Trevor Dailey's Weblog

When was the last time you bought cereal? What is called ready to eat cereal that is eaten right out of the box? If you are like many people, you might have stopped buying this kind of cereal because you may believe it is an unhealthy food. There are a lot of food fads that have come and gone, and all food fads are driven mostly by the wealthy. Those people who have enough money to have the luxury of turning down food. They can be picky eaters and not go hungry. The downward trend in consumer cereal purchases is another affluent food fad.

Ready to eat cereal is claimed to be bad for you by some. It is claimed by some that grains and sugar are bad for you. Cereal is nothing but unhealthy grains and sugar, they say. When the Kellogg brothers first invented their toasted flakes of corn, it was very bland, and over time improvements were made to the taste. One of these improvements to taste was the addition of sugar.

How much sugar is in the typical can of soda? Online one will likely find some video of a person heaping tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar into a glass to demonstrate just how much sugar is in a can of soda. One can imagine people pouring their soft drinks down the drain after watching such a video. The video is wrong (and not just because granulated sugar is not used in the making of soft drinks). In the food industry, where food product is mass produced, weight is the most accurate form of measurement. This is why on a can of soda the sugar content is in grams, and not in tablespoons. When the person in the video converts grams to tablespoons, the person gets the sugar content wrong. It is inaccurate. A tablespoon of sugar (or a sugar cube, or a packet of sugar), is not automatically the weight of a gram of sugar. Tablespoons are tablespoons, grams are grams. These units cannot be accurately interchanged. A gram of sugar must be accurately weighed to be a gram of sugar.

When I was a kid, General Mills advertised their Cheerios® cereal had less than one gram of sugar per serving. Other cereals, like Shredded Wheat, advertised no added sugar. Some cereal has more sugar, and some has less sugar. The consumer can choose. One doesn't even have to read the nutritional label to make an informed choice on sugar content because the name on the box and the picture is usually enough information. Sugar is used for a few reasons, one being taste.

Humans like the taste of sugar, the human body needs it, but more is not always better. Few people will eat spoonfuls of sugar from a bowl, or eat sugar cubes by the handful. Putting too much sugar in cereal will spoil the taste just as adding too little sugar might do the same. For example, I drink a lot of tea and I know how much sugar I need to make my tea taste how I like it. Too little or too much sugar and I have tea that I don't like the taste of. Put simply, sugar is an ingredient that is part of a recipe. Sugar is not added indiscriminately by manufactures. Doing that will result in a poor product that can't be sold. Sugar is also a commodity that is bought and sold each day on the world market. The price of sugar rises and falls daily, and manufactures want to use as little as possible of a commodity that has constant price fluctuations. Low prices are good, but high prices are bad. Sugar is not the only thing added to many cereals.

If one looks at the nutrition label on a box of ready to eat cereal, one will see that cereal is packed with added essential nutrients on top of the already present nutrients of the cereal crop (wheat, oats, or corn). Cereal has long been a simple healthy and fortified food. One of the best things about ready to eat cereal is it is inexpensive. Fortified cereal has the benefit of low cost.

Cereal does not cost much money. For people like me, cereal is an inexpensive fortified healthy food product. I need quality food at a low price. I do not follow the asinine food fads; however, food producers listen to consumers, no matter how dumb they are, because companies need to stay in business. I understand this, I know I am a consumer minority, but it is an extreme annoyance for me when alternatives to the food fads are not available. I either have to pay more for the same or lower quality, or I have to go without. I do not look forward to a day when I have to go without another healthy food product like cereal because of yet another stupid food fad.

© Trevor Dailey

For 10 years I had been a home phone customer of Bell Canada. For that same length of time I have been an Internet customer of Execulink Telecom. Over the years, the cost of my DSL Internet service has risen, but the cost of my home phone had risen at a much faster rate. It wasn't long before I was paying more for a plain black phone on the wall with basic level service than I was for basic level Internet service. Bell was also charging me $11.00 extra per month just for the Call Display feature, the only added phone feature I had.

Execulink offers an Internet and home phone service bundle that not only saves me 20 percent monthly, but has Call Display and six other phone features included for free. I called Execulink, and I switched my home phone from Bell to Execulink. Apparently, big Bell Canada didn't like this.

At the start of the next business day, my Internet access ended. Since Bell owns the phone line infrastructure, Bell decided to deny me my Internet service through their lines; a service I was paying Execulink for, not Bell. This is something Bell should not have done, but Bell did it anyway. My home phone service continued for the week it took for my home phone to be switched from Bell to Execulink. But big Bell Canada wasn't finished with me yet.

On the very day my home phone service was to be switched from Bell to Execulink, but before the service was transferred, Bell cut off my home phone service. My phone was dead. I was without a home phone for about an hour, and I do not have a mobile phone. I had no Internet access, and I had no phone service. Of course, despite being a customer of Bell for only one week of the last billing period, Bell has charged me the full monthly amount.

I don't think Bell Canada has any business and professional ethics. Never again will I purchase any product or service from Bell Canada by choice. Goodbye, Bell, I am not going to miss you.        

