The interview can be heard below and touched on various topics: Palin’s hope for elections, her admiration for the way Sarkozy energized French politics, hunting and their respective spouses.

Richard Hétu, from Canada, reacts to the news (fr):

Décidément, la campagne présidentielle ne prendra pas fin trop tôt pour Sarah Palin, qui s’est fait piéger par les Justiciers Masqués, comme on peut l’entendre dans le clip ci-dessus. La gouverneure d’Alaska croyait s’entretenir au téléphone avec Nicolas Sarkozy, qui lui a notamment parlé de Johnny Halliday, son «conseiller spécial»

The presidential campaign definitely cannot end early enough for Sarah Palin, who was victimized by the Masked Avengers in a phone prank, as you can hear in the clip below. The governor of Alaska believed she was conversing with Nicolas Sarkozy who mentioned to her his special adviser, Johny Halliday ( translator's note: Halliday is a reknowned French singer, famous for being a strong Sarkozy supporter and whose affinity for American culture made him  chose an American alias).

Hadya, in the comments section, still cannot believe Palin fell for the prank:

Et cet accent Français exagéré! C’est tellement caricatural.Mais comment elle a pu marcher à ce point?

And the overdone French accent! It's such a caricature. How could she have fallen for it for that long?

JimdeQuebec does not appreciate the Masked Avengers brand of humor and finds attenuating circumstances for the fact that Palin persevered with the conversation despite the growing absurd remarks by the comedian. However,  he is still appalled that Palin does not seem to know who the Canadian prime minister is:

Que Palin ne sache pas que le premier ministre du Canada est Stephen Harper me sidère! Biensûr, je suppose que lorsque vous parlez à un président étrangé d’un pays du G8 vous fermez votre gueule même devant les blagues de mauvais goût, spécialement si l’interlocuteur a un accent imcompréhensible et que vous êtes plus ou moins sûr de tout saisir.  

The fact Palin does not seem to know that the prime minister of Canada is Stephen Harper blows my mind! I suppose that when one is talking to the president of a G8 nation, one would keep quiet even when confronted with dubious jokes, especially if that person has an incomprehensible accent and that you are not sure that you understood everything he said.

Julie Connan, highlights the fact that Sarah Palin reveals that in eight years, she might just run at the top of the ticket:

Sarah Palin se dit confiante avant le scrutin de mardi et se réjouit que les sondages montrent un rétrécissement de l'écart entre les candidats démocrate et républicain.”Je vous vois présidente un jour vous aussi”, dit alors l'humoriste. “Peut-être dans huit ans”, lui répond Sarah Palin avec un petit rire 

Sarah Palin said that she was confident before election day on Tuesday that was excited that the polls showed the republican ticket closing the gap on the democrats. “I can see you as a president one day,” says the comedian. “Maybe in eight years,” answered a giggling Sarah Palin.

Tunisian blogger, ALGY, also blogs about the prank and links to her latest commentary on Sarah Palin:

Il faut bien davantage pour convaincre et séduire les électrices que de leur proposer de rallier le panache d’une farouche chasseuse d’ours, elle-même assez inexpérimentée. Mais c’est surtout un choix qui frise l’absurde quand on sait que les féministes, les plus susceptibles de voter pour une Femme par conviction idéologique, rejetteront Palin en raison de ses positions anti-avortement.

It may take more than that to convince and seduce women voters, more than an inexperienced charismatic bear hunter. However, the absurdity of the Palin pick lies mainly in the fact that feminists, who may lean towards a female candidate from an ideological perspective, will reject Palin based on her pro-life stance.

In an ever so interconnected world, the results of an election in one part of the world, a referendum in another, or a policy change somewhere or the other, can have a ripple effect throughout the world. It’s not to say that the whole world should have the right to vote, but it’d at least be interesting to have their voice be heard and their opinion known.

To that extent this simple service hits the nail straight on the head, giving people around the globe the chance to be heard. The current vote that is open for the world to voice its opinion on is of course the US presidential elections, and the choice between Barack Obama and John McCain as the next president of the United States of America.
In fact, recently I’ve been reading many articles on who’d be better for this or that region among the two contenders, and this website is pretty much an effective way to know that.

