GROUP TURNS TO PRAYER TO LOWER GAS PRICES.

WASHINGTON. ------ The price of regular at a Shell gas station in Washington D.C.'s Petworth neighborhood gleamed defiantly in the midday sun. $ 3.91 a gallon.

But Rocky Twyman and company had a plan to bring that number tumbling down. They would ask God to do it. " Our pockets are empty, but we're going to hold onto God." Twyman, a community organizer from Rockville, Md., said. as he and seven other people formed a circle, held hands and sang, pleading for divine intervention to lower fuel prices.

It was the latest demonstration by Twyman's movement, Pray at the Pump, which began in April.. Since then, he has held group prayers at gas stations as far away as San Francisco, claiming success in at least a couple of cases.

I don't know about you, But I hope this stupid shit works. LOL.

Dammit, Rocky, pray harder.. My gas just went up to $4.20 a gallon.

The Associated Press.

TUCSON, Ariz. ------ Scientists for the Phoenix Mars Lander are wrestling with an intermittent short circuit on the spacecraft.. The problem is in a device that will analyze ice and soil dug from the planets surface, the scientists said Friday. The short circuit was found during testing done before the mission's experiments get under way.

The short circuit isn't considered critical, said William Boynton of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Boynton is in charge of the device that will heat and analyze samples scooped up by the landers robotic arm. He said scientists know what is triggering the problem and what actions make it go away, and are working on solutions.

Phoenix was designed to study whether the Martian north pole region could support primitive life forms and is to perform several experiments seeking traces of organic compounds.

Team members in charge of the robotic arm said new photos show the lander might be resting on splotches of ice. Washington University scientist Ray Arvidson said the spacecraft's thrusters might have uncovered the ice when the robot landed Sunday. Mission planners aimed the craft to the Red planet's northern regions, hoping to find ice just under the surface.