Popular Female Streamers Attacked Live By Stalker, Hasan Banned, Trump Zelensky Fallout, & More News
PDS Published 03/03/2025
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A whole slew of streamers have been dealing with harassment and threats and violence over the last 24 hours.
Starting with Valkyrae, Cinna (Sin-uh), and Emiru (emmy-roo).
Right, Valkyrae and Cinna have been doing a streaming marathon dubbed a Sis-A-Thon, and yesterday during it, they went with Emiru to the Santa Monica Pier.
And as they were getting off the ferris wheel, a man was sitting on the ground outside the ride to ask for Emy’s number.
“Can I sing, for a change? For a change for the better, as you might say? And the change would be your number? Could I get your number?Oh, I don’t have a phone…Put your number in mineI don’t know how to use a phoneWait, so I’m just going to keep following her, I’m going to keep following her.NO! No! Not another one, there’s too many stalkers.” (11:31:05-11:31:35)
Right, and at first, the group is sort of just trying to roll with the punches, deciding to walk further down the pier to get some churros.
But as they are in line, they pull out sunglasses to cover their faces.
“Incongito time. Stand behind me...I don’t like ‘I’m going to keep following her.’” (11:32:19-11:32:27)
But the thing is, the guy had still followed them and was watching them wait in line for churros from the other side of the pier.
Reports also saying that he had gone up to them earlier in the night to ask for a photo, so he may have been potentially following them for a while.[]
And the girls eventually start to feel more uneasy and decide to ditch the churro line.
“Maybe we should just go….yeah, oh, maybe we should….he’s uh, getting a little closer.” (11:33:30-11:33:39)
So they start walking out, but one of their friends approached him off-camera, and things escalate quickly from there:
“(Off cam) I’ll fucking fight you!Hey, excuse me! Security! No! Emily, Emily, no. Whoa, whoa. Lets fight, let’s fucking fight right now. What, get away from us. Security! He’s harassing us. Right now, I’ll kill you right now, I’ll kill you right now.[screaming, running away]Security! Please!” (11:34:05 -11:34:32)
Right, and after he threatened to kill them, the live then cut as they continued to call for security, and Valkyrae later posted updates on the situation, writing:
“We are all ok and have been with police. We decided we are done with the marathon and need time to process! Thank you for all the love and support this past week, we had so much fun and hope you all enjoyed.”[]
Adding they will postpone their other streaming plans to another time. []
Cinna likewise telling her followers everyone is safe, though they were rattled. []
And it rattled a ton of people who saw the incident, too.
With a bunch of people online calling that guy out, trying to spread his image so authorities could identify him.[][]
Others just saying it’s horrifying he responded this way to someone simply declining to give out their number.[][]
And then a ton of people also just noting how much danger and threats and bullshit female streamers generally have to put up with, writing:
“The reason why irl streaming is dominated by men is because it is inherently dangerous for women due to deranged stalkers and creeps…Anti stalking laws need to be updated to the modern age, everyone single woman creator I know has or used to have multiple stalkers, many of them dangerous.”[][]
“‘just say no’ men can’t handle rejection without threatening women’s lives. but female streamers have it easy right? fuck off. genuinely disgusting behaviour.”[]
The likes of QTCinderella encouraging streamers to get security and adding:[]
“The worst part is now you go to the police and they wont do anything. You try to file a report, they tell you to do it online. You do it online and they reject it. Rinse and repeat. There is no help. Its terrifying. My heart goes out to everyone involved.”[]
Then others saying this is not just a streamer problem, it’s an issue for all women in general. [][][]
And this is something Valkyrae touched on herself this morning in response to people criticizing how she and her group responded to the situation, writing:
“Honestly fuck all of you for blaming our employees for “not doing enough”. Our team worked so hard to help us with this marathon and did their best for being put on the spot. No means no. You’re not entitled to anybody. The fact that this man threatened our lives after being rejected while we were in a group, in public and live on stream just shows the harsh reality women live in. This happens off camera to women all the time.”[]
“Seeing accounts accusing my friends and I for faking this and blaming us instead of questioning the man’s behavior has been embarrassing to see. I’ve learned it doesn’t matter how much I accomplish in this industry or how much I try to gain respect, some men will hate women and blame women no matter the situation.”
And this was also not the only major incident yesterday involving a prominent female streamer facing threats to her safety.
Because yesterday, Amouranth said she was the target of a home invasion, writing:
She then shared footage of police presence outside her home before adding:
“I’m covered in blood but only some of it is mine I’ll update yall later but I’m safe now.”[]
Also explaining that she tweeted instead of calling 911 because she figured calling the cops in front of them would have just been a death sentence.[]
This morning, she posted what appears to be security footage of the alleged incident, which starts with what looks like her running toward something as they follow.
“Right here, it’s in here…C’mon, go go go go.” (0:10-0:18)
You then can’t see much, but later hear banging noises followed by the men in masks running away, at least one seeming to say they got shot.
With Amouranth writing in a caption:
“3 gun men…I’m not supposed to post the scene itself, nor the casing which are now evidence ..They beat me before this video and pistol whipped me. the pummeling felt like it would never end and I protected my head by putting my arms up like I Learned how to do in boxing, blood was streaming down my head and my hands where beat brown. They brought duct tape and masks and were armed with handguns.”[]
Also posting a photo of apparent bullet holes in a door, claiming they shot at her bedroom. []
And her situation has not caused as much of a larger discussion online, right, you did have some people obviously wishing her well and telling her to take a break from the internet in response to this. [][][]
But a lot of the responses were from people questioning why she would tweet in that kind of situation. ][[][]
Though you did have outlets like Forbes noting that this appears to be the latest in a series of attacks against crypto investors, adding:[]
“Security experts warn that crypto investors face increasing risks due to the recent surge in bitcoin prices.”
And just a few months ago, Amouranth tweeted a screenshot of her Bitcoin and Ethereum balances.[]
So we will have to see if we get any more information on this situation, an investigation, arrests, any follow ups on her claims here.
But of course, I would love to know your thoughts on either of these situations here.
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Hasan called on people to kill Republican Senator Rick Scott!
Or at least that’s the claim being made as Twitch has now banned him after he said this on stream late last week:
Mike Johnson: “There’s about $50 billion estimated that are lost every year in Medicaid, just in fraud alone.” (0:18-0:23)
Hasan: “If you cared about Medicare fraud or Medicaid fraud, you would kill Rick Scott, okay? (0:39-0:45)
Hasan: “The reason why I’m saying if you cared about Medicare or Medicaid fraud, you would kill Rick Scott is because – and not make him a prominent part of the Republican party – is because he to this today is still known as committing the largest medicare fraud in US history.” (1:16-1:34)
Right, so I’ll let you decide if that was actually him threatening violence against a sitting senator,
But after Hasan made that comment, we saw a lot of people taking it that way, this including notable conservatives as well as other streamers like Asmongold, who said this:
“That’s crazy. Absolutely crazy. Totally indefensible.” 15:37-15:41
“The thing is that it’s so obviously a call to violence, it’s so obviously not something that you should say. You’re obviously wrong for saying it. There’s no justification for saying something like that in any capacity.” (15:51-16:07)
And Asmongold really pressuring Twitch to take actions against these types of comments.
But that all brings us to this morning when we finally saw Twitch handing Hasan a ban.
With the HasanAbi Twitch channel now displaying the message “This channel is temporarily unavailable due to a violation of Twitch's Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.”
And with that, it’s unclear at this time how long the ban is permanent or how long it will be in effect.
And in fact, as of recording, Twitch hasn’t confirmed the reason for the ban.
Though, notably, Hasan himself has attributed the decision to the Rick Scottt comments, writing on X:
“im sorry! ill choose my words carefully next time & say “if mike johnson cares abt medicare fraud (since he wants to cut 800m from medicaid/medicare) he’d call for MAX PUNISHMENT for current fl gop senator/former gov rick scott- who has done the most medicare fraud in us history!”[]
And with that, adding in a follow-up post:
“big shout out to the right wing free speech lovers who took time out of their day screaming about dei & immigrants, to cry abt this!” []
And finally, also responding to conservative commentator Tim Pool, claiming he “will defend the wealthy robbing you blind just as he’ll defend mike johnson gutting medicaid with lies…
“...he’s not independent. he’s a bald partisan hack.” []
Of course, there’s a lot of people besides Tim Pool who have something to say about all this.
There were a lot of questions about how long this ban would actually be.
Some think it’s just temporary, since his channel currently says “Temporarily banned.”
But others point out that threats of violence are extremely against TOS, which states that:
“Violence on Twitch is taken seriously and is considered a zero-tolerance violation, and all accounts associated with such activities on Twitch will be indefinitely suspended.”
That section then goes on to states that encouraging others to partake in violence counts. []
But Hasan haters feel that won’t happen, partially because they THINK Twitch has a pro-Hasan bias.
As “proof” of this they are asking Twitch’s CEO why it took so long to ban Hasan since his comments were made last week:
“If what Hasan did was against TOS, why did it take NEARLY A WEEK to ban?
[Twitch CEO] djclancy said: "When we find content that breaks the rules, we take immediate enforcement action" The likely answer is they were not gonna ban him until the media came knocking.” []
On his subreddit, fans thought the ban was a bit ridiculous, saying things like:
But the dude who said “Excellent excuse for a holiday” is probably closest to what’s actually going to happen in the short term. []
While in the long term Hasan haters are going to hate, and his fans are going to support him.
And at this rate, is there anybody who doesn’t feel one way or another about the guy?
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PART 1
And then, oh boy, do we need to talk about Ukraine.
Because a lot has happened since the last time.
Right, one, there’s the whole oval office meeting between Trump and Zelensky that’s been described as “the 139 minutes that upended the US-Ukraine alliance.”
Two, partly coming from that, there’s European leaders again stepping up their efforts to take charge in peace talks.
And three, there’s the question of where all that leaves us now in terms of the situation between the US, Ukraine, and Russia.
And so with that, starting with the Trump-Zelensky showdown, you had Zelensky arriving in Washington to sign a preliminary deal giving the U.S. access to Ukraine's raw materials in exchange for possible aid in the future.
But first, he and Trump, along with JD Vance, held a televised meeting in the Oval Office to answer questions from reporters.
A Polish reporter asked Trump what he would say to those who were worried that he aligned himself too closely with Putin.
With Trump defending his approach, and then Vance jumping to his aid as well, saying:
“What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That’s what President Trump is doing.” []
And with that, Zelensky chimed in, briefly going over Russia’s history of aggression in Ukraine, emphasizing Putin’s violation of a 2019 ceasefire, and saying this:
Zelensky: “What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?” What do you mean?”
Vance:“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country.”
Zelensky: “Yes but –
Vance:“Mr. President, Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the oval office and try to litigate this in front of the American media.” (42:10-42:27)
And of course, from there, it just escalated:
Vance: “You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
Zelensky: “Have you ever been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have –”
Vance: “I have been to –”
Zelensky: “Come once.”
Vance: “I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know that what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that you’ve had problems, bringing people into your military?”
Zelensky: “We have problems –”
Vance: “And do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?” (42:32-43:03)
And then, with that, it wasn’t long before Trump put in his two cents, quickly shutting down an attempt by Zelensky to respond to Vance, and just piling on:
Trump: “You’re, right now, not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position –”
Zelensky: “From the very beginning of the war —”
Trump: “You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.”
Zelensky: “I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious, Mr. President. I’m very serious.”
Trump: “You’re playing cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”
Vance: “Have you said thank you once?”
Zelensky: “A lot of times. Even today.” (43:40-44:20)
And so in the end, Zelensky was reportedly asked to leave the White House, a news conference set to take place after the meeting was cancelled, and that minerals agreement?
It was never signed.
Zelensky did, however, go on Fox News afterwards, declining to apologize but also thanking Trump and the American people for the aid provided so far –
As he has done many times before despite Vance’s claim.
With him also saying the argument had been bad for both sides and acknowledging it would be difficult for Ukraine to defend itself without US support.
And then, on the other hand, you then had Trump taking to social media and claiming that "Zelensky is not ready for peace."
Adding that he, quote, “disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office.” []
And with that, other Trump administration officials and allies have also been quick to jump on the bandwagon and echo Trump’s criticism.
Right, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for example – whose visible discomfort during the heated exchange caught social media’s attention – he accused Zelensky of disrupting American efforts to bring Putin to the negotiating table, saying:
“[Zelensky] found every opportunity to try to ‘Ukraine-splain’ on every issue.”
And then, people like national security adviser Mike Waltz and director of national security advisor Tulsi Gabbard, they similarly accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and prolonging the war.
With also the likes of House Speaker Mike Johnson piling on and claiming Zelensky “berated and interrupted his host… instead of expressing gratitude.”
Notably, with Johnson and others also suggesting Zelensky should resign if he can’t change his tune.
Of course, on the other side of the aisle, there’s been pushback, some describing the meeting as an "ambush."
With Bernie Sanders saying calls for Zelensky to resign were “horrific” – adding:
“Zelensky is leading a country, trying to defend democracy against an authoritarian dictator, Putin, who invaded his country,”
And then, Hakeem Jeffries, saying in a statement:
"President Trump and his administration continue to embarrass America on the world stage." []
And Chuck Schumer claiming:
"Trump and Vance are doing Putin's dirty work.” []
And notably, there, you have the editor of a major Russian newspaper backing that up, claiming Republicans’ comments fit Russia’s narrative perfectly, and adding:
“We don’t even have to step in — we can just retransmit what the Americans are saying.”
“The public will conclude that our leaders were correct in their assessment of Zelensky as a leader of Ukraine…This is a huge gift for them.”
And with that, the response from the Kremlin has been elation.
Right, one senior official describing the exchange as historic, and another boasting over the “proper slap down” of “the insolent pig” Zelensky.
But most telling is a statement from an official Kremlin spokesperson, with him saying the Trump administration's foreign policy shift, quote, “largely aligns with our vision.”
PART 2
And so, with that, this meeting? It’s been seen by some as a pretty decisive moment marking this drastic shift in US foreign policy that we’ve been talking about for weeks.
Which brings us to part two of this whole thing – what’s Europe doing about it?
Well, a day after being yelled at by Trump and Vance, Zelensky received a warm welcome in London for a meeting with leaders from not only the UK, but several other European countries, as well as Canada. (BROLL: 0:08-0:14)
And while this meeting was already set to take place ahead of the Oval Office incident, it’s safe to say what happened was on people’s minds.
And with that, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK and France would lead a so-called “coalition of the willing” to help end the fighting by coming up with a plan for a lasting ceasefire to deliver together to the US.
And without ironing out all the details, those present reportedly agreed to sustain or boost military aid flowing to Ukraine –
As well as insist that Kyiv be directly involved in any negotiations with Moscow to end the war.
Separately, Starmer doubled down on the UK’s individual support for Ukraine, announcing a new $2.8 billion loan for Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets –
As well as $2 billion in export financing to help purchase air defense missiles manufactured in Northern Ireland.
With Starmer saying the goal was to arm Ukraine sufficiently so that it could begin any peace talks from a position of strength.
And with that, Starmer also announced for the first time this weekend that he was ready to put British boots on the ground in Ukraine as part of a deal “if necessary.”
And in fact, with that, while the Trump administration has ruled out having American troops in Ukraine, it reportedly hasn’t ruled out the possibility of supporting a European force.
In fact, the White House has reportedly asked what kind of U.S. backing might be necessary.[]
With the European requests including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, and potential air cover or help with air defenses.[v]
And also notably, as we're talking about European troops in Ukraine?
European leaders are also worried about the potential withdrawal of American troops from other parts of Europe.
But with all that, the UK is now saying several ceasefire proposals are on the table, with France even suggesting a one-month truce to get the ball rolling so to speak.
But ultimately, and this is kind of the third part of this whole discussion, no one is really claiming a deal can be reached without the US being on board.
