Another sign of the Gothic economic crisis: the number of unclaimed dead bodies in Los Angeles is increasing.  It's because of economically stressed "families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones."

"It's a pretty dramatic increase," said Lt. David Smith, a coroner's investigator. "The families just tell us flat-out they don't have the money to do a funeral."

It's a cash flow problem, as well as a body flow one.  At least it's good for local business:

The demands on the county crematorium have been so high that earlier this year, officials there stopped accepting bodies from the coroner. The coroner's office since has contracted with two private crematories for $135,000 to handle the overflow.

(thanks to Ohio Gothic maven Peter Naegele)