cross-posted from: https://lemmy.one/post/15434778

Krugman chimes in on US national debt

Alternative link: https://archive.ph/ce08r

"Specifically, let me make three points. First, while $34 trillion is a very large figure, it’s a lot less scary than many imagine if you put it in historical and international context. Second, to the extent debt is a concern, making debt sustainable wouldn’t be at all hard in terms of the straight economics; it’s almost entirely a political problem. Finally, people who claim to be deeply concerned about debt are, all too often, hypocrites — the level of their hypocrisy often reaches the surreal.

How scary is the debt? It’s a big number, even if you exclude debt that is basically money that one arm of the government owes to another — debt held by the public is still around $27 trillion. But our economy is huge, too. Today, debt as a percentage of G.D.P. isn’t unprecedented, even in America: It’s roughly the same as it was at the end of World War II. It’s considerably lower than the corresponding number for Japan right now and far below Britain’s debt ratio at the end of World War II. In none of these cases was there anything resembling a debt crisis. ..."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/14830625

‘Not like other Passovers’: hundreds of Jewish demonstrators arrested after New York protest seder

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/14006087

Israel announces largest West Bank land seizure since 1993 during Blinken visit

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/13965815

Ben Gurion, founder of Israel, admits having stolen land from Arabs and that's there's no reason for arabs to make peace. See more of his behaviour on this article

This is an important Wikipedia article about the founder of Israel, Ben Gurion, and his goals and planning for ethnic cleansing

Ben Gurion reported to another Zionist (Nahum Goldmann, founder of World Jewish Congress): "Why should the Arabs make peace? If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs. We come from Israel, it's true, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?"

Goldmann, Nahum (1978). The Jewish Paradox. Translated by Cox, Steve. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p. 99. ISBN 0-297-77494-8. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

https://archive.org/download/goldmann-nahum-j.auth.-the-jewish-paradox-1978-2/Goldmann%2C%20Nahum%20%28j.auth.%29%20-%20The%20Jewish%20Paradox%20%281978%29_2.pdf

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13695116

Apparently this is what it took to get the Washington Post to pause advertising on 𝕏itter

A Washington Post spokesperson said Tuesday the company had made the decision to pause its advertising on X.

Psychologists James Mitchell and John Bruce Jessen, who were paid at least $81 million by the CIA to develop and then implement the CIA’s post-9/11 torture program, had waterboarded al-Nashiri at a CIA black site. We get response from Roy Eidelson and discuss his new book, Doing Harm, which investigates the American Psychological Association’s complicity in post-9/11 torture programs and the struggle to reform the psychology field.

Deflection, distraction, and intimidation. Another example of the Florida governor's lack of transparency and thug-like tactics.

Reports now indicate the August 8 wildfires that ravaged the island of Maui in Hawaii are the deadliest in the United States in more than a century. More than 100 people are confirmed dead, but only a few have been positively identified. Because of the intensity of the flames, some of the victims' bodies were burned so severely they were difficult to identify.

Sadly, many now fear that children account for a large number of the fatalities. Schools in Lahaina were closed because of the fires, and many children were left home while their parents went to work. Families across the island continue to hope and pray they will be reunited with their loved ones, but the situation is becoming more grim as the days go by.

More from CafeMom: Teen Found Burned to Death in Bonfire During Arizona Graduation Trip

The school was supposed to be in session the day the wildfires began. The Wall Street Journal reported that Lahaina schools were set to open August 8, but a power outage canceled classes. This left parents with few choices for child care. The area is mainly working class, and many did not have the option to skip work.

"Our parents work one, two, three jobs just to get by and they can't afford to take a day off," Jessica Sill, a kindergarten teacher at Lahaina's King Kamehameha III Elementary School, which was destroyed by flames, told the Wall Street Journal. "Without school, there was nowhere for [kids] to go that day."

Sill expressed concern for all of her students moving forward. "We are so worried for them and we will do whatever we need to support them through this catastrophe," she said.

