A Summer Rant

THIS is what professional journalists call ‘The Silly Season’, because of the scarcity of ‘proper’ news, almost anything has a chance of being published. Of course, the Euro Weekly News isn’t like that, but I thought I’d give it a go anyway.

Rant number one: Why do so many homosexuals think it necessary to take part in ‘Gay Pride’ demonstrations? Heterosexuals consider their own sexual orientation to be something quite ordinary, not requiring outpourings of pride or anything else. It is what it is, and that’s that.

Further, as an appendage to rant number one: why have we allowed the adjective ‘Gay’ to be hi-jacked, rendering it synonymous with homosexual? The Concise Oxford Dictionary I have on my bookshelf defines ‘Gay’ as ‘light-hearted and carefree’. I want  that interpretation restored, please, and if homosexuals don’t like it, well, surely it’s not beyond their wit to invent a new, perfectly acceptable alternative. After all, Shakespeare was always inventing words, and even ‘Quiz’ is thought to have been the result of a wager.

Rant number two: Racialism. The standard thinking here is that it is something practiced by ‘whites’ against those of a different skin colour, and perhaps years ago this might have been so.

However, times have changed, with Laws, brought in to protect ethnic minorities in my opinion swinging the pendulum too far the other way.

In the UK there are Associations of Coloured Lawyers, and of Coloured Police Officers. Can you imagine the uproar that would have erupted if someone had suggested organising similar Associations for Anglo-Saxons? There are a host of groups dedicated to furthering the rights of coloured people, but who fights for those of us who, with our forebears, built Britain?

Now, and this will raise a few hackles; rant number three: Cyclists. Why do so many cyclists seem to believe that normal Highway Rules do not apply to them? Has some special dispensation been granted without my noticing? They ignore traffic lights, ride against the flow along one-way streets, use pavements in preference to roads or even cycle paths, and then demand that motorists keep them safe.

Please, cyclists, a little common sense and courtesy from you might work wonders. Surely, it’s worth a try.

By Jim Collins