- 'Sup you beautiful bastards.
Hope you're having a fantastic Wednesday.
I'm Gabbie Hanna and let's just jump right into it.
Another Wednesday, another host that I'm having to fire.
Gabbie Hanna, although with this firing
it may be a legal matter
because really, it's without cause.
She killed that intro.
That said, despite Gabbie's unfortunate firing,
if you'd like to listen to our brand new
"A Conversation With" podcast together,
you can listen to it on Apple podcast
and all the other good places.
I'll link to it down below.
And, or, you can watch it right now,
here on YouTube at YouTube.Com/AConvoWith.
I actually just uploaded that before uploading this.
We do it every Wednesday.
You should definitely check it out and subscribe.
It's just been really fun,
but with that said, buckle up,
hit that like button,
and let's just jump into it.
The first thing we're gonna talk about today
is this news coming out of Georgia
around a group of registered sex offenders,
and I wonder why YouTube hits me.
But, this story isn't about them
committing more crimes, but rather, they're arguing
that they are the victims of a situation.
In fact, filing a lawsuit
against the Butts County Sheriff's Office
for posting signs on their homes
warning trick-or-treaters not to visit.
Those signs in question reading:
"Warning, no trick-or-treat at this address.
A community safety message from
Butts County Sheriff Gary Long."
According to Sheriff Gary Long,
the messages were designed to keep kids safe,
however, the sex offenders who filed this lawsuit,
argue that these are a violation
of their rights to privacy,
and have likened this policy to compelled speech,
which violates the First Amendment.
The lawsuit was filed by the registered sex offenders
that are Christopher Reed, Reginald Holden
and Cory McClendon,
and here the men say that the signs
were put up by County Sheriffs,
but, also, in other cases the county's sex offenders
were told that they had to either
display the signs on their properties
or face unspecified trouble.
And one of the things with this story
is that this is actually not a completely new situation.
In fact, the initiative to display the signs
began back in 2018,
with Long directing deputies to place the warnings
in the front yards of over 200 sex offenders,
registered in the county
from October 24th to November 2nd
and the Sheriff's Office planned
to do the same thing this year,
which prompted the lawsuit.
Now, in a Facebook post,
Sheriff Long said the signs were first instituted
after the cancellation of a local Halloween festival,
something that ended up resulting in an influx of children
just out on the street going door to door,
and there he also explained that the signs
comply with a state law that forbids
sex offenders from participating in Halloween,
and in fact, in other areas of the state,
like Monroe and Lamar counties,
they also use signs.
And in fact, in Monroe county specifically, last Halloween,
if an offender did not want a sign in their yard,
they just had to wait in the lobby
of the local sheriff's office
during trick-or-treat hours.
Also, regarding this story, the lead attorney
for the registered sex offenders
told Fox 5 Atlanta that
the Georgia State Sex Offender Registry
does not require offenders
to post these signs on their homes,
and therefore offenders should not be forced
by local deputies to display them,
saying, quote, "The law allows the sheriff
to put a list of registered sex offenders
at his office, at the courthouse, on the internet.
It does not allow him to go door-to-door
telling people you have a sex offender
living next door to you."
Adding, "I'm not sure that this kind of action
makes your kids any safer.
It just makes your constitutional rights less safe."
Also, going on to call the actions
of the deputies trespassing.
As far as what these men are seeking,
the lawsuit asks for a trial by jury,
and ask that the jury award the plaintiffs
with compensations for damages,
including economic harm, emotional distress
and the cost of legal fees.
With the group also asking
that local authorities prevented
from using the sign policy moving forward.
And as far as what's gonna happen now,
according to Sheriff Long,
the case is going to be heard by a federal court,
on Thursday, to see if the signs can be used this year,
but, regardless of the outcome,
he says that his office will do everything
within the law to protect the community's children.
And as far as my reaction to this story,
not gonna be surprising if you've watched me any bit,
but I have no sympathy, whatsoever,
for the men who filed this lawsuit.
It's personally hard for me not to scoff
at some of the things that the lawyer
for these men have said.
There was one moment where the lawyer
described them as "brave".
As far as the idea of this doesn't
make your kids any safer,
to me it sure as fuck seems so.
If you're a registered sex offender,
you're some of the worst of the worst,
and if there is a way that something can be put into place
so that I am aware of the situation,
so I don't allow my children
to go into that situation, great.
Which actually, also, let's talk about
the people behind the lawsuit.
In most all the coverage that I saw here,
I didn't see actually what these guys
had been found guilty of.
So, we looked into it, and you know,
we're not talking about people
who got caught peeing in a public park or something.
All of their incidents involve,
criminal offenses with minors,
we had Corey McClendon,
who was reportedly convicted of statutory rape
of two 14 year olds when he was 18.
You have Reginal Holden
who was convicted of sexual battery with a minor
between the ages of 12 and 15 years old,
and finally Christopher Reed,
who was convicted of criminal sexual assault
of a minor and aggravated sexual battery.