Which is why Zelensky, even after his treatment in the Oval Office, was issuing yet another statement thanking the US for support.
Also saying this weekend he believes he can salvage his and his country’s relationship with Trump and the US.
And that he was still willing to sign the deal granting the US access to Ukraine's rare-earth minerals.
Though, notably, Trump’s treasury secretary has said the deal is no longer on the table after Zelensky chose to “blow that up.”
And with that, Trump has reportedly been meeting with members of team to consider the suspension of US military aid to Ukraine.
While at the same time Secretary of Defense Pete Hegesth has ordered the Pentagon to stop offensive cyberoperations against Russia.
PART 3
Now, notably, this order was issued before Trump’s outburst in the oval office, and it’s reportedly part of a larger re-evaluation of all operations against Russia.
Which, I will say, is not necessarily unusual.
Right, according to former officials, it’s common to order pauses in military operations during sensitive diplomatic negotiations.[]
But at the same time, given the scale of Russian influence and sabotage operations, including in the US, there are concerns that it could leave the country vulnerable.
Right, because even though they’re described as offensive, they reportedly include efforts to expose or disable Russian malware and block Russian hackers. []
But despite that, Trump has continued his pattern of criticizing Zelensky while being silent on Putin –
Responding to the Ukrainian President saying the end of the war is “very, very far away” with a post on Truth Social, writing:
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer! []
Though, of course, with that, Zelensky has pushed back hard on the idea he or Ukraine is an obstacle to peace –
Claiming today that, in the previous week, Russia launched "more than 1,050 attack drones, almost 1,300 bombs and more than 20 missiles."
And saying: "Ukraine is fighting for the normal and safe life it deserves, for a peace that is just and reliable. We want this war to end. But Russia does not want it and continues its aerial terror."
And adding: “Those who seek negotiations do not deliberately strike civilians with ballistic missiles.”[]
But with all that, I gotta pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts with all this?
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President Donald Trump is completely shaking up the Crypto World right now, with his agencies killing off the few regulations on the space while also moving to make the government a major player in the market with a massive “Crypto Reserve.”
According to a post on Truth Social, the five currencies he plans to include for this reserve are XRP, Solana, Cardano, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. []
He also added that “I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The news caused three of the currencies to bounce back a bit after massive drop offs as nearly all of them have been on the backfoot lately. [][][][][]
The notable exceptions are XRP: which has been having a good run lately…
And Ethereum, which has been struggling to maintain its image after a massive North Korean hack stole over a billion dollars worth of it.
One thing outlets are pointing out is that this is the first time Trump has voiced his support for a “reserve” vs. a “stockpile.”
Apparently the difference is that a “reserve” implies the US government would actively be buying coins regularly…
Whereas Trump had said in the past that a stockpile means the US would “keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future.” []
I’d tell you more about the reserve except for the fact that no one really knows how it’d work.
The only semi-plan we’ve seen is a Republican-authored bill that would allocate enough money for the Feds to buy one million Bitcoins, which is worth about $90 billion at current prices.
(Take that with a massive grain of salt, as +/- 10% fluctuations are common in the crypto world).
On the surface this all seems like a massive W for crypto, but many advocates aren’t super impressed.
There’s a general sentiment among crypto purists that the government holding crypto undermines the entire point of it.
Right, it’s supposed to be decentralized, but if the government holds tens-of-billions of it, then it has the power to sell it off and heavily affect the markets.
Which is why people like Adam Blumberg -- who runs an advisory services company -- said:
“I just don’t like the idea of the U.S. government, or any government, owning the most decentralized asset ever.”
“That’s not what it was created for [and puts] too much power in the hands of the federal government, which is always in a 4-year, or even 2-year, cycle.”[]
Even on the right there were people who didn’t like this idea.
Joe Lonsdale, an associate of Musk, tweeted:
“Taxation is theft. It should be kept to a minimum. It’s wrong to steal my money for grift on the left; it’s also wrong to tax me for crypto bro schemes.” []
He went on to clarify that he supports crypto… just that it’s not the government’s place to mess with it.
