WonderfulPessimist.com

SAG delayed a potential strike authorization vote this weekend by deciding to request a Federal mediator to intervene in the negotiations between the major actors’ union and Hollywood producers, represented by AMPTP. Almost a year after a writer’s strike ground Hollywood to a halt for about 100 days, ruining the TV seasons of most shows, SAG now seems bent on producing the sequel to that strike.

I hate to sound like someone who sides only with the producers, but AMPTP has a point when they say that the terms under which they settled labor agreements with the WGA, DGA and AFTRA earlier this year were made under better financial conditions in the economy, so expecting a deal better than those is a position that simply doesn’t make sense for SAG to demand.

Still, if a Federal negotiator gets involved, don’t be surprised if the threat of a second Hollywood strike in less than a year has major political fallout, especially in an election year; not only in the state of California, but also potentially at the Federal level. Could this be the Democrats’ October surprise? Don’t bet a lot of Starbucks coffee against it.

While the conventions are still ahead, as are the announcements of running mates, at this point Barack Obama and John McCain are all tied up in the latest Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll on presidential preference.

Both candidates garner about 43 percent in the poll, leaving about 14 percent of the electorate undecided, if these numbers are to be believed. The news of these polls, if you ask me, is about as helpful as an AC compressor in a snowstorm, but there it is.

The only poll that matters, after all, is the one that takes place in November, at the ballot box. Beyond that, it’s all just best guesses at the mood of the moment. And I still can’t figure out why America is so intent on promoting either of these yahoos who have been part of the worst-rated Congress in US history…. Only nine percent approval!

With fuel prices out of control, it’s no longer easy to plan a vacation, and when the opportunity comes along, sticking closer to home always seems like the smarter option. That’s why I like the idea of a Branson, MO, getaway.

Thanks in large part to my parents’ musical tastes as I was growing up, I have a high tolerance for country music, and in the wake of 9/11, patriotic crooners like Toby Keith made for much better listening, to me, than most of the anti-American rockers out there.

Branson’s become famous as an alternative to Nashville as a country music getaway, and likes to bill itself as the “live music capital of the world.” But Branson offers a lot even for those who are not country music fans; attractions include a selection of theme parks, as well as magic, comedy, dance, acrobatics, and drama, all performed live on stage.

With most packaged ranging from $423 to $551, as well as a couple top-notch packages in the $623 to $925 range, there really is a package to fit most budgets; and while transportation down and back isn’t included, you can still get some reasonable air fare rates to Branson from most metro areas these days … it’s cheaper than driving, that’s for sure!

The WonderfulPessimist.com recommendation, though, has to go to the Great American Package (naturally). It features four days and three nights at the Welk Resort Hotel, and includes two adult tickets to the Magnificent Seven with Dinner, Legends in Concert and, of course, the Veteran’s Museum. Additonal activities are extra, but at $454 per couple, it’d be hard to find a better value.

According to the Third Court of Appeals in Austin, TX, “authorities had no right to seize more than 440 children in a raid on the splinter group’s compound last month. The Third Court of Appeals in Austin said the state failed to show the youngsters were in any immediate danger, the only grounds in Texas law for taking children from their parents without court action.”

This decision comes in the wake of a Texas raid on a polygamist sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (”Fundamentalist Mormons” or “FLDS” from here on out). The ruling by the appeals court could force the state Child Protective Services to return the children to their parents, though that could be forestalled if the state decides to press the decision to the level of the Texas Supreme Court.

Although most kids worry about things like the school dance and acne treatment, Texas Child Protective Services claimed sexual abuse charges, using them to justify taking away all the kids from the FLDS, even those who were among traditional two-parent families.

“Even if one views the FLDS belief system as creating a danger of sexual abuse by grooming boys to be perpetrators of sexual abuse and raising girls to be victims of sexual abuse … there is no evidence that this danger is ‘immediate’ or ‘urgent’,” the court said. “Evidence that children raised in this particular environment may someday have their physical health and safety threatened is not evidence that the danger is imminent enough to warrant invoking the extreme measure of immediate removal.”

Kinda brings Waco to mind, doesn’t it? Don’t expect Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to be running for the White House any time soon, after this embarrassment.

Since editorialists everywhere are competing with each other to make the most outrageous price predictions on the cost of oil and the cost of gas at the pump, I figured I may as well join in the fun. So, WonderfulPessimist.com hereby predicts that oil will rise to $500 per barrel, with an at-the-pump price of $22.50 per gallon for regular unleaded.

Maybe. Someday. Certainly not anytime soon, though.

