HOLLYWOOD DREAMS, SAG-AFTRA AND IT’S LABOR SRIKE

Los Angeles, CA--Let me begin by saying I’m a member in good standing with SAG-AFTRA.  I began with SAG and later a merger with its weak sister, AFTRA happened.  SAG is for theatrical performers, film actors, voiceover and commercial actors.  

 

AFTRA is for TV or radio news reporters, anchors and some television actors. Only a tiny percentage of them have and financially successful careers. 

 

AFTRA representation is crappy.  For example, there are TV news reporters that qualify for food stamps in LA.  I can’t remember when AFTRA didn’t simply cave into the desires of the production companies.  

 

That SAG-AFTRA merger destroyed the SAG health insurance leaving many working and retired actors in a sudden financial hotspot.  

 

What most people don't know is that only a tiny percentage of the sag actors are multi-millionaires.  There are working actors that although are not well known get work almost every day.  The other members are virtually unemployed because they lack talent or don't have effective theatrical agents.  They scrounge for crumbs occasionally getting work. Most actors are really gamblers hoping that they can somehow beat the house and get rich.

 

The biggest roadblock is that the union does not seriously crack down on scab work.  Desperate and hungry actors really have no choice but to do commercials for snake oil drug products and those annoying infomercials. Of course, they are paid near to nothing and get no residuals as these commercials are played repetitively and endlessly.  Imagine trying to be a screen idol as your face is continually broadcast on the television airwaves for months touting a drug for bladder control or erectile dysfunction.

 

SAG-AFTRA understandably does not want to hurt their members by enforcing rule #1.  However, no enforcement is much worse because the production companies then gleefully rip-off hungry actors waiting in cattle call lines for any work. It is a lose, lose situation except for the producers.  

 

Smart performers have day or better yet night jobs.  

 

The A&B list actors don't want or need to go out on strike because they are living comfortably in the rarefied air of Beverly Hills or Calabasas.

 

The other actors that don't get enough work need to be paid much better so that they can keep roofs over their heads.  Imagine for a second watching a movie where the only actors are the top stars. It just would never work without the other actors filling in the scenes.

 

As you can see there is truly a Boulevard of Broken Dreams in Hollywood.  It’s also loaded with too many producers and casting directors, both Gay and straight with their pants down selling film roles for flesh.  

 

With progress in technology every job faces amazing changes. Now we have artificial intelligence that will write the film scripts and give us theatrical performers as real as any you have ever seen.  That gives us to wonder what the industry will be like in another 20 years.

 

I will be on the picket line in the current extreme heat to support my brothers and sisters.

Democrats are rebuilding the Ku Klux Klan in America

Your City, USA—During Post slavery and Civil War Reconstruction, law enforcement was primitive and significantly challenged. Crime was out-of-control and there were insufficient police resources to deal with it.  The only immediate answer was to draft a vigilante militia force to protect the public. 

 

The first significant response was the creation of the Ku Klux Klan.  They took a pretty much a terrorist approach wearing their hoods to conceal their identities.   

 

The Klan slowed down crime all right.  It was in part because the sight of alleged offenders hanging from various trees that made quite an impression.  

 

There was only a couple of problems in that there was a lack of due process, trials and accordingly no appeals.  Punishments were influenced by anger, prejudice and the amount of alcohol that Klan members were consuming. 

 

The Klan was quite popular and many of our respected Democrat Congressmen were members.  They were invited to parade as heroes in our Capitol. Make no mistake Democrats created and continued with the Klan until recent times.

 

The Klan proved to be a violent blight in America with their seemingly total immunity to laws.  The cure was to begin arresting and prosecuting them over lynchings and terrorism.  However, when their cases went to trial, jurors were not inclined to convict their, “First responding” heroes.  

 

Things began to change when local police multiplied and took over the reins of policing communities. The newly formed FBI waged a successful war on the Klan. Finally in the 60’s. 70’s and 80’s the Klan was driven out of business. Today they are no longer the heroes, but only a detested memory of a very dark past. 

 

Today, our Democrat politicians have let thousands upon thousands of violent criminals out of jails and prisons. Likewise, the dangerous mentally ill are allowed to roam the streets without medication or supervision. Finally, our police have been castrated and forbidden to be more than just scarecrows.  As a result strong armed, mass violent shoplifting attacks against retail establishments with zero consequences now plagues every major city.

 

Under these circumstances, with no government intervention the only tool for our survival is a return to local vigilante militias to take over the protection and public safety duties. Why you ask?  There’s no other solution.  Apparently, we’ve not learned from history. 

 

This cannot end well.