lgf: the fuad ramses of web design

« Thursday, May 8, 2008

Reading links...

Show top rated links | LinkViewer

Friday, May 09, 2008

Friday Early Morning Open

Fri, May 9, 2008 at 3:24:43 am PDT

The last thing one knows is what to put first.

— Pascal

Tags: LGF, Open Thread

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Exposing the Distortions in 'Expelled'

Thu, May 8, 2008 at 6:51:24 pm PDT

Six Things in Expelled That Ben Stein Doesn’t Want You to Know...

In the film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, narrator Ben Stein poses as a “rebel” willing to stand up to the scientific establishment in defense of freedom and honest, open discussion of controversial ideas like intelligent design (ID). But Expelled has some problems of its own with honest, open presentations of the facts about evolution, ID—and with its own agenda. Here are a few examples—add your own with a comment, and we may add it to another draft of this story. For our complete coverage, see Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed—Scientific American’s Take.

Read the whole thing...

Tags: LGF, Ben Stein, Evolution, Expelled, Creationism, Intelligent Design

The Door Closes

Thu, May 8, 2008 at 6:45:00 pm PDT

Well, I left registration open all day, 8+ hours, but since I didn’t announce it there are only 51 hatchlings on the delousing deck tonight. Welcome, hatchlings, and fear my unblinking eye.

Unannounced openings evidently result in fewer hatchlings.

Tags: LGF, Registration

McCain on O'Reilly

Thu, May 8, 2008 at 5:04:29 pm PDT

Here’s a thread to discuss John McCain’s appearance on the Bill O’Reilly show...

Tags: LGF, Election 2008, John McCain, O'Reilly

Got a Big Al Qaeda Fish in Iraq

Thu, May 8, 2008 at 2:49:49 pm PDT

Not completely confirmed but looking good: Leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq Arrested in Mosul.

BAGHDAD — The leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was arrested in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

Spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the arrest of al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, was confirmed to him by the Iraqi commander of the province. There was no immediate confirmation or comment from U.S. forces on the arrest.

The U.S. military in Baghdad said “we are currently checking with Iraqi authorities to confirm the accuracy of this information.”

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said that Mosul police “arrested one of Al Qaeda’s leaders at midnight and during the primary investigations he admitted that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir.”

Tags: LGF, Iraq, Al Qaeda, al-masri

C and F: The New Creationism

Thu, May 8, 2008 at 2:35:37 pm PDT

Allen Forkum of the much-missed cartooning duo Cox & Forkum emailed to point out that he and John did a cartoon related to a subject we’ve been discussing a little bit recently at LGF.

Tags: LGF, Cox and Forkum, Cartoon, Creationism, Intelligent Design

Civil War in Lebanon?

Thu, May 8, 2008 at 11:35:31 am PDT

If it isn’t civil war yet, it’s pretty close, as Hizballah flexes its muscles in a show of power: Fighting rocks Beirut, Hezbollah defiant.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Fierce clashes raged in Beirut on Thursday after the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah said the U.S.-supported Lebanese government had declared war by targeting its communications network.

Fighters from Hezbollah and the allied Amal group exchanged assault rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades with pro-government gunmen in several areas of the capital in the worst domestic fighting since the 1975-90 civil war.

Tags: LGF, Lebanon, Hizballah, Hesbollah, Hezbollah, telecommunications

Installing MS Core Fonts in Ubuntu and Fedora 8

Thu, May 8, 2008 at 11:05:58 am PDT

Here’s an open thread, as I install the Microsoft Truetype “core” fonts in Ubuntu and Fedora 8.

This is the font package that’s on nearly every Mac and PC, including Verdana, Arial, and Georgia — fonts that are used on 90%+ of the web pages in existence, but don’t come installed by default on Linux. And LGF looks much better with Verdana and Trebuchet MS installed.

In Ubuntu, it’s very simple to install these fonts with the apt-get utility. Just open a Terminal window and type:

$ sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts

Then log out and back in, or restart.

In Fedora 8, you need to install the ‘chkfontpath’ package first; here’s the procedure that worked for me:

$ su (enter superuser password)
$ yum -y install chkfontpath
$ rpm -Uvh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/noarch/msttcorefonts-2.0-1.noarch.rpm
$ exit (get out of superuser mode)

Again you’ll need to log out and log in to see the fonts.

UPDATE at 5/8/08 11:32:25 am:

If you’re a newbie to the command line interface, don’t type the dollar signs in the examples above — they’re the default shell prompts you see when entering commands, and that’s the usual way of showing CLI examples.

UPDATE at 5/8/08 3:11:01 pm:

LGF reader addison posted an alternate method for installing the fonts in Fedora 8, if the above doesn’t work:

$ wget http://corefonts.sourceforge.net/msttcorefonts-2.0-1.spec
$ yum install rpm-build cabextract
$ rpmbuild -ba msttcorefonts-2.0-1.spec
$ yum localinstall —nogpgcheck /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/noarch/msttcorefonts-2.0-1.noarch.rpm

Tags: LGF, Linux, Technology, ubuntu, fedora, MS Core Fonts

Vietnam Springs Into Action, Fights Terrorism

Thu, May 8, 2008 at 9:11:09 am PDT

The Communist government of Vietnam would like us all to know that they are committed to counter-terrorism. They said this at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, of which they are a member.

