The Elephant Story

Fleeting Moments in Life

Nov 23, 2020 | 0 comments

Every day we can open the paper or turn on the television and catch up with the daily death count from the pandemic. In the highly controversial Vietnam War era, the same situation was true though the numbers were less than one-fifth of the Americans lost to Covid-19 with no end in sight at this moment. Therefore, maybe we have become immune to the consequences of undefined deaths that do not seem to matter to some people. However, rest assured they matter to those connected to the fallen party. Recently, a very close friend passed far ahead of his time...

A Tale of Two Rulers

Nov 16, 2020 | 0 comments

Once upon a time there were two rulers on this planet, Xi Jinping of China, and Donald Trump of the United States of America. In late October, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party met to confirm the position of Xi Jinping who has no identifiable rivals or successors. Amazingly, there was no discussion of "China's Chernobyl," the outbreak of the corona virus in Wuhan, which despite an attempted cover-up, was eventually solved by draconian lockdowns and tracing measures. As shown below, the New York Times image of Xi's meeting seems pretty calm and controlled. Shortly after the Central...

Will We Ever Be Able to Return Home?

Nov 09, 2020 | 0 comments

My connection with Thailand began as a youngster when I relocated there in 1968 which also happens to be the year Joey graduated from high school. I was in and out of Bangkok for some seven years during the Vietnam War era. In the early 1980's, I re-connected to discover a number of the Thai associates I knew had moved into senior positions in the Thai government and, in particular, the Energy Ministry. Like a bolt from the blue, Thailand was my new "go to" for future oil prospects and it worked. From Thailand, it was a logical leap to...

Mongolians at Home in Texas and Texans at Home in Mongolia

Nov 02, 2020 | 0 comments

In 1995, President Orchibat of Mongolia came to Houston to inaugurate the Texas Honorary Consul Office. He seemed quite pleased when I gave him his first cowboy hat. As Orchibat was a geologist, he was particularly excited about being in the oil capital. Also, we took the opportunity to discuss our oil exploration plans for the eastern steppe lands of Mongolia and I promised I would invite him to inaugurate our first wildcat oil well. About one year later, Orchibat joined us in Dornad Aimag in the eastern-most tip of Mongolia as we began to drill the first oil...

Mongolian Hands Come Together in Difficult Times

Oct 26, 2020 | 0 comments

There is a small circle of “Mongolphiles” that came together in the early 1990s as Mongolia began to emerge from the yoke of Russian domination to become a democratic country. An American artist by the name of Susan Fox, photographer of the image below, posted a series of questions some time back to form the basis for oneself to be designated a “Mongolphile.” After a period approaching some thirty years, I think our circle fits that mold. Our group ranges from retired former U.S. diplomats, learned Mongol scholars, educators, business personnel and charitable foundation supporters. We all have one thing...