World's 7th Largest Economy Going Dry?

According to many estimates, the State of California, if it were a country, is close to becoming the world's 7th largest economy, passing Brazil this year, and the Russian Federation and Italy about a year ago.

Some key facts:

• California's GDP in 2013: $2.20 trillion, trend: expanding
• Brazil's GDP in 2013: $2.25 trillion, trend: steady or slight decline
• Investments in publicly traded California-based companies returned investors 119% in the three years ended 12/31/2014. The average company in the S&P 500 returned 96% in the same period.

But there's a big problem in the Golden State. California may be in serious danger of running out of water sometime in 2016 or not long thereafter. Much of the California economy depends on the famous names like Apple, Inc. and The Walt Disney Company, but much of it also depends on agriculture. Farming requires water. Did you know that it takes five gallons of water to produce one walnut?  It takes about one gallon to produce a single almond. You know, those "California Almonds."

The California dairy industry has been aggressively advertising California cheese in a battle of titans with my neighbors to the north, the folks across the Cheddar Curtain. (That's Wisconsin, if you didn't know.) Dairy cattle and other livestock require water, if you didn't know. And... for the record, the average Californian requires water every day, if you didn't know. A California gone dry would be a huge problem. Now you know.

Who says California is running out of water? Crackpot doomsdayers, conspiracy theorists, or other alarmist nut jobs? Hardly. A NASA study released in December, 2014 says California was 11 trillion gallons short as a result of the prolonged drought.

NASA satellite data reveal the severity of California’s drought on water resources across the state. This map shows the trend in water storage between September 2011 and September 2014. Image Credit: NASA JPL

In an Op-Ed piece for the LA Times on March 13, 2015, Jay Famiglietti, Hydrologist, UC Irvine Professor and JPL Senior Water Scientist, wrote:

"Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing. California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain."

This drought is a natural event, perhaps exacerbated by global warming, perhaps a result of human activity. Can human activity fix it? Unlikely. There are no potential human activities known that could dramatically improve this situation in less than a few decades time, if at all. Maybe praying for rain isn't such a bad idea.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
    making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
    so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
   but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

- Isaiah 55:9-11 

References
Brown’s California Overtakes Brazil With Companies Leading World. Bloomberg News, January 15, 2015
California Ranks As World’s 8th Largest Economy, Overtaking Russia And Italy KPBS, July 8, 2014
Needed: 11 Trillion Gallons to Replenish California Drought NASA, December 16, 2014
Op-Ed California has about one year of water stored. Will you ration now? LA Times,

There Is No Vaccine Against Addiction

No one is immune from addiction; it afflicts people of all ages, races, classes, and professions. - Patrick J. Kennedy

Last night I was kindly invited to attend "family night" at a a substance abuse rehab center. One Wednesday during a 28-day stay, the clients attend a one-hour lecture, along with family members who are able to join them. Last night, five sets of parents spoke to the group, to the clients, encouraging --- imploring them to persevere in their rehab programs, to get a sponsor, to go to a halfway house, to attend meetings --- whatever it takes to stay "clean."

These parents know well what's at stake. Every one had lost a son or daughter to an overdose. Two of the five sets of parents are about my age and raising a young grandson because mommy or daddy died from their disease of addiction. My friends, Bob​ and Sherry invited me. Sherry was one of the speakers, with her grandson at her side and her son's picture on an easel nearby.

It was a lot to take in. I'm still processing what it means to me. I've never been directly involved in these situations. There are however a few things I can say with certainty. Substance abuse is nothing to joke about. It can involve anybody. It can kill anybody. Know the signs. Get expert help. Support those affected, the parents, the children, as well as those trying to get help, and those who don't yet see how much they need it.

More on this another day as I continue to think and pray about it.

Memory, Habits, and Adaptability - A Personal Experiment

Lately, I've been experimenting on myself and testing my adaptability in routine activities. It all started when American Airlines​ changed my AAdvantage number after 30+ years because of a data privacy concern. It took longer than I would have hoped to memorize it. So, I started making other innocuous changes. For example, several days ago, I switched my socks drawer with my underwear drawer. They had been in the same order for about 30 years. I'm fine if I think about it, but if I walk up to my dresser in the morning, half asleep, I'm still likely to open the wrong one. My theory is this. If I keep this up, I should be able to more quickly internalize each change. I'll let you know.

The Burden Of Hate

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

What is hate? 

What is love? 

Paul the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians,

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 (ESV) 

What then, is hate? Perhaps this,

Hate is impatient and unkind; hate is envious and boastful; it is arrogant and rude. It insists on its own way; it is irritable and resentful; hate rejoices at wrongdoing, and flees from the truth. Hate stands only for itself, believes in nothing, hopes for nothing, endures nothing. It is unfaithful. It is hopeless.

