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In the middle of the 19th century, an archaeologist discovered fragments of multiple clay tablets in what is modern-day Iraq. Translated, the cuneiform writing on these and other tablets subsequently found revealed the “Enuma Elish,” the Babylonian account of the creation of the world. The Enuma Elish starts with formless chaos and water. The waters divide into a god and a goddess, who have children who are also gods. War breaks out between mother and father, and between mother and children. Ultimately, the offspring of the first two gods create human beings to be their servants. Other ancient cultures have...

What was the shape of Noah’s Ark? For millennia Jewish and Christian clerics, scholars, and academics, as well as others with too much time on their hands, have pondered this question. Artist rendering of the one true shape of Noah’s Ark, scientifically provenILLUSTRATION: JON BERKELEY What makes it tantalizing is the precision of the numbers in Genesis 6 (here, in the King James translation): [13] And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. [14] Make thee...

Calling all Free-Republic CPA's and Enrolled Agents, and like professionals to chime in on the House and Senate Tax Bills. I spoke to my CPA this past week, and my comments are here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3603945/posts?page=106#106 This thing needs to see the light of day, good, bad, or indifferent. I look forward to all FR responses!

Last week, Breitbart News revealed a secret video game journalist mailing list used by a clique of influential writers, editors, and bloggers, some of whom attempted to bully their colleagues with it in an attempt to shape the news agenda for political purposes. We can today reveal the complete list of journalists, some 150 key industry figures, on the list. Outlets with representation span the entire video games journalism universe and include Polygon, Ars Technica, Wired, Eurogamer, Destructoid, Kotaku, Joystiq, TechRadar, and many other well-known brands in games publishing. But they also include freelancers and staffers for publications as solidly...

Seven current members of the Navy's elite SEAL Team Six, including one involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, have received non-judicial punishments for having served as paid consultants for the video game "Medal of Honor: Warfighter." Four other SEALs who previously belonged to the unit remain under investigation. The newly released game by Electronic Arts features special operations forces, including SEALs, in combat situations. Promotional materials for the game mention the fact that, to make the game as realistic as possible, input came from special operators, including Navy SEALS.

The Taliban is out in Afghanistan -- well, in the videogame version anyway. Following a backlash from military families and politicians, Electronic Arts has modified its latest version of the "Medal of Honor" series so that the game no longer pits U.S. troops against the Taliban. The multi-player format game, set in modern-day Afghanistan, was initially designed so that players would either inhabit the role of coalition forces or enemy fighters, labeled as the Taliban. British Defense Sec. Liam Fox also spoke out against the game, saying, "At the hands of the Taliban, children have lost fathers and wives have...

Many of the tools for airborne electronic warfare and attack are aging and lack flexibility. At the same time, new off-the-shelf technologies used by irregular and conventional foes—ranging from low-power command-and-control communications to advanced, long-range anti-aircraft missiles—are increasingly sophisticated, making it more expensive and time-consuming to find, analyze and counter them. Developers are in a quandary about which technologies to pursue first, a problem compounded by a lack of agreement among the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Army about how to address common problems. Faced with this swiftly changing environment, the Navy is searching for solutions within the framework of...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Too busy playing video games to watch presidential ads on television? Barack Obama has found you, too, by becoming the first presidential candidate to buy ad space inside a game. Nine video games from Electronic Arts Inc., ranging from the extremely popular "Madden 09" football game to the street racing "Burnout: Paradise," feature in-game ads from the Obama campaign. The ads—they appear on billboards and other signage—remind players that early voting has begun and plug a campaign Web site. The idea of embedding advertising temporarily inside a video game is relatively new, having only begun about 18...

After years of barging over husky defenders on the gridiron, ex-Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown is attempting to tackle two serious video game heavyweights in court. According to Bloomberg, Brown has filed suit against Sony Computer Entertainment America and Electronic Arts over using his likeness in the popular Madden football series. He seeks a court order preventing either company from continuing to use his likeness in the franchise as well as damages stemming from trademark violation. At issue is the starting running back on Madden's "All Browns Team." The character is African-American and bears the same jersey number Brown...

PS3: difficult stories emerge in run up to Euro launch http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2007/02/13/ps3_difficult_stories_emerge_in_run_up_to_euro_launch.html [...] More juicy perhaps, is the comment made on a blog named FreeRepublic.com, by EA employee Dr. Andrew Garrett: "My opinion - get the 360 and/or the Wii. Skip the PS3 unless there's a big change in the near future." You can read his full post here. Naturally, anti-Sony zealots are spinning this as 'EA says skip PS3', which means Dr Garrett is probably in a whole heap of trouble. That's the problem with the modern videogame industry and the web - the two are utterly incompatible... Blog culture...

EA wipes out rival NFL titles with new licensing deal by GamesIndustry.biz Leading publisher Electronic Arts has announced the signing of an exclusive five-year deal with the NFL and its players association, effectively eliminating any competition to the firm's NFL sports titles from rival publishers.The deal signs the National Football League and the NFL Players Inc licensing division into five years of exclusivity with EA, preventing any other company from using the NFL brands, stadiums, player names and player likenesses in their games.The deal will come as a devastating blow to SEGA and Take Two, whose ESPN sports range made...

SAN FRANCISCO - Electronic Arts, the video game publisher, said today that it would not make online versions of its popular sports games available for Microsoft's Xbox game console for at least a year, signaling a failure of more than two years of negotiations between the companies. Executives at Electronic Arts, which is based in Redwood City, Calif., said that they were worried that Microsoft was seeking to gain greater control over their customers who participate in online games on the Xbox.Instead, Electronic Arts, the nation's leading computer game maker, planned to announce on Tuesday a one-year exclusive arrangement with...