And yet here in the heart of the city's motor industry, falling sales and redundancies are the reality.

BBC: Credit crunch hits NI motor market

Here (and in other cities) perception has yet to catch up with reality, meaning most anglers don't fully understand they've got prime sportfishing waters right outside their offices.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Mr. ALAN STERN (Southwest Research Institute): And, you know, whereas we know of four terrestrial planets and four gas giants, we expect that there are hundreds if not thousands of these ice dwarfs, and so this class of planets which we have not yet reconnoitered is in reality the most populous class of planetary body in our solar system.

NPR: NASA Sends Spacecraft to Pluto

Yet our governing elite has lost its bearings and even its moorings in historical reality.

FORBES: The Constitutional Populist Realignment Of 2012

And yet in this arena, as in others, Mr Obama has been better at rhetoric than reality.

ECONOMIST: Government transparency

And yet, the unimaginable scenarios for the Tea Party movement in the US have been the glum reality in Israel for 17 years.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Empowering Israelis to express themselves

"Royal Mail remains ready to meet the union leadership yet again at any time to explain our position and the reality of the open marketplace in which we now operate, " the company said.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Further strikes to hit Royal Mail

Yet in reality, Europe already has suffered as much as we have from the downturn, and recovery there may also be even slower to emerge.

FORBES: New Geographer

If the Cosmos and NASL manage to tap their avowed potential (and right now the former are in a bullish pre-IPO mood, where claims are yet to meet empirical reality), then the ghost of NASL could haunt MLS again.

WSJ: Soccer's Battle for New York