Kony 2012

[BipolarMike]

So far I fully back this campaign, but this is a very good point. Someone who knows more about this, please explain:

"Obviously Joseph Kony must be stopped, but what do Invisible Children do besides make bracelets & posters & send rich white kids to Uganda?"
-Random person on Twitter


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

[scorpiusdiamond]

It's not so straightforward... (http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble)

[M1ke]

It's not so straightforward... (http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble)

I see what you're saying, but history is won by small steps.

Helping an army of bad guys remove a really bad guy still seems like a small step towards a better world to me.

[october_midnight]

It's not so straightforward... (http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble)

This. So fucking much this. Kony is not the only person doing this, many have before and many will after. Yes, it's awful...but it just shows the power of social media and the herdlke mentality it can cause. In a month this will be quickly forgotten. Just like how people on Facebook were changing their profile picture to a cartoon to 'raise awareness of child abuse' or their bra color to 'raise awareness of breast cancer'. Is there any fully grown adult who isn't aware of these things?

Spamming your Facebook or Twitter feeds won't do jack shit towards 'helping' anything. How about attend some rallies or even better, go over there and do something. Most of the people blindly posting this fucking video wouldn't hand a dollar to a homeless person on the street. Philanthropy isn't a hobby, it's a lifestyle.

[mfte]

Another infamous comic-esque bin laden like villain presented to the public. Everyone is outraged and applauds when the US sets up a permanent military presence in the heart of Africa. Control is taken and the American/Euro globalists and transactional corporations bust at nut at hundreds of no bid contracts and monopolies in the most resource rich continent in the world... but hey the video was nice... and this guy is 3x as evil as Bin Laden and Hussein combined right?

[october_midnight]

A good article on Invisible Children's horseshit. (http://wilwheaton.tumblr.com/post/18920717928/thedailywhat-on-kony-2012-i-honestly-wanted-to)

And another. (http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_ complicated_things)

[orestes]

I see what you're saying, but history is won by small steps.

Helping an army of bad guys remove a really bad guy still seems like a small step towards a better world to me.

Except this army is equally as culpable (http://tumblr.thedailywh.at/post/18909727859/on-kony-2012-i-honestly-wanted-to-stay-as-far) as Kony in acts of child soldiers, rape and much more.

[miss k bee]

A good article on Invisible Children's horseshit. (http://wilwheaton.tumblr.com/post/18920717928/thedailywhat-on-kony-2012-i-honestly-wanted-to)

And another. (http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_ complicated_things)

Just read that. Fight corruption with more corruption .... oh dear

[orestes]

Heh.

http://i.imgur.com/khtOV.jpg

[Conan The Barbarian]

i got attacked on my facebook for my opinion on this and how people who dont give a shit about issues unless its bombed on their social site are sheep. and I tried to tell them how shady IC is and now I am suddenly a terrorist.

I cannot begin to describe how much I hate humanity.

[Leviathant]

This Kony thing sure went super-viral huh. It literally reminds me of witnessing a computer virus outbreak. I noticed someone mentioning it in the morning, and by the evening, it's fucking everywhere. And I really appreciate the information presented in this thread straight away. ETSers still deliver.

[burn.]

Invisible Children responds to the critiques (http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html)

This is nice.

[M1ke]

Invisible Children responds to the critiques (http://www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html)

This is nice.

The page could not be found.

[jessamineny]

The page could not be found.

Try this
http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

[M1ke]

Try this
http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

Thanks. That seems pretty reasonable to me.

[october_midnight]

Some interesting info at http://stopthescam.tumblr.com/ too.

[Harry Seaward]

It's cool that the Kony debacle is getting more attention, but it won't be solved by donating to some terrible "charity."

[sweeterthan]

I'm just a naive american with a fb account. This is my response to the skeptics:


if you watch the entire video, they clearly state the point is to use facebook and social media to get global awareness. Any charity where main goal of awareness is going to have high operating costs. PR isn't cheap and neither is going to Africa with expensive film equipment. The cynicism of the article posted is misleading. If you click thru to Charity navigator they give the organization an overall rating of 3/4 but the writer only points out the 2/4 for accountability. Which, if you do your own research, you'll find an article where they address the accountability rating saying its based on their board having 4 members instead of the 5 needed for a better rating with CN. The video also clearly states that Kony is no longer in uganda and that the LRA isn't nearly as powerful as it once was.

