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Smugglers In Iraq Have A New Trade: Corpse by QUIL LAWRENCE EnlargeJoseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images A tomb at the cemetery of Najaf in 2008. The Wadi al-Salam, or Valley of Peace, in Najaf is one of the largest cemeteries in the world. Millions of Shiite Muslims over the centuries have been brought here for burial from all over the world. text sizeAAANovember 4, 2009 Iraqi and U.S. officials have expressed concerns about the traffic of weapons and drugs across the country's porous borders, but there is also an older and more surprising commodity being smuggled into Iraq — cadavers. For centuries,...

As American colonists battled for independence, Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne captured a British fort in New York at midnight, earning a reputation as a brilliant strategist in the chaos of battle. George Washington rode on horseback to congratulate him in person. Soldiers who noticed his reckless bravery gave him his nickname. Later, the fiery leader trained a fearsome army outside of Pittsburgh in 1792, conquered the Indians and negotiated a treaty with them so the Northwest Territory could be settled.*** After he died at age 51 from an attack of gout, his body rested for 12 years in an oak...

Coroners and medical examiners across the country are reporting spikes in the number of unclaimed bodies and indigent burials, with states, counties and private funeral homes having to foot the bill when families cannot. The increase comes as governments short on cash are cutting other social service programs, with some municipalities dipping into emergency and reserve funds to help cover the costs of burials or cremations. Oregon, for example, has seen a 50 percent increase in the number of unclaimed bodies over the past few years, the majority left by families who say they cannot afford services. “There are more...

Simple place for a simple man By Ann Coppola, News Reporter Published: 11/05/2007 The nondescript setting that is Point Lookout Cemetery seems fitting for those who rest here. Austere columns support a wired arch above its entrance that holds the word “cemetery” in large white letters. They match the stark, cross-shaped grave markers, which tell nothing of those buried beneath them. Perhaps there is no story to be told for the dead here, but for Louisiana State Penitentiary inmates this facility's cemetery still serves as a symbol of dignity. Of Angola’s 5,000 inmates, 90 percent are expected to die in...

In this blog post, the author, who says he/she is the child of a Behesht Zahra cemetery worker, writes about reports of the secret burials of many victims of Iran's postelection violence: I am a student and my mother is an employee at the cemetery. Our financial situation isn’t good and all of us are loyal supporters of [Iranian President Mahmud] Ahmadinejad. (You may judge this as you wish!) Even though I am aware that he has won the presidency through a fraudulent election, it is because of Ahmadinejad's government that cemetery employees can own a house after so many...

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The date of the funeral for pop legend Michael Jackson has been changed to September 3, the singer's spokesman said Friday. Jackson originally was scheduled to be laid to rest August 29, on what would have been his 51st birthday.

Michael Jackson's family is locked in a stubborn battle over what to do with the King of Pop's remains — a dispute that highlights decades of feuding. In 2002, Jackson completed a will leaving his estate to his children and granting custody of the kids — Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and “Blanket,” 7 — to his mother. But it appears Jackson did not stipulate his wishes for the disposition of his remains. In accordance with California law, if Jackson did not provide clear, specific directions for burial, control over his remains would go to his next of kin...

A source close to the Jacksons has exclusively revealed to X17 Online that family will likely have a traditional Muslim burial for late Michael Jackson. "The family is considering following the Muslim burial traditions because they believe Michael would have wanted to be laid to rest in keeping with his new-found religious beliefs," says the source. "Michael's brother Jermaine is educating the family as to the special rites because he feels it's important to bury his brother according to the Muslim way," adds the source. Despite earlier reports that both public and private memorial services for the late music performer...

There are a lot of ways to dispose of humans when they die. There's the whole mummy thing, which is relatively mundane compared to some of the weird ways on our Top 10 list (including burials in trees, on ships and the latest fad: plastination and display). Meanwhile, green deaths are on the rise. But this may be the most humiliating: Face down burial. Apparently the custom has been used in many societies in history to disrespect or humiliate the dead, a new study finds. It's been used on criminals, war prisoners and simply those lacking social status, researchers concluded.

