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Explanation: Named for a forgotten constellation, the Quadrantid Meteor Shower is an annual event for planet Earth's northern hemisphere skygazers. It usually peaks briefly in the cold, early morning hours of January 4. The shower's radiant point on the sky lies within the old, astronomically obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis. That position is situated near the boundaries of the modern constellations Hercules, Bootes, and Draco. Many of this year's Quadrantid meteors were dim, but the one captured in this north-looking view is bright and easy to spot. In the foreground is the Maurice River's East Point Lighthouse located near the southern...

A marble statue of Hercules from the second century CE has been uncovered in Israel in excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is conducting at Horvat Tarbenet... The hero Hercules, of Greek and Roman mythology, was born in Thebes. He is the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, a woman from Electryon. Hercules is considered the strongest man in the world, a symbol of power, courage and superhuman strength; one of the most famous legendary heroes of ancient Greece who battled the forces of the netherworld on behalf of the Olympian gods... Depictions of the labors of Hercules...

Comparing Christianity and the New Paganism The most serious challenge for Christianity today isn't one of the other great religions of the world, such as Islam or Buddhism. Nor is it simple atheism, which has no depth, no mass appeal, no staying power. Rather, it's a religion most of us think is dead. That religion is paganism — and it is very much alive. Paganism is simply the natural gravity of the human spirit, the line of least resistance, religion in its fallen state. The "old" paganism came from the country. Indeed, the very word "paganism" comes from the Latin...

Kevin Sorbo, the former “Hercules” actor, is on a new adventure – a Christian one in the famed land of Hollywood. As some of us grew up watching Sorbo as Hercules on T.V., very few might have missed the fact that he was personally trying to teach us a lesson, one based not only on his moral views but most importantly, his Christian values. Sorbo, who recently hosted the 19th Annual Movieguide Awards and took home the Grace Award for “Most Inspiring Performance in Movies in 2010,” told The Christian Post, “If you ever watched ‘Hercules,’ you can see that...

In Morocco, not far from the Atlantic coast and away from major tourist attractions, lies a remarkable and enigmatic megalithic site. The Mzora stone ring (also spelled variously as Msoura/Mezorah) is situated roughly 11km from the nearest town of Asilah and about 27km from the ruins of ancient Lixus. It is not easy to reach and a small display in the archaeological museum at Tetouan is the most the majority of visitors see or hear of this very interesting site. Plutarch, in the first century CE, may have referred to Mzora in his Life of Sertorius. He describes the Roman...

1962 war hero Hercules to make a comeback Manu Pubby Posted online: Mon Jul 05 2010, 03:49 hrs New Delhi : Almost 50 years after an earlier version of the military transport aircraft provided a crucial air bridge to transport troops and equipment to the Chinese frontier during the Sino-Indian war, the hardy ‘Hercules’ is making a comeback to India. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to get the first of its six C 130 J Super Hercules on order from the US in February 2011, in time for the Aero India air show and two months ahead of...

The Harvest HAWK equipped KC-130J Hercules completed Phase One testing here on Apr. 10 and departed for the West Coast for required maintenance and to continue testing on NAVAIR's ranges at China Lake, Calif. Harvest HAWK is a modular roll-on, roll-off weapons system for the KC-130J consisting of a Fire Control Console in the aircraft's cargo compartment, the Target Sight Sensor (TSS) mounted in the left under wing fuel tank and a launcher for four Hellfire missiles mounted on the left hand refueling pylon. NAVAIR is working a complimentary effort to test and deploy the Standoff Precision Guided Munition (SOPGM)...

CAMP TAJI – More than 3,000 U.S. Soldiers here took advantage of a new program offering fixed-wing flights off this Camp, Jan. 27, significantly decreasing their travel time back home to the States. Traditionally, Soldiers are transported via helicopter to Joint Base Balad or Baghdad International Airport before they departed to Ali Al Salim Air Base in Kuwait, said Staff Sgt. Rufus Brumfield, senior enlisted adviser with the 384th Movement Control Team, 49th Transportation Battalion (Movement Control), 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). "We are able to move numerous [passengers] straight from here and they don't have to stop...

Poland gets 1st of 5 Hercules planes from US Associated Press 2009-03-24 09:21 PM Poland's air force has received the first of five used C-130E Hercules transport planes from the U.S. to improve its large-scale transport capabilities. The Hercules arrived at the Powidz air base in western Poland on Tuesday following an overhaul in the U.S. and a stopover at a U.S. air base in Germany. All five planes will arrive by the summer of 2010 to improve Poland's capabilities to transport troops, equipment and humanitarian aid domestically as well as to foreign missions such as the one in Afghanistan....

U.S. to give Poland five C-130 Hercules planes 2008-08-26 00:06:58 WARSAW, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Poland will get from the United States five 40-year-old C-130 Hercules transport planes as part of allied assistance, Rzeczpospolita daily reported on Monday. The first one is expected in Poland in October and the last one in 2012. 50 Polish pilots and technicians are being trained in the U.S. to service the planes. According to the newspaper, the planes will be used for soldier and equipment transport for military missions. At present the Polish Air Forces use Spanish CASA C-295M which are not fit for...

Govt clears largest defence deal with US Pranab Dhal Samanta FIRST AIRCRAFT FROM US IN 50 YRS CCS approves Rs 4000-cr purchase of six Super Hercules transport aircraft NEW DELHI, JANUARY 24:The government today gave the go-ahead for the biggest defence deal with the US so far, clearing the purchase of six C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft for Special Forces operations at a cost of about Rs 4000 crore. It’s learnt that the Cabinet Committee on Security approved the deal which will now be signed by officials soon. The clearance comes a month ahead of the visit of US...

The "transiting" planet - meaning one that passes in front of its parent star as seen from Earth - is about 70% larger than Jupiter. But the presumed "gas giant" has a much lower mass than Jupiter - the biggest planet in our Solar System - making it of extremely low density... The new exoplanet, called TrES-4, is located in the constellation of Hercules and was discovered by a team working on the Transatlantic Exoplanet Survey (TrES)... TrES-4 circles the star GSC02620-00648, which lies about 1,435 light-years away from Earth. Being only about seven million km (4.5 million miles) from...

Taliban militants have used a heat-seeking surface-to-air missile to attack a Western aircraft over Afghanistan for the first time. Click to enlarge Click to enlarge: how the attack was launched The attack with a weapon believed to have been smuggled across the border with Iran represents a worrying increase in the capability of the militants which Western commanders had long feared. The Daily Telegraph has learnt that the Taliban attempted to bring down an American C-130 Hercules aircraft flying over the south-western province of Nimroz on July 22. The crew reported that a missile system locked on to their aircraft...

Secret RAF sorties keep Iraq border troops on go By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 09/10/2006) RAF Hercules transport aircraft are flying secret missions into the heart of insurgent territory in Iraq to re-supply long range desert patrols. Up to three sorties a week are being flown into Maysan province. The large but agile aeroplanes land on hastily constructed airstrips to deliver food, fuel and ammunition to cavalry soldiers operating far from friendly bases. The missions have enabled troops from the Queen's Royal Hussars battlegroup to double the time spent watching the porous border with Iran for smugglers carrying bombs,...

7/13/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- A C-130 Hercules crew assigned to the 738th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron provided critical support to an Army operating location in Afghanistan on July 6 by airdropping essential supplies before a potential enemy attack. Aircraft commander Capt. Travis Sjostedt and his crew just completed their last sortie during their 30-day forward deployment to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. But as the crew was preparing the aircraft to return to its main operating base, leaders at Bagram received a message from the theater's combined air operations center that a forward operating base in Afghanistan was short of...

IAF chief procurement officer: F35 will replace F16 The Israel Air Force plans is to buy over 100 Lockheed Martin F35s, costing at least $5 billion. Amnon Barzilai 21 Jun 06 10:15 The Israel Air Force (IAF) is completing its plan to replace its fleet of combat jets, transport planes, and helicopters, ahead of the IDF headquarters workshop for the formulation of its Keshet five-year plan. In an exclusive interview, IAF chief procurement officer Brig.-Gen. Zeev Snir told “Globes” that the key part of the plan was to procure the next-generation US combat jet, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Snir...

THERE ARE TWO ugly guys in the fight between the city of Hercules and Wal-Mart. It's a classic tale of Big Government versus Big Box, and both sides are prepared to use big guns. In the last round, the Hercules City Council voted unanimously to use the awesome power of eminent domain to seize 17 acres owned by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart vowed to use its awesome resources to fight back. As Hercules sees it, Wal-Mart is the rude guest that won't leave. Attorney Gale Connor, who represents the city, noted that Wal-Mart bought the property in 2004, despite considerable opposition to...

Hercules once had a reputation as a city that never saw a development it didn't like. But as Wal-Mart has learned in the past few months, times have changed. Today, this city of about 24,000 residents stands as a national symbol of small-town audacity after its City Council unanimously agreed to invoke eminent domain to take over a tract where the world's largest retailer applied to build a store. The David-versus-Goliath quality of the showdown has drawn the attention of the national media and created a public relations quandary for Wal-Mart, which in commercials has portrayed itself as a good...

A San Francisco suburb voted Tuesday night to use the power or eminent domain to keep Wal-Mart Stores Inc. off a piece of city land after hearing from dozens of residents who accused the big-box retailer of engaging in scare tactics to force its way into the bedroom community. The overflow crowd that packed into the tiny Hercules City Hall cheered after the five-person City Council voted unanimously to use the unusual tactic to seize the 17 acres where Wal-Mart intended to build a shopping complex. "The citizens have spoken. No to Wal-Mart," said Kofi Mensah, who has lived in...

In these last days, the Bible says it will be a time of mass hybridization and the mixture and corruption of human DNA by fallen angels, also known as "Aliens." The government is and has been, conditioning the existence of aliens through Hollywood, science fiction, cartoons, and other sources. However, they are not telling you the whole truth. These Aliens are not ascended masters, or enlightened ones, or beings from galaxies millions of miles away, nor are they our forefathers or original creators. They are fallen angels who were kicked out of heaven for their rebellion against the headship...