The Writers Guild strike has hit the 100-day mark with no end in sight. I've heard or read numerous predictions about how and when it will conclude and I suppose one of those will turn out to be correct, though maybe not for the presently-stated reasons. Me, I'm sticking with "Nobody can predict when talks will resume, let alone when they will reach some sort of settlement."
For the record, my guild's longest strike was in 1988 and it lasted 154 days. I was close to those negotiations and I concluded that that strike lasted as long as it did not because of our demands but due to an inability of the producers in the A.M.P.T.P. to agree among themselves on what to offer us. That may be the problem right now.
I'm heartened by the big loss in Ohio of Issue 1, a ballot initiative that was trying to make it more difficult for the pro-choice movement to amend that state's constitution to protect abortion rights. As Amanda Marcotte notes…
For decades, Republicans had bamboozled the press into believing that the country was "bitterly divided" over abortion. Mainstream media misled Americans into believing that this was practically a 50/50 issue nationally and that abortion rights were deeply unpopular in the red states. Responsible pollsters kept trying to correct the narrative, pointing out that strong majorities of Americans believed it should be a right. But Republicans and their handmaidens in the "both sides"-obsessed press kept relying on shoddier polls that used ambiguous or misleading language to exaggerate the opposition to abortion. Republicans started to believe their own B.S., convincing themselves that the public, at least in red states, would be fine with abortion bans.
I have another flurry of e-mails asking me when I will next be a guest at a comic book convention. I guess I've turned down so many that everyone's given up on asking me, which is fine. I'll just stick with WonderCon Anaheim (March 29-31, 2024) and the next Comic-Con International in San Diego (July 25-28, 2024 with a Preview Night on Wednesday, July 24).