For the past month, Emma Ramirez has been sleeping with her late husband. Each night, she tucks the urn full of his ashes into the bed they shared and talks to him in her dreams. Saying goodbye is harder than she imagined. But when her grief wanes, the Tucson woman plans to have her mate buried at sea as a tribute to his years of Navy service. "I know he would be honored," Ramirez, 58, said of her husband, Francisco M. Ramirez, a retired chief petty officer who died on May 15 at age 99. The Ramirezes are among a...

A priest who serves as a spokesman for San Bernardino Bishop Gerald Barnes and as pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Palm Desert delivered a eulogy a week ago today at the funeral of one of California’s most infamous abortionists. Fr. Howard Lincoln, who describes himself as “an extremely pro-life priest,” delivered a eulogy as part of a 15-minute “service" he gave at the Ramon Chapel of Forest Lawn Mortuary in Cathedral City for Dr. Joseph Durante, one of the state’s most notorious abortionists. Durante died on Friday, March 13, at the age of 80. Fr. Lincoln told California Catholic...

* TELEVISION * FEBRUARY 19, 2009, 8:46 P.M. ET GUARD OF HONOR By DOROTHY RABINOWITZ It was impossible to imagine, beforehand, all the ways a film like "Taking Chance" (Saturday, 8-9:30 p.m. EST, on HBO) could work its power. There are no conflicts, no warring sides, no mysteries of character -- the usual stuff of drama. The story's outcome is clear from the beginning. Yet it's no less clear that "Taking Chance" is not only high drama, but a kind that is, in the most literal way, breathtaking -- watching parts of it can make breathing an effort, and those...

YOKOSUKA, Japan - When the submarine USS Ohio surfaced at sea and Machinist Mate 1st Class Jason Witty emerged from the hatch to look around, he saw calm, blue water under a peaceful sky — perfect for the solemn task he was about to perform. On the map, the Ohio was afloat in just another indistinguishable expanse of the Pacific Ocean. As Witty stood on deck holding a silver pitcher, the vessel was alone. Just like the ill-fated USS Indianapolis, 63 years earlier.

Bodies of the dead not being buried in echo of Winter of Discontent as effects of credit crunch spread across Britain By Glen Owen Last updated at 1:24 AM on 12th October 2008 The spectre of the Winter of Discontent threatened to return to haunt Labour last night after funeral directors revealed that the burial of 'hundreds' of bodies is being delayed for financial reasons. In a bleak new sign of the growing economic crisis, hard-up families are having to wait more than two months before receiving Government money for funerals. Organisations representing undertakers accused the Government of putting them...

A GRIEVING family from Sheffield have been told they can't bury their stepfather on a Saturday - because he was not Muslim. Retired steel erector Harold "Charlie" Lemaire, from Woodseats, died last week aged 75 from pneumonia. His stepdaughter Jean Maltby, from Greenhill, wanted the funeral to be held this Saturday so family who live outside the city - including her brother Stephen, now living in Dorset, and relatives from the Isle of Man - could attend. But when her funeral director called City Road Cemetery to arrange a memorial service in the chapel followed by burial, he was told...

ZE08090404 - 2008-09-04 Oxford Professor Responds to Media Rumors LONDON, SEPT. 4, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is an article by Ian Ker, an Oxford University professor, regarding rumors circulating in the British press about Cardinal John Henry Newman. The article by the Newman scholar appeared Sept. 3 in L'Osservatore Romano. * * * The exhumation of Venerable John Henry Newman's body from his grave has led to calls in particular from the homosexual lobby that he should not be separated from his great friend and collaborator Father Ambrose St. John, in whose grave Newman is buried in accordance with his own...

An ancient burial cave was discovered in the Philippine island of Mindanao, south of Manila, and officials have sealed the site to prevent looting of artifacts, many of them jars made from clay. It was not immediately known whether there are other treasures in the cave which was accidentally discovered by quarry diggers yesterday in Maitum town in Sarangani province. The latest discovery in the village of Pinol was near another ancient burial site discovered in 1991 where burial jars, shaped in different human forms, had been recovered inside Ayub cave. Lingling Jabel, owner of the quarry site, informed local...

