- 'Sup you beautiful bastards.
Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show,
the number one online news show according to a poll
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Hit that like button and subscribe
to feed the algorithm gods, and let's just jump into it.
The first up today in news
that just makes me wanna dunk my, or someone else's head
into a deep fryer.
Let's talk about Cameron Herrin.
So Cameron in 2018, he was 18 years old,
and he was racing a Mustang
that he had just received from his parents,
and he hit a mother and young daughter, killing them both.
Reportedly Cameron was participating in a street race,
he was driving 100 miles per hour.
With all this, he ended up pleading guilty
to the vehicular homicide,
and in April, he was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
And now, what we're seeing
is that Cameron, who is 21,
he has strangely gotten a substantial group
of fans and supporters on TikTok.
Like, even though he has no videos to view,
he has 2 million followers.
Videos with the #cameronherrin
have been viewed 1.8 billion times,
and the #justiceforcameron being viewed 26.3 million times.
Right, and when you go through these videos,
a lot of them just include footage of him in court
with a sad face or a heartbreak emoji.
With the main idea being these people think
that a 24 year sentence is just too harsh,
saying things like, "One hour of fun,
24 years behind bars.
Feel sad for him. Drive safe."
Others saying things like, "Innocent and handsome also."
Several outlets reporting that a number of people
talk about his eyes, calling him too cute.
A change.org petition to lessen his sentence
has 28,000 signatures,
and he also has people supporting him on Twitter.
His mom even going on to tell The Tampa Bay Times
that there is "Almost like an obsession,
an unhealthy obsession" with her son, and adding
that some people have actually called her
in the middle of the night,
primarily from Middle Eastern countries.
And also saying things have turned scary
with people stalking friends and family on social media,
hacking accounts and even flooding prisons with phone calls.
So with all of this weirdness, right,
you have the Tampa Bay Times taking a look
to call into question how real the obsession is,
speaking to Shelby Grossman
at the Stanford Internet Observatory,
who said that it looks like these posts
come from a mix of people who are genuinely sympathetic
towards Cameron and other "suspicious accounts
strongly resembling those used
by Middle East digital marketing firms."
Right, like on one hand, there is evidence
that some people are real,
including the phone calls and the fact
that some have sent photos of their IDs
to the Tampa Bay Times to confirm that they were real
after the Twitter accounts were taken down.
But also a spokesperson for a company
that basically sells TikTok bots saying that,
"they'd looked at the videos about Herrin
and say they looked legitimately viral."
But on the other hand,
you also had another expert noting to The Times
that some websites with articles about him looked fishy,
with some content looking hastily put together
or even spelled wrong,
indicating it was part of a hired campaign.
Even with that, The Times notes that the motive here
is really odd and hard to understand.
And Herrin's attorney himself speculating
that maybe this just took off
because the sentencing was on YouTube,
but also insisting that none of this activity
originated with him or the family.
So it's this weird random story,
but if there is a place I can end on,
if you're someone that is stanning Cameron,
who's too pretty for prison,
please get your head examined.
He drove his car through a woman
and her 21 month old daughter.
There is no sympathy coming from me.
Or how about this,
we get rid of the prison sentence,
but we put 'em in the middle of the street
and put 'em on the opposite end of the situation.
We see how he holds up against a Mustang.
There's a conversation to be had around accidents happen,
but I don't consider you driving a hundred miles per hour
as an accident.
It's not a woopsie, it's a legal age adult saying,
"Fuck everybody else."
And all we're seeing with this situation is the law saying,
"Fuck you right back, and good."
But because this is the Philip DeFranco show,
that's a story, my opinion
and I pass the question off to you,
whether you agree or disagree with me.
Sometimes with stories like this,
my emotions get the best of me.
What are your thoughts regarding this?
Then in very interesting movie and entertainment news,
we're seeing either a very, very interesting test,
or the flailing of an industry that is horrified right now.
We're coming out of the pandemic.
We've seen just a slew of different narratives.
We're seeing successes and failures of the hybrid model,
movies going online at the same time
as they're going into theaters.
That in part seeming like the reason
we saw "Black Widow" had one of the worst,
second week collapses in box office revenue
for any Marvel movie.
You have Scarlett Johansson suing Disney.
Box office numbers not really
where people would love to see them.
'Cause now the latest change and tests
that we're seeing is that A24
is taking "The Green Knight" starring Dev Patel,
and making it available online,
but for just one night only during its theatrical run.
So the movie came out 30th,
it's been reviewed well so far.
It's made a modest $12.6 million.
And with that, there is concern
because of course we're seeing a surge
of the Delta variant right now.
And so A24 is like, okay, let's let's test this.
August 18th that you can purchase this
for a four hour window, $20.
