The only thing we ever do.

        "Not everything that is more difficult is more meritorious"                                                                                          Thomas Aquinas        Michael Jackson's mortal remains are reportedly buried in an unmarked grave at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood. Probably. Because there were other reports that he had been cremated.        Perhaps surprisingly and certainly disappointingly, there were no reports that he had worked his way out of his tomb to perform formation dancing along with other residents of the cemetery.        Otherwise, and somewhat inevitably, there are people who insist that Mr Jackson isn't dead at all.        In fact, I do not wish to argue over the final resting place of one famous person's bones, nor do I intend to offer evidence to prove that the singing star faked his own death and now lives out his days happily under an alias. What I would actually like to do is to exhume the skel

The ancient Celtic people had a folktale about a fly. It went like this:         The first fly was created by the first god from a fragment of cloud and a half-pebble, and as she moulded its tiny frame in her hands she put her breath on it and gave it life.           The little fly became aware and asked: "What should I do?"           The first god said: "You are tasked with touching everything. Take wing and fly everywhere and unto everything. Love all, and appreciate that joy and wonder resides both in the look of a princess and the ordure of pigs, in the opening of a flower and the closing of the grave.  And most importantly, you must fly true and honest and never lie."           The fly became the happiest and most honest little creature that ever there was. It served creation's purpose with great pride and strove with all its airy might to connect and venerate all things.          One day, the fly met a creature and stopped in wonder. The fly coul

I bet they wished they hadn't bothered.       Hitler, like you or me, had a brain that operated in the same basic way as any ; that is to say, on the most basic principle of: Information -------------------> Idea. For example, presented with the information of the movie poster above, you would probably envisage Nazi scientists gathered around a tank* of fluid, in which is kept alive the titular thinking organ. You would, however, be wrong:                                                                    They saved Hitler's head and shoulders.                               Of course, any movie offering this title would not instill in the prospective movie-goer the necessary sense of horror, dread and creepy interest, and quite possibly would suggest that someone had managed to dig out Der Fuhrer's old shampoo bottle.** Which is not quite the same thing.        Anyway, as the brain works most basically as info -----------> idea , it turns out that a

       “he met with the Devill, and cheated him of his Booke, wherein were written all the Witches names in England, and if he looks on any Witch, he can tell by her countenance what she is .” ― Matthew Hopkins, The Discovery of Witches and Witchcraft: The Writings of the Witchfinders          The Whichfinder specific: MACA*             Matthew Hopkins  the famous hunter of witches in 17th century England was, like all of his kind, very sure of his own ideas. He knew what he was looking for and had the necessary methods to achieve his goal. In his own specific way, he was doing what any of us do generally. For, at the most basic level, we must all deal with information to arrive at our ideas.     The most basic way our brains organise  information  is like this**  (Whether ye be Matthew Hopkins, Mary Hopkin , or a Hopi .):               The capstone of Bela Lugosi's pyramid is also its foundation...**          So, once you

Is that a hat?                                                 I teach English at various schools and colleges in Japan. In one of these places, there is a text-book for beginners that offers the following example:                   Ken: Is that a hat?                   Mary:  No, it isn't. It is a scarf.     My question is: How useful is this example? Does any normal human being often use this question? Or is it the kind of question that is only used in very rare circumstances- maybe if you are The Earl of Carnarvon  exploring Tutenkhamen's tomb, or possibly  Chief O'Hara , entrusted with protection of a priceless collection of Etruscan snoods.     To consider  some comparisons with examples in other subjects:             Geography: An example of a country is: The Republic of Upper Volta .           History:      An example of an English Monarch is  Sweyn Forkbeard .          Biology:      An example of a mammal is