the end of this video is just great.

http://jezebel.com/5894257/up-close-and-jason-russell

Agreed.

An interesting article by Teju Cole addressing the Kony issue and similar topics:

The White Savior Industrial Complex
http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa ... ex/254843/

OK so I've given up on trying to watch the video. I've made it about 10 minutes into it after about three attempts. How have so many people watched this?

More to the point, though, I'm finally becoming more sympathetic to the Kony backlash. Not necessarily to the tone most of it has taken or to people like Teju Cole who vainly seek to inflame people and call attention to themselves instead. But the whole thing is pretty weird and also kinda dumb. There are bigger problems in the world.

Of course it still bothers me a little that I came to this whole thing by way of backlash in the first place, and I listened to that Slate podcast thing that Yail posted about way before I actually tried to watch the video. And I'd read about oil being found in Uganda and Jason Russell's whole crazy naked rampage. So I'd already heard all of the critics and wasn't exactly going into it with an open mind. But as far as it being a "social experiment", well it's hardly underhanded or even subtle in that respect. In fact, it more or less states it outright in the opening few minutes of the video (among the only few minutes that I've actually watched). It's openly "testing the waters". To what end, it's hard to say. It's a weird phenomenon that, sadly, has seemed to draw out just about the worst in everybody, everywhere. It's definitely helping me stay the course on my way to becoming a total misanthrope.

I would assume it's just once you start watching the video they count that as a "view". I'm sure not many people have made it through the whole thing, myself included.

Drinky, what's your issue with Teju?

Granted, I don't know much about him. Just the tweets and that article nobody posted.

But the tweets are just more negative posturing and attention-seeking. Of course he comes across as more reasonable in the article, but it still doesn't feel at all constructive. "If Americans want to care about Africa, maybe they should consider evaluating American foreign policy, which they already play a direct role in through elections..." Oh, do tell. Most candidates make their proposed foreign policy towards Africa pretty clear when they're running for office? News to me. One would think that we elected a President who'd be pretty sensitive to African issues. So kudos to us for a good job already done? And yet... what's changed? Talk about over-simplification.

I still haven't read that whole article yet or anything else he's written, but I'm not convinced that I should.

Yeah, better to just not read anything he says and talk shit about him.

Well I did read something he said.

He made those tweets to elicit a response, and he got one. That's my response.

Semi-related--Charles Taylor has been found guilty of war crimes in Sierra Leone. This, being the same trial which made news in gossip columns when Naomi Campbell testified that she received diamonds from Taylor at a Nelson Mandela tribute.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/charles-taylor-arrives-court-verdict-091515300.html

If you get the chance watch the doc "Pray the Devil Back to Hell".