Geopolitical Nexus
Dear Family and Friends,
Welcome to this week's "Thoughtlet."
These words are my personal diary and a weekly review of ideas,
beliefs, thoughts, or words that will hopefully be of some
benefit to you: my children, my family, and my friends.
"There were few notes, many e-mails, and a lot of time that has past since I selected the title Geopolitical Nexus for this Thoughtlet. My understanding is a nexus is a connection or a link, and the geopolitical component must be related to all of the stuff which being talked about in e-mails this week: Henry Ho's exploration plans for offshore Benin; is production purchase in Russia; the interest he expressed in investing $100 million in Dynamic Resources; the GDC work going on in Mexico through Pemex; GDC's activity in Tunisia; the four projects in China on the east coast, in the northeast, in the far west, and in the far northwest; etc. Of course, none of these things have amounted to anything of significance since then. And having the opportunity to write this from the future, it is pretty obvious the title is typical of my ego or my imagination mixing up what is potential for what is real. I do recognize this tendency, which is shown by the section on Ego in Chapter 2 of An Open Mind. At least I recognize it in others. I'm not sure I recognize it in myself. Oh well!
On Monday I was listening to AudioTech Business Book Summary on the way to work and learned that we "get control by giving control to consumers." On the way home I learned that "if they feel they can influence you they will be easier to influence." During the day, I noted arranging to meet Eddy Rogers at Denny’s Wednesday morning (0634.html). As with most breakfast meetings with Eddy Rogers, this meeting potentially has far reaching consequences. Monday evening Aunt Sara sent the following e-mail:
<![CDATA['Dear Roice and Andrea,
Fern's funeral was well done. It was good to see the family. They are mostly in the
Intermountain West. The exception is Marsha who is in Washington state.
I went out to Uncle Dick and Aunt Elaine to help them with the paperwork for the fallout
compensation. He's up and about with a few tubes for help. He's in good spirits. They have
home health coming to assist.
. . .
Hope all is well.
Love,
Sara']]>
I have no notes for Tuesday or Wednesday. Must have been too busy swimming in the middle of a geopolitical nexus. Thursday Dave left for Tarim and to present the results of the pre-stack time migration and our interpretation of this data. When I got back from walking the stairs, there was a conversation with Lee Bell, where he asked how long it took me to climb 34 flights of stairs. I told him I had been able to get it down to about 20 minutes. He lectured me about the importance of doing 30 minutes cardiovascular exercise. He suggested I should go to an exercise place, after all there are good looking women at these places. I told him I did not think Andrea would like me googling. Starting the next day I increased from 34 flights to 54 flights, going up and down 27 floors twice. This took 45 minutes when I started, and now I can do it in between 30 and 35 minutes. The notes say that Thursday evening Andrea and I watched the first three episodes of the third season of "24." Also on Thursday I sent the following e-mail to Eddy Rogers (and received a memo response, which I will not include here, on Friday):
<![CDATA['Eddy,
Thanks.
Attached is the employment agreement you requested.
Also, I forgot to mention I've been using one of my lifetime Landmark licenses at GDC for the last 3
years for free (before I accepted the offer I was consulting for them). They are starting to make money
from use of the license, and claim they have given me a "large" salary to compensate for use of the
licenses. However, I do not recall this being mentioned at the time of the raise a few months ago, and it
is an issue that needs to be addressed. I'm not sure how to ask you to help with this.
