Patra Caesar
05-04-2005, 14:20
This is not a Pope/Terri thread
What a surreal week the Grim Reaper must have had this week! Our story starts with a man who was declared dead by his credit card, goes on to another supposed dead person who it turns out lacks the one thing needed to become dead, death. You could mourn them at the internet cemetary, or adopt a baby seal. No, you can't borrow a club...
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12760367-13762,00.html)
Credit company tells man 'you're dead'
April 05, 2005
LANCE Brooks wants it known that he is not dead, despite what his credit card company thinks.
"I don't want anybody to be disappointed by that news," he said last night.
Mr Brooks, 59, first realised that he was overstaying his welcome on Earth when a debt-collection company, National Credit Risk Management, called and asked to speak to whoever was in charge of his estate.
The woman on the phone was shocked when he said: "Me."
The firm had received a certificate from American Express saying Mr Brooks was dead and his credit card was being closed.
The former education worker then received a letter saying he was dead, expressing condolences to his family.
"I told National Credit Risk Management that I was surprised at my death as I felt very much alive," he said. "The caller was a little put out.
"Apparently, I had used my credit card 10 days after dying.
"I was told the card had been used in such wild places as Nightcliff and Mataranka.
"I telephoned American to explain my position and asked for the reinstatement of my credit card.
"They said this was impossible as I was dead.
"I was referred back to National Credit Risk Management.
"A company official became agitated and told me she had taken my name from their records.
"I got the feeling that I was being punished for still being alive and for faking my death.
"Three hours later, I received a phone call from American Express.
"A plain-talking male voice apologised for the mistake and assured me that a new card would be issued within a week."
The confusion had been caused by a man with the same name dying in Adelaide.
Mr Brooks, of Ludmilla, Darwin, said the farce was a cruel irony.
He was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1999.
"So I should be dead but I'm not," he said.
"For a brief moment, I thought that maybe I had 'crossed over' and was sitting on my bed taking phone calls in some sort of ethereal state of being."
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12758415-13762,00.html)
Man's wife comes back from the dead
From correspondents in Beijing
April 05, 2005
A MAN jailed for his wife's murder has been freed after she turned up alive with another husband.
She Xianglin's wife, Zhang Zaiyu, disappeared in 1994.
When a woman's body was found in a reservoir, he was detained on suspicion of killing her.
She, 39, was coerced into admitting her murder then sentenced to 15 years in jail.
His wife resurfaced in late March, having run away and remarried. Poor choice of words since the woman that was actually killed was drowned...
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12760701-13762,00.html)
China opens internet cemeteries
From correspondents in Beijing
April 05, 2005
A GROWING number of Chinese are using the internet to visit their ancestors' graves during traditional occasions such as the Tomb Sweeping Festival.
In a startling combination of old and new, China now has 100,000 online cemeteries and memorials, offering a place of worship for people who are too busy to leave their offices, the Xinhua news agency reported.
These religious websites allow Internet users to dedicate songs, present virtual wine and flowers, and burn candles and incense to mourn the dead during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, it said.
"Maybe the online world is closer to Heaven than the real one," said a university student surnamed Yang as he posted an online article commemorating his late grandmother.
As the Tomb Sweeping Festival has drawn closer, the number of hits at popular online memorials and cemeteries have climbed to one million a day, Xinhua reported.
Chinese web surfers can also use the facilities to pay homage to important historical figures such as former Premier Zhou Enlai or Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of modern China, it said.
The authorities actively encourage online ceremonies as virtual burning of incense does not pose the same challenge to the environment as in the real world.
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12760704-13762,00.html)
Finally, your chance to own a seal
From correspondents in Moscow
April 05, 2005
AN aquarium in Russia's far north is looking for a human foster family for a seal cub rejected by its parents because it was born grey rather than white.
Russian daily Vremia Novostei has reported applicants would need a bathtub, salt water for the cub to splash around in and 100g of fish per day, for the moment, said the Murmansk aquarium.
It also explained the adoption would be temporary as the grey seal's parents would accept it once fully grown, when grey seal cubs ordinarily turn grey from their cub colour of white.
