Ever since Newsweak magazine published an article on May 9 about alleged abuses at Guantanamo Bay, specifically the desecration of a Koran, the Muslim world has been protesting the US. Afghanistan has been rocked by protests and violence. So far 16 people have been killed and more than 100 injured.
And now Newsweak comes out, on May 15, and says they got it wrong. The desecration of the Koran by US troops at Guantanamo never happened.
What more could Newsweak possibly do to damage the US and put our troops in a more difficult situation? How would you like to be a 19 year old American GI in Afghanistan this morning? Is it any wonder why people question the motives of the mainstream media? South Park Conservatives is a book about this very subject. The subtitle, The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias
John Steel Gordon is a best selling author of a number of books about Wall Street and American capitalism. He is also, apparently, a frequent reader of Powerline. Here is what he sent the guys at Powerline regarding this Newsweak mess,
Liberal MSM magazine finds marginally credible story that makes the military
(and Bush Administration) look bad and rushes into print with it without any
consideration of the possible consequences. So what else is new?What I find most interesting is that Newsweek insists on spelling the name of the holy book of Islam “Qur’an” despite the fact that there has been a perfectly good word for it in use in the English language (“Koran”) since 1625. “Qur’an” is a
transliteration of the Arabic word for the Koran (although my dictionary says
there should be a long vowel mark over the A–but, since I don’t speak Arabic, I
will have to take its word for it). So using Qur’an instead of Koran is like
using “Athina” for “Athens” of “Moskva” for “Moscow.” In other words, political
correctness run amok.I think the apostrophe–utterly meaningless in an
English-language context–is a particularly nice touch of cultural pandering.
Interesting observation indeed.
Instapundit on Newsweak,
People died, and U.S. military and diplomatic efforts were damaged, because
— let’s be clear here — Newsweek was too anxious to get out a story that would
make the Bush Administration and the military look bad.
from our firends over at Citizen Journal,
FILIBUSTED!!!!!
Who said it?1) “I find it simply baffling that a Senator would vote against even voting on a judicial nomination.”
2) “I have stated over and over again … that I would object and fight against any filibuster on a judge, whether it is somebody I opposed or supported.”
3) “Even if they tend to vote against the nomination itself, it is wrong to filibuster a nomination, and the senators who believe in fairness will not let a minority of the Senate deny the nominee his vote by the entire Senate.”
And the answers are
Exactly 100 days ago John Kerry went on national TV and said he would sign Form 180 which would allow all of his military records to be released. He still has not done so. What possible reasonable explanation could John Kerry have for lying about his willingness to sign the form?
Meet The Press, January 30, 2005
MR. RUSSERT: Many people who’ve been criticizing you have said: Senator, if you would just do one thing and that is sign Form 180, which would allow historians and journalists complete access to all your military records. Thus far, you have gotten the records, released them through your campaign. They say you should not be the filter. Sign Form 180 and let the historians…
SEN. KERRY: I’d be happy to put the records out. We put all the records out that I had been sent by the military. Then at the last moment, they sent some more stuff, which had some things that weren’t even relevant to the record. So when we get–I’m going to sit down with them and make sure that they are clear and I am clear as to what is in the record and what isn’t in the record and we’ll put it out. I have no problem with that.
MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?
SEN. KERRY: But everything, Tim…
MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?SEN. KERRY: Yes, I will. But everything that we put in it, Tim–everything we put in–I mean, everything that was out was a full documentation of all of the medical records, all of the fitness reports. And I’d call on those who have challenged me, let’s see their records. I want to see the records of each of those people who have put up
a challenge, because some of them have some serious questions in them, and it
hasn’t been appropriate…MR. RUSSERT: So they should sign Form 180s for themselves as well?
SEN. KERRY: You bet.
We all know how outragged John Kerry was during the campaign when he was claiming that George Bush lied to him about the WMD intelligence (put aside the fact that they looked at the same evidence and reached the same conclusion). The Swift Boat Vets raised some serious questions about John Kerry and his refusal to sign this form has me wondering why.
Boston Herald
Ted Kâ??s big fat tax loophole: Millionaire blames windfall on â??errorâ??
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy got hefty tax breaks on his $4.5 million Washington, D.C., mansion for at least two years – even though he never met the basic residency requirement for the deductions.
While Kennedy resides in Massachusetts, he received property tax credits in 2003 and 2004 on his home in a tony Washington neighborhood that were meant only
for homeowners who call D.C. their principal residence.Of 22 senators who took the deduction, Kennedy stood to save the most money
in the coming tax year – about $7,700 off the tax bill for his $4.5 million
home, according to a review by the Kansas City Star of tax and real estate
records.Called on the issue yesterday, the Bay State senator’s staff said Washington
officials gave him the deductions in error and without his knowledge – and vowed
he will reimburse the D.C. government for the property tax breaks. His
staff did not provide specifics on how much he owes or why he had failed to
previously notice the deductions being made.
Ted Kennedy on Tax Reform
Voted NO on $350 billion in tax breaks over 11 years. (May 2003)
Voted NO on cutting taxes by $1.35 trillion over 11 years. (May 2001)
Voted NO on eliminating the ‘marriage penalty’. (Jul 2000)
Voted NO on across-the-board spending cut. (Oct 1999)
Voted NO on $792B tax cuts. (Jul 1999)
Voted NO on requiring super-majority for raising taxes. (Apr 1998)
Voted NO on FY99 tax cuts. (Apr 1998)
Rated 17% by NTU, indicating a “Big Spender” on tax votes. (Dec 2003)
Jobs jump in April; stocks rally
Payrolls rose by 274,000 last month
May 6, 2005
The jobless rate holds steady at 5.2%. GE ups its profit guidance just a
tad.The economy created many more jobs than expected in April, assuaging fears
of slowing growth. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 274,000 last month, the Labor
Department said, well ahead of the 174,000 rise in payrolls economists expected.
