The first to present his case seems right, until another comes forward and questions him. — Proverbs 18:16 — It happens on Wall Street. It happens in Washington. And it happens in board rooms across the country. What we’re talking about is the misreading and misuse of data. This article is directed toward online marketing decisions based on analytics. It’s self-evident that without accurate facts, you’re usually not going…

Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. — Geo. Orwell, 1984 — When future historians write about the 20th Century, it would not surprise me to find it had been nicknamed The Century of Spin. …

Two views on the pursuit of happiness. I am proposing that what the Founding Fathers meant when they wrote “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” is totally at odds with what it has come to mean today. To elaborate on how this came about is not my aim here…

“We are not a team because we work together. We are a team because we respect, trust and care for each other.” — Vala Alshar — For years I have referenced data from the Gallup organization for insights on various topics. What I like about Gallup Polls is that they stake a claim on getting the most diverse viewpoints from the broadest field of data. …

“Believe nothing you hear, and only half that you see.” — Poe — I heard a former newspaper editor say recently, “Believe nothing you hear, and only half that you see.” It sounded like a line from a movie, but actually originated with Edgar Allen Poe. This quote came to mind as I was reading a David Halberstam’s The Fifties. I began reading…

“If you’re going to play, play to win.” — Wallace Arthur Tweed — One of my favorite games for a time when young was The Game of Life. Milton Bradley created and sold an early version of the famous board game in 1860 just before the outset of the Civil War. When introduced it was originally The Checkered Game of Life. I half…

Not all those who are old are wise. — Togolese Proverb — On Tuesday I shared some thoughts in response to the Old Testament proverb, “Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. That night as I lay awake, I began thinking about proverbs and sayings from other traditions. My curiosity prompted me to visit websites with collections of sayings from various…

“A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers’ blood…” — This past thursday night I went to see/hear Steve Potts’ third Year of Dylan presentation. His previous two lectures, held at the Discovery Center in Chisholm, were on Dylan & the Beatles, and Dylan & the Vietnam War. Potts, who teaches at the community college on the Iron Range, is…

“Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” ­-- Paul Tournier — Main Entry: con·fi·dence Pronunciation: \ˈkän-fə-dən(t)s, -ˌden(t)s\ Function: noun Date: 14th century 1 a : a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or of reliance on one’s circumstances b : faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way 2 : the quality or state of being certain : certitude 3 a : a relation of trust…