Impatient, envious, arrogant, insisting on its own way? Irritable and resentful? Unfaithful? Hopeless? Clearly, a burden too great to bear.

1 Corinthians 13

Five Holiday Shopping Alternatives: Giving With Purpose

Looking for something different? 

Want to give with purpose? 

Sick and tired of the malls, the crowds, the frenzy? 

Try one or more of these alternatives.

Compassion International
Gifts that change lives

All gifts in the catalog are great for year-round giving as well as for Christmas. Consider donating a gift in honor of a friend or family member for a birthday, anniversary, graduation, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents Day — and we offer special Honor Cards to commemorate gifts for many occasions throughout the year. To learn more, go to: compassion.com/catalog.htm

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Heifer International
The Most Important Gift Catalog In The World

Choose a meaningful gift to give a loved one and help children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant. Honor your loved ones with a free card from Heifer with every donation. To learn more, go to: heifer.org/gift-catalog/index.html 

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Oxfam America Unwrapped
Gifts that give back

Oxfam America is a global organization working to right the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice. As one of 17 members of the international Oxfam confederation, we work with people in more than 90 countries to create lasting solutions. Oxfam saves lives, develops long-term solutions to poverty, and campaigns for social change. To learn more, go to oxfamamerica.org.

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Ten Thousand Villages

Fair Trade Retailer Since 1946

More than 60 years ago Edna Ruth Byler, a pioneering businesswoman, began selling handcrafted products from Puerto Rico out of the trunk of her car to help eradicate poverty. Today a global network of social entrepreneurs works to empower artisans in developing countries. To learn more, go to tenthousandvillages.com/

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UNICEF
Every Gift You Purchase Helps Save Children's Lives

UNICEF Market offers beautifully crafted items, including gifts and cards, with part of the proceeds going to talented artisans and to help UNICEF save and protect children. To learn more, go to: market.unicefusa.org/

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A couple of notes...

For friends outside the USA, the links provided here are for shopping and delivery with the United States. However, all of these are international organizations. Many have links to sites designed for your country. If you have suggestions about how I can make that easier, please leave a comment.

Did I miss a good one? Post a comment with your suggestion. If it is in keeping with the theme, I'll update the list!

5 Minute Reflection #14.10: Jargon, Brand Names And The Obfuscation of The Important

The letters and words of our language can be arranged in countless combinations. In spite of that theoretical possibility, sometimes words are re-used in surprising ways and abbreviations and acronyms mean different things in different contexts. Sometimes, in our Orwellian technologically immersive culture, we approach the limits of language to say what we mean without extra effort to establish context, especially where technical jargon, brand names and other usage patterns reinvent words and reshape their meanings.

Case in point: Microsoft Office - Project. While having lunch, I noticed something about MS-Project on the TV in the restaurant. Really? Microsoft is running a commercial for their project management software? That seems awfully expensive for a niche title. They rarely run commercials for the common MS-Office titles like MS-Word or MS-Excel. 

I looked more closely. The graphic on the TV referred to The MS Project, not MS-Project. The MS Project is a collection of things created to raise awareness about something really important - Multiple Sclerosis. Consisting of a book, a website, apparel, and an iPhone app these elements are bringing renewed attention to this serious disease, educating people, and creating community among its sufferers, their families and others. 

How inconsequential does MS-Project seem by comparison to The MS-Project? For more information visit, The MS Project on the web. (http://themsproject.com) In the meantime, I'll try to be more careful and not let important things elude my attention just because they sound like something else.

When #tech makes it easy peasy lemon squeezy

If you're immersed in technology as many of us are, with smartphones, smart TVs, smart meters, tablets, laptops, desktops, fitness bracelets and ubiquitous connectivity, you probably have days when none of it seems to work as it should. The effort required to get it to work as you need it to seems like a very poor investment. You just want to through it all in the street and drive over it repeatedly with your pickup truck.

On the other hand, there are days when all of this works harmoniously in a symphony of orchestrated people, processes and technologies to accomplish tasks large and small. The other evening I was finishing a client presentation and printed a few paper copies to bring to the meeting the next day. From my laptop somewhere downstairs, I sent the job to my printer somewhere upstairs. While the printer was doing what printers do, it sent an alert to my laptop that the yellow ink was low - not empty, just low. It even sent me a link to the manufacturer's web site where I could order more yellow ink. I followed the link and checked the price. Then, with a quick copy and paste of the part number, I checked the price for the same item on Amazon.com where it was offered for about 10% less. Thanks to my Amazon Prime membership, two-day shipping was free. I hit the "Buy Now with 1-click" button and that was that, in less than a minute.

Two days later, my yellow ink cartridge arrived at the front door. That's how all of this stuff is supposed to work. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.