Thursday Videos

Since the 2004 campaign, more and more U.S. politicians have latched on to YouTube as a way to "go viral" and reach the increasingly powerful "netroots". Witness Democratic presidential long shot Bill Richardson's clever new job interview ad, which has already been viewed over 50,000 times since Tuesday. And as Kevin Drum cynically observed yesterday, the real prize for the attention-starved New Mexico governor will be when the New York Times writes "another thumbsucker about the power of new media, complete with chin scratching quotes from [new media gurus] Jay Rosen and Jeff Jarvis."

Well, here's something altogether new for the gurus to ponder: politicians who wish to be journalists. Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey recently debuted his own YouTube channel, where he has so far advertised not himself, but ... YouTube. Here's Markey's interview with YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley:

Andy Richter sure gets around. Two weeks ago, Passport noted the late-night comedian's eerie resemblance to Swedish Defense Minister Mikael Odenberg. But Richter may have had a prior second job—as first president of the Russian Federation. Take a look at the video tribute to Yeltsin below, this week's Thursday Video: 

Could Andy Richter have actually secretly ended the Cold War?

President Bush has kept his dance moves mostly under wraps for six years, preferring, it seems, to let subordinates step into the limelight when the music comes on. At a recent White House event on combating malaria, though, the president just couldn't help himself. His rhythmic stylings are today's Thursday Video. Personally, I think he's got Karl Rove's moves beat.

Every spring, massive sandstorms whip through China's northern cities. As industrialization and farm growth have spread, the trees that hold back the country's gigantic deserts have spread. As a result, the Gobi is now at the footsteps of Beijing, while the Taklamakan Desert threatens to swallow China's north and west.

One consequence of growing desertification has been an increase in the frequency severity of the sandstorms, which can bring entire cities and regions to a standstill. This week's Thursday Video comes from the northwestern province of Qinghai, where particularly fierce sandstorms at times cut visibility to 100 meters:

The sandstorms are beginning to have wider effects internationally as well. This year Taiwan has reported environmental risks from dust clouds that originated in the Gobi. South Korea is feeling the added effect of industrial pollutants that the sand from Inner Mongolia picks up as it drifts over heavy industrial zones. The international community should be worried— assurances from Beijing notwithstanding—that the 2008 Olympics might be a very sandy affair. At least the beach volleyball squads should have a good time.

On August 5, 1966, Bian Zhongyun was brutally attacked and tortured by 10th-grade students at her own school in Beijing, where she was a vice-principal. At the age of fifty, she was an early casualty in China's Cultural Revolution. A documentary film about her murder, "Though I am Gone," has reportedly caused the suspension of the Yunnan Multi Culture Visual Festival, which was scheduled to begin tomorrow.

In yet another demonstration of the YouTube Effect, someone has posted the entire film on YouTube, broken up into ten parts. Below is the graphic first section of the movie, this week's Thursday Video:

The U.N. Human Rights Council, it seems, is not entirely without backbone. This week, of course, it excused the human rights records of Iran and Uzbekistan without comment, as Passport noted yesterday. Criticism of the Council itself, however, is far too much for the delicate sensibilities of the ambassadors. A representative from U.N. Watch called the Council out on its dereliction of duty in testimony before the august body, and in return was pointedly "not thanked" by the chair. That's about as close to an outright slap in the face as modern diplo-speak at the U.N. gets.

U.N. Watch has learned its lesson, though, and put together an instructive video on what is, and what is not, acceptable in the U.N. Human Rights Council, a bonus Thursday Video this week:

A quick summary:

IN: Personal insults, excusing violence against women, attacking gays, defending terrorist groups, denying the Holocaust, and accusing Israel of committing its own Holocaust.

OUT: Pointing out that the dictators "who run this Council couldn’t care less about Palestinians, or about any human rights."

Every so often, a seemingly trivial individual battle dramatizes something bigger and becomes a focal point for debates about an entire society. That seems to be the case today in China, where the Chongqing "nail house," which Passport noted last week, continues to feed a media frenzy. A debate is raging in China's blogs and newspapers over every facet of the story: Is the holdout justified? Why was this homeowner able to stay, unlike the others? Property rights and economic development are usually thought to reinforce each other, but here they conflict. Where's the proper balance?

The episode also demonstrates the power of the media, even in a relatively controlled place like China. There are literally thousands of cases of property rights conflicts far worse than this everyday in China; two people were killed in different protests over land seizures in just the last week. The disputes mostly involve marginalized rural residents, though, and go completely unreported unless there's violence.

The homeowner in Chongqing, however, is tough and media-savvy, orchestrating publicity stunts like sneaking her brother-in-law past guards into the house to plant the Chinese flag. The government seems to have tried to stop coverage of the incident, but evidently gave up in the face of overwhelming interest from the online community. At the very least, its efforts aren't working; the issue is currently a top story on the Party's own People's Daily website and shows up pretty much everywhere else. Someone has even composed a cheesy music video to commemorate the struggle, this week's Thursday Video:

The uproar has provoked a backlash from some in the media who are uncomfortable with the uncritical pack mentality of journalists rushing to sensationalize the event. After all, the woman was probably offered hefty compensation for a pretty lousy shack, and is almost certainly just holding out for a bigger payment; few who hold out against developers are rewarded so handsomely. All of which just goes to show that China's growth will probably be messy and conflicted for a long time still, filled with unexpected developments, and above all, fascinating to watch.

Selected song lyrics after the break.

In January 2004, Reem Riyashi blew herself up at a Gaza border crossing. She killed four Israelis. The 22-year-old also left her two children, aged 18 months and three years, motherless.

Yesterday, al-Aqsa TV, the television mouthpiece of Hamas, broadcast an imagined song from one of Riyashi's children to her dead mother as a music video during a children's program. Palestinian Media Watch has posted the clip, this week's Thursday Video, online. The video ends with the kid finding her mom's stash of explosives and vowing to follow her:

Send greetings to our Messenger [Muhammad] and tell him:
'Duha loves you.'
My love will not be [merely] words.
I am following Mommy in her steps.

Hamas, incidentally, runs the Palestinian education ministry.