4 The Lovell Chronicle I October 14, 2010
www.LovellChronicle.com
Saying goodbye
to 'old friends"
It's never easy to say good-bye to
old friends, especially when they've
been close to you and shared many
experiences.
Such was the case recently when
I had to let a couple of old buddies
go. I have to tell you; it wasn't easy.
I had put off their departure for a
long time.
But my wife, Jan, kept telling me Bob
that I had to let them go because Rodriguez
their time had come. She pointed out
that I was keeping them around too long simply be-
cause of an emotional attachment. I knew that they
were tired, but like most guys, saying so long to elderly
friends is not a matter we enjoy.
We had been together on many labor-intensive ef-
forts, including one in S.W. Oregon helping son Mike
build his cabin. We were working with heavy, ungainly
4-by-10-by-22 hunks of lumber. They were difficult to
move, but Mike, me and my two buddies did the job.
They also helped with applying stain.
As well, those companions -- so close to me -- were
right handy many a time on digging projects. They
were always ready to help, no matter what time of the
day or how long the work lasted. Good friends like that
are hard to come by.
But after depending on them for several years, I
could tell that they were about exhausted. It was time
to say adios.
So I bit the bullet and went to my pair of almost
done-in work companions. I explained the situation,
and affectionately held them in my arms, finding it so
tough to let them go and have their final rest.
Then I carefully put that tattered shirt and well-
worn, stained jeans into a plastic bag, and bid the
faded pair adieu as I gently placed them in our rubbish
container. Good buddies are hard to let go, especially
when they've been so close to your skin.
Letters to editor
Speed trap hurts
economic development
Dear Editor:
This issue of the abusive speed
trap in Byron has once again aris-
en. Prior to his untimely death,
the Honorable Cal S. Taggart
and I had a series of letters in the
Lovell Chronicle on this important
issue. That speed trap is rotten to
the core and hinders economic de-
velopment of the entire area.
Back then some malcontents
disparaged Senator Taggart and
me for bringing the topic up for
discussion. Although milder, the
criticism of Mr. Ron Jean reminds
one of the protests against us.
Now, Byron politician/colum-
nist Gary Gruell has an article on
Sept. 30, which takes issue with a
noted journalist who suffered the
same fate. Mr. Gruell seems to
take some sadistic delight in the
fact the Byron speed trap is leg-
end on the Internet.
When considering location of
a business, executives consider
schools, environment, medical fa-
cilities, available workforce and
general amenities. A negative fac-
tor such as the abuse and ridicule
of the Byron speed trap can veto
everything else.
That became obvious to me
when several senior citizens cen-
ters in the Central Indiana com-
bined for a tour of the North-
west including Yellowstone, the
Tetons, Glacier National Park
and many other venues. I was
on the planning committee and
arranged for two extra days be-
tween Cody and Billings, with
the expectation of spending time
in Lovell. The tour company and
the drivers refused to permit us
to set foot in Big Horn County
because of the Byron speed trap.
So, there you are!
Bertha W. Binford
Indianapolis, IN
2810 MEr0000BER
2009 AWARD-WINNING NEWSPAPER
Postmaster: Send address changes to:
The Lovell Chronicle, USPS 321-060
234 E. Main, Lovell, Wyoming 82431
(307) 548-2217
Published every Thursday
Periodical postage paid at Lovell,
Wyoming
Editor and Publisher: David Peck
News Editor: Brad Devereaux
Staff: Gladys McNeil, Pat Parrner, Dorothy Nelson,
Erin Henson, Marwyn Layne,
Teressa Ennis, Jason Zeller.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
In Big Horn and Park Counties $25 • In Wyoming $35
Outside Wyoming $40
Single copy 75¢
The October night skies be-
gin our introduction to the winter
constellations, although the sum-
mer triangle is still prominent in
the early evening. This triangle of
bright stars (Vega, Deneb and Al-
tair) connects the constellations
of Lyra (the Lyre, Turtle or Vul-
ture), Cygnus (the Swan) and Aq-
uila (the Eagle).
Around 9 p.m. we find the
great square of Pegasus (the
Winged Horse) and Andromeda
(the Chained Lady) rising toward
the zenith. Within the confines of
Andromeda, the Great Androm-
eda Galaxy is the farthest object
you will ever see without opti-
cal aid, although you may want
a small telescope or binoculars to
view it more easily.
The Andromeda galaxy lies 2'
million light years away and is as
large as six times the diameter of
the full moon! In dark skies, look
for it as a fuzzy patch just to the
northeast of the Great Square.
Jupiter is seen just below the
Great Square while Mars and Ve-
nus are waning in the early sun-
set skies. Watch for the Orionid
meteor showers peaking around
Oct. 21. Look to the east after
midnight and expect to see 20 or
more "shooting stars" every hour.
Last month we discussed
Orionid meteor showers
peak around Oct. 21
gravitational waves, believed to
originate from orbital motions of
very dense objects -- like pairs of
black holes or neutron stars. Upon
arrival at Earth these waves in-
duce incredibly minute strains,
approximately one thousandth of
a proton's diameter over one kilo-
meter!
Such small strains may be de-
tectable only because the sourc-
es, due to their orbital motions,
make periodic waves. Earth-
based detectors would see vi-
brating strains, like a miniature
tuning fork. Gravitational wave
observations will be important
because they are unaffected by
obscurations -- dust or electron
plasma -- that prevent us from
observing some celestial phenom-
ena with light.
