GagliardiNews

Illinois artist Steve Kreuscher wants a judge to allow him to legally change his name to "In God We Trust."
Kreuscher says the new name would symbolize the help God gave him through tough times, reported the Star Tribune.
Kreuscher plans to appear in court on June 13, hoping the judge will grant his request, reported the Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
His first name would be "In God" and the last name "We Trust."
"I want this with all my heart," says Kreuscher, the 57-year-old father of four.
Kreuscher has gone through a painful divorse, bouts of depression, financial problems and home invasion. Yet through it all, he believes hat god has protected him.
Kreuscher, a Christian who gave up on organized religion 20 years ago, said the new name would symbolize the story of his life, reported the Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
"I've had to trust God through incredibly hard times," he said.
Kreuscher is also worried that atheists will remove the phrase "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency. He remembers when the phrase "God Reigns" was removed from the Zion city seal in 1992 after the courts deemed it as unconstitutional.
Kreuscheris confident the judge will allow the change since he isn't breaking any regulations.
The county charges $246 for the petition. In addition, it requires the person to publish a legal notice in the newspaper three times. That could cost as much as $150.
"That will be the best $400 I've ever spent," Kreuscher said.

Posted by gagli004 at 2:23 AM | Permalink

Pope Benedict XVI offered a prayer Sunday at the site of ground zero before celebrating his final Mass in the United States at Yankee Stadium.
A crowd of 57,00 came to hear the Pope deliver his last U.S. Mass, reported the New York Post. The Pope called this Mass, "a summons to move forward with firm resolve to use wisely the blessings of freedom, in order to build a future of hope for coming generations."
The Pope's main message during his six-day pilgrimage was to have faith play a role in public life.
At ground zero, the Pope offered a prayer for peace, mentioning the attacks not only on the World Trade Center, but also the Pentagon and a jetliner that crashed in Pennsylvania, reported the New York Times.
After a prayer, the Pope blessed the site with holy water in all four directions.
The Pope's visit was a half-hour long, but he did exchange words with many of survivors and families of those who were killed in the 9/11 attacks. Only 24 guests were allowed to be at the site with the Pope. The 24 guests were selected from among more than 1,100 applicants for a chance to meet the pope.
The service was held at the bottom of the giant construction ramp that goes into the construction site for the new towers rising at ground zero.

Posted by gagli004 at 2:50 AM | Permalink

King Harald V opened Norway's long awaited national opera house on the shores of the Oslo Fjord on Saturday to a house filled with royalty, national leaders and music lovers.
The stunning, $840 million building of white marble fulfills a more than 120-year dream for Norwegians who are used to watching opera and ballet in old downtown theaters, reported the Pioneer Press.
"At the innermost part of the Oslo Fjord, the opera house rises as a new and monumental landmark," King Harald said at the opening of the oprea house, reported the Star Tribune. "This house for many generations to come will be filled with music, dance and song."
A two-and-a-half hour opening performance featured highlights from various operas and ballets before an audience that included Norway's Queen Sonja, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Danish Queen Margrethe and about 1,350 other invited guests.
An 1881 report in an Oslo newspaper said the capital was to get a new opera house. It wasn't until recently that that statement became a reality as the Norwegian parliament approved construction and funding for the national opera house.
Funding and political debates were among the factors for the long delay.
The opera house is made of a white stone that seems to rise from the water of the fjord. It holds roughly 1,000 rooms, including a 1,350-seat and a 400-seat auditorium. The inside is lined with crafted woodwork, and decorated with art worth about $12 million.
"This is a building that will change the way the world sees us, and the way we see ourselves," opera director Bjoern Simonsen said.

