the loop

I am just branching out into template pages and I am trying to get the loop to work in my custom theme. the meta data is showing up but not the content of my post.

the code:

<?php
/*
Template Name: blog
*/
?>

<?php get_header(); ?>

<div id="page-wrap" class="container_12 clearfix">

<!-- The Loop -->

<div class="grid_12">
   <? /*Begin Content area Query*/ ?>
<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>
<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<div <?php post_class() ?> id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
<h2><a>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute();
?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
<small><?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?> <!-- by <?php
the_author() ?> --></small>
<div class="entry">
<?php the_content('Read the rest of this entry ?'); ?>
</div>
<p class="postmetadata"><?php the_tags('Tags: ', ', ', ''); ?> Posted in <?php the_category(', ') ?> | <?php edit_post_link('Edit', '', ' | '); ?> <?php comments_popup_link('No Comments ?', '1 Comment ?', '% Comments ?'); ?></p>
</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>
<div class="navigation">
<div class="alignleft"><?php next_posts_link('? Older Entries') ?></div>
<div class="alignright"><?php previous_posts_link('Newer Entries ?') ?></div>
</div>
<?php else : ?>
<h2 class="center">Not Found</h2>
<p class="center">Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.</p>
<?php get_search_form(); ?>
<?php endif; ?>?

</div>
<!-- End Loop -->

</div>

</div>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

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