- (sighs) Just watch.
- We got first and last names of six witches
that are in our church. And you know what's strange?
Three of you are in this room right now.
(crowd exclaims)
Three of you in the room right now.
You better look in my eyeballs.
We ain't afraid of you, you stinking witch!
You devil worshiping Satanist witch!
We cast you out in the name of Jesus Christ!
We break your spells! We break your curse!
We got your first name! We got your last name!
We even got an address for one of you!
You so much is cough wrong,
and I'll expose you in front of everybody in this tent,
you stinking witch.
- So that completely normal and sane individual
is Greg Locke, the pastor of the Global Vision Bible Church.
So a little extra context here,
he is telling his congregation about a conversation
that he had with demons, who then revealed the names
of those God damned forsaken witches.
Something that was just really fantastic with this video
is that I watched this with my wife
and in the first 30 seconds she was like,
"Mm, how much do you wanna bet some
of the witches are women that he doesn't like talking
to his wife 'cause they're probably like
"Your husband's crazy"?"
Literally the moment she finished saying that he says-
- You are sent to this church to destroy us.
You are sent to this church to lure us in.
You are sent to this church to cast spells.
Listen, some of you been sick
because you befriended that witch.
Two of you in my wife's ladies Bible study
and you know who you are and we gonna ask you to get out!
Or I'll expose you in front of everybody.
- With Pastor Greg lock then going on
to give these witches an ultimatum.
- You can leave with your spells all by yourself.
Or I'll show up next Sunday with a stage full of brooms,
and I'll give you one and I'll fly your tail up
outta this place in the name of Jesus.
But we ain't playing your spell casting,
witchcraft nonsense, sage burning games.
Everybody okay?
(crowd cheers)
The witches are like, "Nope."
And your little dog too.
You're out, witch.
- You know, I watched this video,
and I understand why so many people are like,
"Wow, this is Greg Locke guy. He's just out there."
But the really the most concerning thing
about this is the audience.
The people eating this up, cheering it on.
And I'm not going to equate like what's happening here
To all religious followers,
but it does feel like an example of just more
and more people going off the deep end.
Also regarding Greg Locke,
this is not his first witch or demon rodeo.
You how some joke, ""The Simpsons" predict everything."
He says that's 'cause demons.
- "The Simpsons" predict no, no, no.
A demon used the medium of a "Simpsons" cartoon.
- He also recently made headlines for a massive burning,
a deliverance from demons, which was,
it was just look book burning.
Writing, "Bring all your "Harry Potter" stuff.
Laugh all you will haters. I don't care.
It's witchcraft. 100%."
And then, I mean the deeper you look,
you find out he's an anti-vaxxer, COVID denier.
He helps spread QAnon conspiracies.
Which is also why it's not shocking that, regarding autism,
he says, "That's not autism.
That's just what doctors call it. It's demons."
- I'm telling you, your kid could be demonized and attacked
but your doctor calls it autism.
(crowd cheers)
- But all that together brings us
to the final two points here.
One, Greg Locke, you are our douchebag of the day.
And two, it is horrifying what people are able
to get away with and garner audiences with
by bastardizing and taking religion to the most extreme.
Be careful out there, y'all.
Psychotic grifters are getting bigger audiences by the day.
And then, what better way to celebrate Black History Month
than wearing blackface?
Did Justin Trudeau write this script?
(typewriter keys typing) (chime)
Well, you may you think this could be a month
where we focus more on educating each other
on racial issues, finding ways to be an ally
if you're not Black yourself,
or just learning about actual Black history.
There is a preschool teacher in Newton, Massachusetts,
that had a different idea.
Have a classroom full of toddlers make blackface masks
out of paper plates and then wear them.
With this happening Tuesday of last week,
and then became public when a mother picked up her kids
from school, found out what happened,
and then promptly pulled them out of that school.
Saying, "This is unacceptable
and don't really understand the concept of this project."
Then word and backlash spread.
Ultimately, IC Kids, the school in question ,
apologized in a Facebook post.
Then when the Facebook post drew criticism,
it posted a statement on a window at the school
saying the "curriculum was not executed or completed
in the manner that it should have been, so we apologize."
Adding that the daycare had closed over safety concerns,
explaining that "hearing of protests happening
at the center will put children and staff at risk."
And finally, firing the teacher who did it
and the school apologizing
for what they said was an inadequate apology the first time.
Yeah, ultimately, that is the story.
And I guess I just, just a quick tip.
it feels weird having to say this in 2022,
blackface usually not the answer.
Unless someone asks the question,
"Wait, they got fired 'cause of what?"
"Blackface."
"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. That adds up."
And then, let's talk about the very real issue
of online harassment.
No, I'm not talking about Kanye West again,
which once again, I know that he's like apologized.
Give him some days and months and years
to prove that this isn't just cyclical abuse.
But we're not talking about Ye or Instagram.
Rather we're talking about Twitter and Twitter Safety Mode.
So Twitter actually announced this back in September
when they began beta testing it and described it
as "a feature that temporarily blocks accounts
for seven days for using potentially harmful language,
such as insults or hateful remarks,"
or sending repetitive and uninvited replies or mentions."
So when the features turned on,
Twitter will assess the likelihood of negative engagement
but also try to take into account existing relationships
so that people you follow
or often interact with are not autoblocked.
Which I will say it'll be interesting to see how that works.
'cause I've seen so many people end up getting like blocked
on Twitter 'cause, you know, we have our throat punch joke.
Which by the way, I've never gotten hit for,
so I also have questions about
if they're going to apply this to big
and small accounts equally.
But main point, they ended up rolling this out
to a select small feedback group.
With Twitter announcing yesterday,
"After months of feedback from beta users,
we're excited to expand this to some of you
in several new English-speaking markets
to gain more feedback and insights."
With a Twitter spokesperson adding
that the initial test was for around 750 people
but now roughly 50% of Twitter users in the US, UK,
Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand will have access.
The spokesperson also adding," Since the initial rollout,
we've learned that some people want help
identifying unwelcome interactions.
For this reason,
our technology will now proactively identify
potentially harmful and uninvited replies
and prompt people in the beta
to consider enabling Safety Mode."
Saying, "This update further reduces the burden
on people dealing with unwelcome interactions."
And let's say, you've spent roughly,
let's say, five seconds on Twitter.
You know that unwelcome interactions are a very real thing.
It's great for news and jokes and conversations and debates.
But also harassment is a very real issue on all platforms.
And over the years, we've seen everyday people,
as well as large creators like Pokimane,
speaking up about the hate, right?
She's a massive streamer.
She's popped up in the news several times
talking about the hate she
and other women creators receive online.
Something that she has said
has become more rampant and normalized.
Even sharing specific examples of the harassment
that she's faced, including insulting
and threatening spam messages on Twitter and elsewhere.
Other creators like Addison Rae
also addressing this saying,
"Bullying is real and it's not a joke."
But also I do wanna say on the note of Addison Rae,
I am not saying that she has not been bullied.
There have been of that that I have seen.
But also, we do need to make sure
that this mode doesn't turn into like
you don't get criticism
or we're blocking people just because of blatant criticism.
Because recently, I mean, she had that controversy
where she actually like had a makeup
that was like blue light protecting.
And so many people were like
"What the fuck are you doing this?"
Dunking on her for something that's been disproven.
But that said, honestly, I think the bigger the creator,
the more important it is
that they speak out about these things.
That's why I think it's important
that we've seen people like Billie Eilish speaking up
in the past about their struggles.
I don't know if you already saw
but she was asked about online bullying in a GQ interview.
And she actually said, "Oh God. It's unbelievable.
I almost killed myself because of Twitter
a couple of years ago. Like, for real."
But all of that brings us to this safety feature,
which more people are gonna be able to test.
More people are going to get to experience.
And the question is, how will it be implemented?
Because I think almost everyone can agree
that online harassment is a very real problem
but very few people can agree on how to deal with it.
With a range of reactions being
"just don't look at the internet,"
all the way to "nuke those accounts."
And so that's why with this story,
I'd love to know your response.
What are your thoughts on this mode
and the implementation of it?
But from that, two things.
First, hit that Like button.
Help support some common sense news coverage.
And two, I wanna take a second
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And then, let's talk
about the curious case of Geoff Bainbridge.
You've probably never heard of this guy,
but he is a CEO of Australia's largest whiskey company,
Lark Distilling.
But rather at least he was the CEO before a video leaked
of him smoking a meth pipe shirtless.
And as the newspaper, "The Australian" put it,
"fondling himself in skimpy black underwear."
So now he's resigned from his position.
His company stock fell 21% by late afternoon.
But it does seem like this story is actually more involved.
Because according to him,
he doesn't know how all of this happened.
Saying the story began in December of 2015,
when he was visiting a country
in Southeast Asia for business.
He says after a day of meetings, he meets a woman at a bar.
He goes back to her apartment
where another couple is present.
They share a joint and some drinks.
That is when he claims his memory fades,
and the next thing he knows,
he's waking up in an unfamiliar apartment
with two men who confront him with the video.
Bainbridge recalling, "My stomach hit the ground.
I was just horrified. You're like, what else happened?
What else don't I remember?"
Adding that he's not a methamphetamine user
and doesn't know how the drug ended up in his hands.
And all of that began a year's long extortion scheme
in which he paid them off to keep the footage under wraps.
Initially paying the extortionist 3000 Australian dollars.
And then for years, nothing happened until 2019,
when they came back, this time through WhatsApp,
demanding more money.
With Bainbridge then making 14 payments to them
totalling 9,000 Australian dollars,
with the demands getting bigger and more frequent.
And at this point he finally approaches a London-based
threat assessment agency which says you have two options.
You keep paying them for however long
they're gonna keep it up, probably forever.
Or you stop and just pray that this goes away.
Him choosing the second option,
and obviously that didn't work.
With Bainbridge saying, "I'm a victim of extortion,"
but also adding "that wouldn't have occurred
without my poor judgment.
I am deeply remorseful for my own actions."
While I think it makes sense
that he is like not just trying
to make himself out to be a victim.
He is like, I, you know I had the choice to go
and put myself in this situation.
It 1000% does need to be remembered
that that doesn't mean he is not a victim.
Extortion of all kinds happens to thousands,
if not millions, of people every year.
This is just a high-profile case.
It ranges from a simple threat
by an ex-partner to leak nudes
to international organized crime rackets.
And for normal people who aren't CEOs
in multimillion dollar companies,
stuff like this can be devastating
because the price to keep your reputation alive is too high.
And also while different, this reminds me of another story
I wanted to cover earlier this week,
but I just didn't have enough time.
Like Bainbridge is probably scared to go to the police
because he was like "Am get in trouble for doing drugs?"
But while possibly messy,
I think we need to figure out
how to separate certain things.
Right, for example, in San Francisco,
there's an ongoing investigation into the story
of a woman who was arrested for a felony property crime.
Which sounds kind of like an okay, who cares story,
but the way they found her was from DNA collected years ago
from her own domestic violence involved rape examination.
To me, that just feels insane.
I'm not saying whatever crime she may
or may not have committed, like that, that's okay.
But to add all this risk to a victim
trying to report a crime, I think that's horrible.
Plus there are legal experts who believe
that this just violates the constitutional protection
against unreasonable searches and seizures.
And if you take out the human element,
like I can understand, you know,
the police may be like more data means more arrests
But it just feels like the authorities
have their priorities backwards.
If there is a situation or even concern
that they're gonna care more about you smoking a drug
rather than extortion racket,
or that there was a property crime when you were raped.
I don't know. That's the story.
Some of my thoughts on it.
And of course, I'll pass the question off to you.
What do you think?
And then, y'all we need to revisit the situation
between Russia and Ukraine.
So if you've been living under a rock,
here's a speed-run version.
Russia's been sending troops to line the border with Ukraine
under the claim that they're part of military drills.
This including its northern border with Belarus.
And at the same time, what a happenstance,
Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded
that Ukraine not be allowed ever to be admitted into NATO.
Not to mention, past demands that included
removing all NATO troops from the region.
NATO and Ukraine have denied those demands,
leading to a tense standoff.
Now, one of the big things,
this is a fight on many fronts.
With one, for example, being information.
Right, last Friday
with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
accusing the press in Western nations
of a "large-scale disinformation campaign
in order to divert attention
from their own aggressive actions."
Saying, "At the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022,
the global information space faced a media campaign
unprecedented in its scale and sophistication,
the purpose of which is to convince the world community
that the Russian Federation is preparing an invasion
to the territory of Ukraine."
But on the flip side,
Western nations have largely ignored this claim,
pointing out that satellite imagery
can clearly show Russian troops
building up along the border.
And it was even shown, that over the weekend,
many troops left those bases to move closer to the border.
On top of that, you have the digital war.
There are recent reports of Russian cyber attacks
against Ukrainian banks and infrastructure systems.
Actions that are arguably actually engaging in warfare.
All these concerns and more leading to the US to announce
that, at least temporarily, it'll be moving the embassy
from Kyiv to Lviv in western Ukraine.
Then on Tuesday things seemed to maybe have died down.
Putin claiming that Russian troops were being pulled back
after finishing their drills,
with his government also releasing video
showing some troops seemingly leaving the region.
But still, adding the major drills would continue to happen.
Shortly after that, president Biden gave a statement
- From the beginning of this crisis,
I had been absolutely clear and consistent.
The United States is prepared no matter what happens.
We are ready with diplomacy,
to be engaged in diplomacy with Russia.
And our allies and partners to improve stability
and security in Europe as a whole.
And we are ready to respond decisively to Russian attack
on Ukraine, which is still very much a possibility.
- Biden reiterating that he continued to push
for a diplomatic solution to the crisis
after speaking with Putin over the weekend.
And such a solution, according to the president includes-
- The new arms control measures, new transparency measures,
new strategic stability measures.
These measures apply to all parties, NATO, and Russia alike.
- But Biden and Putin seem to remain at a standstill
when it comes to the big question, will Ukraine join NATO?
The country still very much wants to join
while also being realistic that it may not happen.
However, even if it does happen,
Biden conceded that if Ukraine joins,
neither NATO or the US will deploy missiles to the country.
But that's not enough for Putin.
If a mayor of Russia were to invade,
the president promised to impose powerful sanctions.
Saying, "We will put intense pressure on their largest
and most significant financial institutions
and key industries."
However, Biden did definitively say
that US troops would not go into defend Ukraine
and is instead relying on sending military equipment.
Comments that may have emboldened Russian politicians
or this may have already been part of the plan with.
With its legislature voting yesterday to put pressure
on Putin to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk,
two Russian-backed Ukrainian regions.
Things also escalating again when Putin started claiming
that there was a genocide in those regions.
Also today, you have the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
claiming that Russia was concerned
about a potential Ukrainian attack
into those breakaway regions.
With all this seeming to line up
with what US intelligence agencies have been saying.
That Russia would outright lie or false flag their way
into justifying a war with Ukraine
instead of it just looking like naked aggression.
Also notably, despite Biden's comments
about wanting a diplomatic solution
and saying we're not going to go into Ukraine.
It hasn't stopped NATO from still sending more troops
to the region in a show of force.
This also hasn't stopped Russia
from attempting a show of force in the Pacific
near Japan by deploying more warships to the region.
With this likely done because Japan has shown support
of Ukraine which could be partially fueled
by its alliance with the US as well
and because it has its own territorial dispute.
But generally speaking,
any action that could arguably provoke the Japanese
to bring its long held stance
on forever revoking war just seems dumb.
Especially because despite being called a defensive force,
Japan is one of the most powerful navies in the world.
But ultimately that is where we are though.
This is still a developing situation.
We kind of have to wait to see what happens next.
Especially because what's being claimed
and what's actually being seen, it's not matching.
Russia continues to claim that it's pulling troops back
and satellite imagery, alongside videos on the ground,
continue to show that it's not necessarily true.
And while many, including myself,
hope that things will calm down,
it is important to remember that the possibility
of an invasion is still very much on the table.
But ultimately that is where that story
and today's show ends. Thanks for watching.
If you want some more new news,
you can click or tap right there.
I love yo faces, and I'll see you tomorrow.