[UA] America by Prime Time (was Greetings)

[Patrick O'Duffy]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cassady Toles" <Con_Job at excite.com>

> I don't see it as being about right and wrong.  It's really about context.
> I can't imagine what it would be like to be able to drive to more than one
> country (something you can't do in australia) but you can do in Poland or
> Italy.

Actually, we have the independent nation of Hutt River Province nestled in
the South Australian bush - a small region that seceded from the rest of the
country in the 50s or so. Their national science is gematria. I shit you
not.

Okay, no-one takes them seriously, but you can drive there...


> Porn may not be a big religious issue, but I heard Alan Moore's "From
Hell"
> was also banned there.

Actually, no; From Hell was never 'banned'. What happened was that
Australian Customs refused permission to import it for a while. This wasn't
a governmental decision; Customs are a semi-autonomous body who can do what
they like for short periods until the censorship and classification people
override them.

I used to work in a comic store a few years back, and one customs official
started banning anything he felt like - even innocous stuff like Superman
and Batman comics. As soon as he was moved out of that position, the 'ban'
vanished.

'From Hell' was unavailable for about a month, after which the censor looks
at it, scoffed at the ban, and it was available for import again. And of
course, it was still fine to sell or buy the book within Australia at the
time, and I was talking to artists Eddie Campbell about the possibilities of
printing it locally, which would also have been fine.

(Eddie lives in the next suburb to me.)

Just clarifiying the situation.

> I can't imagine what it's like to live in a country
> where that could happen.  There are cities where their libraries may not
> carry books around here and schools that won't teach them, but the idea of
a
> book being illegal to own, read, or distribute totally wierds me out.

I thought that some 'subversive' titles like "The Anarchist's Cookbook" were
illegal to sell in the US?

--
Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia

Brothers and sisters, I have a dream. Journalism is a ticket to ride, to
travel deep into the dark heart of the pictures you see on your TV and
feeds. And I'm going to take you on a ride with me. A short weird ride into
the heart of darkness.

 - Spider Jerusalem, TRANSMETROPOLITAN #35


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