James E. West Fellowship Award

September 15, 2009

Dear Contributor:

I would like to express my appreciation for your thoughtfulness in donating your money to the Scouting program in my name. I had been helping with the serving the night of the Salt Creek District Recognition and was one of the last to get my food. I had just started to eat when they started to give out the awards. They first gave out the Second Miler awards, then the Scouter awards.

Don Eyre, our District Chairman, then explained about the James E. West Fellowship Award. I was familiar with the award because in our commissioner’s meeting for the past couple of years we have talked about it. When he read my name I just about dropped my ear of corn and fell off of my chair. It was a total surprise.

Over the years, I have earned my Scouter Award, Second Miler Award, have attended Wood Badge, and have participated in many other scout training sessions. I have received the Silver Beaver award. I am now honored, thanks to you, by being a recipient of the James E. West Fellowship Award.

I have been actively engaged in Scouting, this time, since I was released as a bishop. That has been about twenty-two years. When I first moved to Nephi, I was put in as a scout leader and, prior to that, I was a scout leader in two different wards in Provo.

Again I would like to express my appreciation for even considering me. There are many other Scouters who are more deserving than I. Thank you!

Sincerely Yours

Leonard Trauntvein

Please Note--THE FAMOUS PEOPLE IT WAS ATTRIBUTED TO TO DID NOT WRITE IT!!!!!!!!!‏

Dear M & L,

     Thank you for being my dear friends, great and loving citizens of this amazing and remarkable United States of America!  Thank you for the inspirational thoughts, messages and timely information you have always shared with me!  

     It is absolutely marvelous that we live in this great country - The United States of America - the greatest country in the world, the land of freedom!  At least, it has been!  Whether it will remain so is the BIG question about which we should be extremely concerned!  I, for one, ponder this question every single day!

     If we value and hold dear this great Land of the USA, Freedom, and the Right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," I firmly believe it's imperative we wake up, stand up, and boldly speak out to defend family values, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, freedom to CHOOSE! 

     The assault upon our freedom to choose is being waged every single day in Washington, DC, in our state governments and local governments.  It a powerful assault backed by billions of dollars!  There seems to be no limit to the deception, the manipulation, the "deals" are being made, legislation is formulated, written and passed behind closed doors which limits and/or removes our freedom to choose! 
  
     It's time to LISTEN and HEAR and SEE through the deception, the untruths, and the actions by many of our leaders in Washington, DC!  I hope and pray that every American will turn to God for guidance, inspiration, courage, and strength to boldly speak up and rally to uphold freedom and liberty in this great country!  May God bless America and each one of us in winning this battle to save this nation, our freedoms, and our pursuit of happiness! 

     Love and best,

            Ann Olsen


From AnnMarie:

Mom, these things seem to be divisive in our family.  Perhaps it would be wise to not send them to our Democrat friends.  I wholeheartedly disagree with Democrats, but no pancake is too thin that it doesn't have two sides.
Love you.

AnnMarie T. Howard
Chief Deputy Juab County Attorney


From Myrna: Would you, PLEASE, all note that I did not try to be divisive. Will you all, PLEASE, note that I sent out the article from SNOPES because it was NOT, get that, NOT, written by the person(s) it was attributed to. AN AUTHOR KNOWN AS TPS MAY HAVE WRITTEN IT, BUT THE HISTORIAN DID NOT WRITE IT!!!!!!!!!! I just kept getting the article over and over and so I checked it out. Not one of the three people who were said to have written it actually wrote it. Who wrote it? I don't know. Guess what, I just wanted to make the record right. I did not call Obama anything but Mr. President. Whether or not I agree with someone does not mean that I do not respect the office. I do. We are a country, not a democracy but a republic, which is run by the vote of the majority for people who, we hope, will represent the majority. If I happen to be in the minority, then I remember that I am in a republic and NOT a democracy. 

My middle name seems to be "Controversy." It is not Rae, as I had always supposed.

This is all at the bottom of the article I sent. Apparently, no one read that far.

"Origins:   The Internet piece quoted originally began circulating just after the U.S. presidential election of November 2008, and by March 2009 it had picked up an attribution crediting it to David Kaiser, a historian who has authored a number of books, including The Road to Dallas: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy. However, as Mr. Kaiser told us and notes in his blog, History Unfolding, he did not pen this piece:

The first two sentences, beginning, "For the past thirty years," were of course written by me; the rest of the email was not written by me. Its views are in many ways the opposite of my own.

