Hospice, Last week tonight with john oliver (HBO) season 4, coming 8/25

Russia the country that gave the world's Tetris merkens you wear on your heads and potentially the 45th president of the United States now Russia was at the center of a major development in the US this week Michael Flynn resigning as the US National Security advisor this coming after reports that the justice department warned he could be vulnerable to Blackmail over Communications he had with the Russian Ambassador okay that's it everyone check your office pools because if you had communication with Russia as the reason the first member of Trump's Inner Circle resigned you win that's a that's a shame cuz my money was on never set foot in a public school or president can't stop seeing Melissa McCarthy whenever you speak but but interestingly the Flyn dearle is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the Trump Administration and Russia there were accusations swirling around two people involved in his campaign Paul maniff for and Carter page uh there's this strong evidence that Russia hacks the dnc's emails to influence the election and then there's of course the Infamous leaked dossier alleging serious connections between Trump and his associates and Russia or as you undoubtedly remember it the thing about the urine fetish Moscow sex party and look there is no hard proof yet of direct links between Trump himself and Russia but he does have a weird noticeably soft spot for both the country and its leader I was in Moscow recently and I spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin who could not have have been nicer Putin even sent me a present beautiful present with a beautiful note by the way it would be great if we could get along with Russia just so you understand that now tomorrow you'll say Donald Trump wants to get along with Russia this is terrible it's not terrible it's good yeah I'm I'm not saying it's terrible I'm also not saying it's good though I'm saying it's a bit weird that you've been objectively nicer to Vladimir Putin than you have to Merill strep who I'm pretty sure is not an Infamous autocrat although you know what now I say it if she tried it she'd nail it the woman is a Tor def for but the point is the point is Trump is fixated on getting along better with Russia so tonight we thought we'd ask what does that actually mean what are the chances of it happening and what might we give up in the process and I know that over here we think of Putin as a cartoon character who stages photo ops where he's shirtless on a horse or swimming like a dolphin uh or or emerging from the sea like a bond villain or wearing a or winning a staring contest with a baby chick or quite possibly breaking a child's arm but but in Russia he's not some comic book villain to many he's a comic book hero he's genuinely popular there for years he's even had his own pop song [Music] that song has been stuck in my head all week and I don't even speak Russian it's it's called a man like Putin and it's all about how women want someone like him although just think about that for a second because that means they want a man in his 60s who has thinning hair and who's probably about 5' five so the man they're saying they want is essentially Richard drus but mean and and you know as for all those photo ops well you you'd really be surprised how many Russians look at those and take them at face value earlier this year Putin miraculously recovered two ancient vases from the bottom of the ocean fortunately cameras were on hand to capture this historic moment oh come on not only is that clearly [ __ ] but contrived Seaside photo ops is the same publicity strategy as Taylor Swift and Tom hlon America had Hiddles Swift Russia got pole jug #p jug Putin's popularity though is all the more surprising given that from the beginning his presidency has been shrouded in accusations of corruption we've seen him enriching his friends his close allies and marginalizing those who he doesn't view as friends uh using State assets whether that's Russia's energy wealth whether it's other uh State contracts he directs those to whom uh he believes will serve him and excludes those who don't I see so so Putin's friends depend on him for their wealth that actually explains how we wound up once going out dressed like this because any real friend would tell him Vladimir no I love you but you cannot pull off white denim you look like you're attending the wedding of a yacht and the year 1991 get changed as a friend get changed but it's not just Putin's friends who've become rich some estimates put Putin's personal wealth anywhere from 4 to 85 billion which would make him one of the richest men in the world and although he strenuously denies it nothing about his finances adds up President Putin's official income is around $100,000 a year and yet he lives like the super rich he has a collection of expensive watches even his designer tracksuit cost $3,000 whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa what monster works out in a $33,000 tracksuit the only acceptable reason for owning a tracksuit that expensive is if you recorded the 2002 hit workit your name is Missy Elliot and you are not fully aware that other clothes exist that's it that is it I draw a line there but but for example of really surprising wealth consider Putin's own daughter she and her husband have Holdings worth around $2 billion which is a lot of money for someone who and this is true is an academic SL acrobatic rock and roll dancer and if you think we don't have footage of her in action you are sorely mistaken [Music] first cool and and second you know a lot of people think that the most dangerous job in the world is prison guard or fighter pilot but I'd like now now to put a strong word in for guy whose job is to throw Putin's daughter way up in the air and then hopefully catch her you know what you know what maybe Vladimir Putin has just been extraordinarily Lucky in his life and if so it contrasts with the extreme Misfortune that many of his critics and political opponents have suffered opposition leader Boris nof was shot dead Alexander laneno a former KGB agent who turned on Putin died of radiation poisoning a journalist Anna poovaya was murdered on Putin's birthday and the activist Vladimir karura was allegedly poisoned managed to survive only to be allegedly poisoned again earlier this year and I know that all this looks bad but again maybe Putin had nothing to do with any of that and just got lucky maybe the guy has a rabbit's foot yes a freshly severed one but still he's got one and meanwhile other Putin adversaries have uh have uh uh ended up disgraced when sex tapes of them were shown on national TV or leaked on the internet and a sex tape doesn't even need to be real as this man Kyle Hatcher who works for the US state department in Russia discovered a few years ago and last month this undercover video of Hatcher was posted on a Russian Internet site complete with background music Hatcher is seen in a Moscow hotel room in his underwear with the lights on then the lights are out in the room and a man and a woman appear to be having sexual relations on the bed Hatcher told us officials this is a fabrication okay now that is obviously ridiculous but I do actually have some questions here one uh if someone releases a fake sex tape of you do you watch it and uh two what if the fake you is better at sex than the real you and the only reason I ask this is I'm currently talking [ __ ] about Putin on television so I'm expecting my fake sex tape to come out any moment now and I'm just I'm just interested I'm just interested that's all Putin has carefully created an atmosphere in Russia that is extremely hostile to any opposition standing up to him can mean being targeted by trolls and not just on the internet when Gary Kasparov spoke at a political opposition event he was interrupted and this is true by radio controlled flying dildos and you know what I have to say I kind of respect that deep down that takes real imagination initiative and planning now what is less impressive though is what liberal politician Ilia Yashin claims happen to him [Music] [Music] [Music] look I I do understand being mad at someone who is [ __ ] on your car but for the record parents walking by are not actually going to be offended because if you have a child your visceral response to seeing someone other than your own kid taking a dump in public is not my [ __ ] problem not my problem so so to recap Putin may or may not have stolen billions of dollars and may or may not have been involved in the intimidation or assassination of his opponents there is so much that people suspect but can't quite prove in the same way that I suspect Putin's genitals are just a fist covered in Thorns but I can't entirely say for sure I'm 98% I'm just not quite there but here is what we can say about Putin without a doubt he among other things annexed Crimea imposed severe fines and long prison terms on protesters propped up the brutal Assad regime and signed a harsh anti-gay propaganda law which many Russians supported which might actually not be that surprising when you consider that they see [ __ ] like this on state sponsored TV Sodom and Gomorrah were burnt with the rain of sulfurous fire from the heavens since that time the real name of homosexuals just so you know our dear TV audience is not gays but sodomites God does not tolerate the filth and sin that may consume the entire world we need to resist to stay alive wow now to give you just a sense of how anti-gay Russian TV is their most popular makeover show features five straight guys and is called that jacket looks fine so look in a nutshell that is Russia under Vladimir Putin and our president wants to get along better with him and I'm not saying that America hasn't regularly cozied up to regimes with hideous human rights records I will not mention names but let's just say that Saudi Arabia knows who they are but but there is something truly alarming about how easy Trump's makes this all sound if our country got along with Russia that would be a great thing wouldn't it be a wonderful thing frankly if we actually got along with Russia wouldn't it be great if we actually got along with Russia wouldn't it be nice if we actually got along with Russia wouldn't that be good wouldn't it actually be wonderful wouldn't it be nice wouldn't it be nice wouldn't it be nice if we actually got along as an example with Russia I'm all for it sure yeah and it would also be nice if you could walk right up to a bear and hug it that would be really really nice but unfortunately it's not that [ __ ] easy negotiating anything with Putin is going to be way more difficult than