Sydney's "Underworld"

A group of 10 bike gang members bludgeoned a rival gang member to death in the Sydney airport yesterday. It is absolutely unbelievable that something that violent could happen in such a public place...that's about 15 minutes away from where I live. Yikes. Well, at least the rest of the violence has taken place pretty far away from our place. That is to say, other than Marcus getting knocked out for no good reason by one of his friends' fatty bike-gang brothers at a buck's night (bachelor party) last year. I am not a fan of bucks nights...or bikies for that matter.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/bikie-killed-in-sydney-airport-brawl-20090323-95xc.html?page=-1

There's a TV series here called "Underbelly" that's all about the Sydney underworld, though its focus is (for now) on the drug gangs. Season two is just now airing in Australia, though HBO bought the rights and will be playing Season one at some point back in the states. Season one was pretty good, but season two is just full of boobs. Not my kind of show...

Anyway, in my sheltered little mind, gangs are just a thing of the past. Bloods, crips, "territory", fighting over who knows what... It's strange to me that people still feel the need to live their lives that way, in violence and fear... It's also strange to me that the police don't seem to be able to stop it. There have been drive-by shootings for the last few months. At first the police tried to cover up that it was gang-related, though they knew it was a gang war. They were really good at keeping that term out of the media, but it's broken through and I have a feeling it won't be out of use for a while. There are drive-by shootings every few days. Because Sydney is so big, I don't feel the effects of it. I watched the first season of Underbelly pretty soon after I moved to Sydney, and because I had that TV version of the gang wars, it still feels like it's not very real when I read the headlines about the gang wars. It's so far removed...or at least it was until yesterday. The world we live in is truly bizarre.


P.S. I have continued reading the news throughout the day, and here are a few other headlines:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/wife-admits-chopping-up-husbands-body-20090323-96yh.html

http://www.smh.com.au/national/i-lied-but-im-basically-honest-says-einfeld-20090322-95mh.html

That one's about a former Federal Court judge who lied about a speeding ticket and is now going to go to jail for two years. He's also the former Human Rights Commissioner. How disappointing...

Comments

-::bee::- said…
I never really thought of Australia having biker gangs, but considering how the 1st white people to populate the continent got there, I guess it all makes sense. Keep your lead pipe and pepper spray close at hand!
March 23, 2009 at 12:49 PM
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