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Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

Remembering Henry David Thoreau, parallel universes, Barack Obama and Aaron Hall

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

You know, my old buddy Henry David Thoreau used to say that the news never really changes. He claimed you could pick up a newspaper in 1842 and then again in 1872 and not much would have changed in the day's news. Names and faces would have changed......but there'd still be wars and rumours of wars and famine and pestilence and unemployment and the economy would be in crisis and there'd be the odd scandal or two.....but, basically, things would be about the same. And you know, I'll bet if you picked up a paper in 1842 and one in early 2009, you'd find that things are much the same.....I don't know.......think about it. There used to be thoughts or sayings about learning from our mistakes of being "taught" by history. Interesting thing is that if you embark on a career as an historian as I did in the late 1970's, the first thing you learn is that history never repeats itself and humanity learns absolutely nothing from the mistakes it's already committed. We just don't seem to be that bright. I mean, we seem to be getting smarter in some ways, but overall we're not really making too much progress. War still seems to be the predominant dispute-solving mechanism on the planet – or perhaps I should say use of force. Because most of the conflicts raging around the globe really aren't "wars" Although I guess that a war is a war is a war in some ways.......and a disagreement between two neighbours could easily be a war. So, there you have it – we should learn from history – but we don't. So away we go.....off into the wilderness for another day.

So, I'm talking to my good buddy the other day on the phone and he's just watched this piece on TV about something called "string theory" and it tells us there may be 11 parallel universes including ours – in other words, there are all these universes lined up beside each other and moving along sort of together – I guess. And we see UFOs in our universe because sometimes they break through and get off course and end up here. And I guess there could be something to this, but it's sorta like a lot of other theories – they're just theories.......and I'm not exactly sure why they matter. It's like the Big Bang. I don't care if there was a Big Bang or not.......irrelevant to me. I want to know what came before the Big Bang – what was there to go "bang" and where did it come from......and how did it get there? Sorry for getting all sciency on you, but I'm really not sure why most of this stuff matters. Let's just live in the here and now and study how to feed everyone on the planet and what's the most effective way to deliver dependable health care to everyone. Let's not worry too much about all this metaphysical stuff......let's just get on with making this a better place to live – that would be good. We could call it the "wellness theory" or something similar. Anyway, I'm ranting this week.....sorry about that.

Barack Obama will enter office next week and I'm already a little disturbed by what's going on in Washington. I had hoped that Mr. Obama would practice some restraint with regards to the inauguration celebrations. But it seems to not be the case. Part of me says that the United States perhaps needs a big party these days.....but the other part of me says that they're wasting a lot of money on the whole thing. I want more than anything for President Obama to take the United States on a different path – for him to lead it into the position where it could again be admired as a symbol of freedom and hope around the world. I don't know if that can ever happen again, but right now the American image is tarnished beyond belief. We really need the United States to take on a leadership role at the United Nations and start doing what's good for the planet and not necessarilly just what's good for the United States. I hope we will see that type of selfless commitment to world politics in the era of Barack Obama. I am cheering him on......and watching closely.

Watch for cktimes to make a little news of its own in 2009. Chatham-Kent's good news on the net could be poised for some major growth this year. A new face appears on the pages of cktimes this week, Aaron Hall – another Wllaceburger who has joined the cktimes'project as Marketing Manager, but who has considerable other talents to lend. Aaron will be out and about in the community of Chatham-Kent in the weeks and months ahead as we try to make a positive difference in the place we call home. Please welcome Aaron as you have me. Together, we can change the world......one positive thought or action at a time.

Out of time for another week and a great little edition of cktimes this week. Check out Aaron Hall's new column, Here and There in the Opinion section of the paper. And.....take care and remember, "Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may."



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.