Germans are great. Especially when they do nice things.

A lot of German people contribute to open-source projects in their spare time – unpaid, often for years. And yet, under Germany's tax law, this work is not recognized as volunteer work (Ehrenamt) – unlike club work, youth work, or emergency services.

A petition to the German Bundestag's petitions committee is calling for equal treatment.

Concretely, this would mean:

🔴 Tax-free expense allowances (Ehrenamts-/Übungsleiterpauschale)

⚪ Easier non-profit status (§52 AO) for open-source projects

🟢 Better liability protection for open source maintainers (analogous to §31a BGB)

🔵 Legally secure donation receipts and cost reimbursement

This would be a huge boost to the open source community.

Petition: https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/anerkennung-von-open-source-arbeit-als-ehrenamt-in-deutschland

Please sign it. It only takes 2 minutes.

If you're not in Germany, sharing it with people who are would still help a lot.

Thank you 🙏

Trump's party stripped of control after he spent weeks pleading with Americans to pretend he was on ballot

Donald Trump has been dealt a devastating blow to his authority in a night of crushing defeats in the midterm elections, which saw his Republican party stripped of control of the Senate and the House as his handpicked “Maga” candidates were swept away by a blue tsunami.

The president spent weeks before the election pleading with the American people to pretend he was on the ballot. He may now rue that tactic: the American people took him at his word, and delivered him a bloody nose of historic proportions, flinging his presidency into lame duck status.

He appeared last night to have changed his mind, declaring on social media: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”

Democrats of all stripes declared victory on Tuesday night in clearest sign yet voters have had enough of Trumpism

No single Democratic coalition can claim victory after Tuesday’s resounding midterm results – all parts of the Democratic coalition can.

Their wins were so sweeping, so resounding, that factional divisions fail to explain them. This year, the most important thing Democrats had to be to win was, simply, not Republicans.

Trump gave Democrats the political gifts of a deeply unpopular war against Iran that led to rising prices, chaotic tariffs that devastated small businesses, farmers and international alliances, healthcare cuts, a deadly deportation scheme, self-enrichment, corruption, a never-ending debacle over a reflecting pool renovation.

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cross-posted from: https://piefed.blahaj.zone/c/us_politics@piefed.blahaj.zone/p/1064927/democrat-gina-hinojosa-elected-texas-first-latina-governor-ousts-republican-incumb

Gina Hinojosa was elected the first Democratic governor of Texas in more than 30 years on Tuesday, ousting Republican incumbent Greg Abbott and catapulting a decided underdog to the helm of what has long been the nation’s most populous red state.

She will become Texas’ first Latina governor — and the first Democrat to hold the office since Ann Richards in the 1990s — following a groundbreaking victory that topples one of the nation’s most prominent Republican governors and steadfast supporters of President Donald Trump, possibly accelerating the state’s shift to an emerging battleground.

Her victory was part of an electrifying night for Democrats in Texas, where James Talarico also won election, defeating Republican Ken Paxton in the race for the U.S. Senate.

Hinojosa’s win served as validation for Democrats’ long deferred dream that demographic changes in the state would be followed by a shift in political power. It also elevates Hinojosa, a 52-year-old state legislator from a liberal Austin district since 2017, into a breakout Democratic star, even as she did not have significant support from the national party for her campaign.

More in the article.

Artist: Hei Yu | pixiv | danbooru

Robert Garcia, set to become oversight chair, vows to take on president while Senator Ron Wyden signals ‘subpoenas’

Robert Garcia, the Democratic congressman set to become the next chair of the oversight committee of the House of Representatives, had two words for Republicans on Tuesday evening: “Lawyer up.”

Garcia issued his statement as a blue wave appeared to take hold across the country after voters cast their ballots in the US midterm elections. Democrats retook control of the US Senate, and are widely expected to do the same in the House.

Ron Wyden, the Democratic senator poised to lead the Senate finance committee, also flexed on his potential future authority. “Subpoenas,” Wyden wrote on X.

With the Senate and House back in Democrats’ control, Garcia, Wyden and other congressional leaders will be able to lead and steer investigations into the US president, his allies and agenda.

Iran’s speaker of parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Americans have said “NO TO WAR,” as projections from U.S. midterm elections showed that Democrats have flipped both houses of Congress.

https://mod.gov.ua/en/news/total-russian-combat-losses-in-ukraine-as-of-november-4-2026

We gotta agree on one thing that old Reddit was peak. Like you can actually ask questions and get help. But it’s so heavily moderated now and I hate it. It shadow banned my accounts 3 times and had to create 3 accounts. And wdym that you need certain amount of karma to be able to post, like what if a new person just made account to ask for help and they can’t post cuz they’re new and don’t got enough of that bs karma. I hate that it’s not making internet a nice place.

So, I got fed and started looking for alternatives and found Lemmy. WHY DIDN’T I KNEW ABT THIS EARLIER. People here seem nicer than Reddit and no moderation stuff like Reddit and blaa blaa glazing.

So far I’m enjoying Lemmy. Also i wanted to asked but client for IOS. I tried Voyager, didn’t like the UI and that swipe feature (it’s good but just not my type). Rn using Mlem, the UI is nice but i can’t get used how the chat looks, I’m Reddit like chat. Is there any Client for IOS that got what i need?

alternative video upload

source

At the bottom of what is probably the deepest bay in the archipelago, they put a wooden canon 😜

@outdoor@fedigroups.social @nature@fedigroups.social @photography@fedigroups.social @hiking@fedigroups.social @photography@lemmy.world @Nature@lemmy.world @hiking@lemmy.world

#SeaWednesday #OC #NaturePhotography #Nature #LandscapePhotography #Photography #Photo #November #Finland #Archipelago #AlandIslands #Åland #Hiking #InMy #Autumn #Wonderland

P.S if your country doesn’t have the freedom to roam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom/_to/_roam there’s something inherently wrong.