Please Note

I am an analyst and researcher, not the Wizard of Oz. Predicting the future is always a risky endeavor because the future has a way of making fools of us all. The world is increasingly complex and inter-related, an infinite number of variables in an infinite number of possible combinations. I can only report on what I see and make my best guess of what's going to happen based on the facts I see.

I get paid to do that analysis and writing, it's how I make my living. But none of my employers have ever tried to spin or slant my conclusions. Not one, not ever. Even when they knew my conclusions would not set well with many of their customers. To me that speaks more to the quality and strength of their character than my writing. I recently retired as a volunteer firefighter and running into a burning building was easy compared to the simple act of telling the truth in today's hyper-reactive media environment.

To my readers, I can guarantee that at some point I'll say something that you disagree with. Maybe that's why you came here. What that means is we looked at the same data and reached a different conclusion, that's all. I'm getting really tired of this whole attack-dog political climate. People who disgree with me are not my enemy, they're not less American because they see an issue differently. The only people who really make me mad are the people who fabricate the news to support their reality. If the facts don't support your view, you don't get to invent facts you like better. It's also not okay to invent stories to attack people you don't like.

I deal with the world that's in front of me, not the one I might wish for. I'd be doing you a disservice if I spun my conclusions to suit the world you might wish for. If you think I'm wrong, show me the data. Otherwise, live with the fact that not everyone will see things the same way you do.