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07/08/2004: "Terriorist Attacks in the United States --- How Far Back do they Go, Really?"

I think it was in or around 1990 and we were at war --- or some semblence of war --- with Iraq. One day in Summer (I think it was summer) out of nowhere, the lovely bay bridge that connects the east bay to San Francisco suddenly and without warning, collapsed.

Construction on the bridge began in July 1933 and was finished in the fall of 1936, six months ahead of schedule. While bulding the bridge, workers pulled up a large tooth of a prehistoric mammoth from the bottom of the bay!

Originally the bridge was divided into three lanes in each direction on the upper deck. The lower level was used by trucks, buses, and ten-car trains, which ran 63 seconds apart to handle the huge passenger load. The train tracks, however, were converted into a vehicle lane in 1958 when fewer and fewer people were using the trains and more and more vehicles were crossing.

Part of the bridge collapsed during the eathquake of October 1989, but it was repaired and reopened the following month. Today more than 275,000 vehicles per day cross the bridge's two levels.

Renowned UC Berkeley professor Abolhassan Astaneh continues to incite opposition with his claim that the Bay Bridge will not withstand a terrorist attack.

The environmental engineering professor says he is concerned Caltrans has not conducted essential tests to ensure the proposed bridge design is able to withstand explosions caused by a potential terrorist attack.

At the time of the collapse to which I refer, there was no evidence of an earthquake. But I think that the real cause of the collapse might have been covered up by saying it was an earthquake. This would, after all, make sense in the San Francisco bay area.

But a thinking person who remembers the day this happened, has to wonder, was this terriorism?

We will never know. But things of this nature just don't happen on their own as a general rule. And I do remember that the word "earthquake" was not mentioned by anyone including the media on the day this happened.

So one must wonder.