Mark 'Chopper' Read dead: Report

Why is this breaking alternative news?

Man with cancer dies from cancer. That's the story unless I'm missing something?

RIP To a scary bugger who made more folks laugh than he did scared.
His books were a hoot and if only one percent of what he wrote was loosely true, he must have been a barrel of laughs.

reply to post by khimbar


So sorry. We from the lesser countries don't have an obamacare, a government shutdown, or a syrian war to post about.

We will go back to the subservient little plebs we are now.

So sorry..

khimbar
Why is this breaking alternative news?

Man with cancer dies from cancer. That's the story unless I'm missing something?

This man was a important underworld figure in Australia, who turned his life around in the end.
I see others posting in this section of famous people dying.

winofiend
reply to post by khimbar

 

So sorry. We from the lesser countries don't have an obamacare, a government shutdown, or a syrian war to post about.

We will go back to the subservient little plebs we are now.

So sorry..

Why do you assume I'm American?

reply to post by Dark Ghost


I think Australia's convict roots run long and deep. There is a fairly deep seated dislike of the 'British Ruling Classes' amongst us plebs, and the amongst the myths of the Aussie national identity are the concepts of 'mateship', and 'having a 'fair go'.

Irregardless of the truth of these identity markers, it's certainly engrained into the psyche of the nation (that and drinking enormous amounts of beer), and Chopper can be seen as the embodiment of Aussie anti-authoritarianism. We're able to justify the toe-cutting and torture, as they're 'just other crims, who deserve what they get', and at heart, Chopper is a 'good bloke', and, 'one of us'.

I don't necessarily think it's a good thing to display as a kind of 'hero worship', but looking back through Australian history, and a long line of 'acceptable criminals' and our most famous criminal, 'Ned Kelly', who is internationally famous, it's not hard to see that Chopper fits into our convict and 'bushranger' mythology quite comfortably.

I loved the chopper read comedy sketches

I have noticed on news websites people have their definition of Legend wrong.
Legend is a person well known. a legend can be good or bad legend.

These people think that they are glorifying chopper, his getting as much coverage as the other bad men and women.

rip chopper i loved the books and the movie and i hope eric banna does 1 more movie of you .

ronnie does a brilliant rip off of him but we will miss the real chop chop books

reply to post by amraks


I bet he was shocked when he copped it. That fellow, from what I know of his history, would have been very surprised to die of some biological cause, as opposed to an overdose of lead, steel, or a sudden lack of blood of some other violently imposed type.

And, for those posters who have been ragging on the fellow, it is worth pointing out, that by all accounts, Chopper restricted his criminal violence to those who had committed criminal violence themselves. He might not have been a role model or anything that glorious, but there have been much worse scumbags than him, and there still are, only most of them do what ever they like, to anyone and everyone. At least he did not make a habit of just offing random school teachers, doctors, nurses, or anyone who came within reach, unlike some of the scumbags I have read about.

reply to post by amraks


"Grab that bottle, get over there"

HAHAHA

Man, this guy was amazing.

"You're the only journalist that took a crack at my ears, ya cheeky young bugger."

I know we shouldn't glorify, but at the end of the day, there has always been a system of justice on the streets, in some cases, the types of people his crimes were involved with, signed up for the interaction. Live by the sword and die by it, all that kind of stuff.


Kinda reminds me of this old timer guy serving a life sentence. I crossed paths with him through a church program I was involved in. Years back he made a name for himself, killing and more importantly, all the attempts on him and his life. He was truly saddened about the death he was responsible which landed him in prison, but, the ones following he said were between like minded nut jobs all trying to kill each other for various reasons. The amount of stab wounds this guy had was mind boggling.

The years had done him in, although I'm not sure how much sanity he had to begin with. At the end of it, he seemed to be one of the most gentle souls I'd come across. The stories surrounding him were legendary, but they had vacated him and there was just a shell leftover.

He said he had never wanted to ever be totally free of the prison system. He worked is way down after serving 20 odd years in Maximum and Supermax prisons, and finally decided to change his ways, after years of an effort at rehabilitation he made it to minimum which allowed him to interact with the community.

The lesson his life served and his place near the end of his time, was touching. I hope they don't release him, not because he hasn't earned it, but because I don't think he truly wants to be free. He told me the world isn't what he thought it was, and it's changed so much he wouldn't recognize it even if he knew what it was to begin with.

I could see him committing a crime just to stay in, so I hope they don't force him out. Although, it seems like violence wouldn't be his choice now.

The man cried profusely when he found an injured animal in the woods, near one of the church gatherings he was employed to prepare for by clearing away brush and garbage.

At the end of the day, we are all human. And no matter the sins of man, sometimes there is a human still in there somewhere.

TrueBrit
reply to post by amraks

 

I bet he was shocked when he copped it. That fellow, from what I know of his history, would have been very surprised to die of some biological cause, as opposed to an overdose of lead, steel, or a sudden lack of blood of some other violently imposed type.

