There are two types of people you can donate to. Many instances have a way to donate to them to upkeep and upgrade costs. Then you can donate also for development of the project here https://join-lemmy.org/donate

And criminalization of civil society is in general thriving in many European countries including France.

People forget that for kids transition is first social only, then puberty blockers, then after a lot of counselling, hormone placement and in very, very rare cases top surgery. For latter, one of the very, very few if not only institutions that in same select cases would offer top surgery for teens that are in late puberty disbanded those surgeries.

When you look at the rates of transitioned kids who detransitioned and mental health outcomes for children and adolescents who couldn't transition, offering transition is evidence-based and saves lives.

In addition to general learning which might be my favourite, I have multiple.

Maybe the most niche is a historical reenactment and historical costuming. Latter usually based on extant garments or garment finds. I try to get as close to the original in techniques, tools and materials using the best evidence I can find.

I also plan things that will never happen. I decorate houses and apartments on paper. I make extensive plans for travel that I can never afford unless I win in Lottory. Which I even never play.

I spend absolutely too much time playing with spreadsheets.

My personal favourites from Finnish.

"Ei ole kaikki muumit Muumilaaksossa" "Not having all the Moomins in Moomin Valley" Used for people who are either stupid or lack sanity. There are other variants of this and Moomin one is not older than a couple of decades.

I find our version of Grammar Nazi pretty great. We call them comma fuckers.

"Ei voi kauhalla ottaa jos on lusikalla annettu" "You can't take with a ladle if it was given with a spoon". This refers also to a lack of something, usually a lack of intelligence or sense.

Islam as religious text basis doesn't really differ in a bad way from the other two Abrahamic religions. It even gives some extra rights to women that Christianity and Judaism don't. Forcing hijab on women is also expressively banned in Islamic theological texts. Doesn't change how it works in practice as forced hijab is pretty common in fundamentalistic Islamic theocracies. But might explain why converting is a little bit less insane than at the surface level. If I had to choose one of the Abrahamic religions on a purely theological basis I might end up choosing Islam. Please note, I am not trying to give a pass to Islam, Islamic countries or especially fundamentalist Muslims. The issues are myriad. People outside Islamic countries just have a somewhat skewed image of the religion. Both in theory and practice.

While I agree strongly with the latter statement I have a lot of reservations with the former. I am incredibly happy for her. But this decision as has been the case most of the time in the past decade with the exception of Ukrainian refugees is a decision on an individual level instead of an institutional one. There are a lot of people who are either asylum seekers, people with asylum or quota refugees with similar situations and danger levels. Making individual decisions leaves them behind and only aids one person. Basically, it is good PR with limited results increasing already existent inequality among refugees in Spain.

Please note that it is not only a US-specific issue. Right has especially in its extreme lengths always been somewhat oppressive and as the right has become more right (again) (also read as in more fascist) in recent years oppressive policies they support are getting more and more oppressive.

There is no Orthodox Vatican. While the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is first among equals Orthodox church comprises self-governing canonical areas. The majority of Orthodox patriarchates fall under either Russian, Greek or Constantinople Patriarchates. The Orthodox Patriarchate of Ukraine has fallen under Russian Patriarchate since early modern times but the Patriarchate of Kyiv existed before Muscovite Patriarchate. There has been multiple attempts to return it under Greek Patriarchate with varying success but they have been separate although not recognized by Russian Patriarchate since 2018.

And that was probably as many times as I have ever written Patriarchate on one text.

Coming from the non-profit world, it is never that easy. Even when there is no one officially making any money, there are people who will see it as a way to make some bank. There is also a drawback in that not making money can and will affect the amount of time people can put in unless there is a fair way to get them compensation. Volunteering also brings a huge amount of interpersonal and inter-organizational drama. That is why grassroots organizations and movements have a habit of fracturing into smaller groups.

At the same time, there is power in goodwill and being non-profit. You just really need to be careful in vetting your instance and keep an eye on issues in a way people not used to this type of world are not familiar with.

But I wouldn't be here if I didn't have a belief that it could be successful enough as a community. I also wouldn't have been working in the NGO world for the past decade if I didn't believe in that. But let's not have too rosy glasses on. Growing slowly will also give this community a chance to work out the kinks and not die in a blaze of fire.

Of course use Signal or Matrix but please don't think that makes your messaging entirely impenetrable. I am not saying their end-to-end encryption has been breached. But a compromised device is a compromised device. Signal might be secure at least for now, but is your keyboard?

We do live in times of zero-click spyware and while the general public doesn't necessarily have to worry about things like Pegasus atm, it is still used increasingly and not just against people who break the law.

I do my best, although I do fail to be up to date every once in a while, to stay as secure as possible, but to think any communication is entirely secure is not a good policy.

Fountain pens are also for some people more disability friendly. Handwriting has sucked for me as long as I remember as it causes a lot of pain and cramping. Fountain pens glide easier and I can write longer with one than with any other type of pen.