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Reykjavic, Iceland. Photo: srikanth_jandy/Flickr
The Icelandic partner of Visa and MasterCard violated contract laws when it imposed a block against credit card donations to the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks, a district court there has ruled.
The Reykjavík District Court ruled that Valitor, which handles Visa and MasterCard payments in Iceland, was in the wrong when it prevented card holders from donating funds to the site. The court ruled that the block should be removed within 14 days or Valitor will be fined the equivalent of about $6,000 a day.
WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told the Associated Press that it was “a small but very important step in fighting back against these powerful banks.” He said other lawsuits are ongoing in Denmark and Belgium.
Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Bank of America and other U.S. financial institutions began to block donations to WikiLeaks in 2010 after the controversial site began publishing more than 250,000 U.S. State Department cables that the group allegedly received from former Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning. The financial services cited violations of their “terms of service” agreements as the reason for blocking the donations.
The U.S. State Department called the publication of the 250,000 diplomatic cables “illegal,” but no charges have been filed against the site. Publishing government documents, even classified ones, is not explicitly illegal in the United States, though it is in the United Kingdom.
WikiLeaks and its credit card processor, DataCell, sued Valitor in Iceland over the shutdown.
WikiLeaks and DataCell also filed a complaint with the European Commission. The Commission is expected to make a decision about what to do before the end of August, according to a statement from WikiLeaks.
“This is a significant victory against Washington’s attempt to silence WikiLeaks,” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in a statement about the win in Iceland. “We will not be silenced. Economic censorship is censorship. It is wrong. When it’s done outside of the rule of law it’s doubly wrong. One by one those involved in the attempted censorship of WikiLeaks will find themselves on the wrong side of history.”
The Associated Press reports that Valitor can appeal the decision, but even if it chooses to comply with the judgment, it’s not clear that Visa or MasterCard will still allow customers to make donations to DataCell or WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks received $1.9 million in donations in 2010 but last year announced it was halting publication of documents due to claims that it was running short on funds. The site resumed publication of documents this month when it began publishing more than 2 million emails stolen from Syrian officials, government ministries and companies. Members of an Anonymous group have claimed responsibility for stealing the emails and giving them to Wikileaks.
The news of the untimely death of Eva Rausing is devastating to all who knew and worked with her. Eva was much admired for the very personal commitment shared with her husband Hans in supporting a number of charitable causes, including several organisations in the addiction field. While writing about Eva, it is impossible to separate her contribution from that of her husband’s, which must be borne in mind. They were a team.
The wonderful thing for this charity, Action on Addiction, and I suspect others that she supported, is that the Rausings were so encouraging – and in ways that allowed us to focus on the needs of our beneficiaries. In a world where political, ideological and funding pressures can throw a charity off course, that is indeed a great boon.
Theirs has been both a deeply interested approach but one that was also completely hands-off. They fully appreciated the struggles that charities face to sustain their work and independence of mind and never used their generosity to determine the direction we should take. Once they were convinced of the value of the initiative or programme that was presented to them, their support was wholehearted and consistent.
Their interest in the effect of the work on the lives of real people was particularly striking. That might be directly through delivery of treatment and rehabilitation or support for families, or indirectly through training people to work as addictions counsellors to a much higher standard. This explains why the Rausings so loved the fund they helped us to establish, which helped people who could not afford the treatment we offered or could not gain access through the state system. They derived immense pleasure from the letters of gratitude we passed on to them from people who had benefited from the scheme: people from all manner of backgrounds who never knew who their benefactors were.
Sometimes philanthropy is grandly bestowed with public fanfare. Never in the Rausings’ case. Theirs was quietly and modestly given, never wanting the spotlight to fall on them, but on the work. That is why they would not like us to talk about precise amounts given, large though they have been. On several occasions after generous grants, say, for a building like that in Warminster in which the Centre for Addiction Treatment Studies was established, I inquired whether, to show our gratitude publicly, we could name the building after them, the answer was always the same: no thank you.
I hadn’t personally seen Eva for many years but I remember well the time when she was a trustee of Clouds, one of the charities that merged in 2007 to become the new version of Action on Addiction. She was easy to work with. I was impressed with how seriously she took the role. Though quiet, she was clearly intelligent, good-humoured, sharp-witted and very conscientious where her duties as a trustee were concerned.
Inevitably, Eva’s death draws attention to addiction and not just because of her philanthropy. If any good is to come from the tragedy, it is perhaps that we may take another step towards a rational discussion of addiction. Prurient sensationalising and trivialising of this destructive condition does nobody any good. Maybe it will help us realise that as human beings we are all potentially susceptible to the grip of an addiction. Maybe it will help lessen the harmful power of the stigma of addiction.
