Thursday, January 07, 2010

Luckiest or Unluckiest?

This NYT obit of a fellow who survived both atomic bomb attacks on the Empire of Japan got me thinking. Is he the luckiest sob ever, or the least? Also, this reminds me of why in the 80's every0ne thought Japan would take over the world. An atomic bomb drops on him and within a day he is back at work! Also, what's with the NYT "the so-called Little Boy" device?

I find it interesting James Cameron went to see him. No doubt part of a multi-billion dollar 3d movie on how America disturbed the native religion and harmony of Japan by a nefarious industrial attack on a peaceful agrarian community.

UPDATE: If atheism was not bad enough now Christopher Hitchens is a meme-thief. http://www.slate.com/id/2241080/ Yes, he too asks the question, luckiest or unluckiest. He adds an attack on theism to the mix but I note that God did not allow two A-bombs to fall on Italy, you know, where the Pope lives. Mr. Hitchens apparently believes the promise of a life hearafter is some sort of belief that bad things won't happen here. You know, like meme-stealing. Dave check the site meter see if a slate computer accessed the site in the last four days.

4 comments:

Dave S. said...

On what freaking planet (don't say "Pandora") is being a victim of the only two atomic attacks in history considered luck?!

Re the NYT, my understanding is that they have not been fully debriefed on the Manhattan Project for security reasons.

jjv said...

He survived two atomic bomb blasts. Seems dang lucky to me. Hence the question.

Dave S. said...

Upon further reflection I'd say he was both, extremely: unlucky to be a-bombed twice and lucky to survive both attacks.

Dave S. said...

JJV's relative command of jargon in the update is so compelling that I did actually check our stats. No Slate computers and no identifiable bars...