I can’t believe the number of graceless letters I receive from local government agencies and large corporations, in which total strangers (always females) write to me, “Dear Robert” or worse, “Hi”.

The ‘Hi’ brigade get a stock reply.

Dear whoever,

Why you write me? I just do cleaning. I good person, cause no trouble.

Hi Flung woo.

That invariably elicits a more courteous, properly addressed second letter.

“Britain is tearing itself apart over Brexit”, proclaimed Donald Trump last week, echoing the media’s hyperbole.

No it’s not. But the two main political parties certainly are, understandable as both comprise factions with opposing views, these in turn sub-dividing to yet more divisions among the pro-Brexiters on the most desirable departure arrangements.

For the second time in a decade Christchurch made world news. Although the death toll from the mosques massacre was a little more than a quarter that of the earthquake, it captured far more attention, dominating the foreign media over the following four days.

Does the Dominion Post have an editor readers might reasonably ask? It’s a fair question given some of the mind-blowing tosh it sometimes serves up as news.

The usual attention-seeking contrived offence-takers who so blight the modern world have reared their ugly heads, this time at the “Canberra Balloon Spectacular” event. And why? One of the balloons had a face painted on it and horror of horrors, it was black and bore the name “Black Magic”.