Free Republic

42-year-old Jing Zeng was detained by FBI agents on August 20 as he attempted to board a plane for Beijing, China, according to federal documents obtained by the publication. Zeng is accused of stealing data from a computer at developer Machine Zone; the information he attempted to make off with reportedly pertained to in-game player behavior, including details about how players spend money--but not actual source code. Still, this type of information would theoretically be very valuable, given how big and successful Game of War is.

A four-year investigation has concluded that officials of the solar company Solyndra misrepresented facts and omitted key information in their efforts to get a $535 million loan guarantee from the federal government. The company's collapse soon after getting federal backing provided ammunition to lawmakers and other critics who portrayed President Barack Obama's economic stimulus program as wasteful government spending. The company's failure likely will cost taxpayers more than $500 million. "In our view, the investigative record suggests that the actions of certain Solyndra officials were, at best, reckless and irresponsible or, at worst, an orchestrated effort to knowingly and intentionally...

“It is disappointing, but not surprising, that the EPA failed to meet the House Science Committee’s reasonable deadline in turning over documents pertaining to the Gold King Mine spill,” said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX). “These documents are essential to the Committee’s ongoing investigation and our upcoming hearing on Sept. 9. But more importantly, this information matters to the many Americans directly affected in western states, who are still waiting for answers from the EPA.” ... For several days, the EPA didn’t notify the states of Utah, New Mexico or the Navajo Nation that the spill was coming their way. McCarthy...

Before the 20th century, the ruins of Palmyra, once a key crossroads of classical civilizations, existed on the dusty margins of the Ottoman Empire. European travelers, though, took a special interest in the city. The images sequenced above — photographs by the 19th-century French photographer Félix Bonfils and drawings by the 18th-century British traveler Robert Wood — were formative documents in the Western imagination and inspired the architecture of the industrial age's emerging powers. Wood's rendering of an ancient Roman eagle seen in Palmyra, for example, would later become the model for the Seal of the United States. The archaeological...

The best "so bad it's good" Halloween costume contest is over ... because now you can dress up this year as Dr. Walter Palmer ... the dentist who killed beloved lion Cecil. The costume retails for $59.99 and includes a severed lion's head, a smock and gloves with fake blood spatter, and some dentist tools for the front pocket.

Quinn Swales was taking a group of tourists on a walking safari in Hwange National Park on Monday morning when a lion suddenly charged, the company he was working for said. “Quinn did everything he could to successfully protect his guests and ensure their safety,” the company, Camp Hwange, said on its Facebook page, adding that no other members of the group were hurt. Swales, 40, died the morning of the attack from the injuries he suffered, it said.

Back in July, after a dramatic unwind in the half dozen or so backdoor margin lending channels that had helped drive Chinese stocks to nosebleed levels triggered a terrifying 30% decline (vaporizing billions in paper profits in the process), the Politburo predictably stepped in to rescue the market. However, when it started to become clear that a succession of declarations, directives, policy rate cuts, and even threats weren’t going to be enough to alleviate the pressure on equities, Beijing looked to take back the narrative by banning the use of certain undesirable phrases. ... And so, with every attempt to...

Specifically, the agency is up in arms over "charas" -- a handmade form of hash from India that even I had never heard of -- as the Wiki page reportedly constitutes "instructions" on how to make the stuff. And since Wikipedia, like Reddit, employs HTTPS, there's no way for the Russian government to censor that single page. As such, the entire Wikipedia site is completely offline for all of Russia and will remain so until the Roscomnadzor gets its way.

On Sunday, the migrants — many with children and babies — orderly boarded trains and buses that took them to the border with Serbia before heading farther north toward EU-member Hungary, which is building a razor wire fence on its frontier to prevent them from entering. If they manage to enter Hungary, the migrants could travel freely across the borders of most of the 28 EU-member states. The more than 5,000 migrants who reached Serbia overnight faced an overcrowded refugee centre where they have to apply for asylum — the paper that allows them three days to reach Hungary. State...

North Korea has expressed regret over two South Korean border guards injured by a landmine blast and promised to make efforts to prevent a similar incident from happening again, according to South Korea's National Security Office Chief Kim Kwan-jin. The North also decided to withdraw its declaration of "quasi-state of war" against Seoul, he said. In return, South Korea will turn off its frontline loudspeakers blaring anti-North messages from Tuesday noon on the condition that the North will not make any "abnormal" behavior. The two Koreas also agreed to host the reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War...

