MEMORIES OF A-BOMB DRILLS AND LIPPINCOTT: I was recently sent a weird, one-frame cartoon showing aged folks hiding under tiny school desks, mocking one of those Cold War nuclear-attack drills from back in the bad days – when, as kids, we had to either instantly cower under our desks or rush into the hall to systematically kneel down and assume the famed nuclear blast and radiation defying position.

Hey, despite being expendable soft targets, we dutifully performed those attack-defying drills.