#donate if you have the means

[yarnersan]

The man Viktor Orbán wants to destroy - and whom he might fear the most

This is Pastor Gábor Iványi, the head of the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship, a small, free-thinking Methodist congregation.

This is Viktor Orbán, the increasingly far-right prime minister of Hungary, who's basically managed to steal an entire country in the heart of the European Union - also the great friend and student of many authoritarian or far-right leaders: Erdogan, Xi, Trump and, of course, Putin.

One of the most gripping stories in the fall of democratic Hungary under Orbán in the last 13 years is the duel between these two men. Iványi is the elderly, jovial pastor of a small methodist church. Always on the side of the downtrodden - the Roma, the homeless, the poor, the refugee. He is the living conscience of the country. His congregation may be relatively small, but it operates a network of schools, kindergartens, homeless shelters, senior homes etc around the country, caring for some 20 000 people. (Their activities are completely non-denominational and neutral - they don't require anyone in their schools etc. to pray with them and the clientele has absolutely no money to give to the church.)

Strangely enough, the two men hey started out together - in the late 80's Iványi was the "pastor of the opposition," and as such, the one to christen the first two children of the young, rebellious liberal opposition leader, Viktor Orbán.

In the late 90s Orban went for the more prosperous field of increasingly right-wing populism, generating a fanatical following and polarizing the country, Iványi stayed where he was needed - with the homeless, the Roma, the increasing number of impoverished people - often raising his voice in their protection (eg from the marching neo-nazi paramilitary groups).

Come 2010: Orban wins the elections with 2/3 majority, giving him free reign over the country. He declares that he will cement his government "for the next 20 years", and changes the constitution (which he never said he was planning to). The increasingly undemocratic measures (one of Orbán's first, symbolic acts is to remove the word "republic" from the country's official name) are met with several opposition demonstrations in the first years - and Iványi is a frequent speaker.

One of the many large-scale changes is a new church law - purportedly to get rid of the "many business churches" operating in the country - in reality to cement in a few servilient churches to push propaganda in exchange of the (extremely) generous support of the state.

The law declares that only a small number of churches - named in the law - may remain recognised churches, everything else must become a "religious association" - and not receive the extra subsidies churches were previously entitled to when they operate educational or social welfare institutions - basically killing their budgets. They can also no longer receive the yearly 1% tax donation Hungarians may freely bestow on their church of choice. Iványi is semi-formally told that he should not even dream of getting the status - it is not a right, but a favour granted by the government, and Orbán has vowed to destroy him.

Iványi's church fights the new bill, winning all cases in court, before the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The government laughs in their face - they never get back their church status and the lost subsidies (after the decision of the Constitutional Court Orbán cynically changes the constitution to "correct" the situation). The goal is to simply and slowly let them bleed out - it would cause too much of an uproar to shut the church and its institutions down. Public support is high, but after a while everyone becomes numb - there's only so much the average citizen can keep being enraged about.

The plan almost backfired - in 2023 the church is still standing, Iványi and his staff of more than 1000 people are still there caring for the increasing number of people kicked to the curb by Orbán's kleptocratic regime, so the government has stepped up its game - the Tax Authority has started to pull large amounts of money (hundreds of thousand dollars) from the church's bank account "for their unpaid bills", even though the state rightfully and legally owes the church several millions. They got to the point where some months they cannot pay the staff's salary.

So far the Evangelical Fellowship has managed to stay operational and show that there is another way to live in this divided country, another way to turn towards our fellow men - without fear and hate, to show that a church must not spew nationalist propaganda in exchange of the state's favour, to show that you must not bend your backbone to live in this country. To be the living conscience of the country.

It may not last, though. The attacks have intensified in the last months, Iványi himself is getting older and his health and constitution has suffered from the decade of persecution. This is how he and Orbán look like after 13 years of this regime.

What Iványi and his church needs is help, support (monetary and other) and visibility on the international stage. You can find them here

TL;DR: There's a community in Hungary that is deeply committed to freedom, liberalism, equality and humany dignity, that the autoritarian, alt-right despot (Putin's and Xi's lackey) Orbán wants to destroy - and they are almost at the end of their tether. Help them by donating or just spreading the word.

