Burial

ReFrame and IMDbPro Award the ReFrame Stamp to 29 Feature Films Released in 2023

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 29, 2024

The findings of the 2023 ReFrame Report, which examines hiring across key roles on all 100 films based on IMDbPro data, can be viewed HERE .

Key Points: 
  • The findings of the 2023 ReFrame Report, which examines hiring across key roles on all 100 films based on IMDbPro data, can be viewed HERE .
  • (Graphic: Business Wire)
    Since 2020, the number of films in the annual Top 100 that qualify for the ReFrame Stamp has not increased.
  • 29 of the analyzed films were exclusively released to streaming services, and 11 of these earned the Stamp (37.9%).
  • To award the Stamp, ReFrame reviews cast and crew data for all eligible films on the IMDbPro list of the 100 most popular films of 2023.

Why having human remains land on the Moon poses difficult questions for members of several religions

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Sending human remains to the Moon on the first commercial lunar lander, Peregrine 1, on Jan. 8, 2024, along with scientific instruments, caused a controversy.

Key Points: 
  • Sending human remains to the Moon on the first commercial lunar lander, Peregrine 1, on Jan. 8, 2024, along with scientific instruments, caused a controversy.
  • The inside of the lander was to be a kind of “space burial” for remains of some 70 people.
  • Each of the families had paid over US$12,000 for a permanent memorial on the Moon.

Jewish death rituals and purification

  • There were many ways in which one could become ritually unclean, and each level of pollution was cleansed by an appropriate purification rite.
  • After the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 C.E., Jewish religious practice changed dramatically, including rules about purification.
  • These days, after a burial or visit to a cemetery, many Jewish people wash their hands to wash away negative spirits or energy.

Christian death rituals over the centuries

  • Corpses or cremated remains were interred in burial places outside cities and town – in the necropolis, literally a city of the dead.
  • As monotheists, Christians rejected belief in the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, including the Moon goddess called Selene or Luna.
  • They also refused to participate in Roman state religious rituals or activities based on pagan polytheism.
  • Unlike some other religions, neither Judaism nor Christianity considers the Moon divine or sacred.
  • In both Jewish and Christian spiritual writing, the Moon is used as a spiritual analogy: in Judaism, of the majesty of God, and in Christianity, of Christ and the church.

Islamic beliefs on burial

  • After death, the deceased is ritually washed, wrapped in shrouds and brought for burial in a cemetery as soon as possible.
  • The soul of the deceased is said to visit their loved ones on the seventh and 40th days after death.
  • In September 2007, when the first Muslim astronaut from Malaysia got ready to go into space, the Malaysian National Space Agency published religious directives on burial rituals for Muslims in space.

Hindu and Buddhist funerary practices

  • Hinduism is a diverse religion, and so funeral practices often vary according to culture and context.
  • Most commonly, death and the period following a person’s death are associated with ritual pollution.
  • In the many forms of Buddhism, death provides an opportunity for mourners to reflect on the impermanence of all things.


In older forms of Buddhism in Nepal and Tibet, the Moon was understood to be identified with the god Chandra, who rides on a chariot. The Moon is also one of the nine astrological deities whose movement provides insight for reckoning individual and collective futures.

Difficult questions

  • Peregrine 1 never made its soft landing on the Moon because of an engine malfunction, and its payload was destroyed after entering the atmosphere.
  • As more people decide to send their ashes into space, however, religious conflicts are bound to arise.


The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

How do we commemorate the New Zealand Wars? The history of Anzac Day can be a guide

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Historians and Māori leaders are now worried about the mixed impact of the day – known as Te Pūtake o te Riri – amid wider fears it is already slipping from public attention.

Key Points: 
  • Historians and Māori leaders are now worried about the mixed impact of the day – known as Te Pūtake o te Riri – amid wider fears it is already slipping from public attention.
  • Unlike Anzac Day, however, Te Pūtake o te Riri was not made an official holiday – and this may partly explain its struggle for wider recognition.

A question of timing

  • It emphasises Māori experiences, and each year’s commemoration is hosted by different hapū and iwi.
  • In 2023, for example, it focused on Ngai-te-rangi perspectives of the battle of Pukehinahina – “Gate Pā” – in Tauranga.

