They're Already Crying Stolen Election Over This & It Exposes A Lot
30m 54s
Home repairs can be costly and stressful, and services like HomeServe offer peace of mind by providing 24/7 repair coverage for systems like water heaters, avoiding the chaos of calling plumbers at 2 a.m. Meanwhile, severe weather disrupted elections nationwide, with flooding in Florida and the Southwest forcing polling location changes. In Westchester County, voting machine failures were traced to a software update, not fraud—yet conspiracy theories persisted, especially from far-right figures. On Election Day, Donald Trump announced a plan to cut $4 billion in U.S. aid to Israel, a move widely interpreted as politically desperate rather than policy-driven. This coincided with Haley Stevens’ sudden endorsement of Mike Rogers, which ignited backlash and accusations of sexism, especially given reports of her fiancé’s controlling influence. The gaming industry is facing a surge of AI-generated content, leading to rampant cloning of indie games and platform congestion, threatening small developers. Additionally, U.S. strikes on Iranian territory occurred without public announcement, raising concerns about transparency and wartime strategy. A measles outbreak in New York, linked to declining vaccination rates, resulted in deaths and emergency declarations, underscoring the public health risks of anti-vaccination sentiment. The day highlighted multiple intersecting crises: election integrity, political maneuvering, technological disruption, and public health, all demanding scrutiny and civic engagement.
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Because with home repairs, it's usually less if and more when. And, or how many at the same time. And home service has been helping homeowners for more than 20 years and serves millions of customers across North America. Or because home repairs, they're annoying enough before you add, okay, now who do I call to the situation? Join the millions of customers who trust HomeServe, right, for 50% less your first year, go to homeserve.com/defranko, that's homeserve.com/defranko, or scan that code for 50% less. Savings compared to renewal price, bulletin, California, and Florida. How you've got MAGA, already turned in weather, emergency, and bad weather and declaims of election fraud. Which I really came out of nowhere, and said he's cutting off $4 billion to Israel. This new AI problem in gaming is even crazier than you might think, but it's really going on with Haley Stevens and its updates, including sexism allegations. And if you're watching this on Tuesday before the polls close and you haven't voted yet, go vote. We're talking about all of that even more. On today's brand new, Philip DeFranco show, you daily dive into the news starting with this. This happening, today is the day, so you're already voted. Give yourself a big pat on the back for doing your part, being a part of the change that you want to see in the world. And if you haven't yet, and polls are still open where you live, you better be watching this show in line. Go vote. And text your friends, your family, everyone that you know. Everyone but not everyone. Right, a lot of us are voting for a specific result. The election day is officially underway. We get to see what happens. We did the polls and nail it where they incredibly off what aged well and what aged poorly. We're going to have a range of answers over the next few hours and days and while things are seemingly running pretty smoothly in the vast majority of the country, there have been some inevitable hiccups. Right in one of the things we've seen there are right wing conspiracy theorists already jumping on them to claim that the elections are being stolen. We're starting with the fact that huge chunks of the country are facing insanely bad and in some places dangerous weather conditions. That's a pretty big thing because studies have shown that active weather can suppress voter turnout. There are forms, flash flooding, heavy rains and tornado warnings. They've made it harder for some people to reach polling places and forced election officials in at least three different regions to move polling locations. And you would Florida in particular being hit hard. I mean, as of recording, officials had to relocate more than 20 polling places impacted by flooding after half a year's worth of rain, up to 28 inches, fell along Florida's space coast from Sunday to Monday. And you also had multiple months worth of rain falling on parts of the Southwest over the weekend, causing flooding, enforcing evacuations, and at least a dozen counties in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. And those severe conditions have actively impacted election systems forcing some voting locations to be adjusted and even prompting officials in Utah and Colorado to let certain counties vote online. Meanwhile, the storm system is expected to ring severe rain and thunderstorms with risks of floods and tornadoes to large parts of the Central U.S., or which would affect voters from the Great Plains and Midwest, while stretching south through the Mississippi Valley and parts of East Texas. And you have experts noting that this could impact key elections in