Palin for Halloween!

CelebTV.com Video: Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live (SNL)

So when Sarah was sitting/dancing, i don't really know why i rememberred 1993 when Saddam went dancing with a cigar in his mouth!

AP Article: Al-Qaida-linked Web site backs Senator John McCain as president

By Pamela Hess, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Al-Qaida supporters suggested in a Web site message this week they would welcome a pre-election terror attack on the U.S. as a way to usher in a McCain presidency.

The message was posted Monday on the password-protected al-Hesbah Web site. It says if al-Qaida wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, "impetuous" Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain is the better choice.

It says that's because he's more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

SITE Intelligence Group, based in Bethesda, Md., monitors the Web site and translated the message.

The al-Qaida posting says an attack on the U.S. would push Americans to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaida, a fight the radicals would welcome.

Mark Salter, a senior McCain adviser, said he had heard about the Web site chatter but had no immediate comment.

The message is credited to a frequent and apparently respected contributor named Muhammad Haafid.

However, Haafid is not believed to have a direct affiliation with al-Qaida plans or knowledge of its operations, according to SITE.

site senior analyst Adam Raisman said this message caught SITE's attention because there has been little other chatter on the forums about the U.S. election.

SITE said it was struck by the message's detailed analysis, and apparent jubilation, about American financial woes.

"What we try to do is get the pulse of the jihadist community," Raisman said. "And it's about the financial crisis."

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden issued a videotape just four days before the 2004 U.S. presidential election directly addressing the American people.

Reuters Article: Sarah Palin to step into Tina Fey's satirical den

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sarah Palin steps into the lion's den of political satire on Saturday with an appearance on the comedy show that has mocked the Republican vice-presidential candidate and helped shape the national debate.

Palin's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" follows a series of dead-on impersonations of her by comedian Tina Fey that have sent ratings for the show soaring and become as talked about as the Alaska governor and self-described hockey mom herself.

Actor Josh Brolin, who captures the Texas swagger and twang of President George W. Bush in the new Oliver Stone biopic "W.", is expected to join Palin on Saturday's show, just 17 days before the November 4 election.

"I just want to be there to show Americans that we will rise above the political shots that we take because we're in this serious business for serious challenges that are facing the good American people right now," Palin told Neal Boortz, talking about the forthcoming SNL appearance on his syndicated radio show on Friday.

It was not clear whether Fey, the Emmy-award winning star of the TV show "30 Rock" and the movie "Baby Mama", will reprise her own turn as Palin. Fey's three skits have boosted "Saturday Night Live" ratings by 50 percent in the past month and attracted more than 38 million viewings live or online.

Fey's impersonations have included an "I can see Russia from my house" joke skewering what critics see as Palin's lack of foreign policy knowledge, and a flute-toting bid for a "talent portion" during the vice presidential debate that played on critics' charges that Palin, a one-time beauty pageant contestant, is too shallow for the vice presidency.

The skits have capped a political season in which comedy has played an influential role.

Palin was a surprise pick by Republican presidential candidate John McCain in August as his running mate, and has been a big hit with conservative Christians who admire her no-nonsense, folksy style. But the choice has been derided by supporters of Democratic candidate Barack Obama, thanks in part to the Fey skits.

"I would expect that the McCain campaign would be much happier if Tina Fey wasn't so popular with her impersonation of Sarah Palin," Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political analyst at the University of Southern California, told Reuters.

"It does shape the public perception of Sarah Palin," Jeffe said.

Democrats Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden have also been lampooned on SNL, and both Obama and McCain have appeared on the show during the long presidential campaign.



GOING WHERE OTHERS DON'T TREAD

Satirical news shows like "The Colbert Report" and Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" along with jokes by late night chat show hosts David Letterman and Jay Leno have gone where straight news reporting has often feared to tread, according to Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University.

"We are in a period now that journalists are afraid of being accused of picking on people. Comedy is not only influential but lately it has become an important part of the U.S. civic conversation," Thompson said.

"What Jon Stewart and Tina Fey are doing is not only hysterically funny, but they really have used comedy to make us ask questions about the things we should be thinking about."

Thompson said Fey's skit of Palin's rambling television interview with journalist Katie Couric was likely seen by more people than the original, which was broadcast in early October as the global economic crisis was seizing the headlines.

"Tina Fey really became the way the entire nation ended up seeing that interview," he said.