© Trevor Dailey

Fifty years of failure has been the record of the increasing socialist municipal government. Once a city of prosperity, London, Ontario, has been dragged down into a spiral towards economic ruin. The 2014 municipal election brought one of the most socialist City Councils the Forest City (as London, Ontario, is known) has ever seen.

Gone are the days when the Forest City, having a population of only about 60,000 people, employed approximately 13,000 of its population in manufacturing. When there were no less than 250 manufactures in the Forest City from the smallest to the largest producing more than 70 distinct products that were sold all over Canada. London, Ontario, was once the financial centre of Western Ontario with 2 major insurance companies, 9 trust and loan companies, and 11 chartered banks. With its many railways, easy access to Great Lakes shipping by rail, and being on the major highway from Windsor, Ontario, to Quebec (King's Highway 2), the Forest City had a transportation centre that was unsurpassed in the whole country. Today, the Forest City is far from the prosperity it once had. Let us take a very brief look at the approximately 50 years record of City Hall's "Master Plan" of meddling in the Forest City:

"While the idea of subsidization is generally repugnant to City Council, it merits further consideration." - London, Ontario, Mayor Gordon Stronach, 1961.

Centennial Hall (1967). Built as a live performance venue for the downtown core, Centennial Hall is owned by the municipality and leased to a private company. Donald Jones Management Services has operated the venue since 1986, with the municipality taking a cut of the revenue. Centennial Hall has long been criticized as being inadequate for its designed purpose, and has an unprofitable history now costing about $100,000 per year in tax money to cover its annual losses.

Talbot Square (1972-1977). The municipality expropriated an entire downtown city block (Talbot Street, Queens Avenue, Ridout Street North, Dundas Street), and made a deal with developers to construct a hotel and office building on the property.

Project C - Carling Street Commercial Development (1970 -1971)

The proposed development for this area consists of a major office building combined with a minor amount of retail space adjacent to Dundas Street, a motor hotel on the west side adjacent to the open space of the Thames River valley and a parking garage accessible from Queens Avenue.

The present uses of this site include commercial, residential, warehouse and open parking. The buildings are virtually all old and in substandard condition.

Source: Central London Urban Renewal Scheme, Map 25: Proposed Land Acquisition, January, 1967 

Soon after the ground was broken for construction, the developers discovered that the municipality had sold the land to them for more than its fair market value. Construction ceased, and lawsuits began. After five years, and a cost of approximately $8 million, the municipality sold the land to Bell Canada at an approximately $2.5 million loss.

East London Business Area Busway Mall (1974). As a scheme to reverse the rapid downward economic trend of this area, Dundas Street from Adelaide Street to Elizabeth Street was turned into a "busway mall" restricting vehicle traffic. Dundas Street was modified from a straight road into a curvy road as part of this plan. This curve in the road lasted for many years longer than the busway mall before the road was restored to being straight. The busway mall was an absolute failure costing about $500,000, half of this amount was taxed from all municipal citizens, and the area merchants were taxed by the London East B.I.A. (Business Improvement Area) to cover the other half. The merchants were forced to pay twice. By 1980, the East London Business Area Busway Mall was gone.

Museum London (1980). Formerly called London Regional Art Gallery and constructed along the river this was another scheme of renewal for the downtown core. Today more a sparse 'modern art' gallery than museum this failure costs taxpayers every year in municipal subsidies. The museum does not charge admission, and has had a problem of low attendance for many years.

London Convention Centre (1990). Ignoring the failure of Centennial Hall 23 years earlier, the municipality acquired the massive London Convention Centre in downtown. Like Centennial Hall, the London Convention Centre is not a profitable operation, and it is subsidized each year by the municipal taxpayer.  

Budweiser Gardens (2002). Formerly called the John Labatt Centre as a tribute to the Forest City's history, this large sport and entertainment facility was constructed after the municipality illegally demolished the historic Talbot Inn at the site. The  Central London Urban Renewal Scheme of January, 1967, proposed a "Court House" (1967-1968), a "Provincial Building" (1971), and an Office Site" (1972) be constructed on the property in what was called "Project B. Court House Redevelopment". The municipality owns the Budweiser Gardens building. The operators of the facility lease it from the municipality and do not pay property taxes. The operators are able to write off most of their expenses through prior negotiated deals with the municipality. Almost all performances at the facility are out of country acts that take their money with them when they leave giving very little economic benefit to the municipality. It is estimated municipal taxpayers pay $4.5 million per year on the debt created by the municipality for this facility.

This is just a small sample of what socialism has brought the Forest City over the past five decades. None of it has brought prosperity for the Forest City as the politicians and their special interest supporters have promised. It has brought economic destruction. Not only do the socialist politicians refused to change course, but they also repeat the same disastrous mistakes denying their socialist ways do not work. One example of this is the reoccurring pedestrian mall.

