Word: though
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Dates: during 1990-1990
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Like two lovers confronted by the practical realities of marriage, East and West Germany are having a bout of prenuptial nerves. Though the two countries will not formally tie the knot until Oct. 3 -- the earliest practicable date -- the euphoria of unification has given way to a summer of unemployment, rising prices and political disillusionment. Both sides remain firmly committed to the merger, but East Germans have begun to fret over the economic disintegration of their country and West Germans worry about the price of preventing...
...debt hit $3,214,5l2,688,472.82, a burden so huge that if reduced to the weight of dollar bills, it would tip the scales at more than 3 million tons. Sixty million students went back to their schools, some of which desperately need better teachers and facilities, though the U.S. will spend a record $384 billion for education this year. Almost all the states and cities face what urban expert Neal Peirce calls a "taut situation," many of them with new tax loads but still unable to deal with crime and congestion...
That should be no surprise -- even though the call-ups are the first in 20 years. It is virtually impossible today for the U.S. to sustain a military undertaking the size of the buildup in the Persian Gulf without mobilizing some of the million-odd weekend warriors. Until 1976, no reserves could be activated unless the President or Congress declared a national emergency. But the law now permits the White House to call as many as 200,000 reservists for an initial term of 90 days (easily stretchable to 180 days) without any proclamation...
Some reservists face financial hardship because their military pay will come nowhere near matching their civilian incomes. Though some employers are making up the difference, many are not; their only legal obligation is to hold a reservist's job open for his or her return. Reservists, however, can have the interest rate on mortgage and other debts reduced to 6% under the 50-year-old Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief...
...though they are spendthrifts. "We don't clothes-shop," pipes up Jacqueline, an engaging child with lemon-colored ringlets and blueberry eyes. Jennifer nods in agreement. "I can't remember the last time I was in a mall." The couch in the living room is from a friend who bought a new one; the tables come from her parents, the hutch from his. "Everything here has a story to it," says Jennifer. The one new item is a clock on the wall with a picture of the Grateful Dead on the face. They spotted it one afternoon at a local...