Always good for a laugh, the Vatican yesterday declared that people cannot choose or change genders and described transgenderism as a bid to annihilate nature, this assertion issued under the heading “Male and Female: He Created Them”. The statement called gender fluidity a symptom of the confused concept of freedom and momentary desire that characterise post-modern culture.

Lots to comment on with this. First, it’s a bit bloody rich coming from an outfit whose leaders swan about in ballgowns and is indisputedly the largest paedophile organisation in human history.

Given the general wonderfulness now ascribed to homosexuality I’ll tell you the funniest book ever written on the topic. That is “Gents” by English author Warwick Collins, published in 1997.

It’s a short novel set in a large London men’s public toilet, thus the title. The premises becomes a popular assignation choice for homosexual trysts in the cubicles, which shock its three West Indian full-time cleaners, probably the only (minor) flaw in the plot as three seem somewhat excessive. Two are church-going law abiding, simple and decent souls, the third is a Rastafarian who takes a go with the flow approach to life.

Scarcely a month passes when we don’t read of the Police or Customs or whatever, both in New Zealand and abroad, having nabbed a cache of illegal drugs with a street value of 50 zillion dollars and such-like. I’m not naturally a suspicious bugger but intuitively have always felt there was exaggeration in these amounts.

Well, a few years ago I asked an acquaintance, then Head of the local drug squad, how come your periodic drug arrests quote huge values yet the culprits are invariably living in state houses and driving old cars? He giggled a bit and confessed to hyperbole. He also admitted that few dealers make serious money but are simply dumb buggers of poor character incapable of doing anything else.

Last week a teenage Dunedin law student was sentenced to 125 hours community work for disorderly behaviour. This was after when drunk he bawled anti-Islamic slurs at a police patrol and called them right wing fascists.

I have no problem with the prosecution as the student’s behaviour was disorderly. I do have a problem with his assertion in the Court that he’s not racist. The Judge should have corrected him on this.

How will history in future years with the benefit of proper perspective, rate former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke who died on the eve of the recent election? Well, if the Economist obituary is any guide then probably as the Second Coming.

I question the magazine’s gushing claims of Hawke as the great economic reformer, the actual credit for those measures belonging to his Treasurer and successor Paul Keating.