Sarah Palin's Resignation speech

[via boingboing. And read great coverage and commentaries on The Huffington Post]

Iran bans prayers for 'Angel of Freedom' Neda Agha Soltan

This video or group may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community.

Iran's regime has issued a ban on memorials for a young woman whose death has become the focal point of protests against the clerical regime. The Telegraph reports.

Neda Agha Soltan, 27, was dubbed the Angel of Freedom after a video which appeared to show her being shot by a government sniper was posted on the internet.

Graphic scenes show Neda – her name means "the call" – walking with her father among demonstrators, then separately when she was shot as well as attempts to save her life.

Some online posts speculated the image would rank alongside that of the unnamed man standing in front of a tank in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 and the summary execution of a Vietnamese Communist prisoner by Colonel Nugyen Ngoc Loan in 1968.

Footage was posted on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook and was viewed by tens of thousands. Messages of sympathy and outrage flooded the internet following the posting of the videos.

The Iranian authorities have now sent out a circular to mosques banning collective prayers for the woman.

Iran Election Crisis: 10 Incredible YouTube Videos

Thousands of Iran-related videos are being uploaded to YouTube every day, revealing first-hand accounts of the crisis to the world. Some are incredible, some are eye-opening, and other shock you to your very core. Mashable has included ten of these incredible videos, in a chronological order that helps provide context to the crisis in Iran. Be prepared, for these videos can evoke some very strong emotions.

Watch here.

President Obama's speech at Buchenwald

President Obama delivered a powerful speech today when he visited Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. [via The Huffington Post]

Obama's Cairo Speech

President Obama talks about tensions between the U.S. and the Muslim world.

[via The Huffington Post]

Out to lunch with Obama

The president was joined by NBC anchor Brian Williams and a crew that was filming a behind-the-scenes "Inside The White House" special.

[via The Huffington Post]

A tour of the White House's East Wing with Michelle Obama

As part of his NBC special "Inside The Obama White House," Brian Williams got a tour of the White House's East Wing from first lady Michelle Obama.

[via The Huffington Post]

Iran: YouTube, Broadway music and the Election

Global Voices has posted several YouTube videos showing how campaigners in the Iranian elections have used the video sharing website in different ways to promote their favorite candidate - or discredit their opponents.

The above video - in a surprising American touch - compares former Prime Minister, Mir Hussein Mousavi to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the tune of the old Broadway song, ‘Anything You Can Do'. The text at the end of the film concludes that Mousavi is more rational than Ahmadinejad whose policies have damaged Iran's economy.

Filibuster-buster!

Republicans want to stop the global warming bill - 900 pages with thousands of amendments - and want everything to be read aloud on the floor of the house. Democrats in the House Energy and Commerce Committee hired a speed reader and tried him out. [via The Rachel Maddow Show]

U.S. Government Channel Launches on YouTube

The State Department, NASA, the FBI, the White House, and the CDC are among launch partners for a new Government YouTube Channel.

"We've seen a lot of interaction between citizens and the federal government on YouTube, and we're proud to launch this new channel with the GSA to make it even easier," said Steve Grove, Head of News and Politics at YouTube. "This is a great development towards making our government more open, transparent, and accessible to the people."

Press release.

Potential Supreme Court Nominees Targeted in YouTube Attack Ads

According to ABA Journal, some conservative groups aren’t waiting for President Obama to announce his choice to fill the seat of retiring Justice David H. Souter. They are taking aim at three potential Supreme Court nominees in attack ads posted on YouTube.

The Judicial Confirmation Network has posted the videos on a website called Obama’s Frontrunners, the DC Dicta blog reports.

... Supreme Court practitioner Thomas Goldstein, who created SCOTUSblog, told the Tribune that the Internet and blogs have helped distribute information about the possible nominees. "The downside is that there is an equal leveling effect in which totally idiotic wing nuts can go off—that's true on both the far left and far right."img alt="quotesmarksleft.jpg" src="http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/images/set3/quotesmarksleft.jpg" width="20" height="15" />

President Obama at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

President Obama gave humorous remarks about current events and the political climate in Washington.

[via NewTeeVee]

Mia Farrow nine days into three week hunger strike for Darfur

Mia Farrow is on a hunger strike to support Darfur refugees and has been posting videos on her YouTube channel.

[via boingboing]

Larry King: Michelle Mania!

Larry King and his panel rate Michelle Obama's performance as first lady and discuss her fashion sense on CNN via Mrs.O.

Obama's 100 Days Press Conference

[via The Huffington Post]

More rudeness from Berlusconi at Nato summit

More Berlusconi misbehaviour with world leaders reported by The Telegraph.

Climbing out of his limousine, the Italian leader took a mobile phone call instead of walking to greet Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor.

Left standing alone on the red carpet, Miss Merkel smiled weakly before turning away to greet other leaders, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as they arrived in their motorcades.

Seven or eight minutes later, all the other 27 Nato leaders had arrived - except Mr Berlusconi, who was still speaking on his phone. He missed being in the group photo with 27 Nato leaders.

Berlusconi and the queen

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was apparently not amused by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's loudness. The clip has become a YouTube hit.