Bejeweled Anglo-Saxon Burial Suggests Cult Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News April 11, 2008 -- In seventh century England, a woman's jewelry-draped body was laid out on a specially constructed bed and buried in a grave that formed the center of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, according to British archaeologists who recently excavated the site in Yorkshire. Her jewelry, which included a large shield-shaped pendant, the layout and location of the cemetery as well as excavated weaponry, such as knives and a fine langseax (a single-edged Anglo-Saxon sword), lead the scientists to believe she might have been a member of royalty who led a...

Bronze Age burial 'with beer mug' The skeleton was "crouched" which was typical of the time A 4,000-year-old Bronze Age skeleton has been unearthed by archaeologists working on a site in east Kent. Canterbury Archaeological Trust said the curled-up skeleton was an example of a "Beaker" burial because of the pottery vessel placed at its feet. Education officer Marion Green said the "beautifully decorated" pot could have been "a type of beer mug". She said tests on beakers from other sites suggested Bronze Age man was brewing a type of beer from grain. The body was in a "crouched" position...

It was years after Mark and Diane Albrecht laid their son Christopher to rest that they discovered they had not buried all of him. His brain had been removed for tests by an Ohio county coroner trying to determine why the seemingly healthy 30-year-old man had died. It was never returned. The Albrechts' discovery that they had buried their son without his brain has led to a federal class-action suit that could cost local governments millions of dollars, force changes in the way medical examiners perform their jobs and establish new rights for the next of kin. The suit argues...

The remains of a World War II hero are returned to family members here in Tucson. For 63 years, the family of Tech Sgt. Hyman Stiglitz knew his plane was shot down over Germany. But not until now did the family learn of their loved one's heroic actions. It was the summer of 1944. Tech Sergeant Hyman Stiglitz was a radio operator on a mission flying over Germany. He was in a B-24 bomber part of the 492nd wing. Their target a bridge. But when they hit it not all of the bombs fell out putting the crew in danger....

China To Start Excavation Of Horse-And-Chariot Burial www.chinaview.cn 2007-11-29 10:09:14 JINGZHOU, Hubei Province, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese archaeologists will soon start excavations at the horse-and-chariot chamber of a tomb dating back 2,300 to 2,400 years, more than 100 years older than the tomb containing the terracotta army. "Excavation will start on the 131-meter-long horse-chariot sector of the Xiongjiazhong Tomb before February, 2008," said Yan Pin, director of the Archaeology Bureau of Jingzhou, central China's Hubei Province, where the tomb is. The tomb is the largest and best preserved yet found in China from the State of Chu in the...

Christians encouraged to take action on funeral flag recitation ban Allie Martin OneNewsNow.comOctober 29, 2007The founder of the American Family Association (AFA) says it's outrageous that a complaint from one person can put a halt to a long-standing tradition at funerals throughout all 125 national cemeteries. Hear this ReportA complaint about religious content has led to a ban on flag-folding recitations by Veterans Administration employees and volunteers at all national cemeteries. At thousands of military burials, the American flag is folded 13 times and volunteers recite the significance of each fold to survivors. The 11th fold glorifies "the God of...

A row has erupted over a plan to dig up a third of a million bodies from an historic east London cemetery to make way for a new Muslim burial site. Tower Hamlets council in London is considering reopening the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park in Mile End to answer a long-running campaign for a Muslim graveyard in the area. The park, off Bow Common Lane, was deconsecrated as a Church of England cemetery by Parliament in 1966, after being deemed full with about 350,000 bodies buried there. It is not yet clear what the Council proposes to do with the...

TEHRAN, Iran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has agreed to allow an American scholar to be buried in the historic Iranian city of Isfahan when he dies, the state broadcasting company said Thursday. Richard Nelson Frye, an 87-year-old professor emeritus of Iranian and Central Asian studies at Harvard University, made his request in a letter addressed directly to Ahmadinejad, the broadcasting company reported on its Web site. "I ask the Iranian president to allow my burial in the beautiful city of Isfahan to prove the unbreakable link between the honorable Iranian and American nations," Frye was quoted as saying in his letter....

