Deathcare Profession Link Round-Up 6

Each month we will post links to pertinent articles in the deathcare profession. From lawsuits to quirky sites, we’ll bring you a one-stop shop from deathcare-related items on the web. Here are this month’s links. COURT UPDATE: Listen to Audio From Manchester Funeral Protest Lawsuit, TownAndCountry-Manchester Patch Listen to audio from the recent federal court hearing for Phelps v. the City of Manchester. In 2010, the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, challenged  a city of Manchester ordinance restricting protests or pickets at funerals. The Westboro Baptist Church regularly pickets military funerals with signs such as "thank God for dead soldiers."

Attorney in military funeral protest case to run for Congress, witf Radio The York County lawyer who represented a fallen Marine's father in his lawsuit against the Westboro Baptist Church has decided to run for Congress. Sean Summers argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in Albert Snyder's legal battle with the church that picketed the funeral of his son. The Republican is seeking to fill the seat of retiring Representative Todd Platts.

Delta widow's precious stolen urn returned, CBC News The puck-shaped silver container holding the ashes of Laurence Lalonde was taken — among other items — during a Christmas Eve break-in at the home of Carol Lalonde. We included the original story in the January 6 link round-up. You can read it here.

Spate of thefts of cremation urns unusual, police in B.C. say, Yahoo! News Canada Carol Lalonde isn't alone. I'm not sure if the trend to display the ashes of our departed loved ones publicly in an attractive container is actually growing but I do know I'm seeing reports more regularly of urns being stolen.

Spend on cocktails, not caskets, author of funeral book urges, Miami Herald These days, Dillman says, “People want more control. They want a more personal occasion.” She says she hopes the main thing readers take away from the book is the notion that it’s OK to do what they want, not what survivors might think is appropriate.

Property to die for, The Sydney Morning Herald In real estate there is a market for everything, even accommodation for the dead. Location and views still matter. Sydney's land shortage, coupled with an increasing preference for cremation, has led to a growing trade in burial plots worth thousands of dollars. Advertisements offering burial plots are appearing in online classified ads. Some vendors are taking a more direct approach - erecting ''For sale'' signs on their unwanted graves.

Cremation debate rages, The Zimbabwean Most young people view cremation as a way of saving land, the majority of the ‘traditionalists’ who spoke to The Zimbabwean said it was “un-African and disrespectful of the dead.” “As a nation we will be left with no culture of our own, the practice of burying the dead is fundamental to our culture -but because of urbanisation and globalisation, we are embracing whatever other cultures are offering,” said Masimba Gumede.

Buddhist monk cremated in elaborate funeral ceremony, MSNBC Photo Blog

Photographer Jeon Heon-Kyun attended the cremation ceremony for Ji-Kwan, a venerated former head of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, earlier this month.

The Dabisik ceremony signifies the return of the human body to nature, The European Pressphoto Agency reports. The casket is placed on a pyre constructed from wood, charcoal and thatched bags. After the body has burned, the bones are gathered from the ashes, crushed and ground up.

Click over to the MSNBC Photo Blog to see more.

Deathcare Profession Link Round-Up 5

Each month we will post links to pertinent articles in the deathcare profession. From lawsuits to quirky sites, we’ll bring you a one-stop shop from deathcare-related items on the web. Here are this month’s links. University of Oklahoma casket logo spurs lawsuit, News OK A licensing company in Georgia is suing an Oklahoma casket-maker and its parent company, alleging that the company marketed a casket bearing the University of Oklahoma logo without permission.

Cremation, Burial Or Body Farm?, NPR Four of us sat around talking over the holidays. Eventually we hit on that merry, time-honored question: Do we want to be cremated or buried when we die?

Manchester Funeral Protest Lawsuit Back in Court Monday, Town and Country—Manchester An appeals court is set to re-hear the case of Phelps v. the City of Manchester which involves the protest of Westboro Baptist Church at soldiers' funerals.

With delicious food, Linger gives new life to a former mortuary space, Denver Westword Linger looked quiet the first time I stopped by the restaurant, which had opened earlier this summer in the former Olinger's mortuary. I made my way past the valet leaning against his podium and up the cement steps, intending to get just a fast glimpse of the place and continue on with my night. But as soon as I pulled open that glass door, I knew there was a very good chance I wouldn't make my next stop.

Researchers, tribes clash over Native bones, the Associated Press On a bluff overlooking a sweep of Southern California beach, scientists in 1976 unearthed what were among the oldest skeletal remains ever found in the Western Hemisphere.

