In which the pond leaves aside a classic case of projection for the usual serve of angertainment, alarmism and genocide ...

 

The pond can't begin to count the number of times it reads a reptile headline and thinks "projection", in the psychological sense. 

Projection is a psychological phenomenon where feelings directed towards the self are displaced towards other people. Psychoanalysts regard projection as a defence mechanism of alterity concerning "inside" content mistaken to be coming from the "outside" Other

There was the Price is Wrong perched in the preferred top far right position of the lizard Oz's digital edition with the headline "Activists exploit Indigenous Australians for their  own ends"...

All the pond could think was "projection" - has there ever been an activist better at exploiting Indigenous Australians for her own ends? - before moving down to the comments section and confirming this was going to be a grum Friday ...

Sheesh, in a sane world, the pond would pack its tents, and if not steal into the night, then at least sneak off to muesli and OJ ...

The pond decided it could only come at our Henry after being thoroughly alarmed and disturbed by the doings of vulgar youff, and luckily cackling Claire delivered the angertainment goods ... because "alarming" and "radical" and "activism" and "fear" make up all that's best in the reptile stew, especially if it's that bloody Gen Z, even if the pond had recently been told that such terms were meaningless blather... per Joe Pinsker in The Atlantic...

‘Gen Z’ Only Exists in Your Head, The dividing lines between generations are a figment of our collective imagination.

You know there’s drama in research circles—or at least what qualifies as drama in research circles—when someone writes an open letter.
Earlier this year, that someone was Philip Cohen, a sociologist at the University of Maryland at College Park. His request: that Pew Research Center, the nonpartisan “fact tank,” “do the right thing” and stop using generational labels such as Gen Z and Baby Boomers in its reports. Some 170 social-science researchers signed on to Cohen’s letter, which argued that these labels were arbitrary and counterproductive.
After Cohen laid out his arguments in a Washington Post opinion piece, Kim Parker, Pew’s director of social-trends research, issued a response that both acknowledged the “limitations to generational analysis” and noted that “it can be a useful tool for understanding demographic trends and shifting public attitudes.” She told me recently that Pew is now in a “period of reflection” on the merits of using generational labels, during which it is having internal discussions and inviting outside researchers, Cohen among them, to share their perspectives.
Cohen is not arguing that when you’re born doesn’t matter for your life trajectory. Being an 18-year-old in today’s economic and cultural climate is a very different experience than being the same age in 1990 or in 1960. The period someone grows up in can shape how, when, and whether they form a family, own a home, pursue higher education, and attain financial stability. Cohen and Parker agree on all that.
Generational labels capture some of the basic fact that people who are born in different eras lead meaningfully different lives. But these labels are clumsy and imprecise—and getting more so all the time. They flatten out the experiences of tens of millions of very different people, remove nuance from conversations, and imply commonality where there may be none. The social scientists are right: Generational labels are stupid.

Sorry Joe, that's the entire point, cackling Claire is a stupid ning nong, so can the pond just get on with the dire warnings about Gen ...

Meanwhile, the pond couldn't help seizing the moment to stick in that recent Crikey story ... New Nine boss once defended a man’s sexual relationship with a minor (paywall)

Meanwhile, cackling Claire was still alarmed by vulgar youff, in particular vulgar young womyn ...

Ah, the Lattouf affair, apparently the one matter where the reptiles are at one with the cardigan wearers ... meanwhile, that Crikey story continued ...

Also in the car was the 33-year-old man and his 15-year-old girlfriend. All three people died when the car hit a bump at around 180km/h and flew over 40 metres into a power pole on Chamberlain Road, Wyoming. The highly publicised crash would be followed eventually by the establishment of vehicle power restrictions for provisional licence holders around the country. 

