Any non-Arab, non-Muslim who lives among American Muslims, as I did in the area of Detroit, Michigan, knows that American Muslims are not bad people.
As in every other group there are some misbehaving individuals, but it is absurd to condemn all of them for that.
Your editorial Anti-Muslim beliefs are losing in the US (August 4) was right: stereotypes are just wrong. Most respondents to the survey you mention seem to understand that.
We all need to remember to judge individuals one by one.
Robert Pryzbelweski, Dubai
What Sarah Palin really wants
I refer to your story The politics of documentaries (August 3).
I believe this film is simply another publicity stunt to make Sarah Palin what she really wants: not the presidency, but cold hard cash.
Ms Palin is for sale and is enriching herself with every book, speaking engagement and movie ticket that markets her image and sells her looks.
Brandt Hardin US
Prison terms cost society money
Your story Sex in sea earns one-year sentences (August 2) surprised me.
I appreciate that these two people broke the law, but surely a year in prison is too harsh a penalty.
I would have thought a small fine would have delivered the message just as well.
This way, we are losing two productive members of society for a whole year, not to mention the cost of jailing them.
That money could have been better spent on policing road traffic safety, for example, or otherwise put to a useful purpose.
Peter Jenkins, Dubai
Bad governance trumps good aid
The article by Stephanie Hanson (The Horn of Africa can feed itself - and its neighbours, August 4) was inspirational except that it ignores the numerous and disastrous problems of governance that continue to plague much of the desperate area.
After all, why in the world should anyone farm any land in that region, with or without foreign aid to improve their methods - when warlords are going to steal the harvest or when there's no road to get the crops to market?
Economics and aid policy don't matter if the only law is the gun.
Barry Ward, US
Scandal exposure is good news
I refer to Corruption scandals could threaten Singh's legacy (August 4).
Surely, any governing party suffers when scandals occur on its watch. But if you look at this with a longer view, the revelation of all these scandals is a good thing, not a bad one.
If the tide is turning against high-level corruption and abuse of office, as now does seem to be happening in India, then the country's future political climate will be healthier.
Of course, this development is no credit to the governing party, but rather to the protest leaders, whistle-blowers and media that have revealed the wrongdoing.
PV Nanda, Dubai
Air India's poor PR decision
I believe that Air India's decision to fight the award to crash victims will go down in history as one of the all-time bad public-relations moves. (Air India to appeal over payout to crash victims' families, August 4).
If the airline wins, by my arithmetic it will save about Dh97 million. But the cost of the bad publicity, and of reminding the world of the crash every day during a trial, will surely be far higher.
Kamal Pandey, Abu Dhabi
Evocative vision of deserted vessels
I very much enjoyed the news story 'Ghost ship' evades detection off Indian coast (August 4).
Besides the security aspect upon which the story focused, I just like the mysterious and beautiful idea of deserted ships sailing the seas to random ports, directed by no human intelligence.
How many other such vessels, large and small, roam the world's oceans after having been abandoned for one reason or another?
Ron Kreski, Abu Dhabi
Frustrating to wait so long for films
As a cinema fanatic, I enjoyed your preview of the two big film festivals coming soon (Venice vs Toronto, August 4), although you gave more space to Venice than to Toronto.
But my main point is that I found it just too tantalising to hear about all these amazing and promising films that will not be arriving here for so many months, if at all.
Mark Griffin, Dubai