And, for those posters who have been ragging on the fellow, it is worth pointing out, that by all accounts, Chopper restricted his criminal violence to those who had committed criminal violence themselves. He might not have been a role model or anything that glorious, but there have been much worse scumbags than him, and there still are, only most of them do what ever they like, to anyone and everyone. At least he did not make a habit of just offing random school teachers, doctors, nurses, or anyone who came within reach, unlike some of the scumbags I have read about.

That right there is the case in point. In some subcultures there are rules and law no different than the justice system. In many cases the justice system has been so widely abused by official and officers it is more criminal than the crimes they are meant to settle.

An officer of the underworld if you will, an enforcer like him, who settled debts or righted wrongs (surely in a grotesque way) could be seen as justified as an legitimate officer of the law.

When you think in this context you have to acknowledge that years back 150+, in many cases law officers were hired privately. Nearly anyone could resolve disputes. Which would have made him just another mercenary for hire, bounty hunter or something of the like.

For anyone that wants to paint things in black and white, consider this:

The justice system in the commonwealth states have a tendency to overlook crimes for information. There have been plenty of truly sociopathic or psychopathic criminals, who, harm random, innocent people. And they get off their crimes because they sell out some other person in their criminal network. They live by no code, no honour, nothing. And, LEOs sometimes enable these pieces of garbage by letting them serve fractions on their sentence because they sold someone else down the river.

There was a great deal of controversy in the recent Robet Pickton case, *Canadian serial killer who killed prostitutes, because it was rumoured he was an RCMP informant.

And another big one,

This case here, which I presented to the forum

Seems he was a "Snitch" from many years passed. There is something like 40 murders he's credited with, which makes me wonder about a much darker "conspiracy" if you will.

For him to be involved in all that he was, and with such a long criminal career with so many bodies involved, and working as an informant for the feds, it really makes me wonder if the most successful criminals are the ones who are backed by the government.

Sure they "help" the government for the war on _______, but it seems like a good number simply get passes on all their crimes just turning in others to keep themselves going.

Isn't that just state sponsored gangsterism in another dress? Seems it really doesn't pay to be a "stand up guy" anymore. Imagine the types of behaviour they are promoting.

And we have:

FBI allowed informants to commit 5,658 crimes in 2011

Heck, for all we know, Chopper put down a pile of scum that might have victimized hundreds of innocent people.

Nothing is black and white these days.

*Note, I am not advocating vigilante justice or anything of the like. Nor the lifestyle or actions associated with all this. I merely am presenting an alternative viewpoint that takes everything into consideration so people can make a rational judgement, particularly on the irony of it all, or perhaps simply on the inconsistencies of our society at large.

This guy was something else. I mean the world of ficition could not conjure up a more interesting character. He literally ran the gamut of what we call life. A life full of extremes, at one point in life being one of the most feared criminals in the Australian Underworld to becoming a celebrated author and international celebrity. Who thinks up this stuff? Haha!

I don't condone or approve of his past, or the street justice he allegedly doled out on other criminals. Murder is murder no matter whom it is done too. However, I think he took the necessary steps to make amends. Perhaps, he can sit back and enjoy a cold one to talk about Neville Bartos with the Man upstairs?

I first heard about him by picking up his book "Chopper from the Inside," in what seems like eons ago. Back in 1999 or so. Before leaving on a six month deployment while serving in the Navy, I stumbled upon the book while looking for reading material for my time at sea, and it was a great find indeed! It really help cut through the boredom and monotony of deployment. Since then, I saw the movie, and followed his expoits. A truly interesting character through and through. Here is a little of Chopper played by Eric Banna in the 2000 Biopic "Chopper."



Rest in Peace!

R.I.P Chop chop


King

I hate it when gangsters become celebrities! Kill the lot of them!

groingrinder
I hate it when gangsters become celebrities! Kill the lot of them!

He wasn't a ''gangster'' he was a one man force. If we 'have' to have criminals (they're not going away) I prefer them to be like our Uncle Chop Chop because he was the type of guy who only ever hurt/killed other criminals, not the average man in the street.

''Never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn'' lol, he was a character, you couldn't help but like him.

reply to post by amraks


dbl post.

reply to post by amraks


The man was a thug, a coward and a liar, hated even by the rejected of rejects.
The "man" was a dirty low minded gutless wonder who had to brutalize prostitutes just to get off and had no respect for anything or one but his own ego. The worst kind of nutter, one who actually loves being a nutter, he used his 'bad life' as a pissweak excuse to beat on those who really did have it bad and was a shameless turncoat on anyone he couldnt buy kill or f*ck.So sick to death of anti-hero worshipers as I am with hero-worshipers. The guy was a load short of a slugs gene pool. Most of you here wouldn't have p*ssed on him if he was on fire and he hadn't become a movie star. Glad he's dead, worlds a better place with one less slug in it.

Dark Ghost
A notable figure in Australia's history whom should be remembered, but I do not understand why so many Australians idolised this man or why the media feel the need to glamorise his life. I do not enjoy down talking people that have just passed, so I won't say more.

Well i'll do it for you then.

Good riddence to a nasty piece of work who brutalised many people during his life.

Personally i'm glad this piece of crap is 6 feet under, one less violent scumbag in the world is the only part of this story that gets my respect.