'On strike' sign recalls complex story

 

For many decades, while The London Free Press was owned and operated by Walter Blackburn, the newspaper was not involved in a strike. Blackburn kept unions at bay by forming his own in-house organization to look after employee concerns and complaints. Under Blackburn it worked.

Under Walter Blackburn the newspaper did not have a layoff, even when the economy was in recession. Blackburn said when times were tough the employee who could best weather a downturn in the economy was him, the newspaper owner. 

If he laid off a pressman, that man's life would be in tatters. His family would suffer. Walter Blackburn, on the other hand, kept his chauffeur driven car, he and his wife wouldn't lose their home nor would his children drop out of university.

Once when a longtime employee had a death in the family, a death in England, the employee was given time off to attend the funeral and the money to cover the trans Atlantic flight home. Blackburn was a capitalist, a generous, caring capitalist.

After Walter Blackburn died things changed around the paper. Slowly at first and then the paper was sold to an expanding chain. And then that owner, a rather small fish, was gobbled up by a much bigger company, a much larger fish. Today the paper is but a small memory of the local media empire Walter Blackburn built during his lifetime.

My gut feeling is that if local newspapers had remained under the control of owners like Walter Blackburn and others of his ilk, daily newspapers would be much different today. Walter Blackburn was a visionary. This is not a word I would apply to the hedge fund owners of today.

The luxury of a carport

 

The Second World War had ended and the economy was on the rebound. Suburbs were sprouting up all over the world but in North American, where land was ample and cheap, suburban living was a huge trend.

Many argued that living in the suburbs meant increased car ownership. Suburb dwellers argued that when they lived in the core they owned a car but had to park it on the street. In the suburbs, they said, they had the luxury of a carport. The luxury of a carport! Ah, those were different times. Today luxury doesn't kick in until one has a three car garage, at the minimum.

Celery from Spain sold in London, Ontario

It was the nicest celery my wife had ever encountered. It was fresh, green, blemish-free; it was perfect. And when she checked to see where this amazingly perfect produce was from, she discovered it was from Spain.

I confess, this makes me uneasy and I cannot say exactly why. I have a gut reaction that this is not good for the earth. When I worked at a newspaper this feeling, this hunch, would not be enough for story. But, it would be enough to assign a reporter to investigate and determine whether or not there's a story here.

Is there? I think so.

For instance, when produce is shipped thousands of miles, it raises the possibility of introducing plant diseases to areas where the disease is as yet unknown. When I googled celery from Valencia, Spain, I learned a bacterial plant disease has been found in celery grown in Spain. This bacteria is found around the world. The question is whether or not the variety of the bacteria that is infecting Spanish celery is unique to Spain.

Another problem raised by attempting to grow produce in gigantic, factory farm fields is water for irrigation. Over-exploitation of water resources is an ever present threat. 

I should have considered this last item, in my short list, as it is problem right here in Ontario, Canada. All too often huge farms producing relatively inexpensive food in vast amounts operate successfully thanks to poorly paid and poorly treated migrant workers. According to The Guardian, Spain may be among the worst offenders globally when it comes to the abuse of migrant workers. 

A U.N. worker reported workers living in a migrant settlements in Spain are forced to live in conditions that rival the worst conditions anywhere in the world. The settlements are located kilometres away from water and all too often lack electricity and even adequate sanitary infrastructure.

I hope my celery was grown in a responsible manner. I pray it was but I don't know for sure.

A pretty little bungalow from the distant past

 

Back in the '50s and '60s little bungalows were popular in Canada. The neighbourhood below the uplands in Byron was developed back then. I drove through there today and thought that this little place had aged well. It has the look of a home that has been showered with love.

Dr. Oetker makes pizza in London

Dr. Oetker was a German pharmacist who started an innovative food company some 130 years ago. Today, the Dr. Oetker group is still under family control as a global enterprise with a pizza factory right here in London, Ontario. 

Like so many big firms with a global reach, traditional local firms may fall to the expanding German giant. It is almost 30 years since Dr. Oetker purchased the Canadian Shirriff food company with a line of products going back to 1880s.

My wife and I find the Dr.'s pizza generally overpriced and more than the crusts are thin. But when they go on sale, we buy a half dozen or so. We only get the cheese ones. And then we add our own toppings: sweet peppers, mushrooms, artichokes, hot peppers and dark, pitted olives.

Reportedly, Dr. Oetker is one of the best selling frozen pizza in the world. Hmmm. Surely, most folk are dressing these pizza up with a lot more toppings before serving. And I hope they are being bought on sale.

Older suburban street design not in vogue today

When I was a boy, suburban streets were state-of-the-art: no sidewalks accompanied by slower than the normal traffic speeds. Often the streets were curved to encourage drivers to slow down. If necessary lower than usual speed limits signs were posted.

Today, sidewalks are back in style. Folks living on the older, sidewalkless streets are finding that when their street is repaved sidewalks are installed. This is done whether the residents want the sidewalks or not. Often the resident do not.

Judy insisted that this had to be today's picture

 

My wife has been after me for days to shoot the morning shadows on the snow in our backyard as seen through the kitchen window. She insists this is different from my other two shots. And so, I begrudgingly submitted today's photo for consideration.