This item has also been mistakenly attributed to Dr. Timothy L. Wood, an Assistant Professor of History at Southwest Baptist University. Like David Kaiser, Dr. Wood told us that he did not write the piece and pointed us to a blog entry disclaiming his authorship. 

The original is also commonly attributed to Pamela Geller, having appeared in her Atlas Shrugs blog on 13 November 2008. However, Ms. Geller notes in her introductory statement that "I wish I had written it" and indicates it originated as a reader comment posted to yet another blog. 

As far as we know, this piece began as a comment posted to Pat Dollard's blog in November 2008 by an author identified only as "TPS." 

Last updated:   7 April 2009"

Barbara Anderson wrote:
To compare Obama to Hitler is, indeed, an indication of historical change.  That a man who was democratically elected by a majority of the people of this country, could be villified in this way is amazing.  Obama is not Hitler.  It makes me sick to think there are intelligent people who are putting their rationality on the back burner to come up with this kind of putrescence.  He want's to have social justice and that is interpreted to mean "socialism."  And socialism is being compared to facism.  Look them up, they are two very different things.

If this is the only way an argument can be made against this man and the policies he is initiating, then there is no real argument.  In logic this is called an "ad baculum."  If you can't out logic someone, you attack them personally.  He is a great orator, so he must be "like Hitler."  The media likes him, so he must be "like Hitler."  

You are like the Christian who picks and chooses which Christian beliefs they will abide by.  You are the constitutionalist who only believe that the constitution applies to them and not to those people who disagree with you.  

Heaven help us if we finally admit the "trickle down effect," doesn't work?  How many more "death panels" run by HMO's are going to be held and people die because they can't get medical care?  Why not find out which companies are sending the jobs over seas.  You would probably be amazed that they are the companies that support your republican elected senator or representative.  Why not find out why wages have been frozen for 15 years, and who froze them.  Instead of just blaming someone, try looking it up.  Instead of taking the easy way out, and believing anything Glen Beck or Fox News says, try doing the research yourself, and not just believe any sociopath who write a cute column.  I'm having a hard time believing that the men that wrote this article really have any "insight" into history.  I really think they should do the research to answer the questions they ask. 

Why has the SEC refused to prosecute people like Madoff?  Why did Bush and his team set up a bail-out with no controlls?   Why have we had a trade deficit in this country for 50 years that makes us look like idiots?  The banks that started the mortgage bundling, ask them what party they support with their donations and lobbying?  Maybe Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae started the fraudulent loaning, but they aren't the ones that benefited from it.  So who pushed them? 

Guess what, liberals want answers to those questions too.  Contrary to popular belief Obama is not the anti-christ.  I believe he is just someone who is gifted, intelligent and wants to help his country.  Maybe he isn't doing it the same way you would.  But to say he is like Hitler is immoral.  It is a lie. 

Todd wrote:
Thanks for including me in your tirade about our oaf of a president named Obama.  Its nice to see people involved in a cause.  Next time, please do not choose to reply to all.  

Myrna wrote:


Did you all note that I sent this out because the article that was being sent to me wasn't actually written by the person it was attributed to? I have received the email a dozen or more times, in one sending one author was given credit and in another a second person was given credit. When it got to the third person who was given authorship of the same words,  I looked it up on Snopes. I sent what I found. That was that the attribution was incorrect. In other words, these people did not write what it was said they had written. I did not take sides. I just pointed out that the person the article was attributed to did not write it. I am sensitive, as a writer, to misattributions. I stand behind what I say but I hate people to say I said something I didn't. That is why this has the heading: "They just didn't write it."

M

Gordon: Sorry

Myrna: Well, at least you got it. Some of my family is still concerned about me sending even the correction. Love you, M

Eric wrote: Well As far as the Hitler comment, in an interview with Richard Dawkins, the leading authority of Darwinism, (the theory of evolution), or better put, "atheism."  Obama being compared to Hitler is not such a bad thing.

