On 10:05 AM Joy Nicholson wrote: > Vlad: "I'm trying to think of a polite way to say 'Drop Dead'." > Sethra: "Don't bother; I died before the Interregum. Will you take > the job?" Amusing, but this whole idea of what is dead or not has not been explained. If it quacks like a duck, swims like a duck, and flies like a duck - why say it's a cat? So what does "dead" mean?