TYB
Welcome to The Lost Universe: NASA’s First Tabletop Role-playing Game
It’s time to gather your party and your favorite tabletop role-playing game system.
A dark mystery has settled over the city of Aldastron on the rogue planet of Exlaris. Researchers dedicated to studying the cosmos have disappeared, and the Hubble Space Telescope has vanished from Earth’s timeline. Only an ambitious crew of adventurers can uncover what was lost. Are you up to the challenge?
This adventure is designed for a party of 4-7 level 7-10 characters and is easily adaptable for your preferred TTRPG system.
NASA’s first TTRPG adventure invites you to take on a classic villain (while also using and learning science skills!) as you overcome challenges and embark on an exciting quest to unlock more knowledge about our universe. Download your game documents below and get ready to explore Exlaris!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExkdG3RDLBQ
STARLINK MISSION
SpaceX is targeting Monday, March 4 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 6:56 p.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 10:54 p.m. ET. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Tuesday, March 5 starting at 6:28 p.m. ET.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This is the 13th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SES-22, ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1, Hispasat Amazonas Nexus, CRS-27, and eight Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-6-41
Archaeologists Make ‘Bone-Chilling’ Discovery at Construction Site in Small Town in Mexico
March 4, 2024
Archeologists working in Mexico report an extraordinary find—a collection of bones that could date from the sixth century A.D.
The bones were first discovered by a construction company working in the town of Pozo de Ibarra.
The bones appear to have been buried haphazardly as if they were thrown on top of each other in a pit, but experts argue the body placement indicates a complex burial tradition.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has not yet confirmed precise dating for the bones, but has noted they come from the pre-Colombian era.
Many of the skulls reportedly showed “cranial modification,” which a spokesperson for INAH speculated had been done for “aesthetic purposes, according to a report in Fox News.
Last February, Mexican archeologists found a cash of skulls—thought to be the remains of sacrificial victims.
A translated excerpt from the INAH report stated: “It is a funerary system composed of a primary burial, that is, the skeleton maintains the anatomical relationship, accompanied by a concentration of human bone remains deposited without anatomical relationship, which has a particular arrangement.”
The INAH report added: “It was identified that long bones, such as femurs, tibias, rays and ulnae, were carefully placed in a specific sector. Similarly, the skulls were intentionally grouped, some even stacked on top of each other, in another sector of the ossuary.”
The INAH referred to the discovery as being “exceptional,” stating that it enriches the field of archeology in Mexico.
“This archaeological find is exceptional, since there are no precedents for this type of burial in other nearby sites, and it enriches the understanding of funerary practices in the region. In addition, it encourages collaboration between the different INAH bodies for the protection, research, conservation, and dissemination of heritage.”
Providing additional information on the possible age and culture associated with the find, the INAH said: “The discovery is possibly related to the Amapa cultural phase (500-800/850 AD) because ceramic vessels and anthropomorphic figurines from that period were also recovered.”
https://resistthemainstream.com/archaeologists-make-bone-chilling-discovery-at-construction-site-in-small-town-in-mexico/
Serial killer dubbed 'Vampire of Goiânia' ripped out hearts of three murder victims and drank their blood: Police arrest Brazilian recycling collector, 51, over deaths
UPDATED: 11:32 EST, 4 March 2024
Brazilian authorities have arrested a recycling collector who allegedly ripped out the hearts of three victims and drank their blood.
The suspect, 51, is accused of murdering three individuals between December 2023 and February in the city of Goiânia.
The man, whose name was not released, was arrested last Thursday.
'We found that he transported the victims in the recycling cart, wrapped them in a mattress or sheet and dumped them in forested areas,' Goiás Civil Police chief Marcos Cardoso said.
The man also told police he transported the victims in a cart, which had blood in it.
Cardoso said the man had a list of five people he wanted to murder. The suspect targeted victims who were drug users and homeless and lured them.
The first body was found December 16 and the second was discovered December 23. The body of the third victim was found February 11.
Two of the bodies were in a state of decomposition and the third had been set on fire.
In each of the three murders, the man ripped out the victims' hearts and drank their blood.
'We have not yet been able to 100 percent confirm the authorship of the three crimes attributed to him,' Cardoso said.
'But everything indicates that we are indeed dealing with a serial killer.
'Since the modus operandi with which these three people were murdered was always the same.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13154883/Brazil-serial-killer-blood-heart.html?
VA makes abortion policy permanent, allows procedures to continue at agency facilities
March 4, 2024
The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday made its abortion policy permanent, allowing the procedure at VA hospitals and clinics when the mother’s life is at risk or in cases of rape or incest. The final rule, published Monday in the Federal Register, leaves an interim policy that has been in effect since September 2022 unchanged and provides for abortion counseling and services at VA facilities regardless of state restrictions, Terrence Hayes, the VA press secretary, said Monday. The VA’s decision to allow certain abortion procedures overturned a 1999 exclusion to the VA health benefits package for veterans and other beneficiaries of CHAMPVA, which is the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs. CHAMPVA enrollees can include spouses and children of a veteran rated permanently disabled for a service-connected disability. The surviving spouse or child of a veteran who died from a VA-rated service-connected disability also can be a CHAMPVA enrollee. “Specifically, VA will continue to provide access to abortion when the life or health of the pregnant veteran or CHAMPVA beneficiary would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest,” Hayes said. VA employees, when acting within the scope of their federal employment, can provide abortion services regardless of state restrictions, according to the VA. “Eligible veterans are able to access abortion services through VA, regardless of where they live,” Hayes said. Leaving veterans without access to abortion services puts their health and lives at risk, he said. The final rule codifies the Sept. 9, 2022, interim decision that enabled veterans and CHAMPVA beneficiaries to “access abortion counseling — and in certain cases — abortion,” Hayes said.
“It is thus essential for the lives and health of our veterans that abortions be made available if determined needed by a health care professional when the life or health of the pregnant woman would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest,” according to the Register notice published Monday. The Justice Department will support and represent any VA health care providers who practice in states where abortions are prohibited, the White House stated when the initial rule change was made in 2022. The VA said pregnancy and childbirth can cause serious physical harm or death to certain individuals diagnosed with life-threatening conditions that include preeclampsia, cancer and intrauterine infections. The VA policy does not put time limits on when pregnancies can be terminated but leaves the decision up to the health provider to determine what is medically necessary and appropriate. During a 30-day comment period on the interim policy that ended Oct. 11, 2022, more than 50,000 comments were received in support and opposition, according to the VA. Many commenters also recommended changes to the interim policy, which were not adopted. “As explained, the [policy] does not permit the provision and coverage of abortions in all circumstances,” the VA said.
https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2024-03-04/veterans-affairs-abortion-policy-13208162.html
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/03/04/court-rules-veterans-caregivers-can-appeal-va-eligibility-decisions.html
Court Rules that Veterans' Caregivers Can Appeal VA Eligibility Decisions
March 04, 2024 at 5:10pm ET
A federal court has ruled that caregivers of injured or ill veterans denied financial support and services from the Department of Veterans Affairs can appeal the VA decision to a benefits board, a ruling that could affect thousands of veteran families.
In a unanimous decision issued last week, a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a 2021 ruling by a lower court that applicants and participants in the VA's Family Caregiver Program could appeal adverse decisions on their cases.
The VA had maintained that when the Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers Program, also known as the Family Caregiver Program, was created 2010, Congress intended to allow participants to appeal decisions only within the Veterans Health Administration, since the program is managed by the health side of the VA.
The VA also argued that the Board of Veterans' Appeals, or BVA, which is responsible for disputes over disability claims, had no jurisdiction for ruling on caregiver claims.
The appeals court judges disagreed, however. In an opinion issued Feb. 27, Chief Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore and others said that only a narrow group of medical determinations that affect assistance or support are outside the BVA's jurisdiction, and the Family Caregiver Program is not among those few.
"We have considered the parties' remaining arguments and find them unpersuasive," Moore wrote.
The case centered around Jeremy Beaudette, a Marine Corps combat veteran who is legally blind and 100% disabled as result of suffering a traumatic brain injury. He and his wife Maya were enrolled in the program for more than four years but lost their eligibility when Jeremy was unable to attend an in-person assessment while recovering from surgery.
VA employees conducting Jeremy Beaudette's reassessment relied solely on his medical records in deciding to remove him from the program.
The Beaudettes appealed the decision through the VA's clinical appeals process but were denied repeatedly. They then appealed to the VBA, which did not issue a decision nor dismiss it for lack of jurisdiction.
When they didn't receive an answer, the Beaudettes took the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, which ruled in their favor in 2021. The VA then appealed to the federal appeals court, putting any decisions about the Beaudettes' appeal and potentially thousands of others on hold.
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Last week's ruling, however, may allow them to proceed if the VA decides to drop the case.
The decision could award thousands of dollars in retroactive pay as well as future compensation, according to the Beaudettes' attorneys from the Public Counsel's Center for Veterans' Advancement, National Veterans Legal Services Program, and Paul Hastings LLP.
"Such review is an important safeguard of fair agency decision-making, and is critical where support for our veterans and their families is concerned," said Igor Timofeyev, a litigation partner for Paul Hastings who argued the appeal.
"This ruling is a monumental victory for injured veterans and their caregivers, who have long endured the challenges and injustices of the Caregiver Program," said Amanda Pertusati, interim directing attorney for Public Counsel, in a statement. "Over the years, our team has received countless calls from frustrated veterans and caregivers impacted by this troubled program."
More than 400,000 veterans and caregivers may be eligible to appeal their cases, according to the National Veterans Legal Services Program.
As of last month, roughly 14,000 veterans and their caregivers have appealed a VA decision on their caregiver program decision or submitted a request for a higher-level review and potentially could be under consideration by the BVA.
As part of the 2021 ruling, the court ordered that all appeals be considered by the BVA and that VA officials should develop a list of applicants who may be eligible to file an appeal. That compilation and follow-on outreach has been on hold since the VA filed an appeal to that ruling.
The program provides health care and benefits, including a stipend, to individuals who support veterans who need assistance and supervision and cannot live independently. The stipends vary based on location, but range from roughly $1,800 to $3,000 a month, depending on the level of care required.
Initially created to support seriously injured or ill post-9/11 veterans, the program was expanded in 2020 to include veterans who served before May 1975 and widened again in 2022 for combat veterans of all eras.
The VA and Justice Department may appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Justice Department declined to comment on pending litigation. The VA did not respond to a request for comment by publication.
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