I wont be exaggerating at all if I say that the whole world will be watching carefully on the 4th of November 2008, wishing their favorite candidate win. The latest international polls have favored Barack Obama, and the USA polls gives him around a 12 to 13 points lead. But the race is not over, many factors play part here, McCain was down before and ended up winning the republican party nomination, then there is the Bradley Effect.
The Bradley Effect is where a white voter would say in polls he would vote to the African-American candidate but when voting in the voting booth he will end up voting for the other WHITE candidate, so basically racists being shy of their racism and lying to the pollsters. This happened in 1982 while electing California’s governor, Tom Bradley lost the elections although he was ahead in some polls. I do not believe that the Bradley effect happened or will happen to Obama, we already saw in the primaries how he hold close to the polls even in some places thought to be heavily racist, areas that has a very bad reputation with race discrimination.
So where will those who live in the Middle East watch the elections? Well, there is the free-to-air channels and the Subscription (PAY TV) channels.
Lets start with the PAY TV Channels: ORBIT: The best network to watch all the action, all year long ORBIT is actually the best place to watch the American politics on their channel “ORBIT NEWS”, shows from MSNBC, NBC, ABC, PBS and BBC. In the last week of the elections since the 27 of October 2008 Orbit launched another news channel “ORBIT NEWS 2″. “ORBIT NEWS 3″ will be launched on the election day.
It has been announced that “ORBIT NEWS 1″ will feature:
Brian Williams from NBC Nightly News
Charles Gibson from ABC’s World News
Jim Lehrer from News Hour on PBS
Tom Brokaw from NBC’s Meet the Press
While “ORBIT NEWS 2″ will feature famous political commentators from MSNBC:
Keith Olbermann (Countdown)
Rachel Maddow (The Rachel Maddow Show)
Chris Mathews (Hardball)
David Gregory (Race to the White House)
ORBIT NEWS 3 will starts on the Elections day and it will air a live feed from ABC channel. It will precisely launch at 1:00 AM KSA time.
ART [Firstnet - Pehla]: Not a great choice, as ART only has FOX NEWS and SKY NEWS. FOX NEWS has the worst reputation as the most biased name in news, although ironically their slogan is “Fair & Balanced”. SKY NEWS is not bad but I doubt their coverage would be as good as CNN and MSNBC.
Showtime Arabia: Showtime is by far the worst choice, as they only provide only SKY NEWS, I am not sure though if Bloomberg & CNBC would show any coverage of the elections, if they do then you might follow it on those to FINANCIAL channels.
FREE-TO-AIR Channels: CNN: The best source in my opinion, great panel of analysts and they have the resources to produce an astonishing full day coverage of the elections. Were very good in covering the primaries.
MBC4: If they do stick with the CBS schedule they will be one of the best channels to watch too, CBS coverage will be interesting to watch, that is if MBC4 cancels their regular schedule and stick with CBS as they have the rights to CBS News.
Aljazeera English: Really Really unbiased, am not being sarcastic this is for real, they are unbiased so much that I get bored watching it, they even cover the other candidates such as Ralph Nader and Bob Barr !! While the American mainstream media shoved them aside.
Other choices in English language: BBC World News, EuroNews, France 24, DW-TV, Russia Today, Press TV, NDTV Arabia
Other choices in Arabic language: Aljazeera Arabic, Al Arabiya, BBC Arabic, Future News, Al Aan TV, Al Ekhbariya, France 24, Rusiya Al-Yaum (Russia Today), Al Hiwar TV, Alhurra (The Free One), Nile News, NBN, ANN, CNBC Arabia (NOT SURE)
WATCH ONLINE: It is expected that either all or some of the following channels will be streaming their election day coverage for free online: CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, ABC, and CBS.
You can also watch The following channels in a very good quality via Livestation: Aljazeera English, BBC World News, BBC Arabic, Bloomberg, C-Span, DW-TV, EuroNews, France 24, ITN, Russia Today (English), Rusiya Al-Yaum (Russia Today), BBC World Service (Radio), DW-Radio.
Livestation also includes many user added channels, you can simply either search by name or check the channel list available.
