My blood pressure rose to dangerous heights when I read the letter from Sean Moore of Lehman Brothers (August 19) admonishing the Herald for its articles on the $2 billion black hole left in council and charity budgets by collateralised debt obligation products.

We pay ever-increasing rates and charities have a hard time raising funds for their beneficiaries. It is offensive, therefore, to see so much money draining out of those budgets because their funds were invested in dud mortgages.

Mr Moore makes no apology for the losses caused by Lehman's CDOs, or for their impact on ordinary Australians, who have to bear the $2 billion loss. Instead he relies on the defence that the articles in the Herald were wrong, but he cannot say how due to "confidentiality" considerations.

So if it isn't a $2 billion hole, what is it? Mr Moore doesn't say. He is also silent on compensating the losers, and on how Lehman Brothers succeeded in selling so many dud investments.

Did the company's highly paid executives and salespeople not know the toxicity of the products they were selling when they branded these CDOs with such Australian names as Coolangatta, Kiama, Flinders, Kokoda and Tasman?

Or did they just not care, as they exceeded their revenue and profit targets and the bonuses flowed freely? Are the bonuses earnt on these products to be repaid?

Could it have been that the Lehman business model was at fault?

Mr Moore needs to take more responsibility than he has, rather than shooting the messenger for enlightening readers about the grassroots effects of this appalling saga.

Anne Parkes Balmain

The snow is there to share, boarders and skiers

It is petty attitudes such as those of Janet Griffin (Letters, August 19) that perpetuate hostility between those trying to share and enjoy our ski slopes. I take offence at her generalisation of all snowboarders as young, reckless and male.

I am 28 and have been boarding for five years. I take regular lessons to improve technique and I never go faster than my ability. At the weekend, I was twice clipped from behind by skiers, neither of whom stopped to see if I was OK, let alone apologise. My husband, while instructing a snowboarding group, was injured by a fast and out-of-control skier.

The three fatalities at the weekend and the one last year all involved skiers, and the accidents were certainly not caused by snowboarders. The resorts are there to share and we all have a responsibility to respect other riders.

Amy Vee Waratah

As someone who was also skiing at Perisher at the weekend, I have a different theory from Janet Griffin as to why there were so many injuries. Great snow and perfect weather encourage skiers and snowboarders alike to go faster, and there were probably more people than usual on the mountain.

Like Janet, I don't know the circumstances of the accidents, but I'm not as keen to jump to conclusions and blame snowboarders for being "young men in groups".

David Grunstein Bondi

The problem with dangerous snowboarders is that most don't join a class to learn the etiquette and rules of the mountain which are taught to skiers.

At the Big White resort in Canada, where there is a separate area for snowboarders, the injury rate has been reduced by half. Skiers can use it, too, but most don't as it is terrifying.

I know skiers can be dangerous and irresponsible, too. Let's hope we can all get along before the snow disappears.

Robyn Hansen Pennant Hills

Australian ski slopes are notoriously difficult, with many obstacles and narrow trails. Despite this, no regrooming of snow takes place during the day; by afternoon, when skiers are tiring, conditions can be treacherous.

Many overseas resorts groom the main trails during the day. With narrow trails there is a great deal more wear and tear and the surface of the more popular runs is rapidly transformed into a deadly patchwork of ice and slush piles.

I don't wish to lay blame for these deaths, as I don't know the full circumstances, but I do have a fair idea that daytime grooming would make things safer, and more satisfying.

Matthew Mason Eucumbene

The last time I was at the snow I hung up my skis to try snowboarding. The only near-collision I had was with an advanced skier. Despite his obvious skill and manoeuvrability (and my obvious lack of it), it was I who had no option but to fall to avoid a nasty crash.

It is the person, not the apparatus, that is the problem.

Rachael Cotis Jannali

Belief in God comes from beyond science

Vic Stenger claims that science can prove beyond reasonable doubt that God does not exist, and yet also states that science cannot be used to answer purely metaphysical questions ("Science demands that seeing is believing", August 19). He argues that if God exists, evidence of his intervention in creation should be seen in our study of the natural world.

However, a scientist and philosopher such as Stenger should be aware of the principle of underdetermination. For any evidence we collect about nature, we can develop multiple theories to explain it. As John Lennox pointed out, scientific evidence alone cannot adjudicate between naturalism and theism ("Why not every scientist worships at Darwin's feet", August 18).

For a theist, science involves understanding the world and the processes by which God created. But the belief in God comes from outside science, and so does an assumption that there is no God.

Larissa Johnson-Aldridge Oatley

Paul Gittings (Letters, August 19) seems to have misunderstood the main thrust of John Lennox's arguments.

As Lennox points out, science and metaphysics are mutually exclusive. In other words, even if Gittings's faith in the ability of science to explain every aspect of the material universe - the "how" of existence - were to prove justified, the "why" questions would remain.

It is nonsensical, therefore, to hold that the fact that God's existence cannot be proved by science constitutes a good reason to believe that He doesn't exist.

Gregory Thiele Lewisham

Poor old evolution: as always the football kicked around between religion and atheism.

Evolution is no more a theory than, say, gravity. But gravity and evolution are theories that work when you apply them. Industry applies the principles of evolution every day: mining to locate ores and oil, medicine to understand the human body, agriculture to breed new drought and salt-resistant species, engineering and construction using biomimicry to locate novel materials and designs.

Evolution uses the same scientific methods that brought us electricity, space flight and antibiotics. It is a practical daily application at the cutting edge of science and industry. If it must feature in religious arguments, then please also include gravity, and every other way that modern scientific methods have benefited us.

Professor Andrew Beattie Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University

On discovering that people aged between 92 and 102 retained antibodies from the 1918 flu pandemic, the study co-author Eric Altschuler says: "It's incredible. The Lord has blessed us with antibodies our whole lifetime" ("Killer flu takes a turn for the best 90 years on", August 19).

Perhaps he can enlighten us with the identity of the blighter who allowed 50 million people to perish in the process.

John Vigours Neutral Bay

That Sheila Mae Perez …

For God's sake, Maureen King (Letters, August 18). Can you please explain, for the benefit of us hapless males who must, from time to time, make public references to the opposite sex, what is sexist about the word "girls"? I would have thought it was a perfectly apt description of the bright young (and even not-so-young) women who have graced the front pages so compellingly and so often in recent days.

If we said "ladies" we would no doubt be accused of being elitist or patronising; if we said "women", we would be doing less than justice to the joyous youthfulness of body and mind that pervades our Olympics team.

Perhaps we should survey our female Olympians in Beijing to see whether they are similarly outraged.

Peter Austin Mount Victoria

What say, for the London Olympics, we just buy a gold medal for each of our prospective Olympians and put the balance left over from what the taxpayer normally pays towards better health and education.

David Bignell Wauchope

Much has been made of Britain's improved performance at the Olympics. However, I'd like to point out that of its first 28 medals, 24 were won in sports in which the competitors sit down (canoeing, cycling, equestrian, rowing and sailing).

That's hardly the definition of a sporting nation, is it?

Stephen Driscoll Carlingford

No, no, Steve Wilson (Letters, August 19). Scotland's greatest Olympian was Eric Liddell, who refused to run on a Sunday in the 1924 Olympics, as portrayed in Chariots of Fire.

Alastair Browne Cromer heights

Slaking the thirst of wool

Good grief, Jenny Moxham (Letters, August 19), how on earth did you come up with the figure of 170,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of clean wool? My calculator wasn't large enough to determine how much water would be needed to produce all the wool Australia exports if that was true.

From my memory of the clean wool exporting industry, it used to take about 50 litres of water to produce one kilogram of scoured wool. And due to the high costs of discharge, the water was recycled wherever possible.

I must admit that I haven't taken into consideration the minimal amount of water that a sheep would consume while growing its fleece.

Alan Darley Cronulla

Charging for dodgy advice

Engineers are not paid for designing bridges that fall down, so why should financial advisers expect massive bonuses for financial advice that turns out to be wrong?

