Poland deaths from deep freeze reach 30

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Associated Press

The country of Poland is experiencing a deadly deep freeze; thirty people have died, with dozens more expected overnight.  The police in attempts to prevent the homeless from freezing have been canvassing the street in hopes of preventing further tragedies.  The frigid weather has caused chaos amongst travelers across Europe, with the closing of airports in several countries. The travel situation seemed to be improving as of Friday, with the reopening of airports in England, Scotland, and France.  However, London’s Heathrow airport has advised travelers that there would be flight cancelations and delays.  Elsewhere in Europe, heavy rains have caused severe flooding along the Drina River.

It is getting to be that time of year again; I am just enjoying the fact that we do not have to contend with that kind of weather yet.  With the cooling of the weather, I dread daily the coming of snow, and ice.  This article has made me more aware that homelessness is not isolated to the United States, I had never thought of it as a global problem.  It is not just our issue, but it is the problem of every nation.  I think that perhaps we are most aware of our own homeless due to our society’s constant efforts to eradicate it from our society. 

Arlington finds 8 sets of remains in 1 grave

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Associated press

The United States Army has launched a criminal investigation, after finding the cremated remains of eight individuals buried in a single grave marked with a headstone titled “unknown”, in Arlington National Cemetery.  The problem was first discovered in October, says Kaitlin Horst, representative for the Arlington National Cemetery.  Since the discovery, three of the remains have been indentified and reburied.  Investigators are still in the process of trying to identify the other remains.  This investigation comes after a report filed earlier this year stated that more than two-hundred of the graves in Arlington National Cemetery have been mismarked on maps. Christopher Grey, the representative for the Criminal Investigation Command of the Army, has said that while the mistakes on the maps could have been human error, the burial of eight urns in a single grave was unlikely to be an accident.

I cannot imagine a reason to bury eight peoples remains together, unless it was the wishes of the buried or their families.  I find it amazing that they can now identify people previously labeled unknown through the process of identifying their DNA.  I remember several years ago, when they identified the solider housed in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and were able to return his remains to his family.  I hope that the investigators can identify the remaining ashes and have them properly entombed.

A Day in the Life

Early this morning I as I sat waiting for the sun to rise above the horizon, the telephone rang. My heart fell into my stomach.  In my household, a call received before 9am and after 9pm, is never good news.  Today in no way proved me wrong.  My mother was calling to let me know that my paternal Grandma had passed away.  This came as a shock to say the least. While attending therapy, following a recent surgery, she collapsed with sudden heart failure and they were not able to resuscitate her.  The loss of my grandma was upsetting enough, but added to the fact that I lost my maternal Grandma nine months earlier, makes the situation harder to endure. At least when we lost Granny, we had time to prepare for the loss, she had been fighting cancer for awhile, and in her way prepared us for her passing.  With Grandma, it happened so suddenly, one minute she was there the next she was not, since it is the end of the semester, with finals coming up, and term papers due, I am unsure if I will be able to take the time away from my studies to attend the funeral.  If the services were local, there would be no problem, but in order to attend the services I will have to travel to Michigan, taking time, and money that I really cannot afford to spend.  I will have to wait until the arrangements have been made before a final decision of whether or not to go can be determined.