Goodbye For Now ❤️ MrBeast Leaks, US Government Shutdown Chaos, Syria, Superman Teaser Trailer
PDS Published 12/19/2024
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Beast Games is out on Amazon, and there has been a lot of discussion around the show and MrBeast leading up to its release.
Right, the show's first two episodes hit Amazon Prime at noon EST today, and when it was announced earlier this year it was billed as the biggest gameshow in history.
But some of that hype quickly turned into criticism amid reports that contestants were getting injured and did not have access to basic necessities onset, which later turned into a lawsuit.[]
And in the weeks leading up to the show’s release, MrBeast has tried to quell concerns, writing that:
“We have tons of behind the scenes dropping when the show does to show how blown out of proportion these claims were.”[]
So we will obviously have to see how people respond to that.
But the show was also getting attention this morning after Business Insider published documents with the terms contestants had to agree to in preliminary rounds.
The terms prohibited them from disclosing information about the show, and those who violated that before it finished airing must pay half a million dollars for each breach.
And after it is done airing, breaches would cost $100,000.
And this is interesting because while plot details and things have not made tons of headlines, people obviously were speaking to the press about behind the scenes details.
Business Insider also reported that the documents warned that contestants could be portrayed in disparaging ways that can lead to public ridicule,
And while the headline and earlier parts of the article almost try to make it sound like this is salacious, it did later note that most of these terms are relatively standard.
With an entertainment lawyer telling the outlet everything was pretty par for the course, though the $500,000 penalty seemed high, with him adding:
"The producers use every available tool to give them ultimate flexibility to make the show and protect themselves from liability.”
Calling the documents a "contestant agreement on steroids."
It’s also not surprising that penalties would be pretty high considering the show reportedly had a massive $100 million budget. []
But with MrBeast being MrBeast, this show dropping today is not the only reason he is in the news, as he is facing some backlash for a video he is set to film at the Pyramids.
Right now, we don’t have too many details, but MrBeast announced this in a snippet that was shared of Noah Lyle’s podcast, saying:
“We got all three of the pyramids of Egypt and I am going to do a video where they are going to let me explore anywhere in the pyramids for 100 hours. We’re going to sleep in the pyramids all to ourselves…how’d they okay that?...probably worked with the Egyptian government?” (0:00-0:13)
And this shocked a lot of people, with some writing:[]
“as a poor personally i was under the naive impression that we all agreed not to do stuff like this as part of a greater social contract.”
“i don’t think people should be allowed to rent ancient historical sites.”[]
“the pyramids are actual tombs but God forbid any evil white influencer have any respect for egyptians even in death.”[]
“imagine planning a trip to egypt and when you get there you cant see the pyramids cause mrbeast is making a video.”[]
But of course, none of that backlash will fully matter unless it hits MrBeast where it hurts, right, if people end up not watching that video.
Or not watching the show that comes out today.
Which, it will be really interesting to see if we get numbers on viewership, because it is on Prime Video, and streaming numbers are always a little hazy.
But Prime has recently touted some of its stats, recently claiming that Red One got a record 50 million viewers in its debut weekend.
So, we will have to see if they share that kind of information with MrBeast, if MrBeast ends up getting that data himself and sharing it on his own, or what.
Obviously it will be a big television event, especially since it is the holidays, and I would love to know your thoughts on any of this here.
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also on the note of entertainment stuff that's probably gonna do amazingly well.
you all see the super band teaser trailer today?
before it came out, I was like, yeah, I guess I'll see it whenever I'm so hyped.
watch that thing. I randomly shed a single tear.
I'm not quite sure if it was because of the crypto reveal or Nathan Fillion.
Bowl cut.
but got me excited for a superhero movie again.
so obviously, while we won't know if it's good or not
until it gets released, I'm, I'm rooting for it.
if you haven't seen it yet, I'll include a link in the description.
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In more good international news, we gotta talk about mass graves in Syria.
