Ace Club House Blog

Tickets are now available for the third annual ACE Spaghetti dinner and fundraiser! The tickets are $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, $6 for children (6-17), and age 5 and under are free! You’ll get a great meal, hear some great music from local musicians during our jam session, be able to bid for some great items at our live auction AND hear a performance by the Dover High School Steel Drum Band (…starting at Noon)! All while helping a worthy organization that exists to benefit those who live with mental illness in Tuscarawas and Carroll Counties! The time is Noon to 4 PM. The place is the New Philadelphia Elks Lodge. The date is Sunday, March 25. We hope to see you there!!! Call for tickets at 330-308-8604.

Dear Mr. McCullough,

Thank you for contacting my office regarding H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act. As your representative in Congress, I appreciate your input on this important issue.

This legislation was introduced in the house by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX-21). This legislation has two senate equivalents, S. 968 and S. 1228.

I share some of the concerns that the bill could have unintended consequences. While I want to ensure that those who violate copyright law and sell counterfeit goods are brought to justice, in doing so, I do not want to quell innovation and free speech. This bill only applies to nondomestic domains, but it would allow the Attorney General to serve an issued court order on search engines, payment processors, advertising networks, and Internet service providers. It would also allow the Justice Department to file a civil action lawsuit against the owner or registrant of the domain name that accesses a “foreign infringing Internet site.” Such provisions could cause unnecessary interference with the entrepreneurial spirit of the Internet, the discovery of information throughout the world, and free speech.

Many of these concerns were raised during a recent hearing on this subject. According to Google Inc’s testimony, “We strongly support the goal of the bill — cracking down on offshore websites that profit from pirated and counterfeited goods — but we’re concerned the way it’s currently written would threaten innovation, jobs, and free expression. We are not alone in our concerns. Earlier this week, we joined eight other Internet companies — AOL, eBay, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo!, and Zynga — in a letter to Congress, echoing concerns voiced by industry associations, entrepreneurs, small business owners, librarians, law professors, venture capitalists, human rights advocates, cybersecurity experts, public interest groups, and tens of thousands of private citizens”

Currently, this legislation has been referred to the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet on the House Judiciary Committee. While I do no serve on this committee, I will certainly keep your views in mind as this legislation is further discussed.
Again, thank you for contacting my office. Please continue to keep me informed on the issues that are important to you. For more information on my work in Congress, or to sign up to receive my e-newsletter, please visit the 18th District’s website at http://gibbs.house.gov.

The goverment in both the House and the Senate are attempting to pass laws that stop internet priracy. While this sounds like a “good” thing, all it would take is someone on our site to post a video or a picture of someone or a corporation without consent and we could technically be sued. As an example, you find a funny soft drink video that that soft drink company doesn’t like and you post it on aceclubhouse.org or ACE’s Facebook page. That soft drink company would have the right to sue you. It has far reaching grasps of censorship and would prevent the free expression of indiviuals on the internet. Below is a copy of the letter I sent to our local representative:

Oppose H.R. 3261: Stop Online Piracy Act

Dear Rep. Bob Gibbs:

I oppose H.R. 3261: Stop Online Piracy Act because as the webmaster of a non profit organization and “manager” of our non-profits Facebook page, it would be almost impossible to check to make sure that someone doesn’t post something that violates the principles in this bill. All it would take is some “violated” company to sue us and we don’t have the needed funds to hire a lawyer. Our website and Facebook pages allow the free expression of the indiviuals that we serve.

While I fully believe there is nothing currently on our site thats illegal, the goverment would be putting an additional forced compliance burden on our sites.

PLEASE reject this bill. It has too far reaching censorship qualities and the potential for shutting down our non profit organization that serves the local community in the mental health field.

Signature seen by Members of Congress:
Mr. Mark McCullough
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Oppose S. 968: Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011

Dear Sen. Sherrod Brown and Sen. Robert Portman:

I oppose S. 968 (“Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011″) because Oppose H.R. 3261: Stop Online Piracy Act

Dear Rep. Bob Gibbs:

I oppose H.R. 3261: Stop Online Piracy Act because as the webmaster of a non profit organization and “manager” of our non-profits Facebook page, it would be almost impossible to check to make sure that someone doesn’t post something that violates the principles in this bill. All it would take is some “violated” company to sue us and we don’t have the needed funds to hire a lawyer. Our website and Facebook pages allow the free expression of the indiviuals that we serve.

While I fully believe there is nothing currently on our site thats illegal, the goverment would be putting an additional forced compliance burden on our sites.

PLEASE reject this bill. It has too far reaching censorship qualities and the potential for shutting down our non profit organization that serves the local community in the mental health field.

Signature seen by Members of Congress:
Mr. Mark McCullough

* (This was sent to me in an email by my friend, Fritz. It’s something I feel needs to be shared. – Todd)

Clergy Corner: Call It What It Is…Suicide

By Father Charles Rubey
Because a person completes suicide is no reason to think less of that person or to conclude that there must be something wrong with a family who loses a loved one to suicide. I am of the opinion that survivors should speak very candidly about the death of a loved one. There should not be any hiding the fact of the cause of death. Call it what it is–a suicide. If people think less of the person, that is their problem. Certainly, survivors want to protect their dearly departed loved ones and that loved one’s good name. I understand that fact very clearly. But I also have strong feelings about educating society about the issues surrounding mental illness and suicide. The longer people have these misconceptions about suicide and mental illness, the longer all of us struggle trying to get out a clear message about issues surrounding mental illness and the toll that such illness can take on those who suffer such pain.

