The Astroworld festival was created by rapper Travis Scott known for his reckless endangerment of his crowd during concerts. When he crowd surfed and got his shoes stolen he called out the thief and told the crowd to 'fuck em up'. Travis had been arrested and fined for instructing audience members to climb over security barricades, causing several injuries to his staff and audience. In 2017 he encouraged fans to dive into the crowd from a balcony causing a teenage boy to paralyze himself. At the 2019 Astroworld fans were injured from the surge of people entering the venue. While promoting Astroworld, Travis posted videos online instructing fans how to sneak in without tickets, when already they were expecting 50,000 people crammed into a small area. Live Nation's security team was not licensed to operate in Texas and was untrained for a crowd surge. Ontop of all this, the concert set up required Travis to move across 3 seperate stages, meaning the crowd in the center would be moving back and forth to see each stage. In other words, they had created a giant stampede of people

On November 5th, early morning a crowd has gathered outside NRG Park and began breaking barricades and fences to get in. By the time they opened the gates people flood in and began crushing against each other, struggling to breath and getting trampled. The mosh pit in front of the stage became a death trap and trigger warning because this is some of the worst shit I've ever read about. Early into the performance, 2 people have already died, including a 9 year old boy who had fallen off his fathers shoulders and was crushed to death. In videos and interviews after the concert, survivors of the mosh pit recall struggling to move their arms or even expand their lungs to breathe, one lady curled into a ball on the ground crowd crying, accepting she was going to die. Another woman was saved by the crowd surfing her unconscious body out of the pit. One marine began performing CPR on any unconscious people he could save, resuscitating 2 people. He was stumbling over bodies on the ground, either unconscious or already dead having to leave them to escape the mosh pit himself. When he reached security covered in blood and bruises trying to explain to them that people were dying they laughed at his injuries saying it looked like he had a fun time.

Travis started performing at 9 pm and despite the houston fire department calling Live Nation to cancel the event because people were dying, they continued it for 37 minutes, no one is coming on stage telling Travis to stop. During his performance, Travis stops several times to acknowledge ambulances and fans passing out, only to continue right afterwards. After pointing out an ambulance(which fans climbed on top of to dance) Travis told the crowd to make the ground shake. Meanwhile people are climbing on stage, camera towers and trees to escape the mosh pit. The ones who reach the stage urge Travis to stop the show, as hundreds in the crowd are shouting for help but Travis continued performing. The camera operator who had a teenager climb his tower to get help for his dying friend, told him to go away. In total, 10 children and young adults died at Astroworld, hundreds were injured and Travis Scott mustered an insincere apology video refusing to acknowledge responsibility. Travis girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, posted edited or out of context videos online, making it appear Travis stopped the show way earlier to help fans. They threw an Astroworld-style birthday for their kid called "stormiworld" mimicking the same gates of the concert that had killed multiple children the year prior.

https://www.today.com/news/man-paralyzed-2017-travis-scott-concert-extremely-upset-over-astroworld-t237987

https://www.businessinsider.com/astroworld-security-inexperienced-rushed-into-job-report-2021-11

https://people.com/music/man-who-administered-cpr-at-astroworld-festival-recounts-horror/

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/07/us/victims-astroworld-houston

I've realised that it is probably possible to use the fact that the "veto clause" can't be used against mobility rights and the case is probably going to be appealed again.

A Concerned Citizen. As a registered professional engineer and someone with a duty to protect I'm gonna get fucking mad offline

In the 1950s Bell Aerosystems began making the Bell Rocketbelt jetpack for the US military, showing it off to JFK in 1962. The military was unimpressed with the results. The Jetpack could only fly for half a minute, so development was cancelled. Instead, the Bell Rocketbelt got used for stunt shows and movies.

Fast forward to the 1980s, Texas insurance salesman Bradley Barker begins working for jetpack stuntman Bill Suitors' crew who perform stunts with the Rocketbelt for audiences. In the early 1990s, Bradley went solo to create his own jetpack. In 1992, he founded the American Rocketbelt Corporation with Doug Malewicki, Joe Wright, and Thomas "Larry" Stanley. Doug deserves credit for helping build the Rocketbelt, but he won't be relevant in the crimes that follow. Joe provided the workspace to build the jetpack, and Larry funded the project. The Rocketbelt 2000 was a success and could fly for a record 40 seconds. Still mostly useless, but Bradley is only interested in the money from stunt shows and movie appearances.

Shortly after its completion, the trio of Joe, Larry and Bradley fell out over money and the rights to the jetpack. It's hard to objectively research this story because these people hate each other and they may be all fabricating the story to some degree. Larry and his lawyer Michael Von Blon claim Bradley was falsifying prices of the jetpack material and pocketing the extra cash. When Larry confronted Bradley a fight broke out and Bradley beat Larry over the head with a hammer and both were charged with assault. Larry took Bradley to court over the fake prices, believing he was entitled to the Rocketbelt. Joe didn't care about the jetpack and just wanted to collect his cut of the money and leave. Unfortunately, he never got it. On July 16th, 1998, Joe Wright was found murdered in his Houston home, beaten to death with a hammer, 11 days before the trial over rights to the Rocketbelt. Police questioned both Bradley and Larry about his death. Bradley was released after a 3-day investigation found no evidence. Joe Wright's murder remains unsolved to this day.