Burial clue to early urban strife Only a fraction of the burial pit has been excavated Archaeologists working in Syria have unearthed the remains of dozens of youths thought to have been killed in a fierce confrontation 6,000 years ago. According to Science magazine, the celebrating victors may even have feasted on beef in the aftermath. The findings come from northeastern Syria, near Tell Brak, one of the world's oldest known cities. More than 30 years of continuous excavation have revealed the site's remarkable sophistication. Studies by British and American archaeologists published in the journals Antiquity and Science suggest Tell...

Neolithic burial site yields unique archaeological find Budapest, April 23 (MTI) - Archaeologists exploring a Neolithic burial site in Tolna County, S Hungary, have discovered what may easily be the most exciting tomb ever unearthed in Europe, Professor Istvan Zalai-Gaal, who has been leading the diggings, reported on Monday. The tomb is seven thousand years old and was the burial chamber of a tribal chieftain. There is a heavy upright log in each corner, believed to have originally held an above ground structure over the two-metre by two-metre tomb. Inside, said Zalai-Gaal, archaeologists found polished stone axes and other stone...

Why Orthodox Christians Are Not Cremated Fr. John Touloumes Cremation (burning the bodies of those who have died to the point of ashes) is a practice which is being "sold" as a cost-effective, space-conservative alternative to traditional burial of the body. Throughout her history, however, the Orthodox Church has prohibited this practice. But, as in many areas of the Faith, we must take the time to learn why the Church takes such a position. In doing so, we not only grow in our own knowledge of the Lord and His Church, but we are better prepared to answer questions others...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – While a medical examiner in Florida says Anna Nicole Smith's body is decomposing so rapidly that a public viewing may not be possible, the funeral director handling the still-unburied corpse of James Brown says the soul singer is looking good. “No problem,” said Charles Reid, director of the C.A. Reid Funeral Home, which handled The Godfather of Soul's funeral service. Reid said this week that he has checked Brown's body almost daily in the past two months during the legal fight over Brown's estate and where he should be buried. The reason for the difference in their...

SILOAM SPRINGS — Bryan Austin of Siloam Springs thought he’d found a crime scene when he spotted a human skull under a pile of rocks while he was duck hunting in northeast Oklahoma. Looking for a good place to set up a camouflage hunting screen Nov. 19 on a mud flat in the Spavinaw Creek drainage area, Austin found what turned out to be an ancient skull. He later learned that the site is an ancient Indian burial ground. “ It’s absolutely amazing, ” Austin said. “ I’m incredibly interested in this kind of stuff. It’s in my line of...

I need to settle a debate. How likely would it be that a slave, during the American Civil War era, who had been executed for witchcraft be given what appears to be a Christian burial, including a headstone, in the Baptist master's family plot?

SADDAM Hussein was buried before dawn today in his native village of Awja, near Tikrit in northern Iraq, the head of his tribe said. Ali al-Nida, head of the Albu Nasir tribe, said the burial in a family plot took place in the early morning, less than 24 hours after the former president was hanged for crimes against humanity.

Law orders removal of Arlington remains December 27, 2006 HAGERSTOWN, Md. – The cremated remains of a murderer must be removed from Arlington National Cemetery under a new federal law. The provision ordering the removal of Russell Wayne Wagner's remains was included in a veterans' health care and benefits bill that President Bush signed into law Friday. Wagner, a Vietnam veteran, was convicted in 2002 of stabbing to death Daniel Davis, 84, and Wilda Davis, 80, in their home in 1994. He was sentenced to life in prison. Wagner died in 2005 of a heroin overdose in prison at age...

A vendor selling burial shrouds at his shop in Najaf, which is prospering from the never-ending flow of bodies brought for interment in the city Najaf, home to the golden-domed shrine of the Imam Ali, is Iraq’s holiest Shiite city and has long lived off a constant flow of pilgrims. Now, with Iraq engulfed in a vicious sectarian war, it also prospers from a never-ending flow of bodies brought for burial in one of the largest cemeteries in the world. Every day fleets of minibuses ferry Shiite corpses to Najaf and the massive Wadi al-Salam (Valley of Peace) cemetery, which...

