OT: Kony 2012
I know politics is a NO-NO but I dont consider this to be and more of an event
KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.
Pledge your support at http://bit.ly/konydonate and continue to share this story.
Watch the video down below, its half an hour but well worth it.
Since we can't stop them all, why bother trying to stop one? Sounds like a sad way to live life.
We do what we can: in this situation, that's increasing awareness that things like these are going on. A lot of Americans are blind to these things, and like to think the world is just fine. The first step of action is knowledge, and that's what it's trying to spread. While not all may agree on the tactics, the thought behind it is sound. Strength is found in numbers.
Now tell us how you really feel.
Seriously, I agree completely. People feel like this taking out one guy will solve everything over there, when in fact it will really solve nothing.
I find this video to be in extremely poor taste. However, it's going to take me some time to articulate why.
I'm glad you brought it up. The LRA is the group that kidnaps kids in Uganda (and elsewhere in the region) to make them child soldiers
I have already ordered the kit and everyone I talked to is doing the same. Me and bnch of other people here in London are going to the cover the night on 4/20
and ordered two kits. Great cause, great cause. And OP, this isn't politics, its life and death. Spread the word.
Thats great to here! Watching it with your daughter and teaching her to help do good, along with buying the 2 kits is an amazing lesson, +1
My high school is actively involved in Invisible Children, so I can attest to how good of a cause this is. Thanks for posting to share with others who didnt know about it.
For any college students on the board, I encourage you to get involved with an Invisible Children chapter at your school. If they don't have one, you can start one or get involved with a similar organization such as International Justice Mission. Human trafficking is still one of the biggest plagues in the world. I encourage you all to read "Not For Sale" by David Batstone. Informative read on the issue both domestic and international.
Anybody know anything going on in AA for Cover the Night? I'd really like to become more involved.
I actually just got invited to the cover the night event at umich on facebook tonight, I believe it is April 20th on the diag starting at 10 pm. In terms of chapters I have no idea but I can ask my friend and see if she knows.
Just watched the video, powerful stuff. I will most definitely do what I can to help.
Had not heard about this at all. Thank you so much. Right now Im stationed North of San Diego so Ill be making a trip to the HQ this weekend. Thanks again.
I've definitely heard of Joseph Kony. I did not know anything of this nature happening to cease his destruction. Good stuff. I hope this evil is caught.
Sorry to rain on the parade, but it is tough for me to support this cause. it seems like a lot of propoganda on the part of the directors. I realized personally that getting the word out is important to the cause, but come on. This fund barely uses any of its money to actually support the cause while it is also being heavily backed by a corrupt ugandan government. There are a lot of problems in Africa, and this is one. But my money could be better spent on actual help than a "kit" with some rope and posters. Get the word out, fine. But how about these guys do themselves a favor - sign up for the army and go kill the children guarding Kony.
We have kids starving and abandoned here in the US too. And you know what? A little piece of rope and a poster ain't gonna do anything except make our cities hire people to clean our mess up once the trendiness of this cause wears off and people finally move on.
Jeremy Who?
For more info - visit http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/
Sounds about right. If this is trolling, then everyone here is a part of keeping everyone else quiet.
nvrmnd
So because there are problems in the U.S. we should just ignore the rest of the world? That's some pretty sound logic right there. I don't know enough about IC to donate money and would certainly advocate doing research on how funds are spent before donating to any cause and there are actually websites that show which groups do a good job. However you also are saying they should do themselves a favor and kill the kids guarding Kony? Are you stupid or just willfully ignorant on the issue because that is one of the dumbest sentences I have ever read.
When you fight, they will die. When they die, the media will splash pictures across every monitor in the world. War is ugly, the pictures will be ugly. Kony is a vicious warlord who follows no rules. At some point, some 18 year old will make an error in judgement and all the people who want us to "oh, pleasssssssssse go do something" will be up in arms. My god, we poured water in a few noses and look at the backlash.
We will not go and prosecute a war. We will go and fight yet another political action. Young Americans will die - nothing will change. Leave them here, let them play football. Oh wait, they might get concussions. Send them off to war instead.
Now, shall we touch on Hollywood celebrities who want to do this? Which one of them will take responsibility for the first child killed by an American troop?
I know, just advisors. See my other post.
I never advocated for U.S. military intervention and while yes war is ugly these kids are also kidnapped from their homes drugged out of their minds and know if they ever go against orders they will be killed. Many have been forced to kill their own families. This isn't a normal war against a normal army which is what makes Kony so terrible. He has been doing this for 15 years and entire villages have been destroyed, to just ignore these issues is akin to ignoring the holocause in world war 2. Its not our people dying so who gives a fuck am i right?
I don't want to start an argument, but IC has scholarship funds directed toward former child soldiers, they sent up early alarm systems for towns in Uganda, etc. The idea behind 'Kony 2012' is to make Joseph Kony a well known name because this has been going on for yeeears over there and still no one knows who the guy is
And I don't believe this is just another issue in africa, this is probably the worst thing in africa going on right now, possibly even the world
IC has a lot of issues, and that's the problem. If you didn't read the link provided, here it is again: http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/
IC may have good intentions but they seem to be a film production company that gets the money to produce its films through charitable donations. Raising awareness is not going to achieve anything. In fact, even without the awareness, the US is already involved in trying to take down LRA.
Okay well this IS politics even though I agree it is a good cause. (even though I have some doubts about the Invisible Children promoting Kony 2012) If you haven't yet, watch the half hour film very interesting.
To me though and I don't want to be a downer, this still isn't the place to be posting this. I come here to get away from this kind of stuff. There are a lot of great causes out there and although this is one of them I'm here on mgoblog to talk and hear about sports, not politics.
Just because someone is trying to make this a bigger event doesn't mean it should get a free pass on here.
ascherman's post counters what the Invisible Children are doing with their money and who they support. Sounds like a political debate stirring up. Oh joy.
so is the documentation of how IC uses it's funds. I had heard about them before- they have very passionate advocates. But I worry about supporting hte cause. Just my 2 cents.
Go to YouTube - find the clips of LBJ "sending advisors".
Stop declaring war by iPhone for a bit, visit DC, look at the 58,000 names on that black monstrosity and consider what you are doing.
On top of everything else, the ICC is supported by Amnesty International, who continues to rail against an American President. Let someone else play policeman with their own 18 year olds.
Just so you know in 2010 the US sent 100 armed special forces units to to Uganda to help find Kony, none of them died. The US has declared him a terrorist and has attempted to help catch him before. Efforts to stop Kony have reduced child recruitment by 80% since 2003. There are plenty of reasons to critique Kony 2012 and not support military intervention but you are doing it because you are misinformed. The kids in Kony's army can be as young as 8 or 9, not 18 and you are mad at IC because they align with a group willing to criticize the US? are we the only ones allowed to look at ourselves critically or can the US just do no wrong.
These countries need to smarten up and acquire some extractable, profitable natural resources. Seriously Syria, no one cares about you because cashews (or whatever your top export is...) are only mildly tasty and roasted peanuts are far superior. Libyan oil however, whoa buddy! Release the war aero-planes Mr. President, that S**T IS GOOD! Uganda, can't you at least find some bauxite or something?
/s
But only a little.
Google Uganda Oil Lake Albert
Good God no. Leave this crap on Facebook
If anyone knows the facebook page for any ann arbor postings of cover the night, please please post it.
Seriously, there's so much more you can do with your time and money than buy kits from some campaign that's mostly just going to waste it. http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_complicated_things
Without googling, would venture to guess it's in the middle.
In middle school we used to have to identify every one of those countries.
sadly a lot of the people I've seen post that video have no idea where Uganda is.
Im not necessarily for or against this video...obviously i am disgusted by the actions of Kony, but I really don't understand why it took the invisible children group so long to make an awareness video of this caliber. I've known about invisible children since I was in High School back in the earlier 2000's, but literally didn't really know anyting of Kony until just a couple years ago. Something makes me think they were more concerend about selling shirts and getting a bunch of college and high school kids hyped up for their cause and their name more than they were actually concerned about stopping Kony outright.
I'm glad they finally are getting his name out, but who am I to talk considering I'm probably going to go on living my life either way. It's a sad truth that their is horrible injustice like this going on in Africa, but it's not the only injustice in the world of its caliber. There are also child slaves for sex all over the world, just ask those who have gone to the last couple of World Cup Soccer events. And probably the worst of all is mass genocide happening in the Democratic Republic Of The Congo in which neighboring countries (Including the gov't these people are supporting) have horribly exploited the poorest nation in the world for its vast array of natural resources and brutally murdered about 6,000,000 citizens that have gotten in the way. Yeah, that's the same amount as the Holocaust. To say stopping the LRA will bring any kind of real peace to Africa is ludacris, but nonetheless, it would be a great thing.
I am a firm Christian beliver in the country where it is easiest to call yourself a Christian and go off and do whatever you want, and I think it will be a great, but small victory for the people of Africa. It may bring an end to one of its many hundreds and maybe thousands of problems that cause African people so much suffering. I think it is in a bit of poor taste to make money off of this issue, which the invisible children people are in order to make more bracelets, posters, T-Shirts, etc., but who am I to judge anyone.
I just think it is kind of sad that the facebook heroes of the world are just now realizing who Kony is and avidly posting about him like they are part of some solution, while they are simultaneously untagging themselves in photos of biligerent drunkeness, commenting on photos of their most recent trip to Cozumel and how much they miss it, and posting statuses complaining about their broken iphone screens.
I post this because I am exactly the same way at times about worldly things, and have the same faults as any other spoiled American, which is why I choose not to have an outspoken political voice, because I know regardless, I will go on living my life with the same faults I do everyday, and I have to worry about fighting those. I am totally against the injustice that is happening, but it is only one of many that have happened in our world's history. God always has a way out of these things eventually, and it can't always be the American military, and most certainly isn't a facebook group. So I am simply going to go on worrying about those around and those I have come in contact with and care about on a personal level first. I will pray that this finds a way to stop, and at this point I really think that is all us normal Americans can really expect to do realistically. I hope this plan works.
I am not so sensitive to politics, nor to OT threads. To be sure, this is both; it is vaguely political and it is unabashedly Off Topic.
What I am exquisitely sensitive to, is social media manipulation.
I laughed, and finally decided to post on this, when I saw a nearly identical thread at ElevenWarriors.com. I presume that 20-somethings have linked the story on websites related to golf equipment, high performance cars, knitting, fly fishing, the Grateful Dead and fans of the 1960's tv show "Gilligan's Island." Always with, "I know this is off topic, but this is really important..."
Folks, this thing is a social media phenomenon. Like Justin Bieber. I got the distinct feeling that somebody has a marketing class assignment on how widespread they could get this cause to go. I also had the feeling that Invisible Children (which spends 2/3 of its budget on marketing) exists as a kind of advanced film studies and marketing class in the social media age.
Now if the mods don't want to take this down, I'm okay with it. If this is going to stay up on this board -- a board concerned with Michigan athletics -- I'm okay and as my contribution, I'd like to post this link to a recent Wired magazine article about the social media manipulation involved with this cause:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/kony-2012/
I actually find it quite fascinating. Somewhwere on Madison Avenue, there must be some young marketing pros -- hopefully a few with Michigan diplomas -- who are tracking this phenomenon and figuring out how to make it work for Whirlpool, or Chrysler, or Dow Chemical or Amway.