IT'S that time of year when newspaper think pieces ask a strict set of annual questions.

To save us all some time, let's have a run through them now and move on.

Is this Halloween costume offensive?

The fact you're asking this is both good and bad.

Good, because you've actually stopped to reflect on your actions and consider the issues raised by your costume of choice.

Bad, because your concern means you've likely chosen an offensive Halloween costume.

Nursery nurse Claire Flynn is this year's litmus test. Ms Flynn blacked up her three-year-old for this year's All Hallows' Eve.

When it was pointed out to the 26-year-old that this might be a bit racist, our protagonist bullishly persisted without even the pretence of self-reflection.

"People need to get a grip," she snapped. Yep, exactly the sort of nuanced thought you'd want in someone who cares for young children.

While you can argue til the end of time whether blackface on a toddler is a good idea (it's a terrible idea), when it is pointed out to white people that their actions are wrong, it is incumbent on them to at least have a think about why.

Blackface is irrevocably intertwined with a time when discrimination and hate towards black people was widespread and normal. Basic respect for others should be enough to make anyone put down the black and brown face paints.

Should fireworks be banned?

You couldn't fail to be moved by the video of poor greyhound Charles shaking with fear after hearing fireworks going off outside the home of his owner, Fiona MacFarlane, in Motherwell.

Ms MacFarlane wanted people to see the distress caused to her pet - as it is caused to so many pets - far too early in the year.

Fireworks were being let off near my flat at least a month ago; fireworks season seems to expand every year.

With so many well-organised and impressive public events, and given the danger posed by fireworks, it seems entirely pointless to sell them to the public.

Given this is a hot topic every year, it's time for a meaningful, political look at the issue instead of the annual grumbling.

Why I wear a red poppy/won't wear a red poppy/wear a white poppy/won't wear a white poppy.

Some people think the red poppy has become too political, that it has been co-opted to create public sympathy that allows modern wars to go ahead.

Others prefer a white poppy, which symbolises a call for peace. Some wear both. Some also wear a purple poppy, which symbolises the animals that died in warfare.

Wear none, wear all three. It's personal choice and freedom and isn't that what was fought for?

Is Christmas getting earlier every year?

Yes. Shops want to sell us things and people want to buy those things.

It's not about Christmas, it's about consumerism. John Lewis put its trees up weeks ago and festooned them with all sorts of festive delights - I spotted a festive lobster, a festive pineapple, a festive mermaid and a festive honeycomb.

It's not been about goodwill to all men for a long time. It's about making money.

Our office Christmas tree is going up this weekend. I plan to have snuck in yesterday to take it back down again.

Resistance is not futile. An elf dies every day a tree is up before December 1. Don't be an elf killer.