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Fermi telescope finds evidence that positrons, not just electrons, are in storms on EarthWashington — Designed to scan the heavens thousands to billions of light-years beyond the solar system for gamma rays, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has also picked up a shocking vibe from Earth. During its first 14 months of operation, the flying observatory has detected 17 gamma-ray flashes associated with terrestrial storms — and some of those flashes have contained a surprising signature of antimatter.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s forthcoming autobiography has been at the top of the Amazon book charts for weeks, and it hasn’t even been released yet. At least in the eyes of the political Left, she is now perhaps America’s most visible national Republican. But new Rasmussen Reports national telephone surveying finds Palin losing handily in face-to-face march-ups with her two likeliest challengers for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Among likely Republican primary voters, Palin now trails former Arkansas governor-turned-Fox-TV-host Mike Huckabee by 20 points – 55% to 35%. When her opponent is ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Palin loses by...

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. A freak bolt of lightning struck a 56-year-old cyclist in Englewood, Colo., even though no electrical storms were reported in the area, authorities say. Perry Schellpfeffer, an Englewood police spokesman, told The Denver Post the unidentified victim was hit by the lightning Wednesday afternoon. His injuries were not considered life-threatening. "There were some clouds and it was thundering a little, but there wasn't any kind of lightning storm," Schellpfeffer said. Among U.S. states, Colorado tied Florida for the most deaths from lightning strikes in 2008, when each had four. In 2006, each state had eight lightning-related deaths, the...

A great explosion of purity is about to come , But "not" as before(as Katrina) ,something straight from my kingdom , The heavenlies are about to applaud , I AM The Lord behold I alone am God ! Yet for my children of my rod and staff , They shall rest in my bossom of Zion and laugh , For the Joy of The Lord is their strength , And these are my children of victiory that have gone the full length , Obedience to me has become their rod , My staff is their com(fort) for I AM their...

A great explosion is about to come , Destroying things not of my kingdom , Prophecies told about to unfold , Things new wiping out the old , The storehouses of God's lightning released , Disturbing things now resting in peace , Ancient walls suddenly cut down , Nothing left but burnt glass on the ground , As paper mache burnt and blown away , A prophecy of the past happening in one day , A blink of the eye and nothing left to see , Yet all the nations witnessing God's majesty , A turning point in a war...

<p>I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.</p> <p>I made a first post in the general section yesterday and would like to see what sort of opinions I can find here amongst those who perhaps have a more relogiously attuned perspective.</p>

Why are forum replies reviewed and posting delayed? Makes it kinda tough to carry on a conversation when it takes hours to communicate.

Lightning that shoots upward from clouds can be as powerful as the strongest bolts that strike the ground, according to researchers who caught the strange phenomenon on film. (Watch the video, slowed down to show how the lightning bolt moves.)

JUPITER, FL--Gerald Geissler sits in his bed at Jupiter Medical Center in disbelief after getting struck by lightning Wednesday morning. Gerald was cleaning out his garage to get ready for his morning route cleaning pools. He was actually rolling out a truck tire when he was struck. [snip] Gerald says the tire he was rolling out of his garage actually saved his life because he was grounded by the rubber. Gerald will remain at Jupiter Medical Center for at least a couple more days for observation.

Dear Mr. Robinson: I've given the matter quite a bit of thought and have decided it is time to ZOT you. I was tempted when I noticed posters were allowed to insult anyone who disagreed with them; even more tempted when I saw new posters banned for asking questions, or expressing an opinion outside the mainstream - (though I must confess anyone adopting the screen name "Christ was killed by conservatives" was not going to last very long ! I'm sure he was referring to the Sanhedrin, but still...) When I saw your post today about getting "millions of people"...

I have a wee tiny suggestion for Free Republic. Is it at all possible to have a ZOT category, just as for General chat, or smokey back room? It would be genuinely nice to have a place where the shame of so many trolls could be put on public display! Thanks Mods!