The US military has been accused of atrocities all over the world including rape and murder but does that negate the good they've done? Egypt's revolution has shown both the good and bad in their culture. Does the bad mean a revolution is pointless?

[miss k bee]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/9131469/Joseph-Kony-2012-growing-outrage-in-Uganda-over-film.html

[orestes]

I'm just a naive american with a fb account. This is my response to the skeptics:



The US military has been accused of atrocities all over the world including rape and murder but does that negate the good they've done? Egypt's revolution has shown both the good and bad in their culture. Does the bad mean a revolution is pointless?

But we're not talking about a revolution here. We're talking about a political coup, point and simple.

[Leviathant]

To be honest, I haven't even watched the video. I clicked through a few times, and each time it stopped, there was a scene with a little white boy or some hipsters, or shepard fucking fairey . (seriously fuck that guy (http://andrenaphoto.com/blog/index.php/2012/02/shepard-fairey-dina-douglass/)). If I were actually allergic to marketing bullshit, I'd have hives and a swollen esophagus right now. There are a lot of really fucking terrible people out there, and raising awareness is great, but donating to this charity is not going to change things. Sending military forces into Uganda isn't going to make things better. The phrase "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" is quite applicable here.

[PooPooMeowChow]

Heh.

http://i.imgur.com/khtOV.jpg

I saw Kony on 4chan 4 days ago, facebook 2 days ago, woke up to it on the radio this morning, rage.

[Sallos]

have Obama drone Kony.

[aggroculture]

I find the film very creepy. The excessive presence of the kid is annoying and manipulative: I guess an effective way of getting privileged white people to imagine themselves in Ugandan shoes. Also the solutions offered are objectionable: send in US soldiers! Yeah, the world doesn't know what it's doing, we need America to put things right. Kony is the tip of an iceberg: slicing off that tip, focusing only on that tip, is a good way of looking away from what's actually happening while telling yourself you're being "involved." ("fauxtivism" I've seen used) On the plus side, at least this project is bringing to light a world many have no clue about. But the gimmicky graphic design wannabe Occupy social networking cultspeak bugs me on some deep level.

[sentient02970]

http://i.imgur.com/K3mgn.jpg

[Conan The Barbarian]

Thar pic is full of lulz.

I hate that posing pic. Just looks like a couple of pricks.

[october_midnight]

Agreed on both counts, they look like the biggest turds on the planet....and that picture chain is glorious.

[DF118]

What a bunch of total douchebags.

[miss k bee]

http://i.imgur.com/K3mgn.jpg
Ha tbh I haven't even looked at the video, but read around it.

[october_midnight]

As is often the case, Matthew Good (Canadian musician, blogger, and activist) chimes in with a terrific write up.

Good stuff. (https://www.facebook.com/matthewgoodmusic/posts/10150569284877554)

[jhulud]

I got sucked into the whole viral spread of this...and then I did some research and additional reading...I'm completely skeptical about Invisible Children and what they're all about. Do some research if you need more info...BUT..

So here's a bit of interesting info...I went to see Henry Rollins do his spoken words thing tonight...and he mentioned the Kony2012 video and the campaign...he didn't have a solid opinion of it as he's not well-read into the Invisible Children organization.

BUT...Rollins did say this much...the bit on the video with Shepard Fairey was lifted from an episode of Rollins' show he had on IFC...without anyone's permission! It seems that the Invisible Children dude did not get the OK from anyone...Fairey's people nor Henry's nor IFC...to use the footage.

May be not a huge deal...but kinda adds to the somewhat shadiness of it all.

And I tweeted this earlier...but I wonder it Trent Reznor knows and even gave any type of OK for the use of the Ghosts I-IV track that is used in the opening and closing of the Kony video.

