Pink, blue or charcoal?

+The latest idiocy launched by social media and the United States appears to be ‘gender reveal’ parties. As featured in the news, one of these in California has led to a forest fire covering 10,000 acres as a result of pyrotechnics being let off. These explode in the colour of the promised child’s sex, pink or blue. Never mind that in later life the child in question may chose something else altogether. So, even though California is currently a tinderbox, members of our species are happy to celebrate something (with suitable images gathered for social media) which nobody had dreamed of until social media came along. One should perhaps feel sorry for the children being born into such a society, with parents oblivious to the trajectory the future beckons. But how long will it be before such idiotic behaviour is introduced into the UK? Perhaps the commercialisation of ‘gender reveal’ is already taking a grip here? How about gender reveal parties on our dry moorlands, with throwaway barbecues just to make sure?
 
+The government has admitted that proposed alterations to its international, legally binding agreement on Northern Ireland trade will indeed breach international law. Since our surrogate Prime Minister, Mr Cummings has already signalled that the law is optional, this should come as no surprise. The signals this government sends out almost on a daily basis must certainly have an impact on people’s willingness to follow the rules (even if those rules were clear when actually they aren’t) when it comes to tackling Covid-19. Is there anybody left (outside of the Daily Mail, etc.) who believes this government has any authority left?