I've been a Christian my entire life. Since I was a small child. Seven years old. I prayed for salvation from hell. I dedicated my life to Jesus. And I meant it. As I grew up I spent my time studying and praying and witnessing. I decided in high school that I would go to seminary and be a minister. I was a minister for a short time after I graduated from seminary. But then I quit temporarily. I had been talking to people about Jesus for years and there were so many questions that I felt deserved answered. I...

I've been hearing that some groups of people are not welcome at Free Republic anymore, but I didn't believe what I was hearing because that seems like the complete opposite of "Free". I've heard that supporters of Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and more are no longer welcome to post at this site. This site is about uniting people together against the liberal onslaught that is ruining our country and we could use all the help we can get right? Please correct me so I can correct others who have told me that this is...

The launch of US shuttle Endeavour is to be further delayed after a thunderstorm around Cape Canaveral, Nasa officials say. Blast-off has been postponed for 24 hours to allow technical teams to assess the effects of lightning strikes near the launch pad on Friday. Two previous launch attempts in June were scrapped because of a potentially hazardous leak in a hydrogen vent line. The craft is to take and install a last piece of Japan's space station lab. Lift-off had been scheduled for 1939 local time (2339 GMT). But on Friday evening, the area surrounding the launch pad was hit...

Lightning strikes

One 12-year-old Virginia boy was playing baseball when it happened. The same week, a 33-year-old man was struck while jogging in Texas, a 70-year-old California woman was hit while doing yard work and a Kentucky man, 44, fell victim while waiting under a tree for a ride. They are among 11 people killed already this month by lightning strikes in the United States, according to the National Weather Service. "Lightning is very random in terms of fatalities," National Weather Service lightning safety expert John Jensensius told CNN. "We normally see a good amount of lightning in June, but this is...

A teenage girl survived a terrifying lightning strike after she was saved by the wire of her iPod. Schoolgirl Sophie Frost and her boyfriend Mason Billington, both 14, stopped to shelter under a tree when a storm struck as they were walking near their homes. Doctors believe Sophie survived the 300,000-volt surge only because it travelled through the gadget’s wire, diverting it away from her vital organs. The teenager was taken to hospital and is recovering from burns to her chest and legs while Mason suffered damage to his eyes. Both are expected to make a full recovery and Sophie...

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED OVER PARTS OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND MIDWEST TODAY AND TONIGHT... THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS OVER PARTS OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND MIDWEST TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE IOWA ILLINOIS INDIANA MINNESOTA WISCONSIN ELSEWHERE...SEVERE STORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE FROM THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN PLAINS ACROSS THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY AND APPALACHIANS MOUNTAINS TO THE MID ATLANTIC COAST. A VERY ACTIVE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT REGIME WILL CONTINUE TODAY OVER AN EXTENSIVE REGION FROM THE PLAINS...ACROSS THE...

An eerie red figure flashed across the sky above a thunderstorm near the south coast of France, and then it was gone in the blink of an eye. Atmospheric scientist Oscar van der Velde, standing on his balcony in Sant Vicenç de Castellet, in Barcelona, Spain, captured the sprite, as it is called, in spectacular detail on the night of June 5. He was more than 150 miles (250 km) away from the storm. "It was the sixth sprite that night that I could capture, and the second one at this zoom level," said van der Velde, of the Technical...

UPDATE: Woman killed by lightning in Fontana Lori Consalvo, Staff Writer Posted: 06/03/2009 06:07:31 PM PDT A 41-year-old woman was struck and killed by lightening this afternoon in Fontana. The woman was standing under a tree about 4:45 p.m. and was struck by a flash of lightening in front of a house in the 8600 block of Bennett Avenue, Fontana Police Sgt. Jeff Decker said. Neighbors said the lightening hit the woman so hard it knocked all of her clothes off and left injuries and burns, Decker said. "She was pronounced dead at the scene," Decker said. Police officers have...

Edward J. Rupke, senior engineer at Lightning Technologies, Inc., (LTI) in Pittsfield, Mass., provides the following explanation: It is estimated that on average, each airplane in the U.S. commercial fleet is struck lightly by lightning more than once each year. In fact, aircraft often trigger lightning when flying through a heavily charged region of a cloud. In these instances, the lightning flash originates at the airplane and extends away in opposite directions. Although record keeping is poor, smaller business and private airplanes are thought to be struck less frequently because of their small size and because they often can avoid...

