The success of the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix cannot be disputed in terms of ticket sales, media coverage and placing the city on the racing-circuit world map (The golden boy of Yas and other coverage, November 14).
But the public transport and taxi service within the city during this time left much to be desired.
I understand that it was mandatory for a large number of taxis to be on Yas Island over the three days. But did no one consider the effect on the hard-working population trying to get to and from their places of work, let alone shopping and leisure activities?
One day it took me two hours and 22 minutes to get a taxi to go to work. The buses were not stopping as they were too full already.
Darren Brown, Abu Dhabi
A Formula 1 race and a Paul McCartney concert, in beautiful weather. It just doesn't get much better.
My friends and I want to thank everyone involved in making these events happen, but since we don't know exactly who should be on that list we decided that a letter to the editor was the best way to express our gratitude.
Lindsay Meredith, Abu Dhabi
Quincy Jones wrong on Murray
I was disgusted to read Guilty finding on Jackson's doctor a joke, says Quincy (November 11).
Quincy Jones's argument - that if Dr Conrad Murray hadn't been treating Jackson, someone else would have been - is flawed.
Law does not work on assumptions. It works on evidence.
It is saddening that the man who used Jackson to become a rich man refuses to see whose hands the blood is on. It's on Dr Murray's hands. Let the law take its course.
Anoop Ravindran, Abu Dhabi
Burj has a prayer room, no mosque
This is about Mosque in Burj an urban myth (November 13).
I worked on the Burj Khalifa and I can confirm that there is no mosque. There is a prayer room on Level 154, which is perhaps where the confusion arose.
Peter Jenkins, Dubai
Students clueless about economics
I agree with columnist Amity Shlaes (Harvard undergrads who walked out of class don't grasp economics, November 14).
The students want their economics classes to offer more diverse solutions to real-world problems but this is the saddest kind of clueless wishful thinking.
They might wish that 2+2 could be made to equal 5, and there is sadly little diversity in the constant answer 4, but reality is intractable. If you can't change reality to fit your goody theories about "equality" then you have to change your theory.
Larry Wallach, US
Can Egyptians win real change?
Your news story Poll prospects leave Egyptians cold (November 13) reiterates the point made in some recent editorials and columns in The National: Egypt's revolution turns out to have been merely a change in the front man for the military junta that runs the country.
The question now is what the Egyptian people will do about this, and I think the answer, finally, will be nothing. It takes a lot of courage to do what they did last winter, and who knows how much blood it would take to bring about real change?
What a sad end to such a noble effort.
Veejay Chandwani, Dubai
Authorities right to check scales
It is very disturbing that such a high proportion of gold scales are inaccurate (Jewellery shop weighing scales to be checked, November 14).
Textbooks often cite the checking of merchants' weights and measures as one of the natural functions of government, along with defence and prevention of violence.
It is heartening that the authorities are taking on this problem, and will later be checking weights and measures in groceries as well.
May I suggest yet another place that might reward the same kind of testing? In the West it often turns out that the "litre" of petrol pumped into your tank is often rather less than a full standard litre.
Tim Parrish, Dubai
Oakland players wore facial hair
Stash of 'staches (November 14) was quite entertaining.
As a former resident of Oakland, California, I remember Rollie Fingers vividly. Charlie O Finley, owner of the Oakland A's in the late '60s - early '70s, got many players to cover their upper lips, mocking the Cincinnati Reds, whose owner forbade facial hair.
George Foster, Abu Dhabi