Iowa, Kansas, Eastern Texas, and Northern Michigan, which all have to deal with varying degrees of bad weather. And already you have some on the far right using the weather disruptions to spread false claims about election security. Right after record rainfall in Arizona caused sweeping power outages, officials had to briefly check down three voting centers of the last 24 hours in Maricopa County, which is home to Phoenix and was a big target of Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Now, very importantly here, all those centers were reopened just hours later with Maricopa County elections even explicitly saying that all voting centers were open on time when polls opened at 6 a.m. But of course, that didn't stop people online from claiming that these short closures were evidence that the Democrats were trying to rig or steal the elections. And of course, that isn't the only disruption that you've had many on the right seizing on to push their bullshit claims. Right this morning you had major complications being reported at polling sites in Westchester County, New York, up to ballot scanners across the county failed to accept paper ballots. And while that's obviously concerning, under any circumstances, the situation has gotten a lot of attention because Westchester County is home to one of the most competitive House races in the country. Right, it's one that could decide to control the Congress. With the Republican incumbent, Mike Lawler, getting locked in a very tight race with his Democratic challenger, Kate Conley. And initially, the Westchester County Board of Elections issued a statement saying that the thickness of paper ballots was preventing voting machines from accepting ballots. But it then later updated that statement to say that the malfunction was driven by an issue involving paper ballots that is preventing voting machines from accepting ballots. And then a few hours later, the New York State Board of Elections said that the complication was linked to an update to the county's election programming that took place after the initial testing of election day equipment and wasn't implemented on all machines. And adding that they were working to restore scanning capabilities in that voting was continuing through established emergency ballot procedures in the meantime. By noting that ballots are being securely maintained in emergency ballot bags under bipartisan oversight until they can be scanned. And very significantly here, right, this is a key thing. The State Board also explicitly said that the scanners only rejected the ballots because they couldn't recognize them not because they were counting them incorrectly and adding. Every ballot vote will be counted with it also affirming in a separate post that voters should rest assured that there has been no disruption to voting. And that is something that numerous top election officials and elected leaders in the state have repeatedly been telling voters that the system is secure and they can vote safely that their votes will be counted and that they should not get discouraged from voting. And you had the Westchester County executive saying that he had directed county officials to monitor the voting process and ensure that voters can cast their ballots without interference and that every vote is properly and accurately counted and adding that state election officials would determine if polls needed to stay open for longer than planned, though he didn't think that it would be necessary. And also a big thing here is you even had a lawyer, right, the Republican congressman fighting for his life in Westchester repeatedly assuring voters in multiple posts, telling them to stay in line saying his team is already in court to make sure the ballots are counted in the central locations of his campaign and election monitors can oversee the process and adding, I have confidence that every vote will be counted in just vote and have your voice heard. Right and it's significant that the ballot leading Republican here is trying to promote trust because we've seen tons of right wingers jumping on this to spread conspiracy theories about election fraud. And not just like randoms. It includes some of the leading voices of the far right like Stephen Miller's wife Katie who wrote on Twitter, this is how the left steals elections. Mike Lawler's competitive district and they are turning away voters. And of course, that's just blatantly untrue. Voters aren't being turned away at all. Obviously everyone's telling voters to stay in line and that they can still vote. And also you have some heading back at the logic there arguing that Westchester is the most liberal part of Lawler's district and the county itself is blue. So even in this made up scenario, it wouldn't make sense for Democrats to mess with voting machines there if they could. But of course, not surprising to see this stuff coming from that. And then of course, it wouldn't be a full-blown crazy party without Laura Lumer who tweeted, Democrats are already trying to steal the election in New York today. What are the odds? The ballot machines and Westchester County aren't working. Democrats only know how to cheat. And Lumer didn't stop there. And also claimed that Democrats were