16 November 2006 Stonehenge ‘No Place for the Dead’, Says BU Expert Professor Timothy Darvill, Head of the Archaeology Group at Bournemouth University, has breathed new life into the controversy surrounding the origins of Stonehenge by publishing a theory which suggests that the ancient monument was a source and centre for healing and not a place for the dead as believed by many previous scholars. After publication of his new book on the subject - Stonehenge: The Biography of a Landscape (Tempus Publishing) - Professor Darvill also makes a case for revellers who travel to be near the ancient monument...

Viking ship found in Larvik Archaeologists found the remains of a ship from the Viking Age on Tuesday, in a burial mound on a farm outside the coastal city of Larvik.Knut Paasche, shown here with the famous Oseberg Viking ship, is among the archaeologists who found another Viking ship near Larvik on Tuesday. PHOTO: JAN TOMAS ESPEDAL The discovery was made during archaeological examinations of the Nordheim Farm, which is near the Hedrum Church in Larvik. The examinations were ordered in connection with the pending expansion of the cemetery around Hedrum Church, which is located a few hours' drive south...

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Archeologists have uncovered a 600-year-old, large underground cemetery belonging to a Peruvian warrior culture, thought to be the first discovery of its kind, an official said on Thursday. After a tip-off from a farmer in Peru's northern Amazon jungle, archeologists from Peru's National Culture Institute last week found the 820-feet-(250-meter)deep cave that was used for burial and worship by the Chachapoyas tribe. So far archeologists have found five mummies, two of which are intact with skin and hair, as well as ceramics, textiles and wall paintings, the expedition's leader and regional cultural director Herman Corbera told...

Ancient burial urns found in central Vietnam Archaeologists have discovered 30 burial jars belonging to the 2,500-year-old Sa Huynh civilization in central Vietnam. The graves together with many artifacts were unearthed at the Con Dai archaeological site in Thua Thua-Hue province’s Huong Tra district. Of the jars, 25 contained ritual offerings like small trays, agate balls, and earrings, all of them still intact. They will be displayed at the Museum of Vietnamese History and the province’s museum. The archaeologists said the excavation provided further evidence that an early Metal Age culture had once existed in central Vietnam. The Sa Huynh...

Cemetery to bury all, Christians too, facing Mecca Headstones aligned toward northeast so dead can look toward Islamic holy city Robin Hood must be spinning in his grave. A new, $4.7 million cemetery in Nottingham is the first public graveyard in the UK to have all its burial plots aligned with Mecca and to inter those of all faiths in the Muslim tradition. All headstones at the 40-acre burial site will face northeast, enabling the dead to look over their shoulder toward Mecca, the manner prescribed for followers of Islam in the UK.

AUSTIN _ Former Gov. Ann Richards was laid to rest Monday morning after a private ceremony at the Texas State Cemetery. Her family and close friends were there, including actress/comedian Lily Tomlin. "As one would imagine, it was a generally light-hearted affair," said Bill Cryer, Richards’ press secretary during her years as governor from 1991-1995. The burial ceremony preceeded a sweeping memorial at the Frank Erwin Center on the University of Texas at Austin campus, where speakers were to include U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk and columnist Liz Smith, a longtime Richards friend. By 10:15 a.m.,...

FOUR thousand years ago work began to erect the great earthen burial mounds that comprise the Bronze Age barrow cemetery at the Knowes of Trotty, in Harray, Orkney. There are at least 16 barrows - or graves - in two rows, nestling between the edge of the farmlands and the foot of the moorland. Many were raised upon natural mounds to enhance their prominence. It is a spectacular site, even today, and there are indications that in the Bronze Age the Knowes of Trotty was a cemetery of special significance. The barrows were built to honour the dead of the...

All Things Considered, July 21, 2006 · Carpenters and volunteers were hard at work in the courtyard of Tyre’s state hospital today, busily constructing dozens of coffins for a mass burial for more than 80 Lebanese civilians who were killed in the 10-day-old Israeli bombing campaign. Nearby, two trucks stood parked. For days, their motors have been running around the clock. They are refrigerator trucks, and since the hospital mortuary overflowed at the start of the Israeli bombing campaign, they have been used to store a growing cargo of corpses.The hospital's director, Dr. Salman Zeynadin, says many of the victims...

