I don't know beans

By notapoet - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Opinion

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Whee-hee!

The dust has hardly settled from the mid-term elections and we’re already being thrust into the middle of the frenzy over who is, and is not running for president in 2008. It’s far too early for me to give a damn. Half the people being mentioned now will be non-candidates or extreme underdogs by the... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 9:04 PM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Today is my holiday.

…and the holiday that belongs to all other veterans as well. Veterans Day is not a day on which we demand or expect kudos, although that would be a nice acknowledgement of the sacrifices we made. It’s our day to remember what it was like to put our lives on the line when our country called. It’s our... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 5:53 AM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, November 10, 2006

Did anyone vote a straight ticket on Tuesday?

I was tempted to vote straight Democratic. But my record is still clean in that regard. I evaluated each choice and voted my conscious. As a result I voted for a couple of Republicans. In my estimation each was the better candidate. This is the way it’s supposed to be. Evaluate the issues and the... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 5:46 AM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

The American people have spoken. Resoundingly!

And results were immediately forthcoming. Rumsfeld is gone. Our president is singing a different tune today. I’m proud of all of you who went out and said enough is enough. Truthfully, I’m proudest of the record numbers who went out and voted in an election in which the Presidency was not on the... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 11:51 PM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Did you vote today?

If not, shut up and take what you get. Voting is a right and a privilege for citizens of this wonderful country. Yes, there are flaws and injustices. But the good old USA is a far better place to live than any other I can think of. To keep it that way we should feel obligated to vote our... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 8:17 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Priorities

Thursday two big events in Chapel Hill made the news all over the state of North Carolina. One was the 213 th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstones for Old East Dormitory at the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest land grant university. The other was Carolina Picture Day, an... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 12:37 AM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Sometimes I think

…even though it may seem I really don’t do anything other than…uh, reminisce about my own past. Admittedly I do an awful lot of that. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my blogging and how much I truly enjoy it. I’ve also given a lot of thought to how much time I’ll be able to spend at it next... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 11:28 PM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, October 9, 2006

I don't know beans about music

…I just know what I like. Oldies from the mid-fifties, the sixties, and even the seventies remind me of happy days, old friends, lost loves, and so much more. Good jazz, that wonderful stuff I first discovered in the early sixties sends my mind soaring and makes me feel reflective at the same time.... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 12:50 AM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, October 7, 2006

The more things change

…you know how the rest of it goes. Need proof? How about this quote from nineteenth century reformer and orator, Wendell Phillips: “You can always get the truth from an American statesman after he has turned seventy, or given up all hope of the Presidency.” Politicians haven’t really changed that... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 11:47 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, October 5, 2006

I don’t know beans about politics. Not about politics as practiced today, at any rate. Channing Pollock, a noted American author and lecturer, once said of another gentleman, “He admits that there are two sides to every question -- his own and the wrong side.” Pollack died in 1946, but he could have... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 9:01 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, October 2, 2006

The Roosevelt cousins,

Teddy and Franklin, had some interesting opinions about both politics and perseverance. I found them in the oft mentioned (in recent posts to my blogs) The Dictionary of Humorous Quotations. Teddy, who incidentally was our 26 th President, once said, “The most successful politician is he who says... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 11:23 PM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, September 25, 2006

Politics is not really my bailiwick

…but the news out of Iraq, and the Middle East in general, keeps reminding me more and more of Vietnam. As a Vietnam Era vet, this is very disturbing. I supported our action in Afghanistan, as I think any loyal American should have after 9-11. We were attacked and retaliation was justified. But the... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 8:38 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, September 22, 2006

A Quickie

Give this quote by seventeenth century writer Francois de La Rouchefoucauld some serious thought before spouting off about yourself and others: “Our enemies come nearer the truth in their opinions of us than we do in our opinion of ourselves.” Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 3:15 PM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, September 21, 2006

If you don't know beans, libraries are wonderful places.

At least that’s my opinion. Unfortunately most people don’t use libraries properly, if they use them at all. Public libraries are much more than just a place to find the latest best sellers or that new book by a favorite author. They are repositories for all sorts of wonderful useful, and useless,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 10:27 AM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

I really don't know beans

…about more things than I care to admit. Which brings up the point of the title of this blog. I was just trying to be cute and draw a little attention with “KNOW-IT-ALL.” Maybe that’s why I never posted much to this blog. Subconsciously I probably figured I was just parading my ignorance with such a... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 7:07 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, September 18, 2006

Try this one on for size.

“The art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to the other.” -- Voltaire This quote is from the eighteenth century. It just goes to show you that things haven't really changed all that much. Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 9:07 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Quote...unquote from two of my favorite writers:

“In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.” -- Mark Twain “A prejudice is a vagrant opinion without visible means of support.” -- Ambrose Bierce “It is a difference of opinion that makes horse races.” -- Samuel Langhorne Clemens The quotes were pulled from The Dictionary of Humorous... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 7:49 PM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

From January 28, 2004

Yup. This is a repost. Feel free to skip it if you don’t like reposts. But it’ll only take you a minute to read it and it might make you think a little longer than that.. opinion, n. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty. a personal view, attitude, or... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 11:26 AM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, September 23, 2005

Politics defined.

The following, from the same source as my previous post, Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary seems to sum up the topic pretty well. POLITICS, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage. Little seems to have changed since... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 8:26 AM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

The ABCs of News & Politics

This is a repost of one of the very few posts I feel like preserving from my late, unlamented blog “Beyond News & Politics”: The ABCs of News & Politics Courtesy of The Devil's Dictionary, a classic work in American literature by Ambrose Bierce: ABSURDITY, n. A statement or belief manifestly... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by notapoet at 6:04 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

April 2024
SMTWTFS
31123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
2829301234
567891011
Dec | Newest | May
About this Blog

I've got an opinion on just about everything and I'm old enough to bluff pretty good when I don't.

Recent Entries
Blogs

Headlines (What is this?)