When asked in an interview, "If we do not acknowledge some sort of external [standard], what is to prevent us from saying that the Muslim [extremists] aren’t right?", Dawkins replied, "What’s to prevent us from saying Hitler wasn’t right? I mean, that is a genuinely difficult question. But whatever [defines morality], it’s not the Bible If it was, we’d be stoning people for breaking the Sabbath."

The interviewer wrote, regarding the Hitler comment, "I was stupefied. He had readily conceded that his own philosophical position did not offer a rational basis for moral judgments. His intellectual honesty was refreshing, if somewhat disturbing on this point."

 http://byfaithonline.com/page/in-the-world/richard-dawkins-the-atheist-evangelist

So being compared to Hitler not a bad thing.

Socialized medicine, If you have never lived in a third world country, you will never understand unified health care, just a different name. I lived in a third world country, New Zealand, I watched people first hand not getting the treatment they needed because the Government told them it was too risky, too expensive, and they were to old for it to do any good. Breast cancer, elephantiasis, diabetics, and the list goes on. In Europe, a person with treatable cancer was told the treatment was a too costly. They then offered their solution a one-hundred and fifty dollar pill, (euthanasia), or hospice. I like those odds. I should go on but I have better things to do like clean my guns and buy more ammo, and finish building my underground bunker with my two years food supply. The end is near or far, it doesn't really matter. We are all going to die, well someday, sooner for some, others later. We all get to do our dance with the Reaper.
E.

Shawn wrote:

Hi Barbara,

I believe that we should learn from the past, but I also agree that we should carefully consider that many complexities are involved, and that the present must be compared to the past on more than one level. I’ll let you know from the start my intent. From what Mom sent, no author appears to take credit for the article, so we cannot verify the background of the author to any extent. That is rather suspicious in my opinion. Also, I’ll try not to engage in anything that approximates mud-slinging, because I see no benefit to that, and I take no offense that you have issues with certain things that have happened in our country nor on whom you choose to place blame. We live in difficult times, not that any who have lived in the past or will live in the future will not also face difficult decision and circumstances. It is hard enough to respond non-emotionally to someone cutting “dangerously” in front of us on the highway, let alone when they disagree with our decisions and feelings.

I am not sure about the line of loose comparisons that the author makes being an argument ad baculum. First off, logicians seem to agree that the argument form that is sometimes referred to as ad baculum can have both fallacious or non-fallacious instantiations. It probably has more to do with determining whether or not something is presented as a logical conclusion, or as a statement of probability, and partially (for this particular fallacy) on whether or not a threat is made. For example, it is not fallacious to point out that certain consequences may result from a current situation (even if the consequences are causal and not logical). It is fallacious to tell an opponent (as one of the syllogisms in my argument) that I am going to punch him if he does not agree with me, and to therefore conclude that he agrees with me (even if he says he does), because he may not actually agree with me, regardless of what he said. So the conclusion is fallacious. It is not considered a fallacious argument if I tell someone that if he does not study he will get bad grades, especially if the person agrees that is the causal consequence of not studying, whether or not the person decides to then study, and especially if I am not in a position to enforce the threat or cause it to be enforced. In the case of studying, the argument is not so much based on threat (and hence may not be considered as following a logical argument form), but rather may be an argument based on a statement of statistically substantial consequences (even though there may be outliers). Back to this case, I may not agree with the author’s argument (if it can even be called that) in this article, but not everyone may agree that he is attempting to present a logical syllogism by inferring a “logical conclusion” from two or more substantiated statements, nor are we being threatened and forced to agree openly (even if we do not actually agree), and the argument is not being presented to Obama as a threat, so it simply does not appear useful to simply label the argument as fallacious without examining in more detail why it may or may not be so. I doubt the author intended it to be a logical syllogism, and even if we do try to put it in the form of a syllogism, we may not agree that any of the statements that would lead to that conclusion are correct.