Vietnam is committed to counter-terrorism and the non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons under international treaties to which it is a party and resolutions of the UN Security Council.

Deputy Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN Ambassador Hoang Chi Trung delivered the statement at the open debate of the Security Council on the work of the 1267 Committee, the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the 1540 Committee, in New York on May 6.

Since becoming a member of the UN Security Council, Vietnam has made constructive contributions to the work of these three committees, Trung said. He particularly noted Vietnam’s assumption of the vice chairmanship of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.

And to demonstrate their dedication to fighting terrorism in all its forms, they also announced today that they’re charging a Vietnamese American and two Vietnamese nationals with terrorism for distributing pamphlets.

HANOI, Vietnam - A Vietnamese-American and two Vietnamese nationals will be put on trial on charges of terrorism for allegedly planning to distribute anti-government pamphlets in Vietnam, an official said Thursday.

This is the outcome of a deliberate, sustained effort by repressive regimes to redefine the concept of “terrorism,” so that it includes any activity the regimes don’t like. And it’s being enabled by the corrupt UN, of course.

Tags: LGF, Vietnam, Terrorism, Communism, Free Speech, United Nations

Hizballah: Lebanese Government Declared War on Us

Thu, May 8, 2008 at 8:10:27 am PDT

Things are heating up in Lebanon after the government began a crackdown on Hizballah’s illegal telecommunications network: Hezbollah says Beirut government declares war.

BEIRUT, May 8 (Reuters) - The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Thursday the U.S.-supported Beirut government had declared war by targeting its communications network.

Hezbollah launched a new street campaign on Wednesday, piling pressure on the government after it declared the network illegal and removed the head of airport security, a figure close to the group, from his post.

Supporters of Hezbollah and its allies have blocked roads leading to the airport — Lebanon’s only air link to the outside world — and other main streets, paralysing much of the capital.

The head of airport security in Beirut was a Hizballah puppet? Lovely.

Tags: LGF, Lebanon, Hizballah, Hesbollah, Hezbollah, telecommunications

Thursday Early Morning Open

Thu, May 8, 2008 at 3:12:01 am PDT

Hope is a waking dream.

— Aristotle

Tags: LGF, Open Thread

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Tech Note: Uploading Personal Icons

Wed, May 7, 2008 at 7:02:02 pm PDT

From a glance at the PHP error logs I can see that more than a few registered lizards are having trouble uploading an image for their personal icon. The most common causes are:

* Trying to upload an image that’s too large. We don’t have unlimited storage space for images, so I’ve limited the size of uploaded files to 32K (it used to be 16K but I just doubled it). The image file you upload must be less than or equal to 32,768 bytes in size, or it will not work. This is by far the most common cause of problems, so check the file size before uploading.

* Trying to upload an image that’s not in one of three accepted formats: JPEG, GIF, or PNG. BMP files will not work. TIFF files will not work. JPEG, GIF, or PNG, please. This isn’t Flickr.

Here’s a very good online image editing site that can help you massage your personal icons into shape for uploading to LGF: Picnik - edit photos the easy way, online in your browser.

Tags: LGF, Tech Note, Icon, Avatar

Windy Up There

Wed, May 7, 2008 at 4:29:30 pm PDT

Tags: LGF, Photograph, Clouds, Sky

Daily Kos: Bush a 'Classic Psychopath,' Republicans in General Even Worse

Wed, May 7, 2008 at 4:07:52 pm PDT

The Kos Kids are doing that lovable armchair analysis thing again, demonstrating with relentless logic that George Bush Fits Clinical Profile of a Psychopath to a Tee.

The research of Dr. Hervey Cleckley and Dr. Robert Hare exploring the personality and character traits of psychopaths, when applied to George Bush, shows that he fits exactly the profile they developed for a classic psychopath. It’s uncanny.

The study also showed that “Republicanism” as political and social ideology... is even worse than psychopathy.

It’s almost cute how they periodically try to convince each other that Republicans aren’t just wrong, they’re hideous psychotic murdering beasts. Or worse.

Tags: LGF, Daily Kos, Progressives, Moonbats, Hate Speech

We Got Mail!

Wed, May 7, 2008 at 2:17:45 pm PDT

Today’s message comes to us from Como (a beautiful town on a lake in the Lombardia region of Italy), site of a new outbreak of the Troofer virus. The subject line of this appeal for Troof: “The evidence demonstrates that 911 was deliberately allowed occur.”

Come on, tell me why you still believe it was possilbe for hijacked!? airliners to fly all over the eastern U.S. for hours without any meaningful response nor even any pursuit? Come on! (How could Osama bin-Forgotten do that? Or was that the work of Cheney?)

Our trillion-dollar air defenses were allegedly defeated by Osama bin-Forgotten & his 19 lackeys with box-cutters?

