Heard anything about this Kony 2012 business? Be weary...

The link that got it all started for me: Should I donate money to Kony 2012 or not?

If you haven't already had the video posted to your Facebook wall eleventy billion times, it's easy enough to find (just Google "Kony 2012"). A lot of people are so caught up in the emotional message though...slick production values, a singular solution, relentless emotional appeals, and finally...a request for your credit card number!

I thought the whole thing was pretty dubious from the beginning, so I've done some research, and now started a Facebook Group to speak out against Invisible Children, Inc...

Long story short, don't believe everything you watch on YouTube...the tragedies in Uganda are undeniable, but Invisible Children, Inc. is pretty clearly serving their own interests. They are financially questionable, they seek to end the conflict by heavily arming the other side (!!!!!) who is just as brutal as Kony's group...

Most cause oriented groups make me weary.

The fact that they are bringing more attention to the subject is good, no matter what. I have seen some other rating organizations that aren't as harsh on Invisible Children that the article suggests.

But you should always be weary of where you send your money.

If you want a better, more personal perspective on the situation, read Long Way Gone.

I am sure most of us want to slap any modern teenager for whining about their first world problems, but this story will make you want to donkey punch them. What these kids have to endure/witness is incredible

Africa needs to bring back Mercs.

By all accounts Joseph Kony is a bad dude, any quick Google search will confirm that. I'm glad this group is calling attention to what he has done, and trying to shed more light on the subject. It seems like finally Facebook is worth something.

Always be weary of charitable causes, but I'm glad they have done this, and hopefully they can continue down the line and shed more light on truly bad folks that need to be exposed.

Spend your money where you want, always question motives of those with something to gain. This approach does hold promise though.

More information on what some of "Invisible Children's" critics have accused them / and their rebuttals are listed here:

http://www.invisiblechildren.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/critiques.html

There seems to be a never ending supply of bad men all over the world, but Africa gets a higher percentage in power, instead of in jail.

A very good friend of mine here had a very happy day when Idi Amin died. They didn't get any of their stuff back, but still...

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

But think of all those generous Africans who are willing share their millions/billions of US$ with us if we just give them our bank account info.

I'm weary of being wary.

stuart in mn wrote: I'm weary of being wary.

I'm weary that you're weary of being weary.

e_pie wrote:

stuart in mn wrote: I'm weary of being wary.

I'm weary that you're weary of being weary.

I'm just worn.

e_pie wrote:

stuart in mn wrote: I'm weary of being wary.

I'm weary that you're weary of being weary.

I'm leery and also weary of the use of weary when indeed wary or leery is what is intended.

z31maniac wrote:

That's a terrible use of that meme.

Anywho, carrying on...

I'm weary of your wariness.

Everything I know about Uganda came from the brains of Trey Parker and Matt Stone via "The Book of Mormon".

Let's take a trip to ORLAAAANOOOOO!

Link might be offensive, so NSFW.

And you know as they say, HASA DIGA EEBOBAI! (very NSFW, also taken quite out of context when viewed as a single song).

Give it a week or two, and morons will move on to the next trendy internet cause .

Course, I've been alienating people as it is by pointing out that Africa is a very berkeleyed up place and getting Africans to stop doing berkeleyed up things is kinda like getting a dog to stop licking it's privates.

Look, I'm no activist weenie, but I think there are many here taking this one a bit lightly.

Facts: kids are, and have been abducted from, and later forced to shoot, their parents for over 20 years by one dude. One very bad dude, and his "army". Or, if the have the fortune to be born female, become useful to the weary (note proper use of the word "weary") soldiers as sex slaves at a very young age. By any account, this is more than just a little bummer.

If we called ourselves christians, muslims, or even atheists, humanists, buddists, agnostics, or car guys.... this E36 M3 sucks. Sure, the video featured a guy who seems awfully self promoting, and seems like a so-cal douche, but look past that at the issue- which, remember, sucks. Skepticism is great, but don't create a facebook page to counter someones action just because it wasn't your idea, you don't care enough to participate, or you think the guy is a douche. The arguments are pretty weak- Christ, at least they are moving in some direction on it. Just because it is "popular" doesn't mean it's not right. It's about time that the "right thing" was cool again.

