A waste of resources
Dear Sir,
The “Ice Bucket Challenge” events, being held at some hotels in Doha, seem quite a waste of time and resources, at least to me.  
Setting aside the lack of access to fresh water for a large portion of the world’s population, such an event to be held in a desert state like Qatar where water is more expensive than petrol, flies in the face of any respect and consideration for the local environment and customs.
The challenge, it is claimed, benefits the ALS Association, which supports research into the degenerative condition ALS - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
But it has been claimed by some that only less than 20% of donations is spent on research, with the remaining going to meet administrative costs and salaries. So the “challenge” seems more a fad than a charity initiative.
I think the organisers’ reputation would be better served in focusing on more notable efforts and causes that don’t waste hundreds of gallons of fresh water.

A concerned resident
(Name and address supplied)

History lesson
Dear Sir,
The brutal beheading of American journalist James Foley is an act of savagery that defies description.
The deadly situation in Iraq and Syria should not be allowed to continue.
A society in which the government lacks legitimacy and basic support of the people is unsustainable provides a recipe for disaster.  
A terror group may sustain itself for a while by sheer force and brutality but this will not last. History does record rather consistently that tyranny and the abuse of power don’t last.
All the empires of the past that were based on tyranny or abuse of power, subverting the common bond of humanity, have fallen from their heights, sometimes to their nadir of becoming extinct. But the same sequence of events still continues.
As Bernard Shaw once said: “We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.”

Farouk Araie
farouk.araie@telkomsa.net