Homeless

“To know oneself, is above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against the Truth, and not the other way around.”- Flannery O’Connor



From a USA Today article by Lori Grisham

Someone has recently taken up permanent residence on a park bench outside St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Davidson, N.C.

It's "Homeless Jesus," a bronze sculpture by Timothy Schmalz installed in February, which depicts Jesus lying on a park bench under a blanket. His face and hands are covered. His feet, wounded from the crucifixion, are exposed.

"It makes people think about their faith commitment and the plight of the homeless in this country," the Rev. David Buck, St. Alban's minister, told USA TODAY Network.
It's "life-size, interactive, and in keeping with our church's commitment to social justice," he said, noting that the church considers art to be connected to spiritual growth.

The community, which Buck describes as "affluent," has mostly expressed positive reactions to the piece, he says, adding that everyone from atheists to conservative Christians have expressed admiration.

"We wanted to remind ourselves that our faith expresses itself not in beautiful buildings only, but mainly in care for those less fortunate, the marginalized," he said.
A plaque near the sculpture calls the artwork a "visual prayer" for Kate MacIntyre, a member of the church who died in 2007.

A church member gave the statue as a gift in memory of Kate MacIntyre, a former member who died of cancer in 2007. MacIntyre loved public art and helped start art initiatives in the Davidson community, Buck said.

"Homeless Jesus" cost $22,000, but the church did not foot any of the bill, according to Buck.

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I guess I just don’t have a Christian heart. Whatever faith I profess must not go deep enough. Because my reaction to the above report was “really?” While I do believe that Christians (and people of all faiths along with ethical atheists and society in general) should do their part to help those who are less fortunate; how much help is enough? And what sort of help should be offered? When does help just become a way of enabling those on a self-destructive path to enjoy a more comfortable ride? And when does help redirect someone to a better life?

There are a lot of causes for homelessness. Many of the homeless have mental problems. There are drug and alcohol abuse issues. And many of these are veterans. A high percentage of kids who grow up in foster care, end up on the street when they are too old to remain in “the system”. There are the teenage runaways and sexually abused. A disproportionate number of LGBT young people end up on the street. (Ironically many of them rejected by Christian families and communities that now buy $22,000 bronze art pieces to remind themselves not to neglect the homeless.)

We can “think about” our “faith commitment” and the “plight of the homeless”. And perhaps thinking about it will make us feel better or feel worse or just feel. We can also do something by providing basic food, clothing and shelter to those in need. In the grand scheme of things it really does not cost us that much to help the homeless and Jesus pretty much commands us to do so. But don’t play the “Jesus was a homeless person” card. Jesus was much more than a person and although He did not make it His home, He owns this planet and all of creation. In this Easter Season, I don’t see Jesus sleeping on a park bench. He has work to do. We all have work to do.


Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ – Matthew 25: 34-40

If You Don’t Like The Weather, Just Wait….

I read an article this week about Global Cooling. It was written by Keith Schaefer, Editor/Publisher, www.oilandgas-investments.com and titled “Global COOLING – The Real Inconvenient Truth, Part 1.” I must say that Part 1 left me looking forward to Parts 2 and 3. It also led to me look up some other reports regarding the subject of Global Cooling. There’s a lot out there on both sides of the argument. I’m not sure what to believe, but the Global Cooling arguments are starting to make a lot of sense to me. In addition to Schaefer’s recent article, I would also recommend one written last year in Forbes magazine by Peter Ferrara, “To The Horror of Global Warming Alarmists, Global Cooling Is Here”,(http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2013/05/26/to-the-horror-of-global-warming-alarmists-global-cooling-is-here/).

If forced to pick a side in the debate, I come down on the side of Global Cooling. Do I think human activity is having an impact on the earth’s environment? Yes, of course. But compared to the impact of ocean temperature cycles and sun spots, we are just a blip on the map of climate change history. When one reads the reports and reviews the data, it makes some sense that we are heading for a period of significant global cooling. After providing a summary of warming and cooling periods since the Middle Ages, Schaefer makes the following observations about more recent temperatures:

1. Temps continued to fall from 1953 until the mid-1970s – despite rising CO2 levels. This was during the single most industrializing time on earth—and temperatures fell while CO2 levels rose.

