Readers' corner

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See if it fits

Sir-- Salama A Salama makes a very interesting comment ('Tower of Babel' Al-Ahram Weekly, 7-13 April): "We need an Egyptian bill of rights, along the lines of the American Bill of Rights." Speaking as an American, you are welcome to go ahead and please do try it on for size! It seems to have worked pretty well for us even though our 250 years of history is a flash in the pan compared to yours, but if it will work for you, too, by all means go for it.

With my best wishes and best regards to the new Egypt.

Mike Arman
Florida
USA

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Cleaner and greener

Sir-- It has now been more than two months since Mubarak stepped down and while most Egyptians may be waiting patiently for the changes they dreamed of in the post-Mubarak euphoria, that patience will not last very long.

The Egyptian people need to believe that the revolution will improve their lives and they need to see change with their own eyes, on their own street, and they need to see it soon. If the military council announces a cleaner, greener Egypt initiative that puts an "army" of unemployed Egyptians to work temporarily to thoroughly clean the streets of all litter and plant one million trees in Egyptian cities, the people will see and believe the government is sincere. Give all the workers T-shirts with the Egyptian flag and a slogan like 'Our Streets, Our Beautiful Egypt'. How would you feel if you woke up to see your street being cleaned and trees being planted? With this relatively small, inexpensive gesture, the military council can win more goodwill and patience while getting the ball rolling in the long struggle to build Egypt into the great nation it can become.

Benjamin Kalt
Cairo
Egypt

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Medical insurance

Sir-- Our Egyptian medical schools were among the best in the world but years of nepotism and discrimination in faculty appointments have taken their toll and the result is the sad state of Egyptian medical education. Not appointing the best qualified for a position, Muslim or Christian, amounts to betrayal of the people and the country. It should not be tolerated in a new and democratic government.

Fikry Boulos Salib
Connecticut
USA

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Super stick

Sir-- Something is definitely wrong with these Middle East and other Muslim leaders. Once they sit on the seat, they get glued to it.

Vicky Leiman
Washington
USA

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Copy and paste

Sir-- The US should do the same for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the gangsters in our government.

Danielle Pastor
California
USA