<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646</id><updated>2011-11-28T06:17:09.486+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Padang City Online</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>43</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-2049071941547365406</id><published>2008-06-19T04:57:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:57.846+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Tumbangkan Swedia 2-0, Rusia Lolos</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFmFRSsQCaI/AAAAAAAAAJk/WKvgDcO9U6M/s1600-h/swedia-gettyimages1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFmFRSsQCaI/AAAAAAAAAJk/WKvgDcO9U6M/s400/swedia-gettyimages1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213344575779768738" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;Rusia akhirnya berhasil melaju ke perempatfinal Euro 2008 setelah dalam pertandingan terakhir Grup D mengatasi Swedia 2-0 lewat gol Roman Pavlyuchenko dan Andrei Arshavin.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Karena merupakan pertandingan penentuan siapa yang berhak melaju ke delapan besar, maka laga yang dipanggungkan di Stadion Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck, Kami (19/6/2008) dinihari WIB ini, berlangsung ketat dan berimbang&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rusia akhirnya menjadi tim yang lebih baik setelah Pavlyuchenko menjebol gawang lawan di menit ke-24 dan Arshavin menggandakannya di menit ke-50..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jalannya pertandingan&lt;br /&gt;Menit 19, playmaker Rusia Andrei Arshavin nyaris membawa timnya unggul. Dari sisi kiri lapangan, Arshavin melepas umpan silang yang mengarah ke gawang. Dengan sigap, Andreas Isaksson menepis bola keluar dan sepak pojok diberikan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dari tendangan sudut, bola disambut dengan sepakan voli kaki kiri dari Yuri Zhirkov. Namun bola deras dari Zhirkov masih menyamping di sebelah kiri gawang Swedia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rusia akhirnya mencetak gol pembuka di menit ke-23. Gol ini bermula dari pergerakan Andrei Arshavin di sisi kanan yang kemudian mengumpan kepada Alexander Anyukov. Sodoran bola dari Anyukov disambut Pavlyuchenko dengan tendangan yang menaklukkan Isaksson. Rusia memimpin 1-0.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Menit 26, Swedia hampir saja membalas. Bermula dari crossing Mikael Nilsson dari sisi kiri, Henrik Larsson menyambutnya dengan sundulan. Bola hasil tandukan Larsson menabrak mistar gawang Rusia yang dijaga Igor Akinfeev.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rusia seharusnya sudah memimpin 2-0 di menit 36. Namun sepakan kaki kanan Pavlyuchenko yang bekerjasama dengan Arshavin, membentur mistar Swedia. Bola mental yang coba disambar Zhirkov pun masih ditepis Isaksson.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tiga menit sebelum jeda, sebuah peluang Swedia juga gagal menjadi gol. Fredrik Ljungberg yang mendapat operan pendek dari Zlatan Ibrahimovich di dalam kotak penalti, melakukan sepakan keras ke arah gawang. Namun Akinfeev bertindak cepat dengan menepis bola.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Di masa injury time babak pertama, Nilsson juga gagal mencetak gol. Berada dalam situasi one on one menghadapi Akinfeev, bola tendangan Nilsson ditepis oleh kiper Rusia itu dan hanya menghasilkan tendangan penjuru.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Lima menit setelah kick-off babak kedua, Rusia menambah golnya. Lewat sebuah serangan balik, Zhirkov lolos di sisi kiri daerah pertahanan Swedia dan kemudian mengirim umpan mendatar untuk Arshavin. Dengan satu sodokan, Arshavin menjebol gawang Isaksson. 2-0 untuk Rusia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Menit ke-58, sebuah umpan panjang dari Petter Hansson diteruskan oleh Larsson dengan tendangan gunting ke arah gawang. Namun Akinfeev mampu mencegah bola masuk ke gawangnya.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Arshavin seharusnya bisa menambah koleksi golnya di menit 65. Dari serangan balik, Arshavin mengejar bola hanya dengan kawalan Fredrik Stoor di dalam kotak penalti Swedia. Arshavin kalah cepat karena Stoor membuang bola. Sepak pojok.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Menit 79, Konstantin Zyrianov gagal menyegel kemenangan Rusia. Menguasai bola di luar kotak penalti, Zyrianov menembak dan bola yang membentur kaki bek Swedia membentur tiang kanan Isaksson.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bola muntah memang masih dikuasai para pemain, tapi serangan para punggawa 'Beruang Merah' gagal saat Arshavin terjebak off-side.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dua menit setelahnya, dua peluang dari Pavlyuchenko gagal bersarang di gawang Swedia. Yang pertama, tandukan dengan memanfaatkan umpan silang dari kanan jatuh tepat di pelukan Isaksson. Yang kedua, menerima bola dari Ivan Saenko, Pavlyuchenko yang berdiri bebas tidak tenang dan terburu-buru. Akibatnya, tendangan Pavlyuchenko masih menyamping.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Di menit ke-88, Arshavin lagi-lagi gagal mencetak gol tambahan. Mendapat umpan terobosan dari tengah, Arshavin tinggal berhadapan dengan Isaksson dan dikejar Hansson dari samping. Bola pelan ditembakkan Arshavin, namun Hansson dengan cepat menghadang bola dan membuangnya.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Saat wasit meniup peluit panjang tanda usainya pertandingan, Rusia tetap berhak atas kemenangan 2-0 sekaligus memastikan langkah ke perempatfinal untuk bersua Belanda.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Susunan pemain:&lt;br /&gt;Rusia: Akinfeev; Anyukov, Kolodin, Ignashevich, Zhirkov; Semak, Zyryanov, Semshov, Bilyaletdinov (Saenko 66'); Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko (Bystrov 89')&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Swedia: Isaksson; Stoor, Mellberg, Hansson, Nilsson (Allback 79'); Elmander, Svensson, Andersson (Kallstrom 56'), Ljungberg; Ibrahimovic, Larsson.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sumber: &lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.detiksport.com"&gt;detiksport&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-2049071941547365406?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/2049071941547365406/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=2049071941547365406' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/2049071941547365406'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/2049071941547365406'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/tumbangkan-swedia-2-0-rusia-lolos.html' title='Tumbangkan Swedia 2-0, Rusia Lolos'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFmFRSsQCaI/AAAAAAAAAJk/WKvgDcO9U6M/s72-c/swedia-gettyimages1.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-6188182273133270850</id><published>2008-06-19T04:49:00.003+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:58.051+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Tekuk Yunani 2-1, Spanyol Sukses</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFmEZnZ1rkI/AAAAAAAAAJU/DSx9akfEs4g/s1600-h/spanyol-getty+images.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFmEZnZ1rkI/AAAAAAAAAJU/DSx9akfEs4g/s400/spanyol-getty+images.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213343619267014210" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;Superioritas Spanyol berlanjut di laga ketiga Grup D. Menghadapi Yunani di Salzburg, Matador unggul 2-1 dengan Daniel Guiza menjadi penentu kemenangan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hasil ini menempatkan Spanyol mencatat rekor 100 persen, dengan tak sekalipun kalah ataupun seri dalam perjalanan mereka di babak grup, sekaligus memastikan diri menjadi juara grup.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Berbeda dengan Spanyol, Yunani malah tak sekalipun mencatat hasil memuaskan selama menjalani tiga laga di Grup D. Tidak satupun poin bisa didapat, alias tim besutan Leo Beenhakker itu selalu takluk atas lawan-lawannya.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dalam pertandingan tersebut, Spanyol sempat tertinggal 0-1 lewat gol Angelos Charisteas di menit 42. Baru di menit 60 Reben De La Red bisa menyamakan kedudukan, sebelum Daniel Guiza menentukan sukses 100 persen Spanyol di menit 88.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Melangkah ke perempatfinal, Spanyol akan menghadapi juara dunia 2006 Italia untuk memperebutkan tiket ke semifinal. Rusia, yang menjadi runner up akan menghadapi Belanda di babak delapan besar. (Mohammad Yanuar Firdaus)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sumber:  &lt;a href="http://pialaeropa.detiksport.com/index.php/detik.read/tahun/2008/bulan/06/tgl/19/time/033811/idnews/958760/idkanal/514"&gt;detikSport&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-6188182273133270850?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/6188182273133270850/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=6188182273133270850' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6188182273133270850'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6188182273133270850'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/tekuk-yunani-2-1-spanyol-sukses.html' title='Tekuk Yunani 2-1, Spanyol Sukses'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFmEZnZ1rkI/AAAAAAAAAJU/DSx9akfEs4g/s72-c/spanyol-getty+images.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5679600437738907818</id><published>2008-06-19T01:53:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-19T01:54:24.846+07:00</updated><title type='text'>technorati</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://technorati.com/claim/r8zgizucsn" rel="me"&gt;Technorati Profile&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5679600437738907818?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5679600437738907818/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5679600437738907818' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5679600437738907818'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5679600437738907818'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/technorati.html' title='technorati'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5951947183937016175</id><published>2008-06-18T05:52:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:58.202+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama Rebukes McCain Camp on Terrorism Criticism</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFhBfWFeKCI/AAAAAAAAAI8/2Y5f63jiifU/s1600-h/barack+obama-AFP.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFhBfWFeKCI/AAAAAAAAAI8/2Y5f63jiifU/s400/barack+obama-AFP.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212988575441627170" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;A defiant Barack Obama said Tuesday he would take no lectures from Republicans on which candidate would keep the U.S. safer, a sharp rebuke to John McCain's aides who said the Democrat had a naive, Sept. 10 mind-set toward terrorism.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"These are the same guys who helped to engineer the distraction of the war in Iraq at a time when we could have pinned down the people who actually committed 9/11," the presumed nominee told reporters aboard his campaign plane. "This is the same kind of fear-mongering that got us into Iraq ... and it's exactly that failed foreign policy I want to reverse."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rival camps engaged in a war of words Tuesday that echoed the 2004 presidential campaign in which President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other Republicans argued that Democratic nominee John Kerry was soft on terror, a claim that resonated with voters and helped propel Bush to re-election. Democrats complained that the GOP was using the politics of fear.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Republican argument proved less effective in 2006 when then Bush adviser Karl Rove said the Democrats had a pre-Sept. 11 view of the world and Republicans had a post-Sept. 11 terror attacks perspective. In November of that year, Democrats captured enough congressional seats to seize control of the House and Senate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On his campaign plane, Obama told reporters that Osama bin Laden is still at large in part because President Bush's strategy toward fighting terror has not succeeded.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At issue were comments Obama made in an interview with ABC News Monday in which he spoke approvingly of the successful prosecution and imprisonment of those responsible for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Obama was asked how he could be sure the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies are not crucial to protecting U.S. citizens.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama said the government can crack down on terrorists "within the constraints of our Constitution." He mentioned the indefinite detention of Guantanamo Bay detainees, contrasting their treatment with the prosecution of the 1993 World Trade Center bombings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"And, you know, let's take the example of Guantanamo," Obama said. "What we know is that, in previous terrorist attacks — for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center — we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"And the fact that the administration has not tried to do that has created a situation where not only have we never actually put many of these folks on trial, but we have destroyed our credibility when it comes to rule of law all around the world, and given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries that say, 'Look, this is how the United States treats Muslims. ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"We could have done the exact same thing, but done it in a way that was consistent with our laws," Obama said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama agreed with the Supreme Court ruling last week that detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have a constitutional right to challenge their indefinite imprisonment in U.S. civilian courts. McCain derided the ruling as "one of the worst decisions in the history of this country."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;McCain aides criticized Obama for talking about using the criminal justice system to prosecute terrorists.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Senator Obama is a perfect manifestation a September 10th mind-set ... He does not understand the nature of the enemies we face," McCain national security director Randy Scheunemann told reporters on a conference call.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Former CIA director James Woolsey, who is advising the McCain campaign, concurred, saying Obama has "an extremely dangerous and extremely naive approach toward terrorism ... and toward dealing with prisoners captured overseas who have been engaged in terrorist attacks against the United States."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Obama campaign countered with its own conference call in which Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Richard Clarke, a counterterrorism official in Republican and Democratic administrations, argued the McCain campaign was emulating Rove.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I'm a little disgusted by the attempts of some of my friends on the McCain campaign to use the same old, tired tactics ... to drive a wedge between Americans for partisan advantage and to frankly frighten Americans," Clarke said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kerry accused McCain of "defending a policy that is indefensible" by siding with Bush's policies, particularly with respect to the Iraq war.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama said Republicans could be counted on to do "what they've done every election cycle, which is to use terrorism as club to make the American people afraid to win elections." He said he didn't think it would work this time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By NEDRA PICKLER and BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer&lt;br /&gt;From: &lt;a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080617/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_obama"&gt;Yahoo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5951947183937016175?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5951947183937016175/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5951947183937016175' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5951947183937016175'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5951947183937016175'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-rebukes-mccain-camp-on-terrorism.html' title='Obama Rebukes McCain Camp on Terrorism Criticism'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFhBfWFeKCI/AAAAAAAAAI8/2Y5f63jiifU/s72-c/barack+obama-AFP.