Lovely premiere
I’m writing to say thank you for the tickets to the Lovely Bones premiere on Monday night. I took my boss (how many brownie points do I get for that?) and we had an absolutely fantastic time.  From start to finish it was an amazing night. I know that the ticket said we’d get to walk the red carpet entrance but I thought we’d probably be ushered in at a side entrance at the main door – I didn’t realise we’d actually have to walk the whole length (I could see people nudging each other thinking “who on earth are they?”) and we just happened to be walking in alongside Peter Jackson and his entourage. Sometimes it does pay to be unfashionably late!
Lorenda Kilian, Wellington
abridged

Light rail
I see Philip G Hayward’s anti-rail rantings have made their way into your publication as well. Whether one believes in global warming or not, the benefits of light rail for Wellington would be manifold. The installation of such an efficient system capable of delivering high capacity passenger transport through a dense transport corridor would solve our ongoing commuter woes in a way which no other system ever could, least of all buses and private cars with their requirements for ever more four lane highways and tunnels. The usefulness of light rail extends way beyond the narrow corridors along the routes.  Efficient feeder services in the form of minibus shuttles would supplement light rail, for example from the hospital to Island Bay or from Kilbirnie to Lyall Bay and beyond, obviating the need for all the current routes (35 in all at last count) having to squeeze through the Willis Street / Lambton Quay bottleneck. As for the funding, why should light rail be funded solely by the ratepayers, while the $2 billion highway to the airport which will yield far fewer benefits, is funded by central government? Mr Hayward likes to harp on about the current public transport losses, but he conveniently forgets the fact that motorists do not pay the full costs of road building and maintenance. When public transport becomes attractive enough for the masses to use, the losses it incurs will naturally diminish. All over the world, in Europe, Australia and even in previously car-mad USA, new light rail systems are springing up and attracting passengers out of their cars at a rate far beyond their proponents’ wildest dreams. Perhaps we should learn something from other countries’ experiences.
Demetrius Christoforou, Mt Victoria

Global warming
The issue of global warming is important and needs thorough scrutiny. There is evidence to justify my stance as a global warming sceptic. Peer reviewed papers in the leading scientific journals Science and Nature are highly relevant.They provide graphs plotted from Vostok Antarctica ice core data showing that for thousands of years variations in temperature inevitably preceded corresponding variations in atmospheric carbon dioxide by about six months. But in our present era there are scientists and members of the Green Party who assure us that in effect increases in carbon dioxide precede corresponding increases in temperature. I find this hard to believe. Surely the laws of nature can not have changed so radically in recent times.
David R Currie, Petone

Scotsmen’s lament
In regards to “restaurant delays” by Ronald R Smythe of Mt Cook, I agree the young people could have arranged the payment of their bill better. However to describe them as a “real group of Scotsmen if ever I saw one” is absolute rubbish. I take this statement to imply that the Scots are mean and tight. I deplore and reject his silly statement most strongly. I doubt the writer has one Scottish friend (and certainly none after this) or has ever sampled the hospitality of the friendly Scots on a visit to Scotland. If he had he would not spout this old myth about the Scottish people.
Catherine Murfitt, Thorndon (formerly Edinburgh Scotland)