Freethoughtblogs is doing it again — we’re have another fundraiser, scheduled for 5 December, with various events with the wealth of talent here on our blog network scheduled. Take a look! We’ll be filling in that page with links and YouTube videos as we assemble the various pieces of our day.
One of the events scheduled is an anniversary celebration: it will have been a year since that ridiculous SLAPP suit by Richard Carrier against Amy Frank-Skiba, Stephanie Zvan, me, Freethoughtblogs, and the Orbit collapsed in a cloud of petty stinking pity from that defeated troll, and also a nasty burden of legal debt for us. That’s why we have these fundraisers, so that maybe can all get out from under that, eventually.
Donations are greatly appreciated! You can make PayPal donations to our Freethoughtblogs account or to my personal account — they all go straight to paying off our debt. You can also join my Patreon, and chip in as little as a dollar a month; that’s also being applied entirely to our legal fund.
I don’t have a PayPal account. Is there a page where I can donate using a credit card?
Off-topic techie question: too often, I forget to log out after posting a comment. Am I leaving some session active on the FtB server, or does logging out just delete cookies on my local machine or something like that? (If the latter, I’m not doing you any harm.)
I think this link will give you a credit card option
The Doc is on the mooch again ,quick put the lights out and draw the curtains and he will go away .
@1 Don’t know why you haven’t got a Paypal account ? It is safer than a credit card
A few days after i used a CC on line because they didn’t take Paypal ,the CC company phoned me and
asked if i had used it to with Delta Airways for the sum of 20p .
I said no ,and asked why was it for such a silly amount ?
He said crims often do that to see if it goes through without any problems .
Just sent you a small donation ,wish it were more .
But i am such a tight wad .
@4 ” Paypal account ? It is safer than a credit card”
Citation needed
@richardh, #6: I’m not entirely sure it’s safER but it is quite safe… this is an article about pros and cons: https://www.readersmagnet.com/advantages-disadvantages-using-paypal/ One thing they say about disadvantages: the merchant CAN access the money right away, as long as they use PayPal… if the funds are transferred to one’s bank, it takes about 2 or 3 days before you can use the funds so as long as it’s a transfer, then yes, it’s not immediate. As far as “suspicious activity”, PayPal will sometimes shut down an account, and the reasons can seem obscure. I do agree that their customer service could be better. However I’ve always been able to iron out any issues without too much trouble. The main safety feature is you never give out your credit card or bank account #. All they have is your PayPal email address and shipping address.
One thing about PayPal: if you use it to purchase something, you do have a sort of buyer’s insurance: if the merchant does not ship, or if the item is not as described, you have (as I recall) 180 days to complain. I have gotten my money back from PayPal when the merchant did not send the merchandise. Now, it took awhile, because they wanted to hear both sides, but I’m basically OK with that.
@kestrel, #7
Yes, fine when it all works, and mostly it does. But the fundamental problem is that they are a disruptive alternative to the banking system – in many respects they behave like a bank but legally speaking they are not a bank, which allows them to evade some of the constraints and obligations that apply to actual banks. In particular, if there is a dispute, their decision is final, there’s no regulatory body you can appeal to.
As for buyer’s insurance, from a UK perspective, see Wikipedia:
“However, in the UK, where such a purchaser is entitled to specific statutory protections (that the credit card company is a second party to the purchase and is therefore equally liable in law if the other party defaults or goes into liquidation) under Section 75 Consumer Credit Act 1979, the purchaser loses this legal protection if the card payment is processed via PayPal.”
and:
“The PayPal Seller Protection Policy does not provide the additional consumer protection afforded by UK consumer legislation (e.g., Sale of Goods Act) and in addition, it cannot be enforced in the Courts because PayPal operates from Luxembourg, outside all three of the UK legal jurisdictions.”
Yes, selective quoting, but clearly there are aspects of their business where a straight credit-card transaction is either safer or at least differently safe.
@8 Well apart from the odd donation to Good causes such as the Doc’s ,the only other time i use Paypal is buying stuff on Ebay ,in the later case if anything goes wrong you can get your money back.
A little of both, but don’t worry about it, not logging out doesn’t hog resources on the server. It just means that they won’t be freed until your session times out (or the server needs the resources).