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-7167343102058400493</id><published>2008-06-18T04:39:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-18T04:45:06.005+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Belanda Tundukkan Rumania 2-0</title><content type='html'>Belanda sukses menyapu bersih tiga pertandingan di Grup C dengan kemenangan. Lawan terakhir mereka, Rumania, mereka kandaskan dengan skor 2-0. Hasil tersebut juga membuat Tricolorii tersingkir dari Euro 2008.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dua gol Belanda dilesakkan oleh Klaas-Jan Huntelaar di menit 54 dan robin Van Persie di menit 87. Sementara rumania tak mampu berbuat banyak untuk mengejar ketertinggalannya itu.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hasil ini membawa De Oranje berhasil memnangi semua laga di Grup C yang dilabeli 'Grup Neraka'. Sedangkan Rumania terpaksa harus tersingkir dari Piala Eropa 2008 karena pada saat bersamaan Italia berhasil menundukkan Prancis 2-0. (Rossi Finza Noor/detiksport)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Susunan Pemain:&lt;br /&gt;Belanda: Stekelenburg, Heitinga, Bouma, De Cler, Boulahrouz (Melchiot 58), Robben (Kuyt 61), Engelaar, De Zeeuw, Afellay, Van Persie, Huntelaar (Vennegoor of Hesselink 82).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rumania: Lobont, Chivu, Contra, Contra, Dinca Rat, Tamas, Ghionea, Codrea, Nicolita (Petre 81), Cocis, M. Niculae (D. Niculae 59), Mutu.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sumber: &lt;a href="http://pialaeropa.detiksport.com/index.php/detik.read/tahun/2008/bulan/06/tgl/18/time/034144/idnews/958096/idkanal/514"&gt;detiksport&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-7167343102058400493?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/7167343102058400493/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=7167343102058400493' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/7167343102058400493'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/7167343102058400493'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/belanda-tundukkan-rumania-2-0.html' title='Belanda Tundukkan Rumania 2-0'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-3110489588437440554</id><published>2008-06-18T04:17:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-18T04:36:53.993+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Italia Depak Prancis 2-0</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sarolangunjambi.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/max-rossi-reuters.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://sarolangunjambi.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/max-rossi-reuters.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;Italia tampil dominan atas Prancis yang berkekuatan 10 pemain sejak menit 24 dan memenangi duel di Letzigrund, Rabu (18/6/2008) lewat dua gol Andrea Pirlo dan Daniele de Rossi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Baru tiga menit pertandingan berjalan, Luca Toni sudah mendapat peluang matang. Sayangnya, meski tinggal berhadapan satu lawan satu dengan Gregory Coupet, Toni terlalu terburu-buru melepas tendangan yang pada akhirnya tidak membuahkan hasil.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Menit ketujuh, petaka menimpa Franck Ribery setelah ia mendapat cedera yang diduga lumayan parah saat berebut bola dengan Gianluca Zambrotta. Ribery sendiri langsung ditarik keluar dan digantikan Samir Nasri karena insiden tersebut.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Di menit 10, Italia nyaris saja berada dalam posisi memimpin bila saja bola hasil sundulan Cristian Panucci tidak dihalau Claude Makalele tepat di garis gawang.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sesaat kemudian Luca Toni berturut-turut mendapat peluang, namun gol baru bisa tercipta di menit 25 lewat penalti Pirlo. Tendangan 12 pas diberikan Lobos Michel setelah Eric Abidal melanggar Luca Toni saat striker jangkung Azzurri itu hendak menjebol gawang Gregory Coupet. Pirlo yang menjadi eksekutor sanksi untuk Prancis itupun tak kesulitan membawa timnya memimpin. 1-0 untuk Italia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Diusirnya Abidal membuat lini belakang Prancis semakin gampang untuk ditembus. Toni beberapa kali memiliki peluang memperbesar keunggulan, namun selalu gagal karena kurang tenangnya Toni.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Memasuki menit-menit akhir babak pertama, Fabio Grosso nyaris mencetak gol brilian lewat tendangan bebas. Namun Coupet masih cukup sigap menepis bola yang membuat si kulit bundar berubah arah dan mengenai mistar gawang Prancis. Skor 1-0 bertahan hingga turun minum.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Di babak kedua, Italia langsung tampil menekan. Namun Prancis yang mendapat peluang pertama. Tendangan first time Karim Benzema di menit 49 nyaris saja menjebol gawang Gigi Buffon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thierry Henry juga tak ketinggalan menguji peruntungannya. Akan tetapi tendangan masih berhasil diredam Buffon, atau malah tidak tepat sasaran.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sementara Italia memaksimalkan kesempatan mereka di menit 62. Berawal dari pelanggaran Francois Clerc atas Antonio Cassano di depan kotak penalti Prancis, Italia mendapat hadiah tendangan bebas. Daniele de Rossi yang menjadi eksekutor melepas sepakan keras, di mana bola mengenai kaki Henry, berbelok arah dan akhirnya mengecoh Coupet yang sudah bergerak ke arah berlawanan. 2-0 untuk Italia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gol tersebut semakin meruntuhkan mental bertanding Prancis. Skuad besutan Raymon Domenech itupun kerap kehilangan kontrol permainan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sementara Italia yang harusnya diuntungkan dengan kondisi tersebut juga tak jarang kehilangan sejumlah peluang. Coupet pun tak banyak kesulitan mengamankan gawangnya di beberapa kesempatan yang dimiliki Italia. Skor 2-0 pun bertahan hingga peluit panjang dibunyikan. (Mohammad Yanuar Firdaus/detikSport)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Susunan Pemain&lt;br /&gt;Prancis: Gregory Coupet; Francois Clerc, William Gallas, Eric Abidal, Patrice Evra; Sidney Govou (Nicolas Anelka 66), Jeremy Toulalan, Claude Makelele, Franck Ribery (Samir Nasri 10/ Alain Boumsong 26); Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Italia: Gianluigi Buffon; Gianluca Zambrotta, Giorgio Chiellini, Christian Panucci, Fabio Grosso; Andrea Pirlo (Massimo Ambrosini 55), Daniele De Rossi, Gennaro Gattuso (Alberto Aquilani 81); Simone Perrotta (Mauro Camoranesi 64); Luca Toni, Antonio Cassano.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sumber: &lt;a href="http://pialaeropa.detiksport.com/index.php/detik.read/tahun/2008/bulan/06/tgl/18/time/034221/idnews/958100/idkanal/514"&gt;detiksport&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-3110489588437440554?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/3110489588437440554/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=3110489588437440554' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/3110489588437440554'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/3110489588437440554'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/italia-depak-prancis-2-0.html' title='Italia Depak Prancis 2-0'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-1568319315977540638</id><published>2008-06-18T03:28:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-18T04:12:12.864+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama Berencana Kunjungi Irak dan Afghanistan</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sarolangunjambi.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/obama-gives-iraq-speech1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://sarolangunjambi.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/obama-gives-iraq-speech1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;Barack Obama mengungkapkan rencananya untuk melakukan kunjungan ke Irak dan Afghanistan. Lawatan itu akan dilakukan sebelum pemilihan presiden AS digelar November 2008 mendatang.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Kami akan membuat pengumuman soal itu tapi seperti yang sudah saya katakan, saya tertarik untuk mengunjungi Irak dan Afghanistan sebelum pemilihan,” kata Obama seperti dilansir kantor berita AFP, Selasa (17/6/2008).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama sebelumnya pernah diejek rivalnya, John McCain dari Partai Republik karena baru sekali berkunjung ke Irak pada Januari 2006 lalu. Sedangkan McCain telah 8 kali pergi ke negeri itu.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Namun menurut Obama, kancah perang melawan teror yang sebenarnya adalah di Afghanistan. dikatakan Obama, keterlibatan AS di Irak merupakan bencana diplomatik dan finansial.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama mencetuskan, daripada menghabiskan ratusan miliar dolar untuk perang Irak, alangkah baiknya jika dana itu diinvestasikan untuk inovasi dan pembangunan. Apalagi saat ini kebanyakan warga AS tengah dipusingkan dengan keadaan ekonomi yang lesu.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Bukannya menjangkau horizon baru, Presiden George Bush malah memasukkan kita ke lubang, dan kebijakan John McCain akan terus membuat kita berada di lubang itu,” kata Obama dalam pidatonya di Michigan, AS.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sumber: &lt;a href="http://plinplan.com/general/42049/2008/06/17/obama-berencana-kunjungi-irak-dan-afghanistan/"&gt;plinplan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-1568319315977540638?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/1568319315977540638/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=1568319315977540638' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1568319315977540638'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1568319315977540638'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-berencana-kunjungi-irak-dan.html' title='Obama Berencana Kunjungi Irak dan Afghanistan'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-2770867506074910131</id><published>2008-06-18T03:08:00.003+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:58.406+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama Sangat Menghargai Negara-negara Asia</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;div align="right"&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;div align="right"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFgaQIorbtI/AAAAAAAAAHM/e-MtTtdkkM4/s1600-h/barackobama.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFgaQIorbtI/AAAAAAAAAHM/e-MtTtdkkM4/s320/barackobama.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212945433179680466" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Bangsa Amerika sebenarnya ingin perubahan, tapi mereka tidak mendapat kans itu dari Hillary Clinton". Hal tersebut mungkin hanya sebagian kecil dari  pengamatan Mantan Presiden RI Abdurrahman Wahid seusai berkunjung selama 11 hari di Amerika Serikat untuk menerima beberapa penghargaan. Gus Dur berkesempatan menjadi tamu dalam edisi special Perspektif Wimar kali ini, yang  membahas tentang pemilihan presiden di AS.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dalam pandangannya, Gus Dur meyakini Obama punya kans besar di pemilihan presiden mendatang. Hal ini dikarenakan Obama selalu bicara tentang perubahan-perubahan. Dan yang lebih penting lagi bahwa Obama juga sangat menghargai negara-negara Asia yang telah banyak mengalami kemajuan terutama pada sektor pendidikan dan kesehatan. Sementara concern Clinton tentang politik luar negeri adalah tetap menjaga dominasi Amerika di dunia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gus Dur yang juga mendapat penghargaan dari Temple University dengan diabadikan namanya menjadi sebuah kelompok studi yang bernama Abdurrahman Wahid Chair of Islamic Study, juga khawatir tentang keselamatan Obama. Maksudnya?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Menurut Gus Dur, Presiden Kennedy pada waktu itu juga akan melakukan banyak perubahan tapi keburu ditembak. Nah, hal ini yang ditakutkan akan terjadi pada senator Illinois  ini.Begitu juga dengan Richard Nixon yang keburu dilengserkan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bagi mantan ketua PB NU ini, Amerika sudah terlalu banyak meminta dari kita. Karena kita merupakan salah satu paru-paru dunia selain Brazil, maka menurut Protokol Kyoto semestinya Indonesia  mendapatkan 4 US Dollar untuk setiap hektar dari hutan yang kita miliki. Bisa dibayangkan dana yang akan kita dapatkan kalau para Negara maju melakukan hal tersebut? Pasti akan sangat bermanfaat dalam pemulihan ekonomi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Selain itu, dalam pertemuannya dengan anggota kongres dan Wakil Presiden Dick Cheney, Gus Dur berpesan satu hal. Yaitu agar mereka membuat pandangan terhadap Islam secara dialogis. (Didiet Adiputro)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sumber: &lt;a href="http://perspektif.net/indonesian/article.php?article_id=888"&gt;Perspektif Wimar&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-2770867506074910131?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/2770867506074910131/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=2770867506074910131' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/2770867506074910131'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/2770867506074910131'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-sangat-menghargai-negara-negara.html' title='Obama Sangat Menghargai Negara-negara Asia'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFgaQIorbtI/AAAAAAAAAHM/e-MtTtdkkM4/s72-c/barackobama.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5622785159698395148</id><published>2008-06-15T14:20:00.003+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:58.717+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Luar Biasa Villa, Bawa Spanyol Unggul</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFTMcrNaOFI/AAAAAAAAAG8/a6kyFRzVFXY/s1600-h/villa-spanyol+-+reuters.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 241px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFTMcrNaOFI/AAAAAAAAAG8/a6kyFRzVFXY/s320/villa-spanyol+-+reuters.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212015461781878866" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;David Villa memang luar biasa. Setelah melewatidua bek Swedia, ia memperdaya kiper Andreas Isaksson untuk mencetak gol bagi Spanyol, pada pertandingan grup D Euro 2008, yang baru saja berakhir di Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck, Austria.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dengan gol Villa pada menit ke-90 tersebut, Spanyol kembali unggul 2-1 atas Swedia, sekaligus berpeluang besar memastikan tiket maju ke perempat final, karena sisa waktu sudah sangat sulit bagi Swedia untuk mengimbangi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sejak menit awal babak pertama, Spanyol lebih menguasai jalannya permainan. Hasilnya, pada menit ke-15 Fernando Torres berhasil memanfaatkan umpan David Silva dengan satu sentuhan kaki kanannya untuk membobol gawang Andreas Isaksson.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tertinggal 0-1, Swedia tak putus asa. Meski hanya mengandalkan serangan balik, Zlatan Ibrahimovic mampu membuat skor berimbang 1-1, setelah aksinya memperdaya Sergio Ramos dan Iker Casillas untuk menceploskan bola ke gawang Spanyol pada menit ke-34.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Spanyol meningkatkan daya gedornya pada sisa watu babak pertama. Namun, Swedia dengan cepat memperbaiki sistem pertahanannya, setelah membuat kesalahan yang menyebabkan terjadinya gol Torres. Berbagai upaya Spanyol hanya menemui jalan buntu.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pada menit ke-63, Spanyol nyaris mencetak gol melalui aksi David Villa. Umpanya diteruskan dengan tendangan David Silva, tapi berhasil diblok Isaksson. Villa langsung memanfaatkan bola rebound dan Isaksson kembali berhasil menghalau.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bola mental ke arah Fernando Torres, tapi sayang tendangan striker Liverpool tersebut membantur tubuh Petter Hansson yang berdiri di depan gawang, sehingga bola memantul ke luar gawang. Selamatlah gawang Swedia, meski Isaksson sempat mendapat perawatan karena dagunya membentur dengkul Villa.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dengan kemenangan tersebut, Spanyol memastikan tiket ke perempat final dengan nilai 6, hasil dari dua kemenangan. Seeangkan Swedia masih harus menunggu hasil pertandingan antara Yunani lawan Rusia.[S1]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5622785159698395148?