"Frances Bolton (PHI)" wrote:
> On Sat, 26 Dec 1998, Sam Pawlett wrote:
>
> > Wasn't Whittaker Chambers the
> client of Richard Nixon in the
> >
> I don't know if it makes any difference, Sam, but Rorty is talking about a
> party that took place in 1936.
>
> > The Outlaws, eh Frances? Sounds very 70'sish. Reminds of the gang "The
> > Pharoahs" from the movie "American Graffiti" who kidnap Hubert Dreyfus and
> > force him to rob the pinball machines at his favorite diner. Seriously, the
> ((SNIP))
> > On the other hand, in my own somewhat limited experience with the Hell's
> > Angels and others of that particular persuasion, I see little in their
> > ideology or actions that differentiates them from the Waffen SS.
>
> I seem to recall that there was a major war between the Hell's Angels and
> the Outlaws a few years ago in Sweden (?). There were machine guns. People
> died. The Outlaws I knew were drug dealing speedfreaks. I knew them when
> during my topless dancer career--they hung out at the club. Actually, now
> that I'm thinking about it--they weren't Outlaws, they were Banditos.
> Which is a cooler name, I think. Anyway, I got to meet the president of
> the NM chapter. His name was Mick Rat. Being a wiseass 21 year old, I
> asked him if it was McRat, like McDonald's, or if I should call him Mick,
> or Mr Rat, or what. Glare. Long pause. "It's Mick Rat." I decided to not
> call him anything at all. His girlfriend was a dancer with me--she was
> pretty raunchy. Pulled a gun on me during a political discussion in the
> dressing room. Lesson learned: do NOT tell a biker chick that you are a
> any sort of leftist. Mick turned out to be all right--one day he said,
> "hey, I hear you eat pussy better than I do." I looked down at him, (he
> was sitting) smiled, and said, you're probably right. He was my buddy
> after that. He kept his motorcycle in their living room. I thought that
> was weird. I kept mine in the garage.
> frances
Interesting. The Hell's Angels control the very lucrative stripping business in Vancouver. Many dancers have tried over the years to organize the industry but end up getting blacklisted and lose their jobs. Bike gangs are virulently anti-union. They take over unions for purposes of power.
There was a good story on bikers in today's Vanouver Sun. A Hell's Angels leader was acquitted on 2 counts of first degree murder. The pundits say this will give confidence to the gang in its attempts to take over other gangs in Canada. There are 38 different gangs across Canada. The Angels have had a running turf war with the Rock Machine-Mafia alliance in Montreal for control of the drug trade. 70 people have died including an 11 year old boy. There have been over 200 bombings and arsons. The Rock Machine is attempting a merger with the Texas based Banditos. The federal and Ontario governments have together spent $6.3 million on anti-bike gang operations in Ontario alone. Just to give you a sense of the size of the problem...
I have a lot of questions about bike gangs. Why do people join them? A sense of belonging and family they never had? Power, money and influence? Sex,drugs and rock'n'roll? A combination of the above. Whadda ya think?
Sam Pawlett.