Right, what we’re discovering is as bad if not worse than anyone could’ve imagined (BROLL: 0:08-0:11)
And I mean, to be clear, we were already expecting to be horrified.
Right, going back, both Bashar al-Assad and his father before him have been accused of appaling violations of human rights, including – to say the least – arbitrary detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing.
And a few years ago, some of the most shocking testimony about the scale of these atrocities came from an anonymous witness who had escaped the Assad regime and shared his experience in a German court, and also before the American Congress.
They called him “The Gravedigger”:
"I was not prepared for the horror of my duties. Every week, twice a week, three trailer trucks arrived, packed with 300 to 600 bodies of victims of torture, bombardement, and slaughter. Twice a week, three to four pickup trucks with 30 to 40 bodies of civilians that had been executed in Saydnaya prison also arrived for disposal in the most inhumane way (BYTE: 3:04-3:32)
But even then, of course, there were those who doubted his and other testimony, as well as the satellite imagery that seemed to corroborate his claims.
But now, the horrors of the Assad regime?
They’re more visible than ever.
Right, in the past week, the rebel group who ousted Assad has opened up prisons and detention centres across Syria (BROLL: 4:02-4:08)
And while there’s been controversy surrounding CNN’s bungled reporting on a freed prisoner who turned out to be a former intelligence officer for Assad… (BROLL: 2:20-2:23)
There’s no doubt about the real evidence has continued coming out about the horrific conditions endured by detainees.
And at the same time, advocacy groups and investigators have been allowed out into the countryside to verify the testimony of the Gravedigger and the likes.
Stephen Rapp, for example, is an international war crimes prosecutor working with Syrian civil society to document evidence of war crimes
He previously served as the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues (BROLL: 0:26-0:30)
And he has led prosecutions at the Rwanda and Sierra Leone war crimes tribunals.
And having done all that, you have him saying about what he’s seeing in Syria:
"We really haven't seen anything quite like this since the Nazis.”
And with that, he’s speaking after visiting two mass grave sites near Damascus, with him also saying: (BROLL:0:20-0:26)
"We certainly have more than 100,000 people that were disappeared into and tortured to death in this machine.”
"I don't have much doubt about those kinds of numbers given what we've seen in these mass graves."
And notably, with that, that may be a pretty significant underestimate.
Right, the head of one US-based Syrian advocacy group, for example, the same guy that helped deliver The Gravedigger’s testimony…
He estimated that at least 100,000 bodies were buried at JUST ONE of the mass grave sites.
With him saying:
"One hundred thousand is the most conservative estimate.”
"It's a very, very extremely almost unfairly conservative estimate."[]
And with that, Syrian residents living near that and the other confirmed site described seeing a steady stream of refrigeration trucks delivering bodies which were dumped into long trenches dug with bulldozers.[]
With one local saying:
"The graves were prepared in an organised manner - the truck would come, unload the cargo it had, and leave. There were security vehicles with them, and no one was allowed to approach, anyone who got close used to go down with them.”[]
And on top of all that, the International Commission on Missing Persons in The Hague is separately saying it has received data indicating there may be as many as 66, as yet unverified, mass grave sites in the country.
Not to mention it’s more than 150,000 people that are considered missing, according to international and Syrian organisations, including the UN and the Syrian Network for Human Rights. []
But with all that, while no one’s shedding any tears over the downfall of a monster like Assad, the situation in Syria is of course still incredibly fragile.
Right, the rebel leader now in charge is continuing to insist that the new Syria won’t be a threat.
With him specifically pushing for the easing of sanctions, telling a reporter for the BBC: (BROLL: 0:01-0:05)
"Now, after all that has happened, sanctions must be lifted because they were targeted at the old regime. The victim and the oppressor should not be treated in the same way."[] (BROLL: 0:36-0:41)
And with that, you had him trying to distinguish the government he envisions for Syria from that of the Taliban in Afghanistan, for example, saying he believed in education for women.[]
But of course, as I always say, words are words, actions are actions, we’ll have to wait and see if they match up.
