Post: #1

What are your thoughts on this? Think it'll work?

Post: #2

i hope so. great post

Post: #3

amazing cinematography, this is how movements needed to be started, not camping out in parks.


Curious as to why they chose 4.20 though, the date has such negative connotations.

Post: #4

(03-06-2012 10:56 PM)canucktraveller Wrote:  amazing cinematography, this is how movements needed to be started, not camping out in parks.


Curious as to why they chose 4.20 though, the date has such negative connotations.

This is exactly what I thought. I live in Brighton, the kony protest and the 4/20 protests are gonna both suffer as people will have to choose one or the other.

Alternatively we could just get stoned then put up kony posters everywhere.

Post: #5

(03-06-2012 11:11 PM)dulst Wrote:  

(03-06-2012 10:56 PM)canucktraveller Wrote:  amazing cinematography, this is how movements needed to be started, not camping out in parks.


Curious as to why they chose 4.20 though, the date has such negative connotations.

This is exactly what I thought. I live in Brighton, the kony protest and the 4/20 protests are gonna both suffer as people will have to choose one or the other.

Alternatively we could just get stoned then put up kony posters everywhere.

But then all the "dirty hippies suck at life and their opinions are based on stoned rants" people will not take the cause seriously.

Post: #6

(03-07-2012 12:10 AM)WesternCancer Wrote:  

(03-06-2012 11:11 PM)dulst Wrote:  

(03-06-2012 10:56 PM)canucktraveller Wrote:  amazing cinematography, this is how movements needed to be started, not camping out in parks.


Curious as to why they chose 4.20 though, the date has such negative connotations.

This is exactly what I thought. I live in Brighton, the kony protest and the 4/20 protests are gonna both suffer as people will have to choose one or the other.

Alternatively we could just get stoned then put up kony posters everywhere.

But then all the "dirty hippies suck at life and their opinions are based on stoned rants" people will not take the cause seriously.

True. I also think those people will jump on the fact it's on April 20th.

Post: #7

http://ilto.wordpress.com/2006/11/02/the...-children/

Post: #8

(03-07-2012 01:44 PM)WesternCancer Wrote:  http://ilto.wordpress.com/2006/11/02/the...-children/

The timing is bad, but if this idiot thinks that the 'peace talks' are really going to solve the problem, he's more naive than the guys going to Africa. That article was written in 2006, if the peace talks were successful, why is Kony still relevant?

Pouring money into this cause is probably not a good idea, but there's nothing wrong with letting people know what has happened over there.

Post: #9

True, my facebook is blowing up with this video. Nobody has bothered to go as far to wikipedia the cause or the events that happened. They know nothing except what the video is telling them. Because of facebook/social media ideas can spread so quickly, but that doesn't mean all of the ideas or facts are beneficial. It is scary to think what could happen if misinformation/propaganda/whatever spread like this.

I am in NO WAY AGAINST this cause, but I urge people to do research into the cause and the organization before shelling out money to them. http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/

Post: #10

(03-07-2012 02:30 PM)CJ Wrote:  The timing is bad, but if this idiot thinks that the 'peace talks' are really going to solve the problem, he's more naive than the guys going to Africa. That article was written in 2006, if the peace talks were successful, why is Kony still relevant?

Pouring money into this cause is probably not a good idea, but there's nothing wrong with letting people know what has happened over there.

This is getting pretty interesting.

Apparently invisible children isn't the greatest charity, their 3 top officers make 80k-90k per year and only 30% of donations goes to Uganda (who knows how much the Ugandan gov. keeps).


They are advocating funding a government and military that has committed many of the same atrocities as Kony, and Kony hasn't even been active in Uganda in 6 years. He has since moved to the DRC and is far less active in general.

Also the US has had many missions to capture Kony, all of which failed and led to retaliations. People are exaggerating comparing this to the situations in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan where helping one side later led to far worse problems, but the US needs to reevaluate funding 3rd world militaries.


It's obvious that video's like this combined with social media can start a firestorm, but it also proves how people latch popular onto ideas instead of researching themselves.

Post: #11

It was cooler a decade ago when Thrice wrote a song about it, just sayin

Chef In Jeans
A culinary website for men

Post: #12

Saw this on facebook, and it sums up my views on this whole subject well:

Quote:1. Kony is a mass murdering fuckhead. Yes, now we've got the emotional reaction out of the way, let's look at what's actually being proposed.

