Warning: This post may offend people inclined toward feel-good social solutions. Seek a safe place.
It is a natural impulse in all of us to empathize with the blameless plight of others. Case in point, refugees fleeing the increasingly war torn Middle East – for Europe.
But this begs the question: Why are these people, who are predominately Muslim, migrating to Europe, particularly western Europe, instead of nearby countries?
One reason Read More »
In case you have not heard of this organization. Check this link: https://www.oneacrefund.org/our-approach/program-model/ and the website’s tabs.
In my opinion this is one of the most important programs for small farmers in remote areas. It is a way to achieve genuine, lasting good and does not push western politics, values, or religion.
Right now the One Acre fund is focused on Africa and their customer base is growing rapidly. The original Peace Corps did related work, but not using the One Acre Fund program model.
Props to the One Acre Fund.
Ever wonder what is going on when politicians say something completely over the top? Take for example what Hillary said on Friday, “On women’s health, Clinton compares Republicans to terrorist groups.” (CNN)
Increasingly, journalists who cover the White House are concluding that the smears are part of a conscious strategy to distract voters from Obamacare, the sluggish economy, and foreign-policy reverses; the attacks are intended, the thinking goes, to drive up resentment and hence turnout among the Democratic base.
Major Garrett, the CBS White House correspondent, has talked with White House aides who confirm that the administration is working from the theory of “stray voltage,” as developed by former White House senior adviser David Plouffe.
“The theory goes like this,” Garrett wrote. “Controversy sparks attention, attention provokes conversation, and conversation embeds previously unknown or marginalized ideas in the public consciousness,” Deliberately misstating information about key issues in order to keep certain issues before the public is often a premeditated strategy.
“The tactic represents one more step in the embrace of cynicism that has characterized President Obama’s journey in office,” John Dickerson wrote at Slate. “Facts, schmacts. As long as people are talking about an issue where my party has an advantage with voters, it’s good.” Frank James of NPR is another mainstream journalist who has concluded that the use of incendiary rhetoric is part of an electoral strategy.
Sourced from, “Stray Voltage Theory,” by John Fund April 20, 2014 7:00 PM @JohnFund
Indiana Oracle 