[via CNN]

The Obamas head to Europe

[Reuters video via The Huffington Post]

Anti-Brown speech gets 1.1m views

More than a million people have watched internet footage of a South East England MEP verbally attacking the Prime Minister over the economy, reports the BBC.

Tory politician Daniel Hannan told Gordon Brown he was the "devalued prime minister of a devalued government" at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

In the clip of Tuesday's speech, footage shows Mr Brown smiling and making notes during the verbal attack.

Writing on his blog for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, the Conservative politician said: "The internet has changed politics - changed it utterly and forever.

"What caught their attention? To be honest, I'm slightly perplexed. I have been making similar speeches every week and posting them on YouTube for the past seven months."

More than 7,500 people have commented on the clip, including many from the US.

Obama to Answer Online Questions

The President introduces a new tool on WhiteHouse.gov, "Open for Questions," which will allow you to submit your questions on the economy and vote on those submitted by others.

A video of Mr. Obama (above) was posted at the site to solicit questions, which he said should focus on the economy. The categories listed alongside the questions section range from jobs to financial stability to health care reform.

At the time of publishing this post, 66,301 people have submitted 71,496 questions and cast 2,719,498 votes

It’s unclear how often President Obama will answer questions posed to him at the new site. It’s also unclear for now what will happen to all of those he can’t answer in an hour. (An awful lot of people will probably be disappointed.)

[via The New York Times Caucus Blog]

Obama launches 'YouTube diplomacy'

In recording a video message to the Iranian people marking the Iranian New Year Nowruz and distributing it online, US President Barack Obama seized one of the Web tools he used so effectively during his presidential campaign. The AFP reports.

The 3min 35sec video entitled "A New Year, A New Beginning" was posted on the White House website at whitehouse.gov/Nowruz/ with captions in Farsi and also on the White House YouTube channel at youtube.com/user/whitehouse.

It had rung up nearly 150,000 views on YouTube some 18 hours after its release and generated a stream of more than 1,300 mostly favorable comments.

Military Blocks Its Own 'YouTube' Knockoff

The Defense Department banned YouTube from its networks, and built a military-friendly video-sharing site to take its place. But in an odd twist, many military bases are now blocking that new site, Troop Tube, as well.

... "You know, it's bad enough they don't trust us with the 'real' internet and social media sites," one frustrated Air Force civilian tells Danger Room. "Why don't they they trust us with the sites they invent?"

[via Wired Danger Room]

Related:

-- US Miltary launches TroopTube for Veterans Day

-- The Military and Iraq. Images and Issues

Highlights from President Obama's 2009 Address to a Joint Session of Congress

On Tuesday, President Obama delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress to call for a new era of responsibility and a renewed commitment to investing in energy, health care, and education.

Above are key moments from the speech and President Obama's plan to return our country to prosperity.

Click here for full address.

Where to Watch Obama’s “State of the Union” Online

Where to Watch Obama’s “State of the Union” Online listed on NewTeeVee.

President Obama's Weekly Address February 14, 2009

President Obama celebrates the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act while keeping his eyes on the tough road ahead.

President Obama Addresses Economic Crisis

President Obama held his first-ever prime time press conference Monday evening to outline the state of the economy and why it is crucial to pass his Economic Recovery plan.

Obama: Voters "Sent Us Here to Bring Change"

During a House Democrats' retreat in Williamsburg, Va., President Barack Obama urged the passage of his economic stimulus plan saying that while he welcomed debate over policy, the time to act is now.

Hear, hear.

President Obama on Economic Recovery

President Obama recorded a series of interviews about his economic recovery plan.

Obama's first interview as president (Al-Arabiya TV exclusive)

Al-Arabiya TV Washington, DC, bureau chief, Hisham Melhem, gets the first, exclusive interview with president Obama.

Melding Obama’s Web to a YouTube Presidency

President Obama is trying to bypass the mainstream news media and take messages straight to the public. The New York Times reports.

The most prominent example of the new strategy is his weekly address to the nation — what under previous presidents was a speech recorded for and released to radio stations on Saturday mornings. Mr. Obama instead records a video, which on Saturday he posted on the White House Web site and on YouTube; in it, he explained what he wanted to accomplish with the $825 billion economic stimulus plan working its way through Congress.

By late Sunday afternoon, it had been viewed more than 600,000 times on YouTube.

President Obama's Weekly Address

In his first weekly address since being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, President Barack Obama discussed how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will jump-start the economy.

Bing, Bong, the Bush is Gone. END OF AN ERROR

Clever lines, from boingboing with a link to a video of the "helicopter of happiness" carrying George W. Bush mercifully out of our lives. Filmed by Eddie Codel.

Live streaming of the inuauguration on Hulu

Live streaming of the inuauguration on Hulu - NOT restricted to US viewers only. Thank you Hulu.

Bush's Farewell Address: Still Delusional After All These Years

Part 1 (embedded above), Part 2.

[via The Huffington Post]

Sarah Palin Takes On The Media!!

I watched this last week and didn't post it as I felt Palin bashing was over, but I've changed my mind so here it is.

