Who’s reading the Mail?

Glen Frost writes: Re. “Rundle: Fleet Street is gone, who’ll be left in the British press?” (yesterday). I recall the launch ad campaign for The Independent — it featured Dawn French asking, “The Independent. It is, are you?” Thirty years later she’s busy flogging Coles and judging talent shows with Kyle Sandilands (although from the episode I saw, Dawn seems to be the Ms Eloquent to Kyle’s Mr Tackless, so she’s got what it takes).

Anyway, Guy Rundle seems to have forgotten that The Daily Mail is read by the wives of people who own the country — articles are a reflection of what’s discussed at the drinks functions, weekend get-togethers, sports events, etc, of this demographic — a group Rundle doesn’t belong to …

On gay sex and drug taking

Kathleen Caden writes: Re. “On expunging crimes committed under old laws” (yesterday). I take issue with Robyn Godbehere’s comments in Crikey that compare homosexuality and drug taking, saying that if you were jailed for either one, you “had committed a crime against society at that particular time when those laws were in place”.  There is a world of difference between gay people expressing their sexuality (should they have remained celibate for decades/centuries until the laws changed?) and people choosing to break the law in relation to drugs.

Razer’s edge

Tom Osborn writes: Re. “Razer on The Wolf of Wall Street” (yesterday). I can’t imagine why Will Fettes would expect Helen Razer to respect presumption distinctions in the “official” literature of political economy, meaningful or otherwise. She has her own.

Going postal

Chokyi Nyingpo writes: Re. “No longer the daily mail?” (yesterday). I too did the survey during last week. It took about 20 minutes. From memory there were three delivery options Australia Post was canvassing.

Do you want/are you willing to have:

  1. Postal delivery three days a week
  2. Collect your mail from your local PO
  3. Be willing to set up and run a community-staffed PO.

Other questions involved how often do you get parcels delivered; do you have a PO box; home letterbox; roadside delivery box; collect it all the time; are you located near your local PO; is your local PO handy to you and is it in a good location; what do like/dislike about your local PO.

I answered: not on your nelly would I pay for it; no way would you get me to go and collect it all the time; no way would this area, comprised mainly of pensioners and elderly, be able to agree on the day to meet, let alone have and run their own post office, and please, when I eventually get to your f-ing PO after travelling miles and miles and miles, past all the shops that I remember you once inhabiting, then try and find a parking space in an enormous shopping centre, then after leave my car baking in the sun, would you bloody well get rid of all the fluffy, made-in-China, horrendous toy corridors you force me to navigate through before I even get to your counter?