Posted by gagli004 at 4:15 AM | Permalink

Authorities have removed a total of 137 children from a ranch occupied by about 400 polygamist followers, believing that the safety of the children was in question.
Authorities have sealed off the 1,900-acre ranch near Eldorado, Texas and no one is allowed to enter or leave, the compound officials with Child Protective Services and the Department of Public Safety said, reported CNN News.
Child Protective Services "is conducting an investigation into safety issues of the children who live within the compound," Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said.
The investigation began due to a complaint made by a 16-year-old at the ranch. Her identity has not been identified, reported the New York Times.
State troopers, Texas Rangers and investigators from Child Protective Services raided the ranch on Thursday night to serve search and arrest warrants after a 16-year-old girl complained of sexual and physical abuse, officials said Friday.
The compound is officially called the Yearning for Zion Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reported the New York Times. It is a breakaway Mormon sect whose leader, Warren S. Jeffs, 51, was convicted last year of forcing a 14-year-old girl into marriage and sexual relations.
Jeffs has also been convicted of two counts of being an accomplice to rape and charges related to a marriage he performed in 2001, reported CNN News. He still faces trial in Arizona on eight charges of sexual conduct with a minor, incest and conspiracy.
Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) bought 1,900 acres near Eldorado four years ago and built the ranch, which they call the YFZ Ranch. It is now home to as many as 400 members who relocated from their Arizona and Utah compounds.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints split from the mainstream Mormon Church after church leaders in 1890 repudiated the polygamy prescribed by its founding prophet, Joseph Smith, and excommunicated members practicing plural marriage, reported the New York Times.
Several law enforcement agencies are assisting with the investigation, said Tela Mange, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, reported CNN News. "The people at the ranch have been cooperative and they are providing the investigators with everyone they want to talk to," she said.
Critics of the sect say it arranges marriages for girls as young as 13, and that competition for brides may be reduced through exiling young men. If male followers are excommunicated, the critics claim, their wives and children can be reassigned to someone else.
As of Friday morning, Child Protective Services had not yet determined if there was a safety issue with the children.
Jeffs is now being held in the Mohave County Jail in Kingman, Arizona, where he will be tried on charges of being an accomplice to incest and sex with minors.

Continue reading "Children Removed from Polygamist Ranch Over Safety Concerns" »

Posted by gagli004 at 10:41 PM | Permalink

A rattlesnake rancher was arrested for selling vodka with rattlesnakes inside of the bottles without a license Bayou Bob Popplewell marketed his exotic conncoction an "ancient elixir," reported USA Today.
Popplewell spent about 10 minutes in jail after the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission obtained arrest warrants on misdemeanor charges of selling alcohol without a license and possessing alcohol with intent to sell, reported USA Today.
Popplewell, who has raised rattlesnakes and turtles at Bayou Bob's Brazos River Rattlesnake Ranch for more than two decades, surrendered to authorities Monday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Agents with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission confiscated 429 bottles of the substance, as well as one bottle of snake-infused tequila, from Popplewell's ranch last week. He could face up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted, reported Poltical Gateway.
Popplewell plans to fight the charges, reported USA Today. His intent, he said, is not to sell an alcoholic beverage but a healing tonic. He said he has customers of Asian descent who believe the concoction has medicinal properties.
"It's almost a spiritual thing," said Popplewell, 63.
Despite what the purposes of his concoction is, since vodka is used, a state permit is required.
Popplewell said he uses the cheapest vodka he can find as a preservative for the snakes, reported USA Today. The end result is a super sweet mixed drink that Popplewell compared to cough syrup.
"I've honestly never seen a person drink it," he said.
Popplewell said his drinks are mainly purchased as a keepsake, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday.
Popplewell sells his anceint elixirs for $23 a bottle. At the time the Alcoholic Beverage Commission confiscated his bottles, he had around $10,000 in reptilian booze.

Posted by gagli004 at 4:34 AM | Permalink

A Kentucky mother killed her two children Thursday before going to the nearby college and holding one of the counselors hostage.
Gail Lynn Coontz, 37, is charged with murder in the deaths of 14-year-old Greg Coontz and 10-year-old Nikki Coontz, said Louisville police Officer Phil Russell, reported USA Today.
According to police, the children died of multiple gun shot wounds, reported
The Courier-Journal.
The motive for this incident is unknown.
Coontz, who is a student at the University of Louisville, brandish a gun and held a health counselor hostage, U of L President James Ramsey said. About two minuted prior to this incident, 8:32 a.m., the student health center called police asking for help escorting a female student to University Hospital’s emergency room for mental-health reasons, officials said.
By 9:15 a.m., Coontz was disarmed and taken to the University Hospital. Coontz willing handed her gun over to the health counselor. The university immediately sent out warnings to students via e-mail, text messages and phone calls advising them to stay away from the area.
After Coontz was taken to a hospital psychiatric ward, she was later transferred to the Louisville jail, Ramsey said, reported USA Today. Officials there did not know whether she had a lawyer.
Coontz is also charged with one count of terroristic threatening for pointing a handgun at an officer, university police Maj. Kenny Brown said.
The police later found the two children in their home.
The children were shot sometime in the past day, Louisville police Officer Phil Russell said. They were probably shot in their sleep, having been found "in the sleeping position" said Jo-Ann Farmer, chief deputy coroner for Jefferson County.
Russell and neighbors said Coontz was a widow.
"She was a good mom," said next-door neighbor Sheryl Hayven. "I would have never thought anything, nothing like this would have indicated this to me."

