There’s been a lot of controversy over Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 video, with many scrutinizing the financials of the non-profit organization, and pointing out that Joseph Kony’s army and power have already been drastically diminished (i.e. there are probably bigger international war criminal fish to fry) but a definitely positive thing has happened from the viral video phenomenon: millions of people have a greater awareness, and emotional connection to atrocities that go on in the wider world. Being more aware of the world outside your community, and your country, and being open to understanding the complexities of being citizens of the world is always a good thing. Another lesson we can learn from this debacle, we should investigate any charity before we support them on social media, and definitely before we donate any money to them. On the same note, we should investigate before we jump on the bandwagon when people start shouting that a charity is a scam. There are always flaws in the catch phrases of both sides of a story.
Anyway, regardless of how you feel, or what you think about Invisible Children, this happened: the guy behind the Kony 2012 video, Jason Russell, was arrested yesterday in San Diego for drunkenly masturbating in public. He was then hospitalized for “exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition.”
This translates as: This dude has been doing nothing but drinking and literally jerking himself off over his video getting almost 79 million YouTube views, and being on the lips of almost every celebrity and news anchor in the country. He’s forsaken sleeping and eating to keep his celebration going!
Or, as Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey puts it:
“He is now receiving medical care and is focused on getting better. The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday.”
Yesterday San Diego police received several calls around 11:30 A.M. about a man dancing in his underwear at the Intersection of Ingraham and Riviera. He eventually removed his underwear, and started playing with himself. After he was arrested, cops found him to be under the influence, and sent him to a medical facility to get treated.
Here’s footage of the guy (via TMZ):