Trump trump seems to think Putin spent his early life as a spy for Russia in East Germany where he mastered manipulating foreigners and I'm not saying that Trump isn't at his level I just saying what what happened last year when Bill O'Reilly tried to game out how Trump would respond to Russian planes buzzing us warships I would say uh do not do that that's provocation that's something that you're not supposed to be doing uh but if he did it if he defied to do on many you'd have to shoot one of those planes down I I may have to do something which you would hate to do but this is something I wouldn't want to do but I would say Vladimir don't do it let's go come on we're going to have a good relationship don't do it that is just [ __ ] embarrassing he is using the tone of a dog owner failing to stop a spaniel peeing on the rug Waggles don't do it let's go come on Waggles we're going to have a good relationship don't do it Wags don't do it don't do it and the thing is the thing is Trump has already given Putin something absolutely massive and he may not even realize it yet let me explain Putin is actually a little bit weaker than you think at the moment his economy is struggling which is not great news for an autocrat who may have stolen billions from his own people but he is still very popular in part because he routinely deflects criticism onto the us and not just to dodge blame but to delegitimize our ability to claim the moral High Ground Russians love it when America points the finger at him and he just points it right back for instance when he was asked a few years ago about suppressing dissent in Russia he immediately changed the subject to problems in America do you believe that everything is perfect now from the point of view of democracy if everything was perfect there would be no problem like Ferguson right there would be no other problems of a similar nature there would be no abuse by the police this is the same case in Russia a lot of problems yeah but but not all problems are the same it's like comparing La La Land an Academy Award nominated movie with glaring flaws to the human centipede a thing that barely counts as a film yes one movie is people sewn mouth to anus but you know Ryan goling looks at his feet when he dances so it all evens out in the end this this message that you know if things are bad here just know that they are just as bad in America that is a key Putin technique Russian State media spent a good part of last year insisting that the US election was rigged and they did this for a clear reason what does the Kremlin want to put in Russians heads there is no real democracy in the world it doesn't work this will be the opportunity to show that hey they have they do the same thing there is no difference and we're no worse than they are yes exactly so that is the official line your [ __ ] we're [ __ ] everything [ __ ] never try for a better world because it doesn't exist exist that is not only Bleak I think it's also the working title of every Russian novel ever written and and you know what though you would expect America's elections are rigged to be a standard Putin lineon what changed last year though was that he had a major American candidate saying the exact same thing and if you think that that played into Putin's hands imagine how happy he was to then see the president of the United States take his moral equivalence argument and just run with it Putin's a killer a lot of killers we got a lot of killers why you think our country's so innocent do you think our country is so innocent I don't know of any government leaders that are killers in the well take a look at what we've done too holy [ __ ] the only way he could sound any more like Vladimir Putin is if he said all that in a [ __ ] $3,000 track suit Trump is basically the propagandist of Putin's dreams and who knows why he's acting this way maybe he's compromised maybe he's an idiot but since the president of the United States won't stick up for this country I will America and Russia are not the [ __ ] same and don't get me wrong America has had and continues to have endemic problems that need fixing that might as well be the title of this show but but hold on though hold on cuz our elections have some flaws but they are not rigged our human rights record is far from perfect but it does not compare to Putin's Russia and our press is at least currently free enough that I can routinely do this Donald Trump America's wealthiest hemorrhoid America's walking talking brush fire Rome Burling in manful an ill-fitting suit full of chickens coming home to roost Twitter's it made Manifest this sentient circus peanut a racist voodoo doll made of discarded cat hair a clown made of mummified for skin and cotton C upside down piece of candy corn in a wig made of used medical cors a clear plastic bag filled with cheeseburgers and Confederate flag belt buckles an old piece of luggage covered in cheese whiz a kidney dropped on the floor at a super cut is basically what happens if the secret gets into the wrong hand yeah I've talked a lot of [ __ ] and to his CR Trump has not had me murdered yet yet there is still time the problem is though Trump has already given Putin a lot without realizing it but Putin wants more experts say that he likely wants an end to us sanctions for us to endorse his proad position in Syria uh for for to let him weaken NATO and to recognize his annexation of Crimea all of which would be against American interests and values but there seems to be a genuine danger that if unchecked Trump May trade any or all of that away in exchange for getting along better whatever the [ __ ] that really means so someone needs quickly to get into Trump's ear and educate him in how realistic getting along better with Putin actually is unfortunately our cath a cowboy cannot do it in 30 seconds so we've put together a quick explanation guaranteed to stick in Trump's mind in the catchiest possible form shitty techn music a man like seem like you're strong but if you think back know that you're wrong a man like sure has the luck because journalist die and he's Rich As [ __ ] a man like only wants power he'll take a take of your golden shower that's not something we want to see your orangy face cover PE and CR like all of a better bar because it'll check it down and [ __ ] on your car who whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa no no no do not [ __ ] on my car that is weird it's so weird if if anything it might be the weirdest part of this whole story please don't [ __ ] on my car don't please don't do it I'm sorry you were you were telling the president about Putin go recap of the week and unfortunately we have to begin in South Carolina where on Wednesday nine people were tragically killed at the Emanuel am Church in Charleston it was yet another senseless horrific act of violence and even the president seem tired of this depressingly familiar routine now is the time for mourning and for healing but let's be clear at some point we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other Advanced countries and it is in our power to do something about it I say that recognizing the politics in this town foreclose a lot of those Avenues right now and at some point it's going to be important for the American people to come to grips with it he sounds completely defeated which is understandable he's made more than a dozen statements about mass shootings in his presidency so far and nothing has been done but but it's still hard not to feel disillusioned watching the most powerful man in the world sound so hopeless it's like seeing your father cry for the first time or or catching a department store s getting into his Toyota Turell or or seeing your high school English teacher at the grocery store with a shopping cart full of 14 Lean Cuisine lasagnas oh Mr greenblat are those all for you you taught us to be courageous but you won't even try eHarmony this is devastating I'm devastated Mr G look it is pretty clear nothing is going to be done about how this tragedy was committed which might explain why some have focused on a symbol associated with why it happened because in the wake of this racially motivated shooting some people found one thing especially ging the American flag the state flag that is at those are at half staff the Confederate flag that has not been lowered at all that's right the Confederate Battle Flag was flying at full staff in front of the state capital although perhaps the bigger question is why it was flying at any staff at all the the Confederate flag is one of those symbols that should really only be seen on t-shirts belt buckles and bumper stickers to help the rest of us identify the worst people in the world oh I'm sorry is that a is that a Confederate flag on your belt lean thanks for coming in the nanny position has already been filled which is not to say the flag does not have passionate defenders in South Carolina and that may be why politicians there go through comical contortions to avoid criticizing it is it time to stop Flying the Confederate flag well at the end of the day it's time for people in South Carolina to revisit that decision would be fine with me but this is part of who we are the Flag represents to some people a Civil War and that was the symbol of one side to others it's a racist symbol and it's been used by people has been used in a racist way yeah yeah it has in fact I believe the first time the Confederate flag was used in a racist way was the exact second they finished sewing the very first one it was around that time now to be somewhat Fair here to be somewhat Fair lowering the flag outside the state capital is a little more difficult than it sounds the flag cannot be lowered um for any reason because it is affixed to that poll it can't be raised or lowered and if that flag is to be removed or lowered or anything done to it you have to get uh I think it's 2/3 uh majority vote in each chamber of the State Assembly to do it yeah it needs a 2third vote they were originally going to make 3 fifths but even they thought that might be a bit on the nose just a bit on the nose now look look South Carolina and indeed any state that flies this flag even as part of their actual state flag Mississippi holy [ __ ] now might be a great time out of respect not just for the events of this week but for the events of the past several centuries to take that vote and lower the flag down to half staff and then when it's at half staff why not keep lowering it all the way down and once you're holding it in your hands take it off the flag pole completely fold it or don't bother put it in a box label it bad flag and put it somewhere no one can see it just a thought it's just just a simple good thought let's let's move on now to Russia a country that will continue to be funny until it suddenly isn't with with Summer here you may be wondering where to take your family on vacation well on Tuesday Russia unveiled a brand new Option it's called Patriot Park and when it's finished it's set to become a kind of Russian military Disneyland where children can clamber over heavy Weaponry even play with grenade launchers instead of riding on the normal kind of Fairground attraction okay okay okay as an adult I'm horrified but as a former Child I'm incredibly jealous that theme parks now exist where you can play with grenade launchers British children just got taken to PG woodhouse's faux par Mansion it didn't have ride so much as a selection of chairs Russia's Patriot Park is actually due to open in 2017 but they've released an early promotional video for it showing that every part of it is designed to celebrate the Russian military from the contents of the park to how you get there it can be reached by bus from the Metro stop Park P by train from belarusi Railway station or by car by taking the 55th exit off the minsy highway the exit is made out of two large demountable transport Bridges as used by the Russian military that's right even the highway exit to the park is on theme that may be taking things a bit too far even SeaWorld doesn't make you enter by driving over a tortured orer and SeaWorld loves torturing orcas they love it so much russu is spending an estimated $370 million on this park which might sound like a lot for a country currently suffering under International sanctions and low oil prices but going by their video they are almost alarmingly unconcerned about that more than 500 examples of military equipment will be on display in a special 100,000 m Open Space area did you see that there is going to be an area literally called the military industrial complex and sure sure you could argue that Eisenhower saw this coming but I don't recall him mentioning in his speech anything about it one day getting so big that Russian kids could physically walk through it's eating a [ __ ] churro finally this week money uh it turns out if you offer Robert dairo enough of it he'll appear in The Adventures of rock and Bullwinkle uh this week brought a very exciting development in US currency the $10 bill is being redesigned and will feature the first woman on the nation's paper currency in more than a century great that that that feels why not that feels like progress of the embarrassingly late kind it's it's kind of like when a company announces their first female vice president it makes you think really okay well congratulations on finally doing the second least you could do and even in this instance it turns out campaigners had been hoping for something a little more The Pick of the $10 bill is a bit of a surprise over the last several months a campaign to put a woman on the $20 bill went viral yeah of course they wanted the 20 the 20 is a much better Bill to be on the only person in America who regularly uses the 10 is Richard Gear and that's only to show his hair stylist the look that he's going for a look that he has nailed he has nailed it now treasury secretary Jack Lou was actually asked why women had only been offered the 10 and he responded in magnificently awkward fashion what would you say to people who say you know the 10 it's not as prestigious as the $20 bill you can't get that at every ATM I think the $10 bill is a pretty big deal but not but it's not the 20 you know I I I think the $10 bill is is one of our most widely used bills and um it is uh I think is as important as the 20 [ __ ] it's as important as the 20 [ __ ] that's that's the equivalent of claiming Liam Hemsworth is as important as Chris Hemsworth you're fooling yourself Liam's useful sure he'll do you in a pinch but he's exactly half as good as Chris end of discussion # halfer Hemsworth end of discussion and the crazy thing is it actually makes much more sense to kick Andrew Jackson Off the 20 than Alexander Hamilton off the 10 Hamilton was America's first treasury secretary he proposed setting up both a national bank and a national mint Andrew Jackson didn't even trust paper money Jackson took a kind of fundamentalist view of money and credit gold and silver dollars were real money paper was in some sense fake that's true Andrew Jackson hated paper money and yet we've stamped his face all over it it it would be like having Guy Fieri branded quino or or putting Tom Cruz's face on an anti-depressant act that that would make him Furious and you don't want that he's OT level 16 he can move objects with his mind he can do it but the thing is in an amazing twist it turns out Hamilton won't be completely shut out of the $10 bill after all if you're a big fan of Alexander Hamilton don't despair the treasury Department says that his image will remain in some way on at least some of the $10 bills oh so a woman's not getting her own bill at all she'll be splitting it with Al alander Hamilton this is basically the perfect embodiment of the women's rights movement women ask for something they've earned a bunch of men get together and talk about it and then they give the women half and ask her to share it and now this and now C span collar suggest women for the $10 bill we want to know what you think who should be on the $10 bill it should be the Blessed Virgin Mary which everybody on the earth knows her picture um yeah IR ran if this country ever does make it we all great a gratitude to her the best of the lot I'm going to tell you Amelia aot a lot of people think she was executed by the Japanese in the South Pacific nobody knows s r sacka Jia Elanor Roosevelt Harriet tubs uh a a bear a uh an eagle I think it should be Princess Diana Princess Diana so someone who is not American well I still think she ought to be on there moving on our main story tonight concerns the Internet it's a place where you can see incredible things like glamour shots of cats Angora show bunnies or even this rare heartbreaking footage of an injured World War one soldier returning home to his pregnant wife never going to give you going to let you [Music] down you idiots I got you so good I got you so good the internet has been blowing our minds with its power and convenience for decades as you can see in this actual AOL ad from the '90s hey Dan ready for the game I'm just finishing up here with my new kayaking friends kayaking friends on your computer yeah I just got America Online sounds great listen I can't go to the game today what I've got a to send something for my mom's birthday it's tomorrow I'll then book plane tickets for a trip next week and my kids got to go to the library to look up dinosaurs hey we can take care of all that before we go yeah right oh with America Online wait let me get this right your mom's birthday is tomorrow your trip is next week and you're only planning both of those things now forget the AOL tutorial let's talk about basic responsibility here Dan you're a father but but as the ad as the ad goes on to point out the internet was going to fix everything call now for 10 free hours of America online and get instant access to the World of Sports Finance Computing and entertainment here come the dinosaurs I save you a trip to the library that's great yeah that Lo is easy too you know I can even send email on the internet and of course there's my personal favorite live chat that's how I met my new kayak and buddies okay okay okay I I'm now pretty sure that kayaking buddies is a euphemism I'm not saying that he's not going to meet his new Buddies in a shared by a lake I'm just saying there's not going to be a kayak involved that's amazingly that ad was 20 years ago and the internet has become integral to Modern Life but unfortunately it's also become a Haven for harassment and I'm not talking about everyday internet abuse of which I am more than aware look at our YouTube page and you'll see comments like this guy's a [ __ ] dumbass I don't know why but I always picture John Oliver as a puffing and watch his hands his fing are like creepy spider LS which is ridiculous because oh god oh get off me no I'm not talking about that I'm talking about the kind of direct threats that can make people fear for their safety and if you're thinking well come on that doesn't seem like that bigger problem well congratulations on your white penis because if if you have one of those you probably have a very different experience of the internet women in particular can receive a veritable cornicopia of horrifying messages online just listen to one female video gameer discussing one of the more colorful threats that she's seen I think the one that always sticks out in my mind is uh I'm going to stick an egg in your vaginal canal and punch it and I don't know why but that one is just it's poignant you know what it it is kind of poignant fun fact for you I'm going to stick an egg in your vaginal canal and punch it was actually the original title of eat prey love so there's a little fact for you and and that threat was comparatively mild others can be chillingly specific and potentially dangerous listen to how these women were treated when they spoke out against what they saw as sexism in the video game industry I'm constantly aware of the fact that um there's an enormous amount of hate directed towards me hate in the form of bomb threats rape threats even death threats they told me they were coming to kill me when someone posts your address online and they tell you they're going to murder your whole family you don't really feel safe staying with that location yeah no [ __ ] I wouldn't blame her for not feeling safe staying on Earth for the record if someone did that to me I'd hitch a right to the International Space Station straight away except who am I kidding they'd never let me in I've got spiders for hands the internet is mean and look this this does not just affect women in gaming it can potentially affect any woman who makes the mistake of having a thought in her mind and then vocalizing it online for many female writers and public figures this day-to-day harassment is their life earlier this year writer Amanda Hess detailed her experience the threats were obviously distressing it was an anonymous person on Twitter threatening to come to my house to rape me to cut off my head and in case you think she's exaggerating here are some of the tweets she's referring to happy to say we live in the same state I'm looking you up and when find you I'm going to rape you and remove your head and I am 36 years old I did 12 Years for manslaughter I killed a woman like you who decided to make fun of guys [ __ ] which is horrifying for so