Either way, the deal is likely to officially close in early February.  And when it does, Oracle (ORCL) and Sun (JAVA) will be well prepared. “The integration team have been working very hard to complete all of the planning and executives on both sides of the merger believe that deal will be approved,” one source told me. “The majority of the hiring decisions have been made and the bulk of the product decisions and organization structure is completed.”

As part of its preparation, Oracle has written three email announcements, which it plans to distribute to Sun employees. The first, a congratulatory note for employees who will keep their jobs after the transition. The second, a notice of termination alerting employees who will lose their jobs. The third, an offer of a temporary position working through the transition is most likely to be distributed to employees in finance and human resources.

For rank-and-file Sun employees, the second notice is obviously ugly news. Not so for executives: The cash payout at the VP and officer level for being let go is quite generous, and I’m told a certain number of “howls of whoopee” can be expected from those in senior positions hoping for a pink slip.

And just how many pink slips are to be distributed? That’s unclear. I’ve heard from some sources that a significant reduction in workforce is almost certain. Others tell me “layoffs are not going to be anywhere near predictions.”

For the sake of Sun’s long-suffering employees, let’s hope it’s the latter.

Reached for comment, Sun declined to offer on”. “Sorry, we do not comment on rumors or speculation,” a spokesperson told me.

Here’s a video clip from NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien” Friday night, which featured a mock dramatic book-reading duel between “Star Trek” legend and “master thespian” William Shatner and former Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin.

Shatner, who is well known for his jazz-backed, beat-style readings, has been mocking Palin on the television show.

His faux dramatic readings of out-of-context lines from her Twitter feed and her new autobiography, “Going Rogue,” include: “One year while stalking sheep, I disappeared….”

After his recent reading, Palin returned the favor with her own bongo-fueled interpretation of Shatner’s “Up Till Now.”

Result: Hysterical, especially when Palin and Shatner walk off hand-in-hand.

Say what you want about Palin–and BoomTown does–she does know how to put on a show.

Here’s the video:

How much do I love the Internet?

Muchety-much after seeing this interview that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave plastered all over the Web, in which the former Republican VP candidate gives a local Anchorage television station an interview as a Thanksgiving turkey is being slaughtered right behind her.

Actually, I cannot exactly tell what the hapless workman is doing to the poor turkey in question, because he keeps coming in an out of the frame, carrying the feathered bird by the feet, not sure if he should be doing whatever he is doing as Palin speaks.

But the worker does leave and then return in the course of the interview and then turns on some funnel-shaped device that seems to shake up the bird in an awful way. Twice!

Still, ever the trouper (and sanguine hunter, it seems), Palin obliviously keeps up the turkey patter, having just “pardoned” another turkey earlier.

Such is fowl fate.

Here’s the video (and, after seeing it, tofu might look more palatable on Thursday or you can give to Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey Project, which commented on the Palin interview):

Whitman has been increasingly active in the Republican party since retiring from eBay in January. She initially spent her time helping raise money for Mitt Romney, her former boss at Bain & Co., in his failed presidential campaign. More recently, she has been helping run Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid. She was a contender for the VP slot before McCain selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

On Tuesday night, Whitman all but announced her candidacy for governor of California at the Commonwealth Club.

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