Another major critique of this plan is why these five currencies were chosen.
Right, IF there was a reserve, most feel it should just be Bitcoin, as it’s the largest, most stable, and most decentralized of the coins.
Well some have looked deeper and accused Trump’s “Crypto Czar” David Sacks of being invested in these coins.
He has denied it and said he sold off his holdings, but the evidence against him points to him being invested in a company that has massive positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Cardano, and Solana.
Sacks will likely fall under more scrutiny as the administration continues with its crypto plans, which include him chairing the government’s first crypto summit at the White House this Friday.
But that’s just half of the major news coming out from the administration right now.
Because while the government seemingly wants to have a hand in profiting off of crypto, it’s also been making moves to completely abandon regulating it.
The Trump administration just effectively undid all of that; with ongoing lawsuits against platforms like Coinbase and Consensys -- as well as investigations into Gemini, OpenSea, and Uniswap Labs -- all being paused or dropped.
Generally speaking, the agency told the courts this was because it wants to review its own policies on crypto and then revisit the lawsuits.
But it would be surprising if the suits were brought back, as recent statements by the agency made it clear that it’s not interested in regulating the space.
You just need to check their statement about Memecoins, which are notorious for essentially always being a scam of some kind.
The SEC is now saying that “Meme coins typically are purchased for entertainment, social interaction, and cultural purposes, and their value is driven primarily by market demand and speculation. In this regard, meme coins are akin to collectibles.” []
Because of this, Memecoins “do not involve the offer and sale of securities under the federal securities laws.”
This means that things like $TRUMP and $MELANIA wouldn’t be subject to SEC oversight, since they were just memes after all.
Which essentially means they inflated the value and then dumped their positions all at once, causing the coin to crash and people without inside knowledge holding the bag.
To be fair, it’s not uncommon for administrations to change gears with how they handle regulations.
But it is rare for agencies like the SEC to abandon ongoing litigation.[]
Unsurprisingly, this news has left people like Cameron Winklevoss -- who cofounded Gemini -- to say things like:
“This marks another milestone to the end of the war on crypto.”
“I’m glad to be turning the page here.” []
But on the other end of the spectrum you had Coffeezilla, who has made a career of calling out and investigating crypto scams, saying it’s the “best time in history to be a white-collar criminal.” []
(knowing my luck he’ll have made a video about this by the time we’re recording).
Regardless if you’re a crypto bro or not, it’s clear that the industry spending $130 million to back Trump is paying off.
But what I want to know is if you think the government is spreading itself in two different directions at once?
Like can it both build a crypto reserve while also refusing to regulate the space?
Or do you think at some point it’ll have to crack down once its bottom line starts getting affected?
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There is a ghost on the Moon!
Specifically, Firefly Aerospace's "Blue Ghost" lander is on the Moon.
Right, if you didn’t know, Firefly Aerospace is a private American firm based out of Texas.
And early yesterday, their unmanned Blue Ghost lander touched down on the Moon - making it what Firefly called the, quote,
"first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful soft-landing on the Moon." []
The descent took just over an hour and the lander reportedly used its autonomous system to analyze the area for boulders and slopes before it landed firmly upright. []
With Firefly’s CEO Jason Kim saying,
“Every single thing was clockwork, even when we landed. We got some moon dust on our boots.” []
And the landing was met with an avalanche of applause and excitement from within the company.
With Ray Allensworth, Firefly’s spacecraft program director, saying,
"We were all dreaming up until now that you look up at the (moon) and you just imagine, like, that's where it's gonna be. But now, you know it's there, and that's a totally different feeling. So, yeah, the next full moon, I just won't sleep. I'll just stare at it all night." []
And CEO Jason Kim added,
“You never know where you’re going to land. We just landed on the moon. We hope that the Fireflies today inspire a whole generation. There’s space for everyone in space.” []
But the excitement went beyond Firefly - we even saw Buzz Aldrin, who walked on the Moon with NASA’s Apollo 11 mission, offering his congratulations on X.
Now, the timing here was very deliberate.
