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MEMernet: Dammit Us!, the Business, Prepare, and IYKYK

Posted at The Daily Memphian

Memphis on the internet.

Dammit us!

Right here last week we poked fun at a big typo in The Commercial Appeal with a legacy headline “Dammit Gannett.” We left off a “t” at the end of Gannett in a typo-inside-a-typo-meta-Inception kind of situation. We regret the error! 

The Business

Speaking of newspapers, The Daily Memphian launched its online marketplace last week. The first item listed was an anti-circumcision book titled “This Penis Business.” History, folks. 

Prepare

Posted to Facebook by The Damn Weather of Memphis

Speaking of penises, “prepare for penetration,” wrote The Damn Weather of Memphis about last week’s bomb cycle weather event that brought cooler temps here. 

IYKYK

Posted to Reddit by u/B1gR1g
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“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” to Be Celebrated As Tennessee’s Official Holiday Song

The holiday classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is now the official Holiday Song of Tennessee and its singer is set to be recognized next week. 

The song was officially designated as a state song earlier this year, with legislation filed in December 2023 by Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville). The bill was signed into law by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in April. The song’s performer, Brenda Lee, a longtime Nashvillian, is set to receive a proclamation on the designation next week. 

The song was recorded in the heart of Nashville’s Music Row at Quonset Hut Studio and produced by Owen Bradly. It was written by Johnny Marks, who seemingly had no connection to Tennessee. He specialized in Christmas songs, although he was Jewish and did not celebrate Christmas, according to Wikipedia. Marks wrote “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold,” and many others.

Lee is the first woman inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. She was 13 when she recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in 1958.

When Powell filed the legislation last year, the song had just topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the very first time, 65 years after its initial release.  That’s the longest stretch ever between a record release and it’s hitting No 1. “Rockin’” remained at No. 1 for three weeks.  

Lee also became the oldest female ever to hit No. 1 on the chart.  She also now holds the record for the longest gap between an artist’s first and most recent week at No. 1 on the Hot 100.  Her first No. 1 single was “I’m Sorry” in 1960.

“Brenda Lee is a music icon and a true Tennessee treasure,” Powell said in a statement. “‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ has spread holiday joy throughout the world for decades and we are proud her No. 1 song was made in Nashville.  I am thrilled that my legislation made the beloved ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ by Brenda Lee the first official holiday song of Tennessee.”

Brenda Lee will receive the proclamation in a ceremony at the Tennessee State Capitol on Monday, December 2nd. 

Tennessee has 10 official state songs, including “Rocky Top,” “A Tennessee Bicentennial Rap: 1796-1996,” and “Smoky Mountain Rain.” Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” was made an official state song this year. However, until now, Tennessee has had no official state holiday song.

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Leaders Push “Kids Online Safety Act”; Critics Fear Censorship

Credit: Thomas Park from Unsplash

Tennessee leaders continue to push legislation they say would protect kids online, but civil rights groups say promotes censorship. 

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led a group of 31 attorneys general from red and blue states earlier this week urging Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). The bill is sponsored by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee). 

The law would require some mandatory safety protections for minors on social media sites such as TikTok and Facebook. These would be the  strongest settings available up front, said Skrmetti, “rather than burying these features behind opt-in screens.”

The KOSA would also take away what Blackburn called “manipulative design features and algorithmic recommendations that keep children endlessly scrolling.” It would also give parents new tools “to identify harmful behaviors and improved capabilities to report dangerous content,” Blackburn said in a statement. 

In the letter to Congress this week, Skrmetti was joined by AGs from conservative states such as Alabama and Mississippi but also such progressive states as New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 

“As the chief legal officers of our states, we’ve seen firsthand how social media companies prioritize profits over our kids’ safety,” Skrmetti said in a statement. “KOSA provides additional tools to protect children’s mental health from the harmful effects of social media.”

Despite bipartisan support, KOSA has drawn criticism from civil rights groups such as the ACLU, which argues the bill could infringe on First Amendment rights. Critics contend that provisions requiring platforms to prevent harm could lead to censorship of legitimate and educational content, particularly around sensitive topics such as sexual health and mental wellness. The group heavily criticized the bill when the Senate passed it in July. 

“KOSA compounds nationwide attacks on young peoples’ right to learn and access information,” said Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the ACLU. “As state legislatures and school boards across the country impose book bans and classroom censorship laws, the last thing students and parents need is another act of government censorship deciding which educational resources are appropriate for their families.”

The ACLU said that the list of design features outlined in the bill are defined so broadly that platforms would likely have to censor any content that was found objectionable by the government. That content could include anything from sexual health resources to information about gender identity, or how to get help for an eating disorder. 

