Monday, March 30, 2009

Street Wars

It hasn't been easy to find the time to post my thoughts. Unfortunately, university work seems to take up much of my time. More than that, I've actually been struggling to find newsworthy events in my life.

The biggest new item recently in Australia has been the upsurge of biker gang violence. You may have heard of an incident at Sydney's Kingsford-Smith International Airport that left 1 person dead and several others in custody. In Canberra, 2 more people were killed in the south of the city in what appears to be a crime connected with the biker gangs. The public is worried that this could mean the start of a gang war which could get very ugly very quickly. I hope it doesn't but if it does, I think it'll provide excellent source material for another Underbelly series.

Apparently the roots of this conflict go back a few decades when several members of a biker gang split and formed a rival gang; the 2 gangs have been enemies ever since. The biker gang world has been marked with sporadic violence, sometimes quite large, but these flare-ups tend to be short-lived. However, with these latest incidents, it is entirely possible that a new series f skirmishes will happen. And just to put that into perspective, some of the leaders of the biker gangs have been calling for police protection, fearing their lives.

That's all I can really write about this week. There doesn't seem to be anything happening worth reporting. The mid-semester break is fast approaching, though, and I can't wait for a short break.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

The Seamy Underbelly

Every society has elements in it that are destructive and lawless. In some places, this can be a local rebel group, but in Australia, and most other First World countries, these elements are organized into collectives whose purpose is to act outside the law to gain profit. We call it "organized crime", or the Mafia. Having a large Italian community, Australia is prone to this form of subversion.

Last year, Channel 9, an Australian television company, produced a series called Underbelly, based on events in Melbourne from 1995-2004. Essentially, it chronicled the gang war that led to the deaths of some 34 people in that time. While perhaps taking certain liberties with events, it is, on its basic elements, factual, and that's what makes it even more incredible.

I recently acquired the series and started watching it on my computer; I was immediately hooked. It starts by following the acts of Alphonse "the Dark Prince of Lygon Street" Gangitano as he gets out of prison and tries to rebuild his empire. Lygon Street is a heavily Italian neighbourhood in Melbourne. The narrator, officer Jacqui James, tells us that the gang war is said to have started on the night Gangitano killed a Mr. Workman over a $5 000 debt. The Dark Prince doesn't last too long and he is gunned down by Jason Moran, the son of Lewis Moran, another organized crime member.

From there, it follows the Moran Clan's fortunes and how one tactical mistake, the shooting of Carl Anthony Williams, who survives and forms a rival criminal organization, leads to the deaths of the Moran men, as well as several other gangland figures. The police, at first stymied by bad luck and corruption, eventually form Task Force Purana in an attempt to bring an end to the war by putting the key figures away. Although Jacqui James is the narrator, the protagonist is really officer Steve Owen who takes a personal, sometimes too personal, interest in bringing down Williams and the others. I won't say how it ends, only that I found the final climax particularly moving.

Underbelly was a ratings bonanza and has since spawned Underbelly 2: A Tale of Two Cities, the story of the heroin trade between Sydney and Melbourne from 1977-1986; a third series is in planning. Underbelly, though, was not without controversy as the violence, language and themes upset some parent groups. It was originally slotted at 20:30 which many parents believed was too soon for young, impressionable minds. I say, if you let your kids watch Loony Toons, they can handle anything. As well, Underbelly could not be released in Victoria as it was ruled by the courts that it could prejudice the juries in some upcoming trials. This meant, ironically, that the city most affected by the gangland war would not even get to see it. One of the players in this drama was Tony Mokbel who fled Australia but has since been extradited. With his sentencing and other trials pending, it doesn't look like the series will be released in Victoria any time soon; the DVD set is still unavailable in that state.

If you get a chance, watch Underbelly. I was completely enthralled and only stopped watching because I had to go to sleep. A little light on the dark parts of society is always a good thing.