Yet, of note, in their lawsuit
against Butts County Sheriff's,
they all claim they object
to being labeled as sex offenders.
And ultimately, I think the safety of the children
far outweighs the comfort level you have
with people knowing what you have done.
So, my belief is as long as you can convey
that information, that warning,
in a legal way, great.
But, of course, with this story
I'd love to know your thoughts.
Are you for what we're seeing from the sheriff,
are you against it?
Do you think maybe it's a slippery slope?
Any and all thoughts,
I'd love to see in those comments down below.
Then, in, I mean it's truly the most
Kardashian/Jenner story out there.
A member of the family took something
that the internet in general was using to mock them,
and they figured out a way to use it to promote themselves,
to even further relevance, and to make money.
And while that seems like
an obvious reference to Kim Kardashian,
that sex tape from all those years ago,
but more recently, there was the Kim's crying face meme,
that was monetized effectively.
What we've seen in the last two weeks,
is the now meme, that is Kylie Jenner
singing Rise and Shine.
♪ Rise and shine. ♪
That noise is unfortunately,
in my head forever.
The clip goes out,
people are laughing and spreading,
it's getting memed.
I mean everyone is doing it.
Like, Joe Blow all the way
to the Golden State Warriors are memeing it.
Then Kylie Jenner, rather than being like,
screw you guys for making fun of me,
she leans into it,
launches two rise and shine hoodies,
selling for 65 dollars a pop.
They sell out, almost immediately,
and now it's being reported
that she is filing a trademark for rise and shine.
This reportedly to cover a number of products
that you could wear and also cosmetics.
That brings up the question,
how many millions and millions of dollars
could you make by putting rise and shine
as like the name of a palette,
for people to just buy it for the meme.
And while I think a lot of people
can have different opinions regarding
the actual trademark itself,
but just from a business and marketing standpoint,
I have to just, kind of, applaud,
using all this momentum that was,
a lot of it was negativity for you,
and then using it for your own success.
Like, the Kardashian-Jenner clan,
they are just masters of marketing martial arts.
Yeah, there was that.
But from that I want to share some stuff
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And the first bit of awesome today,
is just this amazing video from Michael Reeves.
If you didn't see him kind of
setting this whole thing up
on Twitter a little while ago,
you know, no worries.
But the main thing is he set up a Twitter bot,
to allow people on Twitter,
based off the actions that happened there
to help decorate his room.
And the video today, is just that.
He let a Twitter bot decorate his room,
and then he shows you the results.
And honestly, if this video
doesn't become number one on trending tomorrow,
I'm gonna be shocked.
It's just so good and unique.
Then we got the main trailer
for "The Devil Next Door",
the honest trailer for the old school, "Total Recall",
we had How To Drink,
giving us the Hocus Pocus Potion.
We got a new trailer for
Guillermo Del Toro's "Antlers".
We had The Infographics Show,
showing what one million dollars will get you
in a house around the world.
And finally, our chrono.gg/phil partner
game of the day today is Grim Dawn,
which if you use that link before 9 a.m. tomorrow,
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but just $4.99.
And if you want to see
the full versions of everything I just shared,
or the secret link of the day,
really anything at all,
links as always, are in the description down below.
And then finally, let's talk about this
massive news we're seeing out of Lebanon.
And specifically, what I'm talking about is,
we're now entering the sixth day
of massive protests in Lebanon.
And if you're unfamiliar,
this is really fascinating.
These protests started last Thursday,
after the government announced new taxes,
this including a six dollar monthly fee
for calls on free apps, like WhatsApp,
but of course, like a number of protests
that we've seen and talked about recently,
like Hong Kong, and Chile,
what started over a single issue,
has rapidly changed into something much bigger.
And in Lebanon, we saw the protest quickly evolve
into broader calls for economic and political reforms.
Now, to fully understand what's going on,
what the protestors are actually asking for,
we have to take a look at Lebanon's political system.
In Lebanon, the power is spread out
among the three largest religious communities:
Christian, Sunni and Shi'a.
And because of this,
the political system is very sectarian,
meaning that the leaders govern
based on religious differences and divides
and in fact, for nearly 30 years now,
that political system has largely been credited
with keeping relative peace,
but now protestors are saying that
it has created corruption,
and allowed elites to maintain power
and enact policies that benefit them,
make them wealthier,
while the rest of the people suffer.
Which, by the way, many of those policies
have actually put Lebanon in the middle
of a massive financial crisis,
with some economists warning that
they could face a complete economic collapse.
Lebanon has one of the world's highest debt-to-GDP ratios,
and that massive debt means that the government
does not have as much money,
or resources to address social and economic problems.
Many in Lebanon's lower and middle classes
experience nearly daily power and water cuts,
forcing tons of people to pay high fees
to access private generators and buy bottled water.
Regarding the water, even when the water is on,
it's highly polluted due to a trash crisis
that started back in 2015
and has never been fully resolved.
Additionally, and we often see this
as a kind of, any precursor to any big movement,
unemployment is exceptionally high,
especially among young people.