On November 26, 2004, The Daily Telegraph published a piece by McIlveen titled “Too quick to judge loss and young love”. McIlveen, a Wyoming native who described himself as familiar with the scene of the crash, wrote:

"Ray Hadley cautiously but firmly raised the issue yesterday in his morning segment on Radio 2GB, tapping the mood of consternation surrounding the background to this terrible accident. The tone of the program, as with other talkback calls and water-cooler comment at work, was this: so he was 33 and she was 15? That means the girl must have been having sex at, what, 14? 13?"

McIlveen continued: “One fact is irrefutable — under the law governing the age of consent, and under different circumstances, the story of the relationship between [the couple] could have played out very differently. But those who would rush to condemn this dead couple should appraise themselves of a few facts.”

McIlveen went on to note how “the idea of a teenage girl falling pregnant to a man more than twice her age is deeply shocking to some people”, but said “[the girl’s father] was comfortable with the man his daughter had chosen and that should be more than enough”, going on to describe the “real advantages” of children born to young parents. 

“Surely the real issue to emerge from this catastrophe is the access of testosterone-charged, inexperienced drivers to powerful cars. It’s not about young couples in love,” he wrote.

“We should be praising [the girl] for committing to one of life’s biggest challenges at such a young age. While her friends were working out how to talk their way into local nightclubs, [she] was preparing to raise a child.” 

McIlveen then cited a 2004 Productivity Commission report that presented a declining fertility rate as a challenge for Australia into the future: “For all the controversy surrounding their relationship, [the man and teenager] were doing their bit to address this problem … The last thing [the community needs] is moralisers lecturing on the rights and wrongs of teenage pregnancy.” 

At the time of publication of McIlveen’s article, section 66C of the NSW Crimes Act outlined sexual intercourse with a child between the ages of 14 and 16 as an offence that carried the penalty of imprisonment for up to 10 years. This remains the case today.

The print version of the article shows it was accompanied by a cartoon depicting a heavily pregnant schoolgirl.

Crikey put a series of questions to Nine, including whether it was aware of the article before hiring McIlveen and whether it believes the views presented were appropriate for editorial leadership in its newsrooms. Nine declined to comment for this article. 

Crikey also put questions to McIlveen, including whether editorial leaders should be judged on their past work. McIlveen did not respond in time for publication. 

Crikey also put similar questions to Campbell Reid, editor of The Daily Telegraph when McIlveen’s article was published, but did not receive a response in time for publication. 

McIlveen’s tweets, which Crikey understands have been circulating around newsrooms, include a 2013 tweet during that year’s federal election, and a 2014 tweet while editor of the Daily Mail. At the time of writing, both tweets remain live. 

In 2014, McIlveen reposted a story on Twitter about model and 2012 Miss Universe Australia Renae Ayris working out in Sydney’s Rushcutters Bay, describing it as “some photos of former Miss World Australia training in a Sydney park yesterday. With some words.”

Another tweet from 2013 refers to Nine’s federal election coverage, which featured Howard-era treasurer Peter Costello.

“Tell you what, Costello could do with a run round the block,” McIlveen wrote on Twitter. Costello has served as the chair of Nine Entertainment Co since 2016, the company that now employs McIlveen. 

Speaking to McIlveen’s former associates at previous mastheads paints an equally colourful picture. On learning of his appointment at Nine, one former colleague reacted to this correspondent: “No fucking way. Jesus ever-loving Christ.”

Asked to describe working under McIlveen, they said, “He’s a boy’s boy sort of a fella … was decent at his job, but not a great leader.

“In fact, was a shit leader. Didn’t mind protecting the mates. He’s probably a very good friend of the people he’s close to.

“He’s a good journo and he’s got a good eye for a story … but are there no women in Australia we could hire?”

Meanwhile, - talk about a heck of a lot of Colbert meanwhiles - cackling Claire wanted to reassure readers that she had her own flock of sheep, who would do what they were told, because that's what was needed ...

Yes, no difficulties or disruption, just sheeple doing their duty and given a daily shearing, while this time the cardigan wearers were sadly in the wrong camp.

