Free Republic

William Jefferson gets OK to attend funeral for former House colleagueBy Bruce Alpert, Times-Picayune Updated: Monday, March 12, 2012, 4:14 PM WASHINGTON -- Former Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, has received court permission to attend Wednesday's funeral for Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., one of his closest friends when both served on Capitol Hill. The funeral will be held in Newark, N.J, with a public viewing on Tuesday. Payne, 77, died last week after being diagnosed with colon cancer. **SNIP** Ellis gave Jefferson a 13-year sentence - the longest corruption sentence for a member of Congress -- after his 2009 conviction....

Reporters and editors hand-picked by journalism icon Andrew Breitbart descended upon Los Angeles yesterday to attend his funeral service being held within the city.Breitbart, 43 died of natural causes on Thursday in a Brentwood shopping area after having a friendly late night political discussion with CBS marketing executive Arthur Sando in an area restaurant and bar. Jon Kahn, a Los Angeles based musician and close friend of Breitbart’s who often traveled with him around the country--and performed at the National Tea Party convention--handled many of the funeral events, and said the planning of the service mirrored Breitbart's personality. *snip* As...

Flags will be lowered in New Jersey Saturday, the day of Whitney Houston’s funeral. But a Marine mom in Arlington says it’s an honor Houston doesn’t deserve. When Phyllis McGeath heard Gov. Chris Christie had ordered flags lowered to half-staff for Houston, she said she felt a pain deep inside her. “I was hurt and offended. Disappointed. Saddened,” she said. “I felt like the honor that was given to my son was tarnished.” McGeath had three sons who were active duty Marines. Her oldest, Philip, was killed by a suicide bomber just four weeks ago in Afghanistan. He was 25.

The Westboro Baptist Church, which has gained infamy for protesting at the funerals of men and women killed in combat, will have a new target on Saturday: the services for two little boys slain by their father. The church, whose "God hates fags" signs and messages have been seen across the country, intends to be at the funeral of Charlie Powell, 7, and his brother, Braden, 5. Saturday at the Life Center Church in Tacoma. The boys died Sunday after their father , Josh Powell, blew up their Pierce County home.

Arlington, Va.—May the government force entrepreneurs to do useless things, like build extra rooms in their stores that they do not need and will never use, just to prove they are serious about their business? That issue is at the center of a major lawsuit filed today, January 19, 2012, in Minnesota State District Court by the Institute for Justice (IJ) on behalf of Verlin Stoll, the 27-year-old owner of Crescent Tide Funeral Home in Saint Paul.

No Hats, No Scarves, No Gloves! By Lee Seok Young [2012-01-03 10:23 ] Daily NK has received information confirming the level of stage management that went into the memorial service for Kim Jong Il on December 28th in Pyongyang. A source from the city told Daily NK on January 2nd, “The day before the event sending off comrade Kim Jong Il, heads of people’s units told us that ‘comrade Kim Jong Eun will also be escorting the General’s hearse bare-handed’ and conveyed a list of important instructions.” According to the source, the authorities were intending to make sure that mourners...

North Korea’s ‘Mourners’: Dehumanized By Communism Posted 12/28/2011 07:03 PM ET Totalitarianism: The world witnessed a grotesque spectacle Tuesday as millions of North Koreans mourned the death of the world's most odious dictator. It's a classic demonstration of the dehumanization of communism. In the free world, tears would never be shed for a monster like Kim Jong Il, the megalomaniac who ruled North Korea with an iron fist for 17 years, leaving a legacy of man-made famine, a network of Gulag prison camps for free thinkers, and bone-grinding poverty for workers unlike any other place on earth. But in a...

Towering hypocrisy right to the end... A number of news reports coming out of North Korea today purport the American-looking cars at the head of the Kim Jong Il funeral procession to be 'Russian limos'... but the first point of note would be that such cars were only manufactured in the Soviet era: the GAZ Chaika has been out of production for decades, and ZiL only recently made/restored a single old-style limousine to custom Kremlin order- an open parade-car looking nothing like the car above. And as one personally familiar with all these designs (have touched and sat in every type...

/begin my translation [Kim Jong-il's Death] Japanese Female Magician "Not to Attend the N. Korean Funeral" 2011-12-27 09:31:00 A female Japanese magician, who was a close acquaintance of N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il, decided not to attend his funeral, her agent conveyed on Dec. 26. In a statement, the magician Princess Tenko(天功, age:51) said, "Considering all circumstances, I decided not to attend the public event." N. Korea invited her to Kim's funeral which is to be held on Dec. 28. Tenko, a world-renowned female magician, was invited by N. Korea to perform in 1998 and 2000, and also attended Kim...