An interesting choice that was taken by the team behind the service is that the person voting must explain why he chose one side over the other, which should offer even more insight into what the world thinks.

After the US elections are over, they aim to extend it to cover any future elections or causes: elections in India for example, debates about causes like environment and world peace, …etc.

The service also aims to build an online community, focused on enabling opinionated people to connect with like-minded people or others with opposing views; to that effect people can choose to connect with other people around the world depending on their votes and opinions, and also invite their friends and contacts to the service to let their voice be heard as well. More social features are being added to the site to drive feeds from and into major social platforms.

If I can vote screenshot

The site shows the percentage of votes that each side got, the number of votes from top voting countries, and also rotates the votes of some random people, helping you find people you can connect to and read their different opinions.

The site is available in English only for the time being, although I think it’d be interesting to enable other languages as well, so as to open it up to more people, and as the interface is pretty simple and light, it shouldn’t even be a big fuss to add major languages.

# If I Can Vote

John McCain, despite his Republican affiliation, and Barack Obama have at least one thing in common. They are diametrally different from the man one of them will eventually replace when it comes to the principles they would use in relations to the Maghreb region. Over the past eight years, the Bush administration’s interest vis-à-vis the Maghreb was essentially two sided. Energy and security took over all past considerations. By focusing on these two issues, the White House decided to forget about what the Americans have done for decades in their foreign policy drive: human rights, democratic reforms and economic progress, areas that are likely to be resuscitated while maintaining the oil and security factors intact.

Although many analysts argued that recent American policy toward the Maghreb was meant to chip away European influence on the region, this assessment is farther from the truth and accepting it would be giving far too much credit for the White House and the State Department. I would argue that an American policy toward the Maghreb simply does not exist. In fact, the declining influence of Europe, although returning with a vengeance more recently, was simply the result of Europeans own disengagement from the Maghreb. The Americans have simply squandered the opportunity to fill the vacuum left by the Europeans as they implemented stringent protectionist and anti-immigration policies.

The American political engagement in the region was rather rhetorical with no real impact whatsoever. During the Clinton administration, the idea of a single and unified trading block within the Maghreb has made some headway. Senior administration officials like Stuart Eizenstat, the former U.S. Secretary of State for Economic Affairs have driven their initiatives to attempt to convince Maghreb nations to form a viable economic block, and they were equipped with some incentives. With such an economic grouping, the United States could have a much wider influence and could engineer a final divorce between the Maghreb and Europe, in particular France. The American policy included promises of free trade and a defense alliance with closer integration of Maghreb’s military into NATO in exchange for structural reforms that would cement a pro-American regional grouping. Perfect plan in an imperfect world? Except that the Americans did not have the ability to follow through and did not commit the finances, in face of a growing aggressive Europe Union that was quickly anchoring individual Maghreb countries into the EU’s economy. The final stab to the Clinton-era plan was the take over of the White House by the Republicans who had to deal with unprecedented terrorist attacks on their country, with little appetite on the details as the Eizenstat initiative of the late 1990s was replaced with an inefficient American Program for North Africa.

While they made very little progress toward the creation of a unified regional block in the Maghreb, the Americans focused their attention nearly exclusively on petroleum and security. So much so that the old foe Libya became near ally and certainly not a member of the axis of evil. In the oil sector, Algeria and Libya have been the focus on substantial American investment, essentially buying exploration rights and production licenses. In this case, more credit is to be given to the oil corporations with their strong relations with North African governments rather than the Washington bureaucracy. Even the rapprochement with Libya was heavily brokered by the oil lobby, which saw its competitiveness slip away if nothing was done on the political front. Washington’s openness to the Libyan regime was not just driven by well-thought political motives, but pressure from American oil companies was even more important.

On the security front, further rapprochement with Algeria was critical. That country has decades of experience dealing with an insurgency that has pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda. The Americans had a direct interest in insuring that some security capability is established in the vast Sahel region. This initiative is essentially one that has come from the Pentagon and not much from the White House or the State Department.

