{"id":1466,"date":"2012-03-07T19:31:57","date_gmt":"2012-03-07T19:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/?p=1466"},"modified":"2013-05-08T01:26:37","modified_gmt":"2013-05-08T01:26:37","slug":"thedailywhat-on-kony-2012-i-honestly-wanted-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/?p=1466","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-1466 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/?attachment_id=1467'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/tumblr_m0iyiw3Jv01qzpwi0o1_r1_1280-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/tumblr.thedailywh.at\/post\/18909727859\/on-kony-2012-i-honestly-wanted-to-stay-as-far\" target=\"_blank\">thedailywhat<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>On Kony 2012:<\/strong> I honestly wanted to stay as far away as possible from <a href=\"http:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/kony2012\/kony-4.html\" target=\"_blank\">KONY 2012<\/a>, the\u00a0latest\u00a0fauxtivist fad sweeping the web (remember \u201cchange your Facebook profile\u00a0pic to stop child abuse\u201d?), but you clearly won\u2019t stop sending me <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc\" target=\"_blank\">that damn video<\/a> until I say something about it, so here goes:<\/p>\n<p>Stop sending me that video.<\/p>\n<p>The organization behind Kony 2012 \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Invisible_Children_Inc\" target=\"_blank\">Invisible Children Inc.<\/a> \u2014 is an extremely shady nonprofit that has been called\u00a0\u201dmisleading,\u201d \u201cnaive,\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/chrisblattman.com\/2009\/03\/04\/visible-children\/\" target=\"_blank\">by a Yale political science professor<\/a>, and has been accused by <em>Foreign Affairs<\/em> of \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/articles\/136673\/mareike-schomerus-tim-allen-and-koen-vlassenroot\/obama-takes-on-the-lra?page=show\" target=\"_blank\">manipulat[ing] facts for strategic purposes<\/a>.\u201d They have also been\u00a0criticized\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbb.org\/charity-reviews\/national\/children-and-youth\/invisible-children-in-san-diego-ca-4469\" target=\"_blank\">by the Better Business Bureau<\/a> for refusing to provide information necessary to determine if IC meets the Bureau\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, IC has\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.charitynavigator.org\/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&amp;orgid=12429\" target=\"_blank\">a low two-star rating in accountability<\/a>\u00a0from Charity Navigator because they won\u2019t let their financials be independently audited. That\u2019s not a good thing. In fact, it\u2019s a very bad thing, and should make you immediately pause and reflect on where the money you\u2019re sending them is going.<\/p>\n<p>By IC\u2019s own admission, only 31% of all the funds they receive <a href=\"http:\/\/c2052482.r82.cf0.rackcdn.com\/images\/737\/original\/FY11-Audited%20Financial%20Statements.pdf?1320205055\" target=\"_blank\">go toward actually helping anyone<\/a>\u00a0[pdf].\u00a0The rest go to line the pockets of the three people in charge of the organization, to pay for their travel expenses (over $1 million in the last year alone) and to fund their filmmaking business (also over a million) \u2014 which is quite an effective way to make more money, as clearly illustrated by the fact that so many can\u2019t seem to stop forwarding their well-engineered emotional blackmail to everyone they\u2019ve ever known.<\/p>\n<p>And as far as <a href=\"http:\/\/visiblechildren.tumblr.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">what they do with that money<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government\u2019s army and various other military forces. Here\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_-PnDZmngAhM\/Sa_KBGNySiI\/AAAAAAAAAJY\/uBOfiAysghs\/s1600-h\/IMG_2941.JPG\" target=\"_blank\">a photo<\/a><span>\u00a0of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.observer.ug\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=17456%3Aupdf-in-kony-hunt-accused-of-rape-looting&amp;catid=78%3Atopstories&amp;Itemid=116\" target=\"_blank\">rape and looting<\/a><span>, but Invisible Children defends them,\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/videos\/comments\/qk0pd\/kony_2012_help_raise_awareness_and_stop_joseph\/c3ycvhb\" target=\"_blank\">arguing<\/a><span>\u00a0that the Ugandan army is \u201cbetter equipped than that of any of the other affected countries\u201d, although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/videos\/comments\/qk0pd\/kony_2012_help_raise_awareness_and_stop_joseph\/c3ycvhb\" target=\"_blank\">hasn\u2019t been since 2006<\/a><span>\u00a0by their own admission.\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/books.google.ca\/books?id=czMrNdvNuWgC&amp;pg=PA62&amp;lpg=PA62&amp;dq=UPDF+rape&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=ci63KTOEn7&amp;sig=YrY7g_wWwmmIEb0MmCkk398RhBo&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=yW1XT-m-MITW0QGywKG6Dw&amp;ved=0CC8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&amp;q=UPDF%20rape&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\">These<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/books.google.ca\/books?id=tVOCIHLqn6wC&amp;pg=PA45&amp;lpg=PA45&amp;dq=UPDF+rape&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=QX7Q996i0Z&amp;sig=BuQdCci0vmhaXicxSWqfa88rYJk&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=yW1XT-m-MITW0QGywKG6Dw&amp;ved=0CDIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&amp;q=UPDF%20rape&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\">books<\/a><span>\u00a0each refer to the rape and sexual assault that are perennial issues with the UPDF, the military group Invisible Children is defending.