many reasons first he put manslaughter in quotes like he still doesn't think it's a crime and also he put his age like he's writing the world's worst okay Cupids profile I'm 36 years old I've killed before and I've got a pretty weird shaped penis the thing is when Amanda hes went to the police she quickly discovered how ill equipped they can be to deal with this sort of thing in my home state of California it's a crime to threaten bodily harm against another person when I received my most sort of recent bout of threats said the police officer who came to my door didn't even understand what Twitter was had no idea how to investigate uh such a crime and and I'm not even sure knew that it it was criminal um so it's hard to know what to do when you're in that situation that's a problem because the police cannot investigate a crime if they genuinely don't understand the medium in which it happened if someone tried to drown you you don't want the police saying I get the murder attempt but what's this water thing you keep bringing up is it like air but a bit more chokey is that what it is and women aren't just threatened and harassed online the internet has thrown up a whole new way to wreck their lives it's called revenge porn you may have heard of it it's when naked photos of people are posted online without their conern sent and it can be devastating this is anarie cherini an English Professor who let her then boyfriend take some private photos of her um now after they broke up he sent them to her employer and her son's kindergarten teacher and then this happened I received an anonymous email at work that a profile had been created of me someone was pretending to be me um and they were newed pictures on this profile so I Googled my name and the porn website x hamster came up and there was my first and last name the name of the college where I teach the town where I live and a solicitation for sex now that obviously sounds like a nightmare and sadly the horror of that situation led her to some pretty dark places my actual thoughts were this was my this is my life this is never going to end so I need to end my life cuz I could not live like that so after the um I found the profile I attempted suicide now you would assume that it's illegal to do that to someone the problem is there is no federal law specifically against revenge porn and in Maryland where she lived revenge porn was not illegal at the time in fact only 23 states have passed laws specifically against revenge porn in the other 27 it's one of those things that should be explicitly illegal but isn't like using a golf umbrella in Manhattan or returning from a semester abroad in Spain and insisting on calling it Barcelona you are the worst the worst the point is the point is if you are a victim of revenge porn in one of those 27 States your options are limited you can try to pursue stalking or harassment charges but those laws may not always apply or you can file a civil suit against the person who did it but as anarie cherini found out you face an uphill battle I did go to lawyers in 2010 to handle this civil and um the first one said well you know you're really should get better boyfriends I won't take this case the second one I approached said well it's going to be a $5,000 upfront retainer and this could run anywhere from 10 to 15,000 when all said and done I'm a single mom of two I work two jobs I don't have $5,000 never mind 15 yeah of course you don't because most people don't keep a shoe box full of money marked just in case a total piece of [ __ ] tries to ruin my life now now you could ask the website to take the photos down if you own the copyright but if they refuse then winning your lawsuit might entail doing something absolutely mindblowing you can sue but to do that you got to register the copyright which brings us to the cold hard truth in the most extreme case you've got to send pictures of your naked body to the copyright office that's in Washington yes to stop strangers from seeing pictures of their naked body some women have had to send more strangers more pictures of their naked body we are one step away from trying to protect our children in the future by having the copyright symbol tattooed onto their genitals at Birth look just to be safe let's take her to Viper's ink Shack we don't know what kind of [ __ ] she could end up meeting this situation is insane and as one expert found the official response to victims ranges from offensive to ridiculous I've interviewed 60 victims of online harassment what they're often told is look either if it's Revenge por you shared pictures with your ex he owns it now like sorry that you trusted the person but it's kind of your fault right or they're told look if it's just harassment generally like turn off your computer ignore it it'll go away but turn off your computer is simply not practical almost every job requires the internet now somewhere right now in the world there is a yak herder going why is the Wi-Fi so slow [ __ ] it I'll H these Yaks after lunch and and that whole distinctly victim blamy sentiment of if you didn't want this to happen you shouldn't have taken photos is hardwired into mainstream culture just watch how the news talks about this whenever it comes up how best to avoid this problem experts say don't take pictures and then share them I think that the the teachable