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“I had this epiphany as a thirty-something, that I was going to die someday,” says Seattle-based architect Katrina Spade. As she watched her children, (then 2 and 5 years old) grow up day to day, she thought about a time when they would be 40 years old. And that she would be 70. And that she would eventually die. She began to look into the options we have for our corpses when we die, and the spaces and rituals associated with them: hardwood caskets, concrete vaults in the ground, carbon-emitting cremation, formaldehyde embalming, claiming a piece of real estate in...

Let’s finish out the weekend with a story about Californians being Californians, because… California. Terces and Matthew Engelhart have made quite the life for themselves out on the left coast over the past decade, having established a small chain of “organic, plant-based” restaurants which specialize in completely vegan food. They apparently attract Hollywood celebrities who are impressed not only by the business ethic of their eateries, but the “Love Farm” where they raise much of their produce, presumably in a Gaia approved fashion. They’ve published a book which explains the tenets of their “sacred enterprise” which is a must read...

SHOCKER STATEMENT COMING FROM A CHURCH THAT HAS HAD PROBLEMS WITH ABUSE: "Pope Francis called for "severe punishment" for pedophiles" Pope Francis called for "severe punishment" for pedophiles on Sunday after new details emerged in Italy of the 2014 death of a six-year-old girl who is alleged to have been thrown from an eighth-storey balcony by her abuser. "This is a tragedy. We should not tolerate the abuse of minors," Francis said, departing from prepared remarks at his weekly Sunday message and blessing to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square. "We must protect minors and severely punish...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tucked away in a quiet residential street in Kawasaki city in Japan is a refurbished workshop with a plain silver exterior and black draped windows that residents describe as creepy. The business inside, Sousou, is one of Japan's latest so-called corpse hotels, a camouflaged morgue used to store some of Japan's mounting pile of bodies waiting for a spot in one of the nation's overworked crematoriums. “Crematories need to be built, but there isn’t any space to do so and that is creating funeral refugees," said Hisao Takegishi, who opened the business in 2014. At a daily...

Accidental gun deaths/year: 505 (Ref: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/01/cdc-report-35369-vehicle-accident-deaths-505-gun-accident-deaths/) Disclaimer #1: Most stats in article unsourced. Disclaimer #2: It's Cracked.com.

The movie that catapulted Prince to stardom is rolling back into U.S. theaters this weekend. “Purple Rain,” starring the late pop star, was first released in 1984 and earned Prince an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. The accompanying album also produced two no. 1 singles –“When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy–and went platinum 13 times over. AMC, the nation’s largest theater chain, is teaming with Warner Bros. to screen “Purple Rain” in 87 AMC locations this Saturday, April 22, through Thursday, April 27. Carmike Theaters will also screen the cult favorite in 80 theaters

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro delivered a valedictory speech Tuesday to the Communist Party that he put in power a half-century ago, telling party members he will soon die and exhorting them to help his ideas survive. 'I'll be 90 years old soon,' Castro said in his most extensive public appearance in years, adding: 'Soon I'll be like all the others.' He went on: 'The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban Communists will remain as proof on this planet that if they are worked at with fervor and dignity, they can produce the...

HAVANA — Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro delivered a valedictory speech Tuesday to the Communist Party that he put in power a half-century ago, telling party members he will soon die and exhorting them to help his ideas survive. “I’ll be 90 years old soon,” Castro said in his most extensive public appearance in years. “Soon I’ll be like all the others. The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban Communists will remain as proof on this planet that if they are worked at with fervor and dignity, they can produce the material and...

Blessed Are Those Who Die in the Lord – A Meditation on the Christian Attitude toward Death Msgr. Charles Pope • March 29, 2016 • Catholic Standard Photo by Mike HoytThe recent death of Mother Angelica provoked the expected saddness at the passing of such a great woman. Indeed, her vivacious and plain-spoken presence has long been missed during these years of her declining health. She called this her time of purgatory and purification. In an extraordinary grace, the Lord called her at 5:00 PM on Easter Sunday, likely the very time at which He was making His first...

