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. …

Written to give intentional hope during turbulent times. — Tim Hatfield’s book is titled The Beatles: All their songs with encouraging words for challenging times. It’s a rewarding read for any Beatles fan, not only because of the insights Hatfield serves, but because it speaks volumes about dealing with difficult times. The evolution of his project from concept to…

“Where there’s a labyrinth, there’s a minotaur, and vice versa! I can’t imagine a decent maze that would be caught dead without a minotaur.” — Catherynne M. Valente — Ten years ago I wrote a blog entry about mazes that had come to mind as the result of a dream I once had. The dream seemed to be initiated by the story of Theseus and the Labyrinth. …

“There is no means of proving it is preferable to be or not to be.” — Emil Cioran — Something I’ve often wondered is why we’re so fascinated by things that frighten us. When I say “we” I do not mean to suggest that this is universal, but it does seem fairly pervasive. When sitting around a campfire we enjoy ghost stories that succeed in actually scaring us. We…

“Art is a simile of the Creation.” — Paul Klee — “We are tricked by a phenomenon of time: Hours and days pass slowly, but years pass quickly. A life passes quickly, but we always think we have plenty of time. …

It’s when we start working together that the real healing takes place. — David Hume — September 2008 — Despite the economic fireworks on Wall Street, they pulled it off. Obama and McCain made their appearances at Ole Miss in Oxford Town just as scheduled. …