A pedestrian mall idea for the downtown core first appeared in 1965 and was rejected. This idea later resurfaced in 1971 and was again rejected. A little less than a decade later, the municipality was pushing hard for a pedestrian mall on Dundas Street between Wellington Road and Richmond Street in 1980 calling it the "Dundas Street Busway". It is obvious the lessons from the East London Business Area Busway Mall in 1974 were discarded by the "master planners" despite the failed East London Busway Mall being on the same street and only a couple of kilometres away from the proposed downtown busway mall location! After fierce opposition to the busway mall by many downtown merchants, the idea was shelved, but it was not forgotten. The name was changed from "busway" to "pedestrian".

In 2008, the pedestrian mall idea again surfaced, this time led by Controller, Gord Hume. Once again, the scheme to close Dundas Street was beat back by opposition from downtown merchants. The pedestrian mall scheme disappeared for a fourth time only to return again a few years later with another new name, "flexible street".

In 2016, the pedestrian mall is back, but this time the name has been changed to "Dundas Place Flexible Street" in a crafty way to fool people, and the size has expanded from Wellington Road to the river. This is nothing more than a deceitful shell game by a socialist City Council that puts its thumbs on its chest behind its braces and arrogantly says it knows what is best for downtown. It looks like this pedestrian mall will happen having been creeping forward for the last couple of years. The East London Business Area Pedestrian Mall was a fiasco, and I predict a similar result for Dundas Place Flexible Street pedestrian mall.

© Trevor Dailey

Just Right - September 18, 2014 (AUDIO)

Yes, but he can't win
Municipal politics - replacing the rules with opinions
BIA agenda - out of bounds
The United Nations - Collectivism's global voice

Just Right - March 28, 2013 (AUDIO)

Municiplan - All Solutions Point To City Hall
Masterplan - All Solutions Point To Taxpayers
Writing To Win Rather Than Inform - From Bob Woodward To Rob Ford
Beyond Media Bias: When The Line Has Been Crossed

Just Right - November, 1, 2012 (AUDIO)

Guest: Orlando Zamprogna - Former Controller,
Past Deputy-Mayor Of The City Of London
'I got out of politics because I saw what was coming.' - The Predictive Wizardry Of OZ
Sadder Budweiser - No Gardens Of Green, Just In The Red
They Were Board Of Control - Now Career Politicians Are Out Of Control
When You're Alone And Life Is Making You Lonely Just Don't Go Downtown

Just Right - February 28, 2008 (AUDIO)

London Municipal Politics: Making Downtown Pedestrian
Business? Or Government? BIAs (Business Improvement Areas) are NOT 'Business Associations'
Official Bilingualism: The Criminalization of Language - Part 1
Conservatives: John Tory No Tory
It's The Economy, Stupid!

Marc Emery on Access 96: BIAs and the Downtown London Metrobulletin (AUDIO)

Years prior to the founding of Freedom Party of Ontario, Marc Emery was a weekly contributor to a program called Access 96, broadcasted on CFPL FM 96 in London, Ontario. In this broadcast, Marc talks about Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) and announces the launch of his new newsletter for London business persons, the Downtown London Metrobulletin.

Downtown London Metrobulletin Issue #2 (June 1, 1981)

Contents of Issue #2:
We’re back; Exclusive interview: the mayor, Al Gleeson; Downtown in 1986: Wow!; B.I.A. Report: Mall experiment delayed until next year; Eyesores; Crime and punishment: Allan Singer has been taken to court for conducting his business in English; Core area sabotage; Manual for starting a “Community Assoc.”; Random notes; Downtown parking: Plenty of it!; Random notes on parking; An interview with the President of Alcor Investments: ‘Bullish on downtown’; Letters; Bids to restrict competing businesses decried.

Downtown London Metrobulletin Bonus Issue #2.5 (July, 2, 1981)

Contents of Issue #2.5:
Socialist hired as B.I.A. Exec Director.

Downtown London Metrobulletin Issue #4 (October, 23, 1981)

Contents of Issue #4:
Editorial: Do we need a 4th level of government?; Windsor’s pedestrian mall: a tour; Random notes; B.I.A. notes; Jack Burghardt: downtown’s MP; David Peterson: downtown’s MPP; Snow removal downtown: We don’t get any. Or do we?; Bob Martin in Western Ontario Business; Gord Walker MPP & deregulation; No English in Quebec?; London Life; Dundas Street pedestrian mall; The MetroBulletin looks at 7 other pedestrian malls; the Free Press tries to tell us 75% support a pedestrian mall – Fanny Goose next day says otherwise; Bill C – 7: Bill Davis and Bob Elgie bring 1984 today; Employers to be fined, searched in new law; Trudeau to resign between December 10-15; God Bless America!: Ronald Reagan may save our bacon yet; Our new movie: How I learned to love the B.I.A., win the war (and stop worrying about the Baliff).

Downtown London Metrobulletin Bonus Issue #4.5 (November 3, 1981)

Contents of Bonus Issue #4.5:
Comrade Bob pulls off a fast one; Just who supports the B.I.A.?: Given a free choice, almost no one; Letters to the editor of the London Free Press.

Wikipedia: Budweiser Gardens