Want to Change the World? Vol. KONY 2012

[whyhellothere]

@ Kony being so calm & relaxed in that interview 

 

[iamdavidrice]

Uganda has oil so lets kill this guy and go get it

 

[fullmetal]

Why has this only been brought to light now?
Also, does donating to this foundation actually do anything to stop Kony? I feel like you are better off writing a letter to your local congressman. 

 

[terx]

goes to show how we have here in the US. Sometimes we don't how blessed we actually are

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Africa is a mess right now & has been for a long long time. There are so many war lords reeking havoc in their countries. Governments in place are either dictatorships or shaky at best. There isn't a lot of infrastructure in place. Whatever infrastructure that's in place is being provided by charitable orgs/NGOs. European/Asian countries/companies have free reign to do whatever they want as long as they grease the pockets of whatever officals.

Millions of people have either died from famine or genocide. People like Kony, Charles Taylor, Jose Santos, Robert Mugabe, Biya, Idriss Deby, Paul Kagame, & countless others continue to hold power because none of the countries care. With the world economy in crisis, it will even get worse because countries will be busy fixing their own %#*...

 

[rashi]

Hey, the U.S. has been utilizing Genocide of Muslims for the past 15+ years (if you count the sanctions that Clinton put on Iraq that killed/displaced more than a million Iraqis).


Where's the "aid" and "outcry" over this?

 

[ps2child]

Just got down watching this earlier this morning. Jump on MW3 and there was a clan called KONY in the first room I went to. Craxy! I will support the cause!

 

[ryda421]

 

[varisoxfan]

You guys do realize that Kony isn't in Uganda and is most likely hiding out somewhere in South Sudan, the Congo or possibly Somalia? The LRA has also been pushed out of Uganda and boasts a whopping 400-500 members these days, with most of them operating out of incredibly remote places in Africa. Not to sound like a condescending prick on foreign affairs, but if history is any testament to how absolutely asinine it is to go into Africa and extradite leaders of guerrilla movements, look up how successful the Clinton Administration was in removing Mohamed Farrah Aidid, the self appointed "President of Somalia." The United States has also deployed resources to that area to help the Ugandan "Army" track this guy down, so much is being done to help track down this guy and bring him to justice.

Giving money to a "advocacy group" that takes profit off a lot of these itemsor donations is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous are the people who claim to be some kind of experts on East African Politics, let alone people who think United States intervention in a place more unstable and tumultuous than the Middle East is the right answer to solve the worlds wrongs is the right answer. Throwing money at Africa has never been the answer and never will be the answer, thats one of the things the makes the general population of America so damned daft. Africa isnt some fundraiser where if a certain dollar amount is reached, things will turn around. The psychological things people in Africa have been through is what makes these issues prone to continue for generations, as sad as it is to say.

Here are some additional facts about "Invisible Children"

They received a very marginal review from Charity Navigator (the "guide" to intelligent giving)
http://www.charitynavigat....summary&orgid=12429

they also sent 31% of the millions they have raised to the actual children in Uganda.
http://c2052482.r82.cf0.r...tatements.pdf?1320205055

Life and the understanding of knowledge isnt something you just watch in a youtube video because P.Diddy posted it. There are people who draw attention to these kinds of things, its your own problem if you value Jay-Z's opinion on a matter he has no knowledge of over a PHD Candidate from Oxford who spent time reporting from Uganda. Its your duty to follow facts and do research.For those complaining about "not reading about it," change the things you read, challenge yourself, read foregin policy journals, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, read challenging articles, not things put out by agenda driven news agencies like FOX or MSNBC that cater to the lowest common denominator of the American Public.

 

[taymane23]

that is a pic of this kony dude? Bruh looks like one of tha old heads that I always see when I go fishin in arkansas.

 

[8h2i9frs]

Originally Posted by psk2310

Bought my wife & I some t-shirts, the bracelet, & donated some dough...We've donated to the Invisible Children's Fund a lot over the years. It's very close to our hearts being the parents of a beautiful 8 year old boy. It hurts my soul & heart knowing these children & those like them all around the world have to live like this...I hope they finally get Kony. It's sad that he's been in power for so god damn long. It sickens me...

you obviously havent read a single thing in all 15 pages.
the organization is close to your heart bc you have an 8 year old child?