Then the reptiles provided a snap of another vulgar youff, designed to terrify the readership ...

The pond's mother would have had a fainting fit at the sight of all those tatts, and the pond is also inclined to roll eyes, but whatever ... the pond realises that young 'uns are different and are wont to do things differently.

The real problem is a familiar complaint for those of an age and an inclination: whatever happened to the crispy bacon we had before the war and why don't the reptiles run the sort of snaps that you'd associate with that Crikey story ...

That's more like it, whatever happened to the good old leer? 

Or perhaps an up the duff joke for underaged school girls...

Meanwhile, back with Colbert, and cackling Claire was giving uppity Clementine the good old reptile what-for ... though the pond did begin to worry. A quick check suggested that Ford was 43 years old. How had she been shoehorned into Gen Z, which - sorry Joe - the wiki suggested applied to people born between 1997 and 2013?

If you're going to apply a meaningless and stupid label, shouldn't you apply it to someone the right age, which by the pond's calculation - admittedly the pond is hopeless at maths - would mean someone under the age of 30 ... oh wait, "projection".

Hey Joe, apparently "Gen Z" really means "people I don't like and disagree with, because I'm extremely disagreeable ..."

Mystery upon cackling Claire mystery ...

Emotional distress for girls who break ranks and voice opinions that go against the grain? 

But wasn't the entire point of cackling Claire's piece to celebrate the sheeple in her employ and demonise those girls who break ranks and voice opinions that go against the grain?

As usual, the pond was left in a state of confusion, though apparently sex with a minor can be quite a good thing for men ...

And so to Henry and alas no Thucydides this day, because genocide of the Carthage kind is the topic ...

As with cackling Claire, the pond feels the need to rudely interrupt (and to split the infinitive) and ask if anyone saw that Graudian visual display a couple of days ago, How war destroyed Gaza’s neighbourhoods – visual investigation.

A Guardian investigation has detailed the mass destruction of buildings and land in three neighbourhoods in Gaza.
Using satellite imagery and open-source evidence, the investigation found damage to more than 250 residential buildings, 17 schools and universities, 16 mosques, three hospitals, three cemeteries and 150 agricultural greenhouses.
Entire buildings have been levelled, fields flattened and places of worship wiped off the map in the course of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, launched after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October.
The destruction has not only forced 1.9 million people to leave their homes but also made it impossible for many to return. This has led some experts to describe what is happening in Gaza as “domicide”, defined as the widespread, deliberate destruction of the home to make it uninhabitable, preventing the return of displaced people. The concept is not recognised in law.

You won't find our Henry recognising domicide or genocide ...

Indeed,  indeed, meanwhile Meanwhile operation "from the river to the sea" continues unabated ...

Israeli defence minister says forces will push on to Rafah

Yoav Gallant has said that Israeli forces in Gaza will “continue to Rafah” near the border with Egypt, where throngs of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge and Egyptian authorities have warned against an Israeli incursion.
“The Khan Yunis Brigade of the Hamas organization is disbanded, we will complete the mission there and continue to Rafah,” Gallant said in a social media post on Thursday.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians, who have been fleeing south since the start of the war, have ended up in or near Rafah. They have long feared an Israeli assault on the area, as there is no farther south they can move.
Israel’s military operations in Khan Younis have been devastating to the civilian population there, and have included attacks on the city’s two largest hospitals, Nasser and al-Amal.

Gallant is a familiar name with a familiar strategy ...

Israel plans to directly occupy the Gaza Strip after the war is over, giving its forces freedom to carry out military operations and assassinations as they do now in the West Bank, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on 30 January.

"After the war, when it's over, I think it's completely clear that Hamas won't control Gaza. Israel will control [it] militarily but won't control it in a civilian sense," Gallant said at a briefing at his office in Tel Aviv.

"When we're talking about military freedom of operation, look what happened tonight in Jenin," Gallant added, referring to the assassination of three Palestinians in the West Bank city early on Tuesday.