cheating in Broward County, Florida because there was a technical issue with a new feature designed to make sure the voters received the correct vote. Or with officials saying that the glitch prevented voting at every polling place for about 20 minutes after polls opened this morning, but that the malfunction has since been resolved. But also, here's one of the big things with this situation. Things do not go Trump and the Republican Party's way. You should expect this to just be the beginning of the bullshit. Even if everything else goes smoothly for the rest of the day or even if none of this had happened at all, you're going to have election deniers spreading conspiracies and lies to try and undermine the will of the people. So for now, we largely just have to wait and see what's going to happen unless you haven't voted yet and you have time and you should go out there and vote, which on the note of people going out. We're seeing historic turnout in some places today. You had the Secretary of State here in Georgia saying that the state is on its way to see record turnout. You also had other states breaking records like Texas, which saw a 7.7 million early voters putting turnout at 41%. Or which is just ahead of the midterm record previously set in 2018. Also, Ohio, they've set an early voting record Michigan. They're seeing strong early election day turnout. And so we'll see how it lands. I just live in a world where I never trust the polls and I think anything could happen. And outside of reporting the news in today's show, I'm largely staying off of social media until the actual vote counts start coming in because online there is just no shortage of people looking at the same information and making 100% confident claims that it says completely opposite things. And then there's even more we got to dive into in just a minute after a quick break with a sponsor. I want to give a quick shout out to all you beautiful bastards that have entered our weekly $500 Seeky giveaways. 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Now, as far as paying Israel in the BB Net Yon, I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year and we made a deal months ago that we're stopping at their defined with it. Having them $4 billion, we are, but it gets cut off at the end of the year. Why? Why? Because they don't need it, Brian. I mean, I asked them because they don't need it. And because why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like in El Sayat when they don't need it? It's a bad, it's a bad talking point. Israel is a very thriving country that are needed. If they did need it, I would say keep it going. But BB Net Yahu, who we reached an agreement on that. Right. As far as what 80s referring to, Trump simply said you could consider this barter military aid or cash and we give Israel $4 billion of things and money. So of course, in Trump fashion, he didn't provide many details about what would actually be cut and how, prompting people to question how exactly will this work as some agreements [BLANK_AUDIO]
they don't actually expire until 2028. And then you're also seeing a lot of outlets noting that Congress would need to weigh in to eliminate funding. The Wallsauce Trump said that even though he plans to cut aid, Israel will still be allowed to purchase weapons from the United States. And at least according to Trump, it was Netanyahu who approached him about this change. Right, and for his part, Netanyahu has said in the past that he wants to phase out US military aid to Israel noting that it's an issue increasingly dividing Americans and causing tons of political issues for Trump himself. Because it's not just people on the left like Abdul Al Sayyad who have taken a stance against funding Israel. Over the past few years, you've seen an increasing number of people on the right growing frustrated with the US support of Israel. It's actually one of the big sticking points in this mega-civil war we've been seeing play out. And so with that, like a big key thing here is like, this does not mean Trump's made some massive 180 on Israel. During that interview, he also said, - I'm at 99% approval writing in Israel, can you believe it? In fact, if people have got tired of me in the US, I'm both to Israel become prime minister. - Which one, honestly, I think that would be amazing. You should go now, Donnie. And two, in the meantime, you have many seeing this as Trump in the final hour, very desperate trying to get voters out there on the mega side. Where Israel's been losing favorability in the United States and 56% of Americans say that the US military aid to Israel should be decreased or stopped altogether. And as far as if it'll be effective, you never know, but you have a lot of Republicans who have split from Trump noting that this just feels too little too late with Marjorie Taylor-Rain for example writing. This morning on Election Day, Trump goes on Fox News and announces he's going to stop $4 billion per year aid to Israel. Amazing how being on the verge of Republicans getting wiped out in the midterms changes hearts and minds. And adding Trump getting permission from Netanyahu to end annual aid, Israel isn't going to change today's election results, nor is it going to