http://peacockink.ca/A Piece of my Mind at http://peacockink.ca/9/6/2010 7:11:46 PMen-ushttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=171John Kenneth Galbraith, the Canadian-American Keynesian economist said this about poverty: “People are poverty-stricken when their income, even if ad...7/2/2010 12:32:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=169Admittedly there have been few shining stars on the political front regarding the Auditor-General's recent request to review MP expenses. However, Prime M...5/22/2010 8:53:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=168There is lots of ongoing discussion about security as Toronto and Huntsville (albeit marginally) prepares to host the G8/G20 meetings. In viewing ...5/20/2010 1:09:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=166A good way to shut down debate is to accuse one side of the argument of selfishness or some other anti-social behavior. That's what Huntsville councilor M...4/21/2010 2:22:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=164The debate is heating up over whether the digital age will result in the demise of print media. This is a ‘hurry-up and give it to me now' world and print ...4/21/2010 1:57:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=162A good way to shut down debate is to accuse one side of the argument of selfishness or some other anti-social behavior. That's what Huntsville councilor M...4/7/2010 2:09:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=161A recent article in the Toronto Star suggested that because Canada is in the red fiscally (some might also say politically) paying higher taxes has come ba...4/7/2010 9:59:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=158A fundamental issue vis a vis affordable housing is the connection between affordable housing and low-income employment. Discussing affordable housing wit...3/3/2010 1:06:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=157Last night the Olympic Torch was lit in B.VC. Place, completing its incredible journey throughout Canada. I don't think we have ever seen - certainly not ...2/13/2010 10:13:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=153I'm very optimistic about Ontario's decison giving pharmacists and nurse practitioners more responsibility. It should alleviate wait times to see a doctor...1/15/2010 9:01:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=145Here in Florida, Remembrance Day (or Veteran's Day as it's called here) is a big deal thanks to U.S. particpation in conflicts past and present and pretty ...11/12/2009 9:21:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=142Excerpt from N.Y. Times - October 20, 2009By BOB HERBERT "If some company is too big to fail, then it's too big to exist. Break it up.Why should the genera...10/20/2009 7:05:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=139U.S. President Barack Obama's 2009 Nobel Peace Prize win was awarded for his initiatives to “reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world...10/11/2009 8:27:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=136Last week U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon opened Wednesday's session of the United Nations General Assembly by reciting a grim litany of crises the worl...9/25/2009 8:18:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=131Canadians have chosen minority governments in the last three federal elections. That sounds like a hint to my ears. I think that Canadians are saying tha...9/16/2009 7:31:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=130Until we opt for good food over cheap food and imperfections in our produce over eerily identical fruit and vegetables we are going to be fat, unhealthy an...9/10/2009 7:34:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=124One of Britain's most distinguished orchestra conductors, Sir Edward Downes, went to Switzerland recently with his wife. He joined her in drinking a letha...8/18/2009 4:10:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=122Well what do you expect from an Allah-fearing, non-American-born black socialist dude anyway? Of course, Barack Obama endorses forced euthanasia of the el...8/15/2009 8:13:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=118When travelling abroad, most Canadians instinctively speak well of our nation. It is considered bad form to badmouth one's county to strangers. Say anythi...8/13/2009 4:57:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=112There are many versions of the Chicken Little story, but the basic premise is that a chicken called Chicken Little believes the sky is falling down because...10/2/2008 9:30:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=111There are many things that trouble me about the possibility of Stephen Harper heading up a majority Conservative government. One is his disdain for Canadi...10/2/2008 9:29:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=110It's back to the voting booth on October 14th. We may not be happy about it but it's decided. Since this will be the third general election in just over ...10/2/2008 9:27:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=108It's back to the voting booth on October 14th. We may not be happy about it but it's decided. Since this will be the third general election in just over ...9/11/2008 12:58:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=107Letter to the Toronto Star editor - July 25, 2007Re: John Tory puts faith in school religion How about taxpayers not funding any faith-based religious inst...9/11/2008 12:56:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=106Letter to the Huntsville Forester Re: Aug. 8, 2007: Province to fund religious schools?How about taxpayers not funding any faith-based religious instituti...9/11/2008 12:55:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=105MPPs Peter Kormos and Cheri