LIGHTNING SPLASH: On May 26th, photographers Francis Schaefers and Daniel Burger were chasing a thunderstorm along a beach in Vlissingen, the Netherlands, when "the storm turned around and came a little too close for comfort," says Schaefers. "We were able to photograph lightning hitting the water just 40 meters away." Here is the view through their Canon 400D: Look closely where the lightning meets the water. Tiny bolts appear to be dancing around the impact site. "Those are called 'upward streamers,'" says lightning expert Richard Blakeslee of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. "In a typical cloud-to-ground lightning strike, as...

Actually, it was a dark and stormy weekend. On Friday, right after the computer office closed, our tower-broadcast Internet access failed. It remained out until Monday morning. Meanwhile, Michelle and I had two articles each that were on deadline. But that was the easy part. We have a good friend who is an adopted grandmother, named Gibson Jefferson McConnaughey, almost 91 years old. A week ago, she was fine for her age. Thursday she was in the hospital with serious complications from a blood clot. Saturday morning she died. Until an hour before she died, she was conscious and talking...

On July 15, 1942, a flight of six P-38s and two B-17 bombers, with a total of 25 crew members on board, took off from Presque Isle Air Base in Maine headed for the U.K. What followed was a harrowing and life-threatening landing of the entire squadron on a remote ice cap in Greenland. (See photo of downed P-38 from the "Lost Squadron.") Miraculously, none of the crew was lost and they were all rescued and returned safely home after spending several days on the desolate ice.

Note: The following text is a quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Republic of Congo Rockets Fired; Electrical Storm CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Sub-Saharan Africa - Congo (Republic) 14 Apr 2009 Printer Friendly Email Article RELATED REPORTS 26 Mar 2009 WARDEN MESSAGE: CONGO INCREASES SECURITY PRESENCE FOR FRENCH VISIT 19 Mar 2009 WARDEN MESSAGE: FUNERAL PROCESSION, LARGE CROWDS EXPECTED 21 Jan 2009 WARDEN MESSAGE: CHADIAN NATIONAL AIRLINE, AIR TOUMAI, PROHIBITED FOR U.S. EMBASSY EMPLOYEES 14 Jan 2009 REPUBLIC OF CONGO 2009 CRIME & SAFETY REPORT U.S. Embassy Brazzaville issued the following Warden...

# De Principiis Cogitandi. Liber Secundus. (1 result) 11 Visa tamen tardi demum inclementia morbi # Luna habitabilis (1 result) 24 Visa tibi ante oculos, et nota major imago.

The mingling of lightning and ash seen below may be a "dirty thunderstorm." The little-understood storms may be sparked when rock fragments, ash, and ice particles in the plume collide to produce static charges just as ice particles collide to create charge in regular thunderstorms. -National Geographic Two of nature’s most spectacular forces produced an incredible brew in the skies of Chile as a volcanic eruption met a lightning storm. Tonnes of dust and ash from the eruption of the Chaitén volcano poured into the night sky just as an electric storm passed overhead. The resulting collision created a spectacular...

Now Ms. Meghan McCain is anything but a young Britney Spears type "air head" celebrity. She is a 24 year old, 2007 graduate of Columbia University. She has already written regularly for Newsweek Magazine and has been an active political blogger since her father, Senator John McCain, began running for his party´s 2008 nomination. She admits that she has only been a "real Republican for less than a year," and she is anything but a die-hard GOP conservative. She is a "moderate" that currently supports gay marriage, stem-cell research and in 2004, she voted for the Democrat, John Kerry. What...

You hate McCain. You hate reason. Pick on Meghan all you want. All you peepole on here hate anybody who disagrees with you. Go ahead, make fun of me. You half no lives , dont YOU!. Keep up with your nasty and hateful comments. Hateful and ignorant peepole you are. I am ashamed to be an American. Youre greed is so evident and, well, screw you hateful peepole!