Let's see what happens
because it's kind of exclusive, time sensitive.
Do we see a surge of buys?
Also, by making it available very easily in a digital form,
does that lead to a surge of piracy?
But, in a little over a week,
we will be able to see if this is a boom or a bust,
especially as we're seeing theatrical only releases
like "Free Guy" coming up this weekend.
There's a lotta hype around it.
It's a Ryan Reynolds movie,
and it's going to be interesting to see
any and all of these numbers.
Then in celebrity news that's got people talking
we have Lil Nas X, makin' some headlines.
And it is interesting.
You know, when you see a Lil Nas X
and his music videos on social media,
he's really unapologetically himself,
completely fine with getting in your face.
You swing on him, he swings back.
But in this new "Variety" video,
you can tell that there's a lotta concern,
they're scary situations, there's fear.
Or with the magazine specifically asking him
about anti-gay statements that have come out
from a variety of rappers recently,
to which Lil Nas X responded,
"The honest truth is I don't want to speak on
a lot of the homophobia within rap
because I feel like this is a very dangerous playing field.
It's more for my own safety rather than anything else."
Also adding that several days
after he dropped the "Montero" music videos,
someone literally screamed and chased after him
while he was driving away in his car
adding that he's now had to actually get security.
But that said, and I would say
that it's kind of the silver lining to this story,
I don't imagine that we're going to see
a different Lil Nas X anytime soon.
There's always going to be ignorance.
There's always going to be bigotry.
And the only thing we can really control in this world
is how we respond to it, who we want to be.
And to that point, Lil Nas X told "Variety",
"Honestly, I believe the pandemic
helped me get out of the idea of trying to please everybody
and the idea of 'He's a cool gay person;
he's an acceptable gay person.'
I used to see things like that as a compliment,
but it's not."
It's saying it just means you're a people pleaser,
and adding that this whole moment
made him want to be even more authentic.
Let people know who he really was.
You know, ultimately I think this is an important story
when it comes to the LGBTQ plus community.
I think it's an important story
when you thinking about the world of rap,
but I also think it really hits on a universal note.
People suck. As long as humans exist,
ignorance and bigotry will be a thing.
That's a very unfortunate thing.
So the really, the only thing you can do
is focus on yourself,
how you hold yourself in the face of adversity
and how you react, do dumb bullshit.
Dumb, and hateful, and at times scary bullshit.
Be unapologetically you while at the same time,
choosin' and pickin' your battles,
and try to lead with love when possible.
From that, let's take a second to pay some bills,
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Then let's talk about this very big news,
but also news I've seen a lot of confusion around.
Alright, so yesterday we talked about how the Senate passed
a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package.
And pretty much just hours after that early this morning,
Democrats also managed to pass a $3.5 trillion budget plan
with a vote of 50 to 49.
But by no means, does that mean this is a done deal.
And I'll explain that in a second.
So as far as what this budget would do among other things
would provide funding to expand Medicare,
combat climate change, boost federal safety net programs,
especially those aimed at children and low income parents,
also including provisions for universal pre-K,
new family leave benefits,
also aiming to help immigrants obtain a pathway
to legal, permanent residency.
And to pay all of that, the plan seeks to rewrite tax law
by increasing taxes
on profitable corporations, and the wealthy.
AKA, a slew of policy proposals in this budget
that Republicans firmly oppose.
That is why we saw that 50 to 49 vote.
Now, as far as why this isn't a done deal,
I mean, from here, the plan has to the House
where it will likely receive final congressional approval.
And if, and when that does happen,
that means that then the Senate can pass an official bill
on the budget through simple majority
following negotiations with the House.
And so in turn, that means
that feasibly Democrats could pass this
without any Republican support.
But as we've talked about numerous times,
now that's a challenge in its own right
because several democratic senators have expressed concerns
about the plan's price tag.
With that, of course,
including Democratic Senator Joe Manchin who said,
"Given the current state of the economic recovery,
it is simply irresponsible to continue spending
at levels more suited
to respond to a great depression or great recession,
not an economy that is on the verge of overheating."
But still we're seeing
Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer signaling
that he hopes to have the official bill of the budget plan
drafted by the week of September 15th.
Also responding to Manchin's concerns
at a press conference saying,
"Look, there are some in my caucus
who might believe it's too much.
There are some of my caucus who believe it's too little."
And adding, "I can tell you this: in reconciliation,
one, we are going to all come together
to get something done.
And two, it will have every part of the Biden plan
in a big, bold, robust way."
But also with that said,
do not expect for this to be over anytime soon.
This process, whether it fails or not,
it will take several months.
And to complicate matters even more,
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that her chamber
will not pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill
until the Senate passes that official budget bill.
And that is actually largely an attempt
to make sure that it passes at all
since progressive Democrats in the chamber say
that they'll refuse to approve the infrastructure bill
unless a budget package is simultaneously approved with it.
And they have the numbers.
They have a caucus that is big enough
to ensure that it would fail.
And meanwhile, you have some moderate Democrats
not wanting to couple these things together
calling for an immediate vote on the infrastructure bill.
You know, ultimately the perfect setup
for another shit show.
Then let's talk about fires
'cause when I say that the world is on fire,
I'm not just speaking metaphorically anymore, unfortunately.
Starting more local, we have updates
regarding the Dixie Fire
that's been ravaging Northern California
for about a month now.
It's the second largest wildfire in the state's history.
As of this morning,
it's seared through about half a million acres.
It's only about 30% contained,
but also as you have brave crews battling the blaze,
we're all seeing reports about an arrest of a suspect
who allegedly set a series of additional fires
around the area.
And that person is 47 year old Gary Stephan Maynard
who's a former part-time college lecturer
in Sonoma State's Criminal Justice Department,
who was reportedly living out of his car
and traveling alone across Northern California.
And if the court documents are 100% accurate,
this guy is a next-level scumbag.
According to the documents,
he entered the evacuation zone,
and then began setting fires behind the first responders
that were fighting the Dixie Fire.
So in addition to trying to enlarge the Dixie Fire,
threatening even more lives and property,
it increased the direct danger to the first responders.
So the document saying that Maynard's fires were placed
in the perfect position to increase the risk
of firefighters being trapped between fires.
With this really, Maynard has denied setting any fires.
Following his arrest investigators also saying
that he became enraged,
and started kicking the jail cell door.
But, ultimately right now he's currently charged
with willfully setting the Ranch Fire in Lassen County.
And he could face up to five years in prison,
and a $250,000 fine.
But like I said, it's the world that is on fire.
It's not just California.
Last week, Kuwait experienced a massive fire
after the world's largest tire graveyard lit up.
You also have Greece currently dealing
with at least 586 wildfires throughout the country
during one of the worst heat waves in decades.
In the televised address on Monday,
the prime minister went on to tell the nation
that 63 organized evacuations had to take place
as the fires approached, towns and villages.
So far hundreds of homes have been destroyed.
And with all of this,
the government's response has been seen as inadequate
by some leading to protest outside
of the Greek Parliament on Monday.
And with this, you have scientists believing
that Southern Europe will experience
wildfires like this more often
as the region has increasingly experienced larger droughts,
but it's also not just Greece.
Algeria is now in its second day
of combating large wildfires, and it's going very poorly.
So far, there are at least 65 people have died in blazes,
about half of which are soldiers who were deployed
as emergency firefighters.
These fires are centered around the region
around 60 miles east of the capital
that is notoriously tough, remote, and has dry terrain.
And the locals there at least partially concerned
that the fires were started by arson
with the country's prime minister saying on national TV
that three fires ravaging the region
"were highly synchronized" and adding,
that "leads one to believe these were criminal acts."
And very unfortunately, this story could just go on and on
because you have places like Italy, Turkey, Spain,
Peru, and Lebanon also battling very large blazes.
But, the last one that we need to address
is the one that's been ravaging Russia for weeks now.
So, the fires there are mostly confined to regions
that we would call Siberia, which is a blessing and a curse.
The region is heavily forested,
and droughts lead to massive forest fire season,
similar to what happens in parts of California.
But unlike California,
Siberia is sparsely populated with few populations centers,
meaning that there's only been a few evacuation orders.
And as a matter of fact most of the fires
aren't even fought by firefighters,
and just allowed burn out
as part of the natural life cycle of the region.
But you have scientists now concerned
about the scope of this year's fires.
So like much of the world,
Siberia has become increasingly dry during the fire season,
which exacerbates the problem.
And its fires are so big that massive clouds of smoke
can cover the region for weeks,
which has it's own ecological problems.
And now this year's fires are so massive
that for the first time the smoke from them
has managed to cover large sections of the north pole.
And that's a major red flag
because it means that the fires
are going further and further north,
and the Northern most fires actually threatened
to disturb the regions permafrost.
As we talked about recently,
melting permafrost from climate change,
and now these fires can release massive amounts
of trapped greenhouse gases, like methane,
which exacerbates global warming in a way
that quickly makes the entire situation one
that we have less and less control over.
And ultimately with this story,
or really anything else that stood out to you today,
I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below
because yes, this is a new show,
but it's also a conversation.
Whether you're leavin' that comment down below or not,
as always, thanks for watching, liking, subscribing
these daily news videos.
My name's Philip de Franco. You've just been filled in.
I love yo faces, and I'll see you tomorrow.