Palin's standing among Republicans is largely unscathed. A poll last week by HCD Research and Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion found that her favorability rating with Republicans dropped only one percent to 79 percent after seeing Fey's latest skit.

Palin's favorability rating among independent voters fell from 37 percent to 33 percent, according to the poll.

Fey has enjoyed the accolades but has said she hopes not to have to play Palin after November 4.

"If she wins, I'm done. I can't do that for four years. And by 'I'm done,' I mean I'm leaving Earth," Fey said this week.

AP Article: 'Saturday Night Live' this week? You betcha Tina Fey doesn't know

By Frazier Moore,

The Associated Press

NEW YORK - It's the question dominating the political scene: When will Tina Fey be back on "Saturday Night Live"?

"I don't know," Fey said.

Over coffee Tuesday during a rare morning off from her NBC sitcom, "30 Rock," Fey noted that "SNL" will be on live this Saturday, as well as airing a 9:30 p.m. EDT Thursday edition, but as to whether she will take part in either broadcast, "I haven't heard." (A spokesman for the NBC late-night comedy show echoed her comments.)

The former "SNL" cast member/head writer thus far has been drafted for three appearances as Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The sketches were a huge hit for the show and Fey alike.

"It's been really fun," she said, "and really freeing since I don't actually work there anymore."

But it's put an extra burden on her already heavy workload at "30 Rock," where she's an executive producer and writer as well as star.

"Thankfully, the 'SNL' schedule is the opposite of the '30 Rock' schedule, so I can go to 'SNL' around 10:30 Friday night and rehearse," she said, explaining that the Palin pieces were written by current "SNL" head writer Seth Meyers. "Then on Saturday, I go in around 4 o'clock."

For her most recent appearance (on Oct. 4) "I had a '30 Rock' writer come for the dress rehearsal. I did my sketch, worked on the '30 Rock' outline with the writer, then did the live show.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Fey added with a laugh. "But it does catch up with you by Sunday."
Fey hopes the attention drawn to her Palin impersonation will bring more viewers to "30 Rock," which begins its third season Oct. 30.

"When people say, 'Oh, I love you on your show,' I say, '"Saturday Night Live" isn't my show.

But there's another show that will be back on soon, and it's called "30 Rock."'

"I should go to Kinko's and make some fliers," she cracked.

Fey believes her portrayal of the Alaska governor has "been responsible and really pretty gentle."

As demand builds for another Palin spoof, Fey said: "I don't know how much more I should do or could do, so I'm taking it week by week.

"It's getting large, it's getting too large, the question 'Are you gonna show up? Are you gonna do it?'

"I don't know," Fey said. "I've got a lot of '30 Rock' work to do!"

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BBC News Article: Palin mimic gets US public's vote

By Rajini Vaidyanathan

BBC News, Washington


At a campaign rally in Florida, Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin shouts out to the crowd: "I love her, she's a hoot and she's so talented."


She is referring to Tina Fey, who, along with the Alaskan governor, has become one of the most talked about women in this election campaign.


Tina Fey's impersonations of Mrs Palin have generated millions of viewers, website clicks and water cooler conversations.


It is on the hit US comedy show Saturday Night Live that Fey parodies Governor Palin.


The resemblance is uncanny, as are the mannerisms and the accent.


Most of the sketches are direct spoofs of Mrs Palin's television appearances.


In one, Fey sends up the governor's interview with American newsreader Katie Couric in which she was quizzed about foreign policy.


Tina Fey as Mrs Palin: "Every morning, when Alaskans wake up, one of the first things they do, is look outside to see if there are any Russians hanging around.


"And if there are, you gotta go up to them and ask: 'What are you doing here?' And if they can't give you a good reason, it's our responsibility to say, you know, 'Shoo! Get back over there!'"


The fake interview has received rave reviews, but in the real one, Sarah Palin was criticised by many, even from within her own party, for her performance.


Later she admitted she had been "less than successful", but joked there was a reason.


"In response to critics after that interview what I should have told them is, I was trying to keep Tina Fey in business… just giving her more information… job security for SNL (Saturday Night Live) characters."




Guest star


The spoof Sarah Palin has certainly done wonders for the show.


Ratings for Saturday Night Live have gone up, averaging 8.3 million viewers, and the sketches are drawing as many as 9.3 million hits online.


In fact, Mrs Palin herself has said she would like to guest star.


"It would be fun to meet her, imitate her and keep on giving her new material," she said.


That may even become a reality.