[aggroculture]

http://boingboing.net/2012/03/08/african-voices-respond-to-hype.html

[botley]

I wonder if Trent Reznor knows and even gave any type of OK for the use of the Ghosts I-IV track that is used in the opening and closing of the Kony video.

He doesn't have to, that whole album has an Creative Commons Attribution license attached so you just need to credit the band (which they did) in order to use it.

[Wretchedest]

So now, for who know what reasons, suddenly everybody cares about the numerous terrible crimes against humanity in africa, in the same way that suddenly everyone cared about SOPA for a minute.

What's disburbing is that the rhetoric, due to the cynicism of most internet folk, is basically, "Don't support the cause, because the people behind the cause are disagreeable" it's like we're waiting around for spiderman to swoop in and save the day, because god forbid some christian fundamentalists are ALSO against child slavery.

What I'm hearing is broadly " I support genocide and rape on a broad scale because X Group is against it, and I don't like how they do things. We should not spread awareness of this because facebook sucks and is ineffective."

It's fucking stupid.

[orestes]

Painting broad strokes, are we?

[Magtig]

After reading way too many articles on this group, I've come to the conclusion that they're ok. Yes, you could probably find a charity that will give more of the money straight to the cause, IC definitely spends a lot on media and content creation. However, unless you were already aware of Kony, and had planned to do something about it, you'd still owe your awareness to IC. Their mission is to make Kony famous in order to raise awareness, which in turn will lead to his arrest. It seems to me as if they're doing the awareness bit rather handily at the moment. Now, I have no idea if this will work or not, but it's pretty hard to say that they haven't made tens of millions more aware, and that they aren't going towards their own mission statement.

What really bothers me about the naysayer crowd is this whole, "clicking like does nothing!" Yes, but it might lead to something (see: arab spring). History has proven facebook to act as a catalyst, has it not? It's also depressing that people shit on this simply because they're annoyed at seeing it everywhere. It seems like anytime a group tries to do something good, they just get torn apart by the apathetic. I'd speculate that the vast majority of people posting that bastardized Game of Thrones picture are definitely not doing a damn thing.

The best criticism of the Kony 2012 group was posted on Lifehacker, but it basically says to support an entirely different cause (which is a problematic suggestion):
"GiveWell's critique, like other Kony 2012 criticism (http://jezebel.com/5891605/kony-2012-group-responds-to-increasing-criticism), mostly rests on the oversimplification of the problem as presented by Invisible Children, questioning whether money donated to "intervene in a complex, disputed situation that you don't have the context to fully understand" would be better spent on "a simple situation where all humanitarians really do agree"—namely malaria, which last year " caused an estimated 655,000 deaths, mostly among African children (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs094/en/index.html)."

A couple article references if you're interested:
Invisible Children's response to the criticism (http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html)
Gawker (http://gawker.com/5891610/how-you-should-feel-about-kony-2012-the-campaign-thats-taking-over-the-internet-a-guide) (the content of which is almost the same as sister sites, Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/5891726/how-to-determine-if-a-charity-like-kony-2012-is-worth-your-money?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews), and io9)
Visible Children's very critical take as posted on Sabatoge Times (http://www.sabotagetimes.com/life/kony-2012-why-im-opposed-to-the-campaign/)

[Deus Ex Machina]

Yeah, I don't really understand all the hate for these guys. Well, actually, I do, which is sad.

It's not their fault that people need things to be a big deal before they'll do anything about them; or that people need to be spoon fed information. It's also not their fault that people aren't prepared to fork over large amounts of money and time, or any money and time, towards any given cause. People are prepared to click like, and buy a bracelet, and share a video and that's exactly what they are offering. Upon identifying this thing as 'slacktivism' how many people ran out and volunteered or gave a bunch of money towards whatever cause they deemed worthier? I bet not that many.

Ugh. If 'just clicking like' embarrasses you; that's your responsibility. Not theirs.

[orestes]

Invisible Children funded by anti-gay, Creationist Christian Right. (http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2012/03/11/invisible-children-funded-by-antigay-creationist-christian-right/)

[PooPooMeowChow]

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s320x320/420164_10150605901304822_556039821_9232429_1608863 655_n.jpg
What now?

