Atom bombs became hydrogen bombs, and the means of delivery was improved to intercontinental ballistic missile, accurate to within a few yards of target. The escalating costs bankrupted the Soviet Union, and the other superpower, the US, did not escape unscathed, borrowing money to pay for its immense defence expenditure (the current US national debt, nearing $19 trillion, had its origin in the arms race).

Another $1 trillion is to be spent on the B61 mini nuclear bomb, which, everyone hopes, will never be used. Is there no hope for a more rational way of conducting international affairs?

Harry Davis, Campbell

The "self reported" racial profiling problems of NSW Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi when going through United States Immigration officials at Los Angeles International Airport ("Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi stopped and interrogated at LAX", canberratimes.com.au, January 16) shows how puerile Greens MP are.

I am sure that the Immigration officials at Los Angeles airport were doing their job professionally, especially given the 10million plus international arrivals a year.

It's obvious that it's a bit of a shock to Ms Faruqi on US assessment of Pakistan and terrorist behaviour. Given the recent Taliban attack on polio clinics in Pakistan you would have thought she would have been able to look dispassionately at her treatment and the treatment meted out by others. That's real racial profiling.

Peter Harris, Belconnen

Lauren Ingram ("Retired public servants should be grateful for benefits", Times2, January 15, p5) raises so many issues about "generous" public sector superannuation that some readers might be tempted to think that she has been talking to someone in the Department of Finance!

Unfortunately her article fails to address what defined benefit pensioners –private as well as public sector – have been whingeing about over the current "10per cent cap" issue. The issue is the willingness of governments – both the politicians and their senior advisers – to change any rule at will, and without compensation, if they later decide they don't like an outcome.

The Australian Council of Public Sector Retiree Organisations would be happy to discuss Ingram's stated concerns about public sector superannuation with her.

She can bring Verona Burgess with her, if she likes.

Richard Griffiths, national president, ACPSRO

If Lauren Ingram is so incensed about the 36per cent of Australians over 65 who live below the poverty line she could do better than attack those who are trying to stop that number being increased.

Most of the 35,000 retirees who are caught by the 10per cent cap decision are on low defined benefit pensions and even lower age pension supplements. Reducing the latter will push many closer to the poverty line and some over it. Is that what Ms Ingram wants?

Tim Terrell, Farrer

I do not share Kevin Andrews view about Australia's rejection of the United States request for more military help to defeat Islamic State in Iraq and Syria ("Abetz joins Andrews in condemning rebuff of US request for more troops" January 15, p6).

Perhaps, Australia has learnt the lesson from the previous US-led fight in Iraq – many are convinced that it was that poorly thought-out invasion of the country that led directly to Islamic State's rise from obscurity.

Frankly, I do not believe that the US has a clue as to how to defeat IS. Nevertheless, it would make sense if the US, rather than asking Australia for more troops, were to ask the countries of the region to provide the troops for a ground campaign; after all, it is their people who would benefit most from the defeat of IS.

Sam Nona, Burradoo, NSW

Thank you for publishing "Dreams may have a hook", January 17, p25). It accurately and eloquently expresses how I and many thousands of my fellow Aussies feel about rational suicide, and how determined we are to control our own destiny.

I – and only I – will decide when and how I die. No amount of do-gooder, medical or legal interference will stop me.

Every politician in Australia should read this piece, and ask themselves to whom they owe allegiance: ordinary citizens like me, or religious lobby groups. Put another way, are they capable of devising good evidence-based policy solutions to a widely articulated problem, or are they too scared of the right-to-lifers and medical lobbyists to enter the policy space?

If the latter, time to quit politics now and find another less challenging profession.

Edwina Barton, Braddon

There could be no stronger evidence for people in this country to stand up and defend Medicare than US vice-president Joe Biden's inability to finance his son's medical treatment (canberratimes.com.au, January 13).

If a man on his salary cannot afford pay his son's hospital bills who can?

After the Liberals' planned health cuts to hospitals and the Pharmaceutical Benefits System we may soon face the prospect of being asked for our credit cards before we're treated, just like the United States.

There are seemingly billions of dollars available for F-35s and submarines which kill people but diminishing amounts for a life-saving health care system which actually save lives.