WOW.

 

[rex ryan]

IamJeffMartinwrote:

---

Uganda has oil so lets kill this guy and go get it

 

[retro23j]

*fades Kony* Hey look he left some oil...yoink...

 

[spizike231]

You all really think that Invisible Children is out to scam everyone? This is Jolly Grace O. Andruvile, Invisible Children's Regional Ambassador.

Disapprove of all of this if you guys want to, but don't bash the people who actually believe in this. IC has a whole page dedicated to answering most of the questions in here. Go check it out if you're still skeptical.

 

[gry60]

Originally Posted by 8H2i9Frs

Originally Posted by psk2310

Bought my wife & I some t-shirts, the bracelet, & donated some dough...We've donated to the Invisible Children's Fund a lot over the years. It's very close to our hearts being the parents of a beautiful 8 year old boy. It hurts my soul & heart knowing these children & those like them all around the world have to live like this...I hope they finally get Kony. It's sad that he's been in power for so god damn long. It sickens me...

you obviously havent read a single thing in all 15 pages.
the organization is close to your heart bc you have an 8 year old child?

WOW.

It's that feel-good activism in full effect.

 

[whywesteppin]

Originally Posted by rashi

Hey, the U.S. has been utilizing Genocide of Muslims for the past 15+ years (if you count the sanctions that Clinton put on Iraq that killed/displaced more than a million Iraqis).


Where's the "aid" and "outcry" over this?

So Muslim and Iraq are interchangeable now?

 

[JCMojica24]

Originally Posted by WhatsLosinLike

Originally Posted by Gex The Damaja

Why the sudden interest in Joesph Kony? Kony has been running around for decades now, been on the most wanted list since 2005, nothing has changed. Where was all of this support when Darfur was going through one of the most violent civil war in history? If you didn't care then don't start caring now just because it's the cool thing to do now. Crazy support has to be won to help others instead of giving freely.

Exactly what I am thinking

 

[Kimchi Papi]

While Invisible Children has faults, at least they're attempting to help in some sort of way, which is more than I can say about most of you (especially the ones commenting so negatively).
I have 14 years of community activism & volunteer work from everything to United Way, Boys & Girls Club, Bee Gaddy Foundation, & smaller local charitable orgs. I can tell you everyone of the 20-30 orgs I've dealt with or worked for are flawed to some degree or another (with some being horribly run, more than you can imagine).

I've seen some of these Invisible Children guys do their work networking in Washington DC & I can tell you they're trying to do some good. I find it amusing that some of you are passing judgement on me or making your snarky comments. I know for certain, you guys don't have children, because if you did, you'd know precisely what I was conveying about my son & seeing other children come to harm. I pretty certain none of you guys have ever done squat for anyone but yourselves unless it was required for school credit.
But that's cool. to each his own.

Like another NTer said a page or two back, throwing money at Africa, Haiti, or any other hot spot or problem isn't the answer. The problems specifically in Africa are as a result of centuries of problems confounding further by more problems..

I get what IC is trying to do with the vid. They're getting the message out there & branding it & Kony in an effort to get it out in front of people. Now they have to take the next steps to help grown thier org & next plans of action...But again, at least they started something which is much more than everyone commenting negatively here has done. 

 

[Renaldo Balkman]

Originally Posted by HAM CITY

Originally Posted by rayray3thousand

Originally Posted by kickz4show

I'm all about taking a stance and making a change, but what about our domestic issues? Where is the video highlighting our growing adolescent obesity? or our declining higher education rate?

Before we can attempt to change another country we have to fix home first. Where was all the foreign support when Katrina hit? But when Japan needed relief for the tsunami we were wiring money mid wave.

I understand that we have duties to help other alie countries, but it seems its a give and take relationship. This video reminds me of the eldery man who is fighting the slaughtering of dolphins in Japan. You put so much effort into helping a animal how about your fellow man?

Maybe for 2012 our youth should make you-tube videos about the change needed in our own country...

And lastly the cleaver move to show the "pyramid" upside down as if we are the majority...in a nation where 99% is a minority.