moment and the takeaway is you just can't take these pictures you know what don't take naked photos of yourself listen one of the solutions to the problem is don't take pictures of yourself naked okay we've said that good point kids don't take pictures of yourself naked and put it on the Internet it's going to come up some point and and what if it doesn't come up until you're a parent and then you got to explain that what the [ __ ] are you talking about for a start not taking pictures doesn't always work sometimes these photos come from hacked webcams but regardless of that it doesn't matter how it happens cuz here's a fun game insert any other crime into those same sentences listen guys if if you don't want to get burgled don't live in a house if you're a parent how are you going to explain that Breakin to your kids and look I'm well aware that asking law enforcement to police speech is a dicey proposition no one wants them trolling through message boards looking for violent language but if a woman turns up to a police station saying someone threatened her life on Twitter the answer what's Twitter is woefully inadequate and as for revenge porn we're going to need some new laws un fortunately there are plans to introduce a Bill in Congress called the intimate privacy protection act that aims to address non-consensual pornography and we've obtained an exclusive video of one representative's genuinely moving speech about balancing First Amendment rights and protecting victims you I got you again you're a bunch of idiots and I'm the king of pranks if passed this law as drafted would make it a crime to post revenge porn and don't worry it would still leave us with plenty of internet porn to keep us going and also the law would carve out exceptions for the Bonafide public interest meaning that if say a public figure like Anthony weer texted his penis around we could all still enjoy that story now not being able to enjoy it would not be a danger danger although although the truth is the law can only do so much companies need to be much more diligent about clamping down on this and they are slowly coming around in recent months Twitter and Reddit banned revenge porn on their sites and just this Friday Google finally announced after much prodding it would remove photos of revenge porn from search results upon request and for Google to do that is not nothing because we all know not even vindictive perverts will use Bing they won't do it not even they will go near that thing they're not monsters and for the rest of us it comes down to two us and and to fundamentally changing the way that we think about the internet cuz too often you hear people play down the dangers of the Internet by saying well relax it's not real life but it is and it always has been the whole point of those AOL ads 20 years ago was that what you did online would affect your life immediately nowadays you can click a button and buy a book meet your spouse or ruin someone's life sometimes those last two are the same click but we we all know the internet is an incredible tool but like most tools it can be used as a weapon and we've allowed things to get to a place where women can fear for their lives for something they said online and find themselves mailing their genitals to Washington in order to maintain their privacy and perhaps we would have dealt with this earlier if only those AOL ads had looked something like this every day the internet is making it easier for people to live work and play hey Dan ready for the game I'm just finishing up here with my new kayaking friends wow that's a really specific thing to say listen I'm not going to be able to make the game tonight oh why well I have to go out into the streets and scream obscenities at women that I don't even know and then after that I got to handwrite letters to all the Golden Girls telling them that I'm going to [ __ ] down their throats and then after that I got to bring these naked photos of my ex-wife to her office and show them to everyone that she works with because she's such a [ __ ] it's going to take hours hey we can do all of that before we go yeah right no with the internet look it's easy see here's a random woman for Minneapolis who just said how she felt about something you want me to make her fear for her life why not but how done incredible what else can this thing do to women with the internet the only limit to how miserable you can make another human being is how angry you are and how fast you can type hey well what about those photos of my ex oh that's my favorite part all you have to do is scan them into this site and then people can see it instantly her boss her friends her parents everyone everyone everyone everyone everyone and this is legal there's no federal law explicitly against it that seems insane doesn't it yeah it really [Music] does Anyway come on we're going to be late for the game can't wait afterwards I'm going to [ __ ] some of my new kayaking Buddies the internet a dark carnival of humanities must wreck your impulses also Sports we the cast that's our show thank you so much for watching see you again next week good night you ready to go to the game I'm just finishing up here with my new kayak friends listen I'm not going to be able to make the game tonight oh no why I got to go to my wife's office if you're going to type like a [ __ ] idiot