Besides Underbelly, there has been celebration at Fenner Hall. Last Sunday, the annual interhall Trivia competition was held in the new Kinloch UniLodge. Although competition was fierce, Fenner came out on top again. I like to think I did my part, but everyone had a hand in our victory. We retain the trophy for the 3rd straight year and for next year I say, bring 'em on. On Friday, the boys cricket team managed to pull off an amazing victory after looking like we were down and out. It made up for the girls losing in a tight game earlier, not that they didn't give it their all as well. Suffice it to say, Fenner Hall has been rather jubilant lately.

The summer weather has returned and temperatures are back around 30C. I don't expect it to last too long, but it's pleasant nonetheless. It certainly makes university a little more tolerable. And tonight was the annual Skyfire event, a massive fireworks display in celebration of something or other; I really wasn't paying attention. I heard it was pretty amazing though.

On Friday, I also officiated my first aussie rules game of the season. It was only a practice match but there were some challenging moments, but nothing too stressful. All things considered, it was actually a fairly routine game. Because I'll be working at ACTTAB most weekends, I probably won't get many games but I hope to do at least a few this season.

An interesting news item cropped up this week and that was that the Australian government is cutting the permanent resident intake for skilled migrants in order to protect Australian jobs. Essentially, it is to keep foreign labour out of the market so Australians can get jobs in those sectors and keep down the unemployment figures. This really only affects trades and the way I read it, I'm still unaffected if I wanted to become a permanent resident. Reading the rhetoric, it really does smack of xenophobia and even racism. I say, there wouldn't be any trade shortages if Australians were doing the work but obviously they aren't. Many of the supporters of this move couch their language in terms of protecting Australian jobs from Asians and this is really where things get uncomfortable. Not to be too frank, but this plan doesn't really make sense and only serves to pander to the time-tested tradition of blaming immigrants when things get tough. Then again, I may be biased.

Finally, I want to report on something I call the "grandparent phenomenon". It seems that grandparents around the world share particular habits when it comes to visiting grandchildren, which I confirmed while conversing with a guy from India. Like myself, when he visits his grandparents he is immediately encouraged to eat as much as is possible for fear of starvation, even if already full. And this is not limited to one meal, but every meal of the day. Furthermore, the grandparents claim that since they don't know what the grandchild likes, they've just bought everything they could think of and that tell them to help themselves; that isn't a request. At each meal, the grandchild is forced to eat until everything is gone, or they insist that they cannot eat another bite. And what do the grandparents have? A small bowl of fruit topped-off with cottage cheese, or some other insubstantiality. I'm not complaining by any means; it's far better to be fed too much than too little. And furthermore, I think it speaks to the universality of the human condition. So to all grandparents on Earth, on behalf of all grandchildren, I say thank you for the food.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Meaningless Holidays

The best holidays are those that give you a day off for no particular reason. There's no logic or grand sentiment attached to them, merely some sort of desire for a day free of work. You can lay around and do what you wish without really knowing what you are supposed to be celebrating. Canberra's answer to this is the second Monday of March --- Canberra Day.

I shouldn't say that it is meaningless without reservation; for all I know there is ample reason for this holiday. I assume that it is Canberra's birthday and a few signs around the city seem to allude to that, but there's nothing definitive. It does give everyone an excuse to stay at home and catch up on whatever sleep they've been missing. I don't recall doing much of anything that day, but I did go up later that night and watched the fireworks from the Fenner roof. Explosives and pyrotechnics can add meaning to any meaningless celebration.

Later in the week, I was pleased to see that the CBC keeps track of stories from Australia. Recently, a kangaroo broke into a house in Canberra at night and frightened the occupants. It was chased away without any injuries. I think the most interesting thing is that the CBC actually bothered to carry it on their news website. In Canada, news doesn't often filter from Australia but occasionally it gets picked up, and I think this has gotten better in the last few years. Perhaps with the Victorian bushfires, there is more attention being paid to Australia but even before that, there were hints of increasing coverage. The last Australian federal election comes to mind as that was covered fairly well in the Canadian press where it wouldn't have beforehand. Australia has some fascinating stories to tell and I hope Canadians do get to hear them, not just the disasters.

