Nelson Mandela is still dead.

[mistermack]

It's his funeral again, today.

I believe it's an old African tradition. Important people are dug up. and have another funeral, once a week.

[Blind groper]

Don't be racist. Extended funerals of very important dignitaries is a common custom right around the world, including Europe and North America.

[Rum]

How's that racist? But anyway he's gonna be dead a long time. Might as well wring it out for all its worth!

[JimC]

So, no zombie Mandela as yet?

That's a relief...

[klr]

How's that racist? But anyway he's gonna be dead a long time. Might as well wring it out for all its worth!

That seems to be the plan. Even the news channels appear to have tired of it somewhat.

[mistermack]

I'm with the Muslims on death.
Stick em in the ground within a day. Or burn em.

You can talk all you like afterwards.

[Blind groper]

Generally speaking, I think the best thing to do with a dead body is cremate it and scatter the ashes, with no memorial built. Why waste good land on a rotting lump of meat?

However, in Mandela's case, I make an exception. He is one guy I truly admire. When apartheid ended in South Africa, I thought we would see a blood bath. I am still sure that, without Mandela, that would have happened. But he wielded a magic of charisma and benevolence and created something wonderful instead of violent.

His funeral is a time when the world is reminded of a truly civilised way to behave. If just a few people try to emulate Mandela, his elaborate funeral is worth it!

[Audley Strange]

I think all the "necklaced" victims of his supporters might not find him so great.

[JimC]

Is a leader always to blame for the excesses of his supporters? When you have many flocking to your banner, the bell curve is wide, and the ends get pretty scary...

[Svartalf]

Well, Wiki has taken down his picture in the news section of the head page... he's beginning to be forgotten as well as dead.

[Audley Strange]

Is a leader always to blame for the excesses of his supporters? When you have many flocking to your banner, the bell curve is wide, and the ends get pretty scary...

Well no, but if Abbot's supporters started eradicating Gay people would you give him a free pass even if he "condemned" it?

[Thinking Aloud]

Generally speaking, I think the best thing to do with a dead body is cremate it and scatter the ashes, with no memorial built. Why waste good land on a rotting lump of meat?

Just think of all that fertiliser and food you burn when you cremate a body though (not to mention the fuel you need to set it on fire in the first place - a massive waste of chemical energy, twice over). Bury them all and grow stuff on them, let them be eaten by things in the ground and completely recycled.

[Clinton Huxley]

I don't see why corpses can't go in with the grass cuttings and kitchen waste. Green wheelie bin, that's the ticket.

[mistermack]

I don't think of the land in graveyards as a waste. They are often used by wild animals for grazing, or even nesting. They are often a little oasis of green in urban areas, so definitely an asset, not a waste.

[Audley Strange]

I'm beginning to be of the opinion that we should invest in resyk.

Resyk
Nothing goes to waste in Mega-City One, not even the dead. Corpses are sent to the nearest Resyk centre where the body is broken down into it components and rendered into other materials. Funeral services are held at Resyk so the bereaved can say goodbye to their loved ones and purchase reasonably priced souvenirs at the gift shop.

Bodies are fed onto a giant conveyor belt where machinery dissects each body and sends the parts onto the next relevant section.

Since we use pigs for so many things, a fatal epidemic amongst them would be catastrophic, so easiest solution, recycle our corpses.