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5622785159698395148/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5622785159698395148' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5622785159698395148'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5622785159698395148'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/luar-biasa-villa-bawa-spanyol-unggul.html' title='Luar Biasa Villa, Bawa Spanyol Unggul'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFTMcrNaOFI/AAAAAAAAAG8/a6kyFRzVFXY/s72-c/villa-spanyol+-+reuters.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-9176515792524696331</id><published>2008-06-15T13:57:00.003+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:58.884+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama, Courting Ohio Seniors, Pledges No Cuts to Benefits</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFS-XDXFUXI/AAAAAAAAAG0/b2xkqyO-5RY/s1600-h/obama-newsday.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFS-XDXFUXI/AAAAAAAAAG0/b2xkqyO-5RY/s320/obama-newsday.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211999972022899058" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Democrat Makes 1st Ohio Visit Since Losing March 4 Primary&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By JIM PROVANCE&lt;br /&gt;BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Returning to battleground Ohio for the first time since losing the state's March 4 primary, likely Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama yesterday used a retirement home as the backdrop for his call for higher Social Security taxes on wealthier Americans.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At the same time, he promised there would be no cut in Social Security benefits, no increase in the retirement age, and no income taxes on the first $50,000 collected in Social Security benefits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He attacked Republican opponent John McCain for supporting private individual retirement accounts that could be invested outside the Social Security system, an idea that failed to gain momentum when President Bush proposed it several years ago.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Privatizing Social Security was a bad idea when George Bush proposed it. It's a bad idea today,'' Mr. Obama told an invitation-only, mostly white group of 40 senior citizens at Oakleaf Village in north Columbus.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"It would eventually cut guaranteed benefits by up to 50 percent,'' he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"It would cost $1 trillion that we don't have to implement on the front end, permanently elevating our national debt," he said. "And most of all, it would gamble the retirement plans of millions of Americans on the stock market.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Imagine if your Social Security right now were tied up in Dow Jones,'' he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The event was Mr. Obama's first campaign appearance with Gov. Ted Strickland, formerly a supporter of Hillary Clinton. Mr. Obama's wife, Michelle, later headlined a Cincinnati fund-raiser on behalf of her husband when his campaign took him to Philadelphia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. McCain has been back to Ohio three times since the state helped put him over the top in GOP delegates on March 4.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Obama has proposed subjecting all income over $250,000 to Social Security payroll taxes. Currently, Social Security taxes are applied only to the first $102,000 of income.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Most middle-class families pay this tax on every dime they make, while millionaires and billionaires are only paying on a very small percentage of their income," he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rob Portman, a former White House budget director and Cincinnati congressman, called Mr. Obama's plan to subject wealthier Americans to higher payroll taxes "a dangerous course."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"This will not provide the needed stimulus to the economy or create the jobs needed," the Republican said. "It will seriously risk further weakening our economy."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To date, Mr. McCain has provided few specifics on how he would ensure the long-term solvency of Social Security as retiring Baby Boomers task the system at a greater rate than younger workers pay into it. He has, however, generally endorsed the concept of private retirement accounts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"His personal belief is that it is not necessary to raise taxes to [ensure Social Security's solvency],'' said Doug Holtz-Eakin, Mr. McCain's senior economic policy advisor. "He sees a role for private investment accounts as part of Social Security, but not as a substitute for taking on the fundamental challenges of the system.''&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The intimate retirement home setting, in which audience members were outnumbered by members of the media, was a departure from the massive rallies Mr. Obama held on Ohio college campuses before the March primary election. Mr. McCain has challenged Mr. Obama to a series of small town-hall meetings, and Mr. Obama said he is looking forward to debates.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"When it comes to Social Security, he may want to finish the debate with himself first," said Mr. Obama.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first time that Republican Bob Hinebaugh, 75, voted in a presidential election, he cast his ballot for Dwight Eisenhower. He has never voted for a Democrat, but he said he believes a change may be necessary this year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I'm not saying I'll vote for [Mr. Obama], but I do think he has some very good ideas," he said. "We've got to weigh this out very carefully, but he was very impressive. He said a lot of things I like."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Republican, who lives near Oakleaf Village, did not commit to voting for him, but that didn't stop Mr. Obama from declaring him to be an "Obamacan."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Contact Jim Provance at:&lt;br /&gt;jprovance@theblade.com&lt;br /&gt;or 614-221-0496.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-9176515792524696331?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/9176515792524696331/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=9176515792524696331' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/9176515792524696331'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/9176515792524696331'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-courting-ohio-seniors-pledges-no.html' title='Obama, Courting Ohio Seniors, Pledges No Cuts to Benefits'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFS-XDXFUXI/AAAAAAAAAG0/b2xkqyO-5RY/s72-c/obama-newsday.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5395171798681951764</id><published>2008-06-15T13:44:00.003+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:59.059+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Rekor Indonesia di Mata Dunia</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFS8heN5V2I/AAAAAAAAAGs/ta4Shrju16E/s1600-h/indonesia_map.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFS8heN5V2I/AAAAAAAAAGs/ta4Shrju16E/s320/indonesia_map.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211997952007559010" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;Republik Indonesia merupakan Negara kepulauan terbesar di dunia yang terdiri dari 17.504 pulau (termasuk 9.634 pulau yang belum diberi nama dan 6.000 pulau yang tidak berpenghuni) . Disini ada 3 dari 6 pulau terbesar didunia, yaitu : Kalimantan (pulau terbesar ketiga di dunia dgn luas 539.460 km2), Sumatera (473.606 km2) dan Papua (421.981 km2).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Indonesia adalah Negara maritim terbesar di dunia dengan perairan seluas 93 ribu km2 dan panjang pantai sekitar 81 ribu km2 atau hampir 25% panjang pantai di dunia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pulau Jawa adalah pulau terpadat di dunia dimana sekitar 60% hampir penduduk Indonesia (sekitar 130 jt jiwa) tinggal di pulau yang luasnya hanya 7% dari seluruh wilayah RI.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Indonesia merupakan Negara dengan suku bangsa yang terbanyak di dunia. Terdapat lebih dari 740 suku bangsa/etnis, dimana di Papua saja terdapat 270 suku.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Negara dengan bahasa daerah yang terbanyak, yaitu, 583 bahasa dan dialek dari 67 bahasa induk yang digunakan berbagai suku bangsa di Indonesia . Bahasa nasional adalah bahasa Indonesia walaupun bahasa daerah dengan jumlah pemakai terbanyak di Indonesia adalah&lt;br /&gt;bahasa Jawa.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Indonesia adalah negara muslim terbesar di dunia. Jumlah pemeluk agama Islam di Indonesia sekitar 216 juta jiwa atau 88% dari penduduk Indonesia . Juga memiliki jumlah masjid terbanyak dan Negara asal jamaah haji terbesar di dunia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monumen Budha (candi) terbesar di dunia adalah Candi Borobudur di Jawa Tengah dengan tinggi 42 meter (10 tingkat) dan panjang relief lebih dari 1 km. Diperkirakan dibuat selama 40 tahun oleh Dinasti Syailendra pada masa kerajaan Mataram Kuno (750-850).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tempat ditemukannya manusia purba tertua di dunia, yaitu : Pithecanthropus Erectus" yang diperkirakan berasal dari 1,8 juta tahun yang lalu.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Republik Indonesia adalah Negara pertama yang lahir sesudah berakhirnya Perang Dunia II pada tahun 1945. RI merupakan Negara ke 70 tertua di dunia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Indonesia adalah Negara pertama (hingga kini satu-satunya) yang pernah keluar dari Perserikatan Bangsa Bangsa (PBB) pada tgl 7 Januari 1965. RI bergabung kembali ke dalam PBB pada tahun 1966.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tim bulutangkis Indonesia adalah yang terbanyak merebut lambing supremasi bulutangkis pria, Thomas Cup, yaitu sebanyak 13 x (pertama kali th 1958 &amp;amp; terakhir 2002).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Indonesia adalah penghasil gas alam cair (LNG) terbesar di dunia (20% dari suplai seluruh dunia) juga produsen timah terbesar kedua.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Indonesia menempati peringkat 1 dalam produk pertanian, yaitu : cengkeh (cloves) &amp;amp; pala (nutmeg), serta no.2 dalam karet alam (Natural Rubber) dan minyak sawit mentah (Crude Palm Oil).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Indonesia adalah pengekspor terbesar kayu lapis (plywood), yaitu sekitar 80% di pasar dunia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terumbu Karang (Coral Reef) Indonesia adalah yang terkaya (18% dari total dunia).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Indonesia memiliki species ikan hiu terbanyak didunia yaitu 150 species.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Biodiversity Anggrek terbesar di dunia : 6 ribu jenis anggrek, mulai dari yang terbesar (Anggrek Macan atau Grammatophyllum Speciosum) sampai yang terkecil (Taeniophyllum, yang tidak berdaun), termasuk Anggrek Hitam yang langka dan hanya terdapat di Papua.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Memiliki hutan bakau terbesar di dunia. Tanaman ini bermanfaat untuk mencegah pengikisan air laut/abrasi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Binatang purba yang masih hidup : Komodo yang hanya terdapat di pulau Komodo, NTT adalah kadal terbesar di dunia. Panjangnya bias mencapai 3 meter dan beratnya 90 kg.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rafflesia Arnoldi yang tumbuh di Sumatera adalah bunga terbesar di dunia. Ketika bunganya mekar, diameternya mencapai 1 meter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Memiliki primata terkecil di dunia , yaitu Tarsier Pygmy (Tarsius Pumilus) atau disebut juga Tarsier Gunung yang panjangnya hanya 10 cm. Hewan yang mirip monyet dan hidupnya diatas pohon ini terdapat di Sulawesi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tempat ditemukannya ular terpanjang di dunia yaitu, Python Reticulates sepanjang 10 meter di Sulawesi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ikan terkecil di dunia yang ditemukan baru-baru ini di rawa-rawa berlumpur Sumatera. Panjang 7,9 mm ketika dewasa atau kurang lebih sebesar nyamuk. Tubuh ikan ini transparan dan tidak mempunyai tulang kepala.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5395171798681951764?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5395171798681951764/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5395171798681951764' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5395171798681951764'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5395171798681951764'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/rekor-indonesia-di-mata-dunia.html' title='Rekor Indonesia di Mata Dunia'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFS8heN5V2I/AAAAAAAAAGs/ta4Shrju16E/s72-c/indonesia_map.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-1664659369690784784</id><published>2008-06-14T04:15:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:59.271+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Belanda Benam Prancis 4-1</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFLrzu7LtwI/AAAAAAAAAGk/lQ91ntXC8QM/s1600-h/Ruud+van+Nistelrooy-reuters.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFLrzu7LtwI/AAAAAAAAAGk/lQ91ntXC8QM/s320/Ruud+van+Nistelrooy-reuters.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211486992823203586" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Setelah memukul Italia 3-0, kini giliran Prancis yang dihajar 4-1 dalam pertandingan grup C Euro 2008 di Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, dini hari tadi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;Gol pertama dibuat Dirk Kuyt ketika pertandingan baru berjalan sepuluh menit. Penyerang Liverpool ini menceploskan bola dengan sundulan kepalanya.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hingga babak pertama berakhir, skor tak berubah, tetapi 1-0. Memasuki babak kedua, pelatih Der Oranje memasukkan Arjen Robben untuk menambah daya serang dari sayap.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hasilnya, pada menit ke-59 Robben yang menusut jantung pertahanan Prancis dari sayap kiri, langsung melepaskan umpan kepada Robin van persie yang baru masuk menggantikan Dirk Kuyt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Van Persie langsung melepaskan tendangan dengan kaki kirinya. Meski bola sempat ditahan tangan kiri kiper Gregory Coupet, tetapi memantul ke arah belakang dan bergulir masuk ke gawang.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Meski tertinggal 2-0, Prancis memiliki semangat untuk mengejar. Hasilnya, Thierry Henry yang berulang kali memiliki peluang emas, akhirnya mencetak gol pada menit ke-71, sehingga memperkecil ketinggalan 2-1.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Namun, diluar dugaan, ketika Prancis baru mulai membangun semangat dan kepercayaan dirinya, sebuah serangan cepat Belanda berhasil dituntaskan oleh Arjen Robben menjadi gol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gol Robben yang dibuat haya berselang satu menit seusai Henry membobol gawang Edwin Van der Sar, terbilang spektakuler karena dibuat dari sudut yang sangat sulit di sisi kanan gawang Caoupet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gol Robben rupanya benar-benar menghancurkan mentak Prancis. Terbuktinya, di menit terahir pertandingan, gawang mereka kembali kebobolan oleh tendangan jarak jauh Wesley Sneijder, sehingga kemenangan Belanda menjadi 3-1.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dengan kemenangan tersebut Belanda dipastikan melangkah ke babak perempat final. Sementara tim asal 'Negeri Kincir Angin' itu memimpin grup C dengan nilai 6, diikuti Rumania dengan nilai 2.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Satu tiket lagi ke perempatfinal masih akan diperebutkan Rumania, Italia dan Prancis, karena ketiganya sama-sama memiliki nilai 1. Rumania akan menentukan nasibnya melawan Belanda, sedangkan Italia bertemu Prancis.[S1] &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;sumber: &lt;a href="http://euro.inilah.com/news.php?id=2008061403520814&amp;amp;kode=nws&amp;amp;xtime=20080614040838"&gt;inilah&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-1664659369690784784?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/1664659369690784784/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=1664659369690784784' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1664659369690784784'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1664659369690784784'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/belanda-benam-prancis-4-1.html' title='Belanda Benam Prancis 4-1'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFLrzu7LtwI/AAAAAAAAAGk/lQ91ntXC8QM/s72-c/Ruud+van+Nistelrooy-reuters.