There has been talk that the pair could appear on the show together before November's election.
Lorne Michaels, executive producer of Saturday Night Live, has not ruled it out.


He said that the McCain campaign called after the first sketch to say they enjoyed Tina Fey's take on their candidate.


Tina Fey is a huge star in her own right.


An Emmy award winning comedy actor and writer, she is best known in America for her appearances on the hit comedy 30 Rock as well as Saturday Night Live.


She bears a striking resemblance to Mrs Palin, and it seems that the mimicry is mutual.


Kristan Cole, who has known the Alaskan governor for 38 years, said Sarah Palin had in fact dressed up as Tina Fey a few years ago for Halloween.


She said the reaction back in Mrs Palin's home town of Wasilla to the sketches had been positive.
"Anybody I talk to thinks they're funny, nobody is upset by them," she added.


She also said that Sarah Palin wasn't worried about being sent up and had told her that she thought Tina Fey had her mannerisms dead on.




Credibility 'damaged'


"As someone who is very close to her, I don't like unfair criticism of her but the SNL sketch is not in that category whatsoever.


However, others disagree saying the sketches have damaged Mrs Palin's credibility.


In some sketches Fey get laughs just by directly repeating the governors own words.


Some commentators go as far as to dub the "Tina Fey Factor" one of the biggest challenges the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate faces.


A study from the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion concluded that Sarah Palin's favourability rating dropped after people watched the Saturday Night Live sketches.


It asked 314 Democrats, Republicans and independents how they viewed her before and after the sketches.


All groups said they saw her in a worse light.


But that sample is small, and political analyst Professor Larry Sabato does not believe Tina Fey has hurt Mrs Palin's image, but that the candidate herself has.


"Palin has been lampoonable because of those terrible disastrous interviews.


"She opened herself up to this. It's reinforced the damage that Palin herself did."




Internet copycats


Mr Sabato strongly rejects suggestions that the sketches will have an impact on the election itself.


"It's interesting, it's fun, but it has nothing to do with how people are voting," he said.


One thing the Fey impressions have done, is prompt a whole host of copycats on the internet.


A search on YouTube brings up a whole host of impersonators - a singing Sarah Palin, a gangsta rapping governor and even a man in drag attempting a spoof.


Sara Benincasa, a liberal comedian from New York, stars as Sarah Palin in a video blog, which she started in September.


"Her life is filled with drama and we are satirising that drama," she said.


"She has a pregnant teenage daughter and five kids. She's really into promoting herself as a hockey mom and a conservative Christian.


"We thought all of those things were ripe for lampooning."


Benincasa explained why she felt Sarah Palin was such a popular subject of parody.


"This person was trying to promote herself as an average gal while running for one of the highest offices of the land. The job of a court jester is to make fun of the king."

Situation Update

Well, it turned out that a house was partially demolished (or lets say was targeted) by the October 4th explosion. That house, which is about 150-200 meters (yards) from our house used to belong to Shiites who were displaced, and was occupied by Sunnis. Now the Shiites wanted to get back to their house, so the Sunnis went out. It seems that the Sunnis who are not very happy to get out of that house had planted an explosive device in the house and detonated it. 

Now the situation on the block is calm. This afternoon an Iraqi patrol went into our alley, and it seems that they thought that our alley did not have a deadend, so they reversed their Humvees gears and went right away. 

And Kabooom It Went...

At around 4:30 am early Sat. 4 Oct. 2008, we were sound asleep at home when an explosion rocked the area and shattered some windows in our house.

I took a short walk around 9:30 am, only for 50 meters outside the house trying to see where was the explosion, and i saw two Iraqi Humvees in an adjacent alley, where it seems that the explosion had taken place.

One of our neighbors mentioned that the Iraqi SWAT troops (which some people call "The Dirty Troops") have detained a group of people, some based on a list, and others at random. 

Back at home, we tried to mend the damaged windows, and we will try taking care of fixing them as soon as possible.

Just in: Iraqi Army closes many streets in Amiriya

People in the Baghdad western district of Amiriya woke up on the first day of eid, 30 September 2008 to find many streets in their area blocked by concrete blocks being put by the Iraqi Army, causing heavy traffic in the back streets of the area in search for the few streets that were kept open, which would allow them to reach the main streets in the area.

Some people in the area expected that this comes in preparation for the power shift of supervising the Awakening movement from US to Iraqi control on 1 Oct. 

No increase of patrols or military presence was noticed.