end the war with Iran or stop Israel from murdering innocent Palestinians. But it does show you how bad the polling is on that issue. And then you also had Thomas Massey saying, this would be a start, but the same American taxpayer funds will just flow through as military assistance, slash coordination instead of as a separate line item and the appropriations bill saying they spent $30 million against me because I was the only remaining Republican to oppose this foreign aid. And adding you'd have to be a fool to think they're going to end this. It's a desperate election day lie. And then you also had Democrats, of course, calling it out. Not just because Trump seemed to be doing this incredibly last minute pandering, but because it debates about whether or not to support Israel had divided this party as well. And so you had Rocana, for example, saying that Trump made this move because he is desperate to stave off a blue tsunami. But also noting that even establishment Democrats told further left politicians, cutting aid would be too radical. Then commentators like Ponce of America's Tommy V Toradding. When Abdul El Sayed says this, Mike Rogers and Haley Stevens call him an anti-Semite. Now Trump comes out in support of cutting off aid to Israel on election day and says Netanyahu agrees. So much for that talking point. With another's noting that on the morning of the election after directing all this bitching and moaning and overt racism toward Abdul El Sayed, Trump decides to briefly borrow one of his policy positions. And I say that as there are a lot of people that are understandably skeptical that Trump will actually follow through on this. But then also from that someone else that's complaining about slings from El Sayed is Haley Stevens. Who got so mad about being disinvited from his campaign event that she endorsed Trump puppet Mike Rogers at the 11th hour. And now you actually ever out there trying to frame the backlash and questions about this as a sexist attack. Or because when she randomly switched up on Sunday, you would everyone kind of like, what the fuck? And that included people closer. And among the million questions you had some saying did her fiance Jason Turkish push her to do this? Or because Turkish, she became this very out in the public partner for a candidate. He's a Democratic lawyer. He came out and endorsed Rogers last week while Stevens was still saying that she was going to vote for El Sayed. So he already had some feeling like he was undermining his own fiance. And again, Stevens was still telling people that she was voting for El Sayed until super late Saturday night. But then she had this very sudden change of heart on Sunday and apparently didn't warn anyone. Which is then why you've seen such an overwhelming reaction from Democrats. And it's a mix of shock, anger, disappointment, and concern where the situation on the ground, the circumstances, nothing really changed except her feeling seemingly got hurt. Right, among other things, Mike Rogers didn't immediately become this candidate that all of a sudden wasn't all the things she said that he was in the months before the election. And a lot of the concern you've seen around this is centered around Turkish's influence and involvement. But now you've got Steven Shouting from the rooftops of Twitter and Scott Jennings' radio show. This was my decision, not my fiance. And last night you were sharing an essay on Twitter called The Decisions We Make. And she stressed that her decision was not impulsive and not made for her by anyone else. With a reiterating that she's still what she called a proud Democrat, but disagreed with certain ads endorsing El Sayed and didn't like how she was shut out from his campaign. So again, they disinvited her from one event on Sunday because she's basically been doing a press tour blasting him and his campaign with a lot of things that he's not even connected to. It really seemed like to many she was trying to create a situation in an environment where she was allowed to do this. But then also in this, you got our touching on the discourse about Turkish writing, some critics have also dragged my fiance into this, suggesting he or others must have made my decision for me. And adding, think about what that says. A woman can serve in Congress, run statewide and fight for her convictions, and still be told that when she makes a choice, people dislike someone else must be pulling the strings. Saying that is sexism dressed up as political analysis. And personally, El Sayed, I agree and disagree with several parts of that statement. One, the framing that her fiance has been dragged into this is fucking insane. He was putting himself out there. He was making himself the show and the sideshow. But also, too, while I understand some people going like his Turkish involved in her changing her opinion here, just given how weird a number of the public things are with them, I personally think that whether you're a man or a woman, no matter what color you are, no matter what religious affiliation or not, you might make a fucking horrible, stupid, ugly choice. And it's all on you because ultimately you're the one that pulled the trigger. And then also, in this essay, she emphasized