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-1791452920356456944</id><published>2008-06-14T02:02:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:59.436+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Istri Obama Jadi Sasaran Tembak</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFLFmR2K3FI/AAAAAAAAAGc/es6n5Q0hAB0/s1600-h/Michelle,+Obama+and+Family-ok.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFLFmR2K3FI/AAAAAAAAAGc/es6n5Q0hAB0/s320/Michelle,+Obama+and+Family-ok.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211444980237392978" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Semakin dekat jadwal pemilihan Presiden Amerika Serikat, kian seru pula perseteruan di antara kubu Partai Demokrat dan Partai Republik. Black campaign pun mulai dimanfaatkan demi mengejar kemenangan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kondisi itulah yang kini terjadi di antara kedua kubu sebagai persiapan untuk pemilu mendatang. Yang menjadi sasaran kali ini adalah Michelle Obama, istri kandidat Partai Demokrat Barack Obama. Apa yang dilakukan terhadap Michelle?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Seperti yang terjadi dalam pertarungan antara Obama dengan Hillary Rodham Clinton dalam konvensi Partai Demokrat lalu, masalah ras menjadi isu yang paling panas bagi kedua kubu, bahkan hingga ke kalangan pemilih.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Masalah ras memang bisa menjadi ‘dagangan’ dan bisa juga sebagai bumerang. Hal ini terkait dengan munculnya Obama yang berpotensi menjadi presiden kulit hitam pertama Amerika. Hal positif yang diambil dari kulit gelapnya adalah, Obama mendapat dukungan melimpah dari pemilih kulit hitam.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tapi masalah ras pula yang membuat pemilih Amerika terpecah belah antara kulit hitam dengan putih, menyusul pernyataan dari mantan pastor Obama. Itu sempat menjadi bumerang bagi Obama, karena banyak pemilih kulit putih yang mulai berniat meninggalkan senator Illinois itu. Namun, berkat kesigapan dan ketenangan Obama, masalah ras itu sedikit demi sedikit dihilangkan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Setelah perseteruan soal ras antara kubu Obama dengan Hillary sirna seiring dengan kekalahan mantan Ibu Negara itu dalam konvensi partai, kini isu perbedaan warna kulit itu kembali mencuat. Dan lagi-lagi yang menjadi sorotan adalah kubu Obama.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Memang, di dalam hati sebagian rakyat Amerika, mereka belum siap menerima kehadiran seorang presiden negeri adidaya itu dari kalangan kulit hitam, karena selama ini kaum kulit hitam kerap dinilai sebagai komunitas kelas dua. Lantas, siapa saat ini yang menjadi sasaran tembak?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ternyata bukan lagi Obama, melainkan istrinya, Michelle. Serangan terhadap Michelle itu terkait dengan ucapannya yang pernah menyebut kata whitey, yang mengacu pada kelompok kulit putih.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rumors yang menyebutkan Michelle Obama pernah mencemooh kaum kulit putih dengan menggunakan kata whitey, dilakukannya saat ia berpidato di Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Ucapan Michelle itu sempat tertayang di sejumlah blog di kubu Republik selama beberapa pekan dan kemudian diulang-ulang dalam talk show di radio yang diasuh oleh Rush Limbaugh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Melihat hal itu, kubu Demokrat langsung bereaksi dengan mengatakan bahwa rumors itu hanya untuk menjatuhkan Obama menjelang pemilu nanti.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tim kampanye Obama mengatakan bahwa Michelle Obama tidak pernah menggunakan kata whitey dalam pidato di gerejanya itu. Untuk meredam isu itu tak semakin merusak reputasi Obama dan istrinya, tim kampanyenya segera meluncurkan situs Web.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Tak ada rekaman seperti itu,” kata kubu Obama dalam situsnya, http://www.fightthesmears.com. “Michelle Obama tidak pernah berbicara dari atas mimbar di gereja Trinity dan tak pernah menggunakan kata itu.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kejadian itu tentu saja tak mengenakkan hati Obama yang tengah mencoba membangun citra sebagai calon pemimpin masa depan. Ia perlu membangun citra itu karena selama ini ia selalu disudutkan sebagai kandidat presiden yang minim pengalaman dan tak punya latar belakang militer serta lemah dalam kebijakan luar negeri.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Upaya membangun citra itu bisa saja sia-sia jika kubunya tak segera melakukan klarifikasi melalui Web. Penjelasan melalui Internet ini mutlak dilakukan karena black campaign itu juga disebarkan melalui blog yang memanfaatkan komunitas netter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kampanye hitam lewat Web memang cukup ampuh karena daya sebarnya cukup luas dan menjangkau hampir semua kalangan yang mengakses Web.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sebaiknya, kubu Obama tak hanya memberikan klarifikasi, tapi mulai menggiatkan kembali kampanye lewat Internet, seperti yang ia lakukan pada konvensi Demokrat melawan Hillary.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ini perlu segera dilakukan, karena sebelumnya, lagi-lagi Michelle, yang dipertanyakan patriotismenya terhadap Amerika Serikat. Hal itu bermula ketika Michelle mengomentari kampanye suaminya, yang membuat ia bangga terhadap Amerika ‘untuk pertama kalinya’.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fox News Channel ‘bahkan mengganggu’ Michelle Obama dengan ungkapan slang, “Obama’s baby mama”. Itu untuk menggambarkan seorang perempuan yang memiliki bayi di luar nikah.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ini menjadi tugas utama Obama untuk ‘membersihkan’ nama keluarganya dari segala hal yang dapat menghambat upayanya menduduki Gedung Putih. Namun, counter attack tak perlu dilakukan dengan black campaign juga, karena hal ini justru akan mengganggu karismanya di mata rakyat Amerika.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ia hanya perlu berkampanye dengan menyentuh segala permasalahan yang dihadapi rakyat Amerika kebanyakan. Mengapa? Saat ini Amerika masih dirundung duka kelesuan ekonomi. Dengan menyentuh isu-isu sosial dan ekonomi, sepertinya sulit bagi McCain untuk menghadang laju Obama. [Teguh Rachmanto ]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sumber: &lt;a href="http://inilah.com/berita/2008/06/13/33253/istri-obama-jadi-sasaran-tembak/"&gt;Inilah&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-1791452920356456944?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/1791452920356456944/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=1791452920356456944' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1791452920356456944'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1791452920356456944'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/istri-obama-jadi-sasaran-tembak.html' title='Istri Obama Jadi Sasaran Tembak'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFLFmR2K3FI/AAAAAAAAAGc/es6n5Q0hAB0/s72-c/Michelle,+Obama+and+Family-ok.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-6453433906518691898</id><published>2008-06-14T01:56:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:59.726+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Buffon Selamatkan Italia</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFLDxMG0NZI/AAAAAAAAAGU/2QUviTtdhe0/s1600-h/buffon-REUTERS.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFLDxMG0NZI/AAAAAAAAAGU/2QUviTtdhe0/s320/buffon-REUTERS.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211442968651904402" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Andai saja Gianluigi Buffon gagal membendung penalti Adrian Mutu, Italia bisa jadi sudah tersingkir sekarang. Namun, dengan hasil 1-1 melawan Rumania, Gli Azzurri memang patut untuk merasa was-was.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ya, setelah kalah 0-3 pada laga perdana melawan Belanda, kemenangan atas Rumania adalah hasil wajib. Tetapi, bukannya meraih kemenangan, mereka malah bermain imbang. Bahkan jika Buffon tidak memblok penalti Mutu, Alessandro Del Piero cs bukan tak mungkin menelan kekalahan dan tersingkir.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kiper Juventus itu memang tampil cukup apik dalam laga yang berlangsung di Letzigrund Stadion ini. Beberapa penyelamatan berhasil ia lakukan untuk menjaga gawangnya dari kebobolan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kini Italia harus puas tetap menghuni posisi juru kunci Grup C dengan raihan poin satu. Nasib, mereka pun akan ditentukan pada matchday terakhir ketika berhadapan dengan Prancis 18 Juni mendatang.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sementara itu Rumania tetap duduk di peringkat dua dengan nilai 2. Tim asuhan Victor Piturca itu pun memiliki kans yang lebih besar ketimbang Italia untuk lolos ke babak perempatfinal, kendati juga masih tergantung dari hasil pertandingan Belanda vs Prancis yang akan berlangsung sesaat lagi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jalannya Pertandingan&lt;br /&gt;Rumania langsung memperoleh kesempatan di awal pertandingan. Umpan lambung dari sisi kanan berhasil diterima dengan sundulan oleh Adrian Mutu. Namun, tandukan striker Fiorentina itu masih melambung di atas mistar gawang Italia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Balasan dari Italia datang pada menit delapan. Mereka hanya terpisahkan satu centimeter dari gol pertama setelah sundulan Alessandro Del Piero di depan gawang Bogdan Lobont hanya melenceng tipis.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Adrian Mutu kembali menguji pertahanan Italia pada menit 15. Ia melepaskan tendangan keras kaki kiri dari dalam kotak penalti yang kemudian berhasil diblok dengan baik oleh Gianluigi Buffon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dua menit kemudian giliran Gabriel Tamas yang memiliki peluang. Namun, lagi-lagi Buffon berhasil menyelamatkan gawangnya. Tendangan bebas Tamas dari luar kotak penalti berhasil ia blok.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Menit 19 sundulan Cristian Chivu yang membentur badan Christian Panucci nyaris mengubah kedudukan menjadi 1-0 jika saja menemui sasaran. Penyelamat Italia kali ini bukanlah Buffon, melainkan tiang gawang.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Luca Toni memiliki kesempatan pada menit 26. Berawal dari umpan crossing Mauro Camoranesi di sisi kanan, bola pun ditanduk oleh penyerang Bayern Munich itu. Sial baginya, bola sundulannya melenceng di sisi kiri gawang Rumania.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Italia kembali memiliki kesempatan untuk memperoleh keunggulan di menit 39, lagi-lagi melalui sundulan Toni. Kali ini dengan gemilang Lobont berhasil menepis tandukan Toni sehingga hanya menghasilkan sepak pojok, bukan gol.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Di penghujung pertandingan sebenarnya Italia berhasil mencetak gol melalui sundulan Toni. Namun, wasit menganggap striker jangkung itu sudah terlebih dulu terperangkap offside.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;55 menit pertandingan berjalan, Rumania memimpin. Diawali tendangan bebas, bola kemudian dihalau oleh Gianluca Zambrotta, yang sialnya, ke arah gawang sendiri! Bola lantas diterima oleh Mutu yang tanpa ampun menghujamnya ke gawang Buffon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Namun, semenit kemudian Italia berhasil menyamakan kedudukan! Adalah Christian Panucci yang menjadi penyelamat usai menyambar sundulan Giorgio Chielini didepan gawang Rumania. Gol tersebut diawali oleh sebuah sepak pojok.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bogdan Lobont melakukan penyelamatan gemilang di menit 76. Kiper Rumania itu menghalau tandukan Daniele De Rossi yang dilakukan tepat di depan gawangnya sendiri. Refleks yang cukup bagus dari kiepr Dinamo Bucharest itu.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Italia selamat dari kebobolan yang kedua kalinya di menit 80 setelah Buffon berhasil menepis penalti Mutu! Penalti tersebut diberikan usai Christian Panucci menarik baju Daniel Niculae.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Susunan Pemain:&lt;br /&gt;Italia: Buffon, Panucci, Zambrotta, Grosso, Chielini, Pirlo, Perrotta (Cassano 57), Camoranesi (Ambrossini 85), De Rossi, Del Piero (Quagliarella 76), Toni&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rumania: Lobont, Chivu, Contra, Dinca Rat, Tamas, Goian, Radoi (Dica 25), Codrea, Petre (Nicolita 59), Mutu (Cocis 87), Niculae&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sumber: &lt;a href="http://pialaeropa.detiksport.com/index.php/detik.read/tahun/2008/bulan/06/tgl/14/time/011039/idnews/956095/idkanal/514"&gt;detikcom&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-6453433906518691898?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/6453433906518691898/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=6453433906518691898' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6453433906518691898'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6453433906518691898'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/buffon-selamatkan-italia.html' title='Buffon Selamatkan Italia'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFLDxMG0NZI/AAAAAAAAAGU/2QUviTtdhe0/s72-c/buffon-REUTERS.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-4510406894459383954</id><published>2008-06-12T18:52:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:59.845+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Daftar Objek Wisata di Sumatera Barat</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFEOorSCfBI/AAAAAAAAAGM/mdn8cdh28EU/s1600-h/tourism+map+west+sumatera.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFEOorSCfBI/AAAAAAAAAGM/mdn8cdh28EU/s320/tourism+map+west+sumatera.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210962335820315666" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;(Tourism in West Sumatera)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objek Wisata Sejarah :&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Menhir Mahat &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kec. Luhak Desa Mahat Kab. 50 Kota &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota &lt;br /&gt;Kabupaten/Kota : 40 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Batu Batikam &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kec. Batipuh Desa Batu Taba Kab. Tanah Datar &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota &lt;br /&gt;Kabupaten/Kota : 3 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Batu Basurek &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kec.Rambatan Desa Simawang Kab. Tanah Datar &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota &lt;br /&gt;Kabupaten/Kota : 3 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Pulau Cingkuak &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kec. IV Jurai Painan Selatan Kab. Pesisir Selatan &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota &lt;br /&gt;Kabupaten/Kota : - &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Makam Mr.M.Yamin &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kecamatan Talawi Kota Sawahlunto &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota &lt;br /&gt;Kabupaten/Kota : 11 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Musium Imam Bonjol &amp;amp; Equator &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kec.Bonjol Desa Bonjol Kab. Pasaman &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota &lt;br /&gt;Kabupaten/Kota : 19 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Benteng Tuanku Imam Bonjol &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kec.Bonjol Desa Bonjol Kab. Pasaman &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota &lt;br /&gt;Kabupaten/Kota : 20 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Makam syeh Burhanuddin &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Ulakan Kec.Ulakan Kab Padang Pariaman&lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota &lt;br /&gt;Kabupaten/Kota : 12 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Diniyah Putri &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Jl.Ramah el Yunusiah Kota Padang Panjang &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota &lt;br /&gt;Kabupaten/Kota : 0,5 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Mesjid Asasi &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kel.Sigandho Kota.Pd.Panjang Timur &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota Kabupaten/Kota : 2 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Perkampungan Minang Kabau &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kel.Silaing Bawah Kota.Padang Panjang &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota Kabupaten/Kota : 2 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Bukit