Why is being black "uplifting"?

If we can get the definitive answer to this, the world's racial problems are surely at an end...

Or maybe not.

Paul Carlin, Dromore, Northern Ireland

Wrong about amount:

If you take a look in Fowler you will find that "amount" has been used for plural nouns since at least 1849. Bernard Shaw wrote in 1893, "I have a great amount of letters for you." What makes you think that English is a strictly logical language? Idiomatic use makes English so rich.

Do you not also feel that the insistence on the use of "less" for countable objects can jar in some circumstances and that the sign "10 items or fewer" may be logically correct but it sounds a false note. "10 items or less" sounds much better to my ear - so who cares whether it is strictly "correct?" Do you want to go through the language and remove all idioms? Perhaps you will begin with your own writing and explain how belief can be beggared? Does that make logical sense?

Patrick Hadley, Lichfield,

Just a note about risk - I commend entirely Mary Ann's views on this and her call for children to be allowed to live life to the full without the overprotective attitudes that seem endemic in modern culture.

But does this mean a change in Mary Ann's own attitudes? It was only a week ago that in her column she seemed angst ridden about how to prevent her daughter taking risks with her new pair of 'Heelys' :

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/mary_ann_sieghart/article1308882.ece

Or do the parental anxiety levels rely upon what grisly accidents are in the news at the time? Does this mean that the moment she hears of a child knocked out by a snowball, Mary Ann's children will be confined indoors?

Charlie Brown, London, UK

It is interesting how many women are suddenly emerging in politics and I don't really think that the results will be quite the same as previously when other women emerged in politics, as Golda Meir, Indira Ghandi, or Margaret Thatcher. Perhaps Hillary Clinton could be grouped among them as a strong woman able to match all the alpha males she comes up against and beat them at their own game. She has after all had one of the champions as a sparring partner. Ms. Merkel has been quite refreshing in her own way, as I am sure Ms. Royal would be. I saw Sarkozy on American television and my impression was he is quite young and would be the reformer France needs but Ms. Royal could be what France really needs.

For the time being I support Obama in the present elections. There was one paragraph I could see Ms. Clinton laughing at in her sarcastic way and making some funny remarks. But Obama may not have set positions yet, but the compass is spinning now and I think Obama will be able to cope.

Christopher Hobe Morrison, Middletown, USA/NY

What a narrow minded way of considering the candidates. When the premiers of these countries are asked to make decisions, it's their judgement not their colour or gender we should care about. You may as well ask why there has never been a Virgo president of the USA even though 1 in 12 of the population are Virgos

David Davidson, North Berwick, UK

Mary Ann's obsession with female power and loathing of white males (anything black is better) suggests fashionable paranoia rather than balance and judgement. She should - as should the rest of the media-ocracy who seem to be in thrall to the polytechnic marxism of the last century - set aside all those easy conceits about destroying established (by long hard history and experience ) judgements and wisdom in favour of naif idealism when all shall be equal (well, not white males of course) and all shall be happy ever after.

If the media have any role at all it should be in forcing politicians and the electorate to think about consequences. Everything has them, and just because one may think that one's aims are entirely benign it does not mean that the results of them will be. There is no necessary correlation between good intentions and good outcomes. The world is a harsher and more demanding place than that. Female minds (not necessarily just women of course) shy away from such unpleasant thoughts. Male minds don't.

Bernard, Norwich, UK

You have no idea what you're talking about, Pete in "Cov" - what are you basing your assumptions on? Science? Research? Facts? Nope, just blatant prejudice and an inability to look past the era between 1950 and 1975 for information on child-rearing. Women have always worked and managed to rear children at the same time, whether they were peasant farmers, factory workers in the 1800s or domestic servants. You're only looking at one social class (a minority until very recently) and one period in history. Open your mind and get real: there is nothing set in stone about the way young children should be reared. The only studies I'm aware of (maybe you'd care to post some information on studies that offer contrary evidence) show that a mother's educational level and earning power is actually the main determinant of how successful a child turns out to be. Well-educated women who pursue careers produce hard-working, smart children who contribute to society: it's a fact, so learn to deal with it.

MB , Edinburgh,

A pity that a columnist on a national quality newspaper doesn't know what the word "chauvinist" means...

Davidv, Croydon, UK

"If the G8 summit in 2009 consisted of, say, John McCain, Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy, four more white men and Angela Merkel, it would be more than a shame. It would be a huge lost opportunity"...

...But an incredible development in Japan.

Keith Wallis, Liverpool, UK

This is not a charisma contest. We have been smarmed and charmed for too many years by good looking and/or smooth talking men. We are looking at a chance for a true first in our lifetime. This trio represents an historic chance to shake up the bedrock of a ponderous status quo.

Give this incredible female trio a ghost of a chance. Angela has earned a place in the inner sanctum. Hillary and Segolene are on a track to prove they deserve a shot too. Imagine three to five at the G8 in '09. At a minimum, this ratio could prove to be far more effective than one to seven has ever been.

If you have not done so, I encourage you to read Hillary's, Living History and square what you take from her memoirs with your other observations. I certainly am ready and sincerely hope the world is too and can decide it is time to give these women a go.

Deborah , Sunninghill, Berkshire UK

"If you can bear four children and still run the country, what can’t you achieve?"

A Man will never be able to raise a child as a Woman does. Only feminists will contend this fact. As the French presidential hopeful spends more and more time away from home, I suspect that her children will lose out. Unless, of course, her children are grown and have "left the nest", then its a different case. For that reason, I dont think mothers of young children should pursue time-consuming careers. You should only have one or the other - you cant have your cake and eat it.

Pete, Cov,

Oh, and on a different note, your entire article sends out the wrong message to the electorate. In fact, your entire argument falls foul of all the anti-discrimination laws and legislations that we have today. If your vote for a President was even slightly biased towards Hillary Clinton because she was a woman, that is a clear-cut case of sexual discrimination. Can you imagine the outcry if, say, a male nurse was given a job over a female nurse because males are under-represented in nursing? Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Chancellors must be voted for based on their abilities and policies only. So, there has been 43 white male Presidents in the US so far. True winners and leaders of companies and countries would take this fact as a point of reflection on themselves, rather than blaming others for not "allowing" them to progress.

Pete, Cov,