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An Obama 'shout out' too far?

We interrupt this broadcast to bring you the President's thoughts on the attack at Fort Hood. . .

Except, Barack Obama did not seem to realise the news networks were relaying his remarks live to the nation. Before moving on to the shooting, he offered his thanks to the people organising the event and offered a "shout out" to someone in the audience.

Right-wing bloggers are fuming at his "crass insensitivity". Some are comparing Mr Obama's words to President Bush continuing to read My Pet Goat to a class of children as he heard about the 9/11 attacks.

What do you think?

Poll: Obama one year on

President Obama was elected President on November 4, 2008. Twelve months later, has he achieved more or less than you expected?

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Poll: President Blair?

After furious behind-the-scenes campaigning and public appeals from Gordon Brown and David Miliband, are you glad Tony Blair's bid for the EU presidency has run into trouble?

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Poll: give up meat to save the planet?

Methane from cattle farms is a major contributor of greenhouse gas

Lord Stern, author of the influential Stern Report on global warming, told The Times today that people would need to consider turning vegetarian if the world is to conquer climate change.

"Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases," he said. "It puts enormous pressure on the world's resources. A vegetarian diet is better."

Are you willing to give up steak for the sake of the health of the world?

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What did you think of the Nick Griffin show?

Now that the dust has settled what do you think about the BBC's handling of the BNP?

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Democratic solution?

The Times leader today suggests that a general election may be the only way to purge Parliament of the expenses scandal.

"The saga of the Additional Cost Allowances is now descending into farce. The credibility and authority of Parliament is falling with it."

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Referendum on Europe

The ever-generous Irish government has offered its citizens a second chance to ratify the Lisbon Treaty after the population spurned the opportunity last year.

A yes vote from Ireland, and indeed Britain if the chance ever arrived, looks increasingly likely to mean Tony Blair will become the first president of Europe.

If No. 10 was to give us the same chance, would you vote to adopt the treaty?

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Who should get the Olympics?

As last ditch campaigning continues in Copenhagen, we have no need for the fiendishly complex IOC voting system. Just click below to choose your favourite for host city.

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Gruesome warning: texting can kill you

When the filmmaker Peter Watkins-Hughes was commissioned to make a public safety film for Gwent Police on the dangers of texting behind the wheel he made sure to find out first what kind of message young people would respond to.

The answer? The more gruesome the better.

The video above is a four-minute clip from a half-hour film that will air on BBC Wales this autumn and which the Gwent force is planning to show on school roadshows.

The entire film was made for about $20,000 - not exactly big budget even in Wales - but the sample clip has been viewed an estimated six million times since Watkins-Hughes, a former BBC producer who lectures at Newport College of Art, posted it on YouTube two months ago.

It's hard-hitting stuff, even by British standards, but the level of gore has prompted some debate in the US, where it's been widely discussed in the media.

Young people were telling us, ‘It needs to be more shocking, it needs to be more violent, it needs to be more truthful'," Watkins-Hughes told The New York Times.

“The reality is, if we want our message, which is a lifesaving message, to cut through, we have to adopt certain strategies,” he added. “In this one, we’ve gone for grim reality.”

Does a cardboard bear. . .

This may be the worst reconstruction ever recorded. Sit back and enjoy the work of Cleveland television channel WJW Fox 8.