# 980. Not So Morbid, Morbid or Murder ???

"South Park" a weekly cartoon show usually watched by around by about 30,000 NZ'ers, was watched by by 220,000 & 2 NZ'ers, when they showed the "Bloody Mary" episode !!! The 2 people been a friend & I and we could not see what all the controversial was about. We did not find it shocking & crude. The episode centered on the statue of Mary, bleeding. At first this is taken to be a miracle, so sick & diseased people line up to be cured by the "statues blood". But Pope Benedict who visits the statue suggests she is simply menstruating, as the statue spurts blood on him.
The TV channel C4 decided to show the episode 7 weeks ahead of time.
The world has changed - nothing is sacred any more, these days !!! A lot of people got on their high horse and haven't got off yet !!! You are welcome to leave your comment !!!

Sony Pictures The da Vinic Code Movie worldwide release dates & trailer !!!

Archbishop Paul Marcinkus.The flaamboyant Chicago born priest at the helm of the Vatican for 18 years and a central figure in the scandal of "God's banker", Roberto Calvi, has died at age 84. He was found dead in his home, in Arizona where he had retired to, after leaving Rome. Marcinkus first arrived in Rome in the 1950's. He was a bodyguard to Pope Paul Vl, before been appointed President of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione - the Vatican Bank - in 1971. He once said, "You can't run a bank on Hail Mary's" !!! But his efforts to improve the finances of the Holy See led him into disastrous entanglements with Michele Sindona, the Mafia linked Italian banker and then with Calvi, President of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in 1982. Calvi was found dead in London, hanged beneath the Blackfriars Bridge.

Death During A Pandemic !!!
If bird flu - H5N1 - ever strikes NZ, the dead are unlikely to be cremated. Instead they will be burried and body bags will be used if coffins run out. There will be no church services or no tangi's (maori funerals) as public funerals were a factor in the spread of the Spanish flu pandemic, in 1918. Any grieving will instead have to take place in the home of the deceased. Any death, during a pandemic would be dealt with, within 48 hours. NZ does not have enough freezing capacity to deal with a projected 33,000 thousand deaths, if bird flu was to strike NZ, so the 48 hour period allows for bodies to be handled safely and interred without refrigeration. Cremation is unlikely because two doctors are required to sign off the cremation, one of which needs to be the deceased's doctor and locating them may be difficult when medical resources are stretched. Also, the deceased's doctor could also be deceased !!! Cremations are also out, because if a death happens in suspicious circumstances, the police may need to disinter a body to gather evidence.

Past Flu Pandemic's.
Last century's worst flu pandemic, which is estimated to have killed 40 million people, worldwide in 3 periods happened in 1918-19. The first was in June - July 1918. It caused illness that appeared the same as seasonal influenza. In October & November, 1918 a far more virulent illness appeared. The pandemic's worst period lasted about 3 weeks in NZ. By December, the worst of the disaster was over but a third hit in 1919, although it was much smaller and less intensive. When coffins run out, canvas was used to wrap bodies.
The 1957-58 Asian flu pandemic affected NZ in one long period of about 3 moths duration. The estimated worldwide death toll was 2 million people.
The 1968-69 Hong Kong flu pandemic was similarly milder than 1918, causing around one million deaths worldwide.

The Tower of London has locked up its birds - Branwen; Hugine; Munin; Gwyllum; Thor & Baldrick, so there is an eerie silence. The 6 ravens who watch visitors from their perches at the 1000 year old fortress have been taken inside as protection against the bird flu virus spreading across Europe. Britain has so far been spared, but the wardens at The Tower of London, home to ravens for 900 years, do not want to take any risks. According to legend, if the birds desert the fortress on the River Thames, its central White Tower will crumble and the Kingdom of England will fall. King Charles ll decreed in the 17th century, that there must always be 6 ravens at the Tower. Thre jet-black birds are a fanmiliar feature ath the historic landmark. Normally they roamfreely during the day and sleep in cages at night. The birds lifting feathers are trimmed to prevent them flying away.The ravens are now confined to aviaries in the medieval upper Brick Tower and are fed a diet of raw meat, blood-soaked biscuits and the occasional rabbit.

A man operating a machine shredding tree limbs, is in a critcal condition in hospital, after getting stuck in the machine and shredding 3 "limbs" of his own !!!