But we can still celebrate a wonderful legacy. Eva helped make a real difference to the lives of many suffering people from all walks of life both in the UK and abroad. One can only admire and say thank you.
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SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Fifth
National CONFERence on Behavioral Health for Women and Girls will
bring together leaders in the mental health field to participate in a
dialogue about behavioral health issues and substance abuse prevention,
treatment and recovery for women and girls. Co-sponsored by Mental
Health Systems (MHS), the conference theme is “It’s All About HERR:
Health, Empowerment, Resilience and Recovery.” The event will be held
from July 17-19 at the San Diego Marriott Marquis, 333 West Harbor
Drive, San Diego, CA 92101.
MHS is a San Diego-based non-profit agency that operates community-based
mental health and substance abuse rehabilitation programs. MHS programs
deliver direct treatment to those in need, and beyond that, the
organization’s outreach marketing and advocacy raises awareness of
treatment options.
“We are proud to participate in this important conference that puts the
focus on women and girls,” said MHS President/CEO Kimberly Bond, MFT.
“Through presentations and workshops, leading behavioral health experts
from around the country, including MHS and other organizations, will
address important topics and present solutions to help forge a path to
mental wellness for women and girls, their families and communities.”
The conference topics are among the most diverse and relevant in the
field of mental health and substance abuse. They include, among others:
prevention and community; interventions; trauma and violence; recovery
supports; children and families; justice-involved women; adolescent
girls; female veterans and military families; and workforce/workplace
issues.
Ms. Bond will be among the speakers at a July 18th plenary
session “Health, Empowerment, Resilience and Recovery Occur in the
Context of Women’s Lives.” In keeping with the SAMHSA conference’s
educational goals, such sessions, like the workshops and presentations,
are designed to:
For more information on the Fifth National CONFERence on Behavioral
Health for Women and Girls, visit the conference webpage at: www.samhsawomensconference.org.
About SAMHSA
SAMHSA is a public health agency within the Department of Health and
Human Services. Its mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse
and mental illness on America’s communities.
About Mental Health Systems
Mental Health Systems is a non-profit organization dedicated to
improving lives in the communities they serve through mental health and
substance abuse programs that provide prevention, education, treatment,
and recovery services. The agency operates more than 90 programs in 70
geographic locations in California. To learn more about Mental Health
Systems, please visit www.mhsinc.org.
WASHINGTON
Getting older doesn’t just mean a risk for physical ailments like heart disease and bum knees: A new report finds as many as 1 in 5 seniors has a mental health or substance abuse problem.
And as the population rapidly ages over the next two decades, millions of baby boomers may have a hard time finding care and services for mental health problems such as depression — because the nation is woefully lacking in doctors, nurses and other health workers trained for their special needs, the Institute of Medicine said Tuesday.
Instead, the country is focused mostly on preparing for the physical health needs of what’s been called the silver tsunami.
“The burden of mental illness and substance abuse disorders in older adults in the United States borders on a crisis,” wrote Dr. Dan Blazer of Duke University, who chaired the Institute of Medicine panel that investigated the issue. “Yet this crisis is largely hidden from the public and many of those who develop policy and programs to care for older people.”
Already, at least 5.6 million to 8 million Americans age 65 and older have a mental health condition or substance abuse disorder, the report found — calling that a conservative estimate that doesn’t include a number of disorders. Depressive disorders and psychiatric symptoms related to dementia are the most common.
While the panel couldn’t make precise projections, those numbers are sure to grow as the number of seniors nearly doubles by 2030, said report co-author Dr. Peter Rabins, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University. How much substance abuse treatment for seniors will be needed is a particular question, as rates of illegal drug use are higher in boomers currently in their 50s than in previous generations.
Mental health experts welcomed the report.
“This is a wake-up call for many reasons,” said Dr. Ken Duckworth of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The coming need for geriatric mental health care “is quite profound for us as a nation, and something we need to attend to urgently,” he said.
Merely getting older doesn’t make mental health problems more likely to occur, Rabins said, noting that middle age is the most common time for onset of depression.
But when they do occur in older adults, the report found that they’re too often overlooked and tend to be more complex. Among the reasons:
• People over 65 almost always have physical health problems at the same time that can mask or distract from the mental health needs. The physical illnesses, and medications used for them, also can complicate treatment. For example, up to a third of people who require long-term steroid treatment develop mood problems that may require someone knowledgeable about both the medical and mental health issues to determine whether it’s best to cut back the steroids or add an antidepressant, Rabins said.
