Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/621894
This is the time of the year when we make plans, update calendars, and try to look into the future as best we can. It was re- freshing, therefore, to see that Jack In the Box is trying to help us plan ahead. On Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015 Jack had already put out a sign reminding us they will be open for Christmas. How thoughtful. Seeing isbelieving,orso they say. In reality, how- ever, the human eye cannot see very much of our universe. Our eyes de- tect only a lim- ited portion of the spectrum of light, which it- self is only a fraction of the full spectrum of electromagnetic waves. My eyes detect even less than that of normally sighted people. Because I have a deficiency of certain retinal cells, I am colorblind. I have to rely on the eyesight of others to ap- preciate the full range of col- ors and color combinations. Some of you have probably noticed when I have not con- sulted with my wife about which tie to match a shirt or suit. In college I confused my friends when I told them to meet me by my gray Plym- outh; I thought the "GR" on the registration stood for gray, not the green color the car actually was. If you were fortunate to have taken a chemistry class from Fred Null, you learned about the periodic table of el- ements. The table charts the known elements based on the number of protons in the nu- cleus. It starts with Hydro- gen, number one, and pro- ceeds through some tech- nically unofficial elements, ending with Ununoctium at 118. This last is unofficial be- cause only three atoms of it may have been observed; nevertheless, it fits theoreti- cal models and so appears on the chart. One atom was pro- duced in Russia and two in the United States. One of the curious facts I retain from my own chemis- try studies is that Helium, el- ement number two, was dis- covered on the sun before it was on Earth. Most of us re- member when Isaac New- ton passed light through a prism; he projected a spec- trum of light containing the colors we normally see in a rainbow. Scientists, including as- tronomers, used a similar process and discovered that each element emits a unique spectrum of light with light and dark bands that cut across it, much as bar codes are unique to each retail item in the store. Astrono- mers examined light from the sun, using this technique and found that items on the sun emitted the same spec- trums as they do on Earth, demonstrating that the laws of physics apply on the sun as well as on the Earth. There was a mystery, however, one new element showed up in this analysis, and that ele- ment did not exist on Earth as far as anyone knew at the time. They named it Helium, after Helios, the Greek name for the sun. The short story is that ul- timately helium was discov- ered on earth, and it sits in its rightful place as number two in the periodic table of elements. It is actually one of the most prevalent elements in the universe. This is a good time in the year to think about the events that led to the discov- ery of Helium. It was only when scientists learned to look at things in a new way that they were able to make profound discoveries. If we were bound by the blinders of our simple senses we would only see things that we could perceive through those senses; however, if we use infrared, ultraviolet, X ray, radio, radar, sonar, or spectrographic devices, we suddenly "see" a whole world that we would not have been able to view otherwise. It is a marvelous universe we live in, full or wonder and what would have been invisible ob- jects if we had only relied on our eyesight. We non-scientists need to remember that lesson. Dealing with people pres- ents us with similar wisdom; when we can take time to view the world through the eyes of those who think dif- ferently, whose culture is dif- ferent from ours, or whose life experiences are different from ours, we, too, can see a different world and reality. Usually we find a richer and more complex one than we had imagined. Many of those pander- ing for us to support them in their presidential aspira- tions do not understand this principle, or they chose to ig- nore it. Those candidates bray on and on, distorting truth and embellishing stories they be- lieve will convince us they, and they alone, are right. Those candidates would never have discovered he- lium, but they are full of hot air. As we examine the can- didates for 2016, let's make sure the ones we support are the kind who can think things through after under- standing of others' points of view. We need leaders who can expand our horizons, not put a wall around them. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal. net. JoeHarrop Helium, hot air and horizons Cartoonist's take AChristmasstory Editor: This is our Christmas story of Good Samaritans. I and my wife Gerry have often read in the letters to the editor about people giving thanks to strangers who stepped up vol- untarily and gave them a help- ing hand when they desper- ately needed it. In our younger years my wife and I were able to do the heavy lifting of moving from one house to another with lit- tle or no help but would of- ten give a helping hand when someone needed it. That was the way we were raised. Within the past decade we have befriended and helped a few that were not only un- grateful but vindictive as well. They seem to believe we didn't do enough and owed them even more and made an effort to make us pay in one way or another. Their thanks for us trying to make their life a little bet- ter for them. After dealing with the un- grateful, a couple