Experts fear the death toll will continue to rise. Hawaii Governor Josh Green told CNN that officials are asking family members of the missing to provide DNA samples to help identify bodies.

"We're asking all of our loved friends and family in the area who have any concern to go get swabbed at the family support center so that we can match people genetically," the governor said.

Police have only searched one-third of Lahaina with cadaver-sniffing dogs, leaving a large part of the town untouched, the Wall Street Journal reported. "We are prepared for many tragic stories," Green told CBS News. Green said crews will continue their search in Lahaina homes.

CNN reported the majority of human remains were found on a seaside road. Green said crews now plan to search homes in Lahaina. "Now that we go into the houses, we're not sure what we'll see. We're hopeful and praying that it's not large, large numbers," he said, according to CNN.

https://cafemom.com/news/unidentified-victims-of-maui-wildfires-children/experts-fear-the-death-toll-will-continue-to-rise

TRENTON, N.J. -- State labor officials have temporarily shut down more than two dozen Boston Market restaurants in New Jersey after finding multiple violations of workers’ rights, including more than $600,000 in back wages owed to 314 employees.

A stop-work order was issued Tuesday by the Department of Labor against 27 restaurants across New Jersey. The state also imposed nearly $2.6 million in penalties against the firm.

The Associated Press sent an email seeking comment to Boston Market’s corporate office in Golden, Colorado, on Thursday. There are 31 Boston Market restaurants in New Jersey and 310 nationwide, according to its website.

The company has requested a hearing challenging the state's findings, labor officials said, but a hearing date has not yet been scheduled.

State officials say the investigation began in November, when a worker at a restaurant in Mercer County filed a complaint with the labor department. Since then, nearly three dozen additional complaints have been received naming several Boston Market locations in New Jersey.

The labor department's initial findings included citations for unpaid or late payment of wages, hindering the investigation, failure to pay minimum wage, records violations and failure to pay earned sick leave.

Restaurant asks not to work with Dallas cops who laughed about disabled vet denied toilet Story by Kelli Smith, The Dallas Morning News • 20h

ADallas restaurant asked to no longer work with two police officers caught on video laughing about a disabled veteran who urinated on himself after he was denied restroom access.

A spokesperson for Serious Pizza, which is owned by the restaurant company Milkshake Concepts, released a statement Thursday saying the establishment was “disappointed by the conduct of the officers involved” and was not aware of the extent of the incident until body-camera footage was released this week.

“We have requested that the contracted off-duty officers who were on duty that night not be assigned to our restaurant moving forward, as their actions were not representative of how we treat our guests and the general public,” the company’s statement said.

The Dallas Morning News first reported the veteran’s story Wednesday after he addressed the Community Police Oversight Board at its monthly meeting earlier this month. Dynell Lane, who said he was wounded while deployed with the Army, told the board he was denied access to the restroom while a customer at Serious Pizza in Deep Ellum on June 10, a Saturday.

Lane appealed to two off-duty uniformed officers working security there, who he said refused to review his medical documents. He called 911 for help, but before the on-duty officers arrived, he said he had a urine and bowel leak issue and left the restaurant.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/restaurant-asks-not-to-work-with-dallas-cops-who-laughed-about-disabled-vet-denied-toilet/ar-AA1fpOOB

Bank error allows customers who have no money in their account to withdraw 1,000 euros at ATMs People queued at cash machines in Dublin as news of the IT blunder spread

By Our Foreign Staff 16 August 2023 • 12:27am The bank told customers that it is working to rectify the difficulties as a “high priority” The bank told customers that it is working to rectify the difficulties as a “high priority” CREDIT: REUTERS Bank of Ireland has warned customers that money withdrawn from ATMs will still be debited from their accounts after some people with low balances reported being able to take out 1,000 euros in cash following an IT failure.

An Garda Siochana said it was aware of an “unusual volume of activity” at some ATMs across the country following reports of people queuing to withdraw money at Bank of Ireland cash machines.