If nothing else, it got the conversation going... and I don't think anyone disputes the facts. So if you start a facebook page against this org, I sincerely hope that the time you took to make it, the energy, etc, that you made some equivalent donation to another charity deemed more worthy in your eyes to fix this situation. I feel like it's spitting on a poor guy because Habitat for Humanity didn't help him the way you would. If you don't like it, either start something else to help fix it, donate to someone else to help fix it, or come up with a solution.... you're complaining about labor pains, and I want to see the baby. What's YOUR great idea?

I'm so sorry, I haven't watched the video yet, but I did just see this:

I know I'm a terrible person.

Use Seal Team 6

Win Approval Ratings

On a slightly more serious note, I do wish that the United Nations had an elite special forces that could carry out capture or kill missions on perps of crimes against humanity. At the very least, it would scare the hell out of folks who walk around with impunity.

PHeller wrote: Use Seal Team 6 Win Approval Ratings On a slightly more serious note, I do wish that the United Nations had an elite special forces that could carry out capture or kill missions on perps of crimes against humanity. At the very least, it would scare the hell out of folks who walk around with impunity.

I've never done this, but +eleventy billion. Fear is a powerful motivator to not be a dick.

Teh E36 M3 wrote: Look, I'm no activist weenie, but I think there are many here taking this one a bit lightly. Facts: kids are, and have been abducted from, and later forced to shoot, their parents for over 20 years by one dude. One very bad dude, and his "army". Or, if the have the fortune to be born female, become useful to the weary (note proper use of the word "weary") soldiers as sex slaves at a very young age. By any account, this is more than just a little bummer. If we called ourselves christians, muslims, or even atheists, humanists, buddists, agnostics, or car guys.... this E36 M3 sucks. Sure, the video featured a guy who seems awfully self promoting, and seems like a so-cal douche, but look past that at the issue- which, remember, sucks. Skepticism is great, but don't create a facebook page to counter someones action just because it wasn't your idea, you don't care enough to participate, or you think the guy is a douche. The arguments are pretty weak- Christ, at least they are moving in some direction on it. Just because it is "popular" doesn't mean it's not right. It's about time that the "right thing" was cool again. If nothing else, it got the conversation going... and I don't think anyone disputes the facts. So if you start a facebook page against this org, I sincerely hope that the time you took to make it, the energy, etc, that you made some equivalent donation to another charity deemed more worthy in your eyes to fix this situation. I feel like it's spitting on a poor guy because Habitat for Humanity didn't help him the way you would. If you don't like it, either start something else to help fix it, donate to someone else to help fix it, or come up with a solution.... you're complaining about labor pains, and I want to see the baby. What's YOUR great idea?

Invisible Children supports ending the conflict by FLOODING UGANDA WITH WEAPONS in support of the SPLA! Wow, great idea, let's make one side stronger, that'll end the conflict! That always works, right? There are never unintended side effects when we do that!

Besides, both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”. Even worse, Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn't been since 2006 by Invisible Children's own admission! Invisible Children has been caught red-handed falsifying other facts about the LRA - and the worst part of all - their financial distribution is completely opaque.

Of the more than $20 MILLION they have in pocket, almost half of that has been written off as "travel expenses" and more has been either paid personally to the filmmakers or other people not actually related to the cause...they won't cooperate with the BBB, charity oversight agency Charity Navigator says they are not to be trusted...and I'm the shiny happy person for not wanting to give these guys my money?!?!

I also think it's funny how many waves this is making when nobody has given a E36 M3 for YEARS about similar/worse issues in Liberia...

SlickDizzy wrote: I also think it's funny how many waves this is making when nobody has given a E36 M3 for YEARS about similar/worse issues in Liberia...

That's my biggest sticking point. Walk up to anybody and say "think of the worst thing you could possibly do to a human being". Pause for dramatic effect. "That just happened, somewhere in the world".

While I applaud people being aware of problems, this is just one of so many it's mind boggling. And that is what takes the cake, armchair activism with no purpose.

Won't happen. The governments of western Africa are far more stable than that of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan. So we likely won't see an invasion of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and on the western side likely not Namibia or Angola.

Central Africa may be a different story, but you can bet that China has a pretty good grip on DRC, CAR, Congo, and Zambia.

The only thing I could see those countries doing is trading resources for military equipment, but the Chinese would probably offer a better deal on that end as well.