Ray Armstrong, Tweed Heads South, NSW

It seems the ACT government is hell-bent on turning Northbourne Avenue into "a grand tree-lined boulevard" with "medium to high density" ("Grand entrance for city planned", January 18, p1).

How about we keep it just like it is – a grand tree-lined boulevard without more high density?

As a former resident of and regular visitor to Canberra, I support better transport systems over bigger traffic jams. But one question keeps nagging me: Is the light rail proposal really just a Trojan horse for property developers and governments to justify rampant high-rise over-development?

William Bourke, Wollstonecraft, NSW

Plunge into deep water Only now have I regained my strength after taking part in Captain Waterford's 2000 word circumnavigation of Canberra's political pinnacles, swamps, gullies, ravines, gorges, valleys, canyons, gutters and ditches, an exhausting Vasco da Gama-like voyage aboard the good ship. ("No zing in sight for ACT elections", Forum, January 16, p1).

Fearing my family would sool Fred the Ferret onto me if I were to provide a word-for-word account of this perilous expedition, I parsed the Captain's log with my patented Distillation Device (motto: You pour potatoes in one end and Poitin comes out the other).

Out dribbled the essence: The ACT government, its ministers, members, and deck hands couldn't run a bath.

Regardless, it's nice to see Capt'n Jack back in town after his long absence on interplanetary travels.

W.T.O'Connell, Waramanga

As noted by previous correspondents, in 2014 then chief minister Gallagher stated that Cabinet would not tolerate much more than $614million being spent on the light rail (tram) project.

In a story published today ("ACT urged to rethink road funds", January 16, p5) it is stated that the price tag for construction of the light rail line is $783million – a very large jump in less than two years!

Tenders have been received but the results have yet to be announced despite several months of "consideration" by Capital Metro. So, what is the source for this figure of $783million? When will the tender results be released for our (taxpaying citizens of the ACT) information and consideration? If this figure of $783million is indeed the correct figure, how is an increase of 28per cent in under two years deemed to be within Cabinet's (and our) tolerance? Time to end this three-ring circus show now!

Paul E.Bowler, Holder

It's ironic that the alarm over a company selling essays to Chinese students was raised by former students who "believed someone in the university community was exploiting international students for profit" ("ANU investigates essay cheating service", January 14, p1).

Australia's tertiary education system is all about the exploitation of international students. They are used to prop up our under-funded system and most, if not all, universities have staff resources dedicated exclusively to recruiting international students.

International student recruitment is part of the business model; universities aspire to get a high international ranking so they can recruit more of them, as they pay extortionately high fees.

I know there are English tests international students have to pass to get into Australian universities, but last semester I had a class that was mostly made up of students from China and Korea who blatantly could not speak, understand or read English to a basic level let alone to university English standard. It made the class tortuous for domestic students.

We might disagree with the company's blase approach to plagiarism, but universities themselves need to take some responsibility as they have created a market for such companies by selling out to the corporate neoliberal model dominating higher education these days.

Amy Walters, Bruce

I was bemused to read the article by Nicholas Stuart ("Doing nothing not an option", Forum, January 16, p5).

If only it were that simple – increase the penalties and the problem will go away. Even he writes that increasing the penalties may not have any effect in stopping assaults but will "send a signal". Unfortunately it won't.

I have yet to hear of a potential assailant calculating what his penalty might be before he decides whether or not to assault someone. These terrible acts are impulsive and no amount of "signals" by way of harsher penalties will make any difference. The best these "signals" can do is meet society's need for revenge and so make us all feel better.

What may make a difference is reducing the opportunities for these nasty, out-of-control individuals to wreak their havoc, for example less opportunity for excessive drinking in public, more police presence, better parenting and education, and more constructive punishments such as being required to contribute to compensation for victims financially and/or with their labour.

Sue Schreiner, Red Hill

I fully agree with Bruce Wright's sentiments about the Bureau of Meteorology's forecasting (Letters, January 18). For quite a while I was tempted to comment on the Bureau's forecasts.

With all the data the Bureau has available it is often not able to interpret it properly.

On the latest occasion, I could interpret by mid-morning of January 13 that not much was going to happen. Winds remained light and my rain gauge gave four millimetres at 9am on the 14th. The forecast was for up to 45 millimetres of rain with strong wind warnings.

Yet, on the same day, mid-morning, the bureau still showed on the screen a 90per cent chance of rain, with warnings.

I have been registering rainfall since 1991, and as an amateur my forecasts were usually closer to the mark than those of the professionals.

I am glad that my medical practitioner, who also has to deal with a number of unknown factors, has a better grip of varying potential situations as they arise, and consequently arrives at more accurate interpretations.

Erwin Feeken, Bywong, NSW

As an economist I can assure Bruce Wright (Letters, January 16) that weather forecasters are not the only people who keep their jobs despite frequent wrong forecasts.

Leon Arundell, Downer

Michael Thorn's article "Time to target the boozing" (Times2, January 14, p1) presents as a diatribe from the temperance movement, rather than an informed response to an act of violence. It is premised on a violent attack in Civic on New Year's Eve, which Mr Thorn concludes, without citing evidence, is due to alcohol. Presumably, drugs, bravado, provocation or mental issues are other possible causes or, at least, contributory factors.

Mr Thorn then blurs his thesis with some statistics about ACT residents drinking at a level that puts them at risk of long-term harm, and drink and drug-driving offences. Long-term health-risk statistics relate to people who drink more than two units of alcohol a day (eg, a quarter of a bottle of red wine) which, like not eating your veggies, may not be good for you, but has nothing to do with alcohol-fuelled violence.

Neither this issue nor that of drink-driving is likely to be greatly improved by Mr Thorn's recommendations on cracking down on "reckless discounting and promotion, and reducing late-night trading hours".

I buy most of my alcohol online and never go clubbing late at night. However, I don't see why a large number of people who enjoy a different lifestyle should suffer from an apparently arbitrary response to a few violent young men.

Geoff Clarke, Holder

Felicity Chivas (Letters, January 15) describes the system for issuing the Interstate NSW Gold Senior/Pensioner Opal card as an "unnecessary inconvenience". The requirement that one reapply every three months is certainly inconvenient, but surely it is necessary? Otherwise, all those interstate card holders who become 10, 20 or 30 years younger in any given three-month period would not be caught out and would continue to enjoy travelling on Sydney trains and buses at a reduced rate.

Marlene Hall, Kingston

NO GLORY ON NAURU

Will the Department of Immigration and Border Control award medals for kicking the Save the Children welfare workers out of Nauru ("Immigration spends more than Defence on medals for its staff", canberratimes.com.au, January 16)?

Thos Puckett, Ashgrove, Qld I

DARK DAYS FOR REASON

I recently read a quote in Richard Dawkins's latest book (Brief Candle in the Dark). "Science flies you to the Moon. Religion flies you into buildings". Islamic Maghreb; Paris; Jakarta. I think we may have to wait at least another hundred years before education overrides superstition.

George Beaton, Greenway

MEMORY PLAYS TRICKS

It is remarkable that Ann Prendergast (Letters, January 15) can remember her parents referring to January 11, 1939, as Black Friday – given that it was a Wednesday! An inconvenient truth indeed.

Paul Pentony, Hackett

LET CAT FLU GO WILD

Many years ago, Harry Butler had proposed the introduction of cat flu for feral cats. Feral cats are gobbling up our unique and diverse range of small native animals and birds. So if abortion is legal for human resources, why not cat flu for feral cats. The evil feral cat is stalking the wildlife of Australia.

Richard Ryan, Summerland Point, NSW

MAN BEHIND THE MIC

Bill Lawry. Forty years behind the microphone and I've never heard him comment better.

Phil O'Brien, Flynn

CLARIFYING JP ROLE

Further to Noel McLaughlin's fine summary (Letters, January 15). Justices are not required to examine the content of a deposition or statement, simply to witness the signature or administer the oath or affirmation required. In my experience as a JP, it was frequently necessary to reassure the deponent that knowledge of their private affairs was not needed.

Peter Baskett, Murrumbateman, NSW

OBAMA DISASTROUS

As a native-born American citizen I didn't know whether to laugh or cry after reading Lesley Russell's reflections on Obama's State of the Union address ("Obama's forthright analysis of the future", Times2, January 15, p5).

It would appear that Lesley is an Obama-soxer complete with a rosy, starry-eyed view of a president who consults no one other than his own ego and who has proven a disaster for the Western world.

Gerry Murphy, Braddon

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