2. Are we seriously lobbying for invading another country to take out their local evil guy? I thought we learned our lesson these past few years in Iraq and Afghanistan?

3. If the US took action, it would be a Bin Ladin-esque special ops mission to take him out. But this isn't going to stop the problem - Kony isn't acting alone and another strong guy is just going to take up the reigns of power if he leaves. There is not nearly enough interest to demolish a huge chunk of the power structure...like we did to the Taliban. Which also didn't work.

4. No way the US should or will take him out. Any mission would have to be publicly announced, and that is going to be a very dangerous precedent. Bad enough that we're already dipping our finger in the rest of the world's affairs, but a-la-carte assassination by public opinion? That scares the shit out of me and it would scare the shit out of the rest of the world. That's not even legal in America. That's not going to happen.

5. This won't work. If you want to do something, think about creating education/economic infrastructure in low income areas. This solution isn't flashy, isn't quick. But it might work and really last. Anything else will last only as long as you idiots pay attention. But that won't happen.

In short: SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT KONY.

Post: #13

LOL @ Athlone's meme.

I was going to post a thread about KONY for the forum last night but decided not to after thinking about it for a while.

I understand the sentiment behind Kony 2012, but where does justice end and retributive sanctioning begin? There are many problems with this mission statement - mostly the fact that ramifications for foreign involvement with an already corrupt African government are being ignored for the sake of a manhunt. Should Kony be brought to justice? Of course. Will there be a line of people to inherit his position as kingpin? Absolutely. This will not stop or even hinder guerrilla warfare in Africa, or child soldiers. You start change by enabling Africa to disassemble rebel armies which we've been trying to do for decades. I fully support Invisible Children, but their headhunt for Kony is something I can't stand behind. It is a potentially devastating political move for American foreign policy.

It is unfortunate that all of these people who (most likely) protested the Iraq war instantly convert their polity to supporting interventional, renegade, foreign policy when it is promoted in an emotionally charged, easily accessible, and palatable manner.

Post: #14

Athlone - that image pretty much summarises my thoughts about people making a big deal about this.

It's a nice bit of cinematography and all but I bet that if you ask most of the 7 million people who watched the video about it in six months' time, they wouldn't even be able to tell you who Kony is. People like to believe in something and get behind a campaign, but the public's support is only guaranteed for as long as they feel good while watching the video. Once the flashy lights, pop-dubstep soundtrack and pretty colours fade, all that's left is a limp-dicked message about yet another crazy African leader.

The guys organising the campaign seem to be doing everything but going to up to Kony and stopping him. Wow, you made some posters and bracelets? Fucking rad man but the Livestrong campaign want their ideas back.

Wow, you talked to some politicians before and they didn't give a shit about it but since you convinced a few hundred unemployed students to stand in parks in generic locations around the world and shout 'This war must end' you think you have some power? Fantastic. Have a sticker.

Wow, you want some celebrities to tweet about Kony... or er... just get behind the campaign but you never specify how? I guess that's cool but George Clooney and Brad Pitt would also like some press for the poverty-stricken nations that they're highlighting too. Also, what happened to the Live Aid technique of actually using the talents of the celebrities involved to raise awareness - not just telling them to issue press releases to their specific fanbases?

And what's with that artist guy towards the end? Cool, you made some nice art that people like. That doesn't mean that (and I quote) 'seeing what I've done I think it's empowered a lot of people to realise that one individual can make an impact'. What? No. It's cool art. People like cool art. It doesn't mean anything.

Finally, the whole '20/04' thing seems completely and utterly ridiculous. So you're going to cover cities (if you don't get arrested in the process or your volunteers don't flake out) with posters like 'KONY 2012'? Great. So how exactly does this lead to you getting the funds and political power to stop this guy? You're just hoping that people Google his name and come across your (admittedly fairly popular) video? OK. So then they sit through a twenty-five-minute video and you only mention that people can actually donate or contact the relevant politician within the last ten minutes. This is starting to fall apart a little.

The video finishes with a message about how they're trying to 'change the system' and reverse the fact that the decisions made by the ones with the money and the power dictate the course of the world for their citizens. But wait! Didn't you just say that you actually need to reach out to those people at the top to stop Kony? I'm so confused.

Oh and don't use your kid to try and get support behind you. It's so fucking cheap.

Post: #15

All the hate for this video made led me to this: http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/

Suddenly I don't trust the video as much.

