Pixelated Semantics

Tortured metaphors and metaphors for torture

Britain's supreme court has now legitimised the ongoing detention without charge of "terror suspects", and the use of testimony obtained "by mistreatment" - torture by any other word. The Americans, conversely, may have to release some "suspects" after their Supreme Court ruling that Americans held in the US as "enemy combatants" must be able to contest their detention. Not to be outdone by Head Office, the Australian High Court has also just legitimised indefinite detention for asylum seekers, in a clear abrogation of human rights. Having perfected the apparatus of oppression, China is now discussing sending philosophers into space - and not to exile their critics for once either, but seemingly from the altruistic notion that someone may like to actually contemplate ideas. The closest Australia came to philosophy yesterday was Man of Steel's "tortured distinctions" between the "letter" of the FTA and the "atmospherics" and "spirit" of it in parliamentary debate - a dialog laden with subtexts of American cultural references while engaged in trading away our local content rights. Latham described the debate as "becoming more and more surreal and less tangible", with Man of Steel setting the Freudian agenda by announcing "I've done a CSI on this, a very detailed CSI". "CSI", apart from being a heavy-handed TV reference, stands for "Crime Scene Investigation" - and it is extremely interesting that Howard would describe the FTA as a "crime scene", even if subconsciously. [Freud's work "The Psychopathology of Everday Life" outlines what is known today as a "Freudian Slip" - where a statement reveals an unintentional truth by subconscious association.] Despite all the economic attention, none of the discussion explains why we must accept Americanisation with immediate shameful haste. Perhaps the most telling, wordless, statement of the Parliamentary FTA session was the presence of the American delegation, led by Bush's Ambassador, preferentially seated behind the Government benches, replete with stars'n'stripes neckties - as if overseeing the purchase of sheep at an auction.

Update: At 1.39pm today it was announced the FTA has passed both houses of Parliament, despite objections from minority parties and independants, the net gain of only $53 million from the deal, the admitted abrogation of soveriegnty, and the indecent haste to pass the legislation. This will stand as a moment of shame for generations to come, the moment when our political executive sold out their culture and their country without informed debate or the consent of the people. There is still a possibility the Americans will not accept Labour's amendments, and hand an electoral bonus to the Coalition, but from the Australian side, the deal is done. Bob Brown, as usual, seemed to be the only representative with any integrity and honesty left to speak out for the rest of us:

"I stand here on behalf of the Greens and this crossbench in defence of the sovereignty of this country, sold out by the Labor Party, sold out by the Howard coalition, to faceless people and the department of trade and to Hollywood, and to Silicon Valley and to the drug corporations in New England".

Item posted by AutoEditor at 11:26 am ::