I accept.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, appearing for the first time since his capture five years ago, said he would welcome becoming a "marytr" after a judge warned Thursday that he faces the death penalty for his confessed role as mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Wearing thick glasses and occasionally fussing with his turban or stroking his bushy gray beard, Mohammed seemed noticeably thinner than the image of a slovenly man with disheveled hair, an unshaven face and a T-shirt that the U.S. showed to the world after his capture in Pakistan.

Mohammed chanted verses from the Quran, rejected his attorneys and told Judge Ralph Kohlmann, a Marine colonel, that he wants to represent himself at the war crimes trial.

The judge warned that he faces execution if convicted of organizing the attacks on America. But the former No. 3 leader of al-Qaida was insistent.

"Yes, this is what I wish, to be a martyr for a long time," Mohammed declared. "I will, God willing, have this, by you."

Mohammed and his four alleged co-conspirators each face death if convicted of war crimes including murder, conspiracy, attacking civilians and terrorism by hijacking planes to attack U.S. landmarks. The murder charges involve the deaths of 2,973 people at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania where passengers forced down their plane.

Despite his claims of welcoming martyrdom, brave KSM seems to be attempting a defense to avoid just that:

Mohammed told a military review panel last year that he approached Osama bin Laden with the proposal to hijack passenger planes and crash them into landmark U.S. buildings, then oversaw execution of the plan "from A to Z," according to U.S. military transcripts of the hearing.

But Mohammed cast doubt on that transcript in Thursday's hearing.

"They mistranslated my words and put many words in my mouth," he said in broken English learned as an engineering student in North Carolina.

He later objected when the judge repeatedly told one of his lawyers to sit down, telling the court, "It is inquisition, it's not trial."

"All of this has been taken under torturing," he added, "You know that very well."

Binalshibh and also asked for death:

Binalshibh, too, said he has ``been seeking martyrdom for five years. I tried for 9/11 to get a visa and I could not.'' He is accused of trying four times to get into the U.S. in 2000 by seeking travel visas, which were denied.

``If martyrdom happens to me today, I welcome it. God is great! God is great! God is great!'' Binalshibh told the trial judge, Marine Colonel Ralph Kohlmann. He rejected suggestions by Lachelier that taking psychotropic drugs impaired his decision to waive counsel.

``My mental capacity is absolutely fine,'' Binalshibh said.

The judge said ``it appears to me you understand your counsel rights and are making this choice voluntarily.'' Still, Kohlmann said he would explore the possible effects of the medication on that decision.

While they're talking a good game about a long-desired martyrdom, they're puling the typical crap -- refusing counsel, feigning insanity and suicidal impulses which are then offered to the court by their rejected advocates, etc. --calculated to avoid just that.

They don't want to be "martyred." They just want to be on record as wanting that. They're acting like any cowardly rats about to face justice, scrambling to avoid it by any dodges possible.

They don't want to be executed for their crimes. KSM is even claiming he's innocent, more or less.

That will make their executions all the more satisfying.

For people claiming to have done Allah's will, they seem in no hurry to meet him and get a hearty slap on the back.

Posted by: Ace at 01:22 PM | Comments (35)
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Let me explain -- no, there is no time. Let me sum up: NASA's temperature records are growing farther and farther away from everyone else's as NASA routinely-- and without offering any explanations why -- "adjusts" old temperature readings downward and new temperature readings upward, all in an effort to show rising temperatures where satellite readings show none.

Actually, it's worst than that; if a few continens or large landmasses like Africa or all of Canada aren't playing nice and in fact are getting colder, NASA ignores them altogether.

Must read. Long, but convincing.

Check out how NASA's "adjustments" change US temperature trends from pretty much zero overall to ever warmer:

Thanks to Arthur.

Posted by: Ace at 01:03 PM | Comments (54)
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Not a "recession," but "tepid growth:

Wall Street rose sharply Thursday after investors got comforting news about the economy -- some better-than-expected retail sales in May and a drop in the number of laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits. The Dow Jones industrials rose almost 200 points.

...

The Labor Department's report that applications for unemployment benefits came in at 357,000 -- a decline of 18,000 from the previous week -- offered investors some relief about the health of the job market a day ahead of a key monthly reading.

While the weekly readings can show volatility, the latest drop left applications for benefits at their lowest level since mid-April. Still, the four-week average for those getting benefits rose to 3.086 million, the highest since March 2004.

