For a slow news day, this could not have been better news.
soupsoup:

Best news all day.

The studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, said the economy is in trouble and urged actors not to strike.

“It is unrealistic for SAG negotiators now to expect even better terms during this grim financial climate,” the AMPTP said in a statement. “This is the harsh economic reality, and no strike will change that reality.”

The SAG’s national board, a 71-member body, is scheduled to meet Oct. 18. A simple majority is needed to approve the call for a strike vote.

On the flip side, can I really blame the union for wanting to strike? The AMPTP is now attempting to pressure the union, using the economic crisis as a reason not to re-negotiate their terms. Um, okay, so…what about your other contract agreements? Are you saying that you won’t be able to honor them because the economy is in trouble?

The guild wants union coverage of all shows made for the Internet, regardless of budget, and residual payments for actors on made-for-Internet shows that are reused on the Internet. It also demands protections for actors during work stoppages.

The alliance has stuck by a final offer it made June 30, which it said mirrored deals accepted by directors, a smaller actors union called the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and writers following their strike.

Oh okay. So, AFTRA gets theirs, and DGA members (directors) get theirs, but actors don’t? That’s great for me, but not so great for our actors. I’m sorry but um…that dog won’t hunt.

I support the union in their negotiating position & hope a strike will be averted. If not, it’s going to be a bumpy autumn.

The Associated Press: Actors union moves closer to strike vote.

Clay Aiken, though?

The cover story from people might as well have had a picture of Chris Rock holding a baby and said “YES, I’M BLACK.”

Anyways, I’m glad he figured it out. I guess.

Clay Aiken Comes Out Of The Closet: Nation’s Craft Stores Prepare For Lower Aiken-Related Revenues.

“When I first heard the news,” a man who would only be identified as “Pookie” told Cherry Blossom Special, “I was … well, it was quite disturbing. I actually…I was at my partner’s house and…we had just started hitting the pipe. His buddy had got up and walked down to the store to get a pack of Newports and I guess he forgot he had left the TV on. Then they said 7 tons of cocaine… and in my mind, I was like, ‘WHAT?’ Man, I got so spooked, I broke my stem and almost set my hand on fire.”

“Pookie” was not alone in his concerns. All cross the country, within minutes “Pookies” everywhere, along with dozens of others from around the way, were driven to go on a mission. Klingons began converging en masse lining up out front of the spots, desperately trying to catch a price break before news of the submarine seizure reached the bomb squads and corners. Zoomers capitalized on the situation, leading to widespread complaints about “bunk shit”. Even “kibbles & bits”, pieces which previously ended up on floors, in sofa cushions or behind furniture, have become valued commodities.

Analysts see the takedown of “cocaine submarine” as a red flag to market trends on the quality, availability and, certainly, price of crack cocaine in major urban areas. As the news spread to investors and commodity brokers, the predicted price surge began.

Those investors who previously bought only pee-wees were hardest hit: what was once a 5 or 10 dollar rock suddenly cost 30 dollars. Biscuits were going for as high as $1200 in some cities. Long-held standards regarding the bartering of items for crack, such as televisions and DVD players,had dissipated while bartering was suspended in many areas of the country. In several areas of Chicago, Philly and all along the west coast, crack houses have begun hanging signs outside saying “CLOSED” or “NO BIRD”. The crushing blow to dealers and crack addicts alike has yet to be seen in its full light.

In the earliest hours of the crisis, many of the rock fiends we met remained calm and affable on the surface, continuing to ask passersby for spare change or a loosey. A quick exit poll conducted by Cherry Blossom Special of those leaving various crack houses on their “interplanetary mission” indicated that nearly 78 percent of all crack heads surveyed were angry about the possible long-term implications on the market. 72% of those surveyed were concerned about what would happen to their money if they didn’t buy-in short. But they could all agree: an even one-hundred percent of those surveyed indicated that their primary reason for being willing to wait for long periods of time was “because the pipe keep calling me, man”.

While some predict the situation to be potentially devastating, others such as Ghostface Killah were heard to echo the message they’ve long been telling people. Questioned on the matter, Ghost, aka Tony Starks, simply said “Tony’s got it nice, we never heard of any big droughts.”

Until more is known about the situation, lines continue to form at dope spots, fear grips an already skittish community of hopefuls, and an anxious world of pipeheads prays for someone to step in and provide a source of quality product and some form of immediate economic relief to those affected by this crisis.

A Midgett armed boarding party quickly climbed aboard the sub and found 195 bales of cocaine in a large forward compartment, authorities said.

Coast Guard cutter stops cocaine-laden submarine.

I always say, there’s nothing like an armed boarding party of Midgetts riding a submarine filled with cocaine. (HT: goldenfiddle.com)

UPDATE:

The first seizure occurred September 12…

Cocaine smugglers turn to submarines, feds say

If I had that much cocaine, my first seizure would have occurred before the submarine left.

Trailers by Film: Nothing But the Truth – Trailer Addict.

The invasion of the Governor’s privacy has raised a number of questions about the privacy & security of public email providers, furthering concern and speculation that such use by government officials to conduct official government business would fall outside the realms of disclosure.

Months ago, Governor Palin admitted openly to routinely having used public email, even prided herself on the choice. Now that the email has been compromised, people on all sides were given a clear, if momentary, glimpse into what amounts to, essentially, very little: nothing untoward was revealed whatsoever. Quite the contrary: it bolstered confidences of people who supported Governor Palin, both sympathetically and contextually, for using public email in her practice as governor of Alaska.

Meanwhile, the CIA and the FBI appear to have become directly involved in tracking down the people (or persons) who infiltrated the governor’s privacy, a completely appropriate action in light of who, and what, was being tampered with. Blame has been placed on someone who, in the eyes of some, must clearly be an Obama supporter — someone who wanted to blow the whistle on some form of corruption. It has stimulated response from both Republicans and Democrats, denouncing the fiendish motivations behind such actions, creating increased finger-pointing by people who were already looking for reasons to chastise one side or the other.

The media has wondered, publicly, how such an attack could have occurred. But in the media’s coverage of this debacle, a series of critical reasoning flaws and motives have been overlooked.

Chief among these logic problems, to this writer, seems simple: what if it was merely an “inside job” by the McCain camp meant to discredit Obama supporters and create a firestorm of controversy?

Readers of this piece may not be familiar with the website 4chan and “Anonymous”, the default name given to anyone who posts on the 4chan website if they choose not to include a name. The “Anonymous” moniker was connected to controversy earlier this year in a rallied effort to discredit the Church of Scientology, known as “Project Chanology”. An inflammatory video was posted to YouTube, one which features Tom Cruise in the midst of a scientology presentation. Various protests and denial-of-service atacks were organized against the Church of Scientology in extensive ambiguity by the disconnected minions of both the project and of 4chan.

The philosophy behind this anonymity and ambiguity is culled from a character called V, the central character in the comic book and subsequent film V for Vendetta. V is known to be an “anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask” who begins an “elaborate, violent and theatrical campaign to bring down the government”. Through association, the 4chan version of “Anonymous” has attempted to adopt the theology and philosophy of V, representing both everyman and no man at the same time. By being everywhere and nowhere at the same time, it is believed, the ability to find and conquer one’s target is always close at hand.

It is not known how many members there are of the 4chan community — no concrete numbers save those of their Alexa ranking (1,039 out of all the internet as of this writing). It is not known, even, who frequents the website itself. What is known by those who have visited the site’s adult section (or /b/), by chance or otherwise, is their insistence on disconnecting themselves from the content presented by participants. The disclaimer states the obvious: “The stories and information posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact.”

The content warrants such a disclaimer: while the site is well-known as a way to quickly spread internet meme’s (such as Tay Zonday’s now-notorious “Chocolate Rain”), the site is perhaps better known as a catch-all for the posting of disgusting pictures (including mutilations, cutting, various body piercings, suicide photos and other atrocities), hideous imagery (people ingesting their own and each others feces for example) and (it is widely reported) even child pornography, or “CP”. It would appear to the untrained visitor that it is a haunt for the internet society’s lowest common denominators. However, a closer look will reveal simply this: a bunch of bored kids seeking any form of shock value.

What better group of people, it would seem, to take an inside job to and utilize for your own means — those with a reputation for illegitimate, shady behavior and the trafficking of illegal art, a group who have already been connected to protests and whose inherited kinship with anarchist behavior is widely known?

The media has purposefully overlooked what 4chan is and what it contains precisely because they do not want to promote the promoters. But is it not possible, in the grand scheme of things, that someone in the McCain/Palin camp said to themselves, “Hey, here’s an idea: we’ll clean up the governor’s inbox to make sure there’s nothing incriminating, we’ll ‘leak’ the password and a series of photos proving that Governor Palin’s account was hacked using 4chan, and create a shit storm. The content of the leak will prove what we’ve been saying all along, discrediting pundits who claim that the Governor is using public email to conduct important government business and bring further attention to this hotbed of anarchistic activity on the internet?”

While far from being “The Perfect Storm”, an investigation may lead directly to someone within Palin’s own camp, a trusted confidant or, perhaps, someone with a bone to pick. Only time will tell. However, as much as I would like to believe that this is all a grand scheme to discredit Governor Palin, it only seems to me, at this point, like a desperate attempt to sweep together soundbites that paint the Governor in a more palatable light. In light of recent allegations of corruption by the Governor and attempts to cover up that corruption by the McCain camp, what better time to unleash a simple, yet powerful, public relations tool?

From Accuweather.Com

I highly recommend you check out this article on Webmonkey so you can get your groove back, too.

(Get Started With Tumblr – Webmonkey.)