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Author Archive: joe

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No Rules in Minnesota

December 23, 2008 Political

Been following the recount in Minnesota for the Senate seat. Sure am glad that none of the "Canvassing Board" is an NFL, NHL or NBA official. I can understand the desire and need for a recount in a close race, but when the results keep changing without effecting any other issue, something has to be wrong.

It was like those 133 "lost" ballots in one precinct – they had to be lost, because the number of ballots run through the machine (at the precinct) did not match the number of ballots delivered to election headquarters. Then there were the 171 extra ballots found in one precinct – the Canvassing Board said that because there were 171 fewer votes counted, these had to be added. DUH! What rules are you using to make a determination?

In both cases, they gave more votes to one candidate than another.

Now, there is a report on Fox News that actually shows how the Canvassing Board is setting rules for how to determine the "intent" of voters who marked a ballot in strange ways, yet their rules are not equally applied. Go figure, but if I lived in Minnesota, as a Republican or Democrat, I would be in court about the way they are mistreating the voters. Take a look at the Fox report before you call me a "nut case."

Drummer Man

December 23, 2008 General, Music

Going through my CDs and putting them in my iTunes library for transfer to my i-thingie. Ran across two from Louie Bellson, famous drummer from the past. If you are into jazz, then the names Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson should ring some bells (beat your drums).

Both CDs had been autographed by Louie several years ago when he was in his 70's (Ok, I know the feeling since that's where I am now). First saw him, playing with college kids at Cal State Hayward and also at some high school concerts. The real "kicker" was when he announced that he was playing at a church (at that time) in San Jose and talked about his faith. Wow!

Running across the CDs prompted me to check on the status and whereabouts of the man.

Amazing that at age 84, he is still playing, mentoring and composing. Seems that in November, he fell and broke his hip. He is presently in rehab, but looking to getting back to "his sticks". At the age of 15, he invented the double bass drum set-up (yes, two bass drums on stage), and at age 17 had beat out 40,000 competitors to win the Gene Krupa Drum Contest.

Truly amazing man with amazing skills. Check him out – especially some of his video clips, like the Louie Bellson-Buddy Rich thing on the Johnny Carson Show.

Love-In or What?

December 23, 2008 Faith

There is a recurring word in First John – "Love". Probably the most famous words from the Bible are found in this letter – "God is love". But what is left out is the first part of that verse (I John 4:8), and that is "If you don't love others, you cannot possibly love God, for…"

John, over and over again says that as believers or followers (you choose the word), we are to love one another (that was fellow believers). His letter was to the church or body of Christ – Christians. His "love" theme is repeated over and over.

His love message was in addition to "watch out for deceivers", but with the repetition of the two thoughts, you cannot just walk away. John does not leave us any wiggle room for things like "Well, I just don't like them", or "They are not doing right." He doesn't leave us room to say we don't feel like loving someone.

Yes, there are words like "ought" and "should", but I can't help but be left with his words in Chapter 4 verse 21 – "the one who loves God should love his brother/sister also." It's kind of like saying to someone driving toward the edge of a cliff, "you should stop now." Maybe you have a different definition for the words "should" and "ought", but then again, to each his or her own – you find the real meaning in God's Word.

Let's see if I can get out of loving other believers because they dress differently or smell bad or don't look like me. Maybe it would be easier if they weren't interested in music, or computers, or they liked Macs instead of PCs. Oh, good, they like science fiction books, and I don't – good answer!

Or is it?

Copyright 2009-2026 by Joe Suttle