Bottom Line: We in the Middle East can’t vote, and the majority do not believe that the election is clean, seriously we all are set in thinking the US Elections is rigged, just like 2000. We do not believe that it is fair, especially that there is no equal coverage to other parties other than Democratic party and the Republican part. Most of us do not give a crap and most of us think it is just BS. But I am sure that most of people in the middle east, Arabs, Asians, Europeans, South American, Muslim and Christians will watch.
Some have watched the American elections since last year as if they are watching a reality TV show, a bit longer than American Idol I guess, and some watched it seriously following each and every article written about it. Some believe that it effects all of the world and some believe it will only affect Americans. I believe the whole world have hated the past 8 years, they hated Bush’s foreign policy and domestic policy, in the end all will watch and will wait to know who is the next president for USA hoping change come to Washington and we start seeing some difference in the way things work. Some might laugh and call it naivete, and some will call it hope.
All eyes are on Obama in Iraq carefully waiting for a mistake or a gaffe expecting that he might be as ignorant as Mccain, now we all know that people can make mistakes, when they are tired from “campaignin” but when it becomes a series of mistakes then we can easily say that this is a REAL problem IN the candidate, I wont have to remind you of the many many gaffes by Mccain one of those ones that really made me laugh is the Sunna Shia error while he was in Iraq and he was corrected by Liebermann.
Now I can hear some of you shouting towards the screen saying that also Obama had gaffes while in the primaries, such as 57 states bit, well look at the percentage between those two guys and DECIDE.
As I said while all the eyes are on Obama, the first foreign policy gaffe was OWNED by Mr. John Mccain.
But is this being covered by the mainstream media, really doubt any of them shed any light on this issue. The media are so hooked on Obama, what he says what he does where he goes, is he moving to the center, who will be his vice president, is he this is he that and during allllll this Mccain is having a free ride. The only shows that I guess will show this clip is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Both cable shows
According to the New York Times only an average of two minutes is being spent by the American Networks such as CBS, ABC and NBC. Those networks are also not telling the public the number of Iraqis killed since the US invasion (which is around a million until now) or the number of Iraqis being displaced (which is around Five Millions until now). The Real News Network sums all this in one very informative video by their analyst Pepe Escobar. I think the part were Lara Logan speaks to Jon Stewart is just amazing.
Here is the FULL Lara Logan interview on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart:
I do not know why is this site launching now, it should have been launched since January this year, but it seems they wanted it to be focused on smears coming from the republicans.
Obama and his wife have been heavily attacked from all sides, and most attacks are backed with lies lies lies. I am not saying that Barack Obama is perfect, nobody is perfect but at least when you want to attack your opponent try to back it with some facts.
Yesterday Barack Obama won big in North Carolina, he smashed clinton by more than 15 points. While in Indiana Clinton was a able to have a modest 2 points win over Obama. So In NC Obama wins 56% to 42% for Hillary and in Indiana Clinton wins 51% to 49% to Obama.
Bottom line Obama has even more delegates now than ever, he needs less than 300 delegates to lock the nomination, she needs to win 80% of the upcoming delegates, which as we know is impossible.
Everybody knows it was all over for Hillary months ago, but the media just wanted to keep the competition alive so they would have something to do. Have panels, interviews, polls, projections and discussion after discussion after discussion.
But I promise all of the media that they will be very busy in the general election, and after November they will go back to cover Paris Hilton and Britney Spears showing their stuff.
“With leads like this now, if you throw in Michigan and Florida, as is, then Obama would still have about 150,000 votes and he would still have 100 delegates, pledged delegate, lead.” – Chuck Todd
Tim Russert delivered the bottom line effectively: “We now know who the democratic nominee is going to be and no one is going to dispute it”
“Some were saying that North Carolina would be a game-changer in this election. But today, what North Carolina decided is that the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, DC” – Barack Obama
Here is Barack Obama’s speech after the win in North Carolina:
And you can just feel in his speech that he has fully switched now to the General Election mode, he know that whatever is going to happen he is the nominee and therefor he will start to focus on McCain.
Logically, today we are seeing infront of our eyes, the new President of USA. That is if the dems does not screw it up.
I have been reading all sorts of bad bad reviews from media critics all over the Internet on how much the ABC debate just sucked big time. But putting aside all those articles, you will be able to know how bad it was when you see what Jon Stewart said about it.
