I heard on the radio that Newton-Jones passed away "at home" on "her ranch in California".
Why doesn't she get a State funeral over there ?

Indyvidual,

Olivia Newton-John will have a private funeral and
will be buried on her ranch in California with her
family and friends in attendance.

Because she did so
much for cancer victims and changed people's lives
with her Wellness Centre and her Foundation here in
Melbourne - the State Premier has made the offer to
her family to have a State Memorial Service
(which they've accepted) for her here in Melbourne
to celebrate her life, music, films
and all the other contributions she made.

A fitting tribute to someone who gave so much to others.

Foxy,
Thanks for explaining !

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Dear ttbn,

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You wrote :

« People die. There is something not quite right about the masses mourning people they never knew … Save your tears for your own family and friends »
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It’s a free country. You don’t have to be “quite right”, ttbn. You can cry for whoever you want to, whenever you want to. This might help :

Here is a story :

http://youtu.be/3RJehnopgR0?t=1412
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And here is a song :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0MkpcI3khY&ab_channel=SoundOnVision

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Hi BP,

Unfortunately the words of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard are wasted on people like ttbn, they see nothing in them, if they did the world would be a better place.

Find this inspirational a story from Buddha; only a couple of minutes long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alScaM8sSEI

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Dear Paul1405,

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ttbn seems to me to be a decent fellow. Like the rest of us, he has his problems. Judging from his posts on OLO, I can’t say I share much of his worldview. That’s what makes it interesting.

Many thanks for the Buddha video. I share Buddha’s logic of the indivisibility of life and death. In fact, I expounded that logic (ignoring that Buddha had formulated it some 2,500 years previously) as the basis of an article I wrote a few years ago in favour of the legalisation of euthanasia.

Where I differ from Buddha is on the question of the “inevitability of death” of the woman’s child. Buddha purportedly lived in the 6th or 5th century BC, and I guess in those days, the death of a child was considered inevitable. That may not have been the case today. Medicine has made considerable progress. It may have been possible to save the child and he could have lived to be an old man – which would have brought much joy to his mother.

Also, I see no reason to believe in eternal life apart from the appeasing effect it has on the billions of people who believe in God and who would otherwise suffer from existential angst at the thought of eternal death.

I also find the final philosophical assertions of the narrator of the video highly contentious :

« If there is no light, there can be no darkness ». In my view, there can only be darkness. Whether we are aware of it or not is another matter – darkness being defined as “the partial or total absence of light” (OED).

« If there is no bad, there can’t be any good ». Again, I disagree. If there is no bad, there can only be good (and vice versa).

There is no such thing as morality in nature. The laws of nature produce whatever order is most efficient. Good is what produces positive evolution. Bad is the opposite.

Human morality is subjective. What is good for one may be bad for another.

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