Evolution of Anzac Day

  • The comparison with the first world war invites an intriguing question: what lessons might we learn from the history of our most visible war commemoration, Anzac Day?
  • Indeed, in 1965, the 50th anniversary of Gallipoli, there were real doubts Anzac Day could survive the passing of the last Anzac veterans.
  • Read more:
    New lessons about old wars: keeping the complex story of Anzac Day relevant in the 21st century

    Instead, it has survived as a sacred day – helped perhaps by the 1920 Anzac Day Act which made it an official public holiday.

War memorials and public memory

  • The growing public ownership of Anzac Day ran parallel to the decline of Armistice Day, which marked the end of the World War I on November 11.
  • As the sculptor Brett Graham has noted, war memorials became the dominant sculptural form of public life.
  • Nowadays, they are among the nation’s most prominent public sites, including the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the Pukeahu National War Memorial in Wellington, and Christchurch’s Bridge of Remembrance.

Gallipoli and national unity

  • Significantly, the Gallipoli story – the central focus of our Anzac mythology – has been adapted and retold by each generation.
  • Māori Television (Whakatā Māori) established a national Anzac Day broadcast in 2005, deepening the shared cultural languages and motifs of April 25.
  • Since the 1990s, successive governments – especially Helen Clark’s in the early 2000s – invested in Anzac Day as a commemoration of national unity.

Need for a national policy

  • Some have suggested Te Pūtake o te Riri will never achieve the necessary public attention until it becomes a statutory holiday.
  • As Joanna Kidman noted, many New Zealand Wars cemeteries, memorials and battlefields have been neglected or are on private land.
  • The issues raised all point to the need for a national policy on the commemoration of the New Zealand Wars – guided by iwi, with critical input from scholars – that enhances community relationships.

New ways of remembering

  • After its service on October 28, the museum hosted whānau descendants of 28th Māori Battalion veterans who had never claimed their medals for serving in World War II.
  • By choosing Te Pūtake o te Riri for the ceremony, the organisers were able to bridge past and present through themes of service, sacrifice and citizenship.
  • As trusted institutions of public memory, museums are ideally placed to tell the stories of the New Zealand Wars.


Rowan Light does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

NEW YORK MAYOR ADAMS PRESENTS SHINE A LIGHT’S CIVIC COURAGE AWARD FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING TO DR. MICHAEL LOMAX AND EBONI WILLIAMS FOR WORK COMBATTING HATE AND ANTISEMITISM

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Lomax and Williams were honored with Shine A Light’s Civil Courage Award for Community Building for their work in combating hate and antisemitism.

Key Points: 
  • Lomax and Williams were honored with Shine A Light’s Civil Courage Award for Community Building for their work in combating hate and antisemitism.
  • The award is dedicated to non-Jewish leaders who have stood up and taken a leading role in fighting antisemitism.
  • To date, more than 1,000 Breaking Bread, Building Bonds gatherings have taken place with more than 10,000 New Yorkers.
  • Especially during this ‘Festival of Lights,’ we thank Mayor Adams for being a bright light during this time of too much darkness in our world.”

Baldwin Brothers Funeral & Cremation Society Opens New Location in Tarpon Springs

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, November 16, 2023

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla., Nov. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Baldwin Brothers Funeral & Cremation Society of Florida proudly announces the opening of their new location in Tarpon Springs. The facility, which began operations in October, is located at 39346 US Hwy 19 N, Tarpon Springs, FL 34689.

Key Points: 
  • TARPON SPRINGS, Fla., Nov. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Baldwin Brothers Funeral & Cremation Society of Florida proudly announces the opening of their new location in Tarpon Springs.
  • Baldwin Brothers has been serving local communities since 1980, offering compassionate and personalized funeral and cremation services.
  • Their Tarpon Springs location is equipped with modern amenities and a dedicated staff ready to assist with all funeral and cremation needs.
  • For more information or to make arrangements, contact Baldwin Brothers Funeral & Cremation Society at (727)-290-2015 or via email at [email protected] .

Biden-Harris Administration selects National Grid's Twin States Clean Energy Link as part of $1.3 billion commitment to build out nation's transmission infrastructure

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 30, 2023

Twin States will deliver clean energy from Canada, including hydropower, to New England to support the region's carbon reduction goals and increase the supply of affordable clean energy.

Key Points: 
  • Twin States will deliver clean energy from Canada, including hydropower, to New England to support the region's carbon reduction goals and increase the supply of affordable clean energy.
  • "We are excited to partner with National Grid on the Twin States Clean Energy Link to help build a greener and more resilient grid," said Citizens Energy President Joseph P. Kennedy III.
  • We appreciate the commitment of President Biden to building out the clean energy grid of the 21st century through supporting projects like Twin States."
  • Visit the Twin States website to learn more: Twin States Clean Energy Link | For a Greener New England Grid .

