Joseph Kony
2012 was the year that Invisible Children went pro. You remember the viral campaign, right? Kony 2012?
You should, because last year the outfit raised more than $32 million and they’re not too shy about admitting there’s been a bit of a windfall.
At June 30, they had $15.5 million in cash sitting around, up from $6 million the previous year, a slightly embarrassing amount they confirmed they didn’t know what to do with.
Continue reading "They didn’t get Kony, but they did get your money…" »
We should all be ashamed of ourselves. You may not have to like Jason Russell, and you may be sceptical about his Kony 2012 campaign. You may be concerned that the foundation misuses its finances, and Russell’s religious preferences may not be your own.
But I am deeply disturbed by the schadenfreude surrounding Russell’s nervous breakdown and the way it was reported.
Firstly, let’s make one thing clear. Russell wasn’t masturbating, and he wasn’t arrested. There was no evidence that he was intoxicated either. There has been no evidence to corroborate the claims.
Continue reading "It’s our fault that Kony guy went starkers raving mad" »
Latest 2 of 138 comments
View all comments-
Vincent P says:
Someone commented that he took it personally. I think that’s correct. However, I’m curious why the Invisible Children org, did not realize that some of it’s approaches would be criticized, and to allow thT to take away from it’s focus. Also, I made a mistake: I said that this article… Read more »
-
Vincent P says:
I am working on a social justice issue as well, and I completely understand the emotional strain of these endeavors, and how that could lead to mental breakdowns. However, some people may have a higher threshold than some. I see no bogus premises, but isn’t the point of this article… Read more »
When Grace Arach was 12 she was kidnapped, raped, tortured, and forced to become the wife of one of Joseph Kony’s commanders. She escaped when she was 17. Since then she’s been working to help other child soldiers. Now she’s 25 and has been living in Australia for almost a year. Her family is still in Uganda.
I was in a vehicle with five others, including a Catholic priest, when we were ambushed by the Lord’s Resistance Army. They stopped the vehicle and got us out. There were five men and me. I was a little girl, 12 years old. It was 1996.
We went to a centre where the soldiers looted food and some drinks, then the priest asked the commander that was leading the group that arrested us, he asked: “What about the little girl?”. He said: “I want to take her back to her mother”.
The answer he got was: “Have you ever seen blood flowing?”, meaning if the priest insisted they would kill me.
Continue reading "At 12, I was forced to marry into Kony’s army" »
Latest 2 of 50 comments
View all comments-
tutBommaBap says:
Depression can be caused by any single or combination of biological, psychological and social factors. purchase cheap ambien online <a >buy ambien 10mg online without a prescription </a> Overcome Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Anxiety Attacks, Social Anxiety Disorder & Social Anxiety Disorder. <a >buy ambien online</a> There… Read more »
-
BopSodegese says:
Part I discusses the nature of depression, its symptoms and causes, how it affects both mind and body, its impact on men, women, kids, and seniors, and seeking out treatment. read more about Ambien here - http://www.ambienonlinebuy.net best place to buy Ambien online. Get information and videos on Depression Women… Read more »
“Have you heard about Kony?” is a question that I was astounded to have addressed to me by a 14-year-old urbanite girl in a café in New York City.
“Joseph Kony?” I asked, incredulous.
“The man who forces children to kill each other and uses girls as sex slaves,” she clarified in a remarkably matter-of-fact way. I was astounded.
I do know Kony. At least, I know of Kony. There are very few people who can truly claim to know him. Even the child soldiers who grew to men in his army, or the captive young girls who came traumatically to womanhood bearing his children have been brainwashed by the self-created mythology of the man. When I spoke to those who knew him intimately most still believed that Kony possessed magical powers.>
Continue reading "I’ve hunted Joseph Kony. Catching him won’t be easy." »
Latest 2 of 63 comments
View all comments-
Joan Bennett says:
And don’t forget to buy the merchandise! 30% of it might go somewhere good. The other 70% will be lost in “administration”... Read more »
-
Ooh shiny says:
One thing that is bothering me - Why choose 20th April as their “Cover the Night” campaign date? Even if we assume that the organisers weren’t aware of the, ahem, older relevance of that date, there is still very recent event of Columbine massacre - 20th April 1999. You know,… Read more »
So, we all know about Kony 2012, right?
It’s rather extraordinary to think that you’re probably reading this just five days after the Invisible Children campaign exploded over the internet, and yet you’re probably already thinking “I’m so over it!” A week really is an age in internet time.
And yet, I still don’t quite know what to make of it all. On the one hand, the motives of the campaign are very simple: stop an evil bastard. And, of course, it’s hard to argue against that in any way.
Continue reading "A campaign that gives us reason to be optimistic" »
Latest 2 of 16 comments
View all comments-
Joan Bennett says:
Where is the money going when folks donate or buy the merchandise? How much is going into “administration”? And what is actually being done with the rest of it? Until this has been determined, only a very foolish person would part with their hard earned for this “cause”. Read more »
-
RyaN says:
@Barry: And if I believe that you have one iota of personal experience in Africa in general then I will have to believe that Nigerian guy who wants to get his aunties money out. I am African born and raised, and I can tell that you haven’t a clue what… Read more »
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit. Today we’re looking at the super-viral Kony 2012 campaign by Invisible Children, a group dedicated to stopping African warlord Joseph Kony.
Doesn’t it feel good, battling evil African terrorists with your Facebook, your Twitter, maybe even your credit card? The Kony story is such a good yarn. It has the perfect villain, who eats small children for breakfast. Then with all the trappings of modern-day warfare – that is, a viral video and social media campaign – we can all be keyboard heroes marching to save the poor kids.
Millions of people have now seen the Kony 2012 film by NGO Invisible Children. When I started writing this piece it was around 7.3 million, right now it’s almost at 10 million. And that’s just on YouTube. It’s on Vimeo and a bunch of other sites as well.
Continue reading "ICB: Playing heroes and villains with Kony 2012" »
Latest 2 of 434 comments
View all comments-
beats by dre used says:
Affection, a friendly relationship, consider, do not ever unify folk over a well known hate in support of something. beats by dre used http://www.beatsbydrefr2013.com/casque-monster-beats-by-dre-studio-hifi-blanc-p-967.html/ Read more »
-
????????????? ?????? says:
Thank you for this valuable post. It changed my approach Read more »
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
My afternoon: hearing @LisaMuxworthy and @AskBossy laughing at this every three minutes http://t.co/Af94aognZa @newscomauHQ
Great photo of Carter, Clinton, Obama and Bush 43 issued by the White House. Captions? http://t.co/dKVRENlnvJ
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
The Punch is moving house
Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…
Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?
I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…
Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”
In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go
Tim says:
They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go
Kel says:
If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
Superman needs saving
Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more
Latest 2 of 54 comments
View all commentsAdd your comment