Tag Archive for: charity
Forget homelessness, Sarasota charity tackles Arizona voter fraud
Yeah, yeah, so the world has a few problems. Like the virus, earthquakes and terrorists overtaking countries. Big deal. You want a problem? Try losing an election you won. Now that’s a problem. Show a little compassion, will you?
Forget helping the homeless and hungry, thank goodness a charity exists with its priorities straight. One like the America Project, based right here in Sarasota, of course, and in the true spirit of spreading benevolence throughout humanity, its desire is to have the 2020 election overturned and Donald Trump restored to the presidency.
The America Project, registered in Florida as a charity, has given $3.25 million to Cyber Ninjas, the controversial Sarasota computer security company conducting an audit of 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa County, Az.
Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock.com and one of the America Project’s founders, said during an internet interview on something called The Daily 302 that he thinks results of the Ninjas’ meticulous work on behalf of the nation will be revealed this week. Fraud will be found, he predicts, and enough that 13 to 20 other states will conduct recounts as well.
The America Project registered as a charity with the state of Florida on June 18, and nowhere in its mission declaration does it mention donations go toward funding an audit in Arizona, which may be a violation of Florida statute depending on interpretation.
The charity lists 8388 S. Tamiami Trail as its address, which is a UPS store in Sarasota. Cyber Ninjas, which is being investigated by top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, lists a UPS store on Fruitville Road.
Sarasota and the White House:OPINION: Tying Sarasota’s Cyber Ninjas to Donald Trump’s White House
Meet the Ninjas:OPINION: The Cyber Ninjas move in mysterious ways
Deep and dangerous:OPINION: Cyber Ninjas’ connection to Big Lie runs far, deep and dangerous
Another ninja, another P.O. Box:OPINION: Michael Flynn’s curious ties to Cyber Ninjas, QAnon and the Ellenton post office
The American Project consists of six officers and all use the same UPS store address in Sarasota.
A man named Michael Weaver is listed as the charity’s CFO. It is believed Weaver is the same person who was forced to…
Charity Digital – Topics – The downsides of cryptocurrencies
The price of Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, has rocketed from little over $6,000 a year ago to more than $60,000 today. It’s made some people very rich indeed. It’s also attracted the interest the likes of Tesla founder Elon Musk and donations can be made in the cryptocurrency to a range of charities including Save the Children and RNLI.
But if your charity is thinking about accepting donations in cryptocurrencies, it is very important to ensure that you are aware of the considerable downsides of this type of fundraising initiative, as well as the benefits.
Environmental impact
The first thing to consider is that cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, have an enormous negative effect on the environment. That’s because behind every Bitcoin is a huge infrastructure of computers involved in Bitcoin “mining”.
These computers, working all over the world around the clock, consume a vast amount of energy. According to the University of Cambridge’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, Bitcoin is now responsible for more energy consumption than entire countries such as The Netherlands or Argentina.
The overwhelming majority of this energy is not generated from renewable sources like wind, so the amount of carbon dioxide that is released in to the atmosphere because of Bitcoin mining, and therefore Bitcoin’s effect on climate change, is significant.
That alone may give pause for thought. But for charities that are directly involved with environmental issues, it may be difficult to reconcile the harm that Bitcoin mining does to the environment, and the implicit endorsement of that harm by accepting funds in Bitcoin, with the aims of the charity.
Security concerns
On a more practical level, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin can be a considerable cyber security risk for charities when it comes to storing them. That’s because cyber criminals are particularly attracted to cryptocurrencies because of their high value and the fact that they can be used anonymously.
For that reason, many types of malware are designed to search infected computers for cryptocurrencies, and to send any that they find to the malware authors. Any…
Veterans charity CEO calls for reset on approach to funding
Sir Keir later made the point that money was “being sprayed at companies that don’t deliver” | Credit: PA Images
‘Make online contributions to charities that are struggling’ was the Prime Minister’s plea to MPs in a recent exchange about Government support for veterans organisations. As the Government pledges another £254m to tackle rough sleeping, now more than ever, it is important to target spending wisely.
In a recent Armistice Day exchange about government spending, Labour leader Keir Starmer invited the Prime Minister and fellow MPs to praise the ‘remarkable work’ of veterans’ charities – singling out two of the nation’s largest and most well-known for mention.
Sir Keir pointed out that they had seen a significant drop in funding since the start of the pandemic – to the point where they were having to make ‘difficult decisions’ about redundancies and keeping facilities open.
Of course this is also true of the wider charity sector, to which my points are equally relevant.
The exchange provoked a rightfully enthusiastic and positive response, but it was a general one; predicated, I suspect, on an assumption that veterans’ charities were homogenous and equally engaged in providing practical and immediate support for struggling veterans.
This clearly isn’t the case and I want to push for greater thought about this area prior to any allocation of new funding.
Government support for charities in the present climate must be needs driven. This is a time of crisis, in which financing of non-essential services seems very inappropriate.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation predicts that 2.5m households are worried about paying rent over winter, with 700,000 already in arrears and 350,000 at risk of eviction. This will only be compounded by a rise in unemployment, predicted to be the sharpest for half a century. Naturally, some of those affected will be ex-servicemen and women.
Let’s get much smarter about how Government money is used to address social exclusion.
To date Veterans Aid has provided 275 days of uninterrupted service…