New mobile app helps seniors avoid scams when shopping for final expense life insurance

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 16, 2023

RENO, Nev., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Choice Mutual, the largest digital marketplace for final expense insurance products, today announced the launch of a mobile app that assists seniors shopping for life insurance to cover end-of-life expenses in avoiding scams. Seniors shopping for final expense insurance are regularly targeted by highly deceptive advertising deliberately meant to omit context and mislead. The app grants users free access to a digital platform that delivers transparent product pricing and policy conditions from every major insurance provider nationwide, so it's crystal clear how the coverage works and the exact cost.

Key Points: 
  • RENO, Nev., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Choice Mutual , the largest digital marketplace for final expense insurance products, today announced the launch of a mobile app that assists seniors shopping for life insurance to cover end-of-life expenses in avoiding scams.
  • Seniors shopping for final expense insurance are regularly targeted by highly deceptive advertising deliberately meant to omit context and mislead.
  • Final expense life insurance, also commonly known as burial or funeral insurance, has become a popular solution to this problem.
  • These small death benefit life insurance policies comprise a significant portion of the overall life insurance market.

The burials that could challenge historians' ideas about Anglo-Saxon gender

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 3, 2023

In the archaeology of early Anglo-Saxon England, weaponry, horse-riding equipment and tools are thought to signal masculinity, while jewellery, sewing equipment and beads signal femininity.

Key Points: 
  • In the archaeology of early Anglo-Saxon England, weaponry, horse-riding equipment and tools are thought to signal masculinity, while jewellery, sewing equipment and beads signal femininity.
  • So far though, no convincing explanation has been put forward for the burials which appear to invert the pattern.
  • Atypically gendered burials are generally excluded as “outliers” in excavation reports and subsequent research.
  • A closer look at two of these burials, “Grave 30” and “Grave 93”, offers insight into the complexities of gender in this period.

Inside Grave 30

    • At a depth of 0.61 metres, Grave 30 is especially deep for this period.
    • This suggests they were a person of high status, as the energy expended digging a person’s grave reflects the regard in which they were held by their community.
    • In the grave was a bone comb, a silver-gilt brooch, a silver pin, 84 beads, a silver pendant, a buckle, a knife and a set of iron keys – a rich collection which emphasises their high status.

Inside Grave 93

    • Grave 93 is not as deep a grave as 30, but is still large.
    • There is evidence of tooth cavities known as “occlusal fissures”, often caused or exacerbated by feminising hormones, particularly during pregnancy.
    • The sword makes this one of only 17 graves excavated in the cemetery to contain such a high-status weapon.
    • Perhaps the weapons in Grave 93 were family heirlooms, buried with a woman who was the last of that family line, or were the possessions of a “warrior woman” along the lines of Lagertha in the TV series Vikings.

Yamaha Rightwaters™, Georgia Southern University Launch New Initiative to Analyze the Role of Restored Oyster Reefs for Carbon Sequestration

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, September 28, 2023

The research gathered during the project will help determine the carbon burial potential of newly formed oyster reefs off the coast of Georgia.

Key Points: 
  • The research gathered during the project will help determine the carbon burial potential of newly formed oyster reefs off the coast of Georgia.
  • Eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica, are a commercially important species that also play a critical role in habitat creation by forming large reef structures.
  • “It’s our hope that the data collected through the two initiatives will give us more information about the carbon sequestration value of oyster reefs.
  • Georgia-specific data collected from newly established oyster reefs is necessary to fully evaluate carbon sequestration potential.

Trevor Jardine marks his publishing debut with the release of 'Their Names Shall Live Forever More'

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, September 14, 2023

SPRINGWOOD, Australia, Sept. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- New release "Their Names Shall Live Forever More" (published by Xlibris AU) is Trevor Jardine's contribution to Australian military history which specifically honours the men of the 60th Australian Infantry Battalion who demonstrated the qualities of resilience, determination, self-sacrifice, mateship, service to all, devotion to duty, and courage.

Key Points: 
  • The first part of the book extensively details the first year of existence of the 60th Australian Infantry Battalion.
  • Each man was someone's son, someone's brother, someone's relative, someone's friend, and possibly ... someone's sweetheart.
  • They were loved and cherished when they were alive and dearly missed after their death.
  • The second part of the book is an investigation concerning the "Needle Trench 10."