So, let’s consider that this may be an argument. So you don’t get disillusioned about where I am headed I’ll first state that I do not agree that it is very useful to compare Obama to Hitler. The circumstances of the election were much different. Germany was a fairly new country, much younger than the United States at the time they elected Hitler. I had not considered this until I was reading something written by F. Enzio Busche a couple of years ago. Then I did some reading on their history coming down from being part of the Holy Roman Empire until the Napoleonic wars, and then being an empire (monarchy) starting in the early 1800’s, and then finally becoming a republic about 1919. They had only been a republic for less than 15 years when the Third Reich period started. They were new and inexperienced in election based politics. There was a fire that allowed actions that would thwart the activities of at least one of the parties. The author of the article mentions nothing of that, but makes it sound like Germany was of ancient origins and steeped in a unified culture. Comparing our recent election and history to that of the 1933 election and history of Germany, the similarities seem to vanish. Think of our own struggles as a country in our first 100 years. We were trying to free ourselves from external forces that we consider as oppressors of sorts, but then we also had our own internal struggles after that. It wasn’t all a pretty past. Needless to say, Germany had internal struggles, and also concerns because of the past about other countries interference in their politics. In many ways, our current politics seem to bear little relation to these events. I have to admit that I similarly have difficulties when current military conflicts are compared to Viet Nam, when those who state such have done little to study the actual events and history, but simply are referring to some kind of “it feels the same” mentality. The author probably should have said that to him this “feels the same”, and in one spot appears to do so, and then we could have responded, well you silly person, go in and study the issues and comparisons a bit more. He seems to know a tiny bit, like about Churchill, and has some assumptions based on what he believes he knows of their culture, but does not really appear to say much of the actual German history. He seems to draw the conclusion that they were culturally advanced, and seems to believe that we are also and thus can be compared, but I am not sure those comparisons draw out. The appeal to emotion, which is also an argument form, seems to be more of what the author is indeed attempting. Not so much an invalid argument form either, but also not typically considered a valid form of syllogistic argument. It must be recognized for what it is. Maybe that is what should have been said of it from the outset, that this was an appeal to emotion and that it is based on certain feelings that the author has, whomever that is, that may not be substantiated. The purpose of emotional arguments, I believe we can agree particularly on this, perhaps even by definition, is to cause us to respond emotionally (either positively “cheer” or negatively “boo”) whether or not we intend to. I guess that is why they work, kind of funny, huh? I suppose the author had that as his exact intention, to get some people to cheer and others to boo, and to draw a line between us that might prevent us from working to solve such difficult issues as we have to face.

I think I just made up for not taking lunches this week. Back to the grindstone.

Hope all is going well for you in Colorado,

Shawn





Kirsten wrote: Barbara, 

I don't think my mom was saying Obama was like Hitler; the email I received talked about how it was UNtrue that the credited authors of such emails penned Hitler and Obama in same sentences.  

Even if my mom didn't like Obama (which is normal for a republican), I don't think she'd vilify him as Hitler.  I'm pretty sure that's why she sent the original email showing that the claimed authors were in fact NOT the originators of the email that is being circulated.  

We know you like Obama, and I'm sure my grandparents would have, too (they were staunch Democrats), but we also believe in the same system you do--a democracy.  That's also the great thing about a democracy--being able to disagree with policy, just as you disagreed with many Bush policies and wrote so below.  Go back and check the email.  It wasn't meant to demean or hurt, just to show that there is a lot of fiction floating out there (which you also mentioned) and to show that the historians who wrote this, in all actuality, did NOT write it.

All that being said, there are a lot of policies on both sides of the fence that I wholeheartedly disagree with; aren't we glad we live here where our voices can be heard and we can agree to disagree?

Sorry you took offense to the earlier email.  I really don't think my mom was trying to compare the two.

Kirsten


Barbara wrote: Jared:  You are exactly right.  I couldn't get past the "Hitler" stuff before I lost the fuse.  I did not believe that Myrna felt this way.  I know she passes on a lot of stuff without agreeing or disagreeing.  I overreacted.  There is just so much negativity that I just get sick of it.  You are so right.  We all want change, good change, that benefits our republic.  I'm like you, I don't agree with everything on either side.  Some things I like about republicans and democrates and some things I hate about both.  I just want people to use their brains and try to sift through the dander to find the truth.  

Thanks for responding.  I love these emails.  And I love Myrna.  She knows that and I hope she knows how excited I get about this stuff.  She should, she has listened to me rant and rave about it all. 

Thanks again Jared.  Your a good person.  

I'm sure glad I don't overeact!!! I'm sorry I over react.  There has just been so much negativity that I am just over whelmed by it sometimes, and these emails are an easy target.  I apologize.  I love you because Myrna does.  Don't know you all well, but I love reading these things, they keep my heart going.  