The terrestrial state-of-the-
art project for detecting gravita-
tional waves is the Laser Inter-
ferometer Gravitational-Wave
Observatory. LIGO comprises
two facilities, one in Louisiana,
the other on Washington State's
Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Simultaneous detection of iden-
tical signals by both experiments
would constitute good support for
a celestial origin of the signal --
not arising from trucks rumbling
down the highway.
The LIGO experiments con-
sist of pairs of four-kilometer
tubes with laser beams bounc-
ing off high-precision mirrors at
the tube ends. The four-kilome-
ter length separating the mirrors
varies ever so slightly with pas-
sage of a gravitational wave. This
variation is detected using tech-
niques that record phase shifts in
the laser beam light. Much effort
is invested in noise reduction and
vibration isolation to eliminate
Earth-based effects that could
mimic the gravitational signal.
The frequency range for
gravitational waves from pairs
of orbiting black holes and neu-
tron stars is from a fraction of 1
Hz to roughly 1000 Hz. The bina-
ry black holes and neutron stars
may be detectab[g with planned:
upgrades to the LIGO detectors
(projected date, 2014) out to dis-
tances of about 25 million light
years.
To learn more, visit http://
en.wikipedia.org/wikifLIGO.
Wyoming Skies is a month-
ly look at the night skies of the
northern Rocky Mountains, writ-
ten by astronomers Ron Canter-
na, University of Wyoming; Jay
Norris, Challis Idaho Observa-
tory; and Daryl Macomb, Boise
State University
Guest column
Opinions vs. knowlege
BY GENIELLE BROWN
The last copy of TIME magazine that I read has
the following on the cover: "How conservative rebels
are rattling the Republican establishment."
Interesting why they would call me, my family
and my friends who love the Constitution and be-
lieve it should still be the law of the land "rebels." It
is just their opinion and they base it on faulty pre-
mises, without really considering in the least that
perhaps they and their liberal ilk (that's my opinion)
might actually be the REBELS!!
We all have many opinions, and without ever
testing them out, experimenting with them, trying
to study them out and turn them into knowledge, we
spew them out as if we are authorities on the sub-
ject. I have been guilty of that, and all of us who are
human do it, if we are aware and smart enough to
have any opinions at all.
Try this experiment: Take a blank piece of pa-
per and on one side write "Opinions" at the top and
on the other write "Knowledge." Then as you go
through your day, write down the opinions that you
have which have not been experimented with, or
studied about, on the left side, and the things that
you are sure that you know as factual because you
have lived it, experienced it or had a sure knowledge
of it, on the other. If you are not perfected yet, I bet
you will have many on the left side and only a few
on the right.
The true rebels who are against the things that
made this country the greatest, wealthiest, most gi-
ving, honest and knowledgeable think they know
what can make our country better by their power
and control. They seem to be completely lacking in
knowledge of history that our founding fathers stu-
died of other types of governments which failed, who
had tyrants that had to get rid of those who did not
agree with them until another tyrant would conqu-
er. History is replete with that type of anti-freedom
logic, and you would think that those very educa-
ted college intellectuals of today could see that. But
their opinions come from others who have their opi-
nions arid spew them out on a very intellectual ba-
sis, without the true knowledge of the facts!
Okay ... I concede that those who have been to
China, Cuba, Venezuela, etc., come back with the
opinions that those countries are thriving, have no
poverty, and the leaders were wonderful to them.
They are masters of deceit (my opinion).
Recently, I read the book, Seven Came Through,
written by Eddie Rickenbacker. It was his account
of his airplane crew's 21-day ordeal on the ocean du-
ring World War II, but in 1922 after the first great
war where he was acclaimed as a national hero, he
was in Germany and Hitler was in power, and he
saw the plants where they were manufacturing the
planes that they planned to use in the coming war,
where he was told by Hermann Geering, "Our whole
future is in the air and it is by air power we will re-
capture our German empire."
Eddie told Englishmen of what he saw in Ger-
many and came back home and told them, but eve-
ryone thought that was only his opinion and didn't
listen. However, it was definitely knowledge on his
part. And when war broke out in Europe, the U.S. fi-
nally had knowledge and went to work building pla-
nes.
Tyrants will always exist and try to dethrone
freedom. That is not just an opinion, but knowledge.
It behooves us all to take every opinion and study it
out until it either remains an opinion in our minds
or becomes sure knowledge. If citizens of our coun-
try would do that, we might be able to preserve our
freedoms in this election year by studying the philo-
sophies and opinions of the candidates and knowing
what they really believe, not just what they say.
Letters
to the
editor
The Lovell Chronicle welcomes let-
ters from its readers and will make ev-
ery effort to print them. Letters longer
than 400 words may not be printed.
Letters must be signed and include the
address and telephone number of the
writer. Unsigned letters will be discard-
ed. Writers are limited to two letters in
any 30 day period.
All letters must conform to the law
of libel and be in good taste. They may
be mailed to The Lovell Chronicle, Box
787, Lovell, WY 82431, or delivered to
our office at 234 E. Main St., Lovell. A
strict 1:00 p.m. Tuesday deadline will
be enforced.