Best Regards,
Roice']]>
Thursday or Friday the following e-mail came from George Schultz, and is attributed to Dr. Vernon Chong (http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5000) command surgeon, Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany as copied from http://mikegulf.blogspot.com/2006/07/this-war-is-for-real.html:
<![CDATA["This WAR is for REAL! Dr. Vernon Chong Major General, USAF (Ret) Tuesday, July 12, 2005:
To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it. Our country is now facing the most serious
threat to its existence as we know it that we have faced in your lifetime and mine, and that includes
WWII! The deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact that there are very few of us who
think we can possibly lose this war and even fewer who realize what losing really means. First, let's
examine a few basics:
1. When did the threat to us start? Many will say September 11, 2001. The answer (as far as the United States
is concerned) is 1979, 22 years prior to September 2001, and includes the following attacks on us:
* Iran Embassy Hostages, 1979;
* Beirut, Lebanon Embassy 1983;
* Beirut, Lebanon Marine Barracks 1983;
* Lockerbie, Scotland Pan-Am flight to New York 1988;
* First New York World Trade Center attack 1993;
* Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Khobar Towers Military complex 1996;
* Nairobi, Kenya US Embassy 1998;
* Dares Salaam, Tanzania US Embassy 1998;
* Aden, Yemen USS Cole 2000;
* New York World Trade Center 2001;
* Pentagon 2001.
(Also note that during the period from 1981 to 2001 there were another 7,581 terrorist attacks worldwide).
2. Why were we attacked?
Envy of our position, our success, and our freedoms. The attacks happened during the administrations
of Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2. We cannot fault either the Republicans or
Democrats as there were no provocations by any of the presidents or their immediate predecessors,
Presidents Ford or Carter.
3. Who were the attackers?
In each case, the attacks on the US were carried out by Muslims.
4. What is the Muslim population of the World? 25%.
5. Isn't the Muslim Religion peaceful?
Hopefully, but that is really not material. There is no doubt that the predominately Christian population
of Germany was peaceful, but under the dictatorial leadership of Hitler (who was also Christian), that
made no difference. You either went along with the administration or you were eliminated. There
were 5 to 6 million Christians killed by the Nazis for political reasons (including 7,000 Polish priests).
Thus, almost the same number of Christians were killed by the Nazis as the six million Jews during the
Holocaust who were killed by them, and we seldom hear of anything other than the Jewish atrocities.
Although Hitler kept the world focused on the Jews, he had no hesitancy about killing anyone who got
in his way of exterminating the Jews or of taking over the world - German, Christian or any others.
Same with the Muslim terrorists. They focus the world on the US, but kill all in the way -- their own
people or the Spanish, French or anyone else. The point here is that just like the peaceful Germans were
of no protection to anyone from the Nazis, no matter how many peaceful Muslims there may be, they
are no protection for us from the terrorist Muslim leaders and what they are fanatically bent on doing
-- by their own pronouncements -- killing all of us "infidels." I don't blame the peaceful Muslims.
What would you do if the choice was shut up or die?
6. So who are we at war with?
There is no way we can honestly respond that it is anyone other than the Muslim terrorists. Trying to
be politically correct and avoid verbalizing this conclusion can well be fatal. There is no way to win
if you don't clearly recognize and articulate who you are fighting. So with that background, return now
to the two major questions: First, can we lose this war? Second, what does losing really mean? If we are
to win, we must clearly answer these two pivotal questions We can definitely lose this war, and as
anomalous as it may sound, the major reason we can lose is that so many of us simply do not fathom
the answer to the second question, what does losing mean? It would appear that a great many of us think
that losing the war means hanging our heads, bringing the troops home and going on about our business,
like post Vietnam. This is as far from the truth as one can get. What losing really means is: We would no
longer be the premier country in the world. The attacks will not subside, but rather will steadily increase.
Remember, they want us dead, not just quiet. If they had just wanted us quiet, they would not have
produced an increasing series of attacks against us over the past 18 years. The plan was clearly for
terrorists to attack us until we were neutered and submissive to them. We would, of course, have no future
support from other nations for fear of reprisals and for the reason that they would see we are impotent
and cannot help them. They will pick off the other non-Muslim nations, one at a time. It will be
increasingly easier for them.