Israeli special forces dressed as civilians raided the hospital and killed three Palestinian resistance fighters. According to Palestinian media, one had been injured in a raid in October and was receiving treatment while the others were visiting him at the hospital.

"This is military freedom of operation at the highest level, and yet we don't control the area in a civilian sense," Gallant says. "This is achievable [in Gaza as well], and it will take time."

Gallant's comments suggest he wants Israel to occupy Gaza while shunning the responsibilities of an occupying power toward the Palestinian civilian population as required under international humanitarian law (IHL) 

IHL includes ensuring sufficient hygiene and public health standards and providing food and medical care to the population under occupation. Israel has been destroying Gaza's hospitals and health system, while imposing a blockade to limit the entry of food and water.

IHL prohibits collective or individual forcible transfers of the population from and within the occupied territory as well as transfers of the civilian population of the occupying power into the occupied territory.

Commenting on this issue, Defense Minister Gallant told US officials last week that he and the Israeli military will not allow the rebuilding of illegal outposts or settlements by Israeli settlers inside the Gaza Strip, four US and Israeli officials told Axios.

But on Sunday, 12 ministers and 18 lawmakers in Israel's governing coalition gathered at a conference to promote the forcible expulsion of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians and to build Jewish settlements in enclave. 

Shortly after the start of the war in October, a document was leaked from the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence outlining a plan to expel the population of Gaza under the pretext of humanitarian concern. 

Members of Israel's settler movement have for years advocated the reconquest and resettlement of Gaza. In 2005, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the dismantling of the Gush Katif settlement block and the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza. 

At this point the reptiles cynically inserted a snap that had nothing to do with our Henry's story ...

Then it was on with the enthusiastic support of collective punishment, collective displacement and collective ruin ...

Benji's fundamentalist mob needs this sort of useful fool to mount all the usual useless arguments, while the real work can continue apace...

Rajagopal, Azzouz and Coward all said the evidence in the Guardian investigation was in line with their understanding of events in Gaza as a form of domicide.
“The utter annihilation of Beit Hanoun and the destruction of al-Zahra and Khan Younis, are evidence that Israeli use of force has made life impossible by making them uninhabitable,” said Rajagopal, the UN rapporteur. “All that matters to live a dignified and secure life is destroyed and that is not legal or legitimate under any sense of a law-based world.”
Coward, the Queen Mary University professor, said: “The destruction of homes plays a key role in both the displacement – communities cannot return if they have no home to return to – and the destruction of communities, as homes are destroyed and families displaced so all the things that make a community cohesive are destroyed and they are scattered to many different places.”
Azzouz said: “The Guardian investigation shows how Israel weaponises architecture in Gaza, destroying Palestinians’ cultural heritage sites and their everyday urban fabric.”
Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek estimate that between 142,900 and 176,900 buildings had been damaged as of 17 January, which raises questions on how to rehabilitate Gaza when the war ends.
Coward added: “Looking at the images of al-Zahra, Khan Yunis and Beit Hanoun there is widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure such as schools, universities and shops. This destruction not only kills and displaces civilians, it destroys the sense that these places are home to a particular way of life. If you can’t shop or learn, you can’t form a sense of belonging or call a place home.”

And that's the entire point ... there will be no rehabilitation of the old kind, while the useful fools will crow and celebrate the genocide, while arguing the fine niceties of the law ...

Naturally, our Henry took a leaf out of the mango Mussolini's playbook. If you don't like a court's decision, mock the court, the jury, the judge and the entire system ...

Yeah, tell that one to Gaza ... but the pond will concede that this day the reptiles hit on an effective strategy. 

After this day's reading, the pond wished the reptiles had carried on with their talk of class warfare and the perils of giving the poor a taxation break ... it would have meant not getting alarmed about Gen Z and genocide, and instead of the two G's, the pond could have ended the day with an immortal Rowe...

.... featuring a man of action ...