It looks as though the USSC or for that matter any of our elected representatives are going to do anything to call into question Barrack Obama's foreign national status. So, it's up to us (American Citizens) to apply the pressure to get them to take notice. We can BOYCOTT any spending on luxury/non-essential items. This will get the governments attention. Pay your bills but don't spend your tax refund, don't spend your stimulus payment. Call in to local radio talk shows.......you know the drill. If it's good enough for Jesse Jackson, then it is certainly good enough for us in...

A woman claimed yesterday to have seen two balls of lightning in her house in West Wales. Annie Dobson, from Kidwelly, said she was terrified to see the mysterious phenomena bouncing around her home. BBC weather presenter Derek Brockway said the incident was very unusual and potentially deadly. “For years, the very existence of ball lightning was controversial,” he said. “Most scientists now accept that it does occur, but there is still no agreed explanation of what it is. “One theory suggests that ball lightning is a highly ionised blob of plasma held together by magnetic fields, while an exotic...

From Strong's Hebrew Dictionary (Word #) 1299 baraq baw-rak' a primitive root; to lighten (lightning):--cast forth. (Word #) 1300 baraq baw-rawk' from 'baraq' (1299); lightning; by analogy, a gleam; concretely, a flashing sword:--bright, glitter(-ing sword), lightning.

"What if a presidential candidate took a position on gay marriage that was different from your own? Would you still consider voting for him because of his position on other issues, or would you not vote for him under any circumstances?" . Still Consider Not Vote For No Answer/ Unsure % % % 6/18-25/08 72 22 6

<p>I was advised that this scenario would not be entertained on anywhere else. The member that I discussed it with couldn’t, or wouldn’t explain why. I was just trying to understand the great disparity between the goals of Free Republic at the About Free Republic webpage and all the policies of Free Republic that are diametrically opposed to the goals.</p>

ANTRIM, N.H. (WBZ) ― A 21-year-old Antrim woman is recovering after being struck by lightning Wednesday night. The bolt hit her feet and came out through her nose ring. Jessica Lafreniere was hit while she was walking through her family's garage. "She had walked into the garage to go outside to turn off the faucet. The light came in through the garage and hit her," Jessica's mother, Danielle Taylor told WBZ. "It was like a red flash that came from her feet and she was thrown into my arms. She was blue and purple, and stiff as a board." "When...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A man watching TV and listening to music inside an Orange County apartment was struck by lightning while holding a cigarette out of a window. Adam Rice was struck on the hand Wednesday afternoon at the Whisper Lake apartments, located on state Road 436 south of University Boulevard. "All of sudden it sounded like fireworks go off, just loud pops, like, constantly," Rice said. "The whole house lit up blue, and I got zapped on my hand." Rice told Local 6 News that the current traveled through his body and exited between the two smallest toes...

The minister who survived a lightning bolt [Rockaway, NJ] -- A fall into Purgatory Chasm couldn't take down the Rev. Matthew McNamara many years ago, and a bolt of lightning that ripped through him from head to toe this week was no match either. "I feel blessed," McNamara said yesterday from his hospital bed at Morristown Memorial Hospital, where he is in good condition and being treated for burns to his head and foot. The Pequannock resident was hit by lightning Monday night as he was readying Camp Marcella, a state-run summer camp for blind and visually impaired children, for...

A cloud-to-ground ligtning strike from a severe thunderstom hit a large gasoline storage tank at the Magellan Petroleum tank farm in Kansas City, igniting 2 million plus gallons of unleaded gasoline, rapidly growing into a huge inferno of flame belching over 200 feet in the air. Local authorities have elected to let the fire burn itself out, which is anticipated to take a day or more. The fire is presently contained to the burning tank. Authorites and company officials feel confident the fire poses no danger to other large storage tanks nearby. Video from local news helicopters shows tank walls...

Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, some 30 kms (19 miles) north of the volcano, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years, in southern Chile May 2, 2008. Cases of electrical storms breaking out directly above erupting volcanos are well documented, although scientists differ on what causes them. Picture taken May 2, 2008. REUTERS/Carlos Gutierrez (CHILE) The Etna volcano in Sicily rumbled back to life on Tuesday with a "seismic event" followed by a burst of ash, volcanologists said three days after minor eruptions shook the cone. A "seismic...

