- Sup, you beautiful bastards?
Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show.
Buckle up, make sure you're subscribed,
because I'm gonna be splitting $10,000
across 10 lucky subscribers this month.
And let's just jump into it.
The first thing that we're gonna talk about today
is this dumb motherfucker out of Springville, Utah.
So there was this absolutely massive wildfire
that ignited somehow out of nowhere yesterday,
with those flames ultimately consuming around 60 acres
before luckily being doused by a rainstorm.
And as far as what actually caused the fire,
it turns out it was spiders.
Kind of.
It was spiders in the same way,
that if I was in a car and I saw a snake,
and I wanted to run over the snake,
and instead, I slammed into a pole.
It was the snake that crashed the car.
Because late in the afternoon,
when firefighters arrived on the scene,
they encountered a man with his dog
who immediately confessed to accidentally starting the fire.
'Cause apparently, this all happened
because he tried to kill a spider with a lighter.
But instead, he caught a bush on fire,
which led to all of this.
So now he's been arrested on fire-related charges.
Though, it doesn't appear like
that was the only thing he was blazing.
With police also reportedly finding marijuana
and drug paraphernalia in his backpack,
which they're charging him for as well.
And as far as what the authorities have to say,
regarding trying to set a spider on fire,
they said, "Please don't do that."
And it hurts my brain that the police even need to say that,
but it turns out this isn't the only time
this has ever happened.
And arguably the other time,
the guy was unequivocally dumber,
because that guy tried to use a lighter to burn a spider
while the spider was sitting on his gas tank
at the gas station.
Although, at least that moment gave us the clip
of employees mocking the guy.
- [Woman] I don't like spiders.
Do you know what they say about spiders?
Let me get my lighter here and burn that spider off.
Okay.
(dog barking)
That's hot.
Oh! Boy.
- But ultimately with this story, I guess two things.
One, please don't do this.
And two, isn't it just such a fun thing to know
that these people's votes equal your vote?
Both of you have the equal ability to mold our country.
Isn't that fun?
Fuck.
Then, in entertainment news,
we have actually gaming/entertainment news
that was blowing up past the normal audiences
that would consume it.
With the first story being about Nadia Amine,
who's one of the fastest growing female streamers
in CoD and Warzone.
With all this starting,
because Nadia actually hit this insane clip,
which if you've ever played Warzone,
you just can't deny how impressive this is.
(guns popping)
- [Player] Take a shot.
(guns popping)
- This clip right here.
proves why I am the best female Warzone player.
- Well, you'd expect that clip to go viral.
Instead, what went viral was an edit of that
with someone superimposing her face cam
over a game where you're washing dishes.
With that, then leading to the likes of Jake Lucky,
posting the edit on Twitter and saying,
"What it's like to be a woman in gaming.
This is Nadia,
one of the fastest growing female streamers
in CoD and Warzone.
Hits a nasty clip, and first thing to happen
is a TikTok making fun of her that now has 450,000 likes
and nearly three million views."
And in response to that,
we saw two very different reactions.
Some saying things like,
"I'm so fucking tired
of women being treated like subhumans by boys in gaming.
If your ego is that fragile, go do something else.
Female gamers are not a threat to you
simply because of their gender.
Grow the fuck up."
Major creators like Hasan Piker,
are also chiming in saying,
"This shit is so corny,
especially 'cause these girls would shred most
of the insecure weirdos trying to cope."
But also we saw pushback.
People saying things like,
"Snowflakes everywhere, for fuck's sake.
Modern Warfare 2 lobbies were a hundred times worse."
As well as,
"She's an insane gamer.
But fuck, this world is becoming way too sensitive.
Can't say half the shit/do the shit you could 10 years ago.
The world's gone soft.
She needs to look at the fact that it got views.
Plenty of people will see that clip and watch her.
That's a positive.
Get over it."
But with all that said,
as far as what Nadia herself thought,
she responded by thanking people
for supporting her and saying,
"We cannot let this type of misogynistic hatred
take us women down.
I will never ever give up on what I love doing,
and neither should anyone.
We keep going."
And as far as my opinion on this,
is this edit tame?
Yeah.
But is it also annoying, dismissive,
and disrespectful to someone
that's just enjoying a fucking thing,
purely based off of their gender?
Yeah.
Also, as someone that was in those Modern Warfare 2 lobby,
shut the fuck up.
