When Memes Go To War; KONY 2012

If you have been on a social network at all the last few days, you cannot have missed the virally potent KONY2012 campaign.

Buoyed up by the notion that clicking can save lives, millions of armchair activists have thrown their support behind a campaign that, to be totally blunt, they have NO FUCKING IDEA about. Still, not everyone can know about everything, right? So hey! Lets share intel, and spread some basic information that seems missing from the Invisible Children video.

As Taz Buckfaster puts it to his social network:

"Pro-tip for all you KONY 2012 bandwagon-jumpers... Africa is a continent made up of 55 countries. Have a fucking clue about the place before supporting a charity that is suggesting we drop US troops in a region in which Kony's not even operated since 2006, all the while spending a metric fuckton of your donations on lavish expenses, flashy (and disingenuous) film-making, supporting an army notorious for rape as a weapon of war, and pushing for boots-on-ground Western intervention in an area which is going through a difficult and oft-faltering peace process.

You people make me sick. If you want to feel good about yourself, do some real good in the world. Clicks and shares don't mean shit."

People disagree about the number of countries (depends on your definition of country), but Taz's point is pretty spot on, and sums up what a lot of people have been thinking.


Here's some links!


 Kony 2012; what's the real story? (Guardian)
Joseph Kony Campaign Under Fire (BBC)
Kony 2012 Video Is Misleading (A Ugandan American)
Joseph Kony 2012: growing outrage in Uganda over film (Telegraph)

Click to embiggen:

Fela Kuti - Music Is the Weapon

Set against a backdrop of Nigeria in the early 80's, this documentary provides an interesting insight into the mind of musical and political renegade Fela Kuti as he struggles to maintain his self-proclaimed republic against the increasingly violent interventions of the country's corrupt regime.

In addition to his brave and uncompromising political stance against brutal military rule, Fela also had a mighty package -shown here in the possibly the smallest pair of briefs known to man- which could easily defeat anything in Niall's post here.




Plus some Yellow Fever, for it is awesome:

Bono = Massive Knobend (Part #3,694)

Proof, if proof be need be, that Bono is a massive twat.



He's just spent shedloads of money on delivering costly goods to some journalists in New York, each package (being one of FOUR) having to be delivered individually by a messenger. Apparently it's to get them to cover his ONE foundation/charity/tax write off thingy, but instead looks like a pr move that's going to back fire with donors asking "why didn't you give our money to the poor?".



"Another container held the oversized cookie and water bottle in an odd pitch for funds for clean water and "sustainable sources of food."

Poverty-stricken African kids live on less than $1.25 a day -- "about the cost of the cookie in this box," ONE contended.

The leather-bound journal and ruler urged education funding in sub-Saharan Africa."



But here's the real kicker:

"ONE gives only a pittance in direct charitable support to its causes -- something Borochoff said the average donor might not realize.

The Bono nonprofit took in $14,993,873 in public donations in 2008, the latest year for which tax records are available.

Of that, $184,732 was distributed to three charities, according to the IRS filing.

Meanwhile, more than $8 million was spent on executive and employee salaries."

DICK.

Story in full here - thanks to Joe Muggs for the tip off.