I am an 8th grade History teacher and my team is going to make this our entire 4th quarter project after spring break... wish me luck 

PROPS TO YOU SIR

thanks man... probably the most high level conversation I have had with 8th graders in my career while analyzing all the aspects of the video

 

[tony goalie]

Straight up propaganda right from the horses mouth...

 

[gry60]

Originally Posted by spizike231



You all really think that Invisible Children is out to scam everyone? This is Jolly Grace O. Andruvile, Invisible Children's Regional Ambassador.

Disapprove of all of this if you guys want to, but don't bash the people who actually believe in this. IC has a whole page dedicated to answering most of the questions in here. Go check it out if you're still skeptical.

Here is an article that puts the conflict between the LRAand the Ugandan government in its context. Like I said, know where you stand before you hand over your cash. The money donated to IC is going to support the Ugandan military, which is led by a man who's been in power for almost 26 years, who hasn't hesitated to use child-soldiers, and has tried to justify it.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201203080913.html
[h1]Central Africa: The Problem With Invisible Children's 'Kony 2012'[/h1]BY MICHAEL DEIBERT, 8 MARCH 2012

ANALYSIS

Recently, a new video produced by the American NGO Invisible Children focusing on Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has been making the rounds. Having just returned from the Acholi region of Northern Uganda myself, where the LRA was born, I thought I might share some of my thoughts on the subject, for what they're worth.

I think it is easy for Invisible Children and other self-aggrandizing foreigners to make the entire story of the last 30 years of Northern Uganda about Joseph Kony, but there is a history of the relationship between the Acholi people from whom the LRA emerged and the central government in Kampala that is a little more complicated than that.

Kony is a grotesque war criminal, to be sure, but the Ugandan government currently in power also came to power through the use of kadogo (child soldiers) and fought alongside militias employing child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, something that Invisible Children seem wilfully ignorant of.

The conflict in Acholi -- the ancestral homeland of the ethnic group who stretch across northern Uganda and southern Sudan - has its roots in Uganda's history of dictatorship and political turmoil. A large number of soldiers serving in the government of dictator Milton Obote (who ruled Uganda from April 1965-January 1971 and then again from December 1980-July 1985) came from across northern Uganda, with the Acholis being particularly well represented, even though Obote himself hailed from the Lango ethnic group. When Obote was overthrown by his own military commanders, an ethnic Acholi, General Tito Okello, became president for six chaotic months until Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army took over. Museveni became president, and has since remained so, via elections -- some legitimate, some deeply flawed.

Upon taking power, the Museveni government launched a brutal search and destroy mission against former government soldiers throughout the north, which swept up many ordinary Acholi in its wake. Some Acholi began mobilizing to defend themselves, first under the banner of the Uganda People's Democratic Army (largely made up of former soldiers) and then the Holy Spirit Movement.

This movement, directed by Alice Auma, an Acholi who claimed to be acting on guidance from the spirit Lakwena, brought a mystical belief in their own invincibility that the soldiers of the Kampala-based government at first found terrifying: Holy Spirit Movement devotees walked headlong into blazing gunfire singing songs and holding stones they believed would turn into grenades. The movement succeeded in reaching Jinja, just 80km from the capital Kampala, before being decimated by Museveni's forces.

Out of this slaughter was born the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), led by Joseph Kony, a distant relative of Alice Auma. Kony added an additional element of targeting civilian Acholi to his schismatic blend of Christianity, frequently kidnapping children and adolescents to serve in his rebel movement. The Museveni government responded by viewing all Acholi as potential collaborators, rounding them up into camps euphemistically called "protected villages", where they were vulnerable to disease and social ills, and had few ways to carry on their traditional farming.

The LRA's policy of targeting civilians (though not the Museveni government's draconian measures) eventually drew international condemnation and in 2005 the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Joseph Kony and several other seniors LRA commanders for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Ironically, one of those commanders, Dominic Ongwen, was himself kidnapped by the LRA while still a small boy.

After peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government collapsed in 2007, the group decamped from its bases in southern Sudan to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

Following the end of negotiations, the Museveni government launched its Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP), an effort to stabilize northern Uganda after years of war. Since then, according to the United Nations 98% of internally displaced persons have moved on from the camps that once sheltered hundreds of thousands of frightened people.