On the other side, older adults with untreated depression are less likely to have their diabetes, high blood pressure and other physical conditions under control — and consequently wind up costing a lot more to treat.
• Age alters how people’s bodies metabolize alcohol and drugs, including prescription drugs. That can increase the risk of dangerous overdoses, and worsen or even trigger substance abuse problems.
• Grief is common in old age as spouses, other relatives and friends die. It may be difficult to distinguish between grief and major depression.
That also means a loss of the support systems that earlier in life could have helped people better recover from a mental health problem, said Dr. Paul D.S. Kirwin, president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Adding stress may be loss of a professional identity with retirement, and the role reversal that happens when children start taking care of older parents.
“There’ll never be enough geriatric psychiatrists or geriatric medicine specialists to take care of this huge wave of people that are aging,” Kirwin said.
The Institute of Medicine report recognizes that. It says all health workers who see older patients — including primary care physicians, nurses, physicians’ assistants and social workers — need some training to recognize the signs of geriatric mental health problems and provide at least basic care. To get there, it called for changes in how Medicare and Medicaid pay for mental health services, stricter licensing requirements for health workers, and for the government to fund appropriate training programs.
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Muralist replaces Sandusky image
The school was thrust into the national spotlight with accusations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted last month on 45 of 48 counts related to sexual abuse of boys. The scandal’s fallout included the firings of legendary football coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham Spanier.
“So many alumni were ready to contribute this year,” La Torre said, “which is proof enough our family our alumni family is there when we need them.”
A total of 191,712 supporters donated 323,271 gifts that have put the school ahead of schedule to reach its $2 billion fundraising goal by June 2014 for its “For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students” campaign. Since the effort began in January of 2007, $1.6 billion has been raised.
“Fundraising is always challenging,” La Torre said. But, he said, those seeking donations didn’t go about it any differently even in light of the highly publicized scandal and an economic downturn.
Painful chapter closes with Sandusky conviction
“We knew people were going to ask questions and want answers,” he said. “The philosophy of Penn State has been to listen and give answers to the best of our ability.”
La Torre said anyone donating to the university has a right to specify what the money goes for.
Charitable organizations survive primarily from the donations they receive from organizations and individuals. For most charities, the holidays, and especially in December during the Christmas holiday, are among the most active from a donation perspective. This leaves roughly eleven months to get creative and find other ways to make money, aside from simply relying on the generosity of others. Below are five important avenues for charities to bring in money and make their donated dollars stretch further.
SEE: 6 Ways To Volunteer During The Holidays
Volunteerism
Donations bring in needed revenues, but charities can make them stretch even further by relying on the generous time individuals are able to donate to their favorite cause. There are even nonprofit organizations that exist to help other charities maximize their army of volunteers. The majority of charities rely mainly on volunteers to help them run, and people can volunteer in many great ways. One estimate put the total of American volunteers at 63.4 million in 2009, meaning that nearly a quarter of the population donated their time during the year. The monetary value to a charity stood at just over $20 per hour and saves quite a bit of funds that can go to their worthy underlying cause.
Gala Events
Many charities hold a gala event each year to help raise funds. The events can be quite costly to organize and run, but can bring in some of the biggest funds of the year. One organization that funds cancer research announced it raised more than $2 million during its fundraising gala at the end of 2011. It put its attendance at a couple of hundred people through a mix of wealthy donors, corporations that sponsored the event or individual tables, as well as numerous other individuals interested in the cause. Silent and live auctions of travel events, products and other services donated by businesses also bring in revenue during these events.
SEE: People Who Benefit The Most From Volunteering
Product Sales
Selling a product can be one of the more tangible ways for charities and other nonprofit organizations to raise funds. The annual sale of Girl Scout cookies and Boy Scout popcorn are two of the highest profile product examples, with the former bringing in an estimated $714 million in 2010. This was estimated at 20 times its annual membership revenue and easily brought in the most funds for the organization during the year. It has been a lucrative revenue area for the Girl Scouts since the early 1900s, when the first cookies were said to have been sold.
Events and Performances
Gala events certainly qualify as important charitable events that can bring in donations. Other events and performances also result in revenue. Obviously, organizations in the performing arts have a leg up in this category and can present concerts, dance performances, and music recitals to help support the arts. Other events can include telethons, such as those that public radio and television organizations hold to secure operating funds.