The gardai also said it was aware of issues relating to banking services on Tuesday after the bank’s online and app services were down.

Officers were on Tuesday night reported to be guarding some ATMs after videos were posted on social media of huge queues forming in Dublin, Limerick and Dundalk.

In a statement to the PA news agency, a Bank of Ireland spokesman said: “We would like to remind customers that if they transfer or withdraw funds - including over their normal limits - this money will be debited from their account.

“While we are conscious customers may not be able to check their balance at this time, they should not withdraw or transfer funds if they are likely to become overdrawn.”

Police also said they would “remind people of their personal responsibility in carrying out their personal banking”.

A spokesman for banking technology firm Revolut said it was “looking into” claims that excess amounts of money had been transferred into customer’s accounts from Bank of Ireland.

A fault with the online app allowed people who have no money in their account to transfer up to €500 into a Revolut account, the Irish Independent reported.

Earlier, Bank of Ireland said it does not have an estimated time for when its mobile app and web service 365Online will be restored.

Upon opening the app, users are informed they are unable to connect while the website is also unavailable.

The bank has told customers that its technical team is working to rectify the difficulties as a “high priority”.

Customers reported having no access to their accounts for hours and being unable to transfer money for “important payments”.

Apologising to users, Bank of Ireland said: “We are aware that customers using our mobile app and 365Online are currently experiencing difficulties.

“We are working to fix this issue as quickly as possible and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The bank also acknowledged that some customers were having difficulties withdrawing cash from ATMs.

Shortly before 10pm on Tuesday, the bank added that it did not “have an ETA” for the restoration of services.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/08/16/bank-of-ireland-atm-1000-euros-gardai/

WEST HARTFORD, CT — State investigators released dramatic footage Friday of when a West Hartford police officer shot and killed a car theft suspect outside of Town Fair Tire on Tuesday.

The Connecticut Officer of the Inspector General released five different angles of the incident late Friday morning, the most dramatic being of the officer involved in the shooting.

In addition, state investigators also released the identities of the suspect killed and the WHPD officer involved in the incident.

The suspect has been identified as Mike Alexander-Garcia, 34, who was described as a Hispanic male, according to a preliminary state report released Friday.

State officials identified the WHPD police officer involved in the shooting as being K-9 officer Andrew Teeter.

Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch. Your email address Subscribe While the investigation is ongoing, state officials in their report released a detailed chronology of Tuesday afternoon's events at a busy commercial district in town.

According to the three-page report, at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8, West Hartford police were attempting to stop a stolen Hyundai Elentra traveling east on New Britain Avenue.

At the New Britain Avenue/South Street intersection, the stolen Hyundai hit a silver BMW and a blue Honda Pilot, disabling the Hyundai, state officials wrote in the report.

According to investigators, the two occupants of the stolen vehicle, Lyle Solsbury, 46, and Alexander-Garcia, exited the Hyundai and fled.

Solsbury was immediately apprehended by police, with Alexander-Garcia fleeing east on New Britain Avenue, authorities wrote.

In the report, the state alleges Alexander-Garcia unsuccessfully tried to carjack two vehicles, eventually making his way to a Town Fair Tire at 980 New Britain Ave.

State authorities said Alexander-Garcia entered the Town Fair Tire garage and then entered the driver's side of a Toyota Rav4 vehicle being serviced there.

Shortly after, Teeter and his police dog entered the garage and the passenger side of the vehicle and attempted to subdue Alexander-Garcia, according to state officials.

"Despite the K-9 and Officer Teeter being in the vehicle struggling with Alexander-Garcia, he backed out of the garage and drove out of the Town Fair Tire parking lot striking two vehicles. One of those vehicles was the K-9 police vehicle," wrote the state Office of the Inspector General. "As Alexander-Garcia continued to drive, Officer Teeter discharged his weapon multiple times, striking Alexander-Garcia in the torso."

The Toyota ended up crashing across the street into a utility pole, near the intersection of New Britain Avenue and Shield Street, officials said.

