h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thank you DG. Stepping on graves- such a powerful thought.

Thanks.

Interesting picture and discussion.

I've been to Prague, but I don't know if I visited the sections depicted.

"How to remember" gives off some interesting vibes. I'd love to be less forgetful. (I bought a book of crosswordmpuzzles yestersay, and have no idea where I put it. Misplacing things is a daily occurrence for me .)

But I'm rambling again, and I know you wish I wouldn't, so I will cut this short....

Now, that's a thought: when you can't remember where you left the materials that were supposed to be memory aids.

Of course, that kind of memory wasn't what I was talking about. The older, stored long-term memories were. But when it comes to improving short-term memory, I really recommend any fairly complex task, from putting together the h2g2 Post (lots of fiddly operations) to sight-reading sheet music - especially these modern church piano solos, where they just love to change keys on short notice.

Mrs Hoggett: 'I HATE it when they change keys at the end of the staff, and you go to the next one and forget what key you're in!' Amen, sister.

Grieg is great mental exercise. That man loves the key of g-flat and other abominations. And then adds accidentals. When you see a lot of 'x's' on your staff, and have to react quickly, and manage it, you know you aren't senile yet.

I think we Brits tend to congratulate ourselves for admitting Jewish children and adults during the war. Of course, that was a good thing to do and a lot of those people made considerable contributions to Britain

Now, we send out patrols into the channel to intercept migrants trying to cross the Channel. Our government says they are supposed to stay in the first safe country they come to, and France is safe. Some of the migrants are genuine refugees, fleeing violence and danger, others just want a better life. Do you let them all in, despite the cries that they put too much pressure on our services and don't always fit in with our communities? How do you decide?

In the meantime, here's a poem.

THE SURVIVOR

She seemed to walk in light
as she tended glowing roses
stitched tapestries with threads
that shone and blended,
played with children by a glinting pool,
watched students make their bunsens flare,
smoothed the gleaming icing on a cake,
or sat in twilight by her husband’s side.

She did not founder in the shadows,
the dark of Auschwitz,
but retrieved her future from the cinders,
breathed it full of bright, constructive
tasks that celebrated light.

I didn't know the current policy toward migrants is less friendly.

There have been boatloads of refugees and migrants making their way from Syria and North Africa. Many of them have ended up stuck in refugee camps in Greece and Italy. Others have made their way across Europe. Germany took a lot, making Angela Merkel unpopular but other countries refused to take any.

I think we take the view that, if people are safe in another European country, they should stay there. We don't have a wall to keep people out, but we have a stretch of sea. I like to think that people who do get here are decently treated.