Among retailers reporting solid May results, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said sales at stores open at least a year rose as consumers sought bargains.

Subodh Kumar, global investment strategist at Subodh Kumar & Assoc. in Toronto, said the jobs figures and the Verizon Wireless deal offer some investors reassurance about the health of the economy.

"It looks like the U.S. is not in recession but, I would say, tepid growth," he said, adding that the Verizon bid for Alltel is "encouraging."

"Companies are willing to invest in their businesses," Kumar said.

BizzyBlog notes more good news, with industrial and non-industrial gauges either signaling expansion or slight contraction. All better than expectations.

Recession Called Off Due To Lack of Interest
Media, Minority Candidates Hardest Hit

Also Interesting: ADP's figures on payrolls keep showing far greater job growth than the BLS's. Everyone assumes the BLS is correct, but what if it's not?

Posted by: Ace at 12:21 PM | Comments (48)
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My bro sent me this link which he called "Voodoo Wasps and Zombie Caterpillars." I respectfully suggested he get back to the business of building high-tech weaponry to use on our country's enemies--or whatever it is he does all day--instead of pestering me with links. But I have to admit, this is cool. Scientists have discovered a parasite that alters the behavior of the host to act as a bodyguard for the parasite...after the parasite has left the host's body.:

The parasitoid wasp Glyptapanteles lays its eggs, about 80 at a time, in young geometrid caterpillars. The eggs hatch and the larvae feed on the caterpillar's body fluids. When they are fully developed, they eat through the caterpillar's skin, attach themselves to a nearby branch or leaf and wrap themselves up in a cocoon.

At this point, something remarkable and slightly eerie happens.

The caterpillar, still alive, behaves as though controlled by the cocooned larvae. Instead of going about its usual daily business, it stands arched over the cocoons without moving away or feeding.

The caterpillar – now effectively a zombie – stays alive until the adult wasps hatch.

"We don't know exactly what kills the caterpillars, but it is fascinating that the moment of death seems to be tuned to the duration of the wasp's pupal stage," says Arne Janssen of the University of Amsterdam.

Janssen and colleagues at the Brazilian Federal University of Viçosa noticed that when they moved a paintbrush towards parasitised caterpillars, the insects would thrash about, apparently in an attempt to protect the cocoons.

I think mind-controlled zombies moot the fast zombie/ slow zombie argument. We've got a real problem on our hands. Below the fold, Glyptapanteles parasitising a human host: more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 12:07 PM | Comments (20)
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The question, I guess, is whether this trick works more than once on the same patient.

The idea was first tried at Benrath Senior Centre in Düsseldorf, which pitched an exact replica of a standard stop outside, with one small difference: buses do not use it.

The centre had been forced to rely on police to retrieve patients who wanted to return to their often non-existent homes and families.

...

"It sounds funny but it helps," said Franz-Josef Goebel, the chairman of the "Old Lions" association.

"Our members are 84 years old on average. Their short-term memory hardly works, but the long-term memory is still active.

"They know the green and yellow bus sign and remember that waiting there means they will go home."

The result is that errant patients now wait for their trip home at the bus stop, before quickly forgetting why they were there in the first place.

"We will approach them and say that the bus is coming later and invite them in for a coffee," said Richard Neureither, Benrath's director. "Five minutes later they have completely forgotten they wanted to leave."

Hey, we're all heading there. In a way this is a metaphor for the human condition, or some gay shit like that.

Posted by: Ace at 11:20 AM | Comments (42)
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Seems a pretty damn steep technical challenge, but what the hell.

Thanks to dri.

Posted by: Ace at 10:42 AM | Comments (34)
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Must read.

According to Barack Obama, Gianna Jessen shouldn't exist.

Miss Jessen is an exquisite example of what antiabortion advocates call a "survivor." Well into her third trimester of pregnancy, Gianna's biological mother was injected with a saline solution intended to induce a chemical abortion at a Los Angeles County abortion center. Eighteen hours later, and precious minutes before the abortionist's arrival, Gianna emerged. Premature and with severe injuries that resulted in cerebral palsy. But alive.

Had the abortionist been present at her birth, Gianna would have been killed, perhaps by suffocation. As it was, a startled nurse called an ambulance, and Gianna was rushed to a nearby hospital, where, weighing just two pounds, she was placed in an incubator, then, months later, in foster care.