SEE: Pros And Cons Of Volunteering In Your Career Field
Publicity
Spending money is thought to be a vital way to eventually make money. Advertising and publicity can increase a charity’s reach and awareness among potential donors. As with volunteerism, it isn’t a specific revenue generator, but can lead to giving and related revenue, such as gala attendance or product sales. A celebrity endorsement can have a huge impact. Animal rights organization PETA lists over 113 celebrities on its website, many of whom are famous, which undoubtedly helps to build awareness for the cause and attracts much-needed donation dollars.
The Bottom Line
There are many ways an organization can make money, and charitable organizations are some of the best at generating revenue. From product sales to events, charities can make revenue from many sources. Furthermore, with volunteers helping them out for free, margins are even better for these non-profits.
Original story – The Many Ways Charities Make Money
Copyright (c) 2012 Investopedia US. All rights reserved. Investopedia.com is a division of ValueClick, Inc.
(AP) WASHINGTON – Getting older does not just mean a risk for physical ailments like heart disease and creaky knees: A new report finds as many as 1 in 5 American seniors has a mental health or substance abuse problem.
And as the population rapidly ages over the next two decades, millions of baby boomers may have a hard time finding care and services for mental health problems such as depression – because the nation is woefully lacking in doctors, nurses and other health workers trained for their special needs, the Institute of Medicine said Tuesday.
Instead, the country is focused mostly on preparing for the physical health needs of what has been called the silver tsunami.
“The burden of mental illness and substance abuse disorders in older adults in the United States borders on a crisis,” wrote Dr. Dan Blazer of Duke University, who chaired the Institute of Medicine panel that investigated the issue. “Yet this crisis is largely hidden from the public and many of those who develop policy and programs to care for older people.”
Already, at least 5.6 million to 8 million Americans age 65 and older have a mental health condition or substance abuse disorder, the report found – calling that a conservative estimate that does not include a number of disorders. Depressive disorders and psychiatric symptoms related to dementia are the most common.
Baby boomers becoming more obese, could result in high Medicare costs
While the panel could not make precise projections, those numbers are sure to grow as the number of seniors nearly doubles by 2030, said report co-author Dr. Peter Rabins, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University. How much substance abuse treatment for seniors will be needed is a particular question, as rates of illegal drug use are higher in people currently in their 50s than in previous generations.
Mental health experts welcomed the report.
“This is a wake-up call for many reasons,” said Dr. Ken Duckworth of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The coming need for geriatric mental health care “is quite profound for us as a nation, and something we need to attend to urgently,” he said.
Merely getting older does not make mental health problems more likely to occur, Rabins said, noting that middle age is the most common time for onset of depression.
But when they do occur in older adults, the report found that they are too often overlooked and tend to be more complex. Among the reasons:
-People over 65 almost always have physical health problems at the same time that can mask or distract from the mental health needs. The physical illnesses, and medications used for them, also can complicate treatment. For example, up to a third of people who require long-term steroid treatment develop mood problems that may require someone knowledgeable about both the medical and mental health issues to determine whether it is best to cut back the steroids or add an antidepressant, Rabins said.
On the other side, older adults with untreated depression are less likely to have their diabetes, high blood pressure and other physical conditions under control – and consequently wind up costing a lot more to treat.
-Age alters how people’s bodies metabolize alcohol and drugs, including prescription drugs. That can increase the risk of dangerous overdoses, and worsen or even trigger substance abuse problems.
-Grief is common in old age as spouses, other relatives and friends die. It may be difficult to distinguish between grief and major depression.
That also means a loss of the support systems that earlier in life could have helped people better recover from a mental health problem, said Dr. Paul D.S. Kirwin, president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Adding stress may be loss of a professional identity with retirement, and the role reversal that happens when children start taking care of older parents.
“There’ll never be enough geriatric psychiatrists or geriatric medicine specialists to take care of this huge wave of people that are aging,” Kirwin said.
The Institute of Medicine report recognizes that. It says all health workers who see older patients – including primary care physicians, nurses, physicians’ assistants and social workers – need some training to recognize the signs of geriatric mental health problems and provide at least basic care. To get there, it called for changes in how Medicare and Medicaid pay for mental health services, stricter licensing requirements for health workers, and for the government to fund appropriate training programs.
Redesigning services for the mentally ill and intellectually disabled is a complex issue. I have lived and worked with disabled people my entire life. I am passionate about serving their needs.
Iowa counties are responsible for the care of and/or services for citizens who have no other source of payment for mental health services. Counties also are responsible for case management of all people receiving these services regardless of the source of payment. In Woodbury County that adds up to 1,500 to 2,000 people. Services range from complete 24-hour care to support services that allow a person to remain in society. A variety of services fall within this range.
In the current system, care and services have specific funding sources. Now the system is undergoing a redesign which will change some funding sources. The Department of Human Services (DHS) will define the finer points of the law later this year. However, at this point we do not know how those changes will affect Woodbury County citizens. This uncertainty causes considerable stress as we try to determine how people will continue to receive necessary services.
Woodbury County is a member of the 11-county Northwest Iowa Negotiations Consortium which meets on a regular basis in Primghar. I serve as chair. The 12-year-old consortium negotiates annually with providers who serve our citizens. Negotiations provide uniform charges for citizens in all 11 counties. Providers are required to use the same accounting format so that charges can be compared to others across the state. Sixty-five to 70 Iowa counties now use this accounting procedure. Last summer, the consortium presented a white paper on its functions to the Iowa Legislature as a model for regions implementing redesigns.
I recently was quoted as saying, “Most of them (legislators) didn’t have a clue what they were voting on.” I was referring to development of new DHS rules and a 35-percent increase in “county tax asking” to the mental health fund. Further, I was speaking only for myself, not the full Woodbury County Board of Supervisors.
Legislators who developed the redesign bill initially said the state of Iowa would take all services from the counties and provide services through a regional approach. They passed a bill which ends the counties’ ability to tax for mental health, beginning in 2013. However, they soon learned this change was too much to take on. They left a portion of the services with the counties and reinstated the taxing authority which they now have increased to pay for services. In January, the Legislature will discuss “back-filling” some funds at the county level to ensure services remain at appropriate levels.
All legislators in Woodbury County and many in the consortium counties voted against the redesign bill. Why? Because too many questions remained about how services will be maintained or improved. Some are opposed to redesigning the system. I felt the vote was to not stop redesign.
More questions relate to programs not mandated by the state of Iowa. For years, Woodbury County has used such programs for people with mental illness and addictions who are in our jail. These programs work thanks to a very cooperative system, including judges, attorneys, law enforcement officials and a community willing to make them work. In January of 2005 we discussed construction of a new jail at a cost of $30 to $70 million. There is no need for a new jail.
Woodbury County provides funding for the “Safe Schools” program which serves, with parental permission, children who have difficulties. Issues not dealt with in childhood may become mental illnesses in adulthood. Several other programs are included in this category. They may not be funded under the redesign. We need to know up front where these programs stand. How will people of Woodbury County be affected? I take my responsibility for serving them very seriously. Yet, I also see change as an opportunity to improve the system. I see the advantages of Woodbury County being part of a larger region. DHS has told us that opting out of a region will be very difficult.
Those we serve must come first. Redesigning a system should fit their needs. Charging into a redesign without more information is very stressful. Determining what the county will do will be a board action, not a staff action, and that outcome is not known at this time.
Redesign has caused high anxiety among parents, clients, workers and providers as well as all supervisors across the state. The county must support all these people in the change from what is to what will be in the future. They expect us to do the right thing for them. That responsibility is a heavy one.
Mark Monson is a Woodbury County supervisor.
Posted
Photo:
Christine Milne says the attack comes ahead of a key state by-election. (AAP: Lukas Coch)
The Greens have issued an urgent appeal to party supporters for donations to set up a “fighting fund” amid an increasingly bitter row with the Labor Party.
At the weekend, senior Labor figures launched a concerted campaign to differentiate the ALP from the Greens, the party it relies on to stay in government.
They called the Greens “dangerous”, “loopy” and a “threat to democracy”.
New South Wales Labor boss Sam Dastyari wants to put the Greens last when distributing preferences at the next federal election.
It has sparked a public feud between the two parties, something Greens leader Christine Milne has described as an “all-out attack” on the 1.6 million people who vote Green.
Greens supporters are being asked to “chip in” $25, $40 or $100 to fund newspaper advertisements aimed at countering the campaign.
“With our shared values under fire in every newspaper, there is something you can do to stand up for everything we’ve achieved together,” Senator Milne writes in an email to party supporters.
She says it is no coincidence Labor has ramped up its attacks on the Greens in the days leading up to the by-election in the Victorian state seat of Melbourne.
“Greens candidate Dr Cathy Oke was on track to win the seat next week, but the attacks have come thick and fast on her as part of the national ALP campaign,” Senator Milne said in the email.
“We want to publish an ad in Melbourne’s Age newspaper so we can share our positive vision with voters before election day – and that’s just the start.”
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott yesterday described the brawl as a “civil war” within the Labor Party, arguing those in the ALP who were attacking the Greens were effectively attacking the Prime Minister, given her post-election agreement with the minor party.
“You can’t attack the deal with the Greens without implicitly attacking the person who did the deal,” he said.
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