Sean Moore, of Lehman Brothers, (Letters, August 19) does not seem to understand that mug investors expect value for money when buying professional advice. We expect that financial experts should be able to foresee which investments are sustainable and which are inherently dodgy.

Peter Wotton Gordon

Sean Moore claims that "the extent of the collapse of the subprime market … was unforeseen". No doubt it was Harvard graduates who determined that making large loans to people with no income and no assets was world's best banking practice.

Those of us with ordinary common sense, who knew this was reckless and irresponsible behaviour, have watched the approaching wreck with suspended disbelief - and now the elastic has gone.

Jan Carroll Avalon

Saving our GPs' time

As a doctor who puts his heart into his job I would like to suggest that Justin Whelan (Letters, August 19) needs to find another GP. I have never had a consultation with a patient who wants "just a script" that didn't last for at least 15 minutes.

I was an allied health professional before doing five years at medical school and a further four years' training to be a GP. Task substitution by allied health staff is the subject of politics and turf wars, when there should just be one issue: what is best for the patient.

It disappoints me to see the Government's lack of interest in discussing this with peak medical bodies. When pharmacists were allowed to write medical certificates recently, their representative body advised members not to do so, due to the medico-legal responsibility.

How disappointing. Allowing allied health staff to complete medical certificates, Centrelink forms, and RTA, insurance and employment medicals, would free a significant amount of my time to see the patients with serious conditions which I have spent so many years being trained to treat.

Dr Nik Parikh Liberty Grove

A double dissolution would put Nelson to the test

Brendan Nelson has made it clear we are in for a full term of obstructionary politics, using the Senate to flay the Government ("Nelson's battle plan: oppose at every turn", August 19). It's time for a double dissolution to test his support. Come on, Mr Rudd, do it now so you can get on with governing.

Robert McDonald Numeralla

Brendan Nelson is to spend 12 hours in a truck travelling from Melbourne to Dubbo in order to better understand the road transport industry ("A big rig gig with six strings attached", August 19). I trust he plans to spend a similar time in a diesel locomotive hauling an interstate freight train so that he can gain a balanced perspective.

Alan Templeman Wyoming

Springing into winter

Tim Entwisle's call to start spring on August 1 instead of September 1 had me checking the calendar to see if it was April 1 ("Winter's for wimps - flowers say it's spring", August 19). Overnight it was below zero and the cruel frost suggested the hoses wouldn't unfreeze until after 10am. Great call, Tim!

Graham Anderson Bundanoon

Masters of our own destiny

I feel sorry for Daniel Burckhardt (Letters, August 19) and admire him for admitting to his poker machine problem. However, I cannot agree that the Government has failed in its duty of care towards him. The Government is there to make laws to enable its citizens to live in safety and peace, provide schools, roads, hospitals, etc. Our behaviour is our own responsibility, and no one else's.

Trish Wiltshire Worrigee

Homing in on the homeless

Lee Pearce (Letters, August 19) mockingly raises the idea of PauperWatch, but I can scarcely see the harm in the public knowing the true number of people who spend each night on the streets. A more pertinent criticism of the Rudd Government is its decision to cut funding from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, whose job it is to compile such information.

Dan Nguyen Revesby

Cost of going green

Accredited green power has been offered by electricity providers for many years and it has always been more expensive. With the introduction of the carbon pollution reduction scheme, will those on the 100 per cent green power plans pay less than those on regular plans?

Josh Martin Camperdown

Art of the matter

Since George Bush called the Iraq war a crusade it makes it a fine target for criticism through whatever medium artists may choose, even if that includes Jesus strapped to a plane ("Weird portrait by a spiteful mob", August 19). It is not some left-wing conspiracy. It is art with a message, pure and simple.

Brad McMullen Wamberal

Since Tom Wolfe's Radical Chic the only progress of those that hold themselves to be progressive is to redefine marriage from being the oppressive tool of the patriarchy to the right of homosexuals. Otherwise it's rebellion as usual.

Peter Ness Bardwell Valley

National pride

Coles advertising states that it has been "Proudly Australian since 1914". What nationality was it before then?

Matt Petersen Randwick