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Brazil decrees three days of mourning for UN envoy Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has decreed three days of official mourning for Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations' envoy who was killed in a suicide bombing in Baghdad. The president called Mr Vieira de Mello a "victim of the insanity of terrorism". Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian and the country's most prominent international diplomat, was killed when a truck filled with explosives blew up outside the hotel where the United Nations has its Baghdad offices. President da Silva was told of Mr Vieira de Mello's death during...

Every year when Tisha B'Av came around, I would have a certain dilemma. This is supposed to be a day on which we mourn the destruction of our Temple. It is a day when we do not eat, drink or wear leather shoes and follow varied and unique mourning customs. Every year I would arrive at the synagogue to hear the Book of Lamentations, which bemoans the destruction of Jerusalem. However, every year I would end up daydreaming about totally unrelated things. As the cantor would be reading about the Temple, I would completely disconnect, planning my summer vacation, celebrating...

President Bush has ordered U.S. flags lowered in honor of Bob Hope, the legendary entertainer who died Sunday in California of pneumonia. Hope was 100 and had celebrated his birthday just two months earlier. Mr. Bush said in a proclamation Monday that as a mark of respect for Hope's memory, flags will be lowered at the White House, public buildings, and U.S. posts and military installations worldwide on the day of his burial. Flags are also to be flown at half-mast on U.S. ships that day. The burial will be private and held in the coming days. President Bush praised...

I just received a call to inform me that my good friend and shooting buddy, John R. McCarthy, has died of a massive heart attack at age 72. Here is my draft eulogy. I wanted to share it with Freepers. ================================== May you go safe, my friend, across that dizzy way No wider than a hair, by which your people go From Earth to Paradise; may you go safe today-- With stars and space above, and time and stars below. --Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Lord Dunsany: "May You go Safe: On the Death of a Mohammedan Friend". I am...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryApril 19, 2003 President's Radio Address      Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This weekend, families across America will come together to celebrate Easter, and continue the observance of Passover. This holy season reminds us of the value of freedom, and the power of a love stronger than death. This year, Easter and Passover have special meaning for the families of our men and women in uniform who feel so intensely the absence of their loved ones during these days. More than 250,000 American troops are serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom to protect our security and...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Chants of "Wellstone, Wellstone, Wellstone" swelled Tuesday in Williams Arena as thousands gathered to mourn Sen. Paul Wellstone and seven others in a memorial service that at times sounded more like a campaign rally. Wellstone, his wife, Sheila, daughter, Marcia Wellstone Markuson; campaign aides Will McLaughlin, Tom Lapic and Mary McEvoy; and pilots Richard Conry and Michael Guess, died Friday when their King Air Turboprop crashed in a peat bog near Eveleth on Minnesota's Iron Range as Wellstone headed for a friend's funeral. The National Transportation Safety Board was attempting to determine the cause of the crash, which...

Australians have turned out in force for today's national day of mourning, honouring the victims of the Bali bomb blasts. Memorial services have been held across the country, while thousands gathered in Sydney's Domain for a ceremony of remembrance and celebration. People of all faiths and nationalities came together to both mourn and celebrate the lives of those killed in the October 12 attacks. In Canberra, the chief of the Defence Force, General Peter Cosgrove, joined the Prime Minister, the British High Commissioner and the United States Ambassador to Australia for a memorial service. General Cosgrove spoke of his sadness....

MEDIA MIX When mourning makes straight talk taboo By PHILIP BRASOR The shock that accompanied the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, quickly turned into a mood of national mourning that continues to hang over the United States a year later. As a form of social behavior, mourning comes with its own protocol, and in this particular case attempts to place the attacks in a relevant historical context were met with anger and resentment, since they were automatically considered disrespectful of the victims. Something similar accompanied the news that emerged on Sept. 17, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Il...

This past week, with the focus on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, America has been in the news in Israel even more than usual. American olim took the opportunity to hold several events that drew attention to American aliya. On September 10, the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel (AACI) held its annual ceremony commemorating those Americans and Canadian Israelis killed in acts of terror over the past year. The event always takes place between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur at the AACI Memorial Forest near Shaar Hagai, just off the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway not far from...

9/11? We are going flying. The US Flag Balloon will be flying on September 11th 2002. We will be flying from Kerr Park in Downingtown, Pa in the early evening weather permitting. I invite all Chester County, Pa FReepers to come out and join us. Any other FReepers are also welcome to join in. We had wanted to be at one of the sites that the terrorists hit, but I think that what we have decided to do is probably for the best. We have had one year to mourn the dead. We are flying the US Flag Balloon on...

Ten years ago, a group of black Muslims tried to overthrow the democratically-elected government of the Caribbean twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago. One-hundred-and-fourteen members of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen group, mostly young black men, took over the island's parliament; held the prime minister and some other members of his cabinet hostage; and stormed the state-run television station. For many, inside and outside the Caribbean, the 27 July crisis came as a total shock. The English-speaking Caribbean islands had vowed, following the 1983 American-led invasion of Grenada, never to see democratically-elected structures topple ever again. Armed raid The crisis began with the...

People whose dogs and cats die or become seriously ill are to get counselling.The psychotherapy will be offered as part of an insurance package.More Than, the direct insurance arm of Royal & Sun Alliance, is to add counselling cover to its standard pet insurance product, which has 120,000 customers across Britain.A 24-hour hotline will be staffed by 26 people who have been trained by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy.The insurer, which already offers acupuncture and herbal remedies for pets, says one in 10 claims on its pet insurance policies relates to an animal's death.More Than believes offering the...