What a surreal week the Grim Reaper must have had this week! Our story starts with a man who was declared dead by his credit card, goes on to another supposed dead person who it turns out lacks the one thing needed to become dead, death. You could mourn them at the internet cemetary, or adopt a baby seal. No, you can't borrow a club...
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12760367-13762,00.html)
Credit company tells man 'you're dead'
April 05, 2005
LANCE Brooks wants it known that he is not dead, despite what his credit card company thinks.
"I don't want anybody to be disappointed by that news," he said last night.
Mr Brooks, 59, first realised that he was overstaying his welcome on Earth when a debt-collection company, National Credit Risk Management, called and asked to speak to whoever was in charge of his estate.
The woman on the phone was shocked when he said: "Me."
The firm had received a certificate from American Express saying Mr Brooks was dead and his credit card was being closed.
The former education worker then received a letter saying he was dead, expressing condolences to his family.
"I told National Credit Risk Management that I was surprised at my death as I felt very much alive," he said. "The caller was a little put out.
"Apparently, I had used my credit card 10 days after dying.
"I was told the card had been used in such wild places as Nightcliff and Mataranka.
"I telephoned American to explain my position and asked for the reinstatement of my credit card.
"They said this was impossible as I was dead.
"I was referred back to National Credit Risk Management.
"A company official became agitated and told me she had taken my name from their records.
"I got the feeling that I was being punished for still being alive and for faking my death.
"Three hours later, I received a phone call from American Express.
"A plain-talking male voice apologised for the mistake and assured me that a new card would be issued within a week."
The confusion had been caused by a man with the same name dying in Adelaide.
Mr Brooks, of Ludmilla, Darwin, said the farce was a cruel irony.
He was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1999.
"So I should be dead but I'm not," he said.
"For a brief moment, I thought that maybe I had 'crossed over' and was sitting on my bed taking phone calls in some sort of ethereal state of being."
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12758415-13762,00.html)
Man's wife comes back from the dead
From correspondents in Beijing
April 05, 2005
A MAN jailed for his wife's murder has been freed after she turned up alive with another husband.
She Xianglin's wife, Zhang Zaiyu, disappeared in 1994.
When a woman's body was found in a reservoir, he was detained on suspicion of killing her.
She, 39, was coerced into admitting her murder then sentenced to 15 years in jail.
His wife resurfaced in late March, having run away and remarried. Poor choice of words since the woman that was actually killed was drowned...
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12760701-13762,00.html)
China opens internet cemeteries
From correspondents in Beijing
April 05, 2005
A GROWING number of Chinese are using the internet to visit their ancestors' graves during traditional occasions such as the Tomb Sweeping Festival.
In a startling combination of old and new, China now has 100,000 online cemeteries and memorials, offering a place of worship for people who are too busy to leave their offices, the Xinhua news agency reported.
These religious websites allow Internet users to dedicate songs, present virtual wine and flowers, and burn candles and incense to mourn the dead during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, it said.
"Maybe the online world is closer to Heaven than the real one," said a university student surnamed Yang as he posted an online article commemorating his late grandmother.
As the Tomb Sweeping Festival has drawn closer, the number of hits at popular online memorials and cemeteries have climbed to one million a day, Xinhua reported.
Chinese web surfers can also use the facilities to pay homage to important historical figures such as former Premier Zhou Enlai or Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of modern China, it said.
The authorities actively encourage online ceremonies as virtual burning of incense does not pose the same challenge to the environment as in the real world.
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12760704-13762,00.html)
Finally, your chance to own a seal
From correspondents in Moscow
April 05, 2005
AN aquarium in Russia's far north is looking for a human foster family for a seal cub rejected by its parents because it was born grey rather than white.
Russian daily Vremia Novostei has reported applicants would need a bathtub, salt water for the cub to splash around in and 100g of fish per day, for the moment, said the Murmansk aquarium.
It also explained the adoption would be temporary as the grey seal's parents would accept it once fully grown, when grey seal cubs ordinarily turn grey from their cub colour of white.