American Airlines Flight 77, having a 125’ wingspan disappeared though a16’ foot initial impact hole at the Pentagon. All clear video (at least 80 of them) of what blew-up the Pentagon being withheld to this day?

WTC-7 has small, scattered fires, yet it imploded in a controlled demolition later in the day on 9/11. Larry Silverstein, the over-insured leaseholder, said:

“I remember getting a call from the, er, fire department commander, telling me that they were not sure they were gonna be able to contain the fire, and I said, ‘We’ve had such terrible loss of life, maybe the smartest thing to do is pull it.’ And they made that decision to pull and we watched the building collapse.”

Etc., etc.

Everyone needs to do his/her own research about September 11, 2001! (A good start is to watch “9/11 Ripple Effect” free on the web.)

Tags: LGF, Hate Mail, Humor, 9/11, 9/11 Conspiracies, Truthers, Troofers

Mystery at CAIR-Tampa

Wed, May 7, 2008 at 1:24:54 pm PDT

One of CAIR’s chief propagandists has apparently split with the radical Islamic front group: The Mystery at CAIR-Tampa.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations appears to have parted ways with one of its highest profile executives, but no one is saying why.

Ahmed Bedier, executive director of CAIR’s Tampa chapter, is no longer being identified as such in media reports. He has been quoted three times in the past week - two references call him a “civil rights activist” - while a third invokes his volunteer role as president of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Human Rights Council.

The council is an independent non-profit organization that works with the city of Tampa. According to a city web page, the council “brings together citizens of various backgrounds. They all have one thing in common: a desire to promote the human rights of all individuals, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948.”

As of this writing, Bedier’s myspace page hasn’t been updated since April 24 and still lists his CAIR position. But a report in InFocus, a California Muslim newspaper closely related to CAIR, on an April 17 screening of a documentary supporting convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative Sami Al-Arian referred only to Bedier’s position with the Tampa human rights council.

Ross Silvers, disability rights coordinator for the city of Tampa and its liaison to the Human Rights Council, said he received a curious answer when he called the CAIR chapter office Tuesday inquiring about Bedier’s status. “They said they think he’s still with CAIR in some capacity” but didn’t know what that was.

In addition to his high-profile media role, Bedier was becoming a fixture at CAIR fundraising events throughout the country. Whatever may have prompted Bedier to leave his post at CAIR, Tampa newspapers aren’t saying. That’s odd, since he’s been the go-to source for quotes on everything from Al-Arian to any episode of alleged anti-Muslim bias.

Tags: LGF, CAIR, Council on American Islamic Relations, Saudi Arabia, Radical Islam, Propaganda, Ahmed Bedier

Daily Kos: Progressives Who Hate Israel

Wed, May 7, 2008 at 12:10:57 pm PDT

On Israel’s 60th anniversary, the progressives at Daily Kos are letting their true feelings come out: Daily Kos: In response to ‘Progressives do not like Israel’..

Notice that this diary post is by “abesilberstein.”

There was a post today , Which talked about progressives not liking Israel.

Israel is unfortunately a State of political and religious chaos. I have seen the oppression myself , I have been to Israel and I see why progressives like myself would not like their policies. Did you know you can not get married in Israel till it gets approved by the chief rabbi! And of course we know they treat non-orthodox or non Jews like crap. But they do recognize gay marriages if they were made outside of the country (Hey thats better then Texas!).

Below is a video of a riot in Israel against a 2005 gay pride parade in Jerusalem ( Look at those ass holes!)

Another reason why progressives dislike Israel’s policies , Is because they have a fixation with walling people into areas with no recourses (EX. Gaza , West Bank.). So this is not antisemitism it is anti oppression , And pro normalcy.

Tags: LGF, Daily Kos, Progressives, Antisemitism, Anti-Israel

A Lone Creationist at UC Berkeley

Wed, May 7, 2008 at 9:54:02 am PDT

Zomblog has photos of a creationist inspired by Ben Stein’s movie Expelled, bringing Ben’s message to the heathens at UC Berkeley: Here come the pro-Expelled demonstrations.

Tags: LGF, Intelligent Design, Creationism, Ben Stein, UC Berkeley, Zombie

Harris: Our Spineless Media

Wed, May 7, 2008 at 9:05:04 am PDT

At Huffington Post, of all places, an excellent article by Sam Harris on Western media’s self-censorship in the face of radical Islamic intimidation: Losing Our Spines to Save Our Necks.

And the Washington Post is among the very worst of the cringing media; they’ve given up all pretense of informing the public, and are now engaged in simply hiding the truth.

In a thrillingly ironic turn of events, a shorter version of the very essay you are now reading was originally commissioned by the opinion page of Washington Post and then rejected because it was deemed too critical of Islam. Please note, this essay was destined for the opinion page of the paper, which had solicited my response to the controversy over Wilders’ film. The irony of its rejection seemed entirely lost on the Post, which responded to my subsequent expression of amazement by offering to pay me a “kill fee.” I declined.

Tags: LGF, Islam, Washington Post, Dhimmitude, Geert Wilders