Sibaluik &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Jl.Sukarno Hatta Kota Payakumbuh&lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibu/ &lt;br /&gt;Kota Kab/Kodya : Lebih kurang 4 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mama Objek Wisata : Mesjid Tuo Koto Nan Ampek &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kel.Balai Nan Duo Kota Payakumbuh &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibu kota Kab/Kodya : Lebih Kurang 2 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Tugu Ratapan Ibu &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Jl.A.Yani Kota Payakumbuh&lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibu kota Kab/Kodya : Lebih kurang 1 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Ojek Wisata : Gedung Balaikota &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Jl.Prop.M.Yamin Kota Padang &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari Ibu kota Kabupaten /Kodya : Pusat Kota&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objek Wisata Alam &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Pantai Arta &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Desa Sei.Paku Kab. Padang Pariaman &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota Kabupaten/Kota : 16 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Pulau Sinyang-nyang &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Siberut Selatan Kab. Mentawai &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota Kabupaten/Kota : - &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Pantai Bercelona &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Perw.Kec.Sungai Limau Kab Padang Pariaman &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota Kabupaten/Kota : 16 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Pulau Belibis &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kec.Pariaman Utara Kota Pariaman &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota Kabupaten/Kota : 5 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Pantai Tirta Bahari &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kec.Ulakan Tapakis Kab. Padang Pariaman &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota Kabupaten/Kota : 17 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Taman Nirwana &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Jl.Padang - Painan Kota Padang &lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari Ibukota/Kabupaten/Kodya : 12 km &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nama Objek Wisata : Pulau Pisang Gadang &lt;br /&gt;a. Lokasi : Kec.Padang Selatan Kota Padang&lt;br /&gt;b. Jarak dari ibukota/Kabupaten/Kodya : 1/4 jam P.Laut&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objek Wisata Religius&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;1.Nama Objek Wisata Makam Syekh Burhanuddin &lt;br /&gt;Pengelola Kecamatan/Pemda Padang Pariaman &lt;br /&gt;Fasilitas Tempat-tempat Ibadah &lt;br /&gt;Alamat Desa Ulakan Kab.Padang Pariaman &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;2.Nama Objek Wisata Makam Tuanku Saliah &lt;br /&gt;Pengelola Pemda Pariaman &lt;br /&gt;Fasilitas - Tempat Ibadah dan Kedai Minuman &lt;br /&gt;Alamat Desa Sungai Pariak &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;3. Nama Objek Wisata Kuburan Panjang &lt;br /&gt;Pengelola Pemda Tanah Datar &lt;br /&gt;Fasilitas Tempat Ibadah &lt;br /&gt;Alamat Desa Pariangan Kab.Tanah Datar &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;4. Nama Objek Wisata Makam Abdul Manan &lt;br /&gt;Pengelola Pemda Agam &lt;br /&gt;Fasilitas - Tempat Ibadah dan Kedai Minuman &lt;br /&gt;Alamat Desa Kamang Kab.Agam &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;5. Nama Objek Wisata Makam Pahlawan Situjuh Batur &lt;br /&gt;Pengelola Dinas Sosial &lt;br /&gt;Fasilitas - Tempat Istirahat dan Kedai Minuman &lt;br /&gt;Alamat Desa Situjuh Kab.50 Kota &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;6. Nama Objek Wisata Makam M.Yamin &lt;br /&gt;Pengelola Pemda kOta &lt;br /&gt;Fasilitas Tempat Ibadah &lt;br /&gt;Alamat Desa Talawi. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;7. Nama Objek Wisata Makam Sikucuik &lt;br /&gt;Pengelola Pemda Sawahlunto &lt;br /&gt;Fasilitas Tempat Ibadah &lt;br /&gt;Alamat Desa Talawi Sawahlunto &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;8. Nama Objek Wisata Makam Pahlawan Kusuma Negara &lt;br /&gt;Pengelola Dinas Sosial &lt;br /&gt;Fasilitas Tempat Istirahat &lt;br /&gt;Alamat Jl.S.Parman Lolong Padang.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sumber: &lt;a href="http://www.sumbarprov.go.id/"&gt;www.sumbarprov.go.id&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-4510406894459383954?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/4510406894459383954/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=4510406894459383954' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/4510406894459383954'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/4510406894459383954'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/daftar-objek-wisata-di-sumatera-barat.html' title='Daftar Objek Wisata di Sumatera Barat'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFEOorSCfBI/AAAAAAAAAGM/mdn8cdh28EU/s72-c/tourism+map+west+sumatera.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-6468084071947598933</id><published>2008-06-12T18:34:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:49:59.937+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Daftar Hotel di Kota Padang</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFELjcrY_KI/AAAAAAAAAGE/H6tN3Tdc4cU/s1600-h/lobby+hotel+bumiminang.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFELjcrY_KI/AAAAAAAAAGE/H6tN3Tdc4cU/s320/lobby+hotel+bumiminang.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210958947465886882" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;1.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Sedona Bumi Minang&amp;nbsp;Jl. Bundo Kanduang No. 20 Telp. 37555 Fax. 37567 Padang&lt;br /&gt;2.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Pangeran Beach&amp;nbsp;Jl. H.Juanda No. 79 Telp. 51333 Fax. 54613 Telex. 55213 Padang&lt;br /&gt;3.&amp;nbsp;Pusako Sikuai Wisata&amp;nbsp;Jl. Muara No.38 B. Telp. 37811, 22849 Fax. 22895 Padang&lt;br /&gt;4.&amp;nbsp;Natour Muara&amp;nbsp;Jl. Gereja No. 34 Telp. 35600, 33741, Fax. 22895 Padang&lt;br /&gt;5.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Dipo&amp;nbsp;Jl. Diponegoro No. 25 Telp. 34261, 33741 Fax. 34265, 27966 Padang&lt;br /&gt;6.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Bougainville&amp;nbsp;Jl. Bagindo Aziz Chan No. 2 Telp. 32423 Padang&lt;br /&gt;7.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Tiga-tiga&amp;nbsp;Jl. Pemuda No. 31 Telp. 32587 Padang&lt;br /&gt;8.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Dymens&amp;nbsp;Jl. Prof.Dr.Hamka No.141 Telp. 53822 Padang&lt;br /&gt;9.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Femina&amp;nbsp;Jl. Bagindo Aziz Chan No. 15 Telp. 34309 Padang&lt;br /&gt;10.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Carolin Beach&amp;nbsp;Jl. Bungus Teluk Kabung Telp. 37863, 37900 Padang&lt;br /&gt;11.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Wisma Ransel&amp;nbsp;Jl. Purus No. 2/13 Telp. 30291 Padang&lt;br /&gt;12.&amp;nbsp;Uncle Jack Home Stay&amp;nbsp;Pasir Jambak Padang Telp. 39739 Padang&lt;br /&gt;13.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Mayang Sari&amp;nbsp;Jl. Sudirman No. 19 Telp. 22647, 23555 Padang&lt;br /&gt;14.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Garuda&amp;nbsp;Jl. Permindo No. 4 Telp. 31696 Padang&lt;br /&gt;15.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Putri Kemala Balqis&amp;nbsp;Jl. Hangtuah No. 227 Telp. 28780 Padang&lt;br /&gt;16.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Carlos&amp;nbsp;Jl. Pasar Laban Bungus Telp. 30353 Padang&lt;br /&gt;17.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Nuansa&amp;nbsp;Jl. Samudra, Padang&lt;br /&gt;18.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Pangerans City&amp;nbsp;Jl. Dobi No. 3-5 Telp. 31233 Padang&lt;br /&gt;20.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Padang&amp;nbsp;Jl. Bagindo Aziz Chan No. 28 Telp. 31383 Padang&lt;br /&gt;21.&amp;nbsp;Hotel Putri Bungsu&amp;nbsp;Jl. Permindo No. 40 Telp. 32230 Padang&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-6468084071947598933?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/6468084071947598933/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=6468084071947598933' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6468084071947598933'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6468084071947598933'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/daftar-hotel-di-kota-padang.html' title='Daftar Hotel di Kota Padang'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFELjcrY_KI/AAAAAAAAAGE/H6tN3Tdc4cU/s72-c/lobby+hotel+bumiminang.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5719910087220935628</id><published>2008-06-12T18:30:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:00.038+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Investasi Pariwisata di Kota Padang</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFEJRDb0OXI/AAAAAAAAAF8/1xjmHQthnXY/s1600-h/padang+tourism.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFEJRDb0OXI/AAAAAAAAAF8/1xjmHQthnXY/s320/padang+tourism.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210956432428775794" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wisata Bahari&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pengembangan Pantai Padang&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pantai Padang&lt;br /&gt;Pemb. Hotel, Restoran, Taman Bermain, Sarana Olah Raga Mini &amp;amp; Air (Jet Sky &amp;amp; Surfing), dan Tempat Parkir.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Padang Lama (Kota Tua)&lt;br /&gt;Penyediaan Tempat Atraksi Budaya, Pusat Informasi Sejarah.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Batang Arau&lt;br /&gt;Pemb. Pelabuhan Marina, Restoran Terapung, Sarana Olahraga Air, Dermaga dan Sandaran Kapal Pesiar.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wisata Pantai&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rencana Pembangunan Hotel/Apartemen di Pantai Padang Gold Point&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pengembangan Objek Wisata Gunung Padang&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pelabuhan Muara&lt;br /&gt;Gunung Padang&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pengembangan Objek Wisata Taman Siti Nurbaya&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Taman Siti Nurbaya&lt;br /&gt;Gunung Padang&lt;br /&gt;Lobang Jepang&lt;br /&gt;Makam Siti Nurbaya&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pengembangan Objek Wisata Pantai Padang&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pulau-Pulau kecil +/- 19 buah&lt;br /&gt;Pulau Sauh&lt;br /&gt;Pulau Air&lt;br /&gt;Pulau Toran&lt;br /&gt;Pulau Bindalang&lt;br /&gt;Pulau Sinyaru&lt;br /&gt;Pulau Pisang Gadang&lt;br /&gt;Pulau Pisang Ketek&lt;br /&gt;Pulau Sirandah&lt;br /&gt;Pulau Sironjong&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Taman Raya Bung Hatta&lt;br /&gt;Prospek Pengembangan&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wisata Alam/Ekowisata&lt;br /&gt;Wisata Rekreasi&lt;br /&gt;Wisata Konvensi&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pembangunan Terowongan Pengambiran-Bungus&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sumber: &lt;a href="http://www.padang.go.id/"&gt;www.padang.go.id&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5719910087220935628?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5719910087220935628/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5719910087220935628' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5719910087220935628'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5719910087220935628'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/investasi-pariwisata-di-kota-padang.html' title='Investasi Pariwisata di Kota Padang'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFEJRDb0OXI/AAAAAAAAAF8/1xjmHQthnXY/s72-c/padang+tourism.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5789857468288579334</id><published>2008-06-12T18:14:00.003+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:00.203+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Tourism in Padang</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFEIZi15TZI/AAAAAAAAAF0/mlhSY9UQykQ/s1600-h/padanglama-hendrik.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFEIZi15TZI/AAAAAAAAAF0/mlhSY9UQykQ/s320/padanglama-hendrik.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210955478786985362" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Padang is the capital of West Sumatra. The town is quite nice and deserves a longer visit. The main sights in the city include Adityawarman Museum (close to the bus station) in a traditional Minangkabau house and featuring a good collection of antiques and the cultural center where we can see traditional dances on Sundays. It is an arts institute, which often stages Minang dance and pencak silat (martial arts) performance. The cultural center also offers free tours to the city.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Padang has several houses built in traditional architecture, including Padang Museum, which houses objects of cultural and historical interest. Its beach on Bungus bay with its white sands is good for swimming, boating or just watching the fishing boats going out to sea in the afternoon. Small boats can be hired from here to some small islands nearby: Sirandah, Sikoai, Pagang, Parsumpahan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Padang is a prosperous city and major ports, which has retained the atmosphere of a market town. It is the third largest city of Indonesia with a population of more than 300,000. South of Padang, the massive Kerinci-Strait, Nature Reserve is Indonesia's largest national parks sprawls across a 345 sq km stretch of Jungle Mountain dominated by the volcanic core of Mount Kerinci, which is Sumatra's highest mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Padang has some pretty beaches. The most popular ones are located south of Padang. The beaches are good for swimming, boating or just watching fishing boats going out in the afternoon. On Sundays, the beaches are usually crowded with families and youngsters enjoying their weekly day off. On other days, however, we will find the beaches deserted.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the most famous attractions in Padang is the renowned 'Nasi Padang'. Numerous restaurants serve it. One of the most famous is Simpang Raya, which has branches throughout West Sumatra and Riau, but also in other cities in Indonesia. When we sit down at a table, in no time the waiter will fill the whole table with plates, containing Kari, chicken and fish prepared in coconut curry, Rendang, meat in coconut gravy and Dendeng Balado, thin slices of dried and fried beef served with red chilies. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;History&lt;br /&gt;Since the 16th century Padang has been a trade centre. During the 16th and 17th century pepper was cultivated and traded with India, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In 1663 the city came under the Dutch authority. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The city came under British authority twice, the first time during the war between United Kingdom and the Netherlands (1781-1784) and again when the United Kingdom managed the area for the Netherlands during the Napoleonic wars (1795-1815). Afterwards the city was transferred back to the Netherlands. Up to approximately 1780 the most important trade product was gold, originating from the gold mines in the region. When the mines where exhausted, the emphasis turned to other products such as coffee, salts and textiles&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;by: &lt;a href="http://www.indonesia-tourism.com/west-sumatra/padang.html"&gt;indonesia-tourism&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5789857468288579334?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5789857468288579334/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5789857468288579334' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5789857468288579334'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5789857468288579334'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/sejarah-singkat-kota-padang.html' title='Tourism in Padang'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFEIZi15TZI/AAAAAAAAAF0/mlhSY9UQykQ/s72-c/padanglama-hendrik.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-8676628494367620016</id><published>2008-06-12T05:41:00.002+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:00.373+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Ronaldo Puts Portugal into Quarterfinals</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFBWzXuQ5kI/AAAAAAAAAFs/JS7YM7pA0WE/s1600-h/ronaldo-afp.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFBWzXuQ5kI/AAAAAAAAAFs/JS7YM7pA0WE/s320/ronaldo-afp.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210760209409041986" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;(CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo rose above the frenzied speculation about his club future to fire Portugal to a second successive victory at Euro 2008, inspiring a 3-1 triumph against the Czech Republic in Geneva.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Deco, who is expected to leave Spanish club Barcelona after the tournament, had a chance to put Portugal back in front but blazed over the bar after cutting in from the right wing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Sionko almost had a second goal in the 29th minute when goalkeeper Ricardo flapped at another corner, but Joao Moutinho cleared his header off the line.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Ronaldo, who is being courted by Spanish champions Real Madrid, twice tested Cech in the final minutes of the first half -- the Chelsea keeper denied the 23-year-old's long-range effort with a fine flying save and then smothered his dipping free-kick.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Captain Nuno Gomez had a chance to put Portugal ahead again 10 minutes after the break after robbing David Rozenthal, but the Lazio defender recovered to block his shot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Cech then denied Simao Sabrosa, and at the other end Tomas Ujfalusi's header flashed past the past from another corner with Sionko and Milan Baros both just failing to make a vital connection.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Just a minute later, Ronaldo popped up to put Portugal in the lead for the second time with a sharp right-foot effort from just inside the penalty area after Deco cut inside and slid the ball into his path.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The Czechs battled bravely for an equalizer, but Sionko saw his 83rd-minute header tipped over by Ricardo from yet another set-piece when it seemed he should have scored.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Czech coach Karel Bruckner brought on giant striker Jan Koller, dropped to the bench after the win over the Swiss, but the country's all-time record scorer could not make the required impact.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Instead it was Ronaldo who settled the match, racing clear after beating the offside trap on the counterattack and unselfishly squaring the ball to Quaresma after drawing Cech out of his goal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"It was a surprise for me because we had planned to play against a starting XI that would include Koller," Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari told reporters, before it was later announced the Brazilian had been named as the new manager of English Premier League club Chelsea.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"The fact Baros was there didn't make life easy. We faced difficulties because they had four or five in midfield and we had two wingers so we didn't know what to do." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Bruckner added: "In the second half, we saw the team get a bit tired and our opponents put in a perfect performance in attack. Portugal did not go for counter-attacking only -- they were able to make perfect transitions from attack to defence.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;by: &lt;A href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/sport/football/06/11/football.czechportugal/index.html"&gt;cnn&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-8676628494367620016?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/8676628494367620016/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=8676628494367620016' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/8676628494367620016'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/8676628494367620016'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/ronaldo-puts-portugal-into.html' title='Ronaldo Puts Portugal into Quarterfinals'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFBWzXuQ5kI/AAAAAAAAAFs/JS7YM7pA0WE/s72-c/ronaldo-afp.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-3889309619152864562</id><published>2008-06-12T03:11:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:00.617+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama’s Top Vetter Resigns</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFAyJrG9hTI/AAAAAAAAAFg/qbiuwMiB_JE/s1600-h/obama-voter.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFAyJrG9hTI/AAAAAAAAAFg/qbiuwMiB_JE/s320/obama-voter.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210719910639797554" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;By Kate Phillips&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;James A. Johnson, a leading member of the vice-presidential search team for Senator Barack Obama, quit his post with the campaign today after he and the campaign came under sustained Republican fire in the last several days for several favorable loans he had received.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&amp;ldquo;Jim did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice presidential nominee, so he has made a decision to step aside that I accept,&amp;rdquo; Mr. Obama said in a statement released by his campaign. &amp;ldquo;We have a very good selection process underway, and I am confident that it will produce a number of highly qualified candidates for me to choose from in the weeks ahead. I remain grateful to Jim for his service and his efforts in this process.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Mr. Obama&amp;rsquo;s rival, Senator John McCain, and the Republican party had been hammering away at mortgages Mr. Johnson received from Countrywide Financial, a troubled mortgage lender. The loans were first disclosed by The Wall Street Journal last Saturday. Day after day, both the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee issued release after release criticizing Mr. Obama&amp;rsquo;s connections to Mr. Johnson.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;In some ways, the former chief executive of the Fannie Mae Corporation represented the type of Washington figure the campaigns have tried to keep a distance from as they both tried to rid their campaigns of ties to Washington lobbying ties. In addition, the McCain campaign reminded the media and others that Mr. Obama had repeatedly criticized this particular mortgage company during his primary campaign. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Bloomberg News posted this statement from Mr. Johnson today: &amp;ldquo;I would not dream of being a party to distracting attention from that historic effort. I believe Barack Obama&amp;rsquo;s candidacy for president of the United States is the most exciting and important of my lifetime.'&amp;rsquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Mr. Johnson, 64, said that he had done nothing wrong, saying &amp;ldquo;blatantly false statements and misrepresentations'&amp;rsquo; had been written about him. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Just yesterday, Mr. Obama had dismissed the notion that Mr. Johnson&amp;rsquo;s business dealings should have received more scrutiny before he joined the search team, whose leading members also include Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Earlier today, on a conference call with Obama campaign staff, Senator Kerry was asked about Mr. Johnson. Our colleague John Broder passed along Mr. Kerry&amp;rsquo;s remarks:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Jim Johnson is a very experienced, very discreet, very capable individual who is performing a voluntary function without pay, without any interest. He&amp;rsquo;s not seeking a job and, you know, he is acting completely independently to gather information about somebody. And that&amp;rsquo;s it. That is the full measure of this and it seems that this is one of those sort of Washington grab stories where people try to make something out of something it&amp;rsquo;s not.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;He has proven himself someone who has great skill in gathering that information and keeping it private.&amp;rdquo; Referring to the 2004 vice presidential vetting he performed for Mr. Kerry, he said, &amp;ldquo;There were no leaks from my process and he was handling unbelievably sensitive information.&amp;rdquo; He added, &amp;ldquo;He did an outstanding job in that capacity and I have no complaint about what he did for me.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Mr. Johnson had just visited with top Congressional leaders to discuss the search matters earlier this week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;From : &lt;a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/obamas-top-vetter-resigns/"&gt;nytimes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-3889309619152864562?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/3889309619152864562/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=3889309619152864562' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/3889309619152864562'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/3889309619152864562'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obamas-top-vetter-resigns.html' title='Obama’s Top Vetter Resigns'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SFAyJrG9hTI/AAAAAAAAAFg/qbiuwMiB_JE/s72-c/obama-voter.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5003661894907737149</id><published>2008-06-11T05:12:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:00.710+07:00</updated><title type='text'>McCain, Obama Present Different Views on Taxes</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE79Xd4mKmI/AAAAAAAAAFY/L6UmuYRpJz4/s1600-h/obama-reuters.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE79Xd4mKmI/AAAAAAAAAFY/L6UmuYRpJz4/s320/obama-reuters.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210380398515071586" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;By Jeff Mason&lt;br /&gt;WASHINGTON (Reuters)-Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama staked out starkly opposing stances on taxes on Tuesday, with McCain promising corporate tax breaks and Obama pledging tax increases for many.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;McCain in a speech in Washington accused Obama of seeking the single largest tax increase since World War Two while Obama, in a television interview, said he would increase taxes on the wealthy and on stock profits to pay for a middle-class tax cut of $1,000 a year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"No matter which of us wins in November, there will be change in Washington. The question is what kind of change?" McCain told a conference for small businesses.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama told CNBC that he would raise taxes on Americans making $250,000 a year or more and raise the capital gains tax for those in higher income brackets while exempting small investors. He said the U.S. economy has been "out of balance for too long."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"The general principle of raising taxes on higher income Americans, like myself, and providing relief to those who haven't benefited as much from this new global economy, I think, is a sound one," Obama said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;But Obama, 46, said he would consider deferring some of the tax increases, depending on the economic situation he inherits from President George W. Bush should he win the November election.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The differences on how to spur new growth in the sluggish U.S. economy, at a time of rising unemployment, record-high gasoline prices and a persistent housing crisis, represented a key point of argument for the two candidates in their battle to determine who wins the presidency.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama and other Democrats believe economic conditions, including $4-a-gallon gasoline, will persuade many Americans to vote for them in November. McCain wants to fight the election on national security, which he considers his strength. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;From: &lt;a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN3144368520080610"&gt;Reuters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5003661894907737149?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5003661894907737149/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5003661894907737149' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5003661894907737149'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5003661894907737149'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-obama-present-different-views-on.html' title='McCain, Obama Present Different Views on Taxes'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE79Xd4mKmI/AAAAAAAAAFY/L6UmuYRpJz4/s72-c/obama-reuters.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-302115786551104012</id><published>2008-06-11T05:01:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:00.902+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Swedes See off Greeks 2-0 at Euro 2008</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE76l2zUFfI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/0WzXp7NFkvk/s1600-h/sweden+hansson_gettyimage-bbc.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE76l2zUFfI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/0WzXp7NFkvk/s320/sweden+hansson_gettyimage-bbc.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210377347187086834" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Sweden beat defending champions Greece 2-0 here on Tuesday in their opening Euro 2008 Group D match here with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Petter Hansson on target with quickfire second half efforts to get the Scandinavians off to a flier.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Greece stunned the world four years ago when, inspired by veteran coach Otto Rehhagel, they lifted their first silverware with a win over hosts Portugal in the final.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;But although they qualified for this year's event in style - having between-times missed out on the World Cup finals in 2006 - they laboured to create much in the way of real chances against the Swedes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Ibrahimovic, after netting his first international goal in three years, a piledriver, was jubilant.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"It was a difficult match, especially for the strikers, as the Greeks defended well.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;"We did fantastically and played with intelligence. The important thing was to get the three points."&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;Sweden appeared hesitant in the first 45 minutes in Salzburg but their strong midfield snuffed out what little threat their rivals showed and then they hit their stride with two goals in quick succession.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;The opener after 67 minutes of stalemate was a real belter, Inter Milan star Ibrahimovic smashing in a superlative drive on the half-volley past keeper Antonis Nikopolidis and into the corner of the net following a neat flick on from the evergreen Henrik Larsson.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;Ibrahimovic's celebration was almost as fizzing, his joy palpable given that it was his first goal in his past 15 internationals, the drought extending back to an October 2005 World Cup qualifier against Iceland.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;Rehhagel's reaction, in contrast, was to grimace and hold his head in his hands.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;"The first half didn't go as we planned - we didn't play high enough up the pitch and then we lost Ibrahimovic for a moment, which left us a goal down," snorted Rehhagel afterwards.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;"We will have to show a tougher side of us in the next match."&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;Minutes before his spectacular strike, Ibrahimovic had not quite hit the target, his header spinning just over after Freddie Ljungberg had swept a tantalising cross into the box.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;Five minutes later, Hansson bundled home the second 18 minutes from time with Nikopolidis nowhere with the Greek defence all at sea after Ljungberg had seen an initial effort saved.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;Ironically , seconds before the Swedes took the lead Hansson had almost scored an own goal as he nodded a Traianos Dellas cross from the right perilously close to his own net.