2. Another point: if CO2 emissions cause global warming the layer of the atmosphere 5 to 10 km (3-6 miles) above the earth where CO2 interacts with sunlight should be warming more quickly than the earth’s surface. In fact, temperatures at these levels have been unchanged since accurate balloon measurements became available 50 years ago.

3. There has been a large outcry about the decline of Arctic Ice. While Arctic sea ice extent is just above average levels, Arctic sea ice is near record thickness: the volume of ice in the Arctic last fall was 50% higher than 12 months prior, following a very cold summer in 2013 in which temps climbed above freezing only 45 days compared to an average of 90 days. I bet you didn’t read about that.

4. There’s a lot of ice at the other end of the globe too. In eight of the last ten years global sea ice extent has bested the 30-year average, aided by an Antarctic sheet that in October hit its highest extent since record keeping started in 1979.

5. The Northern Hemisphere had its second, third, and fourth highest snow extents on modern record in 2010, 2011, and 2013. In the United States 2013 brought the largest year-over-year drop in temperature on record and the winter is on track to be labeled the third coldest in 200 years.

Evidence of this cooling is everywhere – even if politicians and the media try to pretend it isn’t. Of course, the media has short memories. Only 40 years ago, in mid-1974 Time magazine ran a cover story entitled “Another Ice Age?” noting a 12% increase in New Hampshire snow cover in 30 years.

Conclusion: over the last 1,200 years the earth has been through several pretty extreme temperature swings. What gives?
The answer lies with the sun. Cold periods coincide with solar minimums, which generally happen every 150 to 200 years. Warm periods coincide with solar maxima, which happen every 700 years or so.



And then there is this from the Ferrara article:

The increase in global temperatures since the late 19th century just reflects the end of the Little Ice Age. The global temperature trends since then have followed not rising CO2 trends but the ocean temperature cycles of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). Every 20 to 30 years, the much colder water near the bottom of the oceans cycles up to the top, where it has a slight cooling effect on global temperatures until the sun warms that water. That warmed water then contributes to slightly warmer global temperatures, until the next churning cycle.

Those ocean temperature cycles, and the continued recovery from the Little Ice Age, are primarily why global temperatures rose from 1915 until 1945, when CO2 emissions were much lower than in recent years. The change to a cold ocean temperature cycle, primarily the PDO, is the main reason that global temperatures declined from 1945 until the late 1970s, despite the soaring CO2 emissions during that time from the postwar industrialization spreading across the globe.

The 20 to 30 year ocean temperature cycles turned back to warm from the late 1970s until the late 1990s, which is the primary reason that global temperatures warmed during this period. But that warming ended 15 years ago, and global temperatures have stopped increasing since then, if not actually cooled, even though global CO2 emissions have soared over this period. As The Economist magazine reported in March, “The world added roughly 100 billion tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere between 2000 and 2010. That is about a quarter of all the CO2 put there by humanity since 1750.” Yet, still no warming during that time. That is because the CO2 greenhouse effect is weak and marginal compared to natural causes of global temperature changes.

At first the current stall out of global warming was due to the ocean cycles turning back to cold. But something much more ominous has developed over this period. Sunspots run in 11 year short term cycles, with longer cyclical trends of 90 and even 200 years. The number of sunspots declined substantially in the last 11 year cycle, after flattening out over the previous 20 years. But in the current cycle, sunspot activity has collapsed. NASA’s Science News report for January 8, 2013 states:

“Indeed, the sun could be on the threshold of a mini-Maunder event right now. Ongoing Solar Cycle 24 [the current short term 11 year cycle] is the weakest in more than 50 years. Moreover, there is (controversial) evidence of a long-term weakening trend in the magnetic field strength of sunspots. Matt Penn and William Livingston of the National Solar Observatory predict that by the time Solar Cycle 25 arrives, magnetic fields on the sun will be so weak that few if any sunspots will be formed. Independent lines of research involving helioseismology and surface polar fields tend to support their conclusion.”


And if you have 75 minutes to invest in the subject, the documentary "The Great Global Warming Swindle" is an eye-opener.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtevF4B4RtQ&feature=player_detailpage

Perhaps I am being overly influenced by the winter of 2013-2014 here in North America. While we experienced one of the worst winters in recent memory, other parts of the Northern Hemisphere had record warmth and little moisture. There are plenty of data points from the last 50 years that point toward global warming. But I am inclined to believe that something else is going on over time that has gone on before. Our lives are short and we view our time here as special. As our scientific knowledge grows, we come to believe that we know cause and effect. And knowing cause and effect, we should be able to find solutions. Or can we? If today’s climate is too hot or too dry and we can’t fix it, where does that leave us? And if over the next 150 years the winters get longer and colder and humans can’t fix that either; perhaps they will just blame us for going too green, too soon.