Gravediggers have jumped up and down on the coffin of an elderly woman to force it into a tight hole as her family looked on in horror, according to her family. The workers at a Roman Catholic cemetery near Pittsburgh are also accused of poking it with poles. Theodore Zimmick, his daughter and granddaughter sued the Pittsburgh diocese and its Catholic Cemeteries Association over the burial of his 91-year-old mother, Agnes Zimmick... After the funeral service...saw workers stamping and walking on the coffin and otherwise jamming it into the grave.

Troy Davis’ funeral in Savannah, Ga., yesterday attracted more than 1,000 mourners, according to the Associated Press and The Washington Times. Sent to death row 20 years ago as a convicted cop killer, Troy Davis was celebrated as “martyr and foot soldier” Saturday by more than 1,000 people who packed the pews at his funeral and pledged to keep fighting the death penalty.Family, activists and supporters who spent years trying to persuade judges and Georgia prison officials that Davis was innocent were unable to prevent his execution Sept. 21. But the crowd that filled Savannah’s Jonesville Baptist Church on Saturday...

Excerpt only website: A Glasgow-based company has installed its first commercial "alkaline hydrolysis" unit at a Florida funeral home. The unit by Resomation Ltd is billed as a green alternative to cremation and works by dissolving the body in heated alkaline water. The facility has been installed at the Anderson-McQueen funeral home in St Petersburg, and will be used for the first time in the coming weeks. It is hoped other units will follow in the US, Canada and Europe. The makers claim the process produces a third less greenhouse gas than cremation, uses a seventh of the energy, and...

Petty Officer Jon T. Tumilson was laid to rest Friday in Rockford, Iowa, where an estimated 1,500 mourners came to pay respects for the fallen Navy SEAL, including his dog Hawkeye. In fact, Hakeye’s loyalty to his owner at the funeral was visible, creating a heart-wrenching image as he laid down by the casket of his owner during the entire service:

I stopped in at "Big Papa's Pit" in Tampa for some barbeque and Earl the manager showed a picture he had been sent. I just have to share it. This was on 275 in Tampa

<p>Washington D.C., Jul 29, 2011 / 02:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Updated July 29, 2011 at 6:07 p.m. MDT. Includes details about funeral location and book of condolences.</p> <p>U.S. bishops involved in planning memorial arrangements for papal nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi told CNA on July 29 that his funeral has been moved to Italy.</p>

A mother and brother of a victim of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s death squads were gunned down as they tried to bury the victim until security forces fired at crowds. Five others were killed and more than 40 were wounded. The mourners fled in a panic, and soldiers and police continued to shoot at anyone in the street in Homs, a center of opposition against the Assad regime. Video, must see The death toll the past four days has climbed to 50, and even pro-government media are beginning to encourage diplomatic means to end what one newspaper called a “nightmare.”...

Morris Pollard, the father of Jonathan Pollard, has died at age 95. HIs family has sent an urgent plea to President Obama, asking him to show mercy and allow Jonathan Pollard compassionate leave to attend his father's funeral. Jonathan Pollard was convicted for passing classified information to a foreign country and has been incarcerated for 26 years Pollard's father had been hospitalized for the last several months. During this period, activists on Pollard's behalf and various well-known Israelis, attempted to no avail to obtain permission for Jonathan to visit his father on a 24 hour leave. The refusal prompted MK...

Noticeably missing from San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee's lengthy introduction of the city's "official family" at Friday's funeral of two firefighters was public defender and pension reform advocate Jeff Adachi. That's because Adachi, who had been standing with other dignitaries at the memorial outside of St. Mary's Cathedral, was asked to leave before the service started.According to witnesses, a large firefighter in uniform came up to Adachi and asked him to leave, at the request of a member of the fallen firefighter's family.When asked about the incident, Adachi confirmed that he had been asked to leave. "I had gone to...

MYFOXNY.COM - Sophomore Jackie Genovese, 16, of New Jersey, had the perfect prom dress and date. But tragedy struck last week when her boyfriend of two years was killed in a car accident. Jackie's boyfriend, James, died on the way home from a baseball team dinner. He was a popular Jackson High School senior only weeks from graduation. She bought her $1,200 dress at Freehold's Diane and Co., also known for their popular Oxygen show "Dress Coutoure." She wanted a refund for her dress so she could help pay for her boyfriend's funeral. Jackie's mom asked the owners of the...

OAKLAND, Calif. - By a strange twist of fate, the Twins will be in Arizona this morning to say goodbye to hall of fame slugger Harmon Killebrew, the face of the franchise when he played 14 seasons in Minnesota and their godfather the past decade. Morneau is one of three current Twins joining manager Ron Gardenhire and Killebrew's former teammates Rod Carew and Tony Oliva and former manager Frank Quilici as pallbearers for this morning's funeral service in Peoria, Ariz.