The unemployment rate stayed steady at 5.2%.
Tax Receipts Exceed Treasury Predictions
Early Surge Lowers Deficit Projections
Washington Post, Thursday, May 5, 2005
The Treasury Department this week reported there would be a $54 billion
swing from projected deficit to surplus in the April-to-June quarter, after an
unanticipated gush of tax payments poured into the Treasury before the April 15
deadline. That prompted private forecasters to lower their deficit projections
for the fiscal year that ends in September.
Eternal optimist and supply side evangelist Larry Kudlow, had this to say,
But the real story behind the higher tax payment numbers is the successful
supply-side experiment that began in the middle of 2003, when investment tax
rates were slashed on capital gains and dividends. With new incentives to
counter the deflation of investment in 2000-2002, both capital formation and
economic growth have come back from the dead over the past 2 years.Real GDP since the tax cuts has averaged 4.3% at an annual rate, whereas
growth was only 2.4% in the anemic recovery preceding the tax cuts. The latest
government data on tax collection for calendar 2004 confirms the tax-cut-led
recovery through the explosion of high tax collections at lower tax rates. The
Laffer curve is working.
For more on The Laffer Curve, click here.
Smart Money: What’s Happening to the Economy?
Is the economy falling apart? Not according to Lakshman Achuthan, managing
director at the Economic Cycle Research Institute, an economic forecasting firm
in New York that has accurately predicted the past three recessions. Achuthan
says the economy hasn’t hit a soft patch recently â?? rising inflation and
stagnating economic growth have been the reality for at least a year.The good news? The disappointing data, says Achuthan, are actually
indicative of the end of a slowdown, not the beginning of one. He says ECRI’s
leading indicators touched their lows months ago, prompting the institute to
forecast a “firming” in the economy for the second half of 2005.
What is the Future for Investors? Tech Central Station Asks Wharton Business School Professor Jeremy Siegel
TCS: Professor Siegel, thanks for joining us. You say in your book that investors are needlessly fixated on growth and too often fall into what you call “the growth trap.” Can you explain what you mean?
SIEGEL: The growth trap is falling into a pattern of just buying companies with what you think are the fastest growing earnings, and ignoring the price. It is so important to realize that when you’re paying a higher than usual price, you’re already putting up for those higher earnings. In fact, I find that the faster growing companies often give poorer returns for investors; those investors that chase after those fast growing companies actually suffer worse returns than those that buy slower growing companies at reasonable prices.
So i’m checking out a blog favorite of mine, The Spoons Experience, and he has this post about blogger Patterico, another favorite. Patterico has taken it upon himslef to become a watchdog of the LA Times. As you can imagine, this is nearly a full time job, and a depressing one to boot.
Here’s The Spoons Experience,
Patterico points out that the Times is systematically editing wire-service
stories about the shooting by American soldiers of the car carrying Italian
journalist Giuliana Sgrena. Each time, the Times is editing out details of the
investigation that prove that the American account of the incident is
true.Your American media: not liberally biased, just anti-American.
So who is this Patterico guy? He is a prosecutor in Los Angeles Countyand a very valuable member of the Pajamahadeen.
It’s No Accident, LA Times Does IT Again
L.A. Times editors have doubled down. They have yet again suppressed
evidence that U.S. soldiers were justified in shooting at the car carrying
Giuliana Sgrena to a Baghdad airport.A Reuters story filed Saturday morning states on page two:CBS news has reported that a U.S. satellite had filmed the shooting and that it had been established the car carrying Calipari was traveling at more than 60 miles per hour as it approached the U.S. checkpoint in Baghdad.
Todayâ??s L.A. Times reprint of the article edits out that passage, which suggests
that there is definitive proof that the car was speeding â?? a critical issue in
the controversy.
You all know by now that Richard Gere is a passionate Hollywood lefty, dedicated to causes such as Tibet and nuclear arms reduction.
Like most Hollywood liberals, he is quick with a pun,
“Never trust a person who says that he has God exclusively on his side,especially if that person is the President of the United States.”
and free with his opinions,
TOKYO (Reuters) – Expecting no more than light chit-chat about ballroom dancing,reporters in Tokyo were startled when actor Richard Gere launched into acondemnation of Europe’s plans to lift an arms embargo against China.
and posseses a healthy sense of self,
Gere, together with an Islamic cleric and a Greek Orthodox Church official, recorded a public service announcement calling on the Palestinians to vote inthe Jan. 9 election to replace Yasser Arafat.
â??Hi, Iâ??m Richard Gere and Iâ??m speaking for the entire world. Weâ??re with you during this election time. Itâ??s really important: Get out and vote,â? Geresaid, according to a transcript of the announcement obtained by The AssociatedPress.
Don’t you get the sense that he looks down his nose at us regular folks from the moral high ground? He does it to kids in wheelchairs also, allegedly,
Did Richard Gere dis two teens in wheelchairs at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington? Fifteen-year-old Brian Glassmacher – who, with his 17-year-old sister, Kailyn, suffers from a form of muscular dystrophy so rare it’s known as Glassmacher syndrome – says the movie star was snippy when he was asked to pose for a snapshot.
“I really liked ‘Chicago’ and I wanted to meet him. I thought he would be a very nice person,” Brian told me yesterday. “But I thought he was very rude. I was very disappointed.”
“No,” Brian answered when asked if he’ll ever see another movie starring Gere. Brian – a Fairfax, Va., middle school student who is deaf – spoke with me yesterday by phone with the aid of a sign-language interpreter. “My sister” – who is also deaf and breathes with the aid of a trachea tube – “was also there, and she really loves all of his movies – even more than I do,”