Rene Angelil Funeral.

A national funeral was held in Quebec at the Notre-Dame Basilica on January 14th for Rene Angelil, 73, father husband of Celine Dion for 21 years and her manager for over 30. Honorable dignitaries attending the affair included Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, former Quebec premiers Jean Charest and Bernard Landry, as well as former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Federal government representatives were Heritage Minister Melanie Joly and Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, wife of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Celine's fan base lined up for hours outside in the cold to get into the service, flags were flown at half-mast, and the funeral was streamed live on television.

The last time Angelil went to the bank, he was worth around 400 million, while his wife's net worth is estimated to be 630 million, yet the visitations, as well as the cost of the funeral, hoopla, and the security for the 2-day event, is partially being paid for by the provincial police. As if the 2-day Quebec funeral were not enough, another gaudy 'celebration of life' is being planned at the Las Vegas' Caesars Palace Colosseum for February 3rd, where Dion has her residency and where they both have lived since 2003. By the time he is buried, he will have skeletonized.

So who is Angelil and why should he have such a princely funeral in Quebec? The Quebec writer and filmmaker Francine Pelletier raised these very questions. "One has to wonder why a businessman who has had a career and made a lot of money in the U.S. has to be honored with a state funeral in Quebec?" Yet other questions need to be asked. Why would a woman whose net worth is probably more than the GDP of a dozen or more countries in the world agree to the province picking up any part of the tab when she can well afford to pay for it herself? It was Celine who decided to make 'un spectacle grand public' of the funeral.

In spite of her grief Dion, wearing a black dress, black gloves, and a lace veil to hide a face etched with trauma, greeted the many funeral guests on the steps of the basilica as if greeting supplicants at the pearly gates of heaven, while some guests actually posed on the red carpet as if arriving at the Oscars. Yes, it was a confusing event, even for those attending. Previously, the singer had greeted mourners for more than seven hours during a private visitation, and after, at a public gathering, with a public display of mourning to rival that of Jackie Kennedy's for John. The only items missing from the funeral program was the 21-gun salute and the riderless horse. Oh Celine, give up the theatrics, it's costing everybody too much.

Bill Cosby To Lose Medal of Freedom

Bill Cosby took another hit today with the news that a bill has been introduced in Congress that will strip him of his Medal of Freedom. Colleges and universities around the country have already rescinded some of the nearly 60 Honorary Degrees that have been bestowed on him throughout the past four decades. An unexpected blow for a man who, at one of his university talks, said that blacks and "the lower economic people are not holding up their end." 

Bill Cosby is at the center of a sexual assault case which he is now fighting in court. He has refused to admit to his guilt because he says he is innocent of all the charges brought against him and, to add more fuel to the inferno burning through his career, his wife has now been called in to testify at his defamation trial. In spite of the lawsuits filed and the consistent testimonies of the many women involved, Bill Cosby continues to have a large number of supporters who believe that these women are lying, that they somehow colluded with each other to humiliate and defame Bill Cosby.

Cosby, besides the degrees that have been bestowed on him, won an extraordinary amount of awards during his acting career and he's entitled to keep those, but the degrees he obtained from universities without having had to study and earn them, many think should be declared null and void. Even if he has not yet been declared guilty in a court of law, the court of public opinion reads over and out for Bill Cosby.

The comedian once declared in his fireside chats that "we have to start holding each other to a higher standard." His scorn for the young black man of America who "can't keep his pants up" is now falling on deaf ears.