[DogByte6RER]

[DogByte6RER]

This is reminiscent of France’s 2003 heat wave in which close to 15,000 died ... mostly elderly whose relatives were away on vacation and assumed that the state would look after them.

France heat wave death toll set at 14,802

PARIS (AP) — The death toll in France from August’s blistering heat wave has reached nearly 15,000, according to a government-commissioned report released Thursday, surpassing a prior tally by more than 3,000.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/news/2003-09-25-france-heat_x.htm

[ClearCase_guy]

He's resting.

Beautiful plummage, eh?

[Pearls Before Swine]

It’s not that I don’t see the dark side here of social neglect.

But, I can’t help but see a bright side, too. This guy’s privacy was respected for 15 years. His house wasn’t trashed or vandalized, he wasn’t robbed, and the tax collectors didn’t confiscate the place for back RE taxes. How long do you think you could lie undisturbed in your home here, in the Land of the Free?

[Albion Wilde]

If an older person with no relatives were to die in one of the typical central Maryland communities where I live -- an HOA of 150 attached "townhomes" surrounding a big walkable cul-de-sac, surrounded by a dozen similar cul-de-sacs, in a heavily-populated suburb -- he or she would not be found immediately; but the tax assessors would eventually complete the process to seize the house, and new owners would find the body within, oh, three to five years. But 15 years? It appears the French tax authorities fell down on the job.

No joke; one of our neighbors, an unmarried 30-year-old military veteran who was training to become a medical aide at a world-famous hospital 20 miles from here, choked on food and was found dead three weeks later, in his front hallway, apparently trying to get out to get help. Seems his parents hadn't heard from him in awhile. Sign of the times.

[caddie]

When some dead person is discovered, usually people report some hideous smell, but since this guy was in France probably no one noticed!