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    Von Drehle's simple, elegant lead was the first explanation of a tornado's formation that I have ever really understood. Thank you for a superb piece of writing.

    Carole Bastian, LEESVILLE, S.C.

    Thanks to David Von Drehle for his frighteningly descriptive words and to Edward Keating for his heartbreaking pictures of the devastation in Joplin, Mo. While I haven't lived there for 33 years, I am a native of Joplin, and it will always be home to me. I can't compare the Hiroshima-like landscape with the pretty little town where I grew up. Joplinites are a tough bunch; they are resilient and will rebuild. But they need so much help right now. My friends and family are digging to repair the damage done. Please don't forget them as time passes and a new crisis becomes the story of the day.

    Cathey Sours Carter, MARION, IND.

    The 2012 Contenders

    Re "Mark Halperin Weighs the GOP Odds" [June 6]: Why label Ron Paul, who has fundraising savvy, competitive national-poll numbers and an ability to generate real excitement, as a 2,000-to-1 long shot? With the Republican Convention over a year away, now should be the time to inform readers about the wide array of candidates, not marginalize anyone with strong views who might actually change something.

    Patrick Frankfort, LYNCHBURG, VA.

    How could you ignore Herman Cain? His Fair Tax idea will solve so many problems our country now faces.

    Bill Frazer, AKRON, OHIO

    Revamping the IMF

    Re "No More Gentleman's Agreements" [June 6]: Rana Foroohar quotes Jim O'Neill, Goldman Sachs' chief economist, saying of the IMF that "it might be better if some leadership and authority came from outside Europe with a fresh set of independent eyes." The same might be said about the economic leadership of Wall Street coming from outside Washington.

    David Mandell, HUDSON, FLA.

    As an ex-official of the IMF, I have publicly criticized the organization, including its European leadership. However, it is unfair to refer to the IMF's advice to developing nations as dangerous and to characterize its approach as cookie-cutter even if such a view was suggested by Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz. Asia and Latin America corrected many of their previous ways, from crony capitalism to fiscal irresponsibility, at the behest of the IMF. The medicine was bitter but effective, with a few dramatic exceptions.

    Claudio M. Loser, ROCKVILLE, MD.

    Name That Celebrity!

    I was disturbed that you did not identify the people in the photo accompanying the item on the end of the Oprah show [Pop Chart, June 6]. I don't know who some of those people are, and I doubt that 25 years from now, when digitized copies of this issue appear in libraries, anyone else will.

    Christopher Brennan, NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.

    Please recycle this magazine and remove inserts or samples before recycling

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