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;The Greeks, stunned by the opener, had no answer and with an effervescent Spain, as well as Russia, to come, they will struggle to make the last eight on this evidence. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;Sweden beat defending champions Greece 2-0 here on Tuesday in their opening Euro 2008 Group D match here with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Petter Hansson on target with quickfire second half efforts to get the Scandinavians off to a flier.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;Greece stunned the world four years ago when, inspired by veteran coach Otto Rehhagel, they lifted their first silverware with a win over hosts Portugal in the final.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;But although they qualified for this year's event in style - having between-times missed out on the World Cup finals in 2006 - they laboured to create much in the way of real chances against the Swedes.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;Ibrahimovic, after netting his first international goal in three years, a piledriver, was jubilant.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P align=justify&gt;"It was a difficult match, especially for the strikers, as the Greeks defended well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"We did fantastically and played with intelligence. The important thing was to get the three points."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Sweden appeared hesitant in the first 45 minutes in Salzburg but their strong midfield snuffed out what little threat their rivals showed and then they hit their stride with two goals in quick succession.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The opener after 67 minutes of stalemate was a real belter, Inter Milan star Ibrahimovic smashing in a superlative drive on the half-volley past keeper Antonis Nikopolidis and into the corner of the net following a neat flick on from the evergreen Henrik Larsson.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Ibrahimovic's celebration was almost as fizzing, his joy palpable given that it was his first goal in his past 15 internationals, the drought extending back to an October 2005 World Cup qualifier against Iceland.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Rehhagel's reaction, in contrast, was to grimace and hold his head in his hands.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"The first half didn't go as we planned - we didn't play high enough up the pitch and then we lost Ibrahimovic for a moment, which left us a goal down," snorted Rehhagel afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"We will have to show a tougher side of us in the next match."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Minutes before his spectacular strike, Ibrahimovic had not quite hit the target, his header spinning just over after Freddie Ljungberg had swept a tantalising cross into the box.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Five minutes later, Hansson bundled home the second 18 minutes from time with Nikopolidis nowhere with the Greek defence all at sea after Ljungberg had seen an initial effort saved.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Ironically , seconds before the Swedes took the lead Hansson had almost scored an own goal as he nodded a Traianos Dellas cross from the right perilously close to his own net.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The Greeks, stunned by the opener, had no answer and with an effervescent Spain, as well as Russia, to come, they will struggle to make the last eight on this evidence. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;from: &lt;a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jslNew1_Lw2WhKXQJdjG1cGHyu2w"&gt;afp.google.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-302115786551104012?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/302115786551104012/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=302115786551104012' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/302115786551104012'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/302115786551104012'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/swedes-see-off-greeks-2-0-at-euro-2008.html' title='Swedes See off Greeks 2-0 at Euro 2008'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE76l2zUFfI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/0WzXp7NFkvk/s72-c/sweden+hansson_gettyimage-bbc.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-8818575224621320638</id><published>2008-06-11T02:03:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:01.011+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Villa Grabs Hat-trick as Spain Shine</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE7SELZRRPI/AAAAAAAAAFA/_8sNP0f8-EA/s1600-h/david+villa-timesofmalta.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE7SELZRRPI/AAAAAAAAAFA/_8sNP0f8-EA/s320/david+villa-timesofmalta.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210332788134331634" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Spain 4-1 Russia&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;David Villa scored the first hat-trick of Euro 2008 as Spain lived up to their pre-tournament billing with a fine victory over Russia in Group D.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Russia started positively but were hit on the counter-attack with Fernando Torres squaring for Villa to roll home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Konstantin Zyryanov saw a shot hit the post but then Villa prodded past Igor Akinfeyev to double the lead and after 74 minutes he drilled in a third.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Roman Pavlyuchenko nodded a consolation before Cesc Fabregas headed a fourth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Spain wasted a number of openings to win by an even bigger margin and the standard of their performance would suggest a place in the quarter-finals is well within reach.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;In Villa and Torres they appear to posses a forward partnership to match any at the tournament and the array of creative midfielders at Luis Aragones's disposal should ensure a regular supply line.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Russia's coach Guus Hiddink has a reputation of leading unfancied teams to the knockout rounds of major international competitions but the Dutchman has a task on his hands just to patch up a porous defence, let alone progress to the last eight. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Amid unrelenting rainfall in the mountainous city of Innsbruck, both sides struggled to keep hold of the ball early on and the opening exchanges.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;But that failed to dim the attacking ambitions of either set of players and a free-flowing first half ensued.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Torres and Villa looked in menacing form from the outset and, inside 10 minutes, the strikers each had a decent sight of goal but produced weak finishes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;At the other end, Russia were working the channels well and Dmitry Sychev squared from the right for Igor Semshov to fire wide under a timely challenge from Villarreal's Joan Capdevila.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Although Russia were without the suspended Andrei Arshavin and injured Pavel Pogrebniak, Roman Pavlyuchenko looked dangerous as the lone striker and he was ably supported by Dmitry Sychev and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;But, uncharacteristically of a team sent out by Hiddink, it was in defence that they were exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Aragones opted against including Arsenal's central midfielder Fabregas in his starting line-up, instead pairing the forward-thinking Xavi with more defensively-minded Marcos Senna.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Senna, a target of Manchester United after the 2006 World Cup, was in sensational form, turning defence into attack at every opportunity and allowing Xavi to pick out Torres and Villa whenever possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;It was, however, a clearance from Capdevila which saw Torres outmuscle the hapless Denis Kolodin on 18 minutes and square for Villa to roll into an unguarded net.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Far from deflating Russia, who qualified for the tournament at England's expense, the goal merely encouraged them to throw more men forward and they were unfortunate not to equalise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Alexander Anyukov overlapped Sychev and his low cross was missed by four Spanish defenders before Zyryanov saw his curled effort rebound off Iker Casillas's right-hand post.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Despite arriving off the back of a 16-game unbeaten run stretching to November 2006, Spain had scored more than once in just one of their previous five outings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;But Torres almost doubled Spain's lead only to flick wide under pressure from the Russia goalkeeper Akinfeyev when slipped through by Villa. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The warning signs were plentiful - Torres stepped inside only to see a shot parried and then Villa was denied by Akinfeyev at the near post - but still the Russian back four failed to get tight to their men.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;And they were punished on the stroke of half time when, after inexplicably losing possession at a corner, Andres Iniesta moved into space and played a sumptuous through-ball to Villa, which the Valencia man needed little invitation to slot through Akinfeyev's legs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The second half was even more open than the first.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Villa, now stripped of Torres who was replaced by Fabregas for tactical reasons, shot straight at Akinfeyev as the Russians backed off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Two minutes later Diniyar Bilyaletdinov came in from the left and fizzed a left-footed effort narrowly wide.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;It took a last-ditch Anyukov clearance to deny Villa his hat-trick from Sergio Ramos's centre but, after Senna saw a header will saved, the 26-year-old scored his third.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;He collected Fabregas's sumptuous pass, turned Roman Shirokov and wrong-footed Akinfeyev.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Pavlyuchenko had shot just wide before he turned in a corner on 86 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;But with Russia running on empty, Xavi's shot was parried and Fabregas headed in his first international goal to leave Spain well worth their victory.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Spain: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Marchena, Puyol, Capdevila, Silva (Alonso 77), Senna, Xavi, Iniesta (Santi Cazorla 63), Villa, Torres (Fabregas 54).&lt;br /&gt;Subs Not Used: Palop, Albiol, Fernando Navarro, Juanito, Arbeloa, De la Red, Guiza, Sergio Garcia, Reina.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Goals: Villa 20, 45, 75, Fabregas 90.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Russia: Akinfeev, Aniukov, Shirokov, Kolodin, Zhirkov, Sychev (Bystrov 46), Zyryanov, Semak, Semshov (Torbinsky 57), Bilyaletdinov, Pavluchenko, Bystrov (Adamov 70).&lt;br /&gt;Subs Not Used: Gabulov, Vasili Berezutsky, Yanbaev, Ignashevich, Alexei Berezutsky, Ivanov, Saenko, Malafeev.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Goals: Pavluchenko 86.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Att: 30,000&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Ref: Konrad Plautz (Austria).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Spain's David Villa 9.18 (on 90 minutes). Please note that you can still give the players marks out of 10 on BBC Sport's Player Rater after the match has finished.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From: &lt;a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2008/7363430.stm"&gt;bbc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-8818575224621320638?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/8818575224621320638/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=8818575224621320638' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/8818575224621320638'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/8818575224621320638'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/villa-grabs-hat-trick-as-spain-shine.html' title='Villa Grabs Hat-trick as Spain Shine'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE7SELZRRPI/AAAAAAAAAFA/_8sNP0f8-EA/s72-c/david+villa-timesofmalta.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-7748610074813389563</id><published>2008-06-10T05:01:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:01.123+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Netherlands stuns Italy 3-0</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE2rwsd4SUI/AAAAAAAAAEs/UOg80gZK6zo/s1600-h/EURO2008+ruud+van+nistelrooy+(fifa.com).jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE2rwsd4SUI/AAAAAAAAAEs/UOg80gZK6zo/s320/EURO2008+ruud+van+nistelrooy+(fifa.com).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210009196996086082" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By Raf Casert&lt;br /&gt;THE ASSOCIATED PRESS&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BERN, Switzerland — The Netherlands stunned Italy 3-0 in their European Championship opener Monday, leaving the World Cup champions fighting to avoid elimination from the first round.&lt;br /&gt;Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sneijder scored in the first half, and standout defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst added the third on a counterattack in the 79th minute to give Italy its most lopsided loss in the history of the tournament.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Dutch carried several injuries into the match, but the Italians started with nine players over 30 and could not match the Netherlands for creativity and doggedness.&lt;br /&gt;Edwin van der Sar, the 37-year-old Netherlands goalkeeper, produced a stunning save on Andrea Pirlo’s free kick to prevent Italy from getting back in the game in the 78th minute.&lt;br /&gt;Van Nistelrooy’s breakthrough goal may have been a disputed offside, deflecting a 20-yard low shot from Van Bronckhorst past Gianluigi Buffon, but overall the Dutch outplayed the Italians with stunning ease in an electric first half. The second goal was a perfect counter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Van Bronckhorst first kicked a ball off his own line in a goalmouth scramble and immediately rushed up the left, where he took a long pass from Rafael van der Vaart.&lt;br /&gt;The Italians had trouble dragging their aging feet back and were woefully out of position when Van Bronkhost sent a defence-splitting pass to Dirk Kuyt on the right.&lt;br /&gt;The Liverpool player, who only started because of a groin injury to Arjen Robben, headed it perfectly into the path of Sneijder and the midfielder volleyed it past Buffon.&lt;br /&gt;There may not be a better goal in the tournament.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The defeat left Italy last in Group C after France and Romania drew 0-0. A defeat against the Romanians could send the Azzurri out by Friday. The Italians may have had billboards saying “Spremuta d’Orange” — freshly squeezed orange juice — but it was a Dutch squeezing which left the Azzurri blue in the face.&lt;br /&gt;Lineups:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Christian Panucci, Andrea Barzagli, Marco Materazzi (Fabio Grosso, 54), Gianluca Zambrotta, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini, Mauro Camoranesi (Antonio Cassano, 75), Luca Toni, Antonio Di Natale (Alessandro Del Piero, 64).&lt;br /&gt;Netherlands: Edwin van der Sar, Andre Ooijer, Joris Mathijsen, Khalid Boulahrouz (John Heitinga, 76), Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Orlando Engelaar, Nigel de Jong, Dirk Kuyt (Ibrahim Affelay, 81), Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Ruud van Nistelrooy (Robin van Persie, 70)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From: &lt;a href="http://www.thespec.com/News/article/383383"&gt;thespec&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-7748610074813389563?