DiNovo have recently brought the subject of organ donation to the forefront of the transplant issue. The fact that we have a d...9/11/2008 12:53:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=104Equestrian Eric Lamaze is surely one of the comeback kids of all time. Like Ben Johnson, Lamaze is likely best known as a brilliant athlete who brought di...9/11/2008 12:52:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=103There are two things that men do that really drive me crazy. (Okay, there are lots more than that but these two issues really, really bug me.) Both annoy...9/11/2008 12:51:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=102I felt very sad when Hillary Clinton lost her bid for the White House. Like many Canadians I've been very engaged by the spectacle that is politics south ...9/11/2008 12:50:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=80(This article resulted in a lot of mail both in support and in outrage!)I've been tiptoeing around the ‘support our troops issue' for the past few months b...7/24/2007 8:11:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=77Letter to the Toronto Star editor - July 25, 2007Re: John Tory puts faith in school religion How about taxpayers not funding any faith-based religious inst...7/24/2007 8:06:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=71Omigod. Did anyone else think that Bette Midler lost her mind and her voice with that tunreless rendition of 'Wind beneath My Wings' on American idol? Th...5/24/2007 6:47:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=66The Conservative government's emission target appears to be politically driven, which is a bad thing for climate change and thus for the human beings who i...5/4/2007 7:42:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=65Printed in Toronto Star May 4 2007 Good grief! Hockey Canada Captain Shane Doan called another player a f***g Frenchman? So what? If he'd called him a f...5/4/2007 7:38:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=64"The Harper government has secured a high-profile endorsement of its position that Canada's economy would be crippled if it was forced to meet the Kyoto ac...4/19/2007 9:02:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=62I fail to understand why we still build any car that can go 200 km/h. Given the damage that carbon emissons cause the environment the environment, speed-r...4/19/2007 8:23:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=61Dismissing lonely, alienated and troubled people simply as "weird loners" does nothing to promote understanding about the kinds of disturbance that can lea...4/19/2007 8:14:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=57Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's budget did a good job of launching the Prime Minister into the next election, which with the help of the Bloc won't be happ...3/20/2007 3:44:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=55Dear Make Poverty History supporter,The Better Aid Bill (Bill C-293) is ready for third and final vote in the House of Commons on March 22. Passage of this...3/6/2007 7:41:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=47Florida revisitedAs I've already admitted, I've long been a big mocker of the Sunshine State and the people who go there. All of the jokes about it being ...1/15/2007 9:18:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=46Hi, it's me - Dale. Remember me? You might have to concentrate a bit since I haven't written you since 1964 and let's face it - neither of us is getting ...1/15/2007 9:14:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=45On February 1st, Ontario's minimum wage will rise to a miserly $8.00 an hour. While we can blame the Harris-Eves regime for the miserable lot of many Onta...1/15/2007 9:12:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=39Erratic and paranoid North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is now armed with a nuclear weapon following a test blast this past weekend. The world trembles in no...10/10/2006 12:59:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=34Since the poor will always be with us - according to Matthew 26:11 - I guess that means that we shouldn't be in any rush to help them. The National Counci...8/28/2006 1:52:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=32Letter to Toronto StarI expect more than tabloid-level reportage from a national Canadian newspaper. So, John Mark Karr "dined on fried king prawns and ro...8/28/2006 1:47:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=31Re: Toronto Star Letter to the EditorGood grief! This is ludicrous. In order to get a DVD rental card I had to present photo ID and three other pieces of...8/28/2006 1:27:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=30There were a number of thoughtful letters in last week's paper regarding a recent protest incident at our local MP's office. The replies were in response ...8/15/2006 3:10:00 PMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=12Another Earth Day has come and gone since an American senator originated the occasion in the latter part of the 1960's. The original environmental event p...5/10/2006 7:09:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=11When Betty Friedan died recently a news poll that found that just 25 per cent of North American women consider themselves feminists. On the other hand, 65...5/10/2006 7:08:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=9The July issue of Toronto Life disappeared off area sellers' shelves as fast as tree leaves during a tent caterpillar infestation. Telephones rang off the...5/10/2006 7:07:00 AMhttp://peacockink.ca/pieceofmymind.html?blogid=3&blogentryid=10I'm pleased that the Vatican is considering denying communion to PM Paul Martin if he continues to support issues with which the Vatican disagrees. Perhap...5/10/2006 7:07:00 AM