He did it the best, he gave three segments for it and the best line was:
“A 60 minute master class in questions that elevate out of context remarks and trivial, insipid miscues into subjects of national discourse, which is my job. Stop doing my job.”
At first I didn’t think the Writers Strike would last long, I expected that the fat cats would cave in to try to avoid losing billions of dollars, at least that’s how i saw it. But it seems that the strike is going to continue and none of them are willing to lean towards any solution.
To be honest at first i didn’t understand what was the issue, and i thought those writers are really greedy, especially after reading some responses from the big guys in the industry, but thanks to a videos posted on youtube by the writers explaining what they are fighting for, I understood the situation and now I know that they are not asking for much.
Here is the video:
Ofcourse this strike is going to have a huge affect on all of your favourite shows, and if it gets longer it seems that networks will start airing more and more reality shows, yes no need for writers, there is even a talk of Big Brother on CBS to start in the Winter for the first time in its history, as you know Big Brother is a summer show. One of the major surprises of the season would be Heroes ending with the 11th episode being the season finale on December 3rd.
Here is a full list of how shows are affected by this strike until now. After the jump.
24 — Production stopped after 8 episodes of 24 completed, will not air until all 24 episodes can be aired in succession.
30 Rock — Ten episodes of 22 filmed, production shut down. Episode 7 expected on November 27.
A-D
Back to You — On hiatus.
Big Bang Theory — On hiatus.
Big Shots — Nine episodes completed out of 13.
Bionic Woman — 9 of 13 episodes completed filming.
Bones — 12 of 22 episodes in the can. Episode 9 will air Nov. 27.
Boston Legal — 15 episodes completed out of 22.
Brothers and Sisters — Six episodes left including this week.
Cane — Entire 13 episode season filmed and expected to air.
Carpoolers — Entire 13 episode season completed filming.
Cashmere Mafia — Premiere moved to 2008.
Cavemen — 12 of 13 season episode season completed filming.
Chuck — Six completed episodes left.
The Colbert Report — On hiatus, airing repeats.
Cold Case — 10 of 24 episodes completed filming.
Criminal Minds — Six more episodes completed, then … 12 out of 22 eps filmed.
C.S.I. — Ten out of 24 episodes filmed.
C.S.I.: Miami — 13 out of 24 episodes filmed.
C.S.I.: New York — 14 out of 24 episodes filmed.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart — On hiatus, running repeats.
Desperate Housewives — 9th episode will air December 2, then on hiatus holding back the last show filmed.
Dirt — Season expected to be truncated.
Dirty Sexy Money — Six episodes left before zilch, 12 of the 13 episodes completed filming.
E-M
Ellen DeGeneres — New shows after a one-day hiatus.
Everybody Hates Chris — Full 22 episode season completed and ready to air.
Family Guy — Production shut down.
Ghost Whisperer — 9 episodes out of 22 filmed.
Gossip Girl — Six episodes to go before shutdown, 13 of 22 episodes completed.
Grey’s Anatomy — 11 of 22 episodes completed, production shut down.
Heroes — Scripts written through the 11th episode which might serve as season finale December 3.
House — Five or six completed episodes in can before none.
How I Met Your Mother — On hiatus.
Jericho — Seven episode season ready to air.
Jimmy Kimmel Live — On hiatus, airing repeats.
Journeyman — Entire 13 episode season filmed.
K-Ville — 10 of 13 episodes completed, production shut down.
Late Show with David Letterman — On hiatus, repeats expected throughout strike.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit — 14 of 22 episodes completed, production shut down.
Lost — 8 of 16 episodes completed, still scheduled for a February premiere.
Medium — Nine of 22 episodes completed filming.
Men in Trees — 19 episodes filmed, some held back from last season.
My Name is Earl — Season completed filming.
N-Z
NCIS — Ten out of 24 episodes filmed.
The New Adventures of Old Christine — Production shut down.
Nip/Tuck — 14 episodes filmed, filming on next 8 postponed.
Numb3rs — 12 out of 24 episodes filmed — Nov. 23 marks episode 9.
The Office — On hiatus after cast didn’t show up to work. Two or three completed episodes left to air.
