May 11, 2003
It’s true, you know. You can’t believe everything you read – especially if it’s a nationally renowned publication like the NY Times or the New Republic.
Five years ago, a young reporter forged a sterling reputation for himself making up facts, sources, notes, contacts…
According to CBS News,
In fact, it was five years ago this weekend that one of the greatest journalistic frauds in history began to unravel.
The perpetrator was Stephen Glass, a 25-year-old rising star at The New Republic, who wrote dozens of high-profile articles for a number of national publications in which he made things up.
And now, deja vue all over again with the New York Times:
The reporter, Jayson Blair, 27, misled readers and Times colleagues with dispatches that purported to be from Maryland, Texas and other states, when often he was far away, in New York. He fabricated comments. He concocted scenes. He lifted material from other newspapers and wire services. He selected details from photographs to create the impression he had been somewhere or seen someone, when he had not.
And he used these techniques to write falsely about emotionally charged moments in recent history, from the deadly sniper attacks in suburban Washington to the anguish of families grieving for loved ones killed in Iraq.
Well, it’s the tenor of the times, isn’t it? The accepted behavior of America’s most influential citizens, including some of Bush’s closest friends and allies, being self-serving lying, cheating, and manipulation?
Halliburton Co. you know, the one to which Vice President Dick Cheney had intimate connections? Wednesday, the Bush administration denied there was any connection between Cheney's former role in running the company and a $76.7 million no-bid contract with the government to extinguish Iraqi oil well fires and help restart Iraq's oil industry.
Sure.
According to an AP story, A subsidiary of Halliburton Co. paid a Nigerian tax official $2.4 million in bribes to get favorable tax treatment…. In a filing made Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said its KBR subsidiary "made improper payments of approximately $2.4 million to an entity owned by a Nigerian national who held himself out as a tax consultant when in fact he was an employee of a local tax authority."
What a world! What a world! (Yes, I know that those were the parting words of the Wicked Witch of the West.)
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Old Comments (3)
Kate S. on 12 May 2003
There's been so much dirty money changing hands in the White House since, ... forEVER, that it's a good thing they invented those disposable latex gloves. I believe they come in the gift bag now when you're sworn into office.
dzwonki polifoniczne on 14 Jun 2004
Hmmmmm interesting !!!
Lester Estremera on 17 Dec 2004
Monkey business
Monkey intelligence after a misadventure by the water.
If a monkey plays near the water and an alligator bites its tail, it will stay away from the water.
CIA intelligence after a misadventure in Iraq.
"A recent [November 2004] CIA report on weapons of mass destruction says the U.S. government is convinced Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon but offered no concrete evidence."
Hmm. WMD again? Who's going to believe them now? Why don't they just shut up. The way they blather, you'd think they were paid by the word.
Bush's intelligence, speaking in Canada recently (Dec. 04).
"The objective of the U.N. and other institutions must be collective security, not endless debate," he said. "For the sake of peace, when those bodies promise serious consequences, serious consequences must follow."
In other words, he continues to bash the U.N. and Canada, implying "I was right. You should have approved my invasion."
That is precisely the kind of talk that has the world pitted against us.
He is also still babbling about the onus for peace being on the Palestinians. Exactly the words needed to further rile the fanatics who did 9/11. He should just keep his mouth shut.
And most recently (from the Washington Post):
"President Bush approved yesterday [Dec. 8] $20 million in direct aid to the Palestinian Authority… Bush views the $20 million as a token of the United States' renewed commitment to jump-starting the peace process."
Up to there, sounds great, n'est-ce pas?
But get this:
"But after discussions through aides with members of Congress, Bush tempered his plans … and instead stipulated that the $20 million be spent on Palestinian utility bills from Israeli companies."
In other words, the money is really going to Israel, not the Palestinians. Israel, by the way, already gets about $3 billion each year from the U.S..
Unlike the monkey, Bush never learns. You'd think he gets his kicks waving his tail at alligators.