They already hold Spain hostage. It doesn't matter whether it was right or wrong for Spain to withdraw
its troops from Iraq. Spain did it because the Muslim terrorists bombed their train and told them to
withdraw the troops. Anything else they want Spain to do will be done. Spain is finished. The next will
probably be France. Our one hope on France is that they might see the light and realize that if we don't
win, they are finished too, in that they can't resist the Muslim terrorists without us. However, it may
already be too late for France. France is already 20% Muslim and fading fast! If we lose the war, our
production, income, exports and way of life will all vanish as we know it. After losing, who would trade
or deal with us if they were threatened by the Muslims. If we can't stop the Muslims, how could anyone
else? The Muslims fully know what is riding on this war and are therefore completely committed to
winning at any cost. We better know it too and be likewise committed to winning at any cost.
Why do I go on at such lengths about the results of losing? Simple. Until we recognize the costs of losing,
we cannot unite and really put 100% of our thoughts and efforts into winning. And it is going to take that
100% effort to win. So, how can we lose the war? Again, the answer is simple. We can lose the war by
"imploding." That is, defeating ourselves by refusing to recognize the enemy and their purpose, and really
digging in and lending full support to the war effort. If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. If
we continue to be divided, there is no way that we can win! Let me give you a few examples of how we
simply don't comprehend the life and death seriousness of this situation. President Bush selects Norman
Mineta as Secretary of Transportation. Although all of the terrorist attacks were committed by Muslim
men between 17 and 40 years of age, Secretary Mineta refuses to allow profiling. Does that sound like
we are taking this thing seriously? This is war! For the duration, we are going to have to give up some of
the civil rights we have become accustomed to. We had better be prepared to lose some of our civil rights
temporarily or we will most certainly lose all of them permanently. And don't worry that it is a slippery
slope. We gave up plenty of civil rights during WWII, and immediately restored them after the victory
and in fact added many more since then.
Do I blame President Bush or President Clinton before him? No, I blame us for blithely assuming we can
maintain all of our Political Correctness and all of our civil rights during this conflict and have a clean,
lawful, honorable war. None of those words apply to war. Get them out of your head. Some have gone
so far in their criticism of the war and/or the Administration that it almost seems they would literally like
to see us lose. I hasten to add that this isn't because they are disloyal. It is because they just don't
recognize what losing means. Nevertheless, that conduct gives the impression to the enemy that we
are divided and weakening. It concerns our friends, and it does great damage to our cause.
Of more recent vintage, the uproar fueled by the politicians and media regarding the treatment of some
prisoners of war, perhaps exemplifies best what I am saying. We have had issues involving the treatment
of a few Muslim prisoners of war by a small group of our military police. These are the type prisoners
who were throwing their own people off buildings, cutting off their hands, cutting out their tongues and
otherwise murdering their own people just for disagreeing with Saddam Hussein. And just a few years
ago these same type prisoners chemically killed 400,000 of their own people for the same reason. They
are also the same type of enemy fighters who recently were burning Americans and dragging their
charred corpses through the streets of Iraq. And still more recently, the same type of enemy that was and
is providing videos to all news sources internationally of the beheading of American prisoners they held.
Compare this with some of our press and politicians who for months thought and talked about nothing
else but the "humiliating" of some Muslim prisoners -- not burning them, not dragging their charred
corpses through the streets, not beheading them, but "humiliating" them. Can this be for real? The
politicians and pundits even talked of impeachment of the Secretary of Defense. If this doesn't show
the complete lack of comprehension and understanding of the seriousness of the enemy we are fighting,
the life and death struggle we are in and the disastrous results of losing this war, nothing can. To bring
our country to a virtual political standstill over this prisoner issue makes us look like Nero playing his
fiddle as Rome burned -- totally oblivious to what is going on in the real world. Neither we, nor any
other country, can survive this internal strife. Again I say, this does not mean that some of our politicians
or media people are disloyal. It simply means that they are absolutely oblivious to the magnitude of the
situation we are in and into which the Muslim terrorists have been pushing us, for many years.
Remember, the Muslim terrorists stated goal is to kill all infidels! That translates into ALL non-Muslims
-- not just in the United State, but throughout the world. We are the last bastion of defense. We have
been criticized for many years as being 'arrogant.' That charge is valid in at least one respect. We are
arrogant in that we believe that we are so good, powerful and smart that we can win the hearts and
minds of all those who attack us and that with both hands tied behind our back, we can defeat anything
bad in the world! We can't! If we don't recognize this, our nation as we know it will not survive, and
no other free country in the world will survive if we are defeated.
And finally, name any Muslim countries throughout the world that allow freedom of speech, freedom
of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, equal rights for anyone -- let alone everyone,
equal status or any status for women, or that have been productive in one single way that contributes
to the good of the world. This has been a long way of saying that we must be united on this war or
we will be equated in the history books to the self-inflicted fall of the Roman Empire; if, that is, the
Muslim leaders will allow history books to be written or read. If we don't win this war now, keep a
close eye on how the Muslims take over France in the next 5 years or less. They will continue to
increase the Muslim population of France and continue to encroach little by little on the established
French traditions. The French will be fighting among themselves over what should or should not be
done, which will continue to weaken them and keep them from any united resolve. Doesn't that sound
eerily familiar? Democracies don't have their freedoms taken away from them by some external
military force. Instead, they give their freedoms away, politically correct piece by politically correct
piece. And they are giving those freedoms away to those who have shown worldwide that they abhor
freedom and will not apply it to you or even to themselves once they are in power. They have
universally shown that when they have taken over, they then start brutally killing each other over
who will be the few who control the masses. Will we ever stop hearing from the politically correct,
about the "peaceful Muslims"? I close on a hopeful note, by repeating what I said above. If we are
united, there is no way that we can lose. I hope the factions in our country will begin to focus on the
critical situation we are in, and will unite to save our country. It is your future we are talking about!
We must do whatever we can to preserve it not only for ourselves, but our children, our grandchildren,
our country and the world."]]>
I absolutely agree with the points made in this e-mail. Simply based on statements by the Prophet Joseph Smith that the Book of Mormon is a parable of the Church in the Last Days, and the scary descriptions of how the Gadianton Robbers brought destruction to a great nation, I consider modern-day terrorists to be a significant issue for you kids and for my Grandkids. If they are to be stopped, it is going to be much easier now, than by letting them have more time to develop more dangerous ways to attack us.
Maureen sent me the following e-mail on Friday:
| <![CDATA['How Moses got the 10 Commandments....
God went to the Arabs and said,
"I have Commandments for you that will make your lives better."
The Arabs asked, "What are Commandments?"
And the Lord said, "They are rules for living."
"Can you give us an example?"
"Thou shall not kill."
"Not kill? We're not interested."
God went to the Blacks and said, "I have Commandments."
The Blacks wanted an example, and the Lord said,
"Honor thy Father and Mother."
"Father? We don't know who our fathers are. We're not interested."
Then He went to the Mexicans and said, "I have Commandments."
The Mexicans also wanted an example, and the Lord said.
"Thou shall not steal."
"Not steal? We're not interested."
Then He went to the French and said,
"I have Commandments."
The French too wanted an example and the Lord said,
"Thou shall not commit adultery."
"Not commit adultery? We're not interested."
Finally,He went to the Jews and said, "I have Commandments."
"Commandments?" They said, "How much are they?"
"They're free."
"We'll take 10."
There, that ought to offend just about everybody.']]> |
Friday my notes say "54 flights" and "Houston view photo." I have no idea what I was attempting to capture with these words, particularly related to a geopolitical nexus. I did send our correct address for invoices from Laura Kay Ethetton at Workstation Integration out Friday evening. Also Matt called about funding requirements for school (room and board only, as the military is picking up most of tuition and books). I mowed the lawn. Then Andrea and I went to see Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth.’ I think it is important for people to be driving this conversation. However, I really do not like Al Gore, and I believe I can punch serious holes in his approach to global warming. It came across to me as a bitter election looser attempting to satisfy his ego and show how important he is. After all, he created the Internet. I know some of you know I have been worried about these issues for a long time. Walden 3-D, Inc. was formed to pursue solving the tie between built form and nature. Originally I told Roice I would only buy him a car if it was battery operated. It became necessary to compromise because I thought seminary was important and that it was important kids drove themselves to seminary. Because I'm attempting to get this Thoughtlet finished up tonight, and because the PC with my notes on is at work, I will not attempt to discuss global warming in this Thoughtlet. However, I'm sure I will one day. And I will probably come across as sarcastic as Jay Leno when he had Al Gore (whose movie was released on DVD) and a supermodel on the same night, and said, "Can you believe it. We have the guy who invented the Internet on tonight, and we have the reason 90% of the men go to the Internet on the same evening."
Saturday was a good day. Andrea and I drove to Austin, and met Roice and Sara, along with Melanie, Jared, Colby, Taylor, and Halle at Henderson Springs. This is a big sinkhole in the Edwards Aquifer, which has water draining into it, and has formed a nice pond. It is a state park. There are a lot of folks there. We brought too much food, and I made the mistake of carrying it all down to the pond. Oh well! Roice had fallen off of his unicycle and broke his arm, and it was dumb of me to not pull out the food we needed and not carry the cooler down the hill. Hopefully I learned. We had a good time. It was fun to watch Sara and Roice interact with the Grandkids. I made friends with one of the Park Rangers and we had an interesting conversation about the aquifer. Colby and Taylor were a hoot in the water. After we left, Melanie and Jared took off, and we followed Roice and Sara to Sara's apartment. We ended up going to a theater to see the movie 'Cars,.' I loved the show, and want to have a copy of it for when grandkids visit. I also love the fact you kids want to go to this kind of movie with me. Both the fact you want to see the movie, and the fact you want to go with me. After the movie Roice and Sara took turns driving the Prius around the cinema parking lot. Then we went to a restaurant called 'Kirby Lane,' and met Roice's Sarah for dinner. During the dinner the "Joshua guy" was mentioned, and Sara Ellyn said, "Yea, he’s my boyfriend." However, like all of the components of the geopolitical nexus, my understanding in the middle of December is he is history.
Sunday we were back home. It must have been Stake Conference, because I have a note quoting President Sutton, the Houston Temple President, as quoting C.S. Lewis saying: "There are two types of people. Those who say to the Lord "Thy will be done," and those to whom the Lord says "Thy will be done." This is sort of like Ray Gardner's off hand remark: `Roice it is nice to want to make a difference. Over time your kids will make much more of a difference than you ever will' (../9749.html). Based on what has happened the last 20 weeks, there is no question this is true when compared with my geopolitical nexus."
Since the 38th week of 1996 I have written a weekly "Thoughtlet"
(little statements of big thoughts which mean a lot to me).
Until the 43rd week of 2004 I sent these out as an e-mail. They
were intended to be big thoughts which mean a lot to me.
Over time the process evolved into a personal diary. These notes
were shared with my family because I know how important the
written word can be. Concerned about how easy it is to drift and
forget our roots and our potential among all of distractions of
daily life, I thought this was a good way to reach those I love.
It no longer feels right to send out an e-mail and "force" my kids
and my family to be aware of my life and struggles.
Everyone has their own life to lead, and their own struggles to
work through. I will continue this effort, and will continue to
make my notes publicly accessible (unless I learn of
misuse by someone who finds out about them, and then will
aggressively
pursue a legal remedy to copyright infringement and I will put the Thoughtlets
behind a password).
The index to download any of these Thoughtlets is at
http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets,
or you can e-mail me with
questions or requests at
rnelson@walden3d.com
(note if you are not on my e-mail "whitelist" you must send 2 e-mails
within 24 hours of each other in order for your e-mail to not be trashed).
With all my love,
Dad
(H. Roice Nelson, Jr.)