Republicans, Democrats come together against Funeral Protestors|Your Funeral Guy

Republicans and Democrats have come together in Support of the the Military  family who is having a case heard before the US Supreme Court. The case involves free speech and the Funeral Protests of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Some reports show that 48  states are siding against the Westboro Baptist Church in the supreme court case.

Free speech is important but hate speech doses not have to be allowed at the private Funerals of our Fallen Military.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) for once found common ground with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on the issue. Reid held a news conference with Snyder Friday to say 42 members of the Senate had signed on to an amicus brief to condemn the actions of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., and its founding pastor, Fred W. Phelps Sr.

“Respondents were and are free to convey their repugnant message in virtually any public manner they choose,” the senators said in a brief written by former Clinton administration counsel Walter E. Dellinger III. “But they were not free to hijack petitioners’ private funeral as a vehicle for expression of their own hate.”

via www.washingtonpost.com

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Your Funeral Guy Exclusive|Is New Green Cremation Alkaline Hydrlolysis|Safe?

Is the new Alkaline Hydrolysis, Green Cremation, Water Resolution, or Bio Cremation, Resomation   a safe process?  There is some question whether this is the case. The folks in Europe claim that it may not be safe for the Fluid in the Process to go down the drain as some of the Manufacturers claim it is .

The Europeans have done some testing on this process.  They claim that TSE|CJD may be an issue with alkaline hydrolysis machines.

There is a report from the EUROPEAN COMMISSION -HEALTH & CONSUMER PROTECTION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL 16th May 2002 which deals with the effectiveness of  destroying transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and bovine spongiform encephalopathies (TSE and BSE) by alkaline hydrolysis (AH).

Pathologists admit that a number of Alzheimer patients my actually be victims of a TSE (CJD) and many are reluctant to perform autopsies on Alzheimer patients. It would seem prudent to consider whether AH (Alkaline Hydrolysis)is an acceptable process for such persons. we do not know the procedure at the Mayo Clinic Resomator  says in regards  to  their procedure is for CJD  brain post mortem examinations and disposal.

The Commission’s conclusion raises significant questions about the viability of alkaline hydrolysis as a method of disposition in the funeral industry.

“On the basis of the evidence available, the liquid residues after a process duration of 3 hours retain a significant BSE/TSE infectivity risk [if the starting material contained high levels of infectivity]. They could also contain chemicals of toxicological concern. It is therefore not appropriate to permit their direct discharge to the sewer. Moreover, from a practical viewpoint the solidification of the hydrolysate on cooling is of concern in respect of the disposal. If hydrolysate is released on a large scale to a sewer in a warm condition without extensive dilution it is likely to precipate. In the absence of data to the contrary it must be assumed that any residual BSE/TSE material could co-precipitate and thence be accessible to sewer vermin.—“EUROPEAN COMMISSION -HEALTH & CONSUMER PROTECTION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL, Scientific Steering  Committee, 16th May 2002

Clearly the burden of proof on the safety of Human remains efluent going down the drain rests with the four manufacturers, Mathews International, BIO SAFE Engineering, Cycledlife, or Eco-Green Cremation Systems.

Funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Actor, Hellraising Dennis Hopper Dies|Funeral to Come-YourFuneralGuy

Actor and Hellraiser Dennis Hopper has died. Some Baby Boomers will remember him for his role in “Easy Rider”. He Acted  in the film and directed it. ‘Easy Rider’ also made Jack Nicholson famous.

Other roles were : “Hoosiers”,”Blue Velvet” and “Speed”” While dying  of cancer his contentious divorce grabbed headlines.

There is no word on Funeral arrangements or a Funeral Service at this time

Dennis Hopper, 74, an actor and director whose low-budget biker movie “Easy Rider” made an unexpected fortune by exploring the late 1960s counterculture, and changed Hollywood by helping open doors to younger directors such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, died Saturday at his home in Venice, Calif.

via www.washingtonpost.com

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• 2 reviews of Dennis Hopper (rateitall.com)

Actor Gary Coleman Dies|Funeral to come|YourFuneralGuy

Actor Gary Coleman has died,  hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage and in a coma he died at age 42 in Utah. There are no Funeral Arrangements public  at this time. Known for his acting on the Television series  “Different Strokes” He  was a television celebrity.

Actor Gary Coleman died Friday at the age of 42. The “Diff’rent Strokes” star had suffered a brain hemorrhage and died in a Utah hospital.

While the actor hadn’t landed a blockbuster role since childhood, fans have already begun outpouring support on Internet forums and on sites like Twitter.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

Twitter is increasingly being used for memorials.

Funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Simon Monjack Funeral 5/27, Grave next to Brittany Murphy|YourFuneralGuy

The eccentric husband of Actress Brittany Murphy was laid to rest in a Jewish Ceremony next to his actress wife. This burial took place at Forest lawn Memorial Park in the Los Angeles  area. Movie Star  Brittany Murphy and her husband Simon Monjack have Graves Next to each other. Funeral services were Thursday, 5/27 2010

About 75 friends and family members gathered in Los Angeles Thursday to bid farewell to Brittany Murphy’s husband Simon Monjack, who died Sunday.

The private orthodox Jewish service, presided over by Rabbi David Baron, took place in the Chapel of the Hills, the same memorial chapel where Murphy was eulogized in December after her death. Monjack was then buried next to his late wife at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

via www.people.com

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Citigroup Fined 1.5 Million In Funeral Preneed Trust Case|YourFuneralGuy

Citigroup was fined 1.5 million in a Funeral Preneed Trust Case. The branch of Citigroup Fined was Citigroup Global Markets. The case  involves  the jailed Clayton Smart, and the Citigroup Broker Mark Singer, Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis and Michigan.

