that his North Korea fun is not over yet.
But reportedly his attacks were so effective,
that for a bit experts in the field
thought that it was possibly a state run operation.
But also I think a key thing in this story,
it's not just like an angry guy who's exacting revenge,
but rather Perry thinks that if you do not respond
to stuff like this, it sends the wrong message.
Or as he told Wired,
it felt like the right thing to do here.
If they don't see we have teeth,
it's just going to keep coming.
And personally, that's something I can nod my head
in approval with.
So Perry, you are our (indistinct) of the day.
But from that, I wanna take a second
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And then let's talk about you looking slim thick,
which is a sentence I never thought I'd say out loud.
But what we're really talking about with this story today,
is the evolution of female body standards
and how this negatively impacts women.
That is because a new study found that,
the new slim thick body type
has seriously affected the ways that women view themselves.
So the study comes from York university in Canada
and it examined how a group of 402 women
responded to imagery of various ideal body types.
You have things like the thin type,
think traditional runway and magazine models,
especially those popularized in the nineties
and two thousands.
Then the fit type,
that you might see from fitness influencers,
and then finally slim thick,
which is kind of the major point of the study
and is characterized having a large butt and thighs,
and a small waist and flat stomach.
Or think Kylie Jenner or Kim Kardashian.
With this study referring to these three as different,
"body ideals".
And while yeah, is revealing that
"comparison to body ideal imagery resulted in greater weight
and appearance dissatisfaction,
and less overall body satisfaction."
It specifically noted that those exposed
to slim thick imagery
experience more weight and appearance dissatisfaction,
and less body satisfaction
than those in the thin ideal condition.
So essentially all of these hit women negative
but slim thick hit worse.
With the study going on to say it was concluded
that drive to achieve body ideals
is shifting to a slim thick body,
which may be more detrimental to women's body image
than thin ideal imagery.
With researchers, Sarah McComb telling Yahoo Canada,
the thin ideal has long been identified as a threat
to women's body image.
And there's been a call for body image campaigns
in the media to showcase a greater diversity of body types.
But adding, however,
even though the slim thick body type touts a larger frame,
it is not a healthy alternative
to the thin ideal for media consumers.
With them noting that this physique
can often only be attained via plastic surgery
or very specific exercises
that put muscles on specific parts of the body.
And according to the Independent,
when it comes to plastic surgery,
the Brazilian butt lift or BBL
was the most popular cosmetic surgery last year.
But, as of late, it is also the most deadly,
but despite this potential risk,
this is the body type that more and more women
are willing to get the procedure to have.
Which is also why you had researchers like Jennifer Mills
telling Yahoo, internalized pressure
to have a slim thick body type can lead to risky
body modification practices such as waist trainers
and plastic surgery.
And adding the combination of the current business model
of social media and the way humans naturally think
and feel, makes it hard for people to ignore
all the images around them.
For some vulnerable people,
this is going to lead to mental health problems.
And ultimately with a story like this, I mean,
part of me is like, I don't know how to end it
because I think when it comes to plastic surgery
it's a very you issue
or it doesn't matter what other people think
or does ever plastic surgery make you feel better
more confident, whatever.
But then also, try and think of why
or because if it's just because of social media
and the things that are being like touted
to you as natural, but they're very, obviously not.
And it's just stuff that makes you hate yourself.
That's a reason to pump the brakes.
Especially when it involves, what's been referred to
as one of the deadliest plastic surgeries,
and also side note to the people getting plastic surgery
and then touting it is just like,
these are my gains in the gym and diet.
Please go fuck yourself and maybe jump off a cliff.
For legal reasons I'll say with a parachute,
but accidents also happen.
You see all that's half the,
that's more than half of most industries
is making you hate yourself,
so you need what other people are giving you.
And side note, specifically when it comes to BBLs
maybe also just like sit on that idea for a minute
because it maybe going away
because a lot of the BBLs I end up seeing usually
on like a TikTok they're bad, like clownish.
Like if you ask one of those caricature artists
on a boardwalk to like, draw me with a big,
like that kind of look, but also it's your fucking life,
I'm not your daddy.
And once again, when it comes to anything like this
it's a very personal journey.
How about this, as your digital step daddy?
I just want you to be okay.
I don't want you seven years from now,
like turning around crying in the mirror, Jessica.
Anyway, I guess that's the conclusion of this segment,
white men talking about women's bodies.
Then in huge business news,
let's talk about why Meta, Facebook's parent company,
did a fantastic impression of Peloton stock last night
because it was so massive,
Mark Zuckerberg might have actually had an emotion
and shed an oily tear from his animatronic face last night.
The stock after market last night crashing nearly 25%
meaning that around 200 billion in market value
just disappeared overnight.
And as far as why this happened,
it's because Facebook revealed
in its quarterly earnings report yesterday,
that for the first time in its 18 year history,
Facebook actually lost daily users.
Which while it's kind of a small number
they only lost about half a million, which is a lot
but not really when you consider
that about 1.93 billion users login a day,
but it did spark concerns
because the affected markets were Latin America and Africa,
which Facebook has been relying on for growth
after America and Europe just stopped getting new users
years ago. And the thing is, there's a lot more factors
at play than just oversaturation in the market.
They have what some would call the Fox News problem.
They have a problem getting younger demographics,
with younger people flocking into platforms like TikTok.
And on top of that, Meta is facing a lot of scrutiny
from regulators around the globe
and that pressure might be finally catching up with them.
And that's in addition to Facebook being all in
on trying to force the metaverse
with its Facebook Reality Labs
losing 3.3 billion in its most recent quarter,
which personally I'm kind of okay with
because kind of hoping that
Facebook understands the metaverse
and they're the ones that get it right.
It's kind of like rooting for IOI in "Ready Player One",
but also wasn't complete bad news for Facebook.
Their other platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp
and Messenger, continue to add some users,
with Zuckerberg telling us in this exclusive interview
that he's not worried about the losses.
Great question, Phil.
Last year was about putting a stake in the ground
for where we are heading,
this year is going to be about executing
like a regular human person.
Zuckerberg also emphasizing that they're not going
to abandon its core apps
and that they're very focused on reels right now,
of course Facebook's TikTok reskin.
Yeah, ultimately that's where things are now.
And the question now I just proposed to you
and this is gonna be different depending
on which platform you're watching this on,
one if you use Facebook, how much and what for?
Two, what would you say are the kind of the the top two
social media services that you use?
I mean, personally these days,
I would say YouTube and TikTok.
So maybe even, even, especially since TikTok
the algorithm like it's not feeding me
dumb, childish bullshit.
Yeah, let me know.
And then let's talk about the massive
weather problem right now.
Like we already knew this was gonna be bad,
when winter and ice warnings were issued to over 110 million
people from New Mexico to Canada.
And so far, those warnings seemed to have been well placed,
with Axios reporting this morning that over 5,500 flights
scheduled for Thursday in the United States
were canceled as of this morning.
With Dallas Fort Worth International Airport,
one of the country's busiest hubs,
having only one runway open shortly afternoon.
Meanwhile, we're also seeing reports
that hundreds of thousands are without power right now
because of this storm.
But according to the tracking site poweroutage.us,
about 52,000 customers in Texas without power on Thursday,
as well as 135,000 in Tennessee, mainly in Memphis,
22,000 in Arkansas.
And so obviously we're gonna have to keep our eyes
on this whole situation
but there's also been a very specific focus on Texas
and Texas governor Greg Abbot.
Which makes sense, of course, last year's winter storm.
I think over 200 people died,
millions were without power for days.
And so since then, and as winter got closer and closer
had people going okay but are we gonna be safer this year?
Which ultimately led to Abbot saying in late November.
- I can guarantee the lights will stay on.
- But then reportedly saying then,
that his guarantee is backed by nearly a dozen measures
he signed into law this year
that makes the state's power grid more effective.
But then we've fast forward to this last Tuesday
where Abbot was saying a different tune.
- No one can guarantee
that there won't be a "load shed event."
- But, still I do wanna note that does not mean
that everything is definitely guaranteed
to be completely fucked,
just as bad as last year or even worse or anything like that
because his reports have noted,
the Electric Reliability Council of Texas CEO Brad Jones
told The Texas Tribune
that he expected to see electricity demand peak
at record levels at early Friday,
even surpassing that experience
during last year's deadly winter storm.
But, adding that ERCOT had a much larger cushion
of power available to the grid now and should cope,
with reports going on to explain that a major factor
in last year's wide spread power outages
during that cold snap,
was preexisting shutdowns of natural gas plants.
Which I guess to summarize theoretically
things could get much worse
because we don't know what's gonna happen until Friday
when peak demand's gonna be hit,
but it does appear you have Jones saying
we are prepped for this.
And so hopefully for our brothers and sisters in Texas
that is true,
but ultimately that is where that story ends,
today's show ends.
And so as always thank for watching,
like and hit that subscribe button,
join in the family for these daily dives into the news.
I love yo' faces and I'll see you next time.