But still, if newspapers and TV stations across the country can get attention by treating the price of gas story like it’s an auction to be won by the highest bidder, I figure why not get really outrageous and really go for broke?

The current mess is cyclical and rather disturbing. OPEC are a bunch of greedy jerks, liberal media elites this we’re still not paying enough for gas for pure political reasons because a gallon of Starbucks coffee is still higher, and Democrats are looking for any excuse to make the mess worse by increasing the gas tax.

(It’s been a continual cry of liberal Dems ever since Paul “Tax On Gas” Tsongas ran for the White House. And Minnesota Dems demagogued the 35W bridge collapse enough to actually push a gas-tax increase through even in the midst of the worst pump-price spike in years. This in spite of the fact that a gas tax is one of the most regressive forms of taxation in our economy; guess the Dems don’t fight THAT hard for the poor, eh? So don’t tell me I’m making this up out of whole cloth.)

Also, let me be the first to predict this: prices will eventually ease again. Maybe not in 2008 yet, but certainly by next year. Too much of the current spike is not about supply and demand, but on baseless price speculation in the futures market. And like the irrational Internet economy of 2000, a bust will eventually take the air out of this oil boom.

Till then? I’m closing my wood shutters and not vacationing ANYWHERE this year.

Well, the Kentucky Derby has been run, Minnesota has enjoyed its fishing opener and around this time of year, my thought are not always 100 percent on politics or blogging, but on fun summertime activities I can do with my wife.

One of the big disappointments we went through last year was not having enough time out on the lakes, fishing and having other types of summer fun. We live in a state that has over 10,000 lakes, so that’s pretty much inexcusable, save for the fact that we simply weren’t doing well financially last year.

This summer’s not starting out much better, to be honest, but we’re looking into ways to have fun without all the expense. For example, instead of wishing we could afford time on a pontoon or owned a bass boat, we’ve started to consider the possibility of fishing in inflatable boats. Sure, one has to be careful with their hooks, but these days it takes more than one stray, miscast hook to upset an inflatable boat; they’re made of more rugged stuff that they once were.

Financially, it’s also a much better deal; they cost a lot less than a JetSki or a bass boat or even a basic AlumnCraft. And, as apartment dwellers, an inflatable boat stores easily when it’s not being used, whereas you just can’t own a more traditional watercraft when you live in an apartment.

Maintenance is also a time-saver; traditional boats take a much greater amount of time to maintain, from waxing and scraping to cleaning undesirable algaes from them; inflatable boats require no waxing or scraping, and water plantlife is far more easily removed.

It’s definitely a concept to ponder.

A few months ago, it appeared SLA terrorist and faux-hockey mom Kathleen Ann Soliah, referred to in the SLA-loving local liberal press by her fake name, Sara Jane Olson, might have been the beneficiary of a “Get out of jail free” card.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cecil, in a rare case of judicial sanity, rejected the arguments of Soliah’s attorneys and said the fashionable terrorist had to return to prison. Despite remaining a fugitive for over 25 years, Soliah was finally tracked down and arrested in 2001 in Minnesota, where she had married, had children and tried to blend anonymously into society as hockey mom Sara Jane Olson.

Despite serving only seven years so far, Soliah tried to take advantage when she was released in error on March 2008, where she remained free for five days before being re-arrested in Los Angeles, where she was hoping to fly back to Minnesota. Her proper release date was calculated to be March 2009, not March 2008.

Soliah was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, possession of explosives, explosion and attempt to ignite an explosive with intent to murder for the crimes she commited while in the SLA in the 1970s. Even with the extra year yet to serve, it’s a small amount of time for someone who had a hand in such violent crimes; she should remain behind bars sweating at the fitness equipment, rather than a year away from freedom, but at least California has decided Soliah is as least one blonde woman they won’t set free after less than a day and a half-hearted crying jag. (See Paris Hilton, among others.)

Chakib Khelil, Algeria’s energy minister and president of OPEC, in the wake of oil hitting a record $125 per barrel this week, has predicted that oil could rise as high as $200 per barrel before the market peaks out. Rather than blame consistent production cuts designed to spur the price inflation, however, Khelil decided to blame the victims.

Khelil said the blame for record oil prices and inflation at the pump lay at the feet of the weak U.S. dollar and “global insecurity.” That’s funny. And here I thought the weak US dollar had a lot to do with these out-of-control oil prices. Silly me.

As for the “global security” problem, things have never been better, when you think about it. Iraq is closer to being a stable democracy than it has ever been, the troop surge put a huge dent in the terrorist cell resistence, and about the only real risk out there now is the rabid president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who really might want to invest in some medical ID tags for his citizens and himself if he doesn’t cool his jets and start acting like a diplomat instead of a terrorist.

So much for our “allies” in the Middle East; those who aren’t trying to blow up America are taking notes from Japan and waging an all-out economic war on the West.

In the wake of Jimmy Carter’s Hug A Terrorist tour of the Middle East, the only one talking sense from the perspective of Israel is former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The popular conservative is speaking like Jeremiah in the streets of Jerusalem about the impending dangers of a nuclear Iran. Yet the news media ignores the problem as much as it can, and the US government mostly just stands by and watches Iran’s nuke build-up.

“This is not merely a local problem, this is a global problem. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons everything we have been talking about will pale in comparison,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday in a Newsmax.com story. “Their goals are unlimited. Whatever successes they have had so far, they don’t intend to stop. The militant Shiites in Iran are openly boasting that they are racing to develop nuclear weapons with the explicit announced goal of wiping Israel off the face of the map, and of reestablishing the caliphate, of course under militant Iranian rule.”

Rumors are already swirling that the US is planning a strike on Iran, though that seems a bit unlikely given the election year factor. Sure makes a person wonder what’s more important to worry about, a nuclear Iran or your kid whining about wanting new pool floats. Pretty elementary for most folks, eh?

Top CBS brass recently held a “pep rally” in support of their albatross of an anchor, Katie Couric. The communist in cotton, also known as Pravda’s sweetheart of the West, Couric’s helped CBS Evening News become a boat anchor instead of being its anchor, and word is that CBS will dump Couric shortly after the 2008 elections.

Heck, Couric’s numbers are lower than Bob Schiffer’s, and he was about 120. The big question is, once they dump Couric, where do they turn next. If CBS were serious about turning it’s news program, I’d suggest they turn to NBC a second time, and hire themselves another morning host.

But not a Today personality; I’m talking Sunday, not weekday. There’s just simply no one better qualified to become a network news anchor than Meet the Press’ Tim Russert. The man may be a former Democrat political operative - and outside of Fox News, what network news guy or gal isn’t? - but Russert has demonstrated an admirable knack for asking tough questions of both Demorats and Republicans. Hiring Russert would give CBS a fighting chance against Brian Williams and Charles Gibson.

There may be a few journalists who have more credibility than Russertt, but they’re all old as the earth and spent their time on Caribbean cruises, not digging up stories anymore.

First there was Ruby Ridge, then there was Waco. Now there’s El Dorado, Texas as the latest site of excessive government force being used against private citizens.

Now, I’m not Mormon or fundamentalist Mormon, and I’m certainly not in favor of polygamy. (One wife is enough, thanks!) But El Dorado is sure to soon join the ranks of Ruby Ridge and Waco, as well as what the Janet Reno-led ATF did in Miami to Elian Gonzoles all those years ago. The same overuse of force is evident.

It’s a classic tale of an overbearing government using children as a sheild and excuse to attack people of an odd faith and impose their will on them. All the cameras and fiber cable in the world won’t change the images of an excessive force raid El Dorado’s “FLDS compound.

The black helicopter conspiracy theorists will be all over this one for decades to come.

As though the humiliation of being beaten so thoroughly by Fox News in the ratings every night isn’t bad enough, CNN is going through a major crackup. At this very moment, two separate stories are breaking that indicate the earth-moving going on at CNN Center in Atlanta.

First comes this tidbit from Yahoo news, about a CNN reporter being arrested on a drug bust: “Richard Quest, 46, was arrested around 3:40 a.m. on a count of possession of a controlled substance — a misdemeanor that usually refers to a personal use amount of a drug. He was also charged with loitering; the park officially closes at 1 a.m.”

Well, at least he wasn’t writing fiction and publishing it in the New York Tmies as though it were Gospel, like a certain New York Times reporter did a few years ago. What the world wouldn’t give to see what else was on Jayson Blair’s USB flash drive.

As though that weren’t enough, CNN’s Jack Cafferty has many in China and some Chinese Americans calling for his head on a silver platter after making derogatory remarks against China recently. Never mind the basis in truth of many of his comments; Cafferty’s problem is that he’s become a newsmaker rather than a news reporter. That’s not CNN’s style, which is, if you’re going to say anything derogatory about anyone, just make sure it’s a Republican and no one else.

Anyone who had any doubts that CNN is a losing news organization can now at least rest in the fact that many of them are losers. OK, enough blogging… time to tune into Hannity’s America and Bill O’Reilly.