Otto

'Thank God we can't tell the future. We'd never get out of bed.”
- Tracy Letts, August Osage County.

Otto is an old dachshund whose story went viral last week. It’s a sad tale, but with a happy ending:

“A 13-year-old Dachshund will be reunited with his owners after the elderly couple left him tied up outside a California animal shelter, with a heartbreaking note attached saying they were too sick and poor to cover the dog's medical expenses.

The dog, named Otto, was found outside of the Baldwin Park Animal Shelter near Los Angeles with a hand-written note asking that he be put to sleep because his owners could not afford to care for him, Yahoo News reported.

The note reads, "Our dog is 13 1/2 years old he is sick starting yesterday with bloody stools, vomiting," according to the website. "Had a skin disease for a few years. We are both seniors, sick with no money. We cannot pay for vet bills, or to put him to sleep. He has never been away from us in all those years, he cannot function without us, please put him to sleep."

Workers at the shelter reportedly notified Leave No Paws Behind, Inc., a foster-based rescue operation that specializes in seniors. Yahoo News reported that when Otto was later examined by a veterinarian, it was determined that his condition could be treated and that he likely had more years in which to live.
The rescue group reached out to the dog's owners -- after it was clear the Dachshund had been well taken care of -- to reunite the pooch with the couple.”


I was glad to hear that Otto was rescued, treated and will return to his elderly owners. Sounds like he might even outlive them. Otto dodged a bullet. (Perhaps quite literally if his owners had been Texans.) But it does beg the question, when is it time to put down an old dog? One of ours, Dillon, is 15 years old and he’s still hanging in there. We also have a 5 year old dog, Boudreaux, who pesters Dillon and keeps him active. But the old dog is reaching the end of the line. Dillon has lost about half of his teeth, does not see well, his hearing is about gone and arthritis has taken a toll on his hips and legs. He wakes us up early (real early) every morning and when we don’t wake up or get up he stumbles off into the bathroom to use the tile floor as he still recalls the scolding he got once upon a time for going on the carpet. We don’t like cleaning up his mess in the bathroom, but what are you going do? Whack old Dillon with a newspaper for being old? Even Boudreaux seems to understand that his old friend and mentor can’t help it.

My wife says we need to get a pup and start breaking him in so Boudreaux won’t be alone when Dillon is gone. I say that I’m not sure I want to start up with another dog. The actuarial tables say that I would most likely outlive another dog. But what happens when Boudreaux is gone. Do we get another pup so the surviving dog doesn’t get lonely in his old age? At some point, the oldest dog becomes the last dog and I’d just as soon not leave one behind when I check out.

Thinking about when should a dog’s life end always brings me to the controversial subject of when should a person’s life end. First off, animals and humans are different. God did not make animals in his own image. So we are special and sacred. Therefore, I’m pretty conservative when it comes to the pro-life/abortion discussion. But, I tend to lean to “the left” when it comes to “end of life” issues. When people say that it’s up to God to decide when a person’s life should come to an end, I am inclined to agree with them. But when they go on to argue that it’s our duty to do everything to keep people alive for as long as possible, I must respectfully disagree. There is that “quality of life” conundrum. Who gets to say when the quality of a person’s life is so bad that it’s time to pull the plug? And there’s the other side of the question, who gets to say when the quality of a person’s life is so bad that you “plug” them into some device in the first place? Can we have it both ways? Can we accept that God says when we die, but we say how long, as well as "how" we live even after all indications are that God has said it’s time to die?

There is no one right answer for every person and every situation. I know that I do not want to be dumped off at the county hospital someday with a note on my ‘jammies saying that I’m too old and sick to take care of anymore. Especially, if like old Otto, I have a few more good years left in me. At this point, I plan on using Dillon’s tile floor standard . As long as I’m not making a mess on the carpet, I say life is worth living.

Cracks

Why did Allen, Texas build a $60M football stadium? Simple answer…BECAUSE THEY COULD. Why are people all over the nation, including many in Texas, now cracking up over the news that Eagle Stadium is…wait for it…cracking up? Simple answer…HUMAN NATURE.

