Mark’s Musings – July 23, 2014
Mark Fortune
The Tribe took three out of four from the Tigers – that is a great way to start the second half of the season. Now we know there are some Pirates and some Reds fans out there in Beacon reader land . . . both the Reds and the Bucs are chasing the Brewers and St. Louis separated by only a game – and only a game and a half between the Bucs and the Cardinals. I see a four team race going down to the end of the season in the National League Central division.
Locally, area high school football players are getting ready to hit the practice field with lots of time being spent in the weight room right now. Marching bands are also getting ready for another season of halftime shows and performances. Soccer, cross country, golf and volleyball participants round out the opportunities for area youth to participate in athletics, learn sportsmanship and teamwork. FFA students will prepare for a year of contests and learning about agriculture – our area’s number one industry.
Local events in the spotlight are the West Lafayette Homecoming this week – always a fun time with some great food and entertainment. Then next on the agenda are the Canal Festival and the Grande Parade on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 9. A great one for sure.
Situations around the world are tense – the Gaza Strip, Ukraine and others that make a brief news flash then disappear in our 24 news hour cycle and short attention spans. That will get us in trouble one of these days as the generations pass and we tend to forget about previous tyrants and dictators that held their people hostage, caused and aided genocide and so called ethnic cleansing. Regardless of the words – it matters little – it is hard to believe that in the year 2014 this still occurs and a country like the U. S. of A. tolerates this behavior. But we are not the world’s police force – at last check that was called the United Nations – and a web search found that the U.S. contribution to the U.N. has been underfunded the past couple of years. The contribution is mixed in and around several different U.N. requests and organizations so a true count is difficult to ascertain. The number appears to be in the single digit billions.
I guess if we are not going to do it directly then someone must. And I’m not suggesting here that we should, but Russian President Putin needs to be reined in and the situation on the ground in Iraq – now off the media radar due to the downing of the Malaysian airline – is no doubt horrific if you are in the wrong group.
Where are we headed locally? Indicators are on the positive side of the ledger – with unemployment down, jobs are available, tourism is staying strong and our community continues to pull together to make things happen – and especially on the volunteer side. We are strong.
Category: Mark's Musings