that she has her own views and is proud of her decision to endorse Rodgers and Addie. Do not question my independent simply because you disagree with my conclusion. And also, as I predicted yesterday, Stevens went to the right wing, right? She appeared on Scott Jennings' radio show yesterday, because obviously that was going to be the next step for her. And there, you also had to bring up the sexism argument during the conversation. I gave him an opportunity to defend it in harmony here in Michigan, to unite around something that everyone can agree on. And then I got disinvited instead. And Scott, you know this, I know this. This is what happens to women. The moment they, you know, we get, you know, they're like these, you know, these. Okay, they got my endorsement. I brought them in for a hug and, you know, a chest hug. And, you know, it's like, all right, that's it. And a lot of people relate to that, I know. And, you know, it's like any notion that, like, I was forced into doing, you know, what, what I did, any notion that I was forced into my decision is all more of the same. - It's an alley of Stevens also trying to say L.A.S. campaign disinvited her from an event because she's a woman, right? It couldn't possibly be, because she was still constantly calling him out, becoming a huge distraction, trying to take the reins. Right, and then apparently, you know, this whole situation, made Scott Jennings suddenly an empathetic feminist king, or because you had Jennings calling Democrats anger toward Stevens, misogynistic attacks on her agency. Words just seemed wild coming out of this Trump defender's face. You know, with this, you did have people asking, does sexism have anything to do with the intense reaction? And also asking, is it unfair to question how much Turkish influence this decision? Or are we just dealing with valid anger about her betraying the party at a critical moment and valid concerns about her fiance? And part of that's because there have been rumors and questions about this guy for a while now and new reporting from CNN reveals that, there's a lot more to this story. Several sources involved in Stevens' campaign in congressional office said that Turkish were rated and belittled staff members. You had one staffer describing him as extremely overbearing, controlling arrogant, a misogynistic personality. And apparently, Stevens decided she was gonna take a social media break last fall, so she wouldn't be distracted by mean comments about her appearance. But you had people saying that her fiance would text her the mean comments being in front of her looks in the way she speaks and mocking her positions on issues, including her support for Israel. You had a top campaign aid saying, you would wind her up and then we'd have to wind her down. And according to this new report, he was extremely involved in Stevens' campaign despite having what one source described as the worst political instincts on earth. With him, one's apparently urging Stevens to open a debate against El Sayed with an Aaron Sorkin style soliloquy defending Israel. And so all of that along with other stuff, it paints this very interesting picture of this guy. As far as Turkish's response to the conversations around his influence here, he told the free press that anyone suggesting he was controlling his fiancee had obviously never met Haley. And you know, with all this, you just continue to see some interesting responses to this surprise, including from Megan Kelly who had thoughts on the Turkish piece. - Like she has no agency. This congresswoman is like, oh, someone's got to rescue her from the evil fist of her Jewish fiancee who's voting for Mike Rogers as if she can't figure out her own path forward. This US congresswoman who's been very strong in her stated beliefs thus far. - And actually in her rant about Stephen, she seemed to be defending El Sayed at times. - That's the tell. That's what she's really mad about. He ejected her. He does not want her to come to his unity event. Who could blame him? Can you imagine if you would won the primary over this nanny and she was like, I'll go to the unity event as long as you say the following five things exactly as I want you to, fuck off. - There was also a key thing I'm gonna say here 'cause you don't have to hand it to Megan Kelly in that same episode. She once again accused El Sayed of having ties to the Muslim brotherhood. And then also among the other interesting reactions you had Hillary Clinton. Or were they're not quite saying that Hailey Stevens needs to Pokemon go to hell but rather saying? - I have no idea what her thinking was, Anderson, but I don't think it's gonna have much impact. In fact, if it has any impact, I think it will end up helping Abdul. Everybody who runs for office who doesn't make it is gonna feel disappointed, maybe hurt, even a little angry, but you gotta put that behind you and get together in order to beat what is a huge danger to our future. And that's what should have happened here. - You once as our John Stewart just laughing about the whole situation. - Is her car in a ditch? (audience laughing) Is she endorsing Mike Rogers after getting in a car accident? Now to be fair, there is a rift here. L. Say head has been.
very critical of Israel. And obviously, Stevens, as also some other Jewish people in Michigan, have been upset by that. - I am not Jewish. - What the (beep) (audience laughing) But as far as if this moves the needle and if so, what way we might see tonight. And then jump it from that, we've got even more news we've got to dive into in a quick minute after this word from our sponsor. Research has found an unsecured database with 149 million usernames and passwords just sitting online, which is incredibly reassured. Right, once information like emails and login credentials get exposed it can keep circulating through criminal forums, data broker databases and other places that you definitely didn't sign up for. And that's why I like having today's sponsor and Cogni working in the background where because leaked personal information can become fuel for fishing and impersonation scams, identity theft, frog, doxing, and harassment. 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But then, right back into the news, the AI sloppeting, it's arrived at the gaming industry in a big way. And even if you don't consider yourself a gamer, this stands out because this could be kind of a canary in the coal mine situation for the rest of the human arts and culture world and just actually anything remotely beautiful. Because the thing that's blown up is this red oppose that looked at publicly available data for over 63,000 games released on Steam over the past few years. And as a caveat here, this is a community analysis not a peer reviewed study. So take this with a grain of salt if you want. But still, you have lots of people talking about it, right? The findings confirm what's already been suspected for a while and they are shocked. In January of 2024, the month that Valve began requiring devs to disclose their AI usage less than 2% of new games reported using AI. But then by the end of that year, it reached 13% then nearly doubled to 24% in 2025. It went up to 40% this year. And last month, it was 50% of all new games. I should know with this, the data is not evenly distributed. And so for example, AI use appears way more common for smaller games and the bigger ones. But with games this year that have over 1,000 reviews only disclosing AI use in 14% of cases. And likewise, developers who release many games reported more AI use than those who release just a few. Or with those putting out more than 10 or more games, disclosing AI nearly 70% of the time with just one game disclosing less than 40%. And then also the way that AI is being used, that varies widely with by far the most common application being artwork and followed by text and translation, store page, and marketing materials, music, coding, voices, and spontaneous in-game content. And with this, you're seeing a debate player, right? Because you have some saying, hey, if you're a crusader against AI Slop, all these numbers, they probably look just bad, bad, bad. But arguing in some cases, developers are actually making some kind of cool original stuff that wouldn't have been possible before. And one of the games you have people pointing to is this one called Teach My Little Sister, How To Drive, where you sit in the passenger seat of a car and direct your digital sister through an obstacle course. And the gimmick there is that you actually give her spoken commands, which are interpreted by AI, and then translated into her response. OK, now go left. Go left. [INAUDIBLE] I'm turning right. Now, back up, back up. Stop rushing me before I hit the button. Oh my gosh, she actually is listening. This is weird. But even there, you saw the devs quickly running into trouble, or with them saying that so many people played the game during its free demo that they had to take out a bank loan just to keep it running, because according to them, the cost of the AI features ballooned $1,000 a day. And that, as I also said, that Google's Gemini started hitting usage limits, so they had to resort to a backup model from open AI. But then that, it came with service issues, like unnatural dialogue, excessively long responses, and misinterpretations of commands. And so while the devs are trying to patch it up and make their game work, for critics, this is just exhibit A and why AI should stay out of gaming. We then exhibit B to Z, seemingly coming in on a daily basis now. And each one of these can range from a little bit different to very different. I mean, just look at this other situation with this new indie co-op game called Wheel Make It, where you and a friend, you play by sharing a keyboard, and you each control one wheel on a wheelchair. And while initially, it was on 11,000 people's wishlist on Steam, which suggests that there's a lot of anticipation for the game, when it finally launched, it was a total flop. It peaked at just 15 concurrent players. So according to the devs, the reason was not the game itself, it was the platform. They claim that the flood of AI Slop submissions to Steam clogged up the approval process for new games, and that's why they missed their official launch date by a few weeks, saying we were assured by Steam that missing our launch as a result of the tidal wave of AI Slop that destroyed their review queue would not affect the usual mechanisms of launch visibility. I begged a differ. And adding, I blame AI Slop a thousand times more than Steam, saying I've been a part of 30 releases, and the only time this has been an issue was at the same time thousands of AI games came crashing onto the platform. Beyond anecdotes and speculation right now, we don't actually know whether Steam's approval process has been slowed down by AI submissions. It is undeniable that a torrent of new games has flooded the marketplace recently. There was some 23,000 going up on Steam so far this year, and we've still got two months to go. And then also for next best, Steam Showcase for upcoming releases, there are more than 8,000 demos elisted on the landing