This would be funny if it weren't reminiscent of the 1982 documentary called The Winds of War (I can't find a link; the September 11th attacks seem to have taken ownership of the phrase whole-hog) in which a Reagan administration advisor claimed that 1) he could outrun the initial blast from a nuclear explosion and 2) the shade of a lilac tree would shield him from the radiation. Meanwhile, Bruce Sterling is upset that he is living in a 1980s William Gibson novel. Personally -- and maybe I'm feeling weak today -- I might settle for just living in a world without quite so many idiots.