Apart from these two strategic areas of interest, very little has been invested in the region. The exception may be a symbolic free-trade agreement with Morocco, which is providing good opportunities for select Moroccan exports but needs proof of long term sustainability. Political engagement has been reduced to security discussions. Economic engagement has been reduced to exploration acreage and production rights. Educational exchanges have been reduced to their minimum and the movement of people between the two extremely restricted by security fears.

The over simplification of the U.S. engagement in the region over the past eight years is likely to take a shot in the arm with President Bush leaving office. His replacement is expected to have a much more comprehensive foreign policy position that would incorporate classic American diplomatic elements that have been used by U.S. diplomats pre-9/11. Even if the Republican John McCain takes office, he is likely to expand the criteria of foreign relations beyond security and oil. His decades of experience make him a different man than President Bush. His awareness of a wider and more encompassing global environment beyond security and oil will be critical in reshaping a better approach to U.S.- North Africa relations.

Senator Obama’s political positions are likely to also challenge the state of affairs regarding U.S. engagement in the Maghreb. His positions on human rights, democracy, free trade, and others mean that there will not be “business as usual.”

For the North African governments the honeymoon may be over. Not only accountability on human issues, economic reforms and democracy are likely to return to the agenda, but some of the gains, perceived to have been achieved, such as the Morocco-US free trade agreement could be revisited in favor of American workers. Whatever the outcome of the November 2008 American elections, North Africa’s capitals should brace for substantial changes in the way Washington will engage with them in the next decade.

“As president of the United States, I will directly address the people of the Muslim world to make it clear that the United States is not at war with Islam, that our enemy is al-Qaeda and its tactical and ideological affiliates, and that our struggle is shared. In this speech, I will make it clear that the United States rejects torture — without equivocation, and will close Guantanamo. I will make it clear that the United States stands ready to support those who reject violence with closer security cooperation; an agenda of hope — backed by increased foreign assistance — to support justice, development and democracy in the Muslim world; and a new program of outreach to strengthen ties between the American people and people in Muslim countries.”
[Source: Washington Post]

I heard the news in the morning, and thought about posting it on the blog, but I didn't really have much to say about it. It's hard to really judge a person like Fidel Castro who is seen as a hero by so many people and a hated dictator by so many others; it's obvious both sides have credible and real points; in the end, all I hope for is for things to get better for the Cuban people, whether it be from the sanctions or from his rule.

Anyway, what made me change my mind and write about it is this entry by Jon Swift, titled: Castro Resigns! Sanctions Work!

I just couldn't believe the logic behind it; this person and several commenters on his blog actually think the US sanctions worked and that they were behind Fidel Castro finally giving up and resigning.

Just a few facts: The U.S. has been trying to get rid of Fidel Castro for 50 years now, 10 U.S. administrations have tried to topple him, there have been 638 assassination attempts against him, strict sanctions have been imposed on the country; and nothing worked.

To even suggest that the sanctions are what made Fidel Castro take this decision is unrealistic, laughable, and naive.

Plus, what about his decision is a victory for the U.S.?
I don't think they were against Fidel as a person, but rather against his regime; will it make any difference under his brother Raul's rule?

The man is only leaving because he's a step away from the grave; he's been seriously ill for a few years now; and everyone has been expecting to hear about him passing away anytime now.

Sanctions don't work! Period!
All they do is ruin the lives of millions of citizens, while helping the rulers/dictators strengthen their grip on the country and make things even worse.
Sanctions haven't worked in Cuba, they haven't worked in Iraq, they didn't work in Libya, they're not working in Iran, nor are they working in Zimbabwe, …etc.

The US sanctions were/are a failure; Fidel Castro finally left of his own free will; after all he could have chosen to rule until his death.