An interview for the forthcoming documentary "Media Malpractice" Governor Sarah Palin, for the first time at length, takes on the media coverage of her and the 2008 campaign.

[via YouTube Blog]

Al Jazeera provides an inside look at Gaza conflict

In a conflict where the Western news media have been largely prevented from reporting from Gaza because of restrictions imposed by the Israeli military, Al Jazeera has had a distinct advantage. It was already there. The IHT reports.

Al Jazeera currently streams its broadcasts in a variety of formats and has a dedicated YouTube channel with more than 6,800 videos.

... A recent segment in which Mohyeldin played exclusive videotape of what appeared to be a Hamas sniper's killing of an Israeli tank commander, which included repeated cautions that what was being shown could not be independently confirmed, has been viewed nearly 150,000 times in less than three days, with more than 700 comments.

Al Jazeera said that since the war started, the number of people watching its broadcasts via the Livestream service has increased by over 500 percent, and the number of videos viewed on the YouTube channel has increased by more than 150 percent.

Read full article.

HuffPosters: Take The Oath of Office

This is funny. The Huffington Post is putting together a video featuring people from across America taking the presidential oath of office:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

All you have to do is video yourself taking that simple oath.

Post the video of you taking the oath on YouTube or Vimeo, then put the link to the video in the comments section of this post (please tag these videos "HuffPost Oath").

They need to have these videos by Friday at midnight to be included in their compilation. So go ahead, take the oath!

[via The Huffington Post]

President-elect Obama's Weekly Address

In this week's address, President-elect Barack Obama discusses solutions for our struggling economy in the new year. [via Change.gov]

Propaganda war: trusting what we see?

Israel has tried to take the initiative in the propaganda war over Gaza but, in one important instance, its version has been seriously challenged. The BBC reports.

Israel released video of an air attack on 28 December, which appeared to show rockets being loaded onto a truck. The truck and those close to it were then destroyed by a missile. This was clear evidence, the Israelis said, of how accurate their strikes were and how well justified.

... It turned out, however, that a 55-year-old Gaza resident named Ahmed Sanur, or Samur, claimed that the truck was his and that he and members of his family and his workers were moving oxygen cylinders from his workshop.

This workshop had been damaged when a building next door was bombed by the Israelis and he was afraid of looters, he said.

Mr Sanur said that eight people, one of them his son, had been killed. He subsequently told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: "These were not Hamas, they were our children... They were not Grad missiles.".

The Israeli response was that the "materiel" was being taken from a site that had stored weapons. The video remains on YouTube.

But the incident shows how an apparently definitive piece of video can turn into something much more doubtful.

Related: - Israeli Defense Forces Launch YouTube Channel

Happy Holidays from The Obama Family

I missed this for Xmas. Obama family Holiday greeting spotted on Mrs.O.

AP Exclusive: Kennedy Talks Senate Seat

In her first sit-down interview since expressing interest in a U.S. Senate seat, Caroline Kennedy says she will have to work twice as hard if appointed to the seat representing New York, despite her famous name.

Obama takes the direct approach to informing the public

President-elect Barack Obama says that he wants to make his administration more responsive to the American people. To that end, his aides are introducing a host of YouTube and other efforts aimed at bypassing the media and communicating directly with voters. ... It's not clear yet if Obama will ever take to YouTube to take questions on his timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

[via the IHT]

Bush shoe-throwing goes viral

President Bush's shoe-dodging in Iraq this weekend is torching YouTube, garnering eight of the top 20 most-watched videos today.

[via The Washington Post]

President-elect Barack Obama lays out key parts of Economic Recovery Plan

This week President-elect Barack Obama addresses the job loss that our nation continues to endure and offers solutions to the challenges we face.

Watch the Weekly Address now -- then send them questions or ideas about how to fix the economy.

[via Change.gov]

Obama Policymakers Turn to Campaign Tools

President-elect's administration wants to capitalize on high-tech campaign tools -- online videos, blogs, e-mail alerts -- and social networking techniques to generate political momentum for restructuring the health-care system. The Washington Post reports.

... The Obama team chose to begin its high-tech grass-roots experiment on the issue of health care because "every American is feeling the pressure of high health costs and lack of quality care, and we feel it's important to engage them in the process of reform," said spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter.

It started with a simple 63-second video posted on
Change.gov, in which health advisers Dora Hughes and Lauren Aronson posed the question "What worries you most about the health-care system in our country?"

That triggered 3,700 responses, from personal tales of medical hardship to complaints about "socialized medicine." The cyber-conversation was interactive, allowing individuals to reply to one another and rate responses with a thumbs up or down. The top-scoring comment, a pitch for a "paradigm shift" toward prevention, had 82 thumbs up.

The Obama technology gurus then built a "word cloud" showing the 100 most frequently used words in the responses. The cloud's biggest words -- indicating those used most -- include "insurance," "system," "people" and "need."

"The Obama administration has learned that listening may be even more important than talking, because it diffuses opposition," said Andrew Rasiej, co-founder of Personal Democracy Forum, a nonpartisan Web site focused on the intersection of politics and technology.

Read full article.