But in the meantime, we’re also waiting to see what Turkey’s next move is.
Right, notably, the country is now refuting claims made by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller that a ceasefire between Turkish-backed rebels and the US-backed Kurdish SDF had been extended.
With a Turkish official restating his country’s position that the SDF is a terrorist group and vowing to continue the fight. []
And with that, Turkey and its rebel allies are reportedly building up forces along the Syrian border, raising concern that they’re preparing for a large-scale offensive against the Kurds.
And then, of course, we gotta talk about Israel.
Right, Netanyahu this week visited the buffer zone in Syrian territory that the country is now occupying, saying troops will stay there for the foreseeable future.
And of course, that’s as – as we talked about – Israel has also announced plans to expand illegal settlements in the occupied Golan Heights
So that’s all drawn a lot of international criticism and is of course another potential source of tension.
But with that, only time will tell.
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CVS Pharmacy has been incentivizing its pharmacists to fill illegal opioid prescriptions for more than a decade –
And in doing so, it helped fuel the nation’s opioid crisis.
At least, that’s according to the US Department of Justice, which has just filed a complaint against CVS in Providence, Rhode Island, where the company is headquartered.
With the DOJ specifically accusing CVS of violating the False Claims Act and Controlled Substances Act by filling prescriptions for controlled substances that had no legitimate medical purpose or were otherwise invalid –
Including prescriptions for “dangerous and excessive quantities of opioids.”[]
Right, according to the complaint, CVS implemented “performance metrics and incentive compensation policies” that it knew pressured pharmacists to fill prescriptions as quickly as possible, without assessing their legitimacy. []
With employees of the company claiming CVS was a “soul crushing” place to work because it was impossible to meet the company’s expectations while performing their jobs safely.[]
And one employee specifically saying:
“CVS has concocted an assembly-line style of medication preparation and only cares about profits.”[]
CVS, of course, has denied the allegations.
With a spokesperson saying the company has cooperated with the Justice Department’s investigation for more than four years and strongly disagrees with the allegations and what it described as “false narratives” outlined in the complaint.[]
Though, notably, this is far from the first legal action we’ve seen taken in a case like this.
In fact, just last week, McKinsey & Company agreed to pay $650 million to end a criminal probe into its role working with Purdue Pharma to “turbocharge” the sale of addictive painkillers.
And then, this summer?
Rite Aid reached a $410 million settlement related to allegations similar to the ones against CVS.
With this coming after opioid-related lawsuits helped push the company into bankruptcy.
And I mean, all in all, thousands of lawsuits have been filed against drug makers, distributors, pharmacy chains, and pharmacy benefit managers relating to their alleged roles in the opioid crisis.[]
Notably, with this litigation resulting in more than $50 billion in settlements with state and local governments, among others. []
And of course, as this CVS case shows, now even after years since this issue has really been thrust into the spotlight, there’s still more to be done in holding companies accountable – or at least trying to.
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“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
That’s what Teamsters President Sean O’Brien declared as his union launched the biggest strike against Amazon in the company’s history Thursday morning. [Quote, find “can blame” and B roll, 00:36]
With him adding, “We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it. These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them.” [Quote same link]
Right, what he’s referring to there is a December 15th deadline the Teamsters had given Amazon to negotiate a collective bargaining contract. [Quote, find “fought”]
But for years, the company has refused to even recognize the union, much less come to the table. [Same quote]
So now, nearly 10,000 warehouse workers and delivery drivers are expected to walk the picket lines for better pay, benefits and working conditions. [Image]
With seven warehouses in New York City, Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Skokie, Illinois, participating. [Image and Quote, find “Skokie”]
And the union adding that workers at other facilities are prepared to join the walkout, presumably if Amazon doesn’t come to the table. [Same quote]
Also, union leaders are setting up picket lines at hundreds more facilities so that non-unionized workers can legally strike without being punished by their employer.