Post: #16

Aye, saw that linked on your blog dulst.

http://justiceinconflict.org/2012/03/07/...n-a-notch/ is also worth a read.

Post: #17

Post: #18

So many of my friends are posting this video on FB and I have to laugh because I know that most of them couldn't point out Uganda on a map.

I'm no expert in African history or politics, but isn't the government of Museveni one of the biggest shit disturbers in the region, perpetuating conflict in the DRC, Rwanda, etc? And they want to give this guy more money and military weapons.

Also, since most of my friends are big time leftists, I'm not too sure they'd be okay with sending more money to Museveni and bolstering one of the most homophobic governements in the world.

But hey, if it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside....

Post: #19

Damn, Athlone had some sick memes on this. hahaha

Main thing is, from what I get by reading all the articles, is that this guy is yesterday's news. No shit he's a brutal guy and needs to be terminated, but it seems like most of his atrocities are in the past and he's now out of Uganda and the region's been more peaceful than it has been in years.

They're making a big push to get this guy now?? I smell a rat.. I think they need to ramp up their funding because for these 3 guys, their 90k salaries w/ 1 million a year in travel expenses aren't making the cut for them anymore. I bet with 100% certainty if Kony gets whacked and they lose their raison d'etre, they'll won't call it quits and say, "job's over! not it's time to go home."

Post: #20

The guys spent about as much money, $3mill last year, on wages in the US plus travel as they did actually supporting people in Africa. They are just feathering there own beds. Check out the fleet of shiny vans they are rocking in the vid, great use of donors money. What good is an iPhone app, millions of youtube views and facebook likes to those people affected.

They are doing a great job raising awareness, but awareness amongst rich white people is unlikely to help this issue. It is far more complex than just grabbing Kony, the Ugandan army that IC is pushing to march over the borders of its neihburing countries in search of Kony is not much better - they have stolen natural resources like timber, trafficked in conflict diamonds, raped, murderd and pillage. It would be like sending Stalin after Hitler - yes you may achieve your goal of getting rid of Kony, but a lot of uncool shit will go down in order to achieve it.

Sometimes doing something is worse than doing nothing.

As for finding him, how long did it take to track down Osama? Pretty sure Kony has been on the run even longer than bin Laden. Kony's death toll would certainly be higher.

For more reading you may wish to checkout:
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/0...questions/
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/1...?page=show
http://kingsofwar.org.uk/2012/03/joseph-...ervention/

There three big calls to arms at the end of the video have nothing to do with helping track down Kony or help those whos lives he has destroyed.
1. Signing a pledge of support - sure its nice and can show governments that the global commuity wants them to take action. Really it just further legitimises them feathering their own bed.
2. Get the bracelet and action kit - yes spend $30 of your money so we can make useless iPhone apps and get paid to be self rigteous neo-colonialists, make that bed comfy.
3. Sign up for TRI to donate a few dollars a month - because it is not enough to feather our bed now, we need you to give us your credit car number so we can feather it every month.
Then they ask you to share the video, raising awareness to further the bed. Same thing that will be achived by wearing your bracelet and plastering your 'action kit' wares everywhere.
If they added some more relevant calls to action I'd give them 'some' respect, but they did not.

Post: #21

It’s a good cause and all, but I can’t help but feel that so many young people (especially hipster types) are just jumping on the bandwagon just to look cool. Civil war and child soldiers in Africa shouldn’t have been news to anybody, yet people only start making themselves activists for the cause when all the other young people do. Which I think is what Invisible Children purposely sought to do.

Post: #22

Post: #23

Oh for fuck sake, they've made a poster of him comparing him to hitler and bin laden.

http://justiceinconflict.files.wordpress...hitler.jpg

Post: #24

(03-08-2012 03:01 AM)dulst Wrote:  Oh for fuck sake, they've made a poster of him comparing him to hitler and bin laden.

http://justiceinconflict.files.wordpress...hitler.jpg

Don't quote me on this, but Kony's probably been responsible for more deaths than bin Laden if you exclude deaths associated with the U.S invasion of Afghanistan.

Post: #25

(03-08-2012 03:08 AM)P Dog Wrote:  Don't quote me on this, but Kony's probably been responsible for more deaths than bin Laden if you exclude deaths associated with the U.S invasion of Afghanistan.

That's a pretty big exclusion to make, though.