Thanks for your compliment. We do publish the same results of every poll question every week. It only takes a few minutes to retrieve the results from the online version to the hard copy, but we leave the question up one single week before we update.
-The Editor

Dear Editor,
I'd like to express my thanks to you, for your newspaper, which is full of good news, and expresses our determination for a brighter future. I wish you all the best of success.
Yours faithfully,
Abdulrahim said
Pune - India

Dear Editor,
I could not hide my increasing dismay over the tribal violence and mayhem in Yemen, which I read about in the Yemen Times. I was once welcomed in Yemen in October '98 by strangers in Sana'a and Taiz and have nothing but the warmest feelings for the Yemenis that befriended me. Having traveled extensively in Asia and the Middle East, I was very impressed with the spectacular scenery and culture of Yemen
I do not have any ideas for quick fixes of any cultures' struggles with a changing world, but retreating into medieval religious isolationism as expressed by the kidnappers/murderers of the Abyan tragedy is no solution.

The world is becoming smaller whether we like it or not, and a free exchange of ideas is necessary for everyone to survive. There is no reason for everybody to agree on differences that just may never be bridgeable, but all peoples need to respect each others' cultures and beliefs as much as possible. Everyone needs to be mature enough to realize that sometimes there is no accommodation. But in the end, for the sake of true humanity, we all must live together. Extremism never really helped anybody. Tribal vendettas must become extinct if anybody wants to evolve past barbarity.

Education and literacy will go very far towards helping Yemen, and may be the only real solution.
Alan Suits
asuits@stlnet.com
USA

Dear Editor,
I am an Italian-American married to a Yemeni man from Ibb, Taiz. I try to read your on-line newspaper as much as possible. It allows me to talk with my husband regarding current events in Yemen. Thank you so much for bringing to America a viewpoint of the Intelligent Yemeni.

I've read a lot about Yemen and it has a beautiful history (Queen of Sabaa) and I believe was called "Arabia Felix" by the Romans. I've seen many photos of Yemen from my husband and from various websites.

I've noticed that lately there has been a lot of opposition towards chewing QAT. My husband chews it on Holidays, however I do not join him. I am not against him chewing it because it is not a habit for him. I know of people hear in America that chew it while working and spend up to $150 a week for QAT. To me, that is unreasonable. I read Asir Al-Soudani's article on the Pro & Cons of QAT. He has a point about the livelihood of people who produce and transport the plant. It's a simple case of supply and demand. And if Yemen wants to reach the 21st century they will have to supply a lot of so-called "undesirable products" that people demand. Every country that becomes modernized eventually loses a lot of its tradition, culture, family values, and eventually religion. I am a first-hand witness about this because it happened to my father's hometown in Italy. It has happened to every so-called modern and capitalistic country. It's sad but true. But will it happen to Yemen?
Thank you
Raffaella Iosue
riosue@actny.uscg.mil

Is President Saleh
Applying Again?
I was very surprised when I heard that President Ali Abdullah Saleh is applying for another period of presidency. This is because the constitution that his government approved limited the presidency periods to two consecutive terms. Also I have read and heard that he promised not to run for the presidency another time.
I hope that this is not true.
Masoud Qabili
masq@ue.eti.pg.gd

There are Internet
Cafes in Sanaa
I would like to send the Editor & Staff my salutations from here in Canada. In your most recent online issue of the Yemen Times (Issue 19 - May 10th through May 16th 1999, Volume IX), I encountered an error. I was reading the editor's viewpoint section, which is where I found the error. I would like to first state that you're views are quite interesting, truthful and make me realize some aspects which we, as Yemenis (at home or abroad), most of the time overlook. In your accusations towards the city of Sana'a, which I found true for all but one, are good points. The only point which I saw as false, was the Internet cafes. You stated as one of your examples "Can you believe that this city does not have one Internet cafe! There are no adequate efforts to promote the use of computers, the Internet or other modern information technologies." In my most recent visit back home, which was just about 3 months ago, I found an Internet cafe up in the Hadda area (Madinah Sakinia intersection with Hadda Rd. (now named Damascus Rd.)) Around that area is located the Hadda Internet Cafe. I personally visited it just once. Why just once? Well for one, the people who work there hardly have any knowledge of the Internet. When asked about the speed of their transfer rates, they just looked at me in a most puzzled manner. They lack proper guidance (which I didn't need) in setting us up at a computer. They failed to mention that there was either a 150 or 300 rial connection fee when asked what exactly are their rates. They were still charging 12 riyals per minute even though the (per minute) charge was decreased to 9 riyals per minute by Teleyemen. There were about eight computers in a room, and only 2 customers (including myself) at that time. It lacked a computer or Internet atmosphere. Just out of curiosity, I asked them a technical Internet related question which their employees were unable to answer due to their inexperience. I (on purpose) played with one of the settings on the computer and then asked for technical assistance, which was useless. So therefore I had to attend to the problem myself (which was just a very minor adjustment). There were also some membership per month & year ( I don't see how they could last that long) rates which I don't exactly remember what they were but all I know is that the rates were preposterous. So as you can see, physically there is an Internet Cafe, but in reality it has no backbone to support it in any way.

Well, also the way I look at it, is that there is a huge and remarkable lack of introduction, teaching and following up on the World Wide Web of the Internet (which in my opinion has become a universal phenomenon in connecting the world to each other) to the Yemeni population. This could be a good focus to look on in the Editor's Viewpoint written by Prof. Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf. I am personally thinking of writing an article on it. At the end of this, I would just like to tell you all at Yemen Time to keep up the good work.

Tareq Gohery
taralws@usa.net
Ottawa, Canada