and if you don't think the writers are worth it... think about what Jon Stewart would be like without these guys that you never see and until now never hear from? This little made-for-you-tube is as funny as the real Daily Show. Seriously!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Strike Tutorial...
and if you don't think the writers are worth it... think about what Jon Stewart would be like without these guys that you never see and until now never hear from? This little made-for-you-tube is as funny as the real Daily Show. Seriously!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Don't Be A Scab: Turn off Ellen!
For those of you not in LA, you might not be aware of the writer's strike. The Writer's Guild, the WGA, is out on strike because producers and studios won't increase the residuals made from digital media to be similar to what writers make in residuals from broadcast. In an age with so much "Tune in Online" or "All of Season 5 on DVD" writers only want their share. In fact, the rise of DVD sales is hurting off-network syndication of shows and so the writers lose money while the producers make more...
Ellen Degeneres, who apparently doesn't know how to read contracts, now thinks she understands contracts. She also pretends to care about the writers, while continuing to do her television show because she is ignorant to how organized labor relies on a strike. And just like with the dog "crisis", she's trying to play the victim, now cancelling a trip to New York to produce shows.
I tried to be sympathetic since we are family and all, but when I was watching Bill O'Reilly earlier in the week I decided that Ellen is a scab. Bill has famous Republican and WGA member Ben Stein on the show along with a UCLA Labor expert. While the premise of the segment was for O'Reilly -- a union member (AFTRA) -- and Stein -- a member of both SAG and WGA-- to defend Ellen, they both added a little snippet to the conversation that most of us probably would have missed. Both Stein and O'Reilly confessed that they would not break the strike and cross the picket line if they were in Ellen's sensible, lesbian-chic shoes. And yet Ellen, a so-called progressive still "spits in the faces of working men and women" by continuing to cross a picket line that two Repubican trolls like O'Reilly and Ben Stein say they'd have honored.
Principles mean nothing if you don't honor them when the decision is tough. I've known non-union employees who have quit jobs rather than cross a picket line. I've never considered it myself and fear the day when I have to make that tough decision to give up something I love -- a great job -- because I know that the dignity of workers is always more important than my immediate needs.
Ellen Degeneres, who apparently doesn't know how to read contracts, now thinks she understands contracts. She also pretends to care about the writers, while continuing to do her television show because she is ignorant to how organized labor relies on a strike. And just like with the dog "crisis", she's trying to play the victim, now cancelling a trip to New York to produce shows.
I tried to be sympathetic since we are family and all, but when I was watching Bill O'Reilly earlier in the week I decided that Ellen is a scab. Bill has famous Republican and WGA member Ben Stein on the show along with a UCLA Labor expert. While the premise of the segment was for O'Reilly -- a union member (AFTRA) -- and Stein -- a member of both SAG and WGA-- to defend Ellen, they both added a little snippet to the conversation that most of us probably would have missed. Both Stein and O'Reilly confessed that they would not break the strike and cross the picket line if they were in Ellen's sensible, lesbian-chic shoes. And yet Ellen, a so-called progressive still "spits in the faces of working men and women" by continuing to cross a picket line that two Repubican trolls like O'Reilly and Ben Stein say they'd have honored.
Principles mean nothing if you don't honor them when the decision is tough. I've known non-union employees who have quit jobs rather than cross a picket line. I've never considered it myself and fear the day when I have to make that tough decision to give up something I love -- a great job -- because I know that the dignity of workers is always more important than my immediate needs.
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