Few sights in nature can compare to the sheer magnificence of a volcano erupting in full flow. But while scenes of molten lava are relatively commonplace, this otherworldly picture of Chaiten Volcano in southern Chile shows a truly spectacular, and devastating, volcanic phenomenon.

This amazing photograph gives whole new meaning to the phrase "May God strike me with lightning if ..." Rio de Janeiro's world-famous statue of Christ the Redeemer was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm over the Brazilian city on Sunday. Scroll down for more ... The statue - which towers over the city as the largest statue of Christ in the world - did not appear too damaged after the strike, according to Brazilian reports. The statue stands 39.6 metres (130ft) tall, is made of 700 tons of reinforced concrete, and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,296ft)...

(Downed power lines electrified the street) Madison, WI - Two adults and a child were electrocuted by a downed power line on Madison's north side late Wednesday afternoon as a storm swept through the city. Madison experienced a heavy downpour around 4 p.m. About that time, witnesses saw the victims waiting for a bus on N. Sherman Ave. when lightning hit power lines above them. The downed lines apparently electrified the area in which they were standing. "It's a horrible tragedy with three people deceased," Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said at the scene. "It appears to be a complete accident....

CHINESE meteorologists have warned that the site of most venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympics could suffer a high number of lightning strikes after the Games begin, state media said on today. Lightning has killed 499 people in China so far this year, nearly 200 more than in the same period last year. In an academic paper submitted yesterday to an international conference, Guo Hu, head of the Beijing Meteorological Observatory, and fellow researcher Xiong Yajun said they had studied Beijing lightning data from 1995 to 2005 - and Haidian district was the area most heavily hit. Most of the...

Lightning struck an illegal border crosser Monday night about 10 miles north of the border in the Altar Valley southwest of Tucson. The 38-year-old man was transported to University Medical Center and survived, said Richard DeWitt, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman. A Border Patrol agent encountered the group at about 10:30 p.m. Monday near milepost 10 on Arizona 286, he said. The group members said the lightning struck the man at about 8:30 p.m. and that, due to the wet ground, three others were shocked as well, DeWitt said. Members of the group said they carried the 38-year-old man to...

YORK - Flip-flops and faith. Without those two things, Marie Drackert says, she wouldn't be alive today. Drackert was sitting in her York County home July 29, watching the weather on television, when a bolt of lightning came down her chimney and out through her fireplace, frying appliances and sending a jolt of electricity through her body. She believes the rubber in her flip-flops kept her insulated from the strike. Her faith kept her going. "I told my son I'm going to bronze those flip-flops," she said. "I swear."

MAGGIE VALLEY (AP) — Dozens of visitors were rescued Monday from the chair lift at Ghost Town in the Sky after lightning struck the ride. Ten riders made it to the ground safely with the help of a rope ladder system, said David King, sales and marketing manager. Twenty-eight others had to wait until repairs were made. Rescue workers tossed ponchos, for protection from the rain, to those who were stuck. Wendy Whiteside of Knoxville, Tenn., said she and her family were about 10 chairs from the top when the ride stopped. The problem didn't dissuade her from possibly trying...

Mr. Ducklips’In the News!* * * * FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The father of a teenage football player killed by a lightning strike during a high school football game has filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Broward County School Board, saying the school did not provide sufficient warning, the man's lawyer said. The player was struck as he ran off the field when play was suspended during a sudden thunderstorm. James C. Suckalott has to be this man’s lawyer. He and his cohorts, Ernie the Attorney and Sawyer the Lawyer, are experts on everything: mesothelioma; stock market losses; cerebral palsy;...

50-year-old pastor from a church here in San Antonio was killed Tuesday afternoon after he was hit by a bolt of lightning while hiking with his two teenage sons, authorities told News 4 WOAI. The man and his two sons were hiking in the Lost Maples State Natural Area near Vanderpool close to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. It started raining and the family went to seek cover under a cedar tree, Bandera County Sheriff Don Berger said. The father was then hit by lightning and died instantly, officials said. The park is located about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio. Members...