Since the last week was uneventful, I'll close off with a brief discourse on the status of my Juris Doctor (JD) program. I approached the sub-dean recently, who also teaches my Corporations Law course, and asked if JDs are undergraduates who happen to take some postgraduate courses, postgraduates who happen to take mostly undergraduate courses or something else. His reply was that in his opinion, the JDs are a new species of student entirely; a sort of hybrid, which is a view I had come to myself some while back. He did say that our status in the broader academic sphere was unclear and the subject of debate but for present purposes of simplicity, we are counted among the postgraduate student ranks.

I did a little further research and found that the debate surrounding JDs is not isolated and there is no consensus among the various countries which offer JD programs. In the United States, the JD is considered a doctorate and graduates are entitled to use Dr. as a prefix, but this is only true of the United States. This poses an academic quandary since there is a separate degree called the Juris Doctor Scientiae (JDS) which much more closely approximates what most people consider to a doctorate program. In Canada, Australia and the UK, there is no consensus as to what academic rank JDs should be equated with (Bachelor, Master or Doctorate). It seems that the JD will be the subject of debate for many years to come.

In case you're wondering that this is purely an academic exercise, I will point out that there are some important practical implications regarding academic rank. At ANU, certain scholarships and government funding are available only for undergraduate or postgraduate studies. The housing accommodation guarantee is only offered to undergraduates. Dr. Bottomley (the sub-dean) said that the Law School was working with the university to see if JDs could gain access to both streams of funding, essentially allowing us to double-dip. There have been no decisions made so until then, JDs are in a state of limbo.

The status of the JD can also have implications in the event of an application for permanent residency. Australia employs a points test for those wishing to become permanent residents and the JDs classification could mean the difference between 5 and 25 points on the qualifications portion of the test, at least theoretically. 5 points, the minimum, are awarded for 2 years study in Australia and regardless of the eventual classification, I will get those points since the JD is a 3-year program. If the JD were classified as a doctorate, that would get me 25 points, the maximum. The most likely scenario talking to other staff at the ANU Law School, is that the JD would be classified as equivalent to a Master's degree, thus giving me 15 points, the intermediary amount; there are no 10 and 20 point scores. I'm hoping against hope that the "Doctor" in Juris Doctor will be enough to put me at 25 points should I wish to apply for residency, but I doubt it. I guess the only thing will be to roll the dice and apply at some point.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Russian Roulette is not the Same without a Gun

This has been a pretty boring week, actually. The initial thrill and rush of the new academic semester has worn off and a nauseatingly familiar routine is settling in. I have been going to school for 22 years now and I think I've become institutionalized. I don't know how I'll function in the real world that exists outside academia.

On Sunday, I took up a new role, that of cricket umpire. The interhall cricket league needed an umpire for a girls game and I volunteered. For those of you who don't understand cricket, it's a game that is both simple and complext at the same time. I won't bother trying to explain the whole thing. All I'll say is that it's a game that makes golf look interesting. Cricket is a national obsession in Australia, and just about every other part of the Commonwealth. Canada is the only Commonwealth country I can think of where cricket is not a popular sport. It's hard to express how fond Australians are of their cricket. The game I officiated was pretty standard and I think I did alright. As far as I know, no one complained about my umpiring. It's something I would like to do again, but my commitments at ACTTAB prevent me from officiating any further games.

On the sports theme, I went with an acquaintance to the Canberra Club where we played a game of snooker. I never realized just how much bigger than pool tables snooker tables are. They are so large, they even have special extra-long cues to reach across the table if need be. There are actually a myriad of cues and rakes for every conceivable situation. I was very convincingly beaten but I actually find snooker more enjoyable than pool and I look forward to playing at least a few more games.

