Some More Interesting Stories

I have to admit that there are lots of stories that I read and that I like. However, it is difficult for me to post an article about all of them.  Accordingly, as I hope you have noticed, I post about a number of stories that I have read in one of my articles that I publish. What I try to do is to let you know why the story is of great interest to me and why I am writing about it.  I will copy out and paste the relevant parts of the story and give my comments on them.

Naturally, if something important goes on, then my article will just be about that one matter. 

Here is an example of my Blogs that deal with a number of issues that I have read about over the past few weeks.  I hope it will be of interest to you when you read what I wrote about them.

WILL SUGAR STILL BE SWEET

I have to admit that I have cut back on the amount of "sweetness" from sugar that I take. Or at least I think I have. I do believe that I am eating many foods that do not contain a lot of sugar in them and I have cut back on the amount of sugar that I am taking in most of the foods and drinks that I now have. In fact, my wife and I do not even put sugar on our dining room table anymore so my tea contains none of it and I don't put any on my cereal that I eat in the morning.

I assume that this is a positive step to take because I am trying to keep my weight down. I just figured that reducing the amount of sweetness that I eat will be helpful and, so far, that seems to be correct.  Sure I have put on weight over the last year and a half. That is the time after I left hospital when I am trying to maintain a strict diet to keep my weight down. Yes, I have put on a number of pounds but I believe it is all due to the exercises that I have been doing which have increased my muscles. After all, I can still wear the clothes I have been wearing all this time. Hopefully, my increased weight is due to internal muscle growth and not "fat" growth.

Here is the beginning of an article that I saw in the New York Times which reflects what I have been doing except my time period has been continuous since I came out of hospital. My session has not been for only a 30 day time period:

"It is in chicken stock, sliced cheese, bacon and smoked salmon, in mustard and salad dressing, in crackers and nearly every single brand of sandwich bread. It is all around us — in obvious ways and hidden ones — and it is utterly delicious.

It’s sugar, in its many forms: powdered sugar, honey, corn syrup, you name it. The kind you eat matters less than people once thought, scientific research suggests, and the amount matters much more. Our national sugar habit is the driving force behind the diabetes and obesity epidemics and may be a contributing factor to cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Like me, you’ve probably just finished a couple of weeks in which you have eaten a whole lot of tasty sugar. Don’t feel too guilty about it. But if you feel a little guilty about it, I’d like to make a suggestion.

Choose a month this year — a full 30 days, starting now or later — and commit to eating no added sweeteners. Go cold turkey, for one month…

It reset my sugar-addled taste buds and opened my eyes to the many products that needlessly contain sugar." (David Leonhardt, New York Times, December 30, 2016)

Take a look at the complete article and it will give you, dear reader, some help in determining what you ought to be doing to keep your weight down.

SMALL TOWNS ARE NOT NECESSARILY SO SMALL

I moved to the Town of Tecumseh about a year and a half ago. I have to admit that it has become a terrific place to live for my wife and me.

Really though, it is quite "tiny."  The population here is only around 24,000. It may increase a bit with some of the new homes that are being built around me but it is not going to get much larger because the amount of land available for construction is relatively limited I believe.  Here is a comment that I read about the new house development here which may have resulted because of the lack of land:

"The only municipality in the region to see a decrease in new housing starts for 2016 was Tecumseh." (CBC News January 12, 2017) 

Notwithstanding its small size, the politicians in Tecumseh seem to be quite advanced in a lot of their activities. Here is one matter that you might find of interest in the big City in this area:

"In the wake of massive flooding and tornado touchdowns in Windsor last year, the city’s fire chief is again pushing for a mass emergency online notification system." (Colleen MacDonald, CTV Windsor, January 2, 2017) 

Tecumseh is far ahead because here is what the article also published:

"Last year, the town of Tecumseh introduced an alert system that was utilized during the intense storms in September."

I should also mention about this event that is going to take place this week in Tecumseh:

"FLOOD UPDATE AND PROPERTY PROTECTION OPEN HOUSE

The Town will be holding a Public Information Centre (PIC) to provide an opportunity for residents to learn more on how to protect their homes from future weather events. The PIC will be held:

Thursday, January 26, 2017

3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

L’Essor Secondary School

13605 St. Gregory’s Road, Tecumseh, ON

Two short presentations to be held at 3:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Engineers in the Public Works Department will be available, along with representatives from local plumbing contractors and home improvement suppliers, to provide information On materials and installation of home protection devices. The Insurance Bureau of Canada, as well as the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs will be available to answer questions regarding insurance and recovery assistance."

I expect to attend that  event.

Why Was This Lawsuit Settled

I must admit that I don't understand how a settlement could be arrived at in this class-action lawsuit. Why would the defendants want to offer over $2 million as a settlement amount if the plaintiffs did not have a case. Take a look at what this case is about:

"the latest settlement offer in a class-action lawsuit, stemming from patients who received diluted chemotherapy drugs several years ago" (CBC News January 9, 2017)

Here is the key information as far as I am concerned:

"When the settlement was originally offered, a lawyer with McKenzie, Lake Lawyers LLP [one of the Plaintiffs' lawyers] recognized the amounts of the settlement was low, but called it fair considering an inquiry found there was no negligence on the part of the companies involved.

"This is an excellent settlement given that there really was no lawsuit that could have gone forward if we couldn't settle it essentially," associate lawyer Sabrina Lombardi said at the time."

Here is what was said in another article:

"Mike Peerless, one of the class-action lawyers along with the Sutts, Strosberg firm from Windsor, said while he was moved by the victims’ “heartfelt” and “heartbreaking” statements, he has to look at the case rationally. He said the class-action lawyers found no evidence of a single patient who suffered any significant damage from taking the diluted drugs. They also couldn’t find a single expert — no doctor, psychiatrist, oncologist or clinical pharmacologist — who would say the underdosing caused patients’ cancer to worsen. He warned if the settlement is rejected, the class-action lawsuit would be doomed." (Brian Cross, Windsor Star, January 10, 2017)

I must admit that I do not understand why the defendants want to pay out so much money if there was "no lawsuit" that could have gone anywhere. Oh well, maybe they still were afraid that there was a big risk and so the settlement was necessary.

There are around 1,200 plaintiffs, the news stories state, who would receive $1,500 each. I guess that means that the law firms will share the difference between that amount and the full amount of the settlement. They probably would never have won and so would not have made any legal fees.