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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Letters: lack of sleep could be bad for the character too. Look at Donald Trump | |
| (11 days later) | |
| Too little sleep, like alcohol, tobacco, red meat, burnt toast and everything else, can kill us (Rachel Cooke, “‘Sleep should be prescribed’”, New Review). But beyond sleep and death, there is sleep and life. The sleep expert Prof Matthew Walker implies that lack of sleep can cause mental illness; he also says: “I get on a flight at 10am when people should be at peak alert, and I look around, and half of the plane has immediately fallen asleep.” | Too little sleep, like alcohol, tobacco, red meat, burnt toast and everything else, can kill us (Rachel Cooke, “‘Sleep should be prescribed’”, New Review). But beyond sleep and death, there is sleep and life. The sleep expert Prof Matthew Walker implies that lack of sleep can cause mental illness; he also says: “I get on a flight at 10am when people should be at peak alert, and I look around, and half of the plane has immediately fallen asleep.” |
| The less people sleep, the less they remember, the less they learn, the less they understand and the less they empathise. In the moralist’s terms, the less people sleep, the less capable they will be of having a conscience, feeling solidarity or possessing a decent character. At the same time, sacrificing sleep presumably correlates to advancement in business and politics and being an important person flying somewhere. | The less people sleep, the less they remember, the less they learn, the less they understand and the less they empathise. In the moralist’s terms, the less people sleep, the less capable they will be of having a conscience, feeling solidarity or possessing a decent character. At the same time, sacrificing sleep presumably correlates to advancement in business and politics and being an important person flying somewhere. |
| Successful people are, through the Faustian bargain they have made with the night, more likely than most to be bad people, evil people, people who make the world a worse place for living in it. Donald Trump addressed the point in Think Like a Billionaire (2004): “Don’t sleep any more than you have to. I usually sleep about four hours per night.”Benjamin LetzlerOberurselGermany | Successful people are, through the Faustian bargain they have made with the night, more likely than most to be bad people, evil people, people who make the world a worse place for living in it. Donald Trump addressed the point in Think Like a Billionaire (2004): “Don’t sleep any more than you have to. I usually sleep about four hours per night.”Benjamin LetzlerOberurselGermany |
| Britain’s shame in Yemen | Britain’s shame in Yemen |
| As proud Britons, we can no longer stay silent about our government’s double standards on Yemen. Even as the UK sends aid to Yemen, British-made bombs are fuelling the conflict there. | As proud Britons, we can no longer stay silent about our government’s double standards on Yemen. Even as the UK sends aid to Yemen, British-made bombs are fuelling the conflict there. |
| We are too proud of our country to allow this to continue. We are better than this. | We are too proud of our country to allow this to continue. We are better than this. |
| To date, the UK has sold almost £4bn worth of arms to Saudi Arabia for its bombing campaign in Yemen. This is now the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, in the grip of a major cholera epidemic, on the edge of famine. But worst of all, there is evidence that bombs made in Britain are being dropped on ordinary people. | To date, the UK has sold almost £4bn worth of arms to Saudi Arabia for its bombing campaign in Yemen. This is now the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, in the grip of a major cholera epidemic, on the edge of famine. But worst of all, there is evidence that bombs made in Britain are being dropped on ordinary people. |
| The government says that the weapons trade is in the national interest, but we believe it can be in nobody’s interest to fuel a war killing men, women and children. Dads, mums and babies. | The government says that the weapons trade is in the national interest, but we believe it can be in nobody’s interest to fuel a war killing men, women and children. Dads, mums and babies. |
| It is completely unacceptable to us that our government should be responsible for such unspeakable suffering. Join us in calling on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia now and start pushing for peace.Chris Martin, Simon Pegg, Ian McEwan; Bill Nighy, Philip Pullman, David Nicholls, Paula Hawkins, Rankin and Mariella Frostrup | It is completely unacceptable to us that our government should be responsible for such unspeakable suffering. Join us in calling on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia now and start pushing for peace.Chris Martin, Simon Pegg, Ian McEwan; Bill Nighy, Philip Pullman, David Nicholls, Paula Hawkins, Rankin and Mariella Frostrup |
| Rita was an OU student | Rita was an OU student |
| Tim Adams’s article on Liverpool’s universities (“What next for England’s troubled universities?”, News) suggested that Rita, in Willy Russell’s Educating Rita, sought a university education as an escape route from class expectation. She was an Open University student allocated a Liverpool academic for tutorials. Although the film carried some inaccuracies in teaching methods, it did reflect the change from uncertain learner to a confident student, with every certainty that she would proceed to a degree. Having taught OU students for almost five decades, I have experienced many like Rita who have taken the chance, via part-time study, which they never would have had via the usual university route. That route is still available.Dr Eric Anthony BowersBridgendVale of Glamorgan | Tim Adams’s article on Liverpool’s universities (“What next for England’s troubled universities?”, News) suggested that Rita, in Willy Russell’s Educating Rita, sought a university education as an escape route from class expectation. She was an Open University student allocated a Liverpool academic for tutorials. Although the film carried some inaccuracies in teaching methods, it did reflect the change from uncertain learner to a confident student, with every certainty that she would proceed to a degree. Having taught OU students for almost five decades, I have experienced many like Rita who have taken the chance, via part-time study, which they never would have had via the usual university route. That route is still available.Dr Eric Anthony BowersBridgendVale of Glamorgan |
| Cumberbatch deserves praise | Cumberbatch deserves praise |
| I remember Benedict Cumberbatch’s impassioned speech about the plight of Syrian refugees and admire anyone in the media spotlight who puts themselves and their views “out there” because they do make a significant difference to the public’s mindset (“Let’s not pillory Cumberbatch – at least he cares”, Barbara Ellen, Comment). I was incandescent at the mean-spirited government response to this huge humanitarian crisis and applauded his actions. He should not have to justify himself. Judith A DanielsGreat Yarmouth | I remember Benedict Cumberbatch’s impassioned speech about the plight of Syrian refugees and admire anyone in the media spotlight who puts themselves and their views “out there” because they do make a significant difference to the public’s mindset (“Let’s not pillory Cumberbatch – at least he cares”, Barbara Ellen, Comment). I was incandescent at the mean-spirited government response to this huge humanitarian crisis and applauded his actions. He should not have to justify himself. Judith A DanielsGreat Yarmouth |
| How to run a referendum | How to run a referendum |
| A referendum, whether in Catalonia, UK, Kurdistan or Palestine, doesn’t have to be such a blunt instrument (Editorial). If a metropolitan power declares it illegal, those who seek independence should not be surprised or put off. Yet it would still be in everyone’s interest if some obvious refinements and safeguards could be agreed. | A referendum, whether in Catalonia, UK, Kurdistan or Palestine, doesn’t have to be such a blunt instrument (Editorial). If a metropolitan power declares it illegal, those who seek independence should not be surprised or put off. Yet it would still be in everyone’s interest if some obvious refinements and safeguards could be agreed. |
| Change in a national constitution, as with many other responsible institutions, should require a two-thirds majority. As with divorce and many retail contracts, an interim cooling-off or transition period could enable either or both sides to reconsider, amend or revert before the deal becomes absolute. | Change in a national constitution, as with many other responsible institutions, should require a two-thirds majority. As with divorce and many retail contracts, an interim cooling-off or transition period could enable either or both sides to reconsider, amend or revert before the deal becomes absolute. |
| At least six months should be allowed for the referendum campaign and it would help for some neutral or cross-party group to review, summarise, balance and, if necessary, correct the arguments and evidence offered. | At least six months should be allowed for the referendum campaign and it would help for some neutral or cross-party group to review, summarise, balance and, if necessary, correct the arguments and evidence offered. |
| For all that, the operation will be a messy one, with serious shortfalls and unintended consequences. Proceed with care and give time, space and encouragement for those we elect to represent, negotiate and decide on our behalf to do the jobs we pay them for. If we can’t trust or approve them, reselect or re-elect.Greg WilkinsonSwansea | For all that, the operation will be a messy one, with serious shortfalls and unintended consequences. Proceed with care and give time, space and encouragement for those we elect to represent, negotiate and decide on our behalf to do the jobs we pay them for. If we can’t trust or approve them, reselect or re-elect.Greg WilkinsonSwansea |
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