When, and if, the US survives this self-destructive phase, historians will of course reflect on the events (“Biden pulls out of election race, endorses Harris to take on Trump for presidency”, smh.com.au, July 22). One thing that will be said about Joe Biden, which will not be able to be said about Donald Trump, is that Joe Biden was a truly decent man: caring, honest, strong, thoughtful, perceptive, respectful, generous and kind. Thank you, Joe. You epitomise all that is good about our American friends. May God save America. Warren Marks, Hill Top
President Joe BidenCredit: AP
With the possible endorsement of Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate, already the Republican attack dogs are moving in for the kill; they have branded her as a liar, more left-wing than Biden and responsible for the rising price of groceries, invasion by illegals and other perceived failings. It surely won’t be long before Trump and his cronies make subtle, derogatory remarks on her colour and gender. I am pessimistic that the majority of Americans will see through these unsubstantiated criticisms and questionable tactics and elect Trump once again. Robert Hickey, Green Point
Although Biden’s endorsement may be persuasive, it is solely a matter for the Democratic National Convention, meeting in Chicago in August, to elect its nominee. It will now be the most interesting convention since 1932, especially as to the vice presidential nominee. Pasquale Vartuli, Wahroonga
Joe Biden has given the Democrats the opportunity, now he has stood aside and he has endorsed a competent, nationally recognised person to take on Donald Trump. The party should also get behind Kamala Harris and not engage in a public demonstration of indecision and infighting by putting forward a plethora of other nominees, causing another unnecessary distraction from the main objective, which is to win an election. Disunity is a road to destruction. Chris Gresham, Upper Lansdowne
Joe Biden’s decision to relinquish his party’s nomination for the presidency is a magnanimous move and it is clearly the right thing to do in the circumstances. He really doesn’t want to be the person who let Trump and his hillbilly followers into the White House. If I was running the Democratic Party, I would double down on this decision and have either a Harris/Gretchen Whitmer ticket, or a Harris/Pete Buttigieg ticket. Can you imagine how Trump supporters would react to an all-female ticket or a woman running with a well-qualified gay man? Their simple right-wing brains would explode. Pete Jones, Rathmines
Caroline Kennedy for US president. Dale Bailey, Five Dock
For the first time in months I have felt optimistic, now all Trump needs to do is ramp up the racism and misogyny (which he will) and decent American voters will turn off him, big time. Nicholas Triggs, Katoomba
You could find an interesting metaphor for the US electoral race (in which Kamala Harris will start as the female outsider) in another celebrated race - the 2015 Melbourne Cup. In that race, Michelle Payne won on a 100/1 shot. Female jockey, long odds and she clearly beat home three horses called Big Orange and Gust of Wind, and, ironically, The United States. Hopefully, life will imitate horse art. Barry Ffrench, Cronulla
Thank you, Mr President. Adrian Connelly, Springwood
Railway tragedy
Following the recent tragedy at Carlton station, we should not forget the terrible impact these events have on the train drivers and rail staff involved. Having worked for many years conducting medical examinations on rail workers, I came to learn that such fatalities almost always severely affect the workers involved. Suicides and attempted suicides, skylarking and terrible bad luck are all factors that can lead to such deaths, but for the driver the sight of person on the tracks and a train that cannot be stopped is devastating. Similarly, the station staff and the accident investigators are often dealing with horrific injuries and death. Counselling and support are offered and available these days, but to those poor souls who are considering suicide on the tracks, please remember you will likely devastate the life of the driver, other rail staff and emergency workers, and their families.
Christopher Gow, Austinmer
The tragic loss of life at Carlton train station could have been entirely avoided if Transport NSW had installed the kinds of platform barriers that have long been commonplace in cities like Paris and Tokyo. It should simply not be possible for a pram to roll off a train station platform. Barriers should be progressively introduced to all stations on the metropolitan network to prevent future tragedies like this. Cath Henshall, Bungonia
Opal 2.0 could be better
An upgrade of the Opal ticketing system is welcome, in view of the advances in hardware and software for faster interactions, but “Opal Next Gen” doesn’t seem to offer much more than the current system (“‘Opal Next Gen’ to boost use of digital tickets”, July 22). Certainly, allowing concession fares to work on bank/credit cards as regular commuters currently enjoy is long overdue and is a logical development. Incorporating fares with concert tickets is unnecessary, as it locks concertgoers into prepaid fares, often a long time in advance. If the concertgoers change their minds about the mode of transport, will they get a refund? Concert ticketing agents will want a cut from the fares, too; this is wasted money. To me, it would be better to put more effort into improving our public transport system: safer, more frequent and faster trains/buses/trams, wider routes to encourage commuters to ditch their cars. If any intermodal fare incorporation is warranted, I would suggest overall fare discounting when transferring between public transport and taxis/ride-sharing when commuters are forced to include non-public transport. Kim Woo, Mascot
Tapping on with an Opal cardCredit: Wolter Peeters
Upgrading the ageing Opal technology is not the only way to ensure fares are collected. Every time I travel I see passengers flagrantly walking straight on and sitting down, no questions asked by the driver, feigning that the Opal card doesn’t work by tapping on the wrong part of the reader or unsuccessfully using the app on their phone. This all occurs because drivers are now privately employed and it is not their problem to ensure revenue is collected. Anthony Connolly, Beacon Hill
