Ever wonder how the President of the United States uses Twitter? You can find out in the video above, shot during a Twitter Q&A that President Obama held after a campaign rally in Newton, Iowa earlier this year. “I’m the master tweeter,” exclaimed the President after typing the following tweet composed of exactly 140 characters — even though a shorter tweet is easier for others to retweet and is therefore considered preferable. His team celebrated the 140-character tweet as a “twoosh.” .@jwarner180 bio fuels, wind , solarall getting cheaper each year & oil getting more expensive. Why we need all-of-the-above strategy. -bo — The White House (@whitehouse) May 24, 2012 The tweets were sent from the official White House account — which just hit 3 million followers — and not any of the Obama campaign’s accounts. Obama used the Twitter town hall to answer questions on energy and other topics from a MacBook Pro. How should politicians use Twitter to engage with citizens? Who’s your favorite politician on Twitter? Share your ideas in the comments. window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement(‘script’);js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}; _msla(“//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”,”twitter_jssdk”); Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/08/06/obama-twitter-video/
Is foreign money infiltrating American politics through insecure online donations to Barack Obama? That’s one question pondered in a report published Monday but quickly denied by the Obama campaign. The study was conducted by the Government Accountability Institute, a research group run by conservative author, strategist and researcher Peter Schweizer. An 109-page examination of “fraudulent and foreign online campaign contributions,” it points out three ways in which the Obama campaign may be receiving foreign funds, which is illegal. First, the report, titled “America the Vulnerable,” claims the Obama campaign “lacks the industry-standard level of credit card security for donations,” but “uses it for merchandise purchases” on the campaign store. Donors on the official Obama site don’t need to include their credit card security number, the three- or four-digit code found on every card. The Obama campaign previously claimed it doesn’t need that code — called the CVV — because “they are able to vet contributions on the back end using sophisticated techniques that it doesn’t disclose,” claims the report (the Obama campaign since said it uses an Address Verification System to verify credit cards). Second, the report highlights Obama.com, a domain that’s not owned by the Obama campaign but points to a campaign donation page. According to the GAI, a majority of traffic to that site has come from abroad: “In 2008, Obama.com was purchased by an Obama fundraiser living in Shanghai, China, whose business is heavily dependent on relationships with Chinese state-run television and other state-owned entities. According to industry leading web analytics site Markosweb, an anonymously registered redirect site (Obama.com) features 68% foreign traffic. Starting in December 2011, the site was linked to a specific donation page on the official BarackObama.com campaign website for ten months. The page loaded a tracking number, 634930, into a space on the website labeled “who encouraged you to make this donation.” That tracking number is embedded in the source code for Obama.com and is associated with the Obama Victory Fund. In early September 2012, the page began redirecting to the standard Obama Victory Fund donation page.” The GAI report also noted several occasions where foreigners have received Obama donation pitches, but doesn’t confirm those foreigners were actually able to donate. GAI’s report also examines the Romney campaign, stating the following: “About 11.9% of the Romney campaign’s Internet traffic comes from foreign sources. Examining over 100,000 backlinks on the Internet that link to the Romney campaign’s webpage, approximately 12.8% of those are from foreign sources, including foreign language news sites and blogs.” However, the report isn’t as accusatory toward the Romney campaign as it is of the Obama campaign. The Obama campaign’s response? A Monday afternoon blog post explaining that the campaign screens for foreign IP addresses and requires a copy of a valid passport from a contributor identified as valid but donating from abroad. It also dismisses the GAI as having a right-wing agenda and claims the campaign “does not accept donations from foreign nationals or any other ineligible individual.” “OFA has […]
You might not recognize the latest ad in Obama’s presidential campaign as politically charged on first listen. The video features Girls star Lena Dunham comparing her first time voting to losing her virginity. Specifically targeting women, Dunham advises how to make your “first time” special. “You want a guy who cares whether you get health insurance, and specifically whether you get birth control,” says Dunham in the ad, which has stirred controversy for its sexy tone. Dunham has been known to raise eyebrows before, like when she ate cake naked at the 2012 Emmys. The Obama campaign ruffled feathers earlier this election season when it released a video that compared Big Bird to Bernie Madoff. What do you think of the ad? Is this offensive or do critics need to lighten up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/26/obama-lenda-dunham-first-time/
Barack Obama’s dad jeans collection better make room in the closet for some Hammer pants. The POTUS — with help from YouTuber Hugh Atkin — channels MC Hammer’s 1990 hit “U Can’t Touch This” for a clever remake titled “U Didn’t Build That.” Let’s not forget the original, especially if you’re in need of an early workweek pick-me-up. Go ahead and Hammer dance in your cubicle. Thumbnail courtesy of iStockphoto, EdStock Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/09/17/barack-obama-mc-hammer/
In a surprise appearance on Friday, President Obama made an emotional speech about race in America following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, explaining how the death of Trayvon Martin felt personal to him. “Another way of saying that is, Trayvon Martin could’ve been me, 35 years ago,” Obama said. “There are very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of being followed in a department store — that includes me.” Zimmerman fatally shot the 17-year-old Martin on the night of Feb. 26, 2012. Zimmerman, 29, was a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., a gated community where Martin was staying at the time. In the weeks following the incident, he was accused of second-degree murder and manslaughter. A jury found him not guilty of both charges on Saturday. Watch Obama’s full speech below. What do you think of Obama’s sentiments? Share your reactions in the comments below. Image: Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images Read more: http://mashable.com/2013/07/19/obama-trayvon-martin/
In an increasingly divisive U.S. political climate, there’s at least one cause that has found support on both sides of the aisle — computer science education. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor both stressed the importance of learning to to code, or write computer programs, in videos uploaded Sunday to YouTube by Code.org, a non-profit advocacy group. The joint call to action comes at the start of Computer Science Education Week, which began Monday. “If we want America to stay on the cutting edge, we need young Americans like you to master the tools and technology that will change how we do just about everything,” Obama says in a short video. “Don’t just buy a new video game, make one. Don’t just download the latest app, help design it. Don’t just play on your phone, program it.” Cantor, who often plays the role of political adversary to Obama, backed the President’s sentiment. “America is the land of opportunity. We have so much before us — so many challenges to overcome and problems to solve,” Cantor says. “Coding is the necessary tool of this century to best do that.” Cantor goes on to say that learning to code is as important as learning language and math: “It is the only way for you to prepare for the future.” Additionally, 2012 Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich appears in a Code.org video promoting the Hour of Code campaign as “a great, free, voluntary opportunity” to “make sure that every American understands a lot more about computing.” In October, Code.org announced its “Hour of Code” campaign, which aimed to “demystify computer science” for 10 million grade school students by exposing them to introductory concepts for at least an hour during Computer Science Education Week. Hadi Partovi, co-founder and CEO of Code.org, told Mashable in an email that some 35,000 teachers and 5 million students from around the world signed up to participate. “Today is when 5 million students begin learning to code, with support from athletes, celebrities, politicians, world leaders and all the top websites of the world,” Partovi wrote. In addition to the political attention, Code.org has garnered support from celebrities and tech industry leaders. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Miami Heat player Chris Bosh, actor Ashton Kutcher and pop singers Shakira and Will.I.Am are among the prominent figures who have appeared in Code.org videos endorsing computer science education. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan explains the significance of Computer Science Education Week in another video uploaded to Code.org’s YouTube page on Sunday. The initiative is timed to correspond with the birthdate of computing pioneer Grace Murray Hopper (subject of Monday’s Google Doodle), who was born on Dec. 9, 1906, and died in 1992. Image: U.S. Navy Hopper earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Yale University and served in the U.S. Navy, helping to develop the earliest computers and design programming languages. After joining the Naval Reserves in […]
Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, speaks during a news conference in New York, Monday, April 28, 2014. Lynch Image: Seth Wenig/Associated Press UPDATE, Nov. 7, 6:15 p.m. ET: On Friday evening, the White House announced President Barack Obama’s intent to nominate U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch to be the Attorney General of the United States on Saturday. “Ms. Lynch is a strong, independent prosecutor who has twice led one of the most important U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the country,” said the statement from the White House press office. Obama is set to make the announcement in the Roosevelt Room at the White House alongside Attorney General Eric Holder and Lynch, who is the U.S. attorney for Eastern New York. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged the Senate to confirm Lynch’s nomination in a statement released after the White House announcement. “President Obama has chosen a great New Yorker as the country’s highest-ranking law enforcement official,” de Blasio said. “The nation is about to meet Loretta Lynch for the first time—but in the five boroughs, she is already known for her character, toughness and uncompromising sense of justice.” Lynch, had emerged before the announcement as Obama’s top choice. While some had said Obama was not ready to announce a nomination, unnamed sources with knowledge of his thinking had told multiple news outlets that Lynch was his leading candidate. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest emphasized during a press briefing earlier Friday, however, that Obama had not yet decided on his nominee. Outside of legal circles, Lynch has flown under the radar for quite some time, despite having handled major cases in the U.S. Here are five key things to know about the intended nominee: 1. Lynch would be the first female African-American attorney general. United States Attorney Loretta E. Lynch speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Attorney’s office, on Monday, June 17, 2013, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Image: John Minchillo/Associated Press The milestone nomination would make Lynch the first African-American woman to hold the job if she is actually is nominated by Obama, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Lynch was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1959, and is the daughter of a pastor. She graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, has been a federal prosecutor and also worked at several private law firms. Lynch, 55, would be Obama’s second trailblazing pick for the post after Eric Holder served as the nation’s first African-American attorney general. 2. She successfully prosecuted police in the Abner Louima case. Image: Todd Plitt/Associated Press During her first tenure in the Eastern District, Lynch helped prosecute police officers who severely beat and sexually assaulted Haitian immigrant Abner Louima with a broken broom handle. The high-profile case led to the conviction of New York City police officer Justin Volpe and others. As the U.S. attorney for Eastern New York, Lynch covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island. 3. Lynch prosecuted a Republican […]
President Barack Obama walks to the pitcher’s mound before throwing a baseball during an unannounced stop to surprise members of the Northwest little league baseball teams at Friendship park in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014.Image: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press President Obama will visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on Thursday to discuss the connection between tourism and jobs. Obama is the first sitting president to visit the Hall of Fame, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. “The fact that a sitting president has not visited here in our first 74-plus years, it was surprising to get the call, but exciting to realize that the chief executive would be delivering a speech on tourism from a place that thrives on it,” Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson said Tuesday. Each year, the baseball museum attracts about 300,000 visitors to upstate New York. In 2012, Obama launched a national travel and tourism strategy, aiming to attract 100 million international tourists each year by 2021. The White House says they are on track to meet that goal; international tourists increased from 55 million in 2009 to 70 million in 2013. That increase comes hand in hand with an economic boost — those 70 million tourists spent $180.7 billion, according to the White House. “When most people think of travel and tourism, they think of national parks,” said Jeff Zients, the director of the National Economic Council Jeff Zients. “They don’t think about jobs and growth, but that’s what tourism represents.” The White House has released a report, Increasing Tourism to Spur Economic Growth, that details the administration’s efforts to increase tourism, and highlights the economic benefits of doing so: Increasing Tourism to Spur Economic Growth “Tourism is America’s most important, and largest, services export: growth in international visitors has created roughly 175,000 American jobs over the past five years,” according to the White House. “Each overseas visitor spends on average $4,500 per visit, at American hotels, shops, restaurants, and other domestic businesses.” Obama will sign a presidential memorandum Thursday to expedite entry times for international travelers, beginning with the 15 largest airports in the U.S. The White House pointed to gains at the Dallas Fort Worth and Chicago O’Hare airports where streamlined processes have reduced wait times. The White House also boasted significant improvements in processing visas for international travelers. “The State Department issued 9.2 million visas in 2013, up 42% since 2010,” according to the White House. “Waiting periods for visas in important markets like Brazil and China have dropped from as high as several months to less than five days on average.” In addition to working on improving the travel experience in the U.S., the administration is working with BrandUSA to encourage travelers from abroad. The president is scheduled to tour the Hall of Fame at 3:25 pm Thursday, and to speak at 3:55 p.m. EST. Check the White House website for the live stream. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/05/22/obama-baseball-hall-of-fame/
Fadi Saleh of baracksdubs has already mixed videos of President Barack Obama singing Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen, so it was only a matter of time before Obama crooned One Direction. Saleh, a biochemistry major who makes these videos in his spare time, has taken viewer requests for Obama’s next dubs since LMFAO’s Sexy and I Know It. Now he’s back with One Direction’s What Makes You Beautiful — with a little help from Steve Shane and Matty Trump on instrumentals. Some of the artists covered have tweeted out Saleh’s videos, but he’s more excited to see what viewers on YouTube have to say about them. “I plan to keep doing this until people aren’t entertained by it,” he told the Daily Dot. Which leaves us wondering, how long until the inevitable Gotye cover? Tempo Storm expand into Heroes of the Storm, pick up Symbiote Gaming D’Angelo gets politically righteous with ‘SNL’ performance The most embarrassing questions we’re Googling before the Super Bowl Justin Timberlake confirms baby news in the cutest way possible This article originally published at The Daily Dot here Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/23/barack-obama-one-direction/
