There's something about the colour

A trial of dressing all the inmates in a jail in the United States in pink overalls led to a huge decrease in violence and antisocial behaviour. The hilarious sight of someone in pink wanting to do you a serious mischief led to a rethink on many occasions. There's something about the colour. My (partial) solution is for teams of pink-clad kiddies spending many weekends scrubbing this mindless scrawl off our public and private surfaces. Oh, the humiliation! Rod Hughes EppingRainbow calling Cate Faehrmann takes one baby step forward when she asserts that the Greens must relate to voters better and develop political maturity (''Greens won't get much further if we repeat poll blunders,'' April 7). But her claim that as a Greens MP in the Legislative Council, she is focusing on delivering solid results for all who voted Green or share her values shows she is still in the political kindergarten. Elected politicians are there to represent everyone in their electorate and to work for the benefit of all people. Roger Hayward Pretty BeachCigarettes kill The advertising campaign against the government's plain paper packaging policy is an acknowledgement by cigarette manufacturers and merchants that they are concerned it will reduce cigarette sales. Cigarettes kill people. By selling cigarettes, every manufacturer or merchant contributes to the death of over 5000 Australians in NSW alone every year. That is enough dead Australians to fill the Sydney Football Stadium every decade. There is nothing funny, cool or interesting about smoking. Dr Corne Kriek HornsbyLending a hand It seems some microfinance organisations have become the loan sharks that they set out to fight (''Microcredit lost way, says creator,'' April 7). These bankers for the poorest need to give their clients a hand up to help them start up and grow small businesses, not line the pockets of their employees and owners. Amid the loan sharks, the risk is that the baby will be thrown out with the bathwater. Leading donors to microfinance organisations like the Gates Foundation and the Rosetta Stone Spanish (Spain) Scandinavian countries have now tied their support to performance measurement to ensure the microcredits are benefiting the poorest people. The Australian government should increase its support to those microfinance organisations that can demonstrate their benefit to the poorest people. At present less than 1 per cent of Aus AID's budget is spent on microfinance programs. This should be increased to fund organisations and measure their performance in helping the poorest. The benchmark for microfinance shouldn't be its profitability but its impact on the lives of its clients and their families. Daniel Mohr GladesvilleCarney's 'crime' The Roads and Traffic Authority advertising says "Drink Driving, It's a crime!" ('''Ten beers' Carney is allowed to keep driving,'' April 7). As Carney is a repeat offender - a previously cancelled licence for drink driving - and a P-plate licence holder with a zero blood-alcohol limit, it would appear that the ability to chase a piece of inflated leather around an oval makes the RTA advertising pretty meaningless, if the sentence imposed on him is any indication.