Avoiding all the Bones, Oregon Live Portland's pioneer cemeteries date to the early 1800s and are celebrated as places of reflection and cultural history. To this day, too, most offer plots for sale and full burials. The discovery that contract crews in recent years repeatedly dug up bone fragments of unknown people in the course of preparing fresh graves is not only grotesque but a signal the cemeteries need intensive hands-on management.

Deathcare Profession Link Round-Up 4

Each month we will post links to pertinent articles in the deathcare profession. From lawsuits to quirky sites, we'll bring you a one-stop shop from deathcare-related items on the web. Here are this month's links. 'You could not print what I think of thieves who stole my husband's cremation plaque', This is Surrey Today A widow was left in tears after learning her beloved husband's cremation plaque had been stolen by thieves.

Biz to Go: New app can arrange cremations, The Richmond Times-Dispatch Virginians will be able to set up a cremation on their smartphones, thanks to an app from the Cremation Society of Virginia.

'Death tax' collection opposed by local authorities, The Guardian The introduction of a death tax, to pay for the increased scrutiny of doctors by a new medical examiner corps, could be delayed as councils resist collecting a national charge levied on bereaved families.

New Flameless Cremation Process Could Be Legalized In Illinois, CBS Chicago For 20,000 years, people have been using fire to cremate their loved ones. Now, for the first time, there’s a new way to do cremations and, if Gov. Pat Quinn signs a measure approved by the legislature, it could be available in Illinois by March.

Number of unclaimed bodies triples in Racine; official blames economy, culture, JS Online: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel The number of unclaimed dead bodies tripled in Racine County last year, from the typical three or four to a dozen. Medical Examiner Tom Terry told the Journal Times it's not always because the deceased are unidentified or have no relatives; sometimes the next of of kin just refuses to take responsibility, and the county picks up the cost of burial or cremation.

Soldiers complete documentation of Arlington National Cemetery, Defense Video and Imagery Distribution Systems Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) soldiers, photograph and document every tombstone, grave marker and cremation site in Arlington National Cemetery, Va.

“Botched Burial” Lawsuit, Fox 4 News Kansas City An Overland Park family laid a loved one to rest in May of 2010, or so they thought. There were so many problems, they ended up burying him twice. The family hired an attorney and filed a lawsuit. Attorney Brian Niceswanger says the funeral and graveside service at Oak Lawn Memorial Gardens went as planned, but after the family left, getting the vault and casket into the ground was anything but smooth.

Deathcare Profession Link Round-Up 1

Each month we will post links to pertinent articles in the deathcare profession. From lawsuits to quirky sites, we'll bring you a one-stop shop from deathcare-related items on the web. Here are this month's links. Ashes to beads: South Koreans try new way to mourn, the Associated Press Changes in traditional South Korean beliefs about cherishing ancestors and a huge increase in cremation have led to a handful of niche businesses that cater to those who see honoring an urn filled with ashes as an imperfect way of mourning.

Zimbabwe: Let's Value Our Tradition, Cremation Not the Answer, The Herald Although the title of this article might sound as if the writer is arguing against cremation, it's actually a response to the country's general sentiment against it. Earlier this week, The Herald posted 'Council urges nation to adopt cremation' detailing the problem facing Zimbabwe, and many other countries— a lack of space for traditional cemetery plots.

Forget cremations or being buried, how about being liquidised? Funeral home brings in machine which turns dead bodies into 'brown syrup', The Daily Mail An article on the Anderson-McQueen funeral home in St. Petersburg, where they've installed an alkaline hydrolysis machine used to dissolve a corpse so that the liquid can be pumped into the municipal water system.

Funerals undergoing an eco-friendly makeover: Shaking up a ritual steeped in tradition and solemnity, Bloomberg Businessweek Another article on alkaline hydrolysis—it's quite the hot button topic right now!— featuring Jeff Edwards of Edwards Funeral Service in Columbus, Ohio. Edwards' funeral home was put in the hot seat, and after getting a lot of media attention, the Ohio Department of Health announced 'that it would no longer accept death certificates from or issue burial transit permits to any funeral home using hydrolysis, essentially making the procedure illegal in Ohio.'

Most boomers don't have living wills, the Associated Press A new study from the AP in conjunction with LifeGoesStrong.com reveals exactly what this article's title sounds like, but the reason many of them don't set up living wills may surprise you.

Navy has yet to fulfill Vet's last wish, WAVY.com A Vietnam veteran's last wish was to be buried at sea, but a mix-up may mean his remains never make it there.