When it comes to spending money on sports and entertainment; and make no mistake, Texas High School Football is big-time entertainment in these parts; Americans in particular are willing to spend money. Their own as well as that of the taxpayers. Just the tax exemptions alone on municipal bonds issued for the building of sports complexes cost the U.S. Treasury nearly $150M per year. The city of Arlington TX borrowed over $300M via tax-exempt bonds to help Jerry Jones build the Cowboys’ new stadium. And it is turning out to be a good deal for Arlington. The stadium is constantly in use for sports and entertainment venues (most of them, oh by the way, vastly superior to Cowboy games) and the economic impact on the city of Arlington is huge.

Allen, TX envisioned a similar outcome from their investment. It’s not just about high school football. It’s about other sporting events, concerts and revivals (don’t forget, this is the Bible belt.). For the time being, those cracks in the stadium are a minor setback and probably brought about by the hand of God to teach a lesson in humility to the folks in Allen.

But the bigger question for all of us is how much money should we spend on sports and entertainment? What do our tax codes and our personal spending habits say about our priorities. How do we spend our time? I promise you that aside from work, I spend more time watching, reading and talking about sports than anything else. At the end of the day, most Americans must admit that they are more interested in sports and entertainment than they are in the health, education and welfare of themselves or the fellow citizens. We won’t take the time to vote, go to church, help someone in need or even just read a book; but we will find the time to watch American Idol or our favorite sport. So don’t feel too smug about the cracks in Eagle Stadium. We’re all standing on shaky ground.

File Dump

I’ve been too busy lately to organize my thoughts so as to write more than a line or two about any particular subject. And most of the subjects that come to mind have been controversial and I don’t want to piss people off. (Well, actually I don’t mind pissing people off. But when it comes to really controversial subjects I sometimes piss myself off and I just don’t want to be pissed off right now.)
Nevertheless, a lot of stuff has been bouncing around in my head, so I figured that I might as well unload. I’ll return to some of these subjects in the weeks ahead and elaborate further.

_1. The Winter Olympics suck. I am impressed by the athletes and many of the events are a lot of fun..IF you are the one doing them. But as spectator sports, they suck. Curling? Really?

_2. I am so tired of the environmentalists bitching about fracking, tar sands and the Keystone pipeline. Are there risks? Of course. Would it be better if we actually had cleaner energy options totally up and running TODAY which could replace fossil fuels? Sure. But we are where we are and we need to move forward with the utilization of our own natural resources.

_3. I still like Chris Christi.

_4. The Denver Broncos really let me down. They looked old and slow compared to the Seattle Seahawks. I still do not like Pete Carroll.

_5. Winters like this make me so glad that I no longer have any responsibility for trucks on the road or moving freight from point A to point B.

_6. The truck driver shortage is real and will get worse. It is only one piece of the labor shortage puzzle this country will face during the first half of this century. It is a major strategic problem for the U.S. economy.

_7. Michael Sam, the football player, is gay. Nothing to see here. Move on.

_8. Most of the Western US from California to Texas is experiencing an epic drought. Whether it is global warming or just part of a 500 or 1000 or 10,000 year cycle…if it last much longer we are in big trouble.

_9. College basketball has become almost unwatchable. Too many foul calls and the last 3 minutes of every game are nothing but time outs and free throws.

_10. I finally gave up my blackberry and got an android. I miss my blackberry.

Stars

I am a college football fan. And as an alumnus and supporter of Texas Tech University, that makes me a fan who alternates between joy and despair. I also pay close attention to our recruiting of high school and junior college players. Who are we getting and who’s going to the competition? In reality, the whole recruiting process has gotten ridiculous and that I should spend so much time reading about it makes me look pretty ridiculous. But that can wait for another blog on another day. What is of particular interest in the wake of National Signing Day (NSD) when players sign their official letters of intent, is the rating of a team’s recruits.

Over the past twenty years a substantial industry has grown up around the evaluation of would be college football players. And most of the rating services have adopted a “star” rating system. Five star players are rare and essentially regarded as can’t miss prospects. There is a slightly larger pool of four star players. These are really good players who are also more likely to turn into exceptional players than lower rated athletes. Nevertheless, most of the “four stars” turn out to be no better than average or worse. Then there are the two and three star guys. Few will become great players, some will be average, most will not make it. Many will end up at smaller schools off the beaten track along with one star and non-rated players. A small number of them will develop into great players and even end up in the NFL. In the final analysis “stars” do matter and usually the team that ends up winning the National Championship is loaded with four and five star talent.