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Let\u2019s not get our lines crossed: The <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lord%27s_Resistance_Army\" target=\"_blank\">Lord\u2019s Resistance Army<\/a> is bad news. And Joseph Kony is a very bad man, and needs to be stopped. But\u00a0propping\u00a0up Uganda\u2019s decades-old dictatorship and its military arm, which has been accused by the UN of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.voanews.com\/english\/news\/africa\/UN-Congo-Report-Released-Amid-Protest-from-Uganda-Rwanda-104165814.html\" target=\"_blank\">committing unspeakable atrocities<\/a> and itself <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/refworld\/country,,CSCOAL,,COD,,498806012d,0.html\" target=\"_blank\">facilitated the recruitment of child soldiers<\/a>, is not the way to go about it.<\/p>\n<p>The United States is already plenty involved <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/articles\/136673\/mareike-schomerus-tim-allen-and-koen-vlassenroot\/obama-takes-on-the-lra?page=show\" target=\"_blank\">in helping rout Kony and his band of psycho sycophants<\/a>. Kony is on the run, having been pushed out of Uganda, and it\u2019s likely he will soon be caught, <a href=\"http:\/\/ilto.wordpress.com\/2006\/11\/02\/the-visible-problem-with-invisible-children\/\" target=\"_blank\">if he isn\u2019t already dead<\/a>. But killing Kony won\u2019t fix anything, just as killing Osama bin Laden didn\u2019t end terrorism. The LRA might collapse, but, as <em>Foreign Affairs<\/em> points out, it is \u201ca relatively small player in all of this \u2014 as much a symptom as a cause of the endemic violence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Myopically placing the blame for all of central Africa\u2019s woes on Kony \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wrongingrights.com\/2009\/03\/worst-idea-ever.html\/\" target=\"_blank\">even as a starting point<\/a> \u2014 will only <a href=\"http:\/\/chrisblattman.com\/2011\/11\/21\/what-you-should-be-reading-if-you-want-to-understand-the-us-and-the-lords-resistance-army\/\" target=\"_blank\">imperil many more people<\/a> than are already in danger.<\/p>\n<p>Sending money to a nonprofit that wants to muck things up by dousing the flames with fuel is not helping. Want to help? <em>Really<\/em> want to help? Send your money to nonprofits that are putting more than 31% toward rebuilding the region\u2019s medical and educational infrastructure, so that former child soldiers have something worth coming home to.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.charitynavigator.org\/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&amp;orgid=4943\" target=\"_blank\">Here<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.charitynavigator.org\/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&amp;orgid=3220\" target=\"_blank\">are<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.charitynavigator.org\/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&amp;orgid=8392\" target=\"_blank\">just<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.charitynavigator.org\/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&amp;orgid=8875\" target=\"_blank\">a few<\/a> of those charities. They all have a sparkling four-star rating from Charity Navigator, and, more importantly, no interest in airdropping American troops armed to the teeth into the middle of a multi-nation tribal war to help one madman catch another.<\/p>\n<p>The bottom line is, research your causes thoroughly. Don\u2019t just forward a random video to a\u00a0stranger\u00a0because a mass murderer makes a five-year-old \u201csad.\u201d Learn a little bit about the complexities of the region\u2019s ongoing strife before advocating for direct military\u00a0intervention.<\/p>\n<p>There is no black and white in the world. And going about solving important problems like there is just serves to make all those equally troubling shades of gray invisible.<\/p>\n<p>[<a href=\"http:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/kony2012\/kony-4.html\" target=\"_blank\">kony2012<\/a>.]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>thedailywhat: On Kony 2012: I honestly wanted to stay as far away as possible from KONY 2012, the\u00a0latest\u00a0fauxtivist fad sweeping the web (remember \u201cchange your Facebook profile\u00a0pic to stop child abuse\u201d?), but you clearly won\u2019t stop sending me that damn video until I say something about it, so here goes: Stop sending me that video. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1206,1209,1194,1142,1208,1146,478,1207,1201],"class_list":["post-1466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-awful","tag-child-soldiers","tag-invisible-children","tag-kony-2012","tag-manipulation","tag-propaganda","tag-sad","tag-the-daily-what","tag-war","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1468,"href":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466\/revisions\/1468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tmblr.kamilah.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}