don't envy the task ahead for President Elect Obama's choice for Secretary of the Interior. He'll be taking over a department that is sadly incompetent and corrupt. The very industries that Interior is supposed to regulate hold the Department in their sway; they are far more involved in exploiting our public resources than conserving them. The Colorado Democrat, Sen. Ken Salazar will have many challenges including the "drill here, drill now" approach to energy encouraged by Vice President Dick Cheney. Sec. Salazar's first task must be to remove the influence of politics and ideology from, as the New York Times put it, "decisions that are best left to science." The last effective leader of the Interior Department was President Bill Clinton's choice, Bruce Babbitt.

ere's a Californian's thinking about the desire of Ms Caroline Kennedy to become the successor to Sen. Hillary Clinton. She is an extremely bright and well-intended person. If Senator Clinton is confirmed as Sec. of State, I would hope that Kennedy would do the necessary work to show that she would represent all New Yorkers; not just those in the better Zip codes of Manhattan. She comes to campaigning with fine credentials; the whole Kennedy tradition of "public service." I hope that if she is appointed by the governor she would become a quick study and be an able team mate to the senior New York Senator, Charles Shumer. Over the past few years she has been someone who has managed, fairly well, to go about her life and yet been able to guard her privacy. That privacy will no longer exist should she be selected. She is utterly charming. I wish her well.

n the Hollywood entertainment world awards season approaches, but once again so does the possibility of a strike. The TV and film world, once again faces a possible shutdown. As it stands at the moment the actors union, SAG, is urging a vote for a walkout. The largest of the entertainment unions has a membership of at least 120,000. If 75% of voters approve the SAG's board calls a strike, the first target will likely be the Oscars on February 22nd.
Actors appear to be split on the strike authorization. The union wants better royalty payments for DVDs and content streamed on the internet. The most recent strike was long and extremely costly. The studios are arguing that following the strike writers and directors ultimately settled but at an enormous cost to the industry. Now they claim that considering the weak economy and "the embryonic state of the new-media market, the offer is not only fair its generous. From the actor's standpoint the SAG president, Alan Rosenberg (L.A. Law), said it clearly, "studios hope to use the economic uncertainty to scare you into making a deal you will regret."
Looking to the future, and as a member of SAG, my hope is that the studios look to future technology and understand why the actors wish to protect their future and their profession.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS,