Videos

In light of the uproar over public funding of the National Endowment for the Arts, it is disturbing to find that the most obscene work in this country is being made by people who place such a low value on life in pursuit of prize money. Nothing in the work of Robert Mapplethorpe is as indecent to me as the hypocrisy in this: The endangerment of children and animals is considered humorous and rewarded in commercial forums, while policies of censorship and anti-intellectualism are pursued in the name of protecting morals.

Muppets on Video: The new Jim Henson Video line is doing well, with the late muppeteer's feature films, "The Muppet Movie" and "The Great Muppet Caper," nabbing the two top video sales spots in their first week on the market. The videos, distributed by Buena Vista, outsold both Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" and Touchstone's "Sister Act." Meanwhile, Henson's creations are branching out.

WASHINGTON - Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, preparing for the upcoming Supreme Court decision on healthcare reform, covered all of his bases in preparing four videos to respond to various potential verdicts  - but his cover was blown when his campaign accidentally uploaded all four to his YouTube account. Oh, that simple-to-use technology. In what can be described as a contingency plan gone wrong, Mourdock's YouTube channel was meant to host one video depending on next week's ruling: If the court ruled in favor of President Obama's healthcare reform law, if it struck down some provisions but preserved others, if it ruled the entire law unconstitutional, and if the court's ruling is inconclusive.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman on Tuesday illustrated one of the time-tested adages of politics: When you have nothing left to lose, it is time to take the low road and attack -- but always aim high. In separate videos, Paul, the darling of the libertarian movement, and Republican Huntsman, who is pitching himself as the thinking man's conservative, went after Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, respectively. Perry ranks at the top of most polls, having displaced Romney, who was formerly No. 1 in the race for the GOP nomination to face President Obama.

While a lot of people say they're growing tired of the Harlem Shake, the meme isn't showing any signs of slowing down just yet. It seems more and more Harlem Shake videos are being uploaded every day and now it appears they are evolving. The funniest videos are showing up with a creative twist at the end: They're Harlem Shake fake-outs, if you will. Here are some of our favorites.  The Just Stop Harlem Shake In this version , popular YouTube video maker Freddie Wong encapsulates how many people are starting to feel about the Harlem Shake.

When the 9-year-old rapper Lil Poopy refers to himself as a "Coke Boy" on an official remix of French Montana's hit "Pop That," you might think the young MC is alluding to his favorite fizzy beverage.  Alas, the rap-scene double-entendre is intentional -- and the child MC's tawdry music videos have landed his father in hot water with Massachusetts authorities, according to the Enterprise News in Brockton. Lil Poopy, born Luie Rivera Jr., was given his rap nom de guerre as a reference to the fact that he was an infant just a few years ago. But don't let the boyish grin deceive you. Poopy's videos can compete with anything by Rick Ross or Lil Wayne for glorifying the trap-star life.  IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Oscars 2013:   Winner list   |   Red carpet   |   Highlights In his clips, Poopy is seen spanking video vixens, riding in Ferraris and boasting of his (fictional, we hopefully assume)

Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown has launched an investigation into the brouhaha over videotapes of a conservative group's sting operation against ACORN, the community organizing group credited with helping push Barack Obama to the presidency. Brown's office plans to look into circumstances surrounding both the making of the videos and any possible misdeeds by ACORN employees in California caught on tape. In what has become a staple of TV and radio talk shows in recent weeks, ACORN workers in several states were shown allegedly offering advice on tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution.

In the opening lines of "Take Care," her duet with Drake on his new CD, Rihanna sings in a mesmerizing low voice, "I know you've been hurt by someone else / I can tell by the way you carry yourself. ... If you let me, I'll take care of you / I've loved and I've lost. " Covering, in snippet form, the blues staple "I'll Take Care of You," she gives one of the best vocal performances of her career. That's not damning with faint praise. Her voice here is world-weary and mournful, bruised and compassionate, qualities that nudge "Take Care" into conversation with both the singer's current No. 1 hit, "We Found Love," and with the darker turn her music took with her last two CDs. (Her latest CD, "Talk That Talk," is available this week.)

Turns out there's a way to save videos sent over Snapchat and Facebook Poke, despite claims that content sent using the apps disappear after a specified amount of time. Users of the apps know that recipients can save pictures by taking a screenshot of them: Both apps alert senders if the recipient does exactly that. What many users don't know is that they can do something similar for video. As reported Thursday by BuzzFeed, users can save videos sent over Snapchat and Poke to an iPhone by using an iPhone file browser, which is software for your computer that lets you navigate through the files on your Apple smartphone.

A Silicon Beach start-up run by two men from London, including the son of music legend Sting, just launched an iOS app that takes video from people shot at the same event and edits it into one multi-angle collaboration. Vyclone, as the app and the company are both called, is available now on iOS for free. The app takes videos shot by up to four people using the app and combines them into one video using various algorithms to mix up the multiple angles and synchronize them. Vyclone Inc. founder said the app is good for events where multiple people are already shooting videos such as concerts, sporting events or breaking news.