This case involved preneed cemetery trusts.

Snippet.

Penalties of $1.5 million have been levied against Citigroup for supervisory violations related to its handling of millions of dollars in trust funds belonging to Forest Hill cemeteries in Memphis and Michigan.

The penalties — including a $750,000 fine and forfeiture of $750,000 in commissions — were imposed Wednesday by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority against Citigroup Global Markets Inc., whose broker is accused of theft and money laundering here.

The commissions will be returned to the cemetery trusts as partial restitution.

“Firms have a duty to protect customer funds by taking prompt and meaningful action when they encounter indications of possible fraud or misappropriation,” said FINRA official James S. Shorris in Washington. “That duty is particularly critical when firms handle trust funds where the beneficiaries may be unsophisticated investors who are unaware of how the funds are being handled.”

via www.commercialappeal.com

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Obituary Explosion about “Art Linkletter”-YourFuneralGuy

There has been an obituary explosion the “Art Linkletter Death. As soon as the News was put about Art Linkletter’s passing , there was an explosion of News reports and obituaries around the world.

Americans and the world desire more innocence. Terrorist attacks, wars, economic meltdowns, and a President stirring up strife on Immigration make a  memory of a time of innocence with “Kids say the Darndest things” big news.

There is yet to be public information about the Art Linkletter Funeral.

Obituary pages love nothing more than mourning that favorite American archetype: the “example of a more innocent time” in our history. That’s how Time’s James Poniewozik remembers Art Linkletter. “A television pioneer who made millions of people laugh by getting kids to say the darndest things,” according to the New York Daily News, Linkletter turned his mid-century stint as what the Associated Press calls “a genial but gently mischievous television personality” into a fortune thanks to investments in hula hoops, oil wells, and a charm school, among other things. In his late years, he was best known as a motivational speaker who encouraged seniors to embrace life.

via www.obit-mag.com

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Continued Warning Avoid Prepaid, Preneed Funeral Plans|YourFuneralGuy

It is best to continue the warning to avoid Preneed, Prepaid Funeral Plans. Your Funeral Guy has been warning about the Perils of Preneed for years, it all began in Bloomington, Illinois when I heard a Preneed Director say “I am going in for the Preneed Kill”.

I wrote a chapter in the Book Rest in Peace Insiders Tips to he Low Cost Less Stress Funeral on this subject. Now reporters and bloggers around the world have taken to warning about the Prepaid Funeral.

The warning about Funeral Directors taking Your Money was sounded loudly by the Illinois Funeral Directors Association  Preneed Scandal and the larger National Prearranged Services(NPS) Scandal. See the Blog  Post “Who Shot Funeral Preneed?”

Snippet fromblog.seattlepi.com

“When I wrote about prepaid funeral plans, Lisa Carlson, executive director of the Funeral Ethics Organization, offered a comment saying that, in Washington state, consumers should NOT prepay for funerals unless they need to set aside assets for Medicaid eligibility.

If you move, die while traveling, or simply change your mind – from body burial to cremation, perhaps – you’ll get only 90 percent of your money back, plus interest but minus any administrative fees that were taken out, Carlson said. Better to put the money on a joint pay-on-death account with a survivor as beneficiary.

Anne Tergesen writing recently for the Family Finance section of The Wall Street Journal agrees.”

via blog.seattlepi.com

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Baby Boomer Icon Dies TV’s Art Linkletter| No Funeral Plans public|Your Funeral Guy

The baby boomer icon “ART LINKLETTER” has died. He was known for interviewing Ordinary Folks and Children for the daytime TV Show “House Party”

For  many Boomers Linkletter was  their source of humor. There has been none like him since his show “House Party” went off the air in 197o.

There are no funeral plans or arrangements made at this time. In all likelihood his funeral will be private. The memorials  and obituaries, and memorial service  will be great!

Art Linkletter, 97, an Emmy Award-winning television personality best known for his candid, chuckle-inducing interviews with kids who said “the darndest things” live on air, has died.

On his CBS daytime variety program, “House Party,” which aired from 1952 to 1970, Mr. Linkletter asked children simple questions.

“What do your parents do for fun?” Mr. Linkletter asked one boy.

“I don’t know,” the boy replied. “They always lock the door.”

via voices.washingtonpost.com

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Art Linkletter, Comedian and TV Show Host GONE AT 97

And You Thought Funeral Planning was difficult|Your Funeral Guy Blog

Do You Think  Your Burial and funeral planning are  Complicated? Check this out.

500 years after being laid to rest in an unmarked grave, Nicolaus Copernicus, the 16th-century astronomer whose findings were condemned as heretical by the Catholic Church, has been reburied by Polish priests claiming him a hero.

After his death in 1543, his remains rested beneath the floor of the cathedral in Frombork, Poland. This was considered a proper burial at the time and did not reflect the condemnation of the Catholic Church that was to occur decades later.

In 2004 scientists found the skull and bones of a 70-year-old man, Copernicus’ age when he died.  Forensic reconstruction resembled a self-portrait and DNA testing of bones and teeth matched hair found in Copernicus’ books. Scientists believed they had indeed found the author of the famous treatise “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres”

His remains lay in state for weeks in Olsztyn then were toured around the region. At the time of his final burial an honor guard carried the coffin into the cathedral and lowered it into the same spot where his bones had originally been found.

The local bishop who had urged the search for Copernicus, said that the burial was a reconciliation of science and faith.

Posted by Karen Jones, author of DEATH FOR BEGINNERS Your No-Nonsense, Money-Saving Guide to Planning for the Inevitable

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