Soros Shadow Party Stalks DeLayBy Richard PoeFrontPageMagazine.com | April 12, 2005 On the day that Terri Schiavo died — victim of a court order condemning the brain-damaged woman to death by thirst and starvation — Representative Tom DeLay of Texas did what few politicians have the courage to do these days. He spoke his mind."This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most," DeLay told Fox News on March 31. "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior." DeLay’s strong language worried some Republicans. They pointed...

Two Canadian anti-vaxx parents have been accused of letting their 19-month-old son die of meningitis, a treatable disease for which they refused medical care and antibiotics. Instead, they tried and failed to heal their son with home remedies in March 2012. David and Collet Stephan tried to cure a disease that infects the fluid around the spinal cord and brain with such treatments as olive leaf extract, whey protein, water with maple syrup, and juice with frozen berries. After young Ezekiel continued to suffer for two weeks, the Stephans changed treatments to apple cider vinegar, horseradish root, hot peppers, onion,...

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Yes, the Pledge of Allegiance. We all grew up saying this every morning at school. It was wonderful. But, not everyone agrees. As you probably know by now, America's schools have been taken over by liberals that are indoctrinating our youth with their twisted left-wing ideals. Here's a perfect example. Kindergarten students from PS75, a public school in New York City, recently took part in a class project in...

It is hard to believe that Andrew has been gone from this world for four years.

An estimated 45.3% of American households - roughly 77.5 million - will pay no federal individual income tax, according to data for the 2015 tax year from the Tax Policy Center. Roughly half pay no federal income tax because they have no taxable income, and the other roughly half get enough tax breaks to erase their tax liability. On average, those in the bottom 40% of the income spectrum end up getting money from the government. Meanwhile, the richest 20% of Americans, by far, pay the most in income taxes, forking over nearly 87% of all the income tax collected...

DALLAS (AP) -- A letter from the Supreme Court's doctor says Antonin Scalia suffered from coronary artery disease, obesity and diabetes, among other ailments that probably contributed to the justice's sudden death. Presidio County District Attorney Rod Ponton cited the letter Tuesday, when he told The Associated Press there was nothing suspicious about the Feb. 13 death of the 79-year-old jurist. He said the long list of health problems made an autopsy unnecessary.

How Real Are Your Ashes? Five Meanings of the Ashes We Receive Today Msgr. Charles Pope • February 9, 2016 • Photo Credit: Jaclyn Lippelmann for the Catholic Standard.As a boy, I remember wondering why so many people liked to rush to Church to get ashes smudged on their foreheads. Frankly, I had some revulsion at the idea of having dirty ashes smeared on my forehead. I didn't like it at all and would secretly rub them off when no one was looking. Today, though I'll admit I still don't like it too much, I behave myself and don't...

Veteran homicide investigators in New York and Washington, DC, on Monday questioned the way local and federal authorities in Texas handled the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. "It's not unreasonable to ask for an autopsy in this case, particularly knowing who he is," retired Brooklyn homicide Detective Patricia Tufo told The Post. "He's not at home. There are no witnesses to his death, and there was no reported explanation for why a pillow is over his head," Tufo said. "So I think under the circumstances it's not unreasonable to request an autopsy. Despite the fact that he has...

The circumstances and chaos surrounding the death of U.S. Supreme Justice Antonin Scalia at a Texas ranch has sparked many conspiracy theories. Scalia was found dead in his bed Saturday morning at the luxury West Texas ranch. He was 79. Officials say he died of natural causes. An autopsy will not be conducted and police say there were no signs of foul play. According to the Washington Post, the hours after Scalia's death were filled with "chaos, confusion and conflicting reports." Scalia is survived by his wife, Maureen Scalia, his nine children and several grandchildren. While the conspiracy theories are,...

As the nation and official Washington prepared to mourn the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, watchers of the high court began to assess the immediate impact of his death on several pending cases whose decisions might have had momentous political implications. Among these is Friedrichs v. California Teacher’s Association, set to have been a landmark case regarding the mandatory collection of union dues and their use for political purposes. The ruling could have meant the death knell of collective bargaining and the political might of America’s unions. newzf After oral arguments in the case in January, The Washington Post...

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