GenQ - For the not so straight individual

The last few hours of 2006 were spent in mourning for the supporters of a former US President and political leader, the supporters of a former Iraqi dictator and the supporters of a music legend. The first few hours of 2007 delievered bad news to friends, family and supporters of a popular football player who died in a shooting.

On Christmas Day, the music world was shocked to hear that the Godfather of Soul James Brown had passed away early that morning. Brown died from heart failure after he was hospitalized in Atlanta for severe pnemonia. Reports say Brown's body missed its flight and was driven in a humble van from Atlanta to New York by Reverand Al Sharpton and others just in time for his funeral procession throughout New York City. Brown's body rested on the stage of legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, the site of his debut.

On December 26th, the United States lost its 38th president as former first lady Betty Ford announced that her husband President Gerald Rudolph Ford had passed away. While his cause of death has been kept secret, the nation spent its last few days in mourning as they said goodbye to the man who is credited reviving the nation after President Nixon resigned following the Watergate scandal. After passing, reports surfaced that former president Ford did not agree with the current president's handling of the Iraqi war; but his closest supporters say it was that respectful demeanor that made Ford the leader he was. President Ford died at 93 years old. His traditional funeral procession has taken place throughout the holiday weekend.

One of the final events to take place in 2006 was death by hanging for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Hussein was hanged on the first day of Eid ul-Adha, December 30, 2006 at almost 6am local time (10pm EST). As a noose was tightened around the former dictator's neck, one of the executioners yelled, "long live Muqtada al-Sadr," referring to the powerful anti-American Shiite religious leader. Hussein didn't go down without a verbal fight. He refused to wear the traditional head cap forwarded to all those executed by hanging, and yelled out at onlookers and executioners. Hussein was pronounced dead only a few minutes after the floor fell from underneath him. The execution was carried out at "Camp Justice," an Iraqi army base in Kazimain, a neighbourhood of northeast Baghdad. A grainy video that seems to have been recorded on a cell phone quickly circulated the internet. The first moments of 2007 were the last for Denver Broncos' cornerback Darrent Williams. Williams was shot and killed early New Year's Day after leaving a nightclub in a stretch Hummer limousine. A man and a woman, who were in the back of a Hummer, were also shot but their injuries were not considered life threatening, according to a Denver police spokesman. Funeral arrangements are pending.