Authorities said Teeter sustained a broken rib and multiple head lacerations and was taken to the hospital. The police dog was unharmed.

Alexander-Garcia was taken to Hartford Hospital and pronounced dead at 5:53 p.m. that afternoon, reads the report.

Authorities said the investigation into the incident is continuing.

West Hartford town and police officials weighed in on the situation, expressing hope for a thorough state probe into the matter.

“Any loss of life is tragic in such a difficult situation. The videos that have been released are undeniably hard to watch. Thankfully, Connecticut has been a national leader in developing a fair, independent and transparent system for investigating police-involved shootings. I am confident that our police department will work together with state authorities to ensure that a comprehensive and thorough investigation is conducted into this incident,” said Democratic West Hartford Mayor Shari G. Cantor in a statement.

The town's top WHPD official said the release of the footage was necessary and the department believes "strongly" in transparency of the facts.

Joan Meyer, the 98-year-old co-owner of a small Kansas newspaper, collapsed and died at her home on Saturday, a day after police raided her home and the Marion County Record's office, the newspaper said. Meyer had been "stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief," the Record said, calling the raids illegal.

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody on Saturday defended the raid and said that once all the information is available, "the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated." Police have not shared an update since Meyer's death was announced.

Police took Meyer's computer and a router used by an Alexa smart speaker during the raid at her home, according to the paper. Officers at the Record's office seized personal cellphones, computers, the newspaper's file server and other equipment. Cody also allegedly forcibly grabbed reporter Deb Gruver's cellphone, injuring a finger that had previously been dislocated.

"Our first priority is to be able to publish next week," publisher Eric Meyer said. "But we also want to make sure no other news organization is ever exposed to the Gestapo tactics we witnessed today. We will be seeking the maximum sanctions possible under law."

The federal Privacy Protection Act protects journalists and newsrooms from most searches by law enforcement, requiring police usually to issue subpoenas rather than search warrants.

"It is true that in most cases, it requires police to use subpoenas, rather than search warrants, to search the premises of journalists unless they themselves are suspects in the offense that is the subject of the search," Cody said.

Friday's raid was conducted on the basis of a search warrant. The search warrant, posted online by the Kansas Reflector, indicates police were investigating identity theft and unlawful acts concerning computers. It also indicated police were looking for documents and records pertaining to local restauranteur Kari Newell.

According to the Record, Newell had accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining drunk driving information about Newell and supplying it to Marion Councilwoman Ruth Herbel.

"The Record did not seek out the information," the newspaper wrote. "Rather, it was provided by a source who sent it to the newspaper via social media and also sent it to Herbel."

The Record verified the information about Newell through public records but did not plan to publish it, believing that the information had "been intentionally leaked to the newspaper as part of legal sparring between Newell and her estranged husband," the paper wrote.

"The victim asks that we do all the law allows to ensure justice is served," Cody said. "The Marion Kansas Police Department will [do] nothing less."

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation assisted in the investigation "into allegations of illegal access and dissemination of confidential criminal justice information," the bureau said in a statement.

"Director Mattivi believes very strongly that freedom of the press is a vanguard of American democracy... But another principle of our free society is equal application of the law," the bureau said, adding, "No one is above the law, whether a public official or a representative of the media."

Police have fallen under scrutiny due to the search, with free speech advocates expressing concern about its implications.

Dozens of news organizations, including CBS News, on Sunday condemned the raid in a letter sent by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to Cody.

"Your department's seizure of this equipment has substantially interfered with the Record's First Amendment-protected newsgathering in this instance, and the department's actions risk chilling the free flow of information in the public interest more broadly, including by dissuading sources from speaking to the Record and other Kansas news media in the future," the letter said.

The raid appears to have violated federal law and the First Amendment, according to Seth Stern, advocacy director of Freedom of the Press Foundation.

"This looks like the latest example of American law enforcement officers treating the press in a manner previously associated with authoritarian regimes," Stern said Friday. "The anti-press rhetoric that's become so pervasive in this country has become more than just talk and is creating a dangerous environment for journalists trying to do their jobs."