Lastly, Plast has started up again. Not very many people showed up, on top of which this is not a large group to begin with. There are only 5 or 6 brownies/cubs and 5 or 6 scouts so if even a few people can't make it, the meetings become pretty sparse. Most of the meeting was taken up with setting out the schedule for the year. Since the group is so small, mettings are held usually every 2 weeks; in Ottawa it was once a week. There are also the odd excursions.

Here's to hoping the coming week will be more interesting.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Round 2

Well, it's started. The new school year arrived this Monday much to my relief and chagrin. I'm sorry to see the summer go, and it feels like it wasn't much of a summer at all, but at the same time, I'm glad to once again be back in a routine I'm familiar with. After just 1 week, I can tell it's going to be quite a semester. This is also the 1st semester I've been able to choose classes. My 2 electives are International Law of Human Rights and International Criminal Law. The second of these is an area of particular interest and I would like to one day pursue opportunities in that field further. My other 2 classes are compulsory: Administrative Law and Corporations Law, nicknamed "Corps" (pronounced "corpse"). I'm more than a little apprehensive of its merits but maybe I should give it a chance.

The day before uni started, there was a Fenner Hall trivia contest where floors participated as teams. I arrived a little late, having just worked at the racecourse, but I helped as best I could. Unfortunately, we didn't do so well. Anyway, there's always the interhall trivia competition later. Trivia did help we out a little financially, or to put it more accurately, helped my mother financially. At our first Administrative Law class, the lecturer had a little trivia game. The first 2 questions about the year the first 1st Australian Administrative Law textbook was published and the number of faculty who have gone on to become Commonwealth Ombudsmen, were true or false and answering them was a matter of luck. I answered them correctly (both false) and then raised my hand the quickest for the next question, "Who said, 'Law is reason without passion.'" The answer is Aristotle and I was also made to own up as to where I got that information, the answer being the movie Legally Blonde. The prize, the course's textbooks, was well worth any momentary shame.

I've discovered 2 new delights: Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy board game, and mate (MAH-teh), a South American tea. Dungeons and Dragons, popularly known as DnD, is a game where you create a character in a fantasy world and go on quests. I am Baron Titanius Rex. It's great escapism. I used to laugh when people mentioned DnD because my mind would immediately go to DND, the Department of National Defence. As for mate, an acquaintance of mine recently returned from a trip to South America. He showed me mate, which is a popular tea made from native plants. It is sucked through a straw and there are protocols for what to say and how to drink. It would be perfect for Australia since mate is spelled the same as "mate", the traditional Aussie greeting.

I've also joined 2 more clubs in Canberra, the Southern Cross Club and the Canberra Club. The latter of these is Canberra's oldest and most prestigious social club; they won't let just anyone join. You have to be willing to pay at least $5.50 for a social membership. In case you think I made that up, it actually is Canberra's oldest club. this was the same place the Umpires' Association had its dinner last September. There's nice panelling and fully-stocked bar. The place oozes class. I'd like to think I'm moving up in the world.

The big event on this weeks social calendar was the Fenner Hall Commencement Dinner, held at the Australian National Museum. We were herded onto buses and driven to the museum where we had a wonderful dinner consisting of chicken, lamb and strawberry-rhubarb pie. The guest of honour was Dr. Frank Fenner, the 94-year old gentleman our residence is named after. Really, a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

I'll end off with a few odds and ends. I did a short shift at Canberra Stadium for the first time today. I learned that my application to the Foreign Service will not go any further this year; there's always next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, etc. Also, I was terrified to learn that my grandmother's liquor bottle collection was recycled at the LCBO. Thankfully, my mother saved the best gem: a bottle in the shape of the CN Tower. It was the 1 thing I really want to be kept from that collection. I remember on every visit, my brother and I always marvelled at it. I hope I get to keep it one day.