And the Teamsters are getting solidarity from Germany, where Amazon workers pledged to strike as well. [Quote, find “German”]
Now if you ask Amazon, this is all basically concocted by a bunch of troublemakers, with a spokesperson telling the media:
“The truth is that they were unable to get enough support from our employees and partners and have brought in outsiders to come and harass and intimidate our team. For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent 'thousands of Amazon employees and drivers'. They don’t.” [Quote]
But regardless of who’s striking, many think this is gonna be big.
Not only because so many workers are taking part, and because it’s less than a week before Christmas, but also because it’s the Teamsters.
Right, they’re one of the oldest unions in America, founded in 1903, and today they’ve got 1.3 million members.
Plus they’re leadership is notoriously aggressive when it comes to this kind of stuff, so we can expect a good fight up ahead.
Though as of Thursday, Amazon claimed it hadn't seen any impact on operations and was "continuing to focus on getting customers their holiday orders.” [Quote]
Links:
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/19/nx-s1-5233832/amazon-union-teamsters-strike
https://teamster.org/2024/12/teamsters-launch-largest-strike-against-amazon-in-american-history/
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Congress is in total chaos and the government is barrelling towards a shutdown in just over 24 hours.
Right, lawmakers have until midnight tomorrow to pass a bill to keep the government funded.
And when we talked about this yesterday, things seemed to be on track and going pretty smoothly.
Right, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson had introduced a bipartisan stopgap spending bill — called a continuing resolution, or CR — that would keep the government funded at current levels for the next three months.
With that bill also including billions of dollars in aid for natural disasters and farmers.
As well as a number of other non-spending policies issues — including many provisions that wouldn’t necessarily cost the government money, like the criminalization of deepfake porn, among other things.
And when we talked about it yesterday, there were a number of defections from Republicans who opposed any new spending and condemned the bill as a Democrat wish list.
But the CR still seemed to be on track to pass because it was broadly backed by Democrats, as well as Johnson and the majority of his caucus.
But things have totally fallen apart in the last 24 hours.
Right, those couple of posts from Musk? That turned into an all-out, hours-long barrage attacking the bill in near-constant posts.
According to a count from The New York Times, Musk literally shared more than 150 separate posts on X condemning the CR and demanding that Republicans reject it.
With Musk at times threatening political retribution against any Republicans who supported the bill and spreading blatant misinformation about its contents.
And as an increasing number of Republicans started to come out against the measure, Musk would applaud them and share their tweets.[][][][]
Many of which specifically referenced and tagged Musk or his DOGE panel, showing how much influence he had on their decision.
But then the final nail of the coffin came when Trump finally weighed into the conversation.
Which notably didn’t happen until the bill had already been public for nearly 24 hours and after Musk had spent hours campaigning against it.
With Trump posting a joint statement from himself and JD Vance on Truth Social slamming the measure and arguing that Republicans should only agree to a spending deal that raises — or totally abolishes — the debt ceiling. []
Right, the debt ceiling is the total amount of money the federal government can borrow to pay its bills.
And it needs to borrow that money because it runs budget deficits, spending more money than it brings in.
But failure to raise it would result in the U.S. defaulting on its debt, throwing the global economy into total chaos.
Now, for some context here, raising the debt limit is a VERY tall ask given the fact that it always causes its OWN contentious battle because Republicans are always hesitant to lift the debt limit over concerns that it enables runaway spending.
And abolishing the debt limit, as Trump also floated, would likely be DOA with his own party — right, that’s actually something that Democrats have been pushing for a long time.
What’s more, experts say that Trump’s demands here are unusual because the Treasury Department should have plenty of time — likely until this Spring — before the debt limit becomes a problem.
So it hasn’t been on lawmakers' radars at all as they scramble to avert a shutdown.
In fact, it’s been reported that this ask came as a total surprise to Trump aides and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
So why the hell is Trump tying this totally unrelated and non-urgent matter to the very urgent spending bill?
Well, it’s because he wants to avoid a future showdown that could cast a shadow over his early days in office.
Right, during debt negotiations, it’s typical for the minority party to extract concessions, forcing the majority to either meet their demands or risk being responsible for the government defaulting.
And while Republicans will control both chambers and the White House come January, their majorities are slim, meaning they would need to rely on Democrats to raise the borrowing limit.
So a drawn-out debt limit battle would give Dems a lot of leverage and while also taking away from Trump’s agenda.
Not only because it will consume a lot of time, but also because many of Trump’s biggest policy platforms — like building a border wall — will cost trillions of dollars that will likely have to be borrowed, necessabolitating a limit increase.
So by demanding a debt limit increase under Biden, Trump can prevent Democrats from getting leverage AND avoid responsibility for raising the debt ceiling or risking default.
And this isn’t just speculation about his intentions — Trump explicitly said that this is why he wants the debt limit to be tied to the funding package.
With him writing in a series of posts on Truth Social that “Increasing the debt ceiling is not great but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch.”[]
Claiming that Democrats “are looking to embarrass” Republicans if the matter comes up for a vote once Trump is in office.[]
And adding that the current legislation will “bring the mess of the Debt Limit into the Trump Administration, rather than allowing it to take place in the Biden Administration.”[]
With Trump going on to say that Republicans need to pass a clean spending bill that doesn’t give “Democrats everything they want” but DOES include a debt limit increase.[]
Though it’s unclear exactly what Trump wants taken out of the bill, because he also claimed that Republicans want the billions in disaster funding and aid to farmers, which account for almost all of the additional spending in the CR.
Trump then went on to make a series of threats to Republicans, saying that failure to pass the spending bill he wants would be “a betrayal of our country.”
Asserting that it “would be suicidal for any Republican” who approves the current proposal, and later adding: []
“Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried.”[]
Then insisting that all of this must be done before he takes office.
What’s more, he’s essentially putting everyone in an impossible position, and his demands seem unachievable — at least before the midnight deadline Friday.
Right, first and foremost, we all seem to be forgetting a key part in all this: Republicans don’t control the Senate just yet.
And if Trump wants this done before his term starts, any proposal will have to go through the Democrat-controlled Senate, where it will be a very tough sell.
What’s more, he’s asking Republicans to do something they fundamentally oppose and giving them less than 48 to go through a process that can take weeks.
But given how slim their majority in the House is, they basically can’t have any defections if they want to pass a spending bill without the help of Dems, who have voiced strong opposition to Trump’s attempts here.
But, as far as where we go from here, that’s really unclear.
Right, it seems like there’s absolutely no way Johnson’s previously well-supported bipartisan proposal will go anywhere, but as of recording, no alternative legislation has materialized.
So there’s not even a roadmap idea to debate.
And with the clock ticking, it really seems like the government is going to shut down on Friday night.
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Private jets, Gucci products, drugs and alcohol, strippers and porn stars.
None of these things are what covid relief funds were supposed to be spent on.
Yet according to Business Insider, those were just some of the expenses recorded by several rich and famous musicians who definitely didn’t need government aid, even for legit purposes. [Headline]
And they did it using a little-known covid relief fund called the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.
Right, it was meant to help struggling independent venues and art groups stay afgloat during the pandemic.
With it covering only “ordinary and necessary” expenses for organizations that took a severe hit to their revenue. [Quote same link]
But thing is, the Small Business Administration, which oversaw the program, only examined applicants’ revenues, not their assets.
So personally wealthy musicians could apply through their so-called loan-out companies, the corporate entities they use for all their touring.
