Eldritch Mlems

No I cannot afford it, I had surprise financial emergency this month.

But seriously, either make the whole thing free or paid, don't get my hopes up only to dash them like that.

Source: https://mastodon.world/@exocomics/113118651583580261

In the TTRPG industry, physical dice are plentiful for sighted individuals but scarce and often unaffordable for those who are blind or visually impaired. The DOTS RPG Project is an organization focused on improving accessibility in tabletop roleplaying games. Money raised from this charity bundle will help fund the production of their Signature Braille RPG Dice, manufactured in partnership with Die Hard Dice. This will make the first ever Braille RPG Dice available in a retail setting worldwide, helping make tabletop gaming more accessible for blind and visually impaired gamers.

This bundle includes 314 items for $10

https://itch.io/b/2623/ttrpgs-for-accessible-gaming-charity-bundle

Noki loves a good belly rub

I guess it might interest someone and haven't seen it mentioned

Year Zero Engine post-apo. Mutants, cyborgs and wasteland

I'm not involved, just got an email about it

For the latest cover of Rolling Stone, Roan told the publication that she originally intended to accept the White House’s invitation to the event — but she planned to protest the Biden administration’s involvement in Israel’s attacks on Gaza instead of performing one of her songs.

“I had picked out some poems from Palestinian women. I was trying to do it as tastefully as I could because all I wanted to do was yell,” she said. “I had to find something that’s tasteful and to the point and meaningful, and not make it about me and how I feel. I don’t know if I’ll ever get that close in direct sight of the president ever in my life. This is my shot.”

While Roan said that her publicist ultimately talked her out of her protest (saying, “You f–k with the president and the government, your security is not the same, and neither is your family’s”), she firmly stands by her decision not to attend the event. “I’m not going to go to the White House because I am not going to be a monkey for Pride,” she explained, before criticizing the administration’s walked-back statement about gender-affirming surgery for minors. “Thank God I didn’t go because they just made a huge statement about trans kids.”

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/2723041

Archived link

According to the Hungarian media outlet Válasz Online, Father Gergő Bese, the “star priest” of the Orbán regime, there were a series of documents proving that Mr Bese participated in gay parties and maintained intimate relationships with other men.

Things like that are, of course, part of private life, and should remain so. However, the case of Gergő Bese is different. He is one of the flag-bearers of Orbán’s political Christianity, a strong protector of Fidesz from critics from inside the church, an influencer regularly publishing pro-government writings, a public figure, and it seems a financial beneficiary of the Orbán cabinet.

Moreover, he kept slamming the LGBTQ movement, supporting and authenticating the government’s campaign by wearing a cassock.

He blessed PM Orbán’s office in Buda Castle’s Carmelite Monastery and the government-close Megafon Centre. He campaigned for the government during the 2022 general elections, writing that those voting for the opposition choose tuition fees in schools, unbearable payments in social institutes and the lockdown of village temples.

He slammed Hungarian singer Gabi Tóth because of her divorce and the drag queens performing at the 2024 Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony. Bese wrote about the LGBTQ ideology and its aim to conquer the world and how difficult it was for a kid living in a single-parent family to find an identity. That is when LGBTQ propaganda can find and “change” them, he argued.

He slammed the demonstration of church school teachers, Péter Magyar, whom he called the Judas of Fidesz, accepting the 30 pieces of silver.

In the last six years, Bese and his family received HUF 41 million (EUR 101 thousand) from a civil fund supporting almost only the Fidesz-close NGOs. Even though the two NGOs applying are officially led by Bese’s mother and sibling, his email address and phone number were given under the contact details. Apart from the subvention, they received more than HUF 60 million (EUR 152 thousand) through different programmes from the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office, the Cultural Ministry and the Bethlen Gábor Fund. Moreover, he is renting the Regina Hungarorum in Medjugorje.

The Archbishop of Kalocsa-Kecskemét suspended Bese today.

Archived link

Russia's naval activity near undersea cables is reportedly drawing the scrutiny of US officials, further sparking concerns that the Kremlin may be plotting to "sabotage" underwater infrastructure via a secretive, dedicated military unit called the General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research (GUGI).

[...]

Knocking out internet and telecommunications traffic traveling across these fiber-optic cables would have a devastating effect on government, military, and private-sector communications.

More than 95 percent of international data flows through those submarine cables, which puts them at increasing risk of both cyber and physical attacks .

[...]

Last year, public broadcasters of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland uncovered a Russian fleet of suspected spy ships operating in Nordic waters, reportedly for purposes of sabotaging both submarine cables and wind farms.

**In addition to communications, the cables also carry electricity between European countries. **

[...]

"Any activities that damaged seabed infrastructure including undersea cables especially during periods of heightened tensions risks misunderstandings and misperceptions that could lead to unintended escalation," [said an] US official. "The US would be especially concerned about damage to our or our allies' critical undersea infrastructure."

Archived link

According to the Hungarian media outlet Válasz Online, Father Gergő Bese, the “star priest” of the Orbán regime, there were a series of documents proving that Mr Bese participated in gay parties and maintained intimate relationships with other men.

Things like that are, of course, part of private life, and should remain so. However, the case of Gergő Bese is different. He is one of the flag-bearers of Orbán’s political Christianity, a strong protector of Fidesz from critics from inside the church, an influencer regularly publishing pro-government writings, a public figure, and it seems a financial beneficiary of the Orbán cabinet.

Moreover, he kept slamming the LGBTQ movement, supporting and authenticating the government’s campaign by wearing a cassock.

He blessed PM Orbán’s office in Buda Castle’s Carmelite Monastery and the government-close Megafon Centre. He campaigned for the government during the 2022 general elections, writing that those voting for the opposition choose tuition fees in schools, unbearable payments in social institutes and the lockdown of village temples.

He slammed Hungarian singer Gabi Tóth because of her divorce and the drag queens performing at the 2024 Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony. Bese wrote about the LGBTQ ideology and its aim to conquer the world and how difficult it was for a kid living in a single-parent family to find an identity. That is when LGBTQ propaganda can find and “change” them, he argued.

He slammed the demonstration of church school teachers, Péter Magyar, whom he called the Judas of Fidesz, accepting the 30 pieces of silver.

In the last six years, Bese and his family received HUF 41 million (EUR 101 thousand) from a civil fund supporting almost only the Fidesz-close NGOs. Even though the two NGOs applying are officially led by Bese’s mother and sibling, his email address and phone number were given under the contact details. Apart from the subvention, they received more than HUF 60 million (EUR 152 thousand) through different programmes from the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office, the Cultural Ministry and the Bethlen Gábor Fund. Moreover, he is renting the Regina Hungarorum in Medjugorje.

The Archbishop of Kalocsa-Kecskemét suspended Bese today.

Apple has been told to pay €13bn (£11bn; $14bn) in unpaid taxes to Ireland by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The European Commission accused Ireland of giving Apple illegal tax advantages eight years ago but the Irish government has consistently argued against the need for the tax to be paid.

The ECJ said its decision on the matter was final and that "Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover".

The Irish government said it would respect the ruling, while Apple said it was disappointed with the decision and accused the European Commission of "trying to retroactively change the rules".

A separate ECJ ruling on Tuesday also brought an end to a long-running case with Google, with the company ordered to pay a fine of €2.4bn (£2bn) fine for market dominance abuse.

[...]