Prison Break — On hiatus until January 14.
Private Practice — Eleven episodes filmed, production shut down.
Rescue Me — Production had been scheduled in 2008 for a 22 episode season, status in limbo.
Rules of Engagement — On hiatus.
Samantha Who? — Twelve episodes filmed out of 22-ep season.
Saturday Night Live — On hiatus.
Scrubs — 11 episodes shot, 12th worked non-WGA, brouhaha as NBC wants that to be finale and creator Bill Lawrence doesn’t want to end early.
Shark — 11 of 22 episodes completed filming.
The Simpsons — Sitting pretty with 17 completed episodes to go.
Smallville — 15 of 22 episodes completed.
South Park — Not WGA, production continues.
Supernatural — 11 episodes completed filming, five more scripts ready.
‘Til Death — On hiatus.
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno — On hiatus, repeats expected throughout strike.
Two and A Half Men — On hiatus as of November 26, production shut down.
Ugly Betty — 13 out of 24 episodes filmed.
As usual I was reading different kind of news from here and there, and I was amazed when I read an article that states that FOX News and ONLY FOX News are blaming Al-Qaeda for the wildfires in California, well to be honest I dont watch FOX News I mean although am not an American but I watch MSNBC, CNN, the news hours on ABC, CBS, NBC just exactly how i watch BBC NEWS, Sky News, France 24, Euronews, Alarabiya, Aljazeera, and Aljazeera English and so on, but I don’t watch FOX News. Do I need to tell you why ?! oh you know already ok … so back to the Al-Qaeda big plan again, so I kept reading in shock, and in my mind i am still saying this cant be true, but in the end of the article a video that shows how FOX News are so fucking smart.
I wont be exaggerating at all if I say that the whole world will be watching carefully on the 4th of November 2008, wishing their favorite candidate win. The latest international polls have favored Barack Obama, and the USA polls gives him around a 12 to 13 points lead. But the race is not over, many factors play part here, McCain was down before and ended up winning the republican party nomination, then there is the Bradley Effect. 
It has been announced that “ORBIT NEWS 1″ will feature:
While “ORBIT NEWS 2″ will feature famous political commentators from MSNBC: 
CNN: The best source in my opinion, great panel of analysts and they have the resources to produce an astonishing full day coverage of the elections. Were very good in covering the primaries.
You can also watch The following channels in a very good quality via Livestation: Aljazeera English, BBC World News, BBC Arabic, Bloomberg, C-Span, DW-TV, EuroNews, France 24, ITN, Russia Today (English), Rusiya Al-Yaum (Russia Today), BBC World Service (Radio), DW-Radio. 
According to the New York Times only an average of two minutes is being spent by the American Networks such as CBS, ABC and NBC. Those networks are also not telling the public the number of Iraqis killed since the US invasion (which is around a million until now) or the number of Iraqis being displaced (which is around Five Millions until now). The Real News Network sums all this in one very informative video by their analyst Pepe Escobar. I think the part were Lara Logan speaks to Jon Stewart is just amazing.
I do not know why is 
I have been reading all sorts of bad bad reviews from media critics all over the Internet on how much the ABC debate just sucked big time. But putting aside all those articles, you will be able to know how bad it was when you see what Jon Stewart said about it. 
At first I didn’t think the Writers Strike would last long, I expected that the fat cats would cave in to try to avoid losing billions of dollars, at least that’s how i saw it. But it seems that the strike is going to continue and none of them are willing to lean towards any solution.
As usual I was reading different kind of news from here and there, and I was amazed when I read an article that states that FOX News and ONLY FOX News are blaming Al-Qaeda for the wildfires in California, well to be honest I dont watch FOX News I mean although am not an American but I watch MSNBC, CNN, the news hours on ABC, CBS, NBC just exactly how i watch BBC NEWS, Sky News, France 24, Euronews, Alarabiya, Aljazeera, and Aljazeera English and so on, but I don’t watch FOX News. Do I need to tell you why ?! oh you know already ok … so back to the Al-Qaeda big plan again, so I kept reading in shock, and in my mind i am still saying this cant be true, but in the end of the article a video that shows how FOX News are so fucking smart.