·:[ Sound and Fury ]:·
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Over at ReadWriteWeb, they suggest that the House and Senate start using a white label video sharing service. By sharing their videos via only YouTube or GoogleVideos, they suggest, Congress is giving prestige if not endorsement to these sites.

The Department of Defense has tried this with TroopTube. After banning the use of YouTube on DoD computers, TroopTube would appear to be the obvious alternative. But it appears to be falling down on a number of metrics. The most watched video has less 2,000 views. Most videos aren’t geared for mass consumption though, with title’s like “Kayden opening gifts.” Contrast this with the MNF-I (Multi-National Forces Iraq) channel on YouTube where the most watched video has 3.7 million view and over 2000 comments - positive and negative. While it’s unclear if TroopTube is meant to supplant the military YouTube channels, what is clear is that they aren’t getting the foot traffic. Additionally, the featured videos on TroopTube are holiday greetings, which is just sad in January.

Using YouTube gives the Congress built-in community of shares and comments. Maintaining the same video on numerous sites is likely to over task the Congressional staffers. Remember, no one budgeted for video Web posting last year. All of this work must be done with existing infrastructure and staffing levels. While they might (and that’s a strong might) have the technical expertise to set up a Congressional video sharing site, they almost certainly do not have current funding. And, trust me, much of what gets done in Washington boils down to the funding.

Of course, Congress should consider that Text is still King on the Web and be sure to include transcripts if the videos are talking heads. The most watched videos - the ones that go viral - speak for themselves, such as the CH-46 crash. A short video (under a minute) with an amazing impact. Too much text would detract, rather than improve the experience.

SLOC is another fine acronym brought to you by the Navy. Sea Lines of Communication are vitally important to any trading nation - and have been for centuries. Over 90% of the world’s good are transported by sea. If you trade, you care about the security of shipping lines.

Pirates have always harassed shipping. Although we tend to think of the Pirates of the Caribbean, pirates are rarely so easily identified. They look like fishing vessels until a prize comes into view, when they attack using modern weapons and looking not to hijack a ship’s worth of iPods, but to hold them ransom. Shipping lines have ransom insurance for their crew and their cargo, and often simply pay the price.

Currently, the coast of an ungoverned Somalia is the ripest hunting grounds for these pirates. Many nations have sent warships to the region to assist in the policing of the SLOC. And, now, China is joining. As others have pointed out, this new action is stirring up some concerns about a Chinese Navy that is able to project Chinese power beyond her borders. Certainly many Western nations, including the US, have pressured China to take a responsible role in world politics. But many seem to be nervous about this response. It doesn’t appear that China was specifically asked by any of the current states to participate in this action. At the same time, the action is occurring in international waters and China clearly has a vested interest in protecting SLOC.

What worries me most is the rules of engagement and communication. While the sea is a big, broad area, naval actions take place in close quarters without much room for error. Do the other navies know how to interact and deconflict operating areas with the PLAN?