Anjali Verma, a 17-year-old student, also voiced concerns about the legislation’s potential to harm rather than protect youth. “It’s called the Kids Online Safety Act, but they have to consider kids’ voices, and some of us don’t think it will make us safer,” Verma said in a statement. “We live on the internet, and we are afraid that important information we’ve accessed all our lives will no longer be available. We need lawmakers to listen to young people when making decisions that affect us.”

The AGs’ letter says social media platforms target minors, know their products are addictive, but only care about the bottom line. “Many social media platforms target minors, resulting in a national youth mental health catastrophe,” reads the letter. “These platforms make their products addictive to minor users, and then profit from selling minor user data to advertisers. 

“These platforms fail to disclose the addicting nature of their products, nor the harms associated with increased social media use. Instead, minor users receive endless tailored and toxic content. Further, increasing evidence suggests these platforms are aware of the negative mental health effects social media burdens its underage users with, but choose to continue these practices.”

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Online Personality Gets 10 Years in Prison in Murder-For-Hire Plot

Credit: @itsashley_graysona via Instagram

A Dallas-based internet personality was convicted to 10 years in federal prison in late October on charges that she hired hits on three online rivals, including one in Southaven. 

Ashley Grayson gained notoriety for her online content related to credit repair. In 2021, Grayson had a falling out with a woman from Southaven who operated an online business similar to hers, according to Reagan Fondren, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Grayson suspected the Southaven woman of creating fake online profiles that criticized Grayson and her business. The pair never met in person.

In August 2022, Grayson asked a Memphis woman, with whom she had worked in the past, to fly to Dallas to discuss a “business opportunity.” The Memphis woman and her husband went to Dallas in early September 2022 and met with Grayson and her husband.

Grayson offered to pay the Memphis couple to kill three different people: the Southaven woman, Grayson’s former boyfriend, and a Texas woman who had made negative social media posts about Grayson. For each murder, Grayson offered to pay at least $20,000.

In September 2022, the Memphis woman video-recorded a call to Grayson where Grayson confirmed that she wanted the Southaven woman killed as soon as possible and offered an extra $5,000 for the murder to be carried out in the next week.  

Later, the Memphis couple sent Grayson a picture of police lights from an unrelated incident in Memphis to fake that they had attempted to carry out Grayson’s murder-for-hire but were unsuccessful.  They demanded $10,000 (half of the promised price) from Grayson for the attempt. The Memphis couple went to Dallas where they met with Grayson and her husband and received $10,000 from them for the fake attempt. 

Grayson and her husband, Joshua, were indicted for the plot in the Western District of Tennessee. After a week-long trial on March 2024, Joshua was acquitted but Ashley was found guilty. In late October, United States District Court Judge Thomas Parker sentenced Ashley Grayson to 10 years in federal prison, the maximum sentence for the crime.

“This was a 21st-century crime where online feuds and senseless rivalries bled into the real world,” Fondren said in a statement. “The defendant tried to hire someone to murder a woman over things that happened exclusively on the internet.

“Fortunately, no one was physically hurt in this case, but the victim and her family still felt a severe and emotional impact as the result of the defendant’s actions. The proactive response from the investigating agencies and our prosecutors prevented an even more serious crime from occurring.”

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Romance Scammers Sentenced to Federal Prison

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Four Nigerians were sentenced here to years in federal prison  recently for their parts in a years-long, international romance scam.

Reagan Fondren, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentences Tuesday. The group was indicted with conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering in June 2023. 

Those indicted were: 

• Patrick Edah, 40, a Nigerian citizen residing in the Toronto, Canada area

• Efe Egbowawa, 41, a Nigerian citizen residing in the Atlanta area

• Igocha Mac-Okor, 40, a Nigerian citizen residing in the Atlanta area

• Kay Ozegbe, 44, a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Atlanta

The group operated the conspiracy from 2017 to 2021. They assumed false identities on social media, gaming applications, dating websites, and other internet-based platforms to trick victims into entering friendships and romantic relationships. They then played various roles in exploiting those connections to convince individuals to send them money via wire, check, U.S. mail, and package delivery services.

Dozens of victims lost amounts ranging from several thousand dollars to several hundred thousand dollars. One victim in West Tennessee lost more than $400,000 to this scheme over the course of several months.

In the conspiracy, romance scammers or “handlers” posed as potential friends or romantic partners and entered online relationships with unwitting victims. The relationships usually developed quickly through social media contact, text messages, email, and phone calls. 

Once the victim was clearly engaged in the scam, the scammer would begin to ask for emergency financial assistance. If the victim sent money, the scammer would ask for increasingly larger amounts of financial assistance.

Edah, Egbowawa, Mac-Okor, and Ozegbe functioned as “money mules” in the conspiracy. They worked in conjunction with other members of the conspiracy to move the financial proceeds of the scams through several layers of bank accounts and shell companies to hide the sources of the money and made it difficult to trace.

For their roles, Egbowawa was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison, Ozegbe was sentenced to 36 months, Edah and Mac-Okor were sentenced to 30 months and 50 months, respectively.

“These individuals used deception and fraud to prey on the vulnerable causing unmeasurable emotional damage and significant financial losses,” said Special Agent in Charge Joe Carrico of the FBI Nashville Field Office, Memphis Resident Agency.

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CannaBeat: Buds & Brews Sets Open Date for Broad Location

Credit: Buds & Brews

Buds & Brews, Tennessee’s first cannabis bar and restaurant concept, will open in Memphis next month. 

The restaurant was created and is owned by Nashville-based Craft Cannabis, a Tennessee seed-to-shelf cannabis company. The company’s new Memphis location is slated to open on Friday, Dec. 13th, in the former Bounty on Broad space in the Broad Avenue Arts District. 

“We are excited to bring the Buds & Brews experience to this dynamic arts community,” said Michael Solomon, owner and president of Craft Cannabis. “Along with a curated list of craft cocktails and beers on tap, we’re excited to offer our very own brand of THC-infused beverages and New Highs cannabis cocktails. 

“We’ve partnered with a brewery in Chattanooga to create these top-shelf quality cannabis beverages and have collaborated with some of the very best in the food and beverage industry in Memphis to bring a truly unique culinary adventure to this community.”

Credit: Buds & Brews
Credit: Buds & Brews

The first Buds & Brews opened in Nashville in 2022. It offers patrons the opportunity to “enjoy cannabis in a safe, legal, and fun environment” with upscale bar food like burgers, wings, and “Wake & Bake Brunch.” Diners can choose their favorite condiment sauces infused with Tennessee grown and extracted hemp-derived THC. The menu also features dessert edibles. 

For more information, click here. 

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Memphis Crime Rate Falls In First Three Quarters of 2024

Photo by Martin Podsiad on Unsplash

The Memphis crime rate showed a “very significant drop” from January to September of 2024, according to new data from the Crime Commission and the University of Memphis Public Safety Institute. 

Credit: Crime Commission and the University of Memphis Public Safety Institute

The major property crime rate fell more than 20 percent in the first nine months of 2024, compared to the same period last year. These crimes are burglaries, vehicle thefts, and other felony thefts (like thefts from vehicles). The biggest drop came in the vehicle theft rate, down more than 35 percent. Burglaries were down nearly 20 percent. Other felony thefts were down nearly 13 percent. 

The major violent crime rate fell, too, in the first nine months of the year. Though, they did not fall as dramatically as property crimes. 

Crime Commission and the University of Memphis Public Safety Institute

The murder rate fell by more than 11 percent. Rapes were down nearly 9 percent. Robberies were down by more than 22 percent. However, aggravated assaults rose more than 2 percent. 

Crime Commission president Bill Gibbons said there were nearly 10,000 victims of aggravated assault in the first nine months of the year, making up over 80 percent of all reported violent crimes. 

“Until we reduce significantly the number of aggravated assaults, we will not be able to have a significant reduction in the overall violent crime rate,” Gibbs said in a statement. “And, of course, an aggravated assault can become a murder in a split second. All it takes is the offender being a good aim.”

Crime Commission and the University of Memphis Public Safety Institute

The overall crime rate in Memphis dropped more than 10 percent in Memphis from January to September. 

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Memphis Flyer Podcast: Oct. 24, 2024

On the latest Memphis Flyer Podcast, Toby Sells and Chris McCoy talk about our cover story on the heated debate over cannabis laws in Tennessee. Every week, you can watch and listen to our writers discuss what’s in the latest issue of the Flyer our YouTube channel. One thing’s for sure: We have a good time doing it!

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How You Can Help with Hurricane Helene Relief 

IMC Logistics plans to fill a 20-foot container with donated supplies to bring to Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo: Courtesy IMC)

As Florida braces for the Category 4 Hurricane Milton to make landfall tonight, thousands are still recovering from Hurricane Helene, whose storm path brought destruction across Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, East Tennessee, and Virginia. It has killed more than 200 people, and hundreds are still missing. 