Some sources: 1 2 3 4

[micah-has-fallen]

Hi there 👋,

My name is Mohammad, and I’m reaching out in a moment of desperate need. I’m a father of three young children living in Gaza, and we are caught in the midst of a catastrophic war. Our home is no longer a safe haven, and the future here seems increasingly uncertain. 💔

I’ve launched a fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $40,000 to relocate my family to a safer place where my children can grow up in peace and have a chance at a brighter future. 🕊️🇵🇸

Unfortunately, my previous fundraising efforts were abruptly halted when my account was terminated without explanation. However, I remain determined to keep fighting for my family’s safety and well-being. 🫶

If you could take a moment to read our story, consider donating, or simply share our campaign with others, it would make an incredible difference. Every act of kindness, no matter how small, brings us one step closer to safety and a new beginning. 🙏

Thank you for your time, compassion, and support. ❤

https://gofund.me/fd1faea2 🔗

❤️ Hey everyone who sees this: please help donate if you can to help this man and his kids escape. If you can’t donate and have the spoons please reblog :)

[montanabohemian]

if i see a single one of you pissed that your faves canceled an event or a con appearance because they're striking for fair wages then imma come for you in your sleep 🔪🔪🔪

(direct that fury where it belongs: AMPTP and the execs)

[mavigator]

(UPDATED!!!) here are some people that have reached out to me recently with their fundraisers. LINKS IN NAMES. status as of 09/19/24. i've checked that all fundraisers listed here are vetted.

Abedalrahman Alhabil (€83,683/€120,000) -- Abedalrahman, his parents, and his five siblings were displaced when an Israeli attack destroyed their home. Abedalrahman's father is in urgent need of evacuation and surgery, as he suffers from chronic heart disease and high blood pressure. (@abdullahgaza) 69% of goal reached. INCREDIBLY SLOW PROGRESS.

Asmaa Ayyad (€20,911/€45,000) -- Asmaa and her family of eight were displaced when their homes were destroyed by Israel. They need funds to evacuate to Egypt before they suffer any more loss. (@asmaayyad) 46% of goal reached.

Hashem Al-Shawish -- (€10,097/€45,000) Hashem's wife, Samer, recently gave birth to their baby, Omar, in a tent. Omar has already needed emergency medical attention as a result of poor living conditions. He, along with Hashem's mother, wife, four brothers, and two sisters need funds to evacuate. (blog terminated. can't find new one.) 22% of goal reached. INCREDIBLY SLOW PROGRESS.

Doaa Jad Al Haq -- (kr212,156/kr300,000) -- Doaa and her 5-year-old autistic son, Omar, evacuated to Sweden, but Omar was extremely traumatized by the horrors in Gaza. He needs treatment so he can recover. In addition, evacuation funds are needed for the members of Doaa's family that are still trapped in Gaza, including 11 children and her father, who has been incapacitated by a stroke. (@doaaomar1234) 71% of goal reached.

Aya Alanqar -- (€12,831/€15,000) Aya and her husband Jihad need funds to evacuate themselves and their three young children (Abdelrahman, 7 years old, Jori, 5 years old, and Adam, 2 years old). Their home was destroyed by Israel and they have been forced to move over thirteen times. (blog deleted. can't find new one.) 86% of goal reached.

Muhammad Shehab -- (€10,514/€25,000) Muhammad desperately needs funds to evacuate himself and his sons, Zaen and Yahya, from Gaza. They have already been displaced nine times and are at risk every day. (@zeanyahya1) 41% of goal reached. INCREDIBLY SLOW PROGRESS.

The Shehab family -- (€55,957/€85,000) This family's original goal of 50,000 has been reached, but has now been raised to 85,000 as the family has added more people to their fundraiser (as they can't make their own), including a 3-month old baby. Please continue to support this family!! (@danashehab) 66% of goal reached.

Mahmoud Al-Sharif -- ($10,503/$60,000) Mahmoud's wife, Soha, just gave birth to her and Mahmoud's fourth child on 8/12/24. Please please help this family of six, including the newborn, get to safety. (@mahmoud-sharif) 17% of goal reached. INCREDIBLY SLOW PROGRESS.

SHARE AND DONATE !! remember that even a small amount can go a long way.

[navree]

Incorrect, the fact that Biden has dropped out and a candidate with history of supporting medicare for all and being more receptive to a ceasefire in the I/P conflict has made me go from "I cannot morally support the Democratic nominee" to "I am voting for the Democratic nominee despite the fact she isn't perfect in every respect." I'm really happy this played out. The Dems for the most part abandoned the old Obama platform and it feels like its possible an actual progressive agenda could come to pass in my lifetime.

