'Course I could also say that it might be because I went to school back when they were still educating kids instead of teaching them. Or that I had rudimentary training in analysis in the days when the object was to arrive at your own conclusion based on the information available instead of producing a socially correct fluff piece that did what someone thought someone else might have wanted (past tense advisedly as prediction is seemingly eschewed today; might err...). Or even that I try to pay attention to what's going on rather than trusting today's media and the blunderitocracy...

However, being a Southron Gennelman, I will of course not say those things.

Seriously, you make valid points and the apparent lack of competence in the overall community is sometimes disheartening. Knowing a few, I realize there's a lot of competence out there in the field but some of our education and training practices seem not well thought out and some of the released -- and leaked -- products are worrisome. So is the leaking worrisome. My sensing is that the bottom rungs work as well as they can but other concerns intrude as one moves up the chain. Nothing new in that but it seems far worse than it used to be. Could be that I'm just old, out of it and grouchy.

On an allied note, I also remain concerned that the triple dilemmas of Political Correctness (of the day...), Partisan foolishness and the regrettable fact that the law enforcement establishment has the lead in our CT / CE efforts are not doing us any favors.