People in general can say that someone who died from cancer really wanted to live but the cancer got the best of them. They can erroneously say that someone who completes suicide wanted to die. Nothing could be further from the truth. People who complete suicide want to live as much as anyone else, but living becomes too painful. They do not want to die; they just can’t bear to live in the incredible pain that their illness is causing them. It is very important for people to hear that message to clear up one misconception surrounding suicide. People can think that suicide is a copout on life, but nothing is further from the truth. People who complete suicide are not copping out on life. They can’t bear the pain anymore. They have reached the end of their tolerance. They have fought long enough and hard enough and the time has come for them to end the pain.

There is nothing shameful about someone who completes suicide. They have fought a valiant battle, and they have lost to their illness. There is no need to be embarrassed that a loved one died from suicide. This loved one is deserving of every accolade that is reserved for people who die from other causes. Survivors often wish that their loved one had died from some other form of death. I have often asked survivors why they had this wish, and they respond that it is much easier to explain a death from cancer or a car accident, but when it comes to suicide, it is a little more difficult. The reason that it is difficult is that suicide is a different type of death. It results from an illness, and that illness is mental illness.

As with any other part of the grieving journey, it takes time and practice to develop a comfort level with dispelling some of the myths and erroneous ideas that the public has surrounding suicide and mental illness. There will be some discomfort in the beginning, but as the survivor shares information about the death of a loved one, it becomes a little easier each time. At the beginning, it is very painful because it is always painful to acknowledge the death of a loved one from suicide. There is a very therapeutic result from telling your story over and over again. As survivors tell their stories, two things happen. They develop a comfort level about how their loved one died, and their loved one becomes a part of the life of the survivor. They continue to live as their story is told and retold.

Father Charles Rubey is the founder of Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. His words were originally published in the Obelisk Newsletter in September of 2009.

The January 2012 Activities menu is now updated on www.aceclubhouse.org.
HAPPY NEW YEAR

Most of the time when you search for a website or enter the name of the website manually, there is natural tendency is to enter the website as a “.com”.

As Ace Clubhouse is a non-profit Organization, the proper category for ACE should be “.org” and as such that is our proper domain name.

However, if you had entered www.aceclubhouse.COM you would never find our website.

For the last couple of years I have waiting for .COM domain name to become available for purchase. When I first created www.aceclubhouse.org I also wanted to purchase the .COM domain name also in case someone typed that in.

I’m pleased to announce, that effective October 29, 2011 Ace ClubHouse now also owns the aceclubhouse.COM domain name.

What does this mean to the average user that already visits our website on a regular basis? Really, not that much. If someone asks you what our website address is you should state “www.aceclubhouse.org. All the .COM does it help direct others to our website if they happen to type in .COM instead of .ORG

This may sound trivial to most, but hopefully it will help drive more traffic to our website

Just update Ace’s website to include the new August Activities and Meals Menus
go to: http://www.aceclubhouse.org/index.html

Our community benefits from an array of health, human service, and early care & education programs funded by the state budget. Those programs support children and families, seniors and people with disabilities, and those in need of health care, housing, and emergency food. But they could be in danger if the current budget is not amended.

Bold policy changes touted by the administration in the lead-up to the budget’s release gave us hope that two long-sought-after reforms – rebalancing long-term care and integrating behavioral health with physical health – would finally be achieved. Unfortunately, the policy language isn’t supported by the budget figures – and will not move the needle away from unnecessary institutionalization and toward home- and community-based care. In both cases, the budget would gut the infrastructure or delivery system around these services.

Ohio’s 88 counties and its other local governments – from child welfare and JFS offices to ADAMHS boards and health departments – face stark reductions under the proposed budget.

Cuts in the proposed state budget will be compounded by looming cuts to social services being made at the federal level, both through continuing resolutions funding federal programs now through September, and through cuts being discussed for the FY2012 federal budget.

The community must come together to ensure continued support for those who are struggling because of the recession and those who lack the most basic of needs. Local charities are already stretched thin and cannot fill the gap. State-funded services such as child protection, long-term care for seniors, employment programs, mental health and addiction services, community health departments, food pantries, and more must be preserved in our budget. Spending reductions that sacrifice quality or cut people off from basic needs are not acceptable, and will only damage Ohio’s struggling economy even more.

Please, help support services to our most vulnerable citizens- contact our State Senator, Jason Wilson at (614) 466-6508 and Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Chris Widener at (614) 466-3780.

If we don’t shore up our community-based system, then people will be driven into more expensive emergency rooms, psychiatric hospitals, and jails when a personal crisis occurs. Urge the Senate to restore funding to community-based care and behavioral health services, and to prioritized mental health, health and human service, and early care & education programs if revenue projections increase.

–

Todd Little, Executive Director

Advocacy, Choices & Empowerment (ACE), Inc.

“We support mental wellness!”

Congratulations to Karen Nicholson and Pat Byers on their graduation from the WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Planning) Facilitator training held in Mansfield! Karen and Pat completed an intensive, five day training to earn their Certified Mental Health Recovery Educator credential. Great job! We’re proud of you and so glad to have you here at ACE!

A HUGE Thank-You to the members of the KSU Tuscarawas Business Club and Mr. Ed Newman’s Case Studies in Business class for all their hard work on the spaghetti dinner fundraiser! We had good attendance, the Easter egg hunt was a blast, we had three articles about the project appear in the newspapers within a two week period, AND we made a thousand dollars. Thank you so much for all you have done and for the friendships we have created. We appreciate you and we can’t wait for next year! Thank you!