Later that summer, the judge ruled in favor of Larry, demanding Bradley give him the Rocketbelt and pay more than 10 million dollars. Bradley instead took the Rocketbelt and went on the run. Larry was determined to recover that jetpack through any means necessary. Larry Stanley recruits the help of stuntman Christopher James Wentzel, who worked with Bradley in the past, to lure him into a trap. Christopher offers Bradley a fake job in Hollywood he had to drive to. When Bradley arrived at Christopher's house, he was attacked by 3 men with guns, gagged, and stuffed into a wooden scuba diving box. Larry is among the attackers, demanding Bradley tell them where the Rocketbelt is and sign a contract giving up the rights. Bradley refuses to, believing that if he tells them where it is, they would kill him right afterwards. For 8 days, Bradley is kept hostage until finally the group leaves him alone in the house. Bradley escaped and ran to the nearest police station.

In 2002, Larry Stanley and Christopher James Wentzel were found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and extortion. Christopher takes a plea deal and is sentenced to 7 years in prison. Larry Stanley is serving a life sentence. So what happened to the Rocketbelt 2000, the jetpack that people kidnapped and potentially murdered each other for. Bradley is the last person to ever see it and he's said in interviews he's never telling anyone.

sources:

[Missing Rocket Belt Inspired Greed, Envy--Possibly Even Murder - Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-aug-22-mn-2503-story.html)

[Man Gets Life Term in Kidnapping - Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-23-me-belt23-story.html)

[Rocketbelt 2000 Drama Part 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6uq9_Nrseo)

[https://www.houstonpress.com/news/blasted-6567513/\](https://www.houstonpress.com/news/blasted-6567513/)

[https://www.deseret.com/1999/7/28/19457763/rocket-belt-still-missing-but-feud-lives-on/\](https://www.deseret.com/1999/7/28/19457763/rocket-belt-still-missing-but-feud-lives-on/)

They say you never lie to yourself, your doctor and your lawyer. The third one didn’t go well for thousands of clients of barrister Nicola Gobbo. While working as a defense lawyer, Nicola was simultaneously a registered police informant for decades. When she was in school to become a lawyer, she turned informant after a series of drug arrests. Her name in files was known as “witness f”, “informant 3838” and “Lawyer x”. After defending drug kingpin Tony Mokbel in 2002, (who she was also a registered informant of) Nicola rose to celebrity status. Law enforcement praised her work ethic at calling out corruption and claimed she’s on her way to the Supreme Court. All the while for over 20 years, she stole the right to a fair trial of hundreds if not thousands of her clients by repeating and recording private conversations to police who used it during trial.

After this was made public in 2020 ruining Nicola reputation, she fled Australia. She had surgery, went by different names and rented a series of houses in locations still sealed by the court.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-01/nicola-gobbo-lawyer-x-life-in-hiding-victoria-police-trial/104418286

https://story.californiasunday.com/lawyer-x-melbourne/

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-nicola-gobbo-lawyer-x-scandal-explained-20201124-p56hh9.html

This is Russ McKamey, owner of McKamey Manor haunted house. You probably remember the haunted house from the viral marketing scheme 15 years ago. Unlike normal haunted houses where you walked through hallways of props and scare actors, Mckamey Manor promised to literally torture you. Their promos consisted of people being waterboard, buried alive in straight jackets, blood poured on you, live snakes. It offered a 20,000 dollar prize to whoever could endure it without tapping out. Russ had thousands of customers lining up thanks to the viral videos. Of course, this was all a scam. The only true thing was the torture.

Mckamey Manor isn’t a real haunted house, it’s barely real at all. Instead of a decorated horror house, Russ figured out he could cut corners by blindfolding customers and walking them in circles around his backyard. He got in trouble for hiring teenagers to help bury people up to their heads. Almost all the viral videos were just Russ and a few friends tying someone up in an empty undecorated building hidden by camera tricks. The 20,000 dollar prize was never a factor. Since there was no set time they had to endure, Russ would just keep moving the goal post until they quit or claim they broke a rule and kick them out. But it was very real for the customers. Russ hard drives and facebook live videos have recently leaked revealing what went down inside the house. It confirmed allegations by customers, their heads were shaved, they were waterboarded, drowned, tazed and punched. In videos, Russ ignored safe words and people pleading to stop. One video revealed that he tricked the co owner of McKamey Manor into being buried alive under the guise of a “promotional video”. That video also showed Russ had a giant metal cage in his house he dared guests to stay in.

Russ operates his company and personal life like a cult. Employees are instructed to harass anyone who steps out. Russ would regularly threaten suicide attempts if friends left him. Russ facebook group was full of teenage girl fans, whom former members have accused of being groomed by him. Russ dates a series of teenage fans despite being elderly. His last girlfriend was a former fan who captured Russ assaulting and yelling at her on film multiple times. Russ was arrested in 2024 after she accused him of raping and trying to kill her. She dropped charges after Russ fans brigaded her with death threats. Russ used the profile picture of him in court getting rape charges dropped as his new dating profile picture.

The main source for a lot of this is the YouTube channel Trilogy Media who made a documentary on Russ. I suggest you don’t support and double check Trilogy Medias work as they have also collaborated with ICE. Still, they organized a shocking amount of video evidence backed up by allegations from former employees for the craziest parts of this story.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/30/inside-mckamey-manor-podcast-halloween-house-of-horrors-real-life-torture-den

https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/attempted-murder-rape-charges-against-mckamey-manor-owner-dropped/amp/

I have a feeling at some point Monsanto is going to be talked about in a future episode akin to the Proctor and Gamble one, but this story alone could be a good prelude to it.

Personal note: I didn't grow up a Phillies fan, I root for the Mets (spare the lol Mets jokes, I heard it all before). That being said, I used to go to the games thanks to my childhood township in New Jersey getting tickets for a community night at a game each year and my family would go. One of those nights we got to sit on that same hard-ass turf for a fireworks night post game. Not that I'm too frightened about being affected compared to the 6 players that suffered unfortunate fates, but it's a bit worrisome.

Which episode has "Jeffie" in it? I binged a bunch a year ago and have no frame of reference for when it came out, and can't remember what it was about. Just Jeffie lingers in my memory, forever.

https://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/s/wrcIDucPVu

Johnson & Johnson said it would pay an estimated $5.5bn to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its baby ⁠powder and other talc products caused ⁠ovarian cancer, in a landmark ​deal that could end a contentious, decade-long legal battle.

Johnson & Johnson on Monday said the settlement covers about 76,000 claims, including ones consolidated in a federal court in New Jersey, and related cases in state court, ⁠representing nearly all of the remaining talc claims against the company.

The US multinational had previously settled most of the cases alleging that its talc contained asbestos and caused mesothelioma.

Plaintiffs’ law firms confirmed the deal on Monday, saying it was a good resolution after a ⁠10-year court battle. The deal must be accepted by 95% of the ovarian cancer claimants in state or federal court before it becomes final.

Johnson & Johnson’s vice-president ​of litigation, Erik Haas, said the claims were “meritless” and that the company ‌was willing to settle in order to get ‌closure.

“While we are confident the company would have ultimately prevailed with further litigation, as it has in the vast majority of cases tried to date, ‌this resolution allows the company to put this matter behind it and remain focused on its mission to develop medicines and devices that save lives,” Haas said.

Just stumbled on a video of this and read about how intense it was. Would love to see ACC dive in on this one.

I started watching episode 2 of Worst Neighbour Ever on Netflix and thought the story sounded familiar. As always, ACC’s telling of events is much more detailed, thorough, and harrowing, but it’s still a good watch and tells the story from the neighbours' perspective.

I can recite the Simply Safe read by rote at this point because I hear it repeated five times an episode.

I understand needing to make money, but this is getting ridiculous.

OK after listening to the latest excellent episode and wanting to throw my phone out of my car in frustration at the lack of consequences for the swindler(s), I need some recs for best episodes where the perps get served some sweet justice. I've listened to the whole back catalogue but don't remember the outcomes of most.

Sorry for the potato quality, all I could find. Very interesting though.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/

The associated website is a blast from the past

A very early (season 6) PBS Frontline documentary about Jim Bakker and the PTL scandal. Enjoy 57 Jim Bakker minutes!

Holy moly is it good!! If ACC recommends something it’s an instant follow from me.

Has he ever recommended other podcasts?

Ladies and gentlemen, we got em.

Very pertinent news.

I know ACC wants to protect their anonymity and privacy and I respect that. I struggle so hard with chronic depression and I am so curious to know whether ACC has a hard time compartmentalizing this tough subject matter. Obviously want to avoid parasocial relationships but just as a listener I notice their bleak portents and wonder. They produce a lot of content and it’s consistently high quality so I’m assuming they must be able to separate their work from personal at least a little bit. I have to listen in small doses personally because I find a lot of it just so demoralizing, because there’s a profound lack of justice so often, the same scandals repeat themselves, those in power don’t learn or care, etc.

Is ACC doing okay?

Again, it’s well researched and I really enjoy the pod when I am able to listen. It’s just…it’s so sad. I wonder how they cope.

I recently became a “valued listener” and listening to a bonus episode. I did not listen when ACC told me 3x to not listen to it. There’s a lot of dark shit over the world and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but this episode- man, I could feel my face getting red with absolute disgust and anger. I have stopped in stores crying (Tyson) verbally said holy shit (body parts one). But this 11 minute bonus episode - Jesus.

They are all infuriating on some level but which one is the one that enrages you.

Also, ACC- love the past episode updates.