We've also seen many upset that the ruling elite
have done very little to stop forest fires
that have been raging all over the country in recent weeks.
And on top of everything,
Lebanon has a massive population of Syrian refugees,
which is currently estimated to be 1.5 million people.
And, that number could actually grow
as hundreds of thousands are fleeing Syria,
given the current situation in Turkey.
Here's the thing, many have actually been upset for awhile,
but Lebanon's politicians have been using sectarianism
to control the populations
and prevent different religious groups
from unifying against them.
But, all of that now seems to have changed.
While smaller protests have actually been going on
throughout Lebanon for weeks now,
the government's decision to raise
and implement more taxes,
seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
With many perceiving the move as the elites,
who have done nothing to help the people,
who are already paying tons of money for basic services,
in the midst of an economic crisis,
basically saying, hey, now you have to pay us more money.
So, after that announcement,
you saw other people begin to protest,
with thousands showing up,
in cities all over the country
during the first few days of protests.
Young people, most of whom were men,
according to reports, protested by lighting fires,
smashing windows and chanting against the government.
Seeing reports of protestors clashing with police,
who reportedly responded with tear gas.
We then saw the government quickly scrap
the WhatsApp tax, after the protests started,
but at that point it was already too late.
And, it appeared that on Saturday,
that is when things changed.
When hundreds of thousands of people
took to the streets, all over the country,
for peaceful protests.
And reportedly, they were the largest
Lebanon has seen for nearly 15 years,
but notably these protests were different
than what we've seen in the past in Lebanon.
Because we ended up seeing people,
usually divided along sectarian lines,
coming together to demonstrate against their own leaders,
and calling for them to step down,
and for a wholesale change of the political system.
These protests also feel different
from other protests we've seen and covered.
Recently, I mean, for one, the peaceful demonstrations
that started on Saturday have continued ever since,
and are just that, peaceful.
There have actually been very few reports
of any violence at all,
both among protestors and with police.
And in fact, many protestors and reporters
on the ground have described the demonstrations
as a huge celebration, largely marked by hope and joy.
With one protestor in the capital city, Beirut,
telling an NPR reported on the ground,
"I feel euphoric.
For the first time, I see the people of my country
standing united together against this tyranny.
I'm very proud to say I'm Lebanese
because the Lebanese people are not scared anymore."
But of course, despite the hope and the optimism,
the underlying anger and frustration
that brought the Lebanese people together,
of course still remains.
Now as far as what has the response been,
in response to the protest,
several government ministers and deputies
have reportedly stepped down.
We also saw on Monday,
Lebanon's President, Hariri, announce
a list of reforms, which included: no new taxes,
cutting government officials' salaries in half
privatizing the telecom industry
to cut down on cellphone plan cuts,
overhauling the electricity sector,
and eliminating some governmental bodies,
among other things.
And during a speech following the announcement,
Hariri said, "Your movement is what led
to these decisions that you see today."
But, protestors didn't seem to buy it,
with many believing that it was just an empty promise,
while others just don't want the same people
who got the country into this place
in the first place, to try and fix it.
And so, following that speech,
thousands of people gathered outside
of the President's office,
chanting revolution, revolution,
and the people want to bring down the regime.
And since then, the protests, of course, have continued,
and they don't show any sign of waning.
And while the mood of the protests,
reportedly, still seem optimistic,
of course, many are still watching carefully,
to see what happens next.
Right, if that mood changes,
will we see a larger, grayer,
possibly violent response.
I will say, I mean, it's gonna be interesting
to see what happens here,
but also just worldwide.
I mean, we're seeing this more and more.
Right, more and more people banding together
to rise up against who they see as the elites.
We've seen the same thing in Chile,
also after similar protests in Iraq,
security forces reportedly killed 149 people,
and wounded over three thousand.
And, in fact, like in Lebanon,
the Iraqi protests were over rising economic inequality
and calls for political reforms.
And also, I mean specifically with Lebanon and Iraq,
there's also the question of,
how long can people be united?
Will that stay?
Will the identity of someone that was failed,
and has grievances with their government,
will that unite more than the things
that have kind of kept people apart in the past.
That's the story, and a little of my thoughts on it.
And, of course, I pass the question off to you,
what are your thoughts on it.
I just liked when we talked about Canada,
and Chile this week, I mean,
they're these stories that we ended up covering
because of people in the area, or have family there.
Well I want everyone's opinion,
and please include it for those that have family there,
or live there, or somewhere nearby.
What do you think is going to happen,
and what do you hope will happen?
Also, are those the same things?
I think everyone has the right to be cynical,
when you're talking about anyone
requesting change from those that have power.
And that's where I'm going to end today's show.
Thanks for watching.
Also if you're not 100% filled in,
you're looking for more to watch,
you can check out that brand new
conversation I had with Gabbie Hanna,
and or, maybe you just missed yesterday's show,
you wanna catch up,
you can click or tap right there to watch either of those.
But, with that said,
of course, as always,
my name's Philip DeFranco,
you've just been filled in,
I love your faces,
and I'll see you tomorrow.