Gianna survived then, and thrives now, because, as she told me recently with a laugh, "I guess I don't die easy." Which is what the abortionist might have thought as he signed his victim's birth certificate. Gianna's medical records state that she was "born during saline abortion."

* * *

As an Illinois state senator, Barack Obama twice opposed legislation to define as "persons" babies who survive late-term abortions. Babies like Gianna. Mr. Obama said in a speech on the Illinois Senate floor that he could not accept that babies wholly emerged from their mother's wombs are "persons," and thus deserving of equal protection under the Constitution's 14th Amendment.

A federal version on the same legislation passed the Senate unanimously and with the support of all but 15 members of the House. Gianna was present when President Bush signed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act in 2002.

When I asked Gianna to reflect on Mr. Obama's candidacy, she paused, then said, "I really hope the American people will have their eyes wide open and choose to be discerning. . . . He is extreme, extreme, extreme."

The practice of killing babies which are "accidentally" born during an abortion is simple infanticide. Whatever gray areas might be claimed to exist before birth, they cease existing after.

As many have said, even granting you have the right to an abortion, you don't have a right to a corpse.

Confederate Yankee has a lot more on this.

Posted by: Ace at 10:27 AM | Comments (51)
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Wright, Ayers, Pleger, Rezko, Kwame Kilpatrick and Wiliam Jefferson...

Surprisingly tough bit rounding up most of Obama's noxious associates.

Link Fixed: Sorry.

Posted by: Ace at 09:30 AM | Comments (26)
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According to an email sent out to supporters, sheÂ’s pulling the plug on Saturday.

I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party's nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise.

When I decided to run for president, I knew exactly why I was getting into this race: to work hard every day for the millions of Americans who need a voice in the White House.

I made you -- and everyone who supported me -- a promise: to stand up for our shared values and to never back down. I'm going to keep that promise today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.

Oh Hills! Until Obama and Maverick came along we didnÂ’t realize how much we needed you. I know IÂ’ll miss what weÂ’ve all affectionately come to call, The Cackle.

So, whatÂ’s the over/under on the time until she and Bill split? Also, does these mean that since they donÂ’t need his vote anymore Huma and Anthony Weiner are done?

Posted by: DrewM at 07:16 AM | Comments (37)
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Courtesy of the Slushop Collection

Fresh from narrowly escaping arrest by some British buffoon, John Bolton takes a look at Barack ObamaÂ’s understanding of history and foreign policy. Suffice it to say he and the stache are less than impressed.

Barack Obama's willingness to meet with the leaders of rogue states such as Iran and North Korea "without preconditions" is a naive and dangerous approach to dealing with the hard men who run pariah states. It will be an important and legitimate issue for policy debate during the remainder of the presidential campaign.

Consider his facile observations about President Kennedy's first meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, in Vienna in 1961. Obama saw it as a meeting that helped win the Cold War, when in fact it was an embarrassment for the American side. The inexperienced Kennedy performed so poorly that Khrushchev may well have been encouraged to position Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962, thus precipitating one of the Cold War's most dangerous crises.

Such realities should cause Obama to become more circumspect, minimizing his off-the-cuff observations about history, grand strategy and diplomacy. In fact, he has done exactly the opposite, exhibiting so many gaps in his knowledge and understanding of world affairs that they have not yet received the attention they deserve. He consistently reveals failings in foreign policy that are far more serious than even his critics had previously imagined.

And then he proceeds to really lets Obama have it. I can’t really quote more because it’s a taut little piece that just builds a shattering case against Obama and his supposed ‘judgment’ in these matters.

Allow me to offer some unsolicited advice to the McCain campaignÂ…I know you want to do the whole Maverick thing and Democrats really hate Bolton but the thing is, conservatives love him. Announce he will be a part of your administration and I guarantee a lot more conservatives will swallow hard and support you.

Consider it a threeferÂ….youÂ’ll get a lot of wavering conservatives to support you with some degree of enthusiasm, this appointment will enable you to pull a lot more Maverick shit in other areas while keeping conservative support and oh yeah, itÂ’ll be good for the country.

And yes, the coveted DrewM. endorsement is still out there for the candidate who pledges to put Bolton in an ass kicking cabinet spot (Sec Def or State). It still carries one vote (in a solidly blue state) and tens of dollars in campaign contributions. Act now candidates!

Via The Corner

Posted by: DrewM at 06:52 AM | Comments (41)
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