[botley]

Why ignorance is dangerous (http://t.co/pD0WLlYO). "Doing something beats doing nothing" is a fallacy.

[miss k bee]

Is the Joseph Kony campaign some "slick, kind of fly-by-night, slacktivist thing"? http://huff.to/zKGZXS (http://t.co/XJuoCBIO)

[theimage13]

Just like how people on Facebook were changing their profile picture to a cartoon to 'raise awareness of child abuse' or their bra color to 'raise awareness of breast cancer'. Is there any fully grown adult who isn't aware of these things?

Is there any fully grown adult who's never heard of Pepsi or Coke? Of course there isn't. So clearly, they're wasting billions of dollars on advertising.

Except wait...we have tiny attention spans. And the power of suggestion is powerful indeed. Of course you know what breast cancer is. But are you more likely to donate to a charity because you simply woke up one day and went "oh, I'll give a few bucks to this cause"? No. Most people are more likely to financially support a cause when someone ASKS them to, or at the very least, shoves a notice about it right under their noses and puts in the front of their mind.

[sweeterthan]

They only valid criticism I've seen about this campaign is that the issue was over-simplified in the video. The other stuff - shady donors, how the money is spent, rumored intentions, "slacktivism" - is subjective in my opinion.

[botley]

They only valid criticism I've seen about this campaign is that the issue was over-simplified in the video. The other stuff - shady donors, how the money is spent, rumored intentions, "slacktivism" - is subjective in my opinion.
So there's no objective problem whatsoever with using public outcry to justify increased American military presence in Central Africa? Great! I guess I shouldn't have worried myself about it after all.

Would your alarm bells be ringing if the video labeled Kony a "terrorist and declared enemy of America" instead of an "indicted war criminal"?

[allegro]

From USA Today yesterday:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/story/2012-03-13/Kony-2012-video-YouTube/53518600/1

[isak]

From USA Today yesterday:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/story/2012-03-13/Kony-2012-video-YouTube/53518600/1
That's because people need a narrative. No one would support this if it wasn't simple and accessible and had a big archvillian and a simple story to back, and some pretty bracelets to buy to help the cause. I'm pretty sure Kony hasn't been a threat for a while anyway, he's not even in Uganda according to some articles I've read. It's still obviously a good cause, and even if the reasons for people backing it may be a little silly (I know a lot of people let themselves get persuaded by that painfully sensationalised video and backed it without even checking anything) they're still doing something good. It just got me thinking why no one gives a shit about all the horrible things going on in Syria or Iraq, and I guessed it must be because things aren't so easy and black and white as buying a bracelet to stop the big bad man to help the cute little African children.

[danebraddy]

The biggest problem I have with this thing is the 'reputation' the youth/internet movement will get from this. Iran was a bust, Syria was a bust, SOPA was a small victory (supreme court probably would have had issues with the bill in that form), OWS died and now KONY2012 - a problem that doesn't exist in the way it was presented, is incredibly complex and most probably cannot be solved.

I like it as an awareness raising campaign, for the few who didn't know Africa is fucked up and child armies exist - but what is the end goal here? what needs to happen that would not cause people in a years time to say "Yeah, well done on that Kony thing :rolleyes:"

Killing/Arresting him won't stop another like him popping up in another form and 'fixing' corrupt governments and the general instability that allows these things to happen simply can't be stopped by awareness - if by us at all...

This will blow over in a month or two and then we'll be onto the next thing - mad as hell and swearing that we can fix <insert cause here>.

I understand that as 'superpowers' we have the means to help all other humans in need and right wrongs etc., but are there still millions of people on foodstamps without adequate housing and health care? Is there still a child sex slave industry working within the united states?

I don't want to dismiss everything and say 'charity starts at home' but how can we in good conscience go fix the world when our own homes are still broken?

**
I noticed I used very US centric examples and I'm Australian - by 'we' I mean the 'western world' and I used US examples because while global Kony2012 started in the US...

