NOW THAT the Chinese leadership has caved in to outside pressure to relax the country's internet censorship for the Olympics, maybe the International Olympic Committee might like to give the world an undertaking that it will do a long overdue purge on its structure so that it is more open and up front on how it does business.

When it comes to a secretive and what many would say is a morally corrupt organisation, the committee could probably teach the Chinese leadership a thing or two.

And while they were at it, maybe they would like to start the process of returning the modern Olympics to its birth place.

D.J. Fraser, Mudgeeraba QLD

A touch of hypocrisy?

WHY IS John Brumby, Premier of Victoria, commenting on this?

He's upset about Sam Newman and his comments about Tasmanian MP Paula Wriedt yet remained silent over Bill Henson's lewd child photographs.

Old-fashioned, crass lads like Newman send Labor politicians clamouring for sackings and censorship. But the arts world luvvies can do what they want.

Kevin Rugg, Beaumaris Victoria

Choking on my weeties

IF THE Canberra Times receives a letter from someone whose thinking seems to run in cliches and whose politics appear to come from the back of a Corn Flakes packet then, Jack Waterford states, the letter is unlikely to be published (Times2, July 31, p2).

Can The Canberra Times please apply the same rigour to its columnists?

David Barnett is, after all, a cereal offender.

Steven ONeill, Queanbeyan

Au revoir

DAVID GALLOP should relocate a rugby league team to France. Oops, that's already happening.

John Passant,Kambah

Who's telling the truth?

''POPULATION control ruthlessly coercive'' reports Rosslyn Beeby of Professor Matthew Connelly (The Canberra Times, August 1, p5).

Yes it is, by those such as the Vatican and others of similar philosophy, depriving women the right to determine their own fertility.

For 14 years, the education and empowerment of women, identified as the way forward for the wellbeing of societies at the 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, has been thwarted by religious fundamentalism.

As a result, still-developing girls under such coercion in northern Africa have suffered pregnancies with attendant problems such as fistula in horrendous numbers.

Women deprived of the right to determine their own fertility have had pregnancy forced upon them throughout the developing world an almost certain barrier to escape from poverty and worse.

Is Professor Connelly an honest historian, or an evangelist for fundamentalism?

Colin Samundsett, Farrer

Make it legal

A FRESH look at our illicit drug problem is overdue (The Sunday Canberra Times, Editorial, July 27).

Each of the drugs selected for prohibition has a legal and regulated drug with similar characteristics, for instance, heroin and morphine, or cannabis and tobacco.

The use and abuse of the illicit drug has increased at a markedly higher rate than has been the case with the legal and regulated drug with similar characteristics, yet there was no hint in the legislative process that prohibited them that such an increase should be anticipated.

Quite the reverse: it was hoped that prohibition would reduce use.

Australia was importing 45kg of heroin a year before prohibition in 1953, and by 1999 an estimated 6700kg a year was being imported illegally.

With the possible exception of laws against prostitution, laws prohibiting drugs are the only laws carrying criminal sanctions for actions that do not fall within one of three clear categories: physical damage to another (for example, assault or murder); damage to another's property (for example, theft or fraud); or breaking regulations that facilitate living (for example, road rules or quarantine regulations).

The lack of principle and the random nature of the selection of drugs for prohibition is undoubtedly one reason for the increase in incidence of use in comparison to legal and regulated drugs, and the enormous profits that have accrued to producers and distributors because of prohibition is clearly another. Restore principle to the criminal law, and legalise and regulate illicit drugs.

Peter Watney, Holt

What's on your plate?

THANKS TO Judy Carman (''Too many unknowns in the manufacture and use of GM foods'', The Canberra Times, Times2, July 28, p6-7), for drawing attention to the need for better labelling of genetically modified food.

The Government has to understand that some people do not want to eat it at all.

I am preparing to grow a lot of my own food in order to avoid GM.

I will also avoid any product that contains corn, canola or soy, unless our labelling laws improve.

The Australian public has the right to know what is in their food.

M. Pietersen, Kambah

Food for thought

ONE CAN only wonder and despair at the priorities of a country that cannot find $6million for the critical area of food science research (plus other cutbacks to critical and world-leading CSIRO research) but which can apparently easily afford a reputed $200million to support a faith-based religious fantasy.

Roger Allnutt, Deakin

Labor lifts large

WHY IS it that the conservatives always leave it to the Labor Party to do the heavy lifting of difficult policy reform?

For example, finance in the 1980s after the Fraser-Howard wasted years from 1975-1983; and now climate reform after 11 years of Howard-Costello inertia.

Kenneth Griffiths, O'Connor

Uniting on climate

IT IS high time the Opposition demonstrated it has the capacity to govern.

Few now deny the possibility of climate change and its importance demands that it be taken out of the political arena so that a bi-partisan agenda can be worked out without being frustrated by petty point-scoring.

Liberal leader Brendan Nelson would do himself and the nation a good turn were he to agree with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on a national approach to the issue.

Basil Johnson, Weston

Troops on the ground

WHILE awaiting comment from ACT civil liberties' proponents, I note if we follow NSW our police will levy on-the-spot fines for smoking in cars carrying children. These will joinequally difficult to apprehend fines for seatbelt and mobile phone infringements.

Who is chasing the real criminals?

With our law enforcement officers increasingly called upon to control irresponsibly bad or stupid behaviour, perhaps it's time to create a new body, like a community police, or, preferably, to raise substantially numbers in the existing ACT police force.

Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla