WPCNR'S THE MUCKRAKER'S NOTEBOOK. June 28, 2008: As the summer kicks in, and the state legislators take a six month vacation, and the city drifts in summer ennui, it is good to stimulate one's clouded mind with a bracing quotation from the greatest detective of them all, Sherlock Holmes, that our once and future leaders should take to heart. As old London steams, let us relax with the great consulting detective, inhale his wreath of  sweet turkish tobacco, and enjoy Mrs. Hudson's iced tea, and pick his brains awhile:

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. "  

"I am glad of all details, whether they seem to you to be relevant or not."

"There is always such red tape in these matters."

One drawback of an active mind is that one can always conceive alternate explanations which would make our scent a false one.

Sherlock Holmes