August 4, 2004
-
Fwak Gets Political! - by EddieOur flight on JetBlue from NYC to LA not only had WiFi (in the JFK terminal, and FREE, much to Miss Chin’s delight) but also satellite TV.
To my surprise I watched on CNN as they crossed to George W. Bush signing the Free Trade Agreement with Australia. “This signals great trade opportunities for the Pacific Rim” gushed the CNN reporter.
Whoops! Guess they aren’t informed enough to know that Australia has a Parliament, and that this piece of legislation is going through an intense debate between the conservative government and Labor opposition. Nothing is signed from the Australian end. On the contrary…this document for “great trade opportunities” is shaping up as a possible election trigger. (Sydney Morning Herald: Even a Trade-Off Agreement Unlikely)
If this little fact escaped CNN then I’m damn sure they know nothing of what the Free Trade Agreement contains. The most relevant part for our industry is the basic de-regulation of Australian content laws, and is another erosion of any protection the Australian entertainment industry has. More informed people know more about this than I do…my main beef is that the US – and the Murdoch press in Australia for that matter – have reported this as a done deal.
Thankfully we now have an opposition in Australia to make sure these done deals don’t happen with the regularity they have, over the last decade.
So much for CNN…I happily flipped back to Boomerang knowing I’d be just as informed.****************************************
At the Ozanimation Forum, there have been several postings on this Free Trade Agreement issue; and recently our friend Suze (in Melbourne) sent us the links for the pros and cons:- Reasons for the FTA – as published by a govt. website
- Reasons against the FTA – protest website
Random Links
Gapingvoid.com: How To Be Creative
Aurelio O ‘Brien’s website (promotion for his new novel, EVE)
Hoodtown signing at Hi-De-Ho comics (Santa Monica) this week!
Ken Conley sent me these two great photos, taken in the Mission, San Francisco.
‘Bullfight’ Image by Matt Clark (via the SHIFT blog)
-