Tunisian blogger Mohamed Marwen Meddah discusses the relationship between Obama and Islam twice. In this post he argues that Obama's religion is irrelevant. He further explains:

The guy says he's a Christian, why would he be lying? Supposedly, religion shouldn't be an issue, so why would him being Christian, Muslim or Jew change anything at all?
Or does it make a difference?
If it does then the problem is much bigger than who becomes the next US president or not, it's a problem that touches the fabric of the American society itself, an underlying reality of racism, bigotry and hypocrisy.

Remarks and attacks of this kind, that will continue to be made against Barack Obama are just ways to try and undermine a possible bid for the US presidency in the upcoming 2008 race. But, whether they have any effect at all on the people will be a serious indicator of how healthy the US society is, and whether the important values of equality and freedom still exist.

In his second, more recent post, Meddah writes:

I don't even know what to say or where to start about this…
Should I worry about the way Islam is made out to sound like a plague that everyone wants to distance themselves from?
Should I be wondering what the religion of a person has to do with them being electable to office or not?
Or should I just mind my own business and watch the US presidential elections as people judge the candidates on their race, religion and popularity instead of on how much good they'll be able to do the country and how good a leader they will be?

Algerian Nouri the Moor discusses the effects Obama's candidacy would have on America's relationship with the Muslim world.

Senator Obama's campaign spends quite a bit of time trying to distance himself from his supposed “Muslim heritage”. This is in part because certain individuals associated with more bellicose campaigns have attempted to frame the discussion of his religious confession in such a way that he is either a Muslim, or a Muslim apostate. Others, from within his own party, have [more damagingly] attempted to raise the fact that his family has Muslim ties in order to associate him with a religion which is not his. The larger part is that many Americans are uncomfortable with the idea of having a Muslim president, even by association. So the Obama campaign has handed out flyers and leaflets explaining that the Senator is not a Muslim and never has been; that it is “stupid” to believe so; that the American people need not fear, for there is no Muslim here!

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia also discusses Obama, religion and Islamophobia in this post. She explains:

Today I will speak about a very interesting factor playing its role perfectly in this presidential race ,the Islamophobia factor . As you know since the 9/11 Muslims and Arabs became the villains who want to invade and destroy the American civilization , it is a natural thing thanks to the huge media campaign against the Muslims and the Arabs after 9/11 and even pre 9/11

It is also a natural thing in the elections dirty world to use the new fear factor to influence the public whether to win their support or to make them ignore this or that candidate.

She further adds:

Come on his name is Barack Hussein Obama , his father is Muslim , his grand father is Muslim , his step father was a Muslim and he attended an Islamic school when he was a little kid in Indonesia . All hillary_and_obama the rival candidates despite the denials are using the subject and he knows that very well and thus since day one you will find repeating over and over the fact that he is a Christian.

If you notice comparisons between his name and the name of Osama Bin Laden spread in the conservatives and rivals' supporters blogs ,

Of course this is not hurting Obama ,on the contrary despite the Islamic roots Obama succeeded in crossing all taboos, whether being a black man , whether having Islamic roots , trying to push the fear button did not work this time

From Morocco, Myrtus is not confused about Obama's religion, saying:

Thanks to Barack Obama, Islam may have to redefine “believer” in Islamic terms as well as who is considered a Muslim, or the world community may have to start working on a new definition for “ethnic Muslim” to accommodate complicated individuals such as Mr. Obama.

Palestinian Kabobfest's Will poses the question: Who is More Unelectable than a Black, a Woman, a Hispanic or a Mormon? His answer is:

2 Answers: an atheist and a Muslim.
Barack Obama has to face e-mail chain letters suggesting he is an atheist, and others that he is a Muslim.
This Chicago Sun-Times article illuminates the whispering campaign being used to discredit Barack Obama. It is based on accusations apparently most detrimental to an American politician: being godless or worshiping “Allah.”
While the media raves about the historic possibility of a woman or African-American as President, and a Latino candidate (Bill Richardson), this shows that the American public still has several psychological, prejudicial hurdles to go, this is, if an African-American and a woman are actually electable. I would like to think that given their leading positions now, it is possible, at the least. Time will tell.

More Links:
Barack Obama Muslim Myth