page, which is twice the number from just June and eight times the amount in 2022. And so all of that led to PC gamer declaring, we are drowning in shit. But also seemingly the problem isn't just that good games are getting crowded out by bad games. It's also that good games are getting copied by so-called vibe coders before they can even hit the market. So you have situations like, for example, back in March, where a developer shared a clip of her game prototype, this mesmerizing twist on Tetris where the screen rotates 90 degrees every time you drop a block and people loved it. Then within five hours of her post, a self-described, efficient novelty maxing generalist posted their own AI-generated knockoff. And then in another case, the developer of Escape, the wall is posted footage from their game online, and instantly there were several clones of it on Roblox. And then also sometimes it just gets so absurd and so meta that it's almost funny. Like when one dev made needle in a haystack simulator and then another dev cloned it with needle in a haystack, then the second dev accused a third dev of cloning their clone. And now, according to Inven Global, one developer claimed that indie devs have recently been receiving extortion emails threatening, if you don't pay, we'll copy your game with AI and release it first. And so as a result, smaller studios have started canceling their demos for games like Moonlight or In Drunken Goddess Reflux to avoid being cloned by vibe coders. Which then also means going from a play test with tens of thousands of players to one with just a few hundred carefully vetted people, which means less exposure in marketing. Or you could do a big demo, much closer to launch day, but that leaves less time to attract attention, collect feedback and incorporate it into the game. Which is then why if so many devs turning dev live and going, "Hey, you have to do something about this." Like either give us the tools to vet who demos our games or crack down on all the AI slot pouring into steam. But while you've had the company acknowledging the problem, one of its business executives told an audience recently, we don't want to be gatekeepers telling developers which tools they should or shouldn't use. So they'm suggesting that devs can protect their work by first building a strong community around it and then focusing on continual improvements rather than relying on a single mechanic that someone can easily copy. So you need to keep growing your game by adding features, personality, and creativity that stem from your own perspective. But to some, that basically just felt like being told, just make better games, which one just isn't very helpful. And two, ignores the fact that indie devs have limited time and resources. And so for critics, all of this, it feels like it gives life to the lie and the narrative that's brought it up around AI. Like as early on, the promise was that it would democratize the arts and profession so that ordinary people could make music, right? Stories or design video games all on their own. But seemingly what we've seen mostly instead is that people that are hurt most by competition from AI are the small artists whose bite-sized games can easily be cloned. Meanwhile, the biggest fish, they're the most insulated. No vibe coders putting out a serious competitor to GTA VI. So also, I gotta add an asterisk there 'cause that's probably also not going to age very well. Like let's come back to this clip in five years, maybe not even five years. But then also, notably now at this same time, you have people on the other side of this debate arguing that one, AI has the potential to revolutionize gaming in a really cool way if it's done right. And two, it is impossible to keep it out of the industry entirely. So this is not a debate that's going away anytime soon, though it will be interesting to see what platforms like Steam do moving forward. But then jumping from that to our last stories today, let's first talk about how the US has been bombing Iran without even telling us. But apparently they've been launched in small scale attacks throughout the last few weeks. The most recent of these actually happened yesterday on Kesham Island, an Iranian territory that holds a naval base and underground missile site at the northern entrance of the Shreya Hormuz. While the US has targeted the island before it, this time you would report saying that they've been launching strikes there as a defense measure meant to keep Iran from attacking commercial ships on the street, claiming they had to retaliate against some surface-to-air missiles fired at a US fighter jet. Whatever the actual reasoning was, the bigger story is that at first, we were getting announcements about stuff like this. The last time we heard about any strikes was back in September and with this one, we got nothing and a lot of people are saying that was a political decision on the administration's part. Trump's war choice with Iran, it has tanked his approval numbers and Republicans, they're worried they might be collateral when votes come in at the midterms today. And with that, you've done the most flip-floppy wartime communication possible over the last few months. One day, Trump saying he'll back off of Iran until after the midterms, the next day he's claiming the war is pretty much over anyway and that the US has come out on top and then other days he's fully threatening to bring down the hammer as soon as election day is over. So you've got reports speculating that staying quiet about these recent attacks, it was just their version of damage control leading up to a midterms, they can sure that people don't take them as a sure sign of the war is ramping back up. And while yesterday you had him saying that he wouldn't be striking Iran after today's election, other officials have said he's still weighing his options. So again, we have a situation where people don't know what to believe. And at that point, despite