War and peace
When I heard Pete Hegseth invoke ″the fog of war″ I realised I must have missed the US declaration of war on Venezuela. What happens to the peace prize? Of course, now that the US Department of Defence is the Department of War, perhaps the Nobel Peace Prize could change its name as well? The Nobel War Prize. That resonates. Might be a few contenders, though.
Penelope Buckley, Kew East
Not fit for purpose
A starting point for the “moral lens” as advocated by your correspondent (Letters, 12/12) could be to retire the vacuous rhetoric of mission and vision statements. Organisations could be up-front about their “moral purpose”. Public companies could prioritise “the greater good of their society” ahead of “maximising shareholder returns”.
Jim Spithill, Glen Waverley
Shameful removal
Bayside Council’s decision to remove a photo of a wonderful teenage council volunteer from the Bayside Newsletter, because she was wearing a small necklace pendant depicting a flag of Palestine (“Teen removed over her Palestine necklace” 11/12), was both shameful and embarrassing.
Would the Bayside Council have done the same to a Bayside resident who was wearing a pendant with a 4-leaf clover, a Union Jack, a symbol of Indigenous Australian heritage, a Star of David or a national flag or symbol from the country of their heritage other than Palestine?
Australia is the quintessential multicultural society; shouldn’t people be able to wear symbolic jewellery as a reminder of their family heritage while at the same time embracing and contributing to the privilege of living in our (previously) tolerant democracy?
Anna Talacko, Black Rock
Bayside, please explain
Why has Bayside Council not been required to fully explain what specifically were the nine complaints about, who were the individuals who made the complaints, and why the council was motivated to delete the photograph and article after receiving the complaints?
Mark Hulls, Sandringham
Attack on Israel
The Age letters (12/12) supporting and arguing that wearing a necklace of Palestine is not political or offensive misses the point that the necklace portrays Israel being fully Palestinian “from the river to the sea” and it is another offensive (albeit quiet) protest of Israel’s sovereign right to exist.
Charles Freeman, Caulfield South
Action understandable
From the description of the necklace worn by Bayside Council volunteer Zaina Amro, the problem isn’t that it shows Palestine, the problem is that it deliberately erases Israel. It shows the entirety of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza covered by a Palestinian flag.
Can you imagine the map of Australia being converted into a Palestinian country removing every Australian’s right to be alive freely in Australia?
I can thus understand the council’s ratepayers objecting to what amounts to a call for the destruction of the Jewish state, and can understand the council not wanting to be seen to be endorsing such a call.
Stephen Lazar, Elwood
A degree of perplexity
Of all the things about this digital age that perplex my 78-year-old brain the phenomenon of social media influencer is high on the list. Are these people who have acquired a deep and omniscient grasp of how the world works through broad experience in the workplace and community, or is it just that, like some politicians, they have learnt how to tell enough people what they want to hear to keep them ahead in the numbers game?
As I perused the list of tertiary courses available to the recent VCE graduates I half expected to see something like diploma of influencing among them. But maybe it just shows how much I live in a past paradigm to see benefit in “influencers” having some sort of educational qualification.
Bill King, Camberwell
Invaluable VicHealth
Both Professor John Catford, a former chief health officer (Letters, 11/12) and Sir Gustav Nossal (“Spare VicHealth from cuts: Nossal”, 11/12) among others, have eloquently spoken of the proposal to move the Victorian Health Promotion Association (VicHealth) that Nossal helped create, into the Department of Health, describing it as “a misguided cost-saving measure”.
The value of health promotion invariably gets trumped by the political impact of a sick person, especially a child who needs hospital care, on the front page of the paper; not health promotion. When making funding decisions this comparison is not comparing apples with apples.
VicHealth is doing research and undertaking projects that aim to keep us well, not heal us. The cost of hospital care is more easy to calculate and its successes more clear to see. The success of health promotion is notoriously hard to see and to attribute. That doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable. It is, in fact, invaluable in sustaining our health system by reducing our need to go to hospitals.
The funding of an agency like VicHealth needs to be kept out of immediate reach of government in order to avoid the pitfalls of short-term political decision-making.
And we already see too much of that.
Jenny Macmillan, Clifton Hill
Declare, Trump No. 1
Donald Trump’s plan to assess the social media history of visitors to the United States is surprisingly inefficient. Why not simply get them to sign a declaration that Trump is the great redeemer, who will be worshipped and obeyed unconditionally? It’s quicker and it’s proactive.
Jane Edwards, Peterhead, SA
Trumped? Stumped
In his insightful article on the woes of the English cricket team (″In ‘doormat’ battle, Australia are walking over England″, 10/12), Greg Chappell explains England’s failure in terms of the psychological phenomenon known as the Dunning-Kruger effect. Chappell explains that, “In essence, the Dunning-Kruger effect describes a cognitive bias where people with low competence in a skill or field suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability as higher than average.” Who would ever have thought the English cricket team and Donald Trump have something in common?
Dan McGlade, Brunswick
Wrong focus
The Anika Wells’ expenses saga seems to be a case of making a mountain out of a molehill.
Yes, some of the expenditure may have been a trifle extravagant. But it is nothing compared to the tens of millions governments pay to consultants to tell them what they already know. This has been going on for decades and the aggregate amount paid out must be enormous.
Surely the media focus should be placed on this rather than on a minister whose expenses were spent on her own portfolio.
Greg Bailey, St Andrews
The new statue of liberty
Donald Trump rewrites the Statue of Liberty inscription: “Give me your wealthy, Your holiday Swedes – and throw in a few white South African farmers.“
Greg Curtin, Nunawading
Credit: Matt Golding
AND ANOTHER THING
Social media ban
Bragging on social media that you beat the social media ban shows a level of maturity that validates it.
Steve Melzer, Hughesdale
Shows how young they really are. Gloating over beating the system. And telling everyone.
Lesley Taskis, Kingsbury
The US
I feel sorry for the border control officials in the US who will have to go through the social media accounts and posts of international visitors before validating their ESTA visa application. Trump’s government has just created the most boring job on the planet.
Robert Stephenson, St Kilda East
The only thing that would upset Donald Trump more than being talked about would be not being talked about.
Tony Haydon, Springvale
There goes any thoughts of attending next year’s FIFA World Cup, think I’ll be ruled offside.
Bryan Fraser, St Kilda West
Happily, I have no desire whatsoever to go to America.
Karen Morris, Newport
Imagine the reaction in the rest of the world if China followed America’s lead and renamed its ministry of defence to ministry of war.
Bernd Rieve, Brighton
In a flagrant breach of the laws of the sea the US has seized a Venezuelan oil tanker. How can it possibly justify this?
Reg Murray, Glen Iris
When will Trump start seizing Russian shadow oil tankers? I suspect the answer is never.
Dennis Crowley, Brighton
Politics
Stop all family expenses for politicians. Problem solved prime minister.
Jane Spier, Seaford
The tech and Bitcoin bubbles reminds me of the Dutch “Tulip Bulb Bubble” of 1637.
Ray Jones, Box Hill North
Finally
Let’s make no mistake, England can win the third Test in Adelaide. As long as they putt well.
Mick Hussey, Beaconsfield