of times, we got the feeling maybe every- one in this generation was cut from the same cloth. Our first Good Samaritan appeared a couple of months ago when a tire blew out. A young man stopped and asked if I needed help, I expressed my gratitude, but help was on the way. On Dec. 18 after the ten- ants moved out of a rental we started cleaning up a filthy mess that was beyond any- thing we could imagine. We started out loading a trailer with the sofas, recliners and mattresses left behind. We were struggling to get a heavy sofa on the trailer, when a young man came by and of- fered to help. With his help we managed to load most of the heavy stuff. Then on to the dump and while trying to unload that sofa, a young man unloading a truck next to us came over and said let me help and he had the heavy sofas and mat- tresses flying off that trailer like chaff in the wind. It was amazing. Another man helped carry a heavy aquarium off the porch. Last, but not least, while trying to top off the trailer with a heavy, floppy, king size mattress, a young lady came by and asked, "can I help you?" With her help, we made it. We are so grateful and humbled by their unselfish at- titude. Having to deal with the un- grateful, makes us grateful for all the good people we en- countered that day. Isn't Red Bluff a great place to live? We want to wish everyone and es- pecially the Good Samaritans a very, belated, Merry Christ- mas and a prosperous and happy New Year. — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Questioning temperature for salmon Editor: Just how long are you going to perpetuate the story from the State Department of Fish and BS that they have to keep the water temperature in the Sacramento River below 53 de- grees or the salmon, roe and all will die. We have these autocracies spreading there drivel and they've said it so many times and for so long that they be- lieve it themselves. All they are doing is perpetuating their damn empires. One experiment was run in the last couple of years to pro- tect the salmon smolt from the invasive species planted in the river by Livingston Stone. Hatchery smolt were trans- planted into rice paddies down the valley to develop some size so they could better survive the rigors of the pred- ators. The experiment was a re- sounding success initially, now awaiting the return of the salmon for final confirmation. I assure you they did not in- stall refrigeration units in the paddy to keep them cool for the fish. — Fred Boest, Red Bluff Donald Trump's claim about Arabs in Jersey City Editor: What Donald Trump is say- ing about the Arabs in Jer- sey City, New Jersey cheering when the World Trade Center came down in New York City is true. I lived in Jersey City when the Arabs tried to blow up the WTC the first time. I also worked in the WTC for Inter- national Chemical on the 86th floor — the terror plane hit the 87th floor. When I got home from work that night on the PATH train from NY, the normally hard working quiet Arab shop keep- ers had had a street party, with broken bottles and trash everywhere. Donald Trump is not ly- ing or making this up. I saw it with my own two eyes. — Laurence D'Alberti, Red Bluff Too much emphasis on global warming, too little on cutting spending Editor: It was disappointing to re- view the new Fed budget ex- plosion passed by the Demo- crat controlled Senate and lib- eral President Obama. Yes, Democrats control the senate through their two-thirds ma- jority mandate. The total Federal budget should have been cut 5 per- cent from 2015 levels, just as non government retirees must cut their spending yearly to match the high inflation rate of retirement. The subsidies for providing solar and wind power should have ended with expiration of the current pro- gram. Wind and solar power is a well defined decades old technology, that does not need welfare subsidies. In an era when job growth is needed, our Washington politicians have done nothing to cre- ate jobs through cutting Cor- porate income tax from the worlds highest 35 percent to a globally competitive 20 per- cent. Man can do nothing to re- duce earth's temperature, but we can do a great deal to re- duce the pollution, reduce birth rates to replacement lev- els, and fund completely emis- sions free nuclear power. Too much emphasis is being placed on the myth that global temperature can be changed, but too little emphasis on ag- riculture and city water con- servation. The Western US needs to follow the example of Is- rael and reuse city water, and build reservoirs to store sea- sonal snow and rain water. The current 4 year western drought is only a tiny fraction of droughts these past thou- sands of years, but now pop- ulation and agriculture land use has exploded. — Joseph Neff, Corning Letters to the editor I have to rely on the eyesight of others to appreciate the full range of colors and color combinations. Some of you have probably noticed when I have not consulted with my wife about which tie to match a shirt or suit. GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Joe Harrop State and National Assemblyman James Gallagher, 2060Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634For- est Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530879-7424, senator.nielsen@ senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415393-0707, fax 415393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Manager, Richard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, John Brewer, 824-7033 Your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, January 2, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4