A man of war?
WHY IS Barack Obama on the front page of The Canberra Times? What has he done to 1) deserve the Nobel Peace Prize and 2) usurp our front page?
How ironic is it that this ''man of peace'' perpetuates the eight-year war in Afghanistan, and is right now considering sending more troops to an unwinnable war.
The Taliban are brutal, murderous and unbeatable by the United States or any other country have a look at the histories of attempts to tame them.
It has been suggested that if Obama sends in more troops, his next step must be to hand back that Peace Prize.
Marie Gordon, Palmerston
Prize premature
I SUSPECT that Barack Obama was as amazed as anyone after receiving his Nobel Peace Prize. Normally prizes are given for achievements (actions) not merely noble words, which Obama is more notable for.
The award appears premature, and driven by political mateship rather than performance. The likes of Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer and Nobel literature winner Herta Muller would have been more appropriate winners.
M. Gordon, Flynn
One-man race
THE NOBEL Committee cited Barack Obama's diplomatic efforts on the international stage as the reason for awarding him this year's Peace Prize. With Iran, Afghanistan and Palestine still on Obama's menu, do we take it that for the foreseeable future the committee will not be accepting any other nominations for the prize?
Sam Nona, Burradoo, NSW
Couples a no-no
I HEARD the Australian National University is having student accommodation built from shipping containers and that it would include provision for couples in ''long-term relationships''.
What does that mean? Obviously, one would have no objections to married couples being housed in these facilities. Long-term relationships, however, are a horse of a different colour.
If students want to shack up together, that's fine by me. But do it off-campus and not at the taxpayer's expense.
Dennis Callaghan, Kingston
Stop being stupid
SO WHAT if there's no such thing as global warming? We all know and accept that there are many people around the world suffering and dying from the effects of air and water pollution, so let's stop the stupid arguments and get on with doing something about that.
Or are air and water pollution in dispute as well?
P.J. Carthy, McKellar
Pulling out the book
READING my Canberra Times TV guide, I noticed the road safety advertisements on every page and thought to myself, ''Good idea, people should slow down.''
Then, in a rare moment of self-reflection, I thought, ''Perhaps I should slow down too, instead of driving 5-10km/h over the speed limit.''
Of course, I am not on my own, travelling 5-10km/h over the limit in Canberra. Often, I would be in the majority.
We know that the faster we go, the harder it is to avoid a crash and the more serious that crash will be.
But why should we slow down? In Canberra, we rarely get fined unless we really push it and when we have had a crash it's always someone else's fault. Many of us occasionally drive home with an alcohol limit around .05 or above and get away with it too.
I encourage the Government to spend all the money it likes on road safety marketing, but only if it is backed by the police having zero tolerance for drink driving and speeding.
Actions speak louder than words. If our leaders are serious about road safety, they have to start booking us.
Jeff Shergold, Kaleen
Tree death query
I REFER to several articles and letters published in The Canberra Times in recent days about the wilful destruction of mature healthy trees.
All Canberra residents should be made aware that the proposed (but already started) Urban Renewal Program equates to mass destruction of mature, healthy, beautiful trees. There are two agendas. One is that residents are being told that the trees are diseased and could pose a danger to pedestrians, cars, etc, and the other is that we are going to be subjected to urban renewal, which effectively means that mature healthy trees are going to be removed and replanted, at some stage, with immature saplings.
Some strategy when we are in drought. I can't imagine a sapling coping with the drought as well as a mature tree, which already has its roots well embedded in the soil.
It makes no sense to be spending millions of dollars on the Arboretum on the one hand, and removing and destroying Canberra's beautiful streetscapes on the other all at taxpayers' expense. All residents concerned about this wilful destruction should take it up with our elected representatives, starting at the top with Chief Minister Jon Stanhope, who supposedly loves this city. Please stop this ill-conceived Urban Renewal Program immediately so that no more mature trees are destroyed and our streetscapes ruined for decades to come.
Genette Purnell, Griffith
A senseless waste?
THE CHAINSAWS and chippers have rolled on from their blitzkrieg in Ainslie's Corroboree Park.
With the dead bodies removed, Jon Stanhope is fairly confident that the flare-up of community outrage will be contained. Sure, resident anger will flare at the next concentration of official vandalism.
But he thinks that if his chippers get in and out fast (before there are too many photos of sound, felled tree trunks), the outrage may be politically manageable. Hopefully he'll be surprised at the next election.
A key question is whether one tree-hollow doth a death-sentence make. There are plenty of robust park trees that will live on happily with a nesting-hollow for many decades, as the flawless profiles of so many cut-down trunks attest.
Considered removing a branch or two? Exercising such judgment requires experience and actual knowledge of species. Too much to hope for?
Might the people contracted to mark trees for destruction be the same ones who then receive lucrative tree-removal contracts? That'd certainly create an unforgivable, destruction-maximising conflict of interest.
Tom Waring, Ainslie
A hospital win
THERE is a misstatement in Paul Monagle's letter on Calvary Hospital (''Calvary confusion'', Forum, October 10, p12).
He states: ''If the board gets its way, $77million will leave the territory.''
The board of Calvary has consistently and frequently stated that the money it will receive from the sale of the hospital will be spent providing a new private hospital in Canberra. An extra hospital seems like a win to me.
One wonders whether the Friends of Calvary Hospital (Monagle is their convenor) talk to the board of the hospital or to the owners, the Little Company of Mary, who want to sell it and redeploy their assets to expand health care in Canberra.
Richard Johnson, Ainslie