Which is how Lil Wayne, who sold more than 100 million dollars worth of his record label's recordings and bought a 15 million dollar mansion in LA during covid, received a nearly nine million dollar grant. [Quote, find “15.4” and “8.9” and B roll, 00:28]
But in his defense, he at least put the money toward clearly legitimate business expenses. [Same B roll]
Like over 1.3 million dollars on private-jet flights, for example. [Quote same link, find “1.3”]
Or nearly half a million dollars on clothes and accessories, many from brands like Gucci and Balenciaga. [Same quote]
Or how about more than 175,000 dollars for expenses related to a music festival promoting his marijuana brand? [Quote same link, find “175,000”]
No? What about nearly 15,000 dollars toward flights and luxury hotel rooms for women whose connection to the touring operation was unclear, including a Hooters-type restaurant waitress and a porn actress. [Quote same link, find “15,000”]
Okay, okay, if none of that convinces you, let me shoot you with this last one.
88,000 dollars for a New Year's Eve concert in Coachella. [B roll, 00:53]
I mean, at least that’s plausibly business-related, right? [Same B roll]
Except it turns out he canceled his performance just before it was set to begin that night, blaming “the wind and the flights,” even though other private jets took the exact same route he would have. [Quote same link]
With him apparently partying at a club on Sunset Boulevard with 2 Chainz instead, according to Instagram posts. [Same quote]
Well shit, who knows, maybe he has a good explanation for all this. Let’s let the man speak for himself!
Oh, wait a minute, I just came across this line in the Insider report:
“Reached by text, Lil Wayne made a sexually explicit overture to a reporter and did not respond to questions.” [Quote same link]
Alright, fine, Lil Wayne is indefensible, but let’s take a look at some of the other artists who received grant money.
Starting with Chris Brown, whose loan-out company reportedly got 10 million dollars. [Quote same link, find “5.1” and B roll, 00:52]
But oh, it looks like half of that went directly to him, and another 80,000 dollars went toward his 33rd birthday party. [Same quote and B roll]
But hey, to be fair, from the expense reports it sounded like a fucking awesome party.
We’re talking a 3,650-dollar LED dance floor, 2,100 dollars worth of nude women in body paint, and more than 29,000 dollars for hookahs, bottle service, "nitrogen ice cream," and damages involving burn holes to rented couches. [Quote same link, find “LED dance”]
Meanwhile, he owed state and federal tax authorities nearly seven million dollars, which he paid back last year. [Quote same link, find “IRS”]
Alright, for the rest of these guys, I can’t even keep up the sarcastic defense anymore.
You’ve got the DJ Marshmello personally pocketing literally the entire 10 million dollar grant he received. [Quote same link, find “9.9” and B roll]
Steve Aoki [Eye-okie] spent nearly two million on officer pay for his loan-out company. [Quote same link, find “1.9” and B roll, 08:20]
Thing is, he’s the company’s only officer. [Same assets]
Then, three of the four members of the band Shinedown split at least 2.5 million dollars among themselves. [Quote same link, find “2.5” and B roll, 05:46]
While their 15 touring-production workers got a combined 650,000 dollars. [Quote same link, find “650,000” and same B roll]
And finally, three of the four members of the band Alice in Chains pocketed 3.4 million dollars collectively. [Quote same link, find “3.4” and B roll, 01:58]
Meanwhile, a guitar tech and tour photographer who worked with the band for years got diagnosed with cancer in late 2022. [Quote same link, find “cancer” and same B roll]
But since he didn’t have benefits like health insurance, he resorted to GoFundMe, which the band kindly promoted for him on Twitter. [Quote same link, find “Twitter” and same b roll]
He died not long afterward.
Now I wanna be clear; the point of all this isn’t to say that the covid relief programs were just a big, fraudulent payout for the rich.
Right, the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant did help thousands of legitimate art groups, and these scumbag celebrities only scraped off a small fraction of its total funds.
But every dollar they spent on nude women in body paint could’ve gone toward someone who actually needed it during those years.
And unfortunately, they’re probably not gonna face any accountability for this.
Because as surprising as it sounds, it’s unclear whether most of what they did was actually illegal.
Links:
https://www.businessinsider.com/lil-wayne-chris-brown-covid-relief-funds-svog-grant-2024-12