PEN America on Saturday said law enforcement should be held accountable for violating the Record's rights.

"Journalists rely on confidential sources to report on matters of vital public concern," Shannon Jankowski, PEN America's journalism and disinformation program director, said in a statement. "Law enforcement's sweeping raid on The Marion County Record and confiscation of its equipment almost certainly violates federal law and puts the paper's very ability to publish the news in jeopardy."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-newspaper-police-raid-marion-county-record-joan-meyer-dies/

A group of congressional Democrats visited the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday to tour the recently constructed barriers on the Rio Grande River and look into other controversial border security measures put in place by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R).

The group, led by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), included fellow Reps. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D), according to a release. The group visited the border along the Eagle Pass portion, which Gutierrez represents.

The barriers, installed as part of a Texas anti-illegal immigration effort known as “Operation Lone Star,” have received criticism from both those inside the government and those on the outside. The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Texas for the barriers late last month, alleging Abbott “flouted federal law” by installing the measures “without obtaining the required federal authorization.”

“Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) led a congressional delegation (CODEL) to Eagle Pass, Texas,” a statement from Castro’s office read. “The purpose of the delegation was for legislators to see the deadly razor wire and buoys that Texas Governor Abbott installed in the Rio Grande as part of Operation Lone Star and to engage with local leaders and community members about the impact of Operation Lone Star on asylum-seekers and federal immigration enforcement.”

A few of the lawmakers who visited the border appeared to post reactions from their visit. Garcia posted a video on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, of what seemed to be the barriers.

Related video: Has Texas installed a floating barrier with chainsaws to injure migrants? (Dailymotion)

“Appalled by the ongoing cruel and inhumane tactics employed by @GovAbbott at the Texas border,” the caption of her post read. “The situation’s reality is unsettling as these buoys’ true danger and brutality come to light. We must stop this NOW!”

Gutierrez, a candidate running against Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in 2024 for his seat, called Operation Lone Star a “failure” in posts on X and Facebook tied to his visit.

“Standing alongside members of the Texas Congressional delegation today in Eagle Pass to discuss the failure of Operation Lone Star and the humanitarian crisis Greg Abbott and his allies have inflicted on our border,” he said.

Jackson Lee posted a video of herself on social media looking out at what appeared to be the floating barriers, calling for more “humane treatment” when it comes to immigration.

“We are seeing clearly what Abbott’s Operation Lone Star program is doing to women and children,” the caption on her post read. “The inhumane treatment from this program is not solving our immigration problem but is causing a spectacle at the border.”

Castro also posted commentary on social media, sharing wa video of himself in front of the buoys and later showing more of what he said is a “public park.” In the video, he called the floating barriers, razor wire and Abbott’s border operation as a whole “barbaric.”

“Everyone needs to see what I saw in Eagle Pass today,” the post’s caption reads. “Clothing stuck on razor wire where families got trapped. Chainsaw devices in the middle of buoys. Land seized from US citizens.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-tour-rio-grande-amid-criticism-of-recently-installed-buoys-razor-wire/ar-AA1f1m2C

After a Twitch Streamer Caused Chaos In Manhattan, NYPd Responded By Smashing A Complying teen's Head Through A taxicab window.

A little more than six months after the racist attack on Jenkins and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker, six former officers pleaded guilty on Thursday.

The officers included Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department and Joshua Hartfield, a Richland police officer. Their attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

They pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy against rights, obstructions of justice, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm under a crime of violence, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The Mississippi attorney general’s office announced Thursday it had filed state charges against the men including assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Federal court records detail how they burst into a home without a warrant, handcuffed Jenkins and Parker, assaulted them with a sex toy and beat Parker with wood and a metal sword. They poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces and then forced them to strip naked and shower together to conceal the mess.

Then one of them put a gun in Jenkins’ mouth and fired.

