Meat and climate change
I really appreciated your juxtaposition of the two articles, Tax on meat 'will cut methane buildup', and Up to $1bn a year spent fighting action on climate change (3 January). The missing link is the fact that the greenhouse supergas methane is chemically identical to natural gas, which is the fossil-fuel industry's favourite cure-all for climate change.
It's possible that 3.6 billion farting livestock are producing more methane than the fossil-fuel industry is releasing by fracking, oil-well blowouts and pipeline leaks, but I'd like to see the numbers. Also I would like to see the percentages of those bovines being raised for meat and as milkers. Finally, the relevance of 9 billion farting human beings and their rotting compost.
In short, this discussion appears to have been launched as a diversionary tactic and I'm curious about where the funding for these "studies" originated. Cutting down on meat-eating is a good idea, but let's focus on the valid reasons: the health of the consumers and the efficient use of our agricultural resources.
Dave Schmalz
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Importance of apprenticeships
Concerning your article on apprentices in Germany (3 January): I would like to harken back to the years 1957-59 when I was stationed in West Germany with Nato at a place called Iserlohn. I had purchased a Sunbeam Rapier delivered in Dusseldorf so I had to go there for servicing. The car had an elaborate electric gearshift that gave me a lot of trouble. When I would appear at the Rootes dealership I would be received by a master mechanic dressed in an immaculate white coat. He would settle himself down in the depth of the grease pit and summon his two apprentices: a pair of grubby little urchins, who handed him his wrenches etc with the accuracy of an operating room nurse, and if attention was lagging a sharp cuff across the ear would suffice.
The other apprentice experience I had was at the barber shop where the two apprentices there: a boy and a girl, would do the preliminary snipping and then the master would climb up on his little stool and complete the fine work.
Again, attention was demanded in no uncertain terms. No wonder West Germany recovered as quickly as it did.
Gordon Woollard
Emo, Ontario, Canada
Police must regain trust
The outrage resulting from the Mark Duggan trial verdict is entirely understandable and extremely worrying (Duggan family angry at inquest verdict, 17 January). There is a view that the Metropolitan police feels able to consider itself to be above the law and unaccountable to the public that it is paid to serve. We have a disturbing trail of controversial deaths at the hands of the police: some high-profile cases that spring to mind include Blair Peach, Ian Tomlinson and Jean Charles de Menezes. And there are, of course, many others.
The Metropolitan police urgently needs to understand the concern that its cavalier actions provoke and to work hard to understand what it has to do to improve its effectiveness and reputation and to gain the trust of the public. Continuing to deny the problems that its actions and attitudes are causing is not the way forward and will surely lead to ever-increasing strife and mistrust in the future.
Brian Sims
Bedford, UK
Australia's refugee problem
The harsh and probably unlawful treatment of seaborne refugees by Australia's Abbott government seems more a laboratory demonstration of rightwing psychopathology than a rational policy (Abbott defiant on asylum-seeker policy, 17 January). The automatic and indefinite detention of all seaborne refugees to Australia in impoverished New Guinea and on Nauru involves both huge expense and international disrepute.
An obsession with appearing "tough" in what they claim is the defence of Australia's sovereignty against foreign, albeit helpless, invaders has an odd corollary in its unprecedented eagerness to surrender a serious piece of that sovereignty to multinationals in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement currently under negotiation. Power, whatever its source or nature, looks to be the Abbott government's true love.
John Hayward
Weegena, Tasmania, Australia
Two kinds of boredom
Gaby Hinsliff didn't really separate the two distinct types of boredom with which we are affected (17 January). Anyone can sympathise with people who struggle with the monotony of tedious and unchallenging work, but that is entirely different to the kind of boredom that average teenagers complain of when they claim to have nothing to do in the world of immediate gratification online through social media.
The skills that have been lost to this generation as a result of the internet age are those of contemplation, and with them, the emotional and sociological advantages to be had by knowing how to be content with having nothing to do. So it is not boredom that has "such a desirable image" according to your columnist, but the healthy mental state of mind that can be induced by use of imagination.
Society is losing sight of the simple tenet that to get something of quality, value and emotional depth requires patience, tolerance and effort. You just cannot Google How not to be bored and share it on Facebook. It's harder than that.
Gary Laidlaw
Norwich, UK
Councils and fracking
It seems extraordinary that local councils would have a conflict of interest in dealing with the granting of local fracking permits (Fracking in the UK: "We're going all out for shale", says Cameron, 17 January). Surely this is an area we would expect local representatives to be extremely cautious about, given the uncertainties surrounding fracking.
But local councils are not what they used to be. The seat of power in local government now appears to rest with the operational staff, and not with councillors who are told their council's financial viability is their first priority.
My council has become a quasi-corporation run by a CEO whose job is to ensure, no matter what, that the organisation's accounts end the year in the black, even if this means boosting income or depleting services at the expense of residents.
Gone are the days when local council staff were humble public servants who patiently doffed their caps to residents. Having been constantly harassed as lazy and ineffective in the past, their newfound corporatism finds local officials in a position of power.
And this, unfortunately, is a position that does not always coincide with the interests of the community.
David Catchlove
Newport, NSW, Australia
Questioning beliefs
Thanks to Zoe Williams for her eloquent plea to respect the human rights of atheists (24 January). As an adopted Australian, I was unaware that my inherent right to that belief was protected. As a topic of conversation and potentially antagonistic dispute, my atheism comes second only to my equally strong disbelief in the merits of any known code of football, except perhaps as a necessary outlet for over-energetic teenagers.
Both subjects attract a stronger and more aggressive argument from their supporters than from us, the opposing side. Could this be due to the logical indefensibility of an unquestioning belief in both football and religion, which ensures that their more avid proponents huddle together for protection?
Infidels of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your anonymity. And possibly the Global Grail.
Noel Bird
Boreen Point, Queensland, Australia
Too little information
The article in News in Brief (10 January) regarding women in the UK having the 10th-highest rate in the world for cancers linked to a lack of physical activity raised several red flags. Women have been found to work more hours than men generally due to family and household responsibilities, often in addition to working outside the home, but according to this article they should be squeezing in a few more hours to go to the gym or out for a run!
Granted the article was brief, too brief to give significant information such as parameters of data collection, age of population studied, amount of exercise needed for prevention, age when cancer occurred, etc. It is news to me that bowel, breast and womb cancer can be prevented with physical exercise as for some time I have understood that genetic factors, chemical exposure, hormone use, tobacco use etc are more likely to be a causative factor in these cancers. This article leads women diagnosed with cancer to feel that they are responsible for it.
Billie London
St Augustine, Florida, US
Briefly
• In the UK, Belgium is often seen as a dull, backward country; yet in Belgium euthanasia has been legalised for about 10 years (10 January). It is no longer an issue, though many people consider palliative sedation an even better solution.
Hugo Claus, Belgium's Nobel prize candidate for literature, feeling that his mind was beginning to flinch, decided that it was time to quit and in 2008 he asked his doctor to put an end to his life. He was admired for his courageous decision.
Some months ago the euthanasia law was even extended to children who suffer from an incurable illness. So who is backward here?
René Weemaels
Beersel, Belgium
• I couldn't agree more with Charles Watson (Reply, 17 January). I use the King William's Quiz for lighting the fire, or more pressing business. Surely you could find a more suitable use for the double page allotted to it – how about a proper old-fashioned Christmas Quiz, with questions within the scope of ordinary readers who possess an average amount of general knowledge?
Guy Johnston
Kirchhundem, UK
• May I offer a crumb of comfort to Charles Watson? To complete the King William's Quiz and other quizzes, you just need access to information. To complete the Guardian and other good cryptic crosswords, you need an active brain.
David Barker
Bunbury, Western Australia
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