**

I'm going to get flamed and I get it, but I think we all need a little perspective - NO amount of awareness or money to charity will fix this problem.

[Space Suicide]

Killing/Arresting him won't stop another like him popping up in another form and 'fixing' corrupt governments and the general instability that allows these things to happen simply can't be stopped by awareness - if by us at all...

Like I say all the time: You can kill people. You can't kill ideas.

If he is taken down (highly doubtful) it wouldn't mean much as his memory lives on in his supporters and in this case, the LRA.

As for this Kony revelation, I am not particularly much concerned about things that won't change. And is it sad that I got dislike at the fact in the feeling of the US interfering in things that aren't our business once again. It's like we are the world police and no one wants to follow the law anyways.

[isak]

This video sums everything up perfectly, and is hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpuB11d0Gog

[danebraddy]

This video sums everything up perfectly, and is hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpuB11d0Gog

Oh man that was funny, and spot on too!

[botley]

Surprise, surprise. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/worldview/stop-kony-screening-tour-cancelled-after-ugandans-react-with-outrage/article2370125/ 'Stop Kony' screening tour cancelled after Ugandans react with outrage.

[sweeterthan]

So there's no objective problem whatsoever with using public outcry to justify increased American military presence in Central Africa? Great! I guess I shouldn't have worried myself about it after all.

i definitely think any military action anywhere is worrisome but there are already 100 military advisors from the US in Uganda, as stated in the video. Part of the video's mission was to promote keeping them there.


Would your alarm bells be ringing if the video labeled Kony a "terrorist and declared enemy of America" instead of an "indicted war criminal"?
As far as I know, no one hasn't said that about Kony so what's your point?

[botley]

My point is this: Americans tend to support military aggression justified on the basis of stopping a widely-vilified public figure who's considered abhorrent enough to warrant violent intervention. We've seen it again and again: send American boys in to take out the Boogeyman (Saddam, Kony, whomever) — oh, and "stabilize the region" so we can maintain steady access to the oil-rich land they happen to be in (Iraq, Uganda, wherever). It's clever as fuck and works every time.

I saw no indication that the status quo of 100 American non-combat troops in an advisory role to the Ugandan army was going to change — until IC decided to make this video. If they succeed in their stated goal of making Kony a figurehead on par with Bin Laden & Hitler, and it looks like they might, America will happily go to war to take him out (and, of course, keep Uganda on side for tappin' dat oil).

Whether they intended that or not is a different matter. But the message of the video is that the ICC and Ugandan army on their own won't do the job, only America sticking its nose into things will. No wonder Ugandans living in the area of conflict are outraged by that.

[Aaron]

This Ugandan journalist says it best:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KLVY5jBnD-E#!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=KLVY5jBnD-E#!

But I will say this: I'm not foreclosing the possibility of help, but that's exactly what you do when you decide on your own that "getting the bad guy" is the Most Important Thing (tm) in Uganda and for Ugandans (and lots of other people too, like the people in the countries where the LRA actually is). If you think that a "global force" to get Kony is the way to help, you're already too far from the reality of the situation. He's already been indicted by the ICC. Polls I saw two years ago showed that northern Ugandans were overwhelmingly more interested in living peacefully than they were in the capture of Joseph Kony. In fact, many people supported eventually trying Kony in Uganda, instead of the Hague. Now, I don't mean "under any circumstances" should everybody else refrain from getting involved, but to paraphrase Kagumire above, if you don't tell (or hear) the story correctly, or at the very very least in a way that doesn't reproduce structures of White supremacy/colonialism, you can't help. It's just impossible. As long as you understand something from that lens, from the perspective in the video, and all over Invisible Children's work, nothing you do even has the possibility of help, unless it's by accident or coincidence. Everybody has been in a situation where they tried to help someone, but only ended up making things worse, because they really didn't understand what they were doing. Yeah, that's this.

[DVYDRNS]

This just about nails everything I've been saying about this.

http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/kony-2012-state-propaganda-for-a-new-generation/

[mfte]

sorta related... but George Clooney was arrested at a protest against the attrocities done in the Sudan. Apparently he has his own slick video about it. So this week... he goes to hang out with Obama then days later he is publicly arrested at a protest thus brining more attention to what's happening in Africa.... like the Kony video did.

Am I being paranoid or does this seem like a plan?

[DVYDRNS]

The government has figured out that MSM isn't working anymore. They have resorted to these tactics... and its obviously working because I can't avoid this. its everywhere.

[october_midnight]

Well for all the fools who donated money to these hacks, here's where your hard earned money went to!

Helping Invisible Children's founder party like an idiot and jerk off in public! (http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/16/kony-honcho-arrested-for-allegedly-masturbating-in-public/#.T2OlI2Hps0k)

[sweeterthan]

Thanks for your response Botley. I understand your point and I can't disagree that the message is America is the world police here to fight any battle in the name of justice or freedom. My alarm bells did go off during operation Iraqi freedom, a mission I couldn't support, only to find out that we were all lied to.


Well for all the fools who donated money to these hacks, here's where your hard earned money went to!

Helping Invisible Children's founder party like an idiot and jerk off in public! (http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/16/kony-honcho-arrested-for-allegedly-masturbating-in-public/#.T2OlI2Hps0k)

This is just so weird, I don't even know what to say.

Its been a fun two weeks learning about Uganda. I'm going with that.

[DF118]

Well for all the fools who donated money to these hacks, here's where your hard earned money went to!

Helping Invisible Children's founder party like an idiot and jerk off in public! (http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/16/kony-honcho-arrested-for-allegedly-masturbating-in-public/#.T2OlI2Hps0k)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

Oh God, I hope that's true.

[october_midnight]

Now with video! (http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/16/jason-russell-video-naked-meltdown-kony/#.T2POV2Hps0m)

[DF118]

Now with video! (http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/16/jason-russell-video-naked-meltdown-kony/#.T2POV2Hps0m)

I suppose it's better this has happened now, rather than a later after which time he might have been afforded some actual power.

[botley]

A distracting sideshow. Look over here at the mentally ill person acting funny! Doesn't it feel great to build people up, then tear them down with brutal swiftness? Let's all move on to the next TMZ casualty as soon as possible.

[DF118]

A distracting sideshow. Look over here at the mentally ill person acting funny! Doesn't it feel great to build people up, then tear them down with brutal swiftness? Let's all move on to the next TMZ casualty as soon as possible.

You'd know.

I have absolutely no problem at all laughing at this irresponsible fuckwit during his meltdown.

[botley]

Granted, he wanted the spotlight on himself to begin with... so, sure, let's keep the focus on the handsome white guy doing stuff instead of the problem; it's more satisfying to feed our cult of personality than talk about the issues anyhow.

[DVYDRNS]

This meltdown looks like what happens after reprogramming. Monarch program anybody?

[Leviathant]

Not long before the news of the meltdown hit, Boing Boing ran this bit: Revealed! Kony 2012's sinister Musical Comedy roots (http://boingboing.net/2012/03/15/revealed-kony-2012s-siniste.html). I couldn't even make it partway through the first video.

The ground-slapping of the meltdown video reminds me of videos I've seen on poetv.com of dudes on PCP. Naked and slapping the ground.

[DVYDRNS]

holy crap...

[Magtig]

Okay, well, after reading a bunch more articles posted here, and on Al Jazeera I think I've come over to the side of IC being well-intentioned idiots. Plus that dance video Levi posted was pretty horrific. However, I still have some empathy for the guy. As valid as the Kony 2012 criticism is, it can't be easy to have the entire world shitting on you (yes, yes, I get it, it's his own fault). Even if drug or drink were involved, the guy pretty clearly cracked.

[miss k bee]

Not long before the news of the meltdown hit, Boing Boing ran this bit: Revealed! Kony 2012's sinister Musical Comedy roots (http://boingboing.net/2012/03/15/revealed-kony-2012s-siniste.html). I couldn't even make it partway through the first video.

The ground-slapping of the meltdown video reminds me of videos I've seen on poetv.com of dudes on PCP. Naked and slapping the ground.

omg!! madness talk about devaluing the message! I thought the news about Russell going mad might have been a smear campaign, seems not. Idiot.

[burn.]

I must admit the first time I watched the KONY 2012 video they had me convinced.

Now I feel stupid.

[ImTheWiseJanitor]

E-mail I just got from the IC newsletter thing:


Dear IC Family,

As you may have heard, our co-founder, Jason Russell, was hospitalized Thursday, March 15th after an incident brought on by exhaustion, dehydration and two of the most intense weeks of his life. Along with the spotlight came senseless, personal attacks against him, his wife and his children. He's in good hands now, but please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he recovers.

Though this is a difficult time for us personally, it will not stop the Invisible Children team from pursuing our mission of stopping LRA violence in central Africa. We have made huge commitments and we are going to see them through.

Below is a video from our CEO, Ben Keesey, and a written message from Jason’s wife. Please take the time to watch the video and read the message.

Sincerely,
The Invisible Children Management Team

[Dra508]

Exhaustion and dehydration is THE euphemism for drugged out meltdown. Why can't people be honest? It's a perfectly acceptable reason for running around nekkid in broad day light. The alternative is a mental condition which even in this day and age is less socially acceptable.

I guess my ADD was good for me, cause I saw the Kony video was 30 minutes and decided, at the time, against given it my time. I guess I should be glad I did.

[DF118]

It could be a breakdown though. People who do that regress to a child-like state, which accounts for the stripping, vandalism and sexualised behavior. The Id takes over here, and when acting out the instincts of a baby his adult self control could have gone out of the window. This doesn't necessarily require an underlining mental health issue either.




Along with the spotlight came senseless, personal attacks against him, his wife and his children. Patronising fuckers.

[botley]

But laughing at him is okay? What bearing does any of this have on the discussion again?

[Frozen Beach]

Honestly, I don't think it's drugs. Same thing happened to my cousin when he had a mental breakdown. He went around town nude talking crazy, trying to start fights with people. His doctor had to rebalance his medication.

[Chris_CDN]

Not long before the news of the meltdown hit, Boing Boing ran this bit: Revealed! Kony 2012's sinister Musical Comedy roots (http://boingboing.net/2012/03/15/revealed-kony-2012s-siniste.html). I couldn't even make it partway through the first video.


I couldn't make it through the video either. That is some mind blowing stuff right there.

[botley]

It's okay to admit to being caught up in the fever (http://huff.to/GBbJgZ). I felt a swell of emotional empathy on first viewing, too. We just need to make sure rationality wins at the end of the day.

[aggroculture]

Botley, you keep at this with comments that are cryptic to me. Can you please clarify your position?

[Leviathant]

It's okay to admit to being caught up in the fever (http://huff.to/GBbJgZ). I felt a swell of emotional empathy on first viewing, too. We just need to make sure rationality wins at the end of the day.

From a journalistic standpoint, that is a giant fucking cop-out. The Daisey/Apple example is particularly infuriating. If you want to make a case about something terrible, you have to be absolutely spot-on. When going up against giants, your credibility will be assailed at every opportunity. Valid criticisms will probably get lost in the wash, and the last thing you want to do is provide ammunition against your own credibility. If you're willing to throw accuracy to the side in the interest of self-promotion, you should be well aware of what you're getting into. These aren't Star Wars Kids (http://bit.ly/GBR21V) or dudes with schizophrenia going to their town hall to complain about a rogue helicopter pilot (http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=3861). Mike Daisey and Invisible Children are Average Homeboys (http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=2338). They wanted to be famous, and didn't really care if they made themselves look stupid in the process.

[botley]

The situation is really complicated. The articles I've posted all make salient points. I don't like Invisible Children and the picture they are painting of the conflict, but people are reacting to them with unwarranted self-righteousness and personal ridicule. They do have charitable aims, from what I can tell. All this sudden attention they got was for spotlighting a monstrous person comparatively few people knew about, albeit in a misguided and dangerous campaign. They played with fire and are feeling the backlash, plainly. It sort of says more about America and where it's at culturally than it does about anything to do with Africa.

Is the conflict spreading through central Africa cause for concern? Absolutely. What should we collectively do about it, if anything? I don't pretend to know the answer, other than keep educating ourselves and talking/thinking about it.

[DF118]

It's not complicated at all, botley. These twats have been poking their noses in where they don't belong in a situation that was already under control, and abused the shit out of it for their own gain. Not to mention they've patronised the fuck out of Uganda either.

If they're not completely disingenuous (money, money money- fuck them if that's the case (hint- it probably is)), then they're imbeciles. Imbeciles with the audacity to believe, through whatever Devine providence they think they've inherited, that they should paint an erroneous opinion in mass consciousness of a situation that didn't need their help, that doesn't want it, and moreover, could have conceivably turned into a total clusterfuck (well done, now Africans are now desperately in need of western help) had Russel not had his little cry-baby "help me, I can't hide my closeted nature any longer" moment, scuppering that. Thank fuck.

Thank fuck he doesn't have the metal stamina or ability to follow through on his bullshit. I am delighted he has lost his mind.

They only thought the video would be viewed a couple of thousand times? Then why, in the name of all fuck, is it so obviously the propaganda piece that it is? You don't put something together like that by accident. You don't make something so seriously manipulative unless you want it to stuck. And these pricks arn't idiots- they're funded. There are photographs of them holding Rocket Launchers, standing in front of the Ugandan Army. What the fuck.

How fucking dare they. How dare they, knowing full well the dangers of media virility in the 21st century, and how this can influence popular opinion, especially that of your average fatass American moron youtube user. 1 out of 78 Million. I mean, christ, even the President of Uganda has felt obliged to make a damn video, telling them to fuck off.

I'm delighted Russel has discredited himself- it's integral to the current issue, which is the Invisible Children Kony2012 manipulation of Africa, rather than the "conflict spreading through central Africa".

[YKWYA]

You're right. We should all just forget about it.

[halloween]

LET THE FUN TIMES BEGIN!
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/24/world/africa/africa-union-kony/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[Frozen Beach]

http://jezebel.com/5896811/invisible-children-exec-makes-super-inappropriate-joke-about-keeping-charity-donations-for-himself?utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

[Space Suicide]

You're right. We should all just forget about it.

Agreed, I thought everyone finally forgot about this. After reviewing new links from posts in this thread..I guess not.

[mfte]

Goebbels would be proud.

[thelastdisciple]

http://youtu.be/c_Ue6REkeTA

If anyone cares lol i still watched it, couldn't help but be curious.

[DVYDRNS]

I'd be pissed if i were trent. I wouldn't want my art anywhere near this propaganda.

[owinn]

This video sums everything up perfectly, and is hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpuB11d0Gog

Charlie Brooker is my hero. Brilliantly summed up

[poinoup]

There's signs in one part of town here, and a few suit bags painted up with "KONY" on them. I actually tried to talk to one of them putting signs up and they could not fully tell me what they were doing outside of "We saw a video on the internet."

[orestes]

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m322vzH7bF1qiikd5o1_500.jpg

[DVYDRNS]

ballsy. totally ballsy.

[Necrodoommonkey]

Fucking hell this shit is getting old. Good intentions, horrible execution. Some fucker spray painted Kony 2012 on my car and a bunch of other cars in the neighborhood, street signs, houses, etc. Way to raise awareness, assholes.

[botley]

The Guardian interviews Jason Russell (http://gu.com/p/3e677/tw). Interesting reaction.

[SM Rollinger]

Oh wow, i compleatly forgot about this.

So, his explination for the meltdown was stress lead to him hearing voices in his head?

[DigitalChaos]

So, it's been a full year since the last time they tried attention. Guess they want to get into the spotlight again. Cause what we need is more people who think the US Military is their personal army. fuck you! Every person who ever thought this was a good idea should be given guns and shipped over to Africa to find Kony. dipshits...

[DVYDRNS]

I started another thread for this. But ya.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2341554/The-UN-prepares-to-war-time-3-000-strong-task-force-sent-fight-rebels-Congo.html