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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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112089
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11208900.069
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1990-09-19
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LETTERS, Page 12SAN FRANCISCO, OCTOBER 17, 1989
It seems peculiar that natural disasters, such as floods and
earthquakes, that routinely kill hundreds of people (NATION, Oct.
30) are always referred to as acts of God instead of acts of
nature. But people still give thanks to God for surviving his acts.
Perhaps it is because they realize that he is as powerless against
the forces of nature as anyone else.
Charles Walker
Fort Worth
Hurricane on the East Coast! Earthquake on the West Coast! Is
there someone saying to us, "Now that I have your attention, look
around your glorious country and begin to take better care of it,
before humankind causes the same kind of heartbreaking
devastation"?
Marjory Ross Pease
Manahawkin, N.J.
After the earthquake there was a strange mixture of elation
and despair. Neighbors gathered for an impromptu party on the lawn.
We needed to hold on through the terrifying aftershocks and
reassure one another that loved ones whom we couldn't reach would
be fine. Our bodies were intact, but the interiors of our homes
were a mangled mess of broken glass, splintered furniture and
uncertain underpinnings. We united as friends.
Nancy Humphriss
Los Gatos, Calif.
You erred in saying that many high-rise office buildings in
San Francisco stand on huge steel-and-rubber springs. No major
building in the city has been constructed in this manner. High-rise
structures in general cannot significantly benefit from
base-isolation techniques.
John B. Rutherford
San Francisco
Inevitably, some pious religionists will claim, as they did in
1906, that the quake was punishment for a sinful city. In 1906 most
of the churches were destroyed, but a whiskey warehouse named
Hotaling's remained intact in an island of unburned buildings. This
inspired the following:
If, as some say, God spanked the town
For being over frisky,
Why did he burn the Churches down
And save Hotaling's Whiskey?
Chase Webb
San Francisco