Newsweek has officially retracted its story that Guantanamo guards flushed a book down a toilet. This comes after world-wide rioting over the report. It also comes after considerable pressure by the US government to retract the story. They're now looking for somebody to take the fall. The Newsweek staff is in siege mode. Going forward, they will now require three independant sources for every sentence that appears in their magazine. Consider the effect this will have on mainstream media. If there are less than three reliable, confirmed witnesses telling the same story, it didn't happen. That makes it pretty easy for a government that wants to suppress information. If you've got three witnesses, you only have to intimidate one of them to keep the story on ice. Individual whistle-blowers will no longer be tolerated or taken seriously. But let's get back to the story in question. The news media can't talk to detainees. The only news sources they have are guards, former guards, and officals at the camp. And we're being told that one of these folks just made up the story about the book flushing for no apparent reason.

Right.

A new book that I'll have to pick up is about a man's quest to find the perfect guitar. All kinds of trivia about famous artists and the instruments that gave them a voice. What grabbed me is a quote by a guitar maker... "Most people confuse buying a guitar with falling in love." I had almost forgotten this, and I shouldn't - especially since I'm in the business of selling guitars. In fact I haven't been playing on this emotion at all. I've gotten buying a guitar confused with buying groceries. Bonk! Work it into the presentation. Size up the existing girlfriend (if present). What are they after - sultry or sweet? Trophy wife or girlfriend? I need to spend more time selling the long term relationship instead of the cheap date.