Posted by gagli004 at 4:47 AM | Permalink

In a major shift from former views, 44 Southern Baptist leaders backed a declaration calling for more action on climate change, sayinf its former position on the issue was "too timid," reported the New York Times.
The groups current president, the Rev. Frank Page, signed the initiative, "A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change." Two past presidents of the convention, the Rev. Jack Graham and the Rev. James Merritt, also signed.
“We believe our current denominational engagement with these issues has often been too timid, failing to produce a unified moral voice,� the church leaders wrote in their new declaration.
The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest denomination in the United States after the Roman Catholic Church, with more than 16 million members, is politically and theologically conservative.
The signers of the document acknowledged that not all Christians accept the science behind global warming, reported the Star Tribune. They said they do not expect fellow believers to back any proposed solutions that would violate scripture, such as advocating population control through abortion.
The document also urges ministers to preach more about the environment and for all Baptists to keep an open mind about considering environmental policy, reported the New York Times.
Jonathan Merritt, the spokesman for the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative, said the declaration was a call to Christians to return to a biblical mandate to guard the world God created.
Leaders said that current evidence of global warming is "substantial" and that the threat is too grave to wait for perfect knowledge about whether, or how much, people contribute to the trend, reported the Star Tribune.
"We believe our current denominational resolutions and engagement with these issues have often been too timid," the statement says. "Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless and ill-informed. We can do better."
The Southern Baptist signatories joined an expanding community of evangelicals pushing for more action among believers, industry and politicians. Experts on the Southern Baptist Convention noted the initiative marked the growing influence of younger leaders on the discussions in the Southern Baptist Convention, reported the New York Times.
The declaration is the outgrowth of soul-searching by Mr. Merritt, 25. The younger Mr. Merritt said that for years he had been “an enemy of the environment.� Then, he said, he had an epiphany.
“I learned that God reveals himself through Scripture and in general through his creation, and when we destroy God’s creation, it’s similar to ripping pages from the Bible,� Mr. Merritt said.

Posted by gagli004 at 4:29 AM | Permalink

The famous golden arches of McDonald's were about the only recognizable feature of the new feng shui style McDonald's in Hacienda Heights, Calif., reported USA Today.
The local McDonald's became revamped following the style and principales of feng shui, adding such things as leather seats, bamboo plants and even two waterfalls.
The new makeover included elements designed at helping diners achieve happiness and fortune, whether they realize that or not. The ancient Chinese principales of feng shui uses the practice of arranging numbers and objects to promote health, harmony, and prosperity.
The makeover was an attempt by McDonald's to attract more patrons with unique decor and amenities that might entice them to stay a while. It also fits into McDonald's larger corporate practice of catering to local tastes.
Eastern Los Angeles is home to a growing Asian population and one of the nation's largest Buddhist temples, reported the New York Times.
From 1990 to 2000, census figures show, the number of Asians as a proportion of the 53,000 residents in the unincorporated town increased to 36 percent from 27 percent. The number of Hispanics, 38 percent of the population in 2000, also grew in that time, though less significantly.
Although the style reflects the population and culture of this area, the idea is to help people tap into their inner zen, reported USA Today.
The basic principles of feng shui include placing strategic representations of five natural elements — earth, water, fire, metal and wood — around the room to increase the flow of chi, or energy.
The McDonald's included red accents throughout the dining area to symbolize fire and "good luck, laughter and prosperity," said Brenda Clifford, who designed the dining area. The textured walls patterned after ocean waves symbolize "life and relaxation — the balanced things that you want in your life," she said.
The walls are now curved, the ceiling and floor tiles are placed at distinctive angles, and the doors swing open and shut in opposite directions, all in the name of keeping luck within the restaurant, reported the New York Times. The number 4, considered bad luck in some Asian cultures and in feng shui, is absent in the street address and the phone number.
“A lot of things are subliminal,� Clifford said. “Balance in life, that’s what you want.�
While the menu remains the same, there is a McCafe offering lattes and gourmet coffee drinks.
Customers are responding positively, whether or not they recognize the feng shui elements. The new design created a relaxing atmosphere, that entices people to stay longer.
“We wanted to make the restaurant a little bit more of a destination,� said Bryan Carmack, one of its franchisees, who runs 23 McDonald’s restaurants with other members of his family around Southern California, reported the New York Times. “It’s not so much décor as a theme, our theme being we want this to be a harmonic, peaceful place for people to be.�

Posted by gagli004 at 5:32 AM | Permalink

Minnesota Vikings tackle Bryant McKinnie was arrested in Miami early Sunday on charges of aggravated battery after a street brawl outside a nightclub, reported the Star Tribune. McKinnie was also charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence, according to a police report.
Authorities arrived at Club Space after a fight broke out, reported the Pioneer Press. McKinnie was thorwn out by a nightclub security gaurd and was spitting and arguing with Eric Otero, according to a police report.
Otero, 32, said he would not press charges if Mckinnie left the club. McKinnie headed to a nearby strip club, and returned to Club Space later and fought with Otero again.
He was found in a large crowd, throwing punches and yelling obscenities, said the police report. Mckinnie refused to stop when order by police and began to board a bus. The bus driver was order not to drive away.
McKinnie was arrested and bonded at $9,000 at 2:25 p.m., Janelle Hall, Miami-Dade County Corrections Department spokeswoman, said.
McKinnie, the 6-foot-8, 335-pound staple of the Vikings' offensive line, has been in trouble before. The NFL fined him one game check for his role in a rowdy team boat party on Lake Minnetonka in 2005. McKinnie pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in that incident, reported the Star Tribune.
The Vikings released a statement Sunday that said, "We are aware of the situation with Bryant McKinnie. We will respond further once we have collected the appropriate information."
It is unclear what caused the brawl. Police said McKinnie was transported to the jail with injuries, but the extent was not known.

Posted by gagli004 at 3:39 AM | Permalink

A man was arrested Saturday for the death of a New York therapist, reported Yahoo News.
David Tarloff, 39, was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and was ordered by the judge to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Tarloff told investigators he set out to rob a psychiatrist he said had institutionalized him 17 years ago, reported the Star Tribune. Instead the robbery became the slaying of therapist Kathryn Faughey who worked in a neighboring office, where he butchered her with a meat cleaver and a 9-inch knife for reasons authorities don't yet understand, police said.
Investigators matched Tarloff's palm prints with those at the bloody crime scene, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Tarloff made incriminating statements during a 35-minute interrogation after he was taken into custody at 7:20 a.m., Kelly said. But Kelly declined to say Tarloff had confessed. The questioning stopped when Tarloff asked for a lawyer, but it wasn't clear whether he had one.
Police said it remained unclear why Tarloff would have attacked Faughey, who was slashed 15 times. Dr. Kent Shinbach, the psychiatrist police say Tarloff intended to rob, came to Faughey's aid from his nearby office and was badly injured, reported Yahoo News.
During questioning, Tarloff said he went to the office because Shinbach had him institutionalized in 1991, reported the Star Tribune. Tarloff said he planned to rob the psychiatrist and then leave the country with his mother. Kelly couldn't confirm whether Tarloff was ever Shinbach's patient, or whether he'd met Faughey.
Tarloff had been arrested earlier this month on charges of punching a security guard in the face after being asked to leave St. John's Episcopal Hospital in Queens, Kelly said. It wasn't clear why Tarloff had been at the hospital.
Police said they matched his prints from the Feb. 1 arrest with three found on a suitcase filled with adult diapers and women's clothing left near the basement door where the killer escaped. Also found was a smaller bag with rope, duct tape and knives not used in the attack, police said.
Investigators established Tarloff's identity at about 5:40 a.m. Saturday and found his address on an application he submitted in 2001 to the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission, which licenses cab drivers.
Police then moved swiftly to locate him, and he went voluntarily to the 19th Precinct near the scene of the attack, Kelly said.
Investigators said the killer arrived around 8 p.m. Tuesday, telling the doorman he had an appointment with Shinbach. Then he sat in the waiting room with one of Shinbach's patients until the patient went into his office around 8:30 p.m., police said.
The killer then entered Faughey's office and attacked her. Shinbach came to her aid but was assaulted, pinned behind a chair and robbed of $90. The killer then tried to attack Shinbach's patient, but she fended him off and he fled, according to police.
Shinbach was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center with slash wounds on his head, face and hands. Kelly said the psychiatrist was released Saturday.
Kelly said investigators worked around the clock on blood and DNA samples from the scene, and three witnesses, including Shinbach, picked Tarloff out of a lineup.

Posted by gagli004 at 3:52 AM | Permalink

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to the Aborigines people Wednesday for past wrongs and unfair treatment, reported the New York Times.
Rudd’s apology was particularly addressed to the so-called Stolen Generations, the tens of thousands of indigenous children who were removed, sometimes forcibly, from their families in a policy of assimilation that happened between 1910 and 1970.
“We apologize especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country,� Mr. Rudd said as hundreds of members of the Stolen Generations stood listening at the Parliament House. “For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry."
But Aboriginal leaders say the injury can never be fully repaired until the victims receive reparations for being taken as children from Aboriginal mothers, reported Yahoo News. An estimated 100,000 children were taken from their parents under state and federal laws based on a premise that Aborigines were dying out.
Now the Aborigines are calling for a monetary compensation. "Any group of people who have been treated badly under laws ... deserve to pursue compensation judicially, legally or politically and they deserve our support," Aboriginal leader Patrick Dodson told the National Press Club.
For the past decade, former Prime Minister John Howard had refused to make an apology to the Aborigines. He argued that contemporary Australians should not be held responsible for mistakes of the past. Senior members of Howard's center-right Liberal Party had said that an apology could leave the government liable for claims of compensation.
Last year, a court in South Australia awarded $525,000 to Bruce Trevorrow, who was taken unknowingly from his mother when he was a baby, for unlawful treatment and false imprisonment.
Australia's smallest state, Tasmania, is the only government to establish a compensation fund for the stolen generations. The state government announced last month that it has paid 84 forcibly removed children and 22 of their descendants. Each victim received $52,000 and each descendant $4,500, reported Yahoo News.
Rudd's 4-minute apology, and the 20-minute speech that followed, received a standing ovation both inside the chamber and from the hundreds gathered on the grounds of Parliament House in the capital, Canberra, reported the New York Times. Rudd recounted stories of the victims bringing the reality of the misdeeds to light and publicly confronting those who deny what happened, said Kristie Parker, managing editor of the Aboriginal newspaper The Koori Mail.
While Rudd's apology without compensation had been criticized as a hollow gesture, the government promised to inject far more spending into improving Aborigines' standard of living.
Today, there are about 450,000 Aborigines in Australia's population of 21 million. They are the country's poorest group, with the highest rates of jailing, unemployment and illiteracy. Their life expectancy is 17 years shorter than that of other Australians, reported Yahoo News.

Continue reading "Apology Made to Australian Aborigines" »

Posted by gagli004 at 5:33 AM | Permalink

Johan Santana became the highest paid pitcher in history, Friday, after completing negotiations with the Mets, reported The New York Times. It took three additional days of negotiations in order to seal the contract with the Mets.
The Mets had acquired Santana on Tuesday from the Minnesota Twins. However, the terms of the contract length and amount were still in debate. Santana wanted a six-year deal, while the Mets only wanted to give him a five-year deal with options for a possible additional year and other options.
As the 72-hour deadline approached, both were still trying to negotiate, reported Yahoo News. The Mets were at $135 million and Santana and his agents were at $140 million. The sides were able to have an additional two hours to try to confirm the deal, after which Santana came out with a six-year contract with the Mets and a #$137.5 million payroll. Santana's agent said, "It took 74 hours of hard work, pretty much 24-7. We got creative. We tried to work together to make this happen. This was something that both sides wanted."
The Mets now have a projected 2008 payroll of more than $140 million, the largest in team history, reported The New York Times. Last season they spent $120 million. Their new payroll puts them among the highest payroll teams, following behind only the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
Santana will be 34 at the end of his contract. The Mets have offered along with his contract the possibility of a seventh season with the Mets.
Greenberg said of Santana, "He's extremely happy. We're all very happy. We're still kind of pinching ourselves to make sure this is really true. This is a match made in heaven."

Posted by gagli004 at 1:58 AM | Permalink