But what about the teams that consistently have no better than average or below average talent, but somehow achieve above average results. Kansas State is the classic example of such a program. And there are others. Over the years, I would even say that my Texas Tech Red Raiders have over-achieved relative to the quality of players they recruit. Boise State is another example of a consistent over-achiever. And lately, the Baylor Bears. Then , of course, there are the under-achievers…cough, cough, Texas Longhorns…cough, cough.

So beyond just getting the best raw talent, what’s the formula for building a high performance team? First, the coach (manager) must put them in the best position to win, strategically and tactically. Second, the team members have to clearly know their assignments. What is the job they must do and what are the desired outcomes? Third, they must have the coaching, training and tools to do the job? Lastly, members of the team must be fully engaged mentally, emotionally and physically to the task at hand.

There’s no question that a team needs a certain level of talent to be successful. But even the best talent will not win if the strategy is poor and/or the tactics are ill-advised. And a talented team can have a great game plan and still fail if the team members do not clearly understand their roles. Yet top talent, great strategy/tactics and perfect job descriptions will not get results. Team members must have the skills training and tools to do the job. The devil is in the details and poor technique and/or a lack of training will get you beat. Lastly, the team members must execute on the field. If the team members are not fully committed and hitting on all cylinders, even the most talented, well-coached team will lose. We see it in sports, business and politics.

Talent is a great starting point. And the saying is true that “you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken- ____.” But success goes way beyond just being talented or having a talented team. You must have a good plan. Know what to do. Know to how to do it and have the tools to do it. And then go do it. Consultants will charge you a lot of money and then tell you the same thing. It’s not rocket science. But it’s really hard to do. Great leaders (coaches or managers) have somehow found ways to find the pieces and put them together. They understand that star power will only get you so far. Ultimately it is team performance that determines the outcome.

All Aboard

I am ready to declare that the job market has turned around. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the number of employed persons in the U.S. hit the low point in December of 2009 at just over 138 million. Two years before that, in November of 2007 the number employed peaked at 146.6 million. In December of 2013 we are back up to 144.6 million employed. Since 2007, the total labor force has grown by over 1 million, so we still have over 10 million unemployed compared to 7.2 million back at the peak. Nevertheless, we’ve dropped way down from the 15 million unemployed at the end of 2009.

Historically, most economists have figured that a 4% unemployment rate is about the best we can expect. Given the current workforce, that would say that even in good times we can expect around 6 million to be unemployed. Some would argue that with the structural changes in our economy, the “core” rate of unemployment is probably even higher. Some would also say that “the numbers” are skewed because a lot of people have dropped out of the workforce. I’ll leave that to political debate. But, the fact is that we are not going to have zero unemployment. Some millions of people are going to be unemployed at any point in time whether they are counted or not.

In April 2007, job openings peaked at 4.9 million. By December of 2009, that number was down to 2.2 million. In October 2013, we were back up to 4.2 million. Given that we still have almost 3 million more unemployed people than we did back in 2007, it begs the question: Why do we have 4.2 million unfilled jobs? There are a lot of reasons, each of them worthy of a book or two. But the three major factors are the skills gap (people are not qualified for the jobs that are available), the location gap (people don’t live where the jobs are and cannot or will not move), and lastly the motivation gap (people don’t want the jobs that are available.)

So we are seeing job growth, declining unemployment and a significant portion of the unemployed work force that is unqualified, unable or unwilling to accept available jobs. What does this mean if you are a qualified, able and willing candidate? Now is the time to leverage your career. If you have been hiding under the covers since the ‘08-‘09 downturn, it’s time to step up. The opportunities are out there.

What does this mean for employers? You better get serious about retaining your good people. They are either starting to look around or they are getting calls. If you are looking to hire people, especially for key roles where experience, skills and qualifications are critical; be prepared to move quickly and decisively when you find talent. Don’t expect multiple candidates, don’t expect candidates to wait and don’t expect candidates to accept low-ball offers.

And what does this mean for headhunters? Make hay while the sun shines. Headhunters cannot afford to wait on candidates or employers to figure out what they are going to do. He who hesitates is lost. Time to get on board.