Yeah, anyone who doesn't want editorial interference is an extremist!Originally Posted by GGT
Yeah, anyone who doesn't want editorial interference is an extremist!
Hope is the denial of reality
This happens all the time. Limbaugh is an embarrassment to the Republican political establishment. Doesn't mater - he has plenty of listeners who don't give a damn.You should know it's particularly "bad" when right-leaning Republican voters condemned what Limbaugh said.
It does matter, though. Limbaugh has been a key note speaker at CPAC conventions, and his show is broadcast to US troops via Armed Forces Radio Network.
Reset
The other day my son came home talking about an effort to bring a Ugandan war lord to justice. He'd heard about it at school, knew it was a Facebook or Twitter phenomenon. He rolled his eyes, but promptly logged onto Facebook to see what was up. He watched the entire 30 minute video, and followed up with some great questions/challenges. ie, why now, why there, when this type of thing occurs around the globe?
Later on, CNN and msnbc news mentioned the "viral video". It was fairly amazing how one video went viral, exponentially. It was interesting to follow what my kid brought home after school, and watch it the same night on the news.
Er... there are a lot of problems with the Kony 2012 campaign, notably being that the video is full of factual errors and misconceptions. There's no doubt Kony is a nasty guy, but I'm less than impressed with this campaign - and the actual work done by the Invisible Children NGO is not best-in-class.Reset
The other day my son came home talking about an effort to bring a Ugandan war lord to justice. He'd heard about it at school, knew it was a Facebook or Twitter phenomenon. He rolled his eyes, but promptly logged onto Facebook to see what was up. He watched the entire 30 minute video, and followed up with some great questions/challenges. ie, why now, why there, when this type of thing occurs around the globe?
Later on, CNN and msnbc news mentioned the "viral video". It was fairly amazing how one video went viral, exponentially. It was interesting to follow what my kid brought home after school, and watch it the same night on the news.
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/...licated_things
True, but the magnitude of what "going viral" means in today's social media.....is very interesting. And it redefines what any campaign really means.
Depends on what you think the goal of the campaign is. If it's to provide factual information to the American public, then it failed miserably. However, if the main intent was to raise public awareness, and make sure the American government pays a high public price for withdrawing its troops from the area, it seems to have done quite well. I would imagine the latter is the real goal, not the former.
Hope is the denial of reality
Well at least a larger portion of the American public now knows for a fact that there's this douchebag called Kony
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
As far as I can tell, their real goal is fundraising. It's succeeded, but given their poor track record at actually helping people, I'm less than impressed.
The US government sent in troops multiple times without any prodding by the rest of the world, or our citizenry - in fact, we've upgraded our contacts with militaries in both Congo and Uganda precisely to deal with the LRA. This is also not a political issue, Limbaugh stupidity aside - both GWB and BHO have tried to get rid of Kony, and there's pretty broad bipartisan support for a small mission to help Uganda/DRC/etc. to finish him off.
Support is one thing... urgency, another. Looks to me like they could be trying to up the priority of their little hell to realize some results sooner, rather than later.
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson: American Founding Father, clairvoyant and seditious traitor.
Not quite sure how "tell the US government to kill Kony" is going to get this group much money. As Cain says, this was never a US priority. Next time there's a cut in AfriCom's budget, the public awareness is going to make it very difficult to cut the anti-LRA mission. This is certainly not going to lead to a change in policy, but that's not what these people are after.
Hope is the denial of reality
The organization sells $30 'info' packets on their site which they're pushing quite hard - and, I understand, quite successfully. Of course, the group's finances are quite sketchy, and only something like 30% of their budget goes to actually, you know, helping people. But people outraged by something incorrect they saw on Youtube or Twitter don't really care about those details, do they?
Africom's budget isn't getting cut any time soon, the US has been upgrading their presence in Africa for years. They have multiple times tried to get rid of Kony - a botched SF raid by US-trained commandos back during GWB's time (as early as 2006?), heavy support for the Ugandan military to take on the LRA earlier, and now more 'advisers'. This is a consistent bit of US policy for a very long time and I highly doubt it's going to go anywhere.
Also, for an awareness campaign I find it very self-defeating. People online are pushing for utterly useless things - moving US troops into Uganda, for example - which are at odds with what actually needs to happen. There isn't a useful, coherent call to action here other than to make people realize Kony is a bad guy. Whoop de do.
http://news.yahoo.com/emo-killings-r...070258712.html
WTF. Only in Iraq.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
It's not a priority, and the amount of resources expended on this mission prove as much. What happens if Boko Haram steps up attacks in Nigeria and the government decides the 100 troops are better off there?
The point of an awareness campaign is to make a given issue a higher priority for the government; it's not to change government policy. There is 0% chance that this campaign somehow leads to a large-scale military presence in Uganda/Congo.
Hope is the denial of reality
30% going to help people isn't that unusual is it?
I don't disagree, but what does that have to do with anything? I'm just not impressed with the organization and the campaign since it's clearly a thinly veiled fundraising campaign that's inaccurate to boot. Just because I don't have sympathy for the people who make stupid contributions doesn't mean I think the Kony 2012 campaign is effective at anything good.
Africom doesn't have some finite number of troops it has to apportion between various priorities - they get almost all of their troops seconded from CENTCOM or EUCOM, though it's likely in this case they were from SOCOM (I'm not sure exactly how they were apportioned or funded for this particular engagement). The fact of the matter is that this LRA mission is simply not a strain on the Pentagon's resources - at all. The reason we're not going in with a larger force is because it's questionable how effective it would be, and the repercussions could be quite significant, not because it's a low priority. Some veteran foreign policy wonks in the region have suggested that US military assistance of any sort may be counterproductive, though they obviously would also love to see Kony go.It's not a priority, and the amount of resources expended on this mission prove as much. What happens if Boko Haram steps up attacks in Nigeria and the government decides the 100 troops are better off there?
This has always been a high priority for the government; I don't see how an 'awareness' campaign will change anything whatsoever in policy... and if you're not changing policy, then what exactly does it mean to make it a higher priority? If this 'prioritization' doesn't change anything, what does it do?!The point of an awareness campaign is to make a given issue a higher priority for the government; it's not to change government policy. There is 0% chance that this campaign somehow leads to a large-scale military presence in Uganda/Congo.
Most charities I contribute to spend at least 85-90% of their budget on programs and only 10-15% on administrative/fundraising. There are much better NGOs doing similar work in the area.
Tells you everything you need to know about the Kony 2012 thing.
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
Mass Effect 3 ending. Incredibly awesome game.... WORST ending ever.
I take it you have not set foot at all into the multiplayer?
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
I just saw my neighbor's little girl throwing something (looked like a soda can) at her own house repeatedly, and then she aimed it at a window. The outer window pane has a big hole in it now.
Snitches sleep in ditches.
Hope is the denial of reality
By the by, that's just as awful as everyone thought it would be, right?
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson: American Founding Father, clairvoyant and seditious traitor.
The multiplayer is decent. It won't hold interest for too long - there's not very much variety, but it's still a decent add-on. It's the only part of the game I've played so far - there's still one DLC I need to do for Mass Effect 2 before I can start the single player.
I have not but that was never the appeal of Mass Effect.
Well, there's the explanation for the ending then. You didn't think that this "Galactic Readiness" thingie didn't matter, did'cha?
It's alright. Not earth-shattering, but alright. Save for the times where someone with the upstream bandwith of a 28K Modem tries to host a match.
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/banker...ry?id=15876507
Damn those investment bankers; not only do they ruin our economy, they threaten to blow up our children, too.
Hope is the denial of reality
Oh I get the idea of different endings... the problem is that they are ALL bad. After I beat the game I went on-line, its almost universal agreement the ending was a let down. Gaping plot holes. I won't go into it here but just google "mass effect 3 anger."
Even the "best" ending (which I watched on Youtube) makes absolutely no sense.
Don't get me wrong the game was fantastic. The ending though... just ugh.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
A week ago I got a call at home from someone from my wife-to-be's side of the family (He's married to her grandmothers sister), some how he found out that I used to dabble in web design. Now, no one can tell me how he found out but he asked if I was up for some work and if I wanted to go to his place to discuss. I initially told him I had not done it for over 8 years so I wouldn't be willing to take it on but he still wanted me over as he needed some advice on other sites he'd had people do for him.
So, last night I went to his with my other half. I went into the guys office and she stayed in the living room talking to her grandmothers sister. After 20mins I finally asked "What websites do you actually own?". He paused for a few seconds and said "Can you keep a secret?", obviously I said yes. He typed in a website and low and beyond - He runs a members owner bondage website. He hires pornstars/random women and records women tied up being teased by other women.
I've been with my other half for 7 years ..... she has NO IDEA he does this. In fact, only a small minority know about this in her family.
WTF!
So was he inviting you to help with his website or to be part of his website?
Hope is the denial of reality
Help with the website redevelopment ONLY. It needs an overhaul to be honest! It's not been visually updated since 2003 although it's update with 'content' on a weekly basis.So was he inviting you to help with his website or to be part of his website?
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