With just six days left before the expiration of the Writers Guild of America contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) has just increased its dues partly to prepare for a potential strike of their own in the Fall. This, as one hilarious Reuters stringer quips, is "bad news for many waiters in Los Angeles." We prefer to put our own patented, optimistic spin on it and think of it as a boon to restaurant management everywhere.

The WGA and the producers, meanwhile, are engaged in "cordial" talks, which are sort of like thanking the keg-standing fraternity boy in advance for the date-rape.