Someone yelled a bunch of expletives about fucking your mom
and then said a bunch of slurs
while eating their microphone,
and all of a sudden you have valor.
Stop talking about it
like you went through war, you little bitch boy.
I don't think you know
what a sad little sack of shit it makes you look like.
And with this story around Nadia,
yes, you could say it's tame.
It's just one situation.
But it does highlight a very real issue.
There have been reports
where nearly 80% of women in gaming
said that they experienced
gender-based discrimination while gaming.
Literally, to the point that nearly 60% of them
say they mask their identity to avoid harassment.
But yeah, that's the situation
and my current thoughts as a former edgelord
that used to think 15 years ago that,
"Haha, women make sandwich in the kitchen."
Was the funniest shit ever.
It's not, it's cringe,
it's stupid.
Grow the fuck up.
And then in the other bit of gaming entertainment news,
we had Tyler Ninja Blevins.
And for a while,
he was one of the biggest names in gaming.
And even though he doesn't still pull the same numbers,
he still matters in that space and beyond.
Being one of a select group
to break out into the mainstream,
deals with Adidas.
Also, as the reason we're talking about him today,
he actually has a Masterclass,
which if you're unfamiliar,
is this online subscription service
where experts in various fields and industries
guide you through tutorials and pre-recorded lectures.
And the range of these classes, it's massive,
where you can learn how to talk to/interrogate people,
all the way to developing an original TV series
with the Duffer Brothers.
For Ninja, this has to be a pretty big achievement.
Though, not his biggest achievement ever,
because remember, the guy we're talking about,
in his own words, was once in the middle
of carrying a League of Legends game,
about to close it out,
and his braless wife brought him a sandwich,
not asked for,
with chips as he got a double kill bot lane.
- [Man] I'm about to bust.
- But still, Masterclass gotta be up there in the top 20.
But possibly bringing Blevins down are people dunking on him
over his Masterclass,
to the point where he had people asking him,
"Is this just a cash grab or is this just a scam?"
Which I will say, I think is a word
that people throw around far too often these days.
But as far as the notable specifics,
you have Ninja teaching people
how to, "Become a streamer."
With that course's description reading,
"Build your streaming presence in 30 days."
It appears that much of the criticism seems to be stemming
from a video posted by YouTuber, Drew Gooden.
The video that notably quickly shot to the top
of YouTube's trending videos.
In the video, Drew included some examples
from the course itself.
- It's plug and play for a reason.
It might seem a little scary, but it's not.
There's tutorials everywhere on the internet.
- Ninja, I don't know if you...
I don't know if you know this,
you're filming a tutorial.
Don't outsource the work to someone else.
Just tell me how to do these things while I'm here.
It's so funny to hear him describe the things
that he does well in an analytical way.
- See, I'm wearing my hat.
I'm clearly doing a funny voice.
Headphones were upgraded.
My hair was blue.
- Now we're getting somewhere.
These are actionable steps.
Wear a funny hat and dye your hair.
How many times he mentions his blue hair in this class.
- Okay, so we have Ninja blue hair, right?
I dyed my hair blue and everyone thought,
"Okay, now blue-haired person."
Me dying my hair blue,
and the hair, the hair,
my hair was blue.
- It's almost like he's convinced himself
that one of the secrets to his success
is that he dyed his hair a funny color.
- Then of course,
it's just the naturally unobtainable aspects of the course,
like how to become big online or branding and marketing.
Well, Drew is saying, yes, those are important topics,
but Ninja doesn't really do anything tangible
in that he just lists his own accomplishments.
And like I said, there are tons of examples.
I'll link to Drew's video down below.
But essentially, he describes the course
as being very front-loaded with some useful content
and then just dropping off,
having these shorter videos that just ramble on,
With Drew also saving up some of that criticism
for Masterclass itself,
saying that during lessons
where Ninja was detailing step by step tutorials
on his computer,
you couldn't even see the screen.
- This happens multiple times.
It kind of makes me think
that they just forgot to record his screen
while he was doing this section.
And instead of attempting to recreate that B-roll,
they just gave up and put nothing there.
It's so bad.
That's not even Tyler's fault,
but it does show a general lack of caring
from everyone involved.
- As a response to all of this,
we started seeing comments pop up,
like, "Masterclass always seemed like a scam to me."
With others saying that he's just exploiting his audience
by putting out some half-ass Masterclass.
We've also seen big streamers reacting
and saying that they do the exact opposite
of Ninja's advice.
Others have also offered up some defense, saying,
"I think most people take online classes
for entertainment, not knowledge."
Which, I mean, may be the case for other people.
I don't...
(chuckles)
But people consume content for different reasons.
So I guess I won't...
I'll completely throw that away.
But ultimately with all this, as far as my opinion,
just a few things to say.
One, will I consume this Masterclass?
Not a fucking chance.
But two, do I think that this is a scam?
No, we gotta stop.
If you think that it is subpar, overvalue,
a cash grab that doesn't provide value, call it that.
That's not a scam.
That is just a shitty product.
And if you're gonna make this argument
of him exploiting his audience,
that's pretty much any creator that makes money in some way.
Just by definition, they are deriving value from a resource.
You, paid subscriptions, sponsors,
getting awesome clothing like that link down below
to beautifulbastard.com.
And if it's shitty, that just reflects poorly
on the person that made it and spitting it out.
And then the market will react how the market reacts.
Also, I will say, almost everything you want to learn
is out there for free.
And I don't mean like Pirate Bay free.
I mean like YouTube free.
There are genuinely very few creators that I would pay
for any sort of tutorial or class.
The only two that immediately come to mind,
Mark Rober and Casey Neistat.
And I'm sure there are plenty of others,
but those two stand out in my mind,
specifically because they guide you
through specific projects.
And if you can end some class or tutorial series
actually having done something,
created something, used what you learned,
I mean, that seems like a huge value.
Also, Casey, if more people buy your class,
if you see a bump,
I expect a fucking check in the mail, Casey.
And that is where I'm gonna end this story.
But the question I have here,
has there been a class that you paid for,
or just a free tutorial online
that's been the most beneficial to you
that you would recommend?
Let us know in those comments down below.
But from that I wanna take a second
to thank the sponsor of today's show, Squarespace.
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And then let's talk about some interesting,
but quickie news.
Starting with hobby games.
Do you play them?
I ask because thanks to the pandemic,
that industry is booming right now.
Back in 2019, $1.68 billion worth of hobby games were sold
in the US and Canada,
then jumping to over $2 billion in 2020,
and then hitting $2.69 billion in 2021.
I mention this for two reasons.
One, I highly recommend it.
When I say hobby games,
I'm talking about things like role playing,
tabletop games, board games, card games, miniature,
stuff like that.
My wife and I have recently picked stuff up
over the last year.
One of my favorites is definitely Sherlock,
which is just a mystery investigation game.
You can actually play that one by yourself or with a group.
And oh my God! It's so fun.
But also two, I mention this because,
if you like hobby games, I would love your recommendations.
What are you playing and why would you recommend it?
I know I'm only speaking to 1% of the audience here,
but I'm intrigued.
Then, please use your dishwasher.
Your country is begging you.
According to reports,
in US households that have dishwashers,
one in five just aren't used.
That's 17 million households that just go nah.
And reportedly, it's because people have this perception
that dishwashers are inefficient and ineffective.
But as it turns out, those people,
as well as all our parents who said,
"Hey, wash those dishes by hand."
They were wrong.
One, if you want your dishes to be clean,
load the dishwasher properly.
And two, according to the EPA,
new dishwashers in fact only use 10% of the water
that's used during hand-washing.
So the next time your parents
or your significant other is like,
"Wash those dishes by hand."
Ask them why they hate the planet.
And then let's talk about news that,
depending on your worldview,
is the continuation of the nightmare horror show
that we're having in America right now,
or just a fun little perk.
We go to Georgia
and that's because the Georgia Department of Revenue
has just confirmed
that residents can literally claim embryos
as dependents on their taxes.
And according to the department,
the new guidance reflects the reversal
of Roe V Wade and the decision by appeals court
to uphold Georgia's six-week abortion ban,
which notably has a so-called personhood provision
that gives full constitutional rights
to any embryo or fetus that has a detectable heartbeat.
And so now any Georgia taxpayer
that has what they refer to as an unborn child
with a detectable heartbeat
from July 20th to December 31st of this year
can claim a dependent personal exemption
in the amount of $3,000 for each embryo
for returns filed in the 2022 tax year.
And according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
the law also allows expectant mothers
to file for child support
to cover the cost of pregnancy and delivery
and requires the fetuses to be included
in Georgia's census count.
