A few weeks ago I attended a private talk by a fellow who’s spent his working life deep in the military, security, and anti-terror services. It was a jolly little talk, and at the end, as a party favor, our man handed out a booklet he’d put together titled “Surviving a Nuclear Attack.” As our speaker said, it’s a thing that will happen sooner or later, and you might as well give over a little time to learning how to improve survival chances for yourself and your family.

For someone of my generation, the booklet is a trip down memory lane. Duck and cover … the 7-and-48 rule (after 7 hours 90 percent of the most deadly radiation has disspipated; after 48 hours, 99 percent) … protect your air passages! (inhalation of radioactive dust particles is a major threat) …

Too bad the event wasn’t a bit closer to Christmas. We could all have sung “Christmas at Ground Zero.”