Blue Ghost launched back in January and everything was timed so that Blue Ghost would land at the beginning of the two-week-long lunar day. []
Because Blue Ghost is outfitted with 10 NASA-sponsored science instruments and technology demonstrations. [B Roll 0:00-0:16]
And it will spend the next 14 days conducting those demonstrations and collecting lunar samples, drilling into the subsurface, conducting X-ray imaging, and taking high definition pictures. []
And if you’re wondering why this private Moon lander has NASA stuff on it, the answer is fairly simple - NASA forked over some serious cash.
They reportedly paid Firefly just over $100 million to carry these tools as a part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. []
Which was started with the aim of encouraging private companies to take NASA’s payloads to the Moon in order to collect necessary data before Artemis astronauts begin work on the lunar surface later this decade. []
With NASA’s acting administrator Janet Petro offering her congratulations and gratitude to the Firefly team for landing Blue Ghost, saying,
“This incredible achievement demonstrates how NASA and American companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all.” []
It’s also worth noting that Blue Ghost is just the first of three commercially-developed landers launched in 2025 to make it to the Moon.
In fact, on the same rocket that launched Blue Ghost was "Resilience" - which is the lander built by the Tokyo-based ispace.
But it’s taking a different approach to the Moon - literally.
Resilience is on a low-energy trajectory which uses lunar gravity to help reach their spot for descent so it won’t be landing until early May. []
And where Firefly’s contract was with NASA, ispace is working with the Luxembourg Space Agency. []
But, if you remember, I said 3 landers have been launched recently.
And that third one is Athena, which was built by the Houston-based Intuitive Machines and launched last week.
Athena was also largely funded by NASA’s CLPS program - agreeing to pay over $62 million for Athena to carry a sophisticated drill and mass spectrometer. []
So we will hopefully be seeing more headlines about successful moon landings in the near future.
In the meantime, I’d love to know your thoughts about these agencies funding these private space endeavors like this.
Let me know in those comments down below.
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This man is credited with saving the lives of millions of babies!
Right, this is James Harrison and his blood was special.
You see, when he was 14 years old, James had a major chest surgery where he received life-saving blood transfusions.
At the time, he made a promise that as soon as he could, he was going to donate blood himself to show his gratitude for that.
So, in 1954 when he turned 18, he started donating blood. []
A decade of consistent donation later, James learned that he had a rare antibody in his blood that is used to make a medication called anti-D.
Which is given to pregnant women whose blood might attack their unborn baby.
And without that medication, the baby can develop hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn - which is a potentially fatal blood disorder. []
And James kept on donating - for decades, he never missed an appointment.
Over the course of 60 years, James Harrison donated blood and plasma 1,173 times before he retired in 2018 when he hit the maximum age for donation at 81. []
Earning the title of "Man with the Golden Arm.”
At the time of his last donation, he said that he hopes somebody eventually breaks his record, “because it will mean they are dedicated to the cause.” []
James’ blood was used to make over 3 million doses of anti-D that were given to over 2 million Australian mothers since 1967. []
With Australian Red Cross Lifeblood calling James a pioneer of the Anti-D program, James even received the Medal of the Order of Australia back in 1999.
But he just recently passed away - with the Lifeblood saying,
“James was a remarkable, stoically kind, and generous person who was committed to a lifetime of giving and he captured the hearts of many people around the world.” []
And his daughter added,
“He was also very proud to have saved so many lives, without any cost or pain. It made him happy to hear about the many families like ours, who existed because of his kindness.” []
“He always said it does not hurt, and the life you save could be your own.”
Now, this antibody that James had is very rare - so scientists are looking to develop a synthetic version.
In fact, Lifeblood is working with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research on a project they call “James in a Jar.” []
With Lifeblood saying,
"Using the blood of James and other donors, the team has successfully recreated and grown his antibody in the lab — with the hope it will one day help prevent [HDFN], not just for pregnant women in Australia, but also worldwide.” []
So for your good news segment of today’s show, we’re celebrating James as the absolute BAMF that he was.
But let me know your thoughts about this in those comments down below.
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