Valentines Day 2004
Dear Paul and Kate, Melanie and Jared, Bridget and Justin, Sara, Ben and Sarah, Heather, Audrey, Rachel, and Matt via hardcopy,
cc: file, Andrea, Tony Hafen, Sara and Des Penny,
& Maxine Shirts
Welcome to "Thoughtlets." This is a weekly review of an idea,
belief, thought, or words that will hopefully be of some benefit
to you, my children, with an electronic copy to on-line extended
family members. Any of you can ask me not to clutter your mail
box at any time.
"This week I'm going to write about some of the things I did not
do on Valentines Day 2004. I did not drive over to Vidor to
welcome Taylor Wright into the world. Maybe next week. I did
not buy Andrea roses, nor a card, nor candy, nor a valentines
present. I did not prune the roses. And I guess life goes on
if milestones like these are not met on my preset schedule.
This week I received the POPS (Pioneer Oil Producers Society)
Meeting Notice, with documentation of the historian's comments
at the last meeting. Bob Scott was the Editor of World Oil
when Gulf Publishing published my book, New Technologies in
Exploration Geophysics. In his editorials he has often come
across as being a little bit to the right of the most extreme
redneck you have ever met. I will quote his note, and then
comment on it:
<![CDATA[ `About a year ago, POPS member Jerry Westbrook spoke to us
about global warming or gw for short. That subject became
prominent in the media again last week when our former boy
genius VP Ozone Gore - well he did claim to have invented
the Internet - spoke on the subject in New York to a gaggle
of environmental wackos - 2500 of them.
He told them "there is overwhelming and undeniable evidence
that global warming is a serious threat to our common future,"
at the time of the speech, the temperature was 13 deg with a
wind chill of - 20 deg, which must of raised at least the
shadow of a doubt about his claim in the minds of some of
his audience. Then again, one wonders if 2500 people who
would go out in that kind of weather to hear such stuff
were equipped with minds.
Considering all that, lets take a look at the history of
this disastrous threat. Now Jerry told us about the faulty
assumptions on which gw is based and how complying with
proposed solutions would destroy the energy industry and
most others and send the US down the tube economically,
so I'm not going into that.
Many years ago, noted editor, critic and writer H. L. Mencken
precisely prophesied the motive of current gw proponents with
this observation: "The whole aim of practical politics is to
keep the populace alarmed - hence clamorous to be led to
safety - and menacing it with an endless series of
hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." The gw issue is indeed
totally political and a classic Mencken hobgoblin.
The possibility of gw caused by humans was first postulated
in the late 1800s. In 1986, a Swedish scientist theorized
that as humans burned an increasing amount of hydrocarbons
(coal at that time) carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere
would increase and raise the planet's temperature. In the
1930's, earth's temperature sure enough rose and kept the gw
theory alive. Military funding to study the weather and
seas during the cold war supported more study and in 1967
calculations projected a few degrees increase by "sometime
this century." In the 70s scientists got more interested
because of more government funding. And in 1979, an
unexpected series of actions by an unlikely personage
breathed new life into the gw issue. That year, a
conservative government won election in the UK headed by
Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of a
large western power.
Maggie was not well known outside the UK and was determined
to make an impression on other western leaders. Her only
government experience had been as education minister in Sir
Edward Heath's conservative administration that collapsed
in 1974, when she became known as milk snatcher Thatcher
because she discontinued free milk for school children.
Sir Crispin Tickell, the UK ambassador to the UN told Maggie,
who has a BS in chemistry, that all international statesmen
were scientific illiterates and one that wasn't could win
any summit debate if an important scientific issue surfaced.
If nothing else, she knew CO2 was the chemical name of
carbon dioxide. Tickell then suggested that Maggie push
the gw issue to the hilt at every summit meeting. She did
and it worked. She finally gained international respect
and the UK became the promoter of the gw fairy tale.
Politicians from other countries jumped on the bandwagon -
some, it was postulated, to keep Maggie from constantly
interrupting summit meetings with her gw diatribe.
