Watch this video: Sen. Inhofe props the bill on the Senate floor
If you still haven’t heard, on Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed unanimously the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. While the battle is far from over, this is a huge step towards getting this bill passed. Thanks to Senators like James Inhofe, who delivered this speech prior to the meeting, our efforts are starting to pay off. Keep up the good work, and we can definitely see this thing passed.
You Should Watch This Trailer
Our collective friends at Jedidiah and my personal one, Kahana has put together an amazing documentary on surfing in Bangladesh. If your in San Diego this Friday (11/20/09) at the Sunshine Brooks Theater at 8:00pm in Oceanside as a part of the California Surf Festival.
LP
HOMETOWN SHAKEDOWN is TODAY
THE HOMETOWN SHAKEDOWN IS ON
The Hometown Shakedown goes down TODAY. If you haven’t felt it yet, the Hometown Shakedown is on. You might want to grab on to something stable or get under a doorframe.
If you haven’t heard yet, the LRA Disarmament Bill passed its first big test yesterday. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee affirmed the bill unanimously, moving the bill one step closer to President Obama’s desk. This is a colossal pat on the back for all of our efforts, but the time for celebration is yet to come. We still have a lot of work to do.
Today, we’re visiting the offices of over 30 congressional representatives to tell them one thing: we need their support and co-sponsorship of the LRA Disarmament Bill. Across the nation, supporters like you will be swarming the hometown offices of several senators and representatives who are key authorities in the fate of the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.
Never before have we been this close to seeing landmark legislation passed regarding Joseph Kony’s ruthless charge.
For that reason, we need your help. If you’re reading this, go to WeWantObama.com, type in your zip code and find the info to call and email your representatives asking them to support the Bill. Then, visit www.invisiblechildren.com for up-to-date information on the Shakedown. All day, we’ll be giving you pictures, videos, and stories of the emerging developments, and streaming live, via Facebook, to keep you updated. Find out how you can lend your voice in support of this bill, and tell your representative how much their assistance means to you.
Click here to see a brand new video, featuring never-before-seen footage of Invisible Children’s recent interview with International Criminal Court lead prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. Hear what he has to say about why our role is so important in the pursuit of Joseph Kony, and how all of us are having an unprecedented effect on international efforts.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do, is try to attend one of the 30 most important meetings (see no. 1 below) shown in this link: MEETING LOCATIONS <– if you can drive, fly, or crawl to one of these… by all means do it.
Join us.
THE HOMETOWN SHAKEDOWN: Wednesday, November 18th, 2009.
1st step a success! This is huge. Read this!
“Dear all –
I just wanted to let you know the LRA Disarmament & Northern Uganda Recovery Act, S.1067, was passed unanimously this afternoon by Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a voice vote. We’ll be sending out a press release soon. This is a huge step forward to getting it past in the Senate and ultimately by all of Congress. Thanks for all your support and help thus far. The next step for us is ramping up the # of cosponsors so we can try to pass it through the whole Senate next month with unanimous consent.
All the best,
Senator Feingold’s office.”
Here is the press release:
SENATE COMMITTEE PASSES FEINGOLD BILL REQUIRING NEW STRATEGY TO CONFRONT THE LRA
Feingold’s Bipartisan Legislation Would Bring New Attention and Support to Ending Africa’s Longest Running Rebel War
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Washington, D.C. – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed bipartisan legislation today authored by U.S. Senator Russ Feingold and cosponsored by Sam Brownback (R-KS) requiring the Obama administration to develop a new multifaceted strategy to confront one of Africa’s longest running rebel groups, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). For more than two decades, under the leadership of Joseph Kony, the LRA has kidnapped more than 66,000 children and forced them to fight as child soldiers, wreaking havoc in northern Uganda and southern Sudan, and more recently, northeastern Congo and Central African Republic. Feingold’s bipartisan Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act requires the United States to work with multilateral partners to develop a viable path to disarm the LRA, while ensuring the protection of civilians.
“For too long, Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army have terrorized innocent civilians across four countries of central Africa, kidnapping thousands of children and forcing them to become child soldiers and commit horrific acts,” said Feingold, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, who visited Uganda in 2007. “My bill will commit the United States to develop a proactive strategy to work with regional governments to stop the LRA, while better targeting our assistance to address the conditions in northern Uganda that enabled the LRA to emerge in the first place. I will work with my colleagues to move this important piece of legislation through the Senate.”
“The LRA’s 30-year campaign of violence has scarred communities across central Africa, who have in turn been let down by their governments, the UN and the international donor community,” said Jon Elliott, Africa Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch. “This Bill offers an opportunity to put civilian protection where it should be, at the top of the agenda, and much-needed American leadership to finally bring Joseph Kony and his co-accused to justice. And it will hopefully ensure that victims receive the support and redress they need to rebuild their lives.”
Feingold’s bill authorizes $10 million in additional funding for humanitarian assistance for those areas outside of Uganda now directly affected by the LRA’s brutality. In this year alone, the UN reports that the LRA has killed more than 1,500 people, abducted over 1,800, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Central African Republic, Congo and southern Sudan. Feingold’s bill also authorizes $30 million over three years for transitional justice and reconciliation to encourage and help the Ugandan government to address the grievances and regional divisions that the LRA exploited for nearly two decades. The Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act is cosponsored by Sam Brownback (R-KS) and 25 other senators, including several members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Bill: What you need to know…
With LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009 now in Congress, much of our work here at Invisible Children is spent ensuring that this bill is passed. How do we do that? Making sure that the people of America know what it says, and why it is the best chance for peace. (we never thought we’d become law makers, but I guess this is what being a grown-up millennial looks like: keeping your converse sneakers on while you storm the White House)
Reading through legislation can be exhausting, and while we strongly encourage you to read over the full bill to educate yourselves and spread the news, we’ve pulled out some of the key points and pushes for the act.
Consider this our gift to you – no one else is going to give you Legislation Cliffsnotes.
Germany arrests top Rwanda rebels
Police in Germany have arrested two Rwandan militia leaders on suspicion of crimes committed in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ignace Murwanashyaka, the leader of the FDLR rebel group, and his aide Straton Musoni were held on suspicion of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
FDLR leaders fled to DR Congo after the Rwanda genocide in which some 800,000 people – mostly ethnic Tutsis – died. The FDLR’s presence in DR Congo has been at the heart of years of unrest. The arrests come as UN peacekeepers continue to help the Congolese army battle the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda).
The operation has been underway since January but the FDLR remains active.
Facts:
IGNACE MURWANASHYAKA
- Ethnic Hutu, aged 46
- Been in Germany since before Rwanda genocide
- Denies charges his men are linked to genocide
- Says fighting for democracy in Rwanda
- Commands 5-6,000 men
- FDLR said to smuggle gold from DR Congo to buy weapons
- Accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity
- Accused of killings, rape, looting and conscripting child soldiers in DR Congo
- The FDLR is accused of funding its arms purchases by smuggling gold and other minerals from areas it controls in the North and South Kivu provinces, just across the border from Rwanda.
Mr Murwanaskyaka, 46, was arrested in the city of Karlsruhe, while 48-year-old Mr Musoni was held in the Stuttgart area, German prosecutors said in a statement. The statement said that the pair were the leader and deputy leader of the FDLR.
“The accused are strongly suspected, as members of the foreign terrorist organisation FDLR, of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes,” it said. It added that “FDLR militias are believed to have killed several hundred civilians, raped numerous women, plundered and burned countless villages, forcing villagers from their homes and recruiting numerous children as soldiers”.
Lobby group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has welcomed the arrests. “Our research clearly indicates that Mr Murwanashyaka has a powerful influence over the FDLR militia who have deliberately targeted and killed hundreds of civilians in eastern Congo and that he is directly linked to the crimes,” said HRW DR Congo expert Anneke Van Woudenberg. “Mr Murwanashyaka’s arrest on war crimes and crimes against humanity is a welcome step to bringing justice for these brutal crimes,” she added.
Mr Murwanashyaka, an ethnic Hutu, has lived in Germany since before the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He has always denied that his men, believed to number 5-6,000, were involved in the genocide and says they are fighting to bring democracy to Rwanda.
He was among 15 people whose assets were frozen by the Security Council in 2005 on suspicion of involvement in war crimes in Rwanda or DR Congo.
EYEWITNESS:
Mark Doyle, BBC News
“There is no doubt that Ignace Murwanashyaka has had direct command and control over some of the illegal mining activities of Rwandan rebels operating in eastern DR Congo. I know, because when I travelled in the area earlier this year with a BBC team, it was he who gave us permission to enter the rebel mining strongholds in the South Kivu region. I had sought permission from rebel officers on the ground. All of these officers declined to give us permission to enter their area until Mr Murwanashyaka agreed. It was a public relations gaffe on the rebels’ part, however, because we managed to prove, despite rebel denials, that they were deeply involved in illegal mineral mining.”
The FDLR’s presence in eastern DR Congo has led to years of fighting in the region, and Rwanda’s Tutsi-dominated government has twice invaded, saying it is trying to wipe them out.
Some FDLR leaders have been accused of involvement in the Rwandan genocide.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8364507.stm
Published: 2009/11/17 17:52:32 GMT
Vote for mtvU’s GoodWoodie awards, namely… Jamie.
Head over to mtvU’s website to vote in the category of “Good Woodie,” the award that honors the musician or social justice activist who’s done amazing work in 2009. This year’s nominees include Alicia Keys, Wyclef Jean and Jaime Tworkowski (from To Write Love on Her Arms). Jamie and TWLOHA are friends of Invisible Children and working to bring awareness and hope to people suffering from depression, self injury, and addiction. Get voting now …
Jamie.
Biz groups oppose ban on goods made by children and slaves
Here is a story from Change.org about businesses opposing a legislative ban on products made by children and slaves. God bless the free market.
from Amanda Kloer at Change.org:
Rachel Maddow’s choice of “you child labor-endorsing, pro-slavery freaks” to describe business groups’ opposition to a bill that would ban the import of goods made by child labor or slave labor was pretty apt. However, I personally would describe the move as the most stunning display of corporate douchebaggery since Walmart’s “dead peasant’s insurance” fiasco. According to a recent report from Inside U.S. Trade, business interest groups are “worried” that a legislative ban on goods made by children and slaves could prompt the government to more actively seek out and identify consumer goods made by exploited people. And if we started doing that, well then businesses might have to start giving workers their rights, paying them a living wage, not abusing children, and freeing their indentured slaves. And then where would we be?
Here’s Maddow’s analysis (the relevant part of the video starts about 3:30 in):
My colleague (and frequent guest poster) Tim Newman also has a great analysis of the history of legislative attempt to ban goods made with child and slave labor here. Last year, the International Labor Rights Forum took Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland to task for trying to block a voluntary child labor free certification initiative in the Farm Bill. The initiative passed, despite the lobbying of interest groups. History shows that despite the powerful corporate lobby, grassroots activists can be just as powerful a voice for children and workers as high ticket lobbyists can be for corporations.
Remembering our friend Robert Stone
What I am Editing to
Unbelievable jam by the Dirty Projectors
Awesome mash up by WALE, he is going to be huge
LP
myparentswereawesome.com
This stuff makes my eyes water. This blog is dedicated to the epicness of our parents when they were younger.
http://myparentswereawesome.tumblr.com
The above picture is my grandmother (age 20) and my grandfather (24). Enjoy. And send in your own pics if you have them.
- JJ
Make room Bill and Warren.. because I’m poor and awesome
At IC, close to 80% of our funding comes from donations of $20 or less. It is a tough road, but it has given us a flexibility and democratic freedom that most non-profits don’t enjoy. We may eat cardboard and ramen noodles, but we’re still here kickin’ ace. Here is a NYTimes article about the new growth of small donors.
New Fame for the Everyday Donor
AFTER years in the shadows, the everyday donor is emerging as philanthropy’s newest hero, the driver of a more down-to-earth approach to charity. Sure, Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett, Bono and other celebrity mega-donors still have their place, but now high-profile charities are homing in on smaller donations, while new charities are being organized around the principle of modest giving.
“This is one of those all-hands-on-deck moments where we absolutely need to engage everyone, whether they are able to give 50 cents or $50 million,” said David Saltzman, executive director of the Robin Hood Foundation, famous for annual benefits where billionaires routinely hand over $20 million.
Americans have always been generous givers, and small donations have always played their part. After a tsunami devastated parts of southeast Asia in 2004, individuals in the United States donated $2.78 billion of the $6.2 billion raised for relief efforts — and the median gift was $50, the average gift $135. Yet multimillion gifts and lavish campaigns and events often commandeered the spotlight and the press coverage.
“We are deluded by the attention paid to the large contributors in our country,” said Wendy Smith, author of “Give A Little: How Your Small Donations Can Transform the World.”
“Small checks coming through the mail are the bread and butter for most organizations.”
How the internet ruined everything: Newspapers, Books, Movies, Music
by Daniel Lyons, NEWSWEEK
The past decade is the era in which the Internet ruined everything. Just look at the industries that have been damaged by the rise of the Web: Newspapers. Magazines. Books. TV. Movies. Music. Retailers of almost any kind, from cars to real estate. Telecommunications. Airlines and hotels. Wherever companies relied on advertising to make money, wherever companies were profiting by a lack of transparency or a lack of competition, wherever friction could be polished out of the system, those industries suffered.
Remember all that crazy talk in the early days about how the Internet was going to change everything and usher us into a brave new techno-utopia? Well, to get to that promised land, we first have to endure a period of what economist Joseph Schumpeter called “creative destruction,” as the Internet crashes like a tsunami across entire industries, sweeping away the old and infirm and those who are unwilling or unable to change. That’s where we’ve been these past 10 years, and it’s been ugly.
Let’s start with newspapers. You wouldn’t think that in an information age the biggest victim would be purveyors of information. But there you go. Newspapers are getting wiped out in part because they didn’t realize they were in the information business—they thought their business was about putting ink onto paper and then physically distributing those stacks of paper with fleets of trucks and delivery people. Papers were slow to move to the Web. For a while they just sort of shuffled around, hoping it would go away. Even when they did launch Web sites, many did so reluctantly, almost grudgingly. It’s hard to believe that news companies could miss this shift. These companies are in the business of spotting what’s new, right? Yet they were blind to the biggest change (and the biggest opportunity) to ever hit their own business. Watching newspapers go out of business because of the Internet is like watching dairies going out of business because customers started wanting their milk in paper cartons instead of glass bottles.
Newspapers are getting wiped out because the Internet robbed them of their mini-monopolies. For decades they had virtually no competition, and so could charge ridiculous amounts of money for things like tiny classified ads. This, we are told by people who are wringing their hands over the demise of newspapers, was somehow a good thing. Good or no, it’s gone, thanks to Craigslist, which came along and provided the same service at no charge. Whoops.
(more…)
Invisible Children presents: The Legacy Fund
We are launching our new program that invites you to join the cause in specific ways. The Legacy Fund. We have a series of videos that explain the ways you can help. Today is our second: sponsor a Mentor in Uganda. Watch the video, and check us out tomorrow for the next release.
The Legacy Fund: What will be your legacy?
We are launching our new program that invites you to join the cause in specific ways. The Legacy Fund. We have a series of videos that explain the ways you can help. Today is our first: the Visible Child Scholarship Program. Watch the video, and check us out tomorrow for the next release.
What will be your legacy?
Good intentions are not going to cut it
Director/Filmmaker Tori Hogan created a ten part series investigating the effectiveness of international aid. The one on Religious aid is my favorite. Check them out by clicking the play button.
- Laren
Switchfoot lyrics are better than yours
Switchfoot’s new cd Hello Hurricane just came out, and we are soaking in it here at the office. These guys have blessed us with their support over the years (which is just crazy because we’ve been major fans since before IC existed), and their new CD is rich in depth and art. Foreman’s lyrics are ache-inducing. I think I heard somewhere that he said, ‘if a song isn’t worth crying over, it’s not going on this record.’ That is a high bar to set, but the truth he sews into his music is hard to argue with, and hard for your deeper self to dodge. Listen with caution, and hearts wide open.
- JJ.
Red Eyes, by Switchfoot:
what are you waiting for,
the day is gone?
I said I’m waiting for dawn
what are you aiming for
out here alone?
I said I’m aiming for home
holding on, holding on
with red eyes
What are you looking for?
all of my days are spent
within this skin
within this cage that I’m in
nowhere feels safe to me
nowhere feels home
even in crowds I’m alone
holding on
every now and then I see you dreaming
every now and then I see you cry
every now and then I see you reaching,
reaching for the other side
what are you waiting for?
Everyone is clueless
Everyone is clueless
The problem with “everyone” is that in order to reach everyone or teach everyone or sell to everyone, you need to so water down what you’ve got you end up with almost nothing.
Everyone doesn’t go to the chiropractor, everyone doesn’t give to charity, everyone has never been to Starbucks. Everyone, in fact, lives a decade behind the times and needs hundreds of impressions and lots of direct experience before they realize something is going on.
You don’t want everyone. You want the right someone.
Someone who cares about what you do. Someone who will make a contribution that matters. Someone who will spread the word.
As soon as you start focusing on finding the right someone, things get better, fast. That’s because you can ignore everyone and settle in and focus on the people you actually want.
Here’s a video that David sent over. I am thrilled at how much this guy loves his job, and I’m inspired by his story of how he turned down Pepsi as a vendor. He turned them down. But everyone wants Pepsi! Exactly. Once he decided he wanted someone, not everyone, his life got a lot better.
- Seth Godin. follow his marketing blog here.
A moment for pop culture: You win, Gaga
I know we’re trying to end a war over here, but sometimes we have to pause and appreciate pure crazy. And I don’t mean crazy in a bad way, I mean crazy in a ‘maybe she’s a genius’ way. I’m frightened. I’m intrigued. I’ve wanted to hate her, and God knows I’ve tried.
Then she wore a polar bear for a cape. And I was like… where do I sign??
LRA Bill goes before committee NEXT Tuesday the 17th!
***Update: SFRC meeting in which the LRA/Uganda bill was going to be voted on has been pushed back until next Tuesday. Tomorrow’s meeting time conflicted with a memorial service for some of the Ft. Hood shooting victims.
Back to the main story:
I have some exciting news to share. Because your lobbying during How It Ends in June has created so much Congressional support for the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act (have you seen the latest? 26 Senators and 123 Representatives are cosponsors!), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be taking it up for consideration this Tuesday, November 17th.
In a word, this is HUGE. Once the committee passes the bill, it can be scheduled for a vote by the entire Senate. We only have a short window of opportunity to get this bill passed with this session of Congress, so time is of the essence.
To see if your Congressional Representatives have already signed on to the bill, visit WeWantObama.com. If they have not, this is a darn good reason to get in touch with them and tell them you support this legislation- and they should too.
And on November 18th, it’s all hands on deck as we lobby our elected officials online and in person. Mark your calendars and make a plan to visit your representatives’ local offices, as well as call and email them, asking them to co-sponsor this bill and help get it passed this year.
WeWantObama.com has everything you need to know, including representatives’ contact information and local office locations.
Let’s hang out Monday in London. No need to commute.
Man, we love London.
We’re there once again this Monday for the Legatum Institute’s Next Generation Philanthropy Forum. It’s a sweet opportunity for the leaders of several major international organizations to get together and discuss how the world’s youth is influencing the spectrum of social conscience. Yeah, that’s you. Both Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey and VP of International Development Ben Thomson were asked to participate in the various panels taking place throughout the day. We’re grateful to have been considered for this first-rate honor, and look forward to hearing from the directors of some pretty impressive groups. Our generation is taking charity to a new level — this conference is a perfect example of that.
Hey, don’t worry. Of course we’re not leaving you out. The entire conference will be streamed live over the internet, so we’d love you to tune in. You know we want you there. For you Tweeters, comments and questions can be submitted by Twitter at any point during the live feed.
The conference will be held from 09.00-18.00 GMT. DC is 5 hours earlier, California 8 hours earlier. Ben Thomson will be speaking on a panel entitled New business approaches to philanthropy from 11.15-12.45, while Ben Keesey will speak on Advocacy and philanthropy through new media from 16.30-18.00. We know, that’s a lot of Bens.
For a complete schedule of the panels offered and for more information on the forum, visit the Legatum Institute’s website, LI.com.
To view the live feed, click here.
Follow Legatum on Twitter at www.twitter.com/legatum
Questions/comments can be submitted at #linextgen
We love this kid so much we could… shake his hand
I dont think we want to encourage this sort of behavior, but if every kid in America raises $11 for Invisible Children by sticking his or her head in the can, what do we get – other than a possible epidemic? A lot of money.
You win, good sir. Take your… throne.
What’s classier than the Stay Classy Awards? Nothing.
We’ve been recently nominated for several Classy Awards, including “Charity of the Year” and “Most Popular Cause Awareness Campaign” for The Rescue. The event is this Saturday, November 7, and if you’re in or around San Diego, we think you should attend. It looks like it’s going to be a pretty kickin’ time.
But, in the meantime, we need your votes. Don’t worry, we’re not going to assault you with a tireless 10-month campaign, full of mudslinging, lobbying, and endless empty commentary from the pundits. This ain’t that kind of thing. You know how we roll. So get your people to vote. We’d love to win this one, but it’s just great to be considered among several ace causes.
Invisible Children NYC Exhibit: From Darkness to Sight
An Invisible Children experience of what life is like for an invisible child soldier in Africa’s longest-running war.
This first ever Invisible Children exhibition will feature a collaboration of photographic work, sculptural installations, along with media by Invisible Children, Inc. founders Jason Russell, Laren Poole and Bobby Bailey.
From Darkness to Sight is an experiential narrative of Invisible Children’s story; from the initial trip to Uganda and the founders’ discovery of the night commuters, to the creation of a powerful youth movement that is not only changing lives, but also ending a war.
The exhibition is showing at the PARC Foundation Gallery from Wednesday, November 4th through Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009. Check out the PARC Foundation website soon for more information.
PARC Foundation Gallery
29 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012
www.theparcfoundation.org