'Hell Bound'
We open it up, we talks the talk, we votes, we shuts it down. This thread is to free up Bureaucracy for daily details as we hammer out the Big Issues towards a vote. Open only when a proposal has been made and seconded according to Buffista policy (Which we voted on!). If this thread is closed, hie thee to Bureaucracy instead!
Shortening the voting period would probably cause people to miss that window.
I think if we're going to shorten anything it would be the discussion period. Like if there is no discussion after a day, just jump to voting? I know the same argument can be used against this, but I'll be surprised if there is much dissent on this issue.
And then there is ita's point of "next time". So I don't know.
I'm also for the strike, for the writers, for showing our support as a community, and for taking it to a vote as fast as possible.
And big, big, huge thanks for posting the link to fans4writers -- I'd been thinking about all the many, many letters to advertisers and sponsors I'd written during the SAG strike a few years back and kicking myself for not knowing how to get involved and who to write the "Hi, I'm a member of your target market, please don't be a dick to the people who make the stuff you want me to consume"* letters to this time.
*There was also the much rarer but still occasionally needed, and much more fun to write, "Thanks for standing by the strikers, which I know is not at all part of your corporate charter; I'm going to go out and buy your potato chips/soda pop/miscellaneous other crappy but delightful product RIGHT NOW to show what a grateful target market I am" letter.
I'm still not seeing a good reason for the rush.
Allyson's proposal is admittedly hazy and vague. I think we should decide exactly what we want to do before we start to vote. Some people don't have internets at home and others don't have access at work. One of the reasons for the 4 & 3 day process is so that (most) everyone gets to participate. If we shorten the voting period, those people could get disenfranchised.
I see no reason to rush. I'm supportive of the supporting the writers (is that enough versions of "support" for you?), and this strike isn't likely to end during our discussion and voting period, so let 'er rip.
Showing support for writers is certainly a very Buffista friendly position. I checked out the site Allyson linked to in B'crazy and the count on the FAQ page was
Viewed 12,459 times
Looks like we are not alone!
I would love to see an indication on our site that clearly shows our support for the writers. And links to info and ways to help.
I would actually like to know ways to help. No downloading from iTunes? No viewing online content? (Crap, I will have to remember to set my VCR.) What else?
I am fully in support of WGA and am all for a vote sooner rather than later.
I would actually like to know ways to help. No downloading from iTunes? No viewing online content? (Crap, I will have to remember to set my VCR.) What else?
The clarion call that I've seen is: no "new media" (iTunes, Amazon Unbox, NBC's unbox thing, etc.), no online streaming, no DVD buying, and eventually no watching stop-gap reality shows/reruns/special programming.
My take on making it all time-sensitive is this.
The writers are fighting a shitty and much-needed fight, and they're in the immensely shitty position of having to start every single discussion about that fight with a preemptive explanation of every damn nuance of the history of that fight because they know it's an uphill battle. The majority of the comments on various writers' blogs I've seen have been positive (mostly from people connected to the industry or involved in unions and labor organizing), but there's a definite strong online minority (which likely translates to something closer to an offline majority) opinion that the writers are all rich and greedy and just pissed-off that the studios are even richer. The WGA doesn't hit instant-sympathy buttons like striking coal miners or strawberry pickers; if anything, they hit a lot of people's instant-antipathy buttons.
The more visible and vocal support the writers get from a wide range of voices, the better. And the sooner, the better, because if they're starting out having to make up for a lot of (however unfairly) pre-lost sympathy, it's just going to get worse the longer the strike drags on.