Concurrently, wacko environmental organizations sprang up
like winter oats, all braying the danger of a yet to be
substantiated theory. Maybe British roots are why BP and
Royal Dutch joined the gw propagandists early on.
Unfortunately, things began to get out of hand as years
went by. By the 1980's, the Marxist socialist international,
the mama group for socialist parties around the world,
successfully inserted itself into the enviro movement.
Not surprisingly, it's head quartered in London. In 1992
the radical socialists - and keep in mind that at the time
virtually all European countries had socialist governments
- hit their stride at the UN sponsored earth summit in
Rio de Janeiro, forerunner of all subsequent conclaves
that culminated in the Kyoto accords in Japan, the bible
of this bunch. Vice Chairman of the Rio affair was
Gro Harlem Bruntland, a socialist PM of Norway. She
freely acknowledged that the earth summit agenda was
based on the socialist international's platform. Pundit
Mencken, quoted earlier, who never heard of gw, it on the
noggin again when he said "the urge to save humanity is
almost always a false front for the urge to rule."
To sum up: The progenitor of the gw hobgoblin as a
political tool was a staunch conservative and a 3-time
highly successful PM of Great Britain. And she only
did it to gain political recognition and stature.
Ultra radicals called liberals, socialists, Marxists,
etc. seized the gw baton in the 1980s and have been
running hard with it - fortunately without too much
success. Three US senators who were avid cheerleaders
for the socialist agenda at Rio were Timothy Wirth,
Ozone Gore, and one John F. Kerry. The gw issue
won't go away. Too many people get too much
government money because of it, who couldn't make
any money without it, and they have political influence.
This material was taken from three published works,
"A hyper linked history of climate change science" by
Spencer Weart; "Global warming: how it all began," by
Richard Courtney; and "Environmental overkill: whatever
happened to common sense," by Dixie Lee Ray.']]>
Bob Scott has always comes across as opinionated. The way
he writes is not much better than the way those on the
left sensationalize their message. It appears he does
not care for female leaders, even if they are conservatives,
and yet I had never made the connection that creating fear
about global warming is simply a way to control the masses.
The more I think about it, the more valid it seems. I
think George Bush has played on similar fears, i.e.
terrorists and anthrax and corruption, to consolidate
power. This urge to rule seems to be pandemic among
politicians.
Amid all of the stress of meeting bills, I've been thinking
about building my prototype city. Hearing these words a
couple of weeks ago when I went to the POPS luncheon, and
then reading them this week, have got me thinking about my
motivations. Is my urge to rule? Or is my motivation as I
imagine, love for family and humanity and a desire to make
the world a better place? Do I just want to be famous, as
I was recently told? Is this why I am willing to take risk
and why I keep working on big projects? Projects which are
unreasonable in terms of being funded and completed in my
lifetime. I figure there is no one better able to answer
these questions than my 10 kids and your spouses, my niece
and nephew, sister and brother-in-law, uncles and aunts, and
others who have watched me from outside myself for years.
So what do each of you think about these questions? I'm
interested in your response, probably it is partly to see if
there is anyone out there that actually reads what I write.
My week was pretty quiet. There were some good meetings,
some good phone calls, and no signed contracts or jobs. I
got a bad cough and a bit of a temperature, and this kind
of came to a culmination on Friday the 13th. I really felt
pretty poor on Friday, Friday night, and Saturday. There
was a couple of fun e-mails. Ron Burgerner sent a copy of
an image taken at a protest rally in Syria. I expect you
will each get a chuckle out of this.
My cousin, Thane Hafen,
sent me the following:
<![CDATA[ `TOP FIVE WAYS GENERAL AUTHORITIES EAT THEIR REESE'S
PEANUT BUTTER CUPS
5. Paul H. Dunn: "I remember back in WWII that I ate a
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup that was 2 feet tall. I
really didn't know if I could eat it or not, what
with my recent war injury and all, but 1 remembered
my fallen buddy's words as he died in my arms:
'Paul, if you just take one bite at a time you can
tackle anything.' So I took that giant cup and,
breaking it with the bat Babe Ruth gave me, proceeded
to wolf down the tiny morsels".
4. Thomas S. Monson: "I remember I ate my first Reese's
Peanut Butter Cup when I was a tender lad of 8. I
just returned home from delivering a load of coal in
my little red wagon to a very needy window in my ward.
My mother came up to me, and with a loving twinkle in
her eye, asked, 'Tommy, are you eating a Reese's?' And
I would invariably smile up to her, 'Yes, Yes, I am.'
"But Tommy, did you know that Sister Jensen next door
hasn't eaten a Reese's Cup in years?" My young mind
thought upon the plight of my next-door neighbor as I
..... "
3. Boyd K. Packer: "In all my years, I have always eaten
my Reese's Peanut Butter Cups the same way - the way,
the very way the brethren have Instructed us to eat
them. There is a far greater evil in this world, though
those who believe they can eat their Cups in a way not
in harmony with the brethren. We must be true and
faithful and eat our Peanut Butter Cups the exact same
way the brethren do."
2. Neal A. Maxwell: "I intentionally initiate the delicious
design of Deglutition of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup by
nibbling a negligible bit of the culinary creamy cavalcade.
For like our Savior, it is exclusively through small
entities that the great things are fabricated. Then I .... "
AND THE #1 WAY...
1. J. Golden Kimball: "Hell, I'll eat a Reese's Peanut Butter
Cup any damn way I want!"']]>
I must admit, I am uncomfortable passing this e-mail on,
because I don't like the tone it sets as far as sustaining
the Brethren. However, it is funny, and if we can't laugh
at ourselves, we are in a pretty deep hole.
Andrea and I did go to the Stake Valentines Day 2004 dance
Saturday night. The Mid-life Crisis played. We danced to
several of the slower songs. She was counting steps as
1,2,3,...,1,2,3, and I kept getting off. Oh well! I also
danced with Lorie Schmidt, Chris Schmidt's Mom. It was fun
to see how much she enjoyed it. It was a Chili Cookoff,
very much like a Ward Chili Cookoff a year ago (../0307.html).
Church was pretty quiet today. My cousin, Sherri Nelson
Mattox, spoke. First time she has spoken in Sacrament
meeting in six years. She did a really good job. She
quoted her favorite Primary Song, and added a fifth verse
a friend wrote, which I think is worth sharing for each
of you to read, contemplate, and ponder:
<![CDATA[ `1: I am a child of God,
And He has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.
C: Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with Him someday.
2: I am a child of God,
And so my needs are great;
Help me to understand his words
Before it grows too late.
C: Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with Him someday.
3: I am a child of God,
Rich blessings are in store;
If I but learn to do His will,
I'll live with Him once more.
C: Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with Him someday.
4: I am a child of God.
His promises are sure;
Celestial glory shall be mine
If I can but endure.
C: Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with Him someday.
5: I am a child of God.
And has given me the key,
So I can live with Him,
Through all eternity.
C: Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with Him someday.']]>
The choir sang, there was practice before Sacrament Meeting,
so there was not practice afterwards, and we got home to
1307 Emerald Green about 12:30. We were just eating BBQ Beef
and veggies when the phone rang. It was Melanie. She
was in room 307 of the Beaumont Hospital with her new
daughter Taylor, who was born at 7:00 AM, weighing in at
7 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches long. I'll write about
the rest of today next week (0408.html). Especially since
I had written most of this thoughtlet yesterday, on Saturday,
Valentines Day 2004."
I'm interested in sharing weekly a "thoughtlet" (little statements
of big thoughts which mean a lot to me) with you because I know how
important the written word can be. I am concerned about how easy
it is to drift and forget our roots and our potential among all of
distractions of daily life. To download any of these thoughtlets
go to http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets or e-mail me at
rnelson@walden3d.com.
With all my love,
Dad
(H. Roice Nelson, Jr.)