GoonanismA Sporadic mix of the personal, political and programming

Needless to say, there has been no shortage of ‘Jerk’ behavior since we last met. PG has approved a Uranum mine with little-to-no consultation with the traditional owners of the land.

Regular reader MB asked that Apple be Jerk of the week after they blocked the palm pre from itunes – very Jerky.

But the winner is (in case you hadn’t guessed) is the Ed mister.

No doubt many of you have heard about the increasing violence on Melbourne’s streets. I have long since suspected that this is simply a media beat-up. Yes the number of assaults is increasing but on a per-capita basis it is pretty steady. This is the trend with crime in general. It is extraordinarily rare for crime rates to move dramatically and they will usually correct themselves with time.

So I was pretty unimpressed when I read an opinion piece written by Eddie McGuire in the people’s paper a couple of days ago:

Maybe if knuckleheads thought about that before they allegedly whacked into defenceless people, maybe if there were real ramifications like being sent off to work farms, facing real penalties, or maybe if they realised we all hate their guts and have had enough of them they might start realising the game is over.

Otherwise forget it, it will just happen and the violence will continue and escalate.

Maybe it’s time for the young baby boomers and Generation X to fire up.

Those who have children under 12, because it will take a decade to kick in, need to start the fight for our streets for our kids.

We missed Vietnam and, other than a few poor economic cycles, it’s been pretty good for us.

Maybe instead of going to real wars to defend our children’s futures it’s time to go to war in our backyard and reclaim the streets.

In his tirade he advocates vigilantes, blames the ‘yoof’ and wears extraordinarily rose coloured glasses about his generation. It’s lies, fed by lies, advocating very dangerous behaviour and ‘work farms’.

What! Is this, Communist Russia? I’m pretty sure prison sentences and criminal records are serious ramifications for this sort of behaviour not to mention proportional. Yes, those committing the violence are dickheads, but they aren’t a national threat (they could be scholars, teachers and other educated people needing re-eduction though, Eddie ‘Pol Pot’ McGuire).

Thankfully, yesterday provided me with the figures I needed thanks to Guy Rundle in Crikey:

From 1973 to 1993, assaults per 100,000 of the population rose from 20 to 120, a 500% increase… By contrast, the subsequent [recent] rise in assault crimes has been insignificant. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology figures there were around 144,000 assaults in 1997, and around 176,000 in 2007 — most of that 20% rise accounted for by population increase.

Of course… no-one really believes that the assault rate went up by 500% over two decades. Since the figures are based on police reports, it seems quite likely that changing ideas about what demands a police intervention has shaped the figures — i.e. in the 70s, a suburban pub fight would take place in the car park and no-one would think of calling the cops. Now it takes place in the city, outside a nightclub, and there’s no choice but for the police to be involved. Same fight, same sort of participants — aggro young men — different locale.

However, that does not change one significant fact — in the twentieth century there was a rise in social violence, from a low in the 1940s … with a steady rise through the 50s, and then — throughout the western world — a sharper uprise beginning in the mid-60s and levelling off in the mid-90s.

Is that statistical shape starting to ring any bells? Yes, crime rise follows the passage of the baby-boomers almost exactly — from the time they hit the age (15-16) when violent crime begins, to the age (mid-40s), when it finally starts to level off. Far from being a more violent generation, Gen Y, has contributed far less to the increase in social violence than their parents.

Thank you Guy. Eddie, shut up and do some research before adding to the alarmist rhetoric that doesn’t help anyone. Am I the only one that gets tired of hearing about how terrible today’s youth is and how it was so much better ‘in my day’?

…and then, a bit of poetry from this article in today’s Hun.

EXCLUSIVE: COLLINGWOOD Football Club is not fit to hold a liquor licence to run a beachside hotel, according to a police inquiry.

The liquor licensing unit has alleged serious breaches at The Beach, in Albert Park, in an application for an inquiry before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

VCAT wrote to Collingwood late last month informing it of the action.

Ouch, I’ve long argued that Collingwood supporters should have a different set of laws applied to them (Go Hawks!!).

And for that, you Mr McGuire are: Jerk of the Week.

(credit does need to go to the RRR Breakfasters here who pointed out the two Herald Sun articles on the radio this morning).