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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...