the recent strikes, you have Iranian officials saying they're still committed to their negotiations. So they've also specified that they reserve the right to self-defense saying they are prepared for any scenario. And then also in the news, an unvaccinated seven-month-old child in New York just died for measles becoming these state's first measles of death in 30 years. And with that, you would govern our Kathy Hocal immediately linking the death to the Trump administration's stance on vaccines. He's saying that it's a devastating reminder of what's at stake when Washington deliberately erodes decades of progress in protecting Americans from preventable illnesses. And as we've talked about with a few other outbreaks this year, measles is very, very contagious, so they can cause some serious health complications, especially for kids. And the US fully stopped the domestic spread of measles back in 2000, thanks to vaccines. But famously, you have to keep a vaccination
of about 95% to prevent an outbreak. And as you've had ARVK and friends making this huge push against vaccination policies, specifically for childhood immunization recommendations, our numbers have slipped. And with that, you were the CDC confirming three measles associated deaths in the US this year with some state health departments like Pennsylvania, reporting numbers even higher than that. Also, you had Hocal Last Month declaring a disaster emergency in response to the measles cases in neighboring states and rural areas of New York. By the end of last month, the CDC had reported almost 4,600 measles cases, more than double the numbers we saw last year. And so, unless people get themselves in their kids vaccinated, it does look like this trend is pretty clear. When the meantime, you have the Department of Health and Human Services saying that the CDC has deployed some epidemiologists and other experts to work with New York State health officials on outbreak response support. And that, my friends, you beautiful bastards is the end of your Tuesday, Philip DeFranco Show. Thank you for watching, of course. In general, thank you for being with me. This election cycle, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow, once we go through whatever the hell this door is. I love you faces, and I'll see you then.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
HomeServe offers 24/7 repair protection for home systems, helping homeowners avoid stress and costly repairs by covering breakdowns from wear and tear.
Severe weather across the U.S.—including flooding in Florida, Arizona, and Colorado—disrupted voting, with polling locations relocated or temporarily closed, fueling false election fraud claims.
In Westchester County, New York, voting machines malfunctioned due to a software update, not fraud, with officials confirming all ballots would be counted and no systemic issues.
Donald Trump announced a plan to cut $4 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel, a move widely seen as politically motivated and politically damaging, especially on Election Day.
Haley Stevens unexpectedly switched her endorsement to Mike Rogers, sparking backlash and accusations of sexism, amid reports of her fiancé’s controlling behavior and influence.
AI-generated content is rapidly flooding gaming platforms like Steam, leading to widespread game cloning, platform congestion, and concerns about indie developers being exploited.
The U.S. conducted unannounced strikes on Iranian territory, raising concerns over wartime transparency and strategic messaging ahead of the midterms.
A measles outbreak in New York, linked to declining vaccination rates, resulted in deaths and emergency declarations, highlighting public health risks from anti-vaccination movements.
Summary:
m. Meanwhile, severe weather disrupted elections nationwide, with flooding in Florida and the Southwest forcing polling location changes. In Westchester County, voting machine failures were traced to a software update, not fraud—yet conspiracy theories persisted, especially from far-right figures.
S. aid to Israel, a move widely interpreted as politically desperate rather than policy-driven. This coincided with Haley Stevens’ sudden endorsement of Mike Rogers, which ignited backlash and accusations of sexism, especially given reports of her fiancé’s controlling influence.
The gaming industry is facing a surge of AI-generated content, leading to rampant cloning of indie games and platform congestion, threatening small developers. S. strikes on Iranian territory occurred without public announcement, raising concerns about transparency and wartime strategy.
A measles outbreak in New York, linked to declining vaccination rates, resulted in deaths and emergency declarations, underscoring the public health risks of anti-vaccination sentiment. The day highlighted multiple intersecting crises: election integrity, political maneuvering, technological disruption, and public health, all demanding scrutiny and civic engagement.
FAQs
No, regular homeowners insurance typically does not cover breakdowns due to normal wear and tear.
HomeServe offers protection plans for home systems like furnaces, pipes, and water heaters, with 24/7 repair support and local contractor scheduling.
With HomeServe, you can call their 24/7 hotline instead of searching online, and they will schedule a local contractor to handle the repair immediately.
Yes, severe weather and technical issues at polling locations, such as scanner malfunctions in New York and Florida, have disrupted voting in some areas.
Yes, some far-right figures have falsely claimed election fraud after weather-related disruptions or technical voting machine issues, despite official statements confirming the system is secure.
Trump announced plans to cut $4 billion in annual aid to Israel at the end of the year, though details are unclear and Congress would need to act to implement changes.
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