In the wake of such devastation, Memphians have come together to offer their support. “Asheville you have loved me, clothed me, danced with me, painted me, fed me, and lifted me up,” musician Louise Page writes on her Instagram. “Now let’s lift you up in return. … Asheville is home to my brother, my sister, my cousins, and so many amazing artists, musicians, and humans who have treated me like a sister without a second thought. It is a beautiful community of beautiful people, and right now they need our support.”

On Sunday, October 13th, Page, along with several local musicians, are raising funds to support those affected by Hurricane Helene in a benefit concert organized by Graham Winchester. Proceeds go to Rafi’s Farmers Relief, Arts AVL (Asheville Area Arts Council), and IamAvl (Independent Arts & Music Asheville). Performing and donating their time are Oakwalker (1-1:40 p.m.), Turnstyles (2-2:40 p.m.), Hope Clayburn (3-3:40 p.m.), Lina Beach and Uriah Mitchell of Royal Studios (4-4:40 p.m.), Louise Page (5-5:40 p.m.) as mentioned earlier, Laundry Bats (6-6:35 p.m.), Rachel Maxann (6:50-7:25), Found Harmonium (7:30-8:05), and Jack Oblivian (8:15-8:45 p.m.). The concert will be hosted at Railgarten. 

Meanwhile, Memphis Made Brewing is hosting a donation drive for Eastern Tennessee through Saturday, October 12th, with guidance from the Appalachian Voices, an environmental conservation organization. They are asking for cold weather items, PPE, medicines, and personal hygiene items (full list here). The drive also coincides with the brewery’s first Oktoberfest, so you can drop off donations and enjoy the festivities on Saturday starting at noon. The day includes the new Gebirge Bier (German for “the mountains”), a benefit beer for hurricane relief, and a pumpkin toss, with the $25 participation fee going to Asheville. Other drop-off times for donations are Wednesday to Friday, 4 to 10 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Over in Collierville, IMC Logistics has partnered with Northeast Tennessee Disaster Relief (NTDR) to fill a shipping container with supplies. Once the container is full, an IMC driver will be taking it to the NTDR Distribution Center in Bristol, Tennessee, for those affected by Hurricane Helene. Supplies needed include generators, charcoal grills and charcoal, flashlights and batteries, battery-powered lanterns, blankets, propane grills, propane heaters, baby formula, diapers, tarps, empty (new) gas cans, tents, sleeping bags, solar charging stations, and HotHands packets. Drop off donations at IMC’s office, 1305 Schilling Blvd. West, through the end of the business day on Friday. (Details here.)

Area law-enforcement agencies are also asking for donations for East Tennesseans. They are asking for flashlights, batteries, water, empty gas cans, baby items, hygiene products (shampoo, soap, feminine products, etc.), and medical supplies. All items must be new and unopened. No clothing is being accepted at this time. Drop-off sites are Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Substation, 11670 Memphis-Arlington Road, Arlington; Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Training Academy, 993 Dovecrest Road, Memphis; and Bartlett Police Department, 3730 Appling Road, Bartlett. Donations can be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday, October 11th. 

Through Friday, October 11th, City & State is donating 5 percent of net sales (both in-store and online) to the Equal Plates Project, which is providing meal aid at their two Asheville kitchens through partnerships with local initiatives. You can also make donations directly at checkout. City & State’s goal is to raise $1,000 by the end of the week.

If you have a donation drive or other hurricane relief effort that you would like added to this list, please email abigail@memphisflyer.com and/or add it to our calendar at events.memphisflyer.com.

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MEMernet: Mempho, Bass Fish, and Why Trump?

Posted to Facebook by Mempho Music Festival

Memphis on the internet.

Mempho

Mempho Music Festival brought an act for every taste to the Radians Amphitheater last weekend. But the MEMernet raved over Jack White’s performance. As our own Chris McCoy said, White was “simply operating on another level than everyone else.” 

Bass fish

Posted to Nextdoor by Yimy Perez

The MEMernet can be every bit as tough and gritty as our city. But sometimes you slow your scroll for a bit of pure, simple delight. That’s the case for Parkway Village North neighbor Yimy Perez who posed with a great catch over the weekend and the title, simply “bass fish.” 

Why Trump? 

Posted to YouTube by World Overcomers Church

Alton R. Williams just came right out with it — and clearly broke federal law — last week in a sermon titled “Why Trump?” Again, the Johnson Amendment says churches could lose their tax-exempt status if they preach politics from the pulpit.  

“The Democrat party, I’m gonna say it tonight so you won’t be confused, is the anti-Christ party,” Williams said. “It is anti-family. And I’m going to say this — and you ain’t gonna believe it — but it is anti-Black folk. You’re only needed for votes. You’re only loved when it comes time to vote.”