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/7748610074813389563/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=7748610074813389563' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/7748610074813389563'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/7748610074813389563'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/netherlands-stuns-italy-3-0.html' title='Netherlands stuns Italy 3-0'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE2rwsd4SUI/AAAAAAAAAEs/UOg80gZK6zo/s72-c/EURO2008+ruud+van+nistelrooy+(fifa.com).jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5224749007196368355</id><published>2008-06-10T04:45:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:01.446+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Netherlands 3-0 Italy</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE2k6UWOyWI/AAAAAAAAAEk/ya9zrVtCjHU/s1600-h/euro2008-sneijder_volley.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE2k6UWOyWI/AAAAAAAAAEk/ya9zrVtCjHU/s320/euro2008-sneijder_volley.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210001665738852706" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Netherlands took a firm grip on Euro 2008's so-called "Group of Death" by winning a classic encounter with Italy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ruud van Nistelrooy put the Dutch ahead in controversial circumstances after 26 minutes when he scored from close range - but looked suspiciously offside.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wesley Sneijder swept in a second from Dirk Kuyt's header five minutes later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Edwin van der Sar then denied Italy with stunning saves from Fabio Grosso and Andrea Pirlo before Giovanni van Bronckhorst headed in after 80 minutes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Euro 2008 has made a low-key start, but this was a game to set any tournament alight as the Dutch played in a stunning counter-attacking style and Italy also showed flashes of brilliance, despite ending up well beaten.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Holland are in pole position to qualify after France's dismal goalless draw with Romania, but World Cup holders Italy - even in defeat - suggested they can still go through from this tough group. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Marco van Basten's side started the game accompanied by the usual question marks about fractured spirit with the Dutch camp, but answered in style with their first win over Italy in 30 years.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After the dreadful fare on offer in the earlier game between France and Romania, the opening 45 minutes produced by two of the tournament favourites provided a glorious contrast.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Italy created the first moments of danger, with Antonio di Natale's cross just failing to find Luca Toni as he closed in six yards out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The giant Bayern Munich striker then headed Gennaro Gattuso's cross wide from a good position as all the early signs pointed to a fast, flowing and positive contest.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Van Nistelrooy posted the warning signals for Italy as early as the 17th minute when he collected Kuyt's pass and attempted to round keeper Gianluigi Buffon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Buffon made contact with Van Nistelrooy but the striker - who had a reputation for going to ground too easily when he was with Manchester United - chose to stay on his feet and the chance was gone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Van Nistelrooy had better luck when he gave the Dutch the lead in hugely questionable circumstances after 26 minutes, standing in what looked like an offside position when he steered Sneijder's shot past Buffon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Italy were understandably furious, and there had to be a measure of sympathy for Toni as he was booked by referee Peter Frojdfeldt amid the protests.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And Italy's agony increased when the Netherlands doubled their advantage five minutes later via a wonderful flowing move that swept the length of the field.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Van Bronckhorst had just made a vital clearance, but was then ambitious and energetic enough to attack and send a long crossfield pass to find the head of Kuyt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Liverpool forward was back-pedalling, but was still able to steer the ball into the path of Sneijder, who turned a neat close-range finish beyond Buffon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Van Nistelrooy had the opportunity to kill the game off three minutes before the interval when he was picked out by a magical pass from Real Madrid team-mate Sneijder, but Buffon made a crucial stop.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Italy had not played badly, and it was no surprise that they stepped the pace after the break in a bid to put the pressure back on the Netherlands. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Veteran Alessandro del Piero was introduced for Di Natale, and he forced Van der Sar into a smart save after 65 minutes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He then had another clear chance when he was picked out by Pirlo, but this time he was wastefully off target.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Toni had not been at his best in front of goal, and he wasted another clear opportunity with 15 minutes left, lofting substitute Antonio Cassano's pass over Van der Sar but also over the bar.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Van der Sar then came to the Netherlands' rescue twice in the space of seconds in a passage of play that eventually led to his side's third goal after 78 minutes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Manchester United keeper blocked crucially from Grosso and then saved acrobatically from Pirlo's free-kick before Holland once again demonstrated their ruthlessness on the counter attack.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pirlo was still wondering how Van der Sar had stopped his effort when Van Bronckhorst surged forward once more to set up Kuyt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kuyt saw his original effort saved by Buffon, but he tirelessly retrieved the ball and crossed for Van Bronckhorst to head home, despite the best efforts of Italy defender Gianluca Zabrotta.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Italy could barely believe they were three goals down, but it could have been worse as Dutch substitutes Ibrahim Afellay and Robin van Persie were just off target with spectacular efforts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Dutch were worthy winners of a magnificent game - and made it clear they have the quality to have a major impact on Euro 2008.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Netherlands: Van der Sar, Ooijer, Boulahrouz (Heitinga 77), Mathijsen, Van Bronckhorst, Kuyt (Afellay 81), De Jong, Van der Vaart, Engelaar, Sneijder, van Nistelrooy (Van Persie 70).&lt;br /&gt;Subs Not Used: Timmer, Stekelenburg, De Zeeuw, Robben, Melchiot, Bouma, De Cler, Huntelaar, Vennegoor of Hesselink. Booked: De Jong.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goals: Van Nistelrooy 26, Sneijder 31, Van Bronckhorst 80.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Italy: Buffon, Panucci, Barzagli, Materazzi (Grosso 55), Zambrotta, Ambrosini, Pirlo, Gattuso, Camoranesi (Cassano 75), Toni, Di Natale (Del Piero 64).&lt;br /&gt;Subs Not Used: Amelia, De Sanctis, Chiellini, Gamberini, De Rossi, Borriello, Quagliarella, Perrotta, Aquilani.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Booked: Toni, Zambrotta, Gattuso.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Att: 31,500&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ref: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Netherlands' Wesley Sneijder 8.53 (on 90 minutes).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From: &lt;a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2008/7363339.stm"&gt;bbc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5224749007196368355?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5224749007196368355/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5224749007196368355' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5224749007196368355'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5224749007196368355'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/netherlands-3-0-italy.html' title='Netherlands 3-0 Italy'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE2k6UWOyWI/AAAAAAAAAEk/ya9zrVtCjHU/s72-c/euro2008-sneijder_volley.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-998404191179291283</id><published>2008-06-10T04:30:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:01.594+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Romania 0-0 France</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE2jPni0V3I/AAAAAAAAAEc/ccQJBrat6AA/s1600-h/euro2008-perancis-rumania.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE2jPni0V3I/AAAAAAAAAEc/ccQJBrat6AA/s320/euro2008-perancis-rumania.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209999832645916530" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;France coach Raymond Domenech says his side must now beat both Italy and the Netherlands to qualify from group C after their 0-0 draw against Romania.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Every match is now effectively a knockout match," he said. "I am neither pessimistic or optimistic."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Romania stifled a France attack including Lyon star Karim Benzema and Domenech critised their approach.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"We were playing against a team that didn't want to play, just wanted a draw."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Domenech said before the match in Zurich that the eastern Europeans - who finished ahead of the Netherlands in their qualifying group - would prove tough opponents but, despite their discipline, France failed to ask questions with any attacking creativity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"We controlled the match without making many chances," said Domenech, who led France to the 2006 World Cup final.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Now it leaves us to take six points from the remaining two matches." &lt;br /&gt;With influential captain Patrick Vieira and main striker Thierry Henry absent through injury, Lyon's Jeremy Toulalan was ineffective in midfield and Nicholas Anelka woeful in attack.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"We were missing something today (Wednesday)," added Domenech.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sciatic nerve victim Henry was on the bench for France's first game in the so-called 'Group of Death' though he could return to face the Netherlands on 13 June.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Vieira has stayed with the squad and is recovering from a thigh strain but it is highly doubtful whether he will return in time to play against Italy on 17 June.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From: &lt;a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2008/france/7371069.stm"&gt;bbc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-998404191179291283?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/998404191179291283/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=998404191179291283' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/998404191179291283'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/998404191179291283'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/romania-0-0-france.html' title='Romania 0-0 France'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE2jPni0V3I/AAAAAAAAAEc/ccQJBrat6AA/s72-c/euro2008-perancis-rumania.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-1354226483878052747</id><published>2008-06-10T01:37:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:01.826+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama Begins 11-Day Tour on Economic Issues</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE152JhK_SI/AAAAAAAAAEU/YGrUVcGvsb4/s1600-h/obama-weblogs-nos-nl.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE152JhK_SI/AAAAAAAAAEU/YGrUVcGvsb4/s320/obama-weblogs-nos-nl.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209954315112480034" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Economy Establishes Itself as No. 1 Campaign Issue&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;By JAKE TAPPER&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Just as Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama break from the starting gate in their race for the White House, zooming oil prices and unemployment rates are highlighting the economy as the nation's No. 1 campaign issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama, who has eliminated Sen. Hillary Clinton as his last challenger for the Democratic nomination, today launched an 11-day campaign tour, starting in Raleigh, N.C., with a bareknuckle attack on his Republican rival. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama ticked off a litany of economic woes: last week's gas price spike, a jump in unemployment figures, 320,000 U.S. jobs lost since January, along with the rising cost of food, health care and tuition. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;He complimented McCain as a war hero who has shown some independence from President Bush on certain issues, but the economy is not one of those issues, Obama said. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"The centerpiece of his economic plan amounts to a full-throated endorsement of George Bush's policies," Obama declared, citing his support of Bush's tax cuts -- cuts that he notes McCain once opposed. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama ridiculed as "outrageous" McCain's support for corporate tax relief which he said would give $1.2 billion in tax cuts to Exxon/Mobile, "a company that just recorded the highest profits in history." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;And the Democratic presidential candidate highlighted McCain's reluctance to help homeowners threatened by foreclosure, saying, "McCain wants to turn Bush's policy of 'too little, too late' into a policy of 'even less, even later.'" &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama's own proposals include a second round of rebate checks that would amount to $50 billion "to help those who've been hit hardest by this economic downturn." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;From : &lt;font color="#0000ff"&gt;&lt;a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Vote2008/story?id=5027958&amp;amp;page=1"&gt;abcnews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-1354226483878052747?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/1354226483878052747/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=1354226483878052747' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1354226483878052747'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1354226483878052747'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-begins-11-day-tour-on-economic.html' title='Obama Begins 11-Day Tour on Economic Issues'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SE152JhK_SI/AAAAAAAAAEU/YGrUVcGvsb4/s72-c/obama-weblogs-nos-nl.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-4799944638015352038</id><published>2008-06-09T01:57:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:02.032+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Euro 2008: Austria lose with honour to Croatia</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEwsx0ibODI/AAAAAAAAAEE/TtAyx65htTw/s1600-h/euro-2008-mascot-fcfootballblog.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEwsx0ibODI/AAAAAAAAAEE/TtAyx65htTw/s320/euro-2008-mascot-fcfootballblog.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209588103389067314" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By Steve Wilson and agencies&lt;br /&gt;Austria (0) 0 Croatia (1) 1&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Predictions of humiliation for Austria proved wide of the mark in their opening game with Croatia in Vienna, though Slaven Bilic's side still emerged with all three points despite an almighty scare.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The mood of pessimism had been such that over 10,000 Austrians had signed a petition to withdraw from the competition, the team having won just twice in their last 16 matches.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;Another defeat duly arrived after Luka Modric converted a fourth minute penalty, but one with credit from a spirited performance that deserved more.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Croatia started the match in fine style, dictating play and opening up Austria at will but, missing an out and out goalscorer failed to hammer home their advantage.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Complacency, too, seemed to set it, