Mark’s Musings – Nov. 5, 2014

Mark Fortune

Here’s hoping you took the time to vote on Tuesday – or any of the other days you were allowed to vote using an absentee ballot. Opinions vary on this of course, should we be able to vote a month prior to the election? Many would say that this allows more people to vote on their own time and at their own leisure. Voting in the comfort of your own home is certainly nice, and does have an advantage not seen at the polls – and that is the ability to do some research on the various issues, levies and candidates that you might not otherwise take the time to do. This will be an interesting election numbers wise – with many pundits exclaiming that the voter turnout will be the lowest in several years. That’s too bad because in some states, a record amount of money has been spent on the Senate races. One (at least I do) must wonder – what makes that Senate seat worth several million dollars of advertising?

Now, to be forthright and transparent (one of those is a somewhat new buzzword so I wanted to use it in a column and just did), The Beacon relies on advertising dollars to keep publishing each week. Last time I looked we did not get any of those Senate race millions. But someone is. Television, radio and print in the larger cities are the gainers here. But as I have written before and will do so again on occasion, those millions would sure help feed lots of folks.

There’s a new trend among political spending that’s called “Dark Money.” This column is too short to really drill down (that’s another one of the buzzword phrases that I’ve been wanting to use!) into what, exactly, dark money is. In simple and basic terms, it’s money that is “hidden” from being disclosed. One such example is money being used to fund Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s race in Kentucky. Both sides of the aisle are represented to be fair. You may want to delve into this just for curiosity sake.

The Browns are certainly turning in some thrilling wins! The question is, should these games be that close? Of course not, depending on which side you’re on. Something has happened in Steeler land, with their former Miami of Ohio star QB tossing six touchdowns on Sunday night. And unless I heard wrong, that’s two weeks in a row? Yep, just confirmed it. He did. And they beat the Colts. I’m sure glad the Browns played them when they did.

By the time you read the next issue (Nov. 12, 2014) of The Coshocton County Beacon, Veteran’s Day will be over. According to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, there are still over 1 million World War II veterans still alive. Sixteen million men and women were in uniform during World War II. These numbers are as of September 2014 and inevitably shrinking daily. Regardless of the time of their service, please remember to thank a veteran for their sacrifice on this 2014 Veteran’s Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Category: Mark's Musings