Kamala 2024!

If you weren't going to vote Democratic in this election before Biden dropped out you're a dorkass loser who does not care about any of the issues you're yammering about here and also a fundamentally bad person, and I hope you get run over by a bus.

But you got one thing right in all of this gibberish, Kamala 2024.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

💙❤️Happy Holidays!❤️💙

[morganbritton132]

Eddie’s in the middle of a Zoom interview with the band. He’s not in his studio this time, but is filming from the comfort of his own bedroom when he’s suddenly hit in the head with his favorite pair of ripped jeans. These jeans are more hole than denim and Eddie hasn’t even fully registered that Steve threw them at him before he’s being asked, “Can I throw these out?”

Eddie already has a hard time focusing on two things at once so when one of those things is a boring interview and the other is Steve Harrington in his laundry day clothes, he immediately forgets the interview. He looks at the jeans and asks, “What’s wrong with them?”

Steve, blissfully unaware that Eddie is currently being interviewed: They go to church

Eddie: What?

Steve: They’re hole-y

Eddie:

Jeff, over zoom: *snorts*

Eddie; Don’t encourage him

Steve:

Steve: The interview is today!?

[groovygrub]

[heydocpotts]

thank you to augustasands on kofi for your donation! ❤️

✨buy me a coffee?☕️✨

[scorchrend]

URGENT: DONATIONS NEEDED, PLEASE SHARE $14,686/$65,000 AUD (22.58% funded)

Bashar Inshasi from Gaza has held a dream of pursuing medicine since childhood. The occupation making greater need for doctors and medical professionals in Gaza only compounds this. Bashar is a scholar of medicine, even ranking second in the country. However, the occupation destroyed their homes, universities, and even dreams along with them. It caused more injuries and disabilities in the population, creating an even greater need for treatment.

Unable to continue in the path of medicine, or even life itself, Bashar greatly needs financial help in order to evacuate Gaza.

Border fees to enter Egypt are steep, and Bashar will need to cover for living and residential expenses, along with tuition.

Please donate and share this with whoever you can! Supporting Bashar can help further the education, in order to return to Gaza and bolster the health system— helping the population of Gaza as a whole.

Don't scroll, please view the link and read Bashar Inshasi's story there.

Also, if you have an Instagram account, you can check with Bashar (basharinshasi) and the fundraiser organizer Darina Bishop (darina.bishop) for validity concerns.

[lambentplume]

Maui Fires & How to Support Relief Efforts

(Posted on 8/10/23) Hi, I'm Jae and my family is from Lāhainā. I watched my hometown burn down this week. The fires caused immeasurable loss in my community so I'd like to spread awareness of the situation as well as provide links to support local organizations directly assisting survivors. I'm pretty sure most of my following is Not local so I'm writing with intent to inform people outside the situation, but if you're reading this and happen to have family in the affected area that isn't accounted for, message me and I can send you the links to the missing persons tracking docs + more localized info!! If you'd like to skip down to how to help and follow community organizations, scroll to the bottom of the post after the image.

Earlier this week, Hurricane Dora passed south of the Hawaiian Islands, bringing strong wind gusts that caused property damage across the islands. On Tuesday August 8, high winds caused sparks to fly in the middle of Lāhainā town, knocking out power lines and immediately igniting drought-ridden grasses. The fire spread quickly and destroyed the entire center of town, the harbor, and multiple neighborhoods including Hawaiian Homes (housing specifically for Native Hawaiians), parts of Lahainaluna, basically all of Front Street, and low-income housing units. There is only one public road in and out of town, and after a very hectic evacuation period that road has been mostly closed off except to emergency responders, thus it is extremely difficult for anyone to leave town to get help. The nearest hospital is 20 miles away in Wailuku, and most grocery stores in town have burnt down.

As of Thursday, August 10, over 1,000 acres have been burned and 271 structures (including homes, schools, and other community gathering places) have been destroyed. Cell service is still extremely spotty, many of the surrounding neighborhoods deemed safe for evacuees are still without utilities. There are currently confirmed 53 deaths but that number is expected to increase as search-and-rescue efforts continue. Countless families have been displaced and many have lost the homes they lived in for generations. Places of deep historical significance have been reduced to ash, including the gravesites of Hawaiian royalty, the old Lāhainā courthouse where items of cultural significance were stored, and Na ‘Aikane o Maui Cultural Center. To add further context: Lāhainā has a population of about 13,000 residents. EVERYONE I know has been impacted in some way--at best forced to evacuate, at worst their house was burnt to the foundation, they cannot find a loved one, etc. I'm still trying to track down family members and it's been over two days. My neighbors down the street had homes last week and now many don't have ANYTHING. The hotels are taking in residents (tourists are also being STRONGLY urged to leave so that locals can recover). Without open access to the rest of the island, Lāhainā residents are now dependent on whatever people had in their homes already as well as disaster relief efforts coming in, but it's been difficult to organize and mobilize due to the location + conditions. People who have made it out are in shelters where no blankets or medicine were provided. Friends and acquaintances from neighbor islands are preparing aid to send over. Community response has been incredible, but the toll on the town has been immeasurable. My parents were desperately walking through town yesterday, my mom sounded absolutely hollow talking about it on the phone with me. It's horrifying. Below is a satellite map with data from the NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System showing the impacted areas from the past week; all of the red blotches were on fire at some point in the last three days.

Here are ways you can help:

If you have the means to donate:

Here are three donation sites verified by Maui Rapid Response, which also lists FAQs for people who are wondering about next steps.

Hawaiʻi Community Foundation - Maui Strong Fund accepts international credit cards. Maui United Way

Maui Mutual Aid Non-monetary ways to support:

If you know anyone who is planning to travel to ANY Hawaiian island, not just Maui, tell them to cancel their trip. Resources are extremely limited as is. Advocate for climate change mitigation efforts locally, wherever that is for you. The fire was exacerbated by drought conditions that have worsened due to climate change.

Lastly, remember that these are people's HOMES that burned, and Native Hawaiian cultural artifacts that have been lost. Stop thinking of Hawaiʻi (or any "tourist destination" location, really) as an "escape" or a "paradise." If that's the only way you recognized my home... I'm glad I got your attention somehow, but I would ask that you challenge that perspective and prioritize local and native voices. For transparency, I don't currently live in Lāhainā, I've been following efforts from Honolulu. My parents and brother have been updating me and I've been following friends and family who are doing immediate response work. I'm doing my best to find reliable and current sources, but if I need to update something, please let me know. If you're going to try to convince me that tourism is necessary for our recovery, news flash ***IT'S NOT***!

Thanks for reading.

[twitchyglitchy]

What do I have to do to get out of here? Who do I have to beg on my knees to so I can leave?

Get me out of my house

P@yPal: twitchyjayson

Current Goal: $55/$800

[accio-victuuri]

this article came out today for defenders of the hidden and wyb’s participation. i noticed tho, you can donate! and i think it will be the perfect “gift” for yibo on his birthday. this is something that he actively worked on and has grown passionate about. he mentioned in this live too that he realized how important it is that everyone learns about protecting pangolins and help out.

you can put it under his name ✨🫶🏼 “in honor of”

that is of course if you have the means to donate. watching and sharing the video when it comes on youtube this 8/5 will do too!

[emipon]

Thank you so much to everyone who donated to Familia for my birthday 💗

Here’s the Queen of helping other people, Yuna, as thanks!!! ✨

[bowenoke]

it sucks, but you have to put your oxygen mask on before helping the others around you- not because you're more important, but because if you pass out, you can't help anyone.

Biden has not done enough. he has done less than nothing about the ongoing genocide in palestine. We can argue forever about whether he will be easier to pressure into action than a republican; I don't think he will. i still need to ask you to vote for him, because for me to keep giving money to gazan gofundmes, i need a job. failing to elect biden means electing the guy who started his real estate career refusing to rent to black people. it means electing the party that wants to do away with housing and labor protections for queer people. it means electing the politicians calling for abortion bans and healthcare restrictions.

fighting for all those rights cost money and time, and not having them costs even more money and time. protest our shitty options by withholding your vote once Palestine is free.

i'm not asking that you donate to biden's campaign. I'm not even asking you to leave a protest to go vote instead! (Though- if you're enrolled in college, that's normally an accepted reason to vote via absentee ballot.) but if you can vote, and choose not to, I am asking that you not be surprised when other anti-genocide protesters and financial backers start saying they no longer have the resources or availability to do anything but survive.

[oifaaa]

A Winnie the pooh musical would be so much better than the horror movie (even tho it's not hard to beat that)

Maybe theyre just waiting for more winnie the pooh characters to come in to public domain they want to do justice for the little guy