So now the fetuses will get Congressional representation.
Now with all that said,
while that coverage probably would be nice
for people who want a baby,
it's not much solace
for people who are being forced to carry out a pregnancy
in a state that bans abortions
before many even know they're pregnant.
It's also unclear how much this will
actually cover the ridiculous cost of pregnancy care
and delivery in this amazing country we live in,
especially for those who are uninsured
or don't have good insurance.
But also beyond that, notably,
you have critics of the personhood provisions saying
that this creates some very alarming legal gray areas.
With the likes of Vanity Fair noting,
"What happens if a person claims an unborn child
on their taxes and then has a miscarriage?
What happens if they claim the unborn child
and then travel outta state for an abortion?
These are obviously just two
of about a million questions the new law raises."
We've seen similar personhood provisions
and abortion laws facing legal challenges in other states,
this including in Arizona,
where a judge literally stopped the implementation
of the measure because it was, "Unconstitutionally vague."
And so as far as additional clarification on the Georgia law
or just seeing what the hell happens here,
we're gonna have to wait to see.
And then finally, today let's talk about the specifics
of how that motherfucker, Joe Biden,
just took $25 million outta my pocket.
- On Saturday, at my direction,
the United States successfully concluded an airstrike
in Kabul, Afghanistan,
that killed the emir of Al-Qaeda,
Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
Now justice has been delivered
and this terrorist leader is no more.
No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide,
if you are a threat to our people,
the United States will find you and take you out.
- Joe, I was this close.
And so if you look at that picture,
and you're like, "Who the fuck is that guy?"
Zawahiri, who I'll now refer to just as a bag of garbage,
had been the second in command of Al-Qaeda for decades,
until taking over after Bin Laden's death
and is believed to have been intimately involved
in planning the 9/11 attacks alongside others.
We also know that this bag of garbage's exact whereabouts
were known for at least a week before the airstrike.
And at that time, he was visiting the home
of immediate family members.
Now, currently we don't know the full extent of the damages.
The Taliban has been relatively quiet about this.
But US officials claim that no civilians were killed.
But what we do know
is that the Taliban is furious about the attack,
claiming it was a violation of the Doha Agreement,
which was the agreement
that ended the US's involvement in Afghanistan.
And as a part of that agreement,
there was supposed to be a complete ceasefire.
But on the flip side,
you had Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken saying,
"Afghanistan actually violated the agreement first."
Because they were knowingly harboring this bag of garbage.
And to use the technical term,
that is a massive no-no in the agreement,
with Al-Qaeda being one
of the few specifically named banned groups.
And it appears that the Taliban knew
that they were found out because shortly after the attack,
they made efforts to block off the scene
and cover up the fact that this bag of garbage was in there.
And for me personally, I just wanna know if this fuck face,
if he felt safe.
It's been 20 years.
The Taliban has taken back control of Afghanistan.
The Americans probably forgot about me.
But to that, I would say, motherfucker,
we've been saying it for 20 years.
The only thing our government loves more than oil
is killing motherfuckers that did us wrong.
But that said, in general,
the assassination has been widely praised by many Americans,
with former President Barack Obama tweeting,
"It's a tribute to President Biden's leadership,
to the members of the intelligence community
who have been working for decades for this moment,
and to the counterterrorism professionals
who were able to take this trash out
without a single civilian casualty.
It's possible to root out terrorism
without being at war in Afghanistan.
And I hope it provides a small measure of peace
to the 9/11 families
and everyone else who has suffered
at the hands of Al-Qaeda."
While some people
in some countries will have mixed feelings
about a drone strike in another country,
the general consensus has been
this bag of garbage had it coming.
He was involved in so many terror attacks
that killed thousands.
However, with all of that, it is unclear right now
how much this will actually affect Al-Qaeda.
This more than anything I think,
was about revenge and justice.
This worthless human being
has been in poor health for years,
with it even being rumored at one time
that he was already dead.
So many of his leadership functions
had already been delegated to other group members.
And thanks to this new absence,
a few people could be taking up the role
of the Al-Qaeda's leadership.
But for now that's where we are.
There's a lot of moving parts,
and we'll have to wait to see.
But ultimately that is where that story
and today's show ends.
My name's Philip DeFranco.
You've just been filled in.
I love your faces.
If you want more news,
I got you covered right here,
but I'll see you tomorrow.