Archaeologists believe they may have discovered one of the oldest churches in Scotland during an excavation in Aberdeen. They are awaiting test results which will confirm whether they have uncovered a religious burial site dating back to the 6th Century. The find was made during Scotland's biggest archaeological dig in the east kirk of St Nicholas Church. So far 300 skeletons have been unearthed, far more than expected. The excavation is part of a £5m renovation of the site.

German Archeologists to Excavate Salt Men's Burial Ground in Iran Jun 20, 2006 Following the visit of two Iranian archeologists to Germany and Austria, the condition for a joint cooperation between Iranian and German archeologists was prepared and a team of archeologists of Bochum Mining Museum of Germany is to come to Iran to carry out excavations in Chehr Abad historical salt mine, the burial ground of the discovered famous salt men in Zanjan province. After signing a memorandum of understanding between Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) and Germany's Bochum Mining Museum and defining the budget for this...

Burial find reveals ancient lives Greig Watson BBC News, Leicester A huge amount can be learnt from skeletal remains They are dust and dry bones. Hundreds of people, generation upon generation, reduced to neatly boxed scraps and splinters. But a team from the University of Leicester archaeology unit has a rare opportunity to tell us about the lives these people led. Work on the extension to a shopping centre in Leicester city centre unearthed the largest medieval parish cemetery outside London, containing more than 1,300 skeletons. As well as the sheer scale of the site, the significance lies in its...

Iran: Students Protest Burials Of War Dead On Tehran Campuses By Golnaz Esfandiari University students in Iran are expressing deep concern over official attempts to turn university grounds into burial sites for the remains of Iranian soldiers who died during the Iran-Iraq War. The dean of one university was beaten up amid clashes between students and pressure groups on March 13. Islamic Republic officials attach a near-sacred status to the soldiers who died during the Iran/Iraq war in the 1980s, and many public squares and streets are named after them. PRAGUE, March 15, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Iranian officials say burials...

Archeologists Find Ancient Burial Mounds Wed Nov 9, 9:15 PM ET YEREVAN, Armenia - Archeologists said Wednesday they have unearthed burial mounds dating back to the third millennium B.C. which they believe contain remains and trinkets from ancient Aryan nomads. Historian Hakob Simonian said Wednesday that the four mounds were among 30 discovered about 35 miles west of the Armenian capital Yerevan, containing beads made of agate, carnelian and as well as the remains of what appears to be a man, aged 50-55. Also found were remains of domesticated horses and glazed pottery appearing to show chariots, Simonian said. The...

San Francisco -- A judge in a bitter dispute between divorced parents about where to bury a son killed in Iraq sided with the soldier's father Tuesday, saying the mother's tearful testimony seemed contrived. The body of 28-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Jason Hendrix should remain buried in his father's home state of Oklahoma, despite his mother's claim that he wanted to be laid to rest in California, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Robert B. Yonts Jr. ruled. The mother, Renee Amick, failed to convince the judge that the body should be disinterred. "The testimony of the mother appeared forced...

Last Update: Monday, October 31, 2005. 6:03pm (AEDT) Polynesian cemetery unlocks ancient burial secrets By Anna Salleh, ABC Science Online The first people to settle Polynesia went to surprising lengths to honour their dead, archaeologists show. Remains from the oldest cemetery in the Pacific suggest the Lapita people buried their dead in many different ways, some in "weird yoga positions", and removed their skulls for ceremonial purposes. Dr Stuart Bedford and Professor Matthew Spriggs of the Australian National University reported their finds on the Lapita culture in Vanuatu at a recent seminar in Canberra. "We found for the first time...

Ancient Indian burial site found in Riverhead parkBones and artifacts, believed to be from an early American Indian burial site, are discovered in Riverhead county park, near eroded river bank Oct 26, 2005 BY BILL BLEYER STAFF WRITER; Staff writer Mitchell Freedman contributed to this story. October 27, 2005 Last week's stormy weather uncovered what experts said may be an important early American Indian burial site at Indian Island County Park in Riverhead. The site was spotted by a park supervisor after the Peconic River bank was eroded early last week by heavy rains and high wave action, said Suffolk...