Another Al Qaeda-Linked Site Hosted in US

The website of Al Qaeda’s Somalian affiliate, al-Shabaab, is being hosted by the US-based company Dotster; Rusty has details: Terrorists: Yes, Our Official Website Is Hosted in the U.S., So What?

(Hat tip: The LGF Supreme Leader)

McCain Sets ‘Em Up, Knocks ‘Em Down

Maybe I’m cynical, but I can’t help suspecting that the Obama campaign was set up by John McCain’s self-deprecating statements about not “getting” the Internet. Here’s a Forbes article from 2000, and it’s clear that McCain is nowhere near as clueless as Obama would like to portray him: Forbes.com – Net Vs. Norm.

In certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the U.S. Senate’s savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy. The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop. “She’s a whiz on the keyboard, and I’m so laborious,” McCain admits.

If it was a setup, Obama fell right into the trap.

(Hat tip: Jim Geraghty and Chas@LGF)

Citizen Journalism Workshop at Blogworld

If you’re going to the Blogworld & New Media Expo next month, here’s an interesting workshop you might be interested in attending; they need to get some signups soon or the workshop may be canceled: Citizen Journalism Workshop.

The new journalism training certificate workshop AT BLOGWORLD & NEW MEDIA EXPO is for bloggers seeking to deepen and broaden their journalistic skills. This workshop focuses on tools and skills news and information bloggers can use to improve the quality, and impact of their blogs.

Bloggers and new media journalists will learn techniques of traditional journalists, including styles of opinion writing, investigative reporting techniques and fact-sourcing, avoiding legal pitfalls and tips on what makes a post most likely to get one quoted or cited by larger blogs, as well as the mainstream media.

Obviously I’m doing the “avoiding legal pitfalls” part, in a session called “Top 10 Ways to Blog Your Way Into a Lawsuit.” which I’ve billed as a fast paced romp through the legal risks that bloggers might face. As serious as this topic is – I think people’s fears cause them to not want to think about the risks – but actually looking at them makes them much easier to prevent. So I’ve tried to make this session fun and easy to handle.

Charles will be there!

Ha ha ha! Will Kilgore and his gang also be there?