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has warned investors that if equity markets continue to fall with the S&P 500 Index dropping 7% during the session, they will halt trading for 15 minutes. So far, it looks like the NYSE won’t have to trigger a market circuit breaker as equities have managed a bounce off its lows since the start of the trading session. Shortly after North American equity markets opened, a wave of selling pressure pushed the S&P down to a low of 1,831 points, a fall of more than 5%. However, those losses have been cut almost in...

Blue House stays awake around the clock for second night Aug 25,2015 President Park Geun-hye said cross-border propaganda broadcasts would continue unless North Korea apologizes for the planting of land mines in the demilitarized zone that seriously injured two South Korean solders earlier this month, displaying a tough stance while top officials from the two Koreas continued round-the-clock talks to defuse tensions. During a meeting with senior secretaries at the Blue House Monday, Park said she would continue the anti-North broadcast campaign as long as the condition for an apology is not met. “The government will take appropriate action [if...

How good are your optics? Nothing can challenge the resolution of a large light bucket telescope, like attempting to split close double stars. This week, we’d like to highlight a curious triple star system that presents a supreme challenge over the next few years and will ‘keep on giving’ for decades to come. The star system in question is 44 Boötis, in the umlaut-adorned constellation of Boötes the herdsman. Boötes is still riding high to the west at dusk for northern hemisphere observers in late August, providing observers a chance to split the pair during prime-time viewing hours. Sometimes also...

Asian equities tumbled, the U.S. dollar retreated and industrial commodities from copper to oil slid to their weakest since 2009. "Gold is rising on market fears," said Howie Lee, analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. Lee said gold looks on track to rally to $1,200 an ounce, a level last seen in June. Gold rose to as much as $1,168.40 on Friday, its highest since July 7. It gained more than 4 percent last week, the most since mid-January. Fears of a China-led global economic slowdown drove Wall Street to its steepest one-day drop in nearly four years on Friday,...

Palmyra, one of the Middle East’s most spectacular archaeological sites and a UNESCO World Heritage site, sits near the modern Syrian city of the same name. Activists said the militants used explosives to blow up the Baalshamin Temple on its grounds, the blast so powerful it also damaged some of the Roman columns around it. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday night that the temple was blown up a month ago. Turkey-based activist Osama al-Khatib, who is originally from Palmyra, said the temple was blown up Sunday. Both said the extremists used a large amount of explosives...

For most people, seeing snow falling in the middle of summer might come as a bit of a surprise. But not for the residents of Calgary, who happily watched the white stuff falling all of yesterday and barely batted an eyelid. ... While the heaviest flurries took place across the Rockies, particularly in Banff, but by early afternoon it had begun snowing across lower ground, including in Calgary. By the following day, however, things returned to normal with a full day of sunshine, though temperatures were still a little low at 60F (15C). The forecast for the rest of the...

The first video show Khalifa surrounded by cops. “This? I didn’t do nothing, anyway,” he says in the video showing a time stamp of 3:55 pm. “What you want to do? Put me in jail because I didn’t listen to what you say? We can have all the conversations you want to, you can end up on TMZ, destined to become as famous as you wanna be.” ... Khalifa went to Twitter regarding the incident, mentioning in multiple tweets that hoverboards were the way of the future.

Using urine and breathed-out carbon dioxide as the building blocks to create useful aboard items, the team is genetically engineering yeast to produce things that astronauts may need. "A particular strain of yeast can be genetically manipulated to create polymers, or plastics, used for 3D printing, as well as Omega 3s, which lower heart disease risk, and protect skin and hair," Mark Blenner, professor at Clemson, was quoted as saying in a Quartz report.

The 25-year-old Texan died after a long bout with cystic fibrosis. Her funeral was August 15 at the Mission Park Funeral Chapels North. “There wasn’t any forced entry to the facility,” Sgt. Javier Salazar told CNN affiliate KSAT. “So what it’s believed is between the hours of 1:30 p.m., when the service ended, to about 4:30 p.m., when they locked up for the evening, someone came in and stole Ms. Mott’s remains. That person remains at large.” Funeral home owner Dick Tips told the affiliate that he believes the body may have been stolen by someone who didn’t support Mott’s...

“Though additional work always remains, the physical sciences have completed their core task when it comes to climate change,” says Bill McKibben... "What we don’t know is how to stop ourselves from harming the climate, which is why this book and the social sciences are so important.” Edited by environmental sociologists Robert J. Brulle, PhD, a professor in Drexel University’s College of Arts and Sciences, and Riley E. Dunlap, a professor at Oklahoma State University, the book highlights new things by presenting climate change as a completely social phenomenon, implanted in behaviors, institutions and cultural practices. “We need to develop...