Despite criticisms from the Acholi that the government's program has been insufficient, local initiatives and the work of some foreign organizations have helped restore a sense of normality and gradual progress to the region, with people returned to their homes and travel between once off-limits parts of the region now facilitated with relative ease.

Now a thousand miles from the cradle of their insurgency, the LRA would appear to have little hope of returning to Uganda, though their potential to wreak havoc on civilians remains little diminished. In Congo's Haut-Uele province, between December 2008 and January 2009, the LRA massacred 620 civilians and abducted more than 160 children; and a year later they returned and killed 321 and abducted another 250 people in December 2009.

In October 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he was sending 100 Special Forces soldiers to help the Ugandans hunt down Kony. By the end of the year, the Ugandan army confirmed that the troops had moved along with the Ugandan army to Obo in the Central African Republic and Nzara in South Sudan.

The problem with Invisible Children's whitewashing of the role of the government of Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni in the violence of Central Africa is that it gives Museveni and company a free pass, and added ammunition with which to bludgeon virtually any domestic opposition, such as Kizza Besigye and the Forum for Democratic Change.

By blindly supporting Uganda's current government and its military adventures beyond its borders, as Invisible Children suggests that people do, Invisible Children is in fact guaranteeing that there will be more violence, not less, in Central Africa.

I have seen the well-meaning foreigners do plenty of damage before, so that is why people understanding the context and the history of the region is important before they blunder blindly forward to "help" a people they don't understand.

U.S. President Bill Clinton professed that he was "helping" in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1990s and his help ended up with over 6 million people losing their lives.

The same mistake should not be repeated today.

Michael Deibert is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies at Coventry University and the author of the forthcomingDemocratic Republic of Congo: Between Hope and Despair(Zed Books).

 

[triplexl vol 2]

I'm sorry but this pic is

 

[gry60]

[h1]
[/h1][h1]#Kony2012: Be Careful What You Wish For[/h1]

#Kony2012 has created an online storm without thought for the real harm it may do.

ARTICLE | 8 MARCH 2012 - 3:35PM | BY JAMES SCHNEIDER |

[color= rgb(0, 0, 0)]
[/color]

[color= rgb(0, 0, 0)]From activism to militarism[/color]

Invisible Children’s Kony2012 campaign had already succeeded before it exploded over Twitter, Youtube and the blogosphere this week. Intense activism in the United States had already forced Congress to treat the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) as a serious international security and humanitarian concern, passing a bill to that effect in May 2010.

This led to President Obama sending 100 American troops to fight the LRA last October.

They will be part of a mission in which the Ugandan military, supported by the US, is to lead 5,000 troops in an effort to defeat the LRA. This force will operate in the area the size of France in which the LRA roam: north-east Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), southern Central African Republic (CAR), and south-west South Sudan.

This military intervention is the main tangible effect of years of activism by American activists, including Invisible Children, which supports the armed assault. And all those well-meaning tweets in support of #Kony2012 are supporting military intervention against the LRA by the Ugandan Peoples Defence Force (UPDF).

But social media supporters need to be aware of what they are advocating and of the historical, political and economic context in which Invisible Children’s moral imperatives to act are embedded.

It is not an insignificant fact, for example, that the LRA, whilst still carrying out sporadic horrific attacks, are thought to only number 200. On Tuesday, a spokesman from the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) called their recent attacks in the DRC the “last gasp of a dying organisationâ€

 

[tkthafm]

Hey guys look at me. I just watched a sad video, and without any shred of knowledge of Uganda's history or the current geopolitical situation in Africa, I believe every word and I'm going to be totally activist about it. Let's totally like, send US troops in, that'll like, solve it. Yeah!

I'm awesome.

 

[thunderchunk69]

Originally Posted by tkthafm


Hey guys look at me. I just watched a sad video, and without any shred of knowledge of Uganda's history or the current geopolitical situation in Africa, I believe every word and I'm going to be totally activist about it. Let's totally like, send US troops in, that'll like, solve it. Yeah!

I'm awesome.

man, it's not even that.
it's cool that people want to help.

but dudes want to go about it by ordering a "kit" and putting up posters, trying to feel "a part of it" while gaining attention at the same time