My tirade was not aimed at you, nor were my remarks about "Christians" or "constitutionalists."  I can't tell you how sorry I am.  I just get so sick of this kind of really bad rhetoric that I went a little nuts.

You are the epitome of everything that article was not.  You are loving, kind and fair.  

Please forgive me.

Barbara

From Eric: 

But you did (over react)!!!!!  I have done my research, a lot of it too. Why is this country only filled with so many selfish victims always pulling the race card, the feminist card, and the gay card? The real victims are in India where little girls, aging four years and up, are sold for sex slaves being horrifically tortured, raped, beaten, and then if they are lucky killed .  http://www.afajournal.org/2004/april/404culture.asp 
In Africa, they rape and beat women from other waring tribes. Sudanese Soldiers Cut Off Woman's Breast to Convert Her into Muslim. This video is not for the faint of heart, I found it a while ago.This page has a lot of not so good things, beware.  http://www.toxicjunction.com/get.asp?i=V4413  Jerusalem  , Aug 29 (IPS) - Israel continues to be a favorite destination for the trafficking of women for the sex industry, also known as the white slave trade, and for a form of modern day slavery where migrant laborers from developing countries are exploited. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JI05Ak01.html
http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/natasha.htm  
Why does the news not cover this? Pakistan, a man did not want to be married any more so he accused his wife of infidelity, they, (all the men), took her to the street and crushed her head with a brick while others threw stones then brutal beat her torso. The crowd chanted while taking pictures to download to u-tube. Where was CNN? Where is the coverage for any of this from any of the media giants? 
A 17 years old Kurdish girl was stoned and kicked to death for having a relationship with a Sunni Muslim, two graphic photos.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-452288/The-moment-teenage-girl-stoned-death-loving-wrong-boy.html  This just the tip of the iceberg I have a lot more if you dare to ask. 
Poor, Poor America! We have it so bad and we complain about gas prices, MTV awards, and what other minuscule things in our lives? Other are not just worried about what they are going to eat today, we decide whether we want it super sized, where they are going to sleep today, and if the are going to get raped and beaten again tonight. How was the new Jay Leno show the other night sitting in your warm comfy house. What as a country are we doing about it? We are wallowing in our own complacency that is what we do. 
Where are the organization that have raped this country? Why have they not reached out to other countries? Where is N.O.W, and the A.C.L.U? These organizations have over stepped their boundaries to where they are teaching hate. What happened to this great Christen nation? The Bible, Pledge of allegiance, Flying the U.S. flag, and prayer. 
We are substituting God for atheism, money, and personal power so that we may become Gods unto ourselves. I do not need David to be married to Arbree to have that as en excuse to love you, I love you all in the same. You are a daughter of our Heavenly Father and that is why I love you. I love David so much I would die for him, as well as any of my family or all of them. I would even die for you. So let us all be excellent to each other.
E.

Children: May I just say, "WOW?" You are all great thinkers. I am proud to be your mother. Love, M

Shawn said: Interestingly, another thing I learned from Busche is that hunger is the best cook. In his book he talked about when he was sent to the front as a soldier, his 16 year old commander (he was 14) decided it was too dangerous for them, so they gathered up some regular clothing and ditched the guns and uniforms, then started walking back. It was somewhat dangerous all around. One of them was caught by the SS. But Busche said that one night they slept in a barn and the lady that owned the barn snuck him a piece of raw bacon. All growing up he had never liked it when his mother would add bacon to dishes, but he said how good that bacon tasted when he was near starvation. He said that the Germans have a saying that hunger is the best cook, and that he could attest to its correctness.

From Myrna to Barbara:

What's to forgive? If we all thought the same we would all be the same person. I was not, however, taking sides. I just didn't think it was fair that some person had written a vilifying article and then someone else was taking the heat for it. It didn't seem fair so I wanted everyone to know that the historian being blamed didn't write it. If he had written it, I wouldn't have sent it around. 

I liked AnnMarie's comment to me. "Even a flat pancake has two sides." I think I might use that one myself.

Love, M






Barbara: I like AnnMarie's comment too.  If I had read the whole thing I would have created such a furor.  I wonder why all my doors seem to slam just Fine.






Love you.