Given the delays of the past with the eventual implementation of the current system, I suspect these changes will be like a slow train coming, running late and out of timetable order. Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook
Cash crash
Unfortunately, cash is not king in a situation like the CrowdStrike/Microsoft IT outage (“We can no longer blindly trust tech”, July 22). Even if you had cash, there was no way businesses were able to process the transaction and in many cases they were prevented from even being able to open the till. Everything is driven by software. David Harrison, Winmalee
The blue screen of death meltdown was a wake up call.Credit: Jim Pavlidis
Those with a diversified portfolio of cards and cash in their wallets were much less affected by Friday’s outage, which demonstrated the high risk of full reliance on tech. Anne Matheson, Gordon
No drones or ballistic missiles in sight nor any streets strewn in bloodshed. Although, metaphorically speaking, there will be those baying for some. The Microsoft IT glitch brought most of the world to its knees for a while. How easy was that? Bernadette Scadden, Earlwood
I have been an Apple user since the early 1980s and I would like to warn the letter writer that their Mac is not immune to attack by bad actors and that there are many antivirus solutions available for them to install on their Mac to help protect them. Computers running Microsoft have always been more vulnerable, but Mac users also need to be careful. Peter Newberry, Kingsford
Unions for good
Our unions are an essential part of keeping some balance in the economy between profit-making actors and those who make the profit for them (The Herald’s View, July 22). So it’s a pleasure and a surprise that the troubles at the CFMEU have not turned into a general union-bashing exercise. Maybe the essential role of unions is being realised at long last. Greg Baker, Fitzroy Falls
As ever, Ross Gittins removes the hyperbole from the discussion around the CFMEU and takes us to the basics; that the construction industry is full of conflict and conflicts of interest that involve workers, developers and politicians (“Capital, labour in fight over the construction honeypot”, July 22). It’s proper to expect that the building industry be corruption free, to improve worker safety, to ensure better buildings and construction, and to stop super profits flowing to those who are so influential with our elected representatives. Time to stop the politics and fix the multiplicity of issues. Colin Hesse, Nowra
Quiet please, blowhards
Those with the flimsiest arguments make up for it by making outrageous claims and shouting them from the rooftops (“Science evens the game in birds v blades”, July 22). Such is the case with those who argue against wind turbines. It is to be hoped that Matt Kean, as incoming chair of the Climate Change Authority, will use his knowledge and authority to lead the charge against this rubbish. Ian Adair, Hunters Hill
La belle Paris
I have just returned from Europe and spent a day in Paris (Letters, July 22). We explored the city sites and, as an Olympics fan, I was pleased to see venues in the shadows of all the iconic sites. While we were re-routed many times due to the Seine and other Olympic venues being fenced off, it didn’t matter: Paris is looking magnificent and security teams are everywhere. Let’s hope that this Olympics can bring the world together in peace. Lisa Williams, Dulwich Hill
The Eiffel Tower in Paris is decorated with the Olympic rings.Credit: Getty Images
Electric dreams
Planning for unprecedented growth in electric transmission to support remote renewable growth in Australia is akin to the tech concept of “blitzscaling” or prioritising speed (“Power Shift”, July 22). However, as the article discusses, very fast growth is not compatible with the bespoke interaction with landowners and communities that is necessary to build trust and actually get those lines built. With years or decades of likely delay in building new transmission to designated zones, it is time to also think about other strategies that can provide renewable growth in a shorter time frame. These include: building some renewable capacity, particularly solar on brownfield sites and commercial roofs, closer to demand centres where there are existing transmission corridors and reconductoring existing lines to enable more power to flow on the existing corridors and expanding storage. There are inherent trade-offs, of course, including that the closer-in renewables may have lower production than that conceivable in the designated zones. But closer-in renewables have the distinct advantage that they can be a lot faster to build and connect. Ross Baldick, Roseville
History lesson
A comprehensive, fitting tribute to Miss Guthrie (Letters, July 22). She regularly reduced us to scared rabbits in class at St George Girls High. But we are also grateful she instilled a lifelong love of history. Lorraine Barlow and Margaret Johnston, Paddington
Slow lane
As a local, I walk past the redevelopment of North Sydney’s Olympic Pool daily (“The legal battle looming over $89m North Sydney pool facelift”, July 22). As it was supposed to open next month, it is even harder now to be convinced it will now open in 2025 with no date being given. There are very few workers on the site and, consequently, the redevelopment is moving at a sloth-like pace with nobody actually in charge despite a big collection of temporary offices.
This battle between the council and the architects must be resolved quickly otherwise the costs will escalate even further as indicated in the article. Neil Hunt, Milsons Point
Phonetic folly
Paree, Paris; Monmartra, Montmart; Senne, Sane; pronownciation, pronunciation; pernickety, persnickety (Letters, July 22). Col Burns, Lugarno
Stranger than fiction
When I saw the STC production of The President, I thought the play was complete rubbish. Hugo Weaving, as the dictatorial leader of a small European nation, talking complete nonsense for over an hour while believing his words were of great importance. Only now, when I see the speeches of Donald Trump, do I understand the play. Vijay Randev, Stanwell Park
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