I attended a church leadership meeting where I learned quite a bit about measurements and reliable readings as our Stake President tied his knowledge of the oil and gas industry together with Personal Priesthood Interviews and the information needed to get the job done properly. I know enough about the oil industry to fill a thimble half way as I learned about drilling for natural gas in Colorado. President Tolman, an executive with Exxon/Mobil, explained that modern technology along with a greater return on the product has made it a viable interest to drill through those rocks to depths reaching 5000 feet or more.
Once the shaft has been drilled they crack the various strata levels to release the gas and then fill with sand to permit its escape. Along with that process, water is also released necessitating a means of drawing off that water to permit the continuous flow of gas. They have to put a sleeve pipe down the shaft to draw off the water which creates a problem for those attempting to measure the volume of gas being produced. Some of the new technology involves placing fiber optic transmission cable down the shaft because light can be directed down and the reflection altered by the temperatures permits an accurate measurement to determine the flow of gas through the conduit. I hope I got all that right.
I had already been left far behind when he started to explain how the various temperatures were affected by flow; I was content to know that those involved in the process had a handle on such things. He did point out that the accuracy of those readings directly hinged on the purity of the carrier, in this case the fiber optics. Oil companies are in the business of selling a product, natural gas, and they need to know if they’re producing at a sufficient rate to turn a profit which is why the accuracy in measurements is critical in production figures.
The need for the purity struck me as being just as important as all the other technical procedures which are part of the process of obtaining the product. It is the same in nearly all aspects of life; whether you’re talking about business, personal integrity or spiritual reckoning. Pure information is the means of discerning valuable from irrelevant gibberish. President Tolman was directing his thoughts and comments toward a body of priesthood leadership as they were intended to inspire better communication while interviewing other priesthood holders to improve Home Teaching visits, to provide the kind of care and attention that each child of our Heavenly Father deserves.
I would like to apply that same standard of thought in a different arena, citizenship and the idea of patriotism in time of war. Whoa! That’s got to be one heck of a leap if ever there was one; not really, or at least I will endeavor to supply a coherent link.
I’ve been observing the “loyal opposition” those who for whatever reason find themselves at odds with the current administration. The issue of patriotism has entered the discussion of late, each side claiming that regardless of the stance taken that deep down inside we are all patriots seeking to express just concerns. I do not believe that this is so, no more than I believe that burning an American Flag can be excused as merely someone’s freedom of expression.
The fact remains that we are involved in a war against radical Muslims who have been attacking us for some twenty years and have no intention of backing down; the fact that the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked on 911 acts only as the date upon which we as a nation finally accepted these combined hostile acts as a declared war. These terrorists, call them what you will, have stated clearly they intend to eradicate Israel and the US regardless of how long it takes. The many acts of aggression they have instituted against us would lend a rational thinking person to accept those actions as acts of war.
This is not President Bush’s war, although he was the one with the courage to take a stand and draw the proverbial line in the sand; the previous administrations all lacked the intestinal fortitude and chose to side step the issues, treating each act of aggression as if they were unrelated criminal activities and disposing of each one separately through the justice system in the hope that they would fade from view. Well, it hasn’t faded from view and has only emboldened the enemy; believing they are dealing with cowardly fools without the stomach to engage in a drawn out war.
I can’t help but think of how our country responded to serious threats to our way of life during the WWII era. I wasn’t around yet; but the history of that time is well recorded. Those who actively spoke out against the efforts of our country to defeat the enemy were viewed as traitors, outcasts not worthy of being called citizens. Those who took issue with the war effort needed to be, how should I put it, much more discrete or face considerable ridicule by the general populace.
Fast forward to the present where roughly half of our elected officials, congressmen and senators alike, have no problem standing in front of a microphone to point out the deficiencies and their perceived weaknesses of our military objective to combat terrorism on a global theater and yet they have the audacity to call themselves patriots. I have a hard time believing that they are all ignorant and so I must then accuse them of aiding the enemy; they are in fact, traitors and should be labeled as such. The criminal mentality necessary to pull the wool over an electorate, to blind them from the truth is not limited to those seeking power via the ballot box; but is dovetailed by having accomplices in the media.
The idea of having major newspapers, national magazines or other large media outlets minimize our collective efforts as a country during WWII was unthinkable and yet; in our times today, we are being told that not only can we not win a war against such a nebulous enemy as the Islamo-fascist Muslims but that we are to be faulted for going against them at all. The attitude of defeatism espoused could easily be considered cowardice or even treasonous since by its very utterance lends support to those who can only win if we quit.
There is a never ending chant to pull out of the battle, we’ve done our part, enough is enough, put a date on the calendar to signal and end and bring about peace; even if it’s but a temporary cessation of hostilities. The problem with putting your head in the sand and calling for a “time out” is that the enemy continues to plan his attacks, continues to rearm himself and will eventually carry out his original threat to destroy you.
How can we rely on ignorant boobs, cowardly congressmen and senators; traitors if you will, a news media, one that is not pure, one that has altered the necessary information required by the citizenry to the point of having polluted that information with outright deception in order to achieve some convoluted purpose? Just as fiber optics need to be pure in order to procure reliable production rates in the oil field, our dependency on accurate data from those who regulate our national information, those facts or omission of facts which either strengthen or weaken us as citizens need to be pure; are they?
I think the “loyal opposition” has gone far beyond anything which could be considered as loyal, having crossed into sedition and treason in order to sway public opinion. Instead of supporting a national effort that includes safety and freedom for the next generation they are willing to forego such as trivial as long as they have a chance to be in their positions of power. These people are either ignorant of how much of a threat the Islamo-fascist Muslims are to our way of life or they don’t care; either way they cannot be trusted. The information they generate is flawed and jaded as they boast about being patriots, instead being ripe with the odor of cowardice and treason.
This is my entry for the Carnival of Liberty being sponsored this week by Matt Barr over at Socratic Rhythm Method. That should be ready for your perusal sometime late Monday or early Tuesday. http://www.mattbarr.com/
Edited August 28, 2006 2:25pm:
Mr. Minority wrote his article “Be Afraid Dem Candidates, the Nutroots Know Where You Live”, explaining, “Those Donks that agree with President Bush on the War on Terrorism are in big trouble, because the Nutroots will hound them like a rabid toy Fwench poodle until they adopt their Cut'n'Run policy, and bow their heads to the great and mighty Kos.”
http://mrminority.blogspot.com/2006/08/be-afraid-dem-candidates-nutroots-know.html
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