As Jenkins lay bleeding, they didn’t render medical aid. They knew the mission had gone too far and devised a hasty cover-up scheme that included a fictitious narcotics bust, a planted gun and drugs, stolen surveillance footage and threats.

The deputies were under the watch of Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey, who called it the worst episode of police brutality he has seen in his career.

Law enforcement misconduct in the U.S. has come under increased scrutiny, largely focused on how Black people are treated by the police. The 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police ignited calls for sweeping criminal justice reforms and a reassessment of American race relations. The January beating death of Tyre Nichols by five Black members of a special police squad in Memphis, Tennessee, led to a probe of similar units nationwide.

In Rankin County, the brutality visited upon Jenkins and Parker was not a botched police operation, but an assembly of rogue officers “who tortured them all under the authority of a badge, which they disgraced,” U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca said.

The county is just east of the state capital, Jackson, home to one of the highest percentages of Black residents of any major U.S. city. A towering granite-and-marble monument topped by a Confederate soldier stands across the street from the Rankin County sheriff’s office.

The officers warned Jenkins and Parker to “stay out of Rankin County and go back to Jackson or ‘their side’ of the Pearl River,” court documents say, referencing an area with higher concentrations of Black residents.

Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the trauma “is magnified because the misconduct was fueled by racial bias and hatred.” She mentioned another dark chapter in Mississippi law enforcement: the 1964 kidnapping and killing of three civil rights workers.

The violent police misconduct is a reminder “there is still much to be done,” Clarke said.

After Dedmon summoned “The Goon Squad,” the officers crept around the ranch-style home to avoid a surveillance camera. They kicked down the carport door and burst inside without a warrant.

Opdyke found a sex toy, which he mounted on a BB gun he also found, and forced into Parker’s mouth. Dedmon tried to sexually assault Jenkins with the toy. The officers repeatedly electrocuted the victims with stun guns to compare whose weapons were more powerful.

Elward forced Jenkins to his knees for a “mock execution” by firing without a bullet, but the gun discharged. The bullet lacerated Jenkins’ tongue and broke his jaw before exiting his neck.

As Jenkins bled on the floor, the officers devised a cover story for investigators: Elward brought Jenkins into a side room to conduct a staged drug bust over the phone and Jenkins reached for a gun when he was released from handcuffs.

Middleton offered to plant an unregistered firearm, but Elward said he would use the BB gun. Dedmon volunteered to plant methamphetamine he had received from an informant. Jenkins was charged with a felony as a result, but the charges were later dropped.

Opdyke put one of Elward’s shell casings in a water bottle and threw it into tall grass nearby. Hartfield removed the hard drive from the home’s surveillance system and later tossed it in a creek.

Afterward, McAlpin and Middleton made a promise: They would kill any of the officers who told the truth about what happened.

They kept quiet for months as pressure mounted from a Justice Department civil rights probe. An investigation by The Associated Press also linked some of the deputies to at least four violent encounters with Black men since 2019 that left two dead and another with lasting injuries.

One of the officers came forward in June, Bailey said.

Bailey on Thursday said he was lied to and first learned everything that happened to Jenkins and Parker when he read unsealed court documents. Some of the deputies, including McAlpin and Elward, had worked under Bailey for years and been sued several times for alleged misconduct.

The sheriff promised to implement a new body camera policy and said he was open to more federal oversight. He also called the officers “criminals,” echoing federal prosecutors.

https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-deputies-guilty-pleas-civil-rights-e4937b4cd1d2ed2388b2fd1c3aeefcb9

Members of SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents performers, say they are ready to walk off the job which would mark the first time since 1960 that both writers and actors would be actively on strike.

The looming strike could yield serious economic impacts on Hollywood’s film and television industry.

On Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA announced it had agreed to a last-minute request for federal mediation by the Alliance of Film and Television Producers, the trade union representing studios, but would not waver from striking at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday if no deal was reached.

Actors would be joining WGA writers who have been on the picket lines for more than two months since May 2.

The union previously reached a strike deadline on July 1 before talks were extended, but since then, no deal has been reached.