Shock! Horror! It implies elderly people should not be in hospital beds. The remainder of the article is more moderate and discusses the fact old people are sometimes being inappropriately placed in hospital beds, why this might be and what alternatives there should be.

The headline adds to the growing evidence of prejudice and bias against older people.

It is so ingrained as to often be unconscious.

It is a worldwide phenomenon in countries such as ours which do not value older people.

When did older people lose the right to be regarded as worthwhile, contributing, citizens, entitled to a share of the benefits their work and taxes helped bring?

Until we older citizens gain some political power by way of forming our own political party we will continue to be treated as second-class citizens, just a burden, or worse.

It might be worthwhile remembering the alternative to growing old is death — no one is immune.

Sue Schreiner, Red Hill

Thank you, Andrew Leigh, for your excellent article on imprisonment. ("Why is imprisonment rising as crime is falling?" CT, 14/1/16, p. 15).

Based on my experience working in a maximum security prison, I suspect the answer is prisons fulfil a need for certain people: prison guards, the majority of whom cannot obtain any other sort of work; career criminals or "hard men" who actually run them and who are institutionalised, making them incapable of living anywhere else; a lazy, uncaring citizenry who want to sweep society's losers under the carpet.

They justify this by indulging in Dostoyevskian fantasies about reforming people by making them suffer in places that, by their very nature, are incapable of turning criminals into decent human beings.

A system based on restorative justice, instead of punishment, would encourage criminals to live in society and earn money to provide restitution to their victims.

The small number of people who, even with sophisticated electronic surveillance techniques, are too dangerous to put into open society should be incarcerated in small, secure units.

These should be staffed by professional penologists who are willing to apply a bit of tough love to people they might be able to rehabilitate. If they can't, at least their charges won't make rehabilitation impossible for others.

Prisons have as much relevance to 21st century Australia as do public floggings and hangings.

John Mason, Latham

Dr Andrew Leigh MP, shadow assistant treasurer, raised an old argument in, "Why is imprisonment rising as crime is falling?" (November 14, p15).

He claimed, "there's little evidence rising prison populations have been a major driver of the crime drop since the mid-1990s."

There is strong evidence of such causation locally, a significant drop in crime since the AMC began to fill up. As an economist, he eventually got to the point. Incarceration costs $300 a day.

He mentioned over-representation of Aborigines among inmates and suggested public safety does not require "non-violent offenders" to be imprisoned. The implication we don't need protection from career thieves and vandals is incredible.

Leigh's closing paragraph repeats his economic premise, "whether jailing more low-risk offenders passes the cost-benefit test". He suggested "better use of monitoring technology, smarter approaches than mandatory sentencing and decent funding for legal aid."

"Low risk" could mean offenders who commit only relatively minor crimes rather than those at low risk of recidivism.

Cost-effective sentencing requires a whole-of-society context. Dr Leigh has only reiterated some well-known problems.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

How different is Turnbull's attack on Leigh Sales and the elite media from Donald Trump and his attacks on the media?

Fascism in the 21st century comes in many different suits but it is still fascism.

E. R. Moffat, Weston

The "basket of deplorables" gave the middle finger to the PC brigade and the rest of the left leaning rabble. Now it's time for Cory Bernardi to do a Trump, before Australia is submerged in the "swamp".

Owen Reid, Dunlop

Further to Jeremy Mitchell (Letters, November 11) I acknowledge that Alexander Downer stepped down from the board of Huawei in 2014 when he went to London. However, he should not have been on the Huawei board in the first place. National security concerns about Huawei have existed since at least 2012.

C. Williams, Forrest

Obviously Clementine Ford was watching a different Project to 99.9 per cent of other observers.

I thought Price was very measured and that excitable woman beside him kept talking over the top of him. Strangely the moderator, Carrie somebody, then chastised Price for his attitude. An objective observer would have thought the chastisement should have been directed at the excitable woman!

Brendan Ryan, Mawson

A reminder to Jon Stanhope of Al Grassby's decision in the 70's to allow Pasquale Barbaro senior into the country against AFP advice and the damage that has done (My Letter to editor 5 Aug 2015).

K. Bell, Kambah

Much of the commentary on the working-class movement that led to the election of Donald Trump and increasing upheaval in Australia is based on the false premise working people do not understand globalisation. Working people understand the impacts of globalisation all too well.

They understand their parents had steady jobs with steady pay. They understand that now they have no job, or a series of poorly paid part-time jobs, or a sham contract.

They understand their children are in a worse position.

They understand they are falling further behind in an increasingly unequal society.

They are angry. They do not want patronising explanations of the benefits of globalisation.

They know "innovation" has led to job insecurity and exploitation. They know trickle down economics is a sham. They know corporate tax cuts create bigger profits, not jobs.

They want full-time jobs with decent pay and conditions.

They believe the government is responsible for giving them an opportunity to have those jobs.

It is not an unreasonable or irrational belief.

Tony Judge, Woolgoolga

All Friday's edition of The Canberra Times lacked was a black armband. The front page picture of young American protesters, probably pushed along by leftist academics, was a good introduction to the successive sobs of Ross Gittins, upset the climate change band wagon is doomed, of Nick O'Malley's fears feminism will suffer, of Allison Pearson's warning her daughter's future looks bleak and of Waleed Aly's twisted condemnation of Trump's supposed racism.

Then John Hewson climbed on the wagon to declare battery storage would soon replace coal-fired power stations.

Even CT's editorial tried to blame the non-voters, all Democrats I guess, for Trump's victory.

The truth seems to be the US voting silent majority decided against political correctness and thought it was time to clear the decks.

Australian politicians, tree huggers and alarmists should heed the warning. It will happen here next.

Peter Murray, Red Hill

In Paul McGeogh's article under the subheading "Fighting Terrorism" (CT, November 12) he states Trump once asserted "that the generals would do as he told them" regardless of the legality of such directive, thus raising the spectre of a Caine Mutiny-style confrontation between the joint chiefs and Donald "Queeg" Trump.

As Commander-in-Chief of US Forces, a president requires no input from Congress to initiate or limit military action but having previously claimed to know more about destroying ISIS than do the generals, there exists the very real potential for a situation with cataclysmic consequences if Trump appoints as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs an officer with the same aggressively unstable mind set that he has so far exhibited.

John Murray, Fadden

The women of America have only themselves to blame. They had the best chance ever to select an erudite, credentialed woman over a misogynistic pig. Yet the figures show that even educated women gave Donald Trump 49 per cent of their vote. If only a slightly greater percentage of American women had voted for Ms Clinton, Donald would have been sent back to the sty, where he belongs.

It didn't help she had to drag her own misogynistic millstone around to her engagements.

Women around the world have got to start supporting their own gender. When it comes to equality, women are often their own worst enemies.

John Galvin, Weston

Donald Trump is not officially President-elect – yet. The presumptive next president, yes. But he will not become President-elect until formally elected by the US Electoral College at its meeting on 12 December.

Donald Trump could still theoretically not become president. But that near-impossibility all depends on the electoral college and the strange US voting system. The college electors can still change their minds before December.

If enough of them did, then the college could theoretically reverse the result of Tuesday's election. But it will almost certainly go one way, with most of the electors casting their ballots on December 12 for Donald Trump.

Don Sephton, Greenway

Donald Trump's win has been greeted with joyous celebration by Pauline Hanson and has encouraged the far right of the Liberal National Party to believe the LNP can increase its appeal by actively campaigning on issues such as opposition to climate change, marriage equality and section 18C.

Before Abbott, Bernardi and Christensen get too carried away I suggest they take note of, firstly, that Hillary Clinton still managed to out-poll Donald Trump and, secondly, that Donald Trump received fewer votes than both of the unsuccessful Republican candidates in 2008 and 2012, John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Given Australian elections are usually won by the major party that most successfully appeals to the political centre, the LNP will commit political suicide if it vacates the political centre in order to pursue the votes of a comparatively small minority of disgruntled ultra-conservatives.

Bruce Taggart, Aranda

The real lessons for Australia from the American presidential campaign was that the methodology is laborious, costly, divisive and people don't really get to choose who they would like as their president.

It shows the minimalist proposal put forward by the Australian Republican Movement has a great deal of merit.

Tom Cooke, Pearce

If we can get millions of people to chase Pokemons we can get millions of Americans to vote for Donald Trump or even Donald Duck.

John Rodriguez, Florey

If you, like me, are fed up with the excessive coverage of the US presidential election, I have a suggestion.

Turn off the source: radio, TV or social media.

When advertising revenue falls as a result of this boycott, perhaps we will get some worthwhile news about the rest of the world.

Kris Klugman, Fisher

DOGGY DEBT

Three years ago my dog was hit by a car. Her worst injury was a front leftleg which felt like a sock of sand. I rushed to Jan Spate, who said the normal procedure would be immediate amputation, "but let's try and save the leg". Weeks of cast changes worked. My four-legged friend is stillmy four-legged friend. Foreverindebted.

Paul Kringas, Giralang

GILLARD'S CLASS

Note the rush to comment on the US election result by former prime ministers Keating, Howard and Rudd, each demonstrating his expertise on international affairs.

The only one not to rush to seek the spotlight is Julia Gillard: more class than the lot of them put together.

David Nolan, Holder

AMERICA'S GOLDEN RULE

Gordon Soames (Letters, November 12) is wrong in believing that US invasions, kidnappings, etc are not rules based. The USA has the gold so [it] makes the rules.

Michael Duffy, Curtin

TIES THAT BIND

A US president once let the cat out of the bag, saying it's the military-industrial complex that runs the US. Expect Trump to be similarly bound hand and foot.

Barrie Smillie, Duffy

In the great game of bridge, a no trump contract is the most desirable. Would that this had played out in the (now dis)United States.

Cynthia Moloney, Yarralumla

FREE BUS COSTS

The Labor-Greens agreement commits the government to free bus travel for Canberra's wealthy retirees. The average ACTION bus can carry 72 passengers. For every 72 retirees who take up this offer during peak hour, Canberra's ratepayers will pay $500,000 for an extra bus.

Leon Arundell, Downer

CURIOUS SPECIES

What a curious species we are: one person seeks and finds a frog who might save her species from extinction; others adorn our public spaces with WMD.

Matt Ford, Crookwell

NO SAFE SPACES

There are no such things as safe spaces in the world, let alone any defined by intellectual thought.

Gerry Murphy, Braddon

FAME TRAIN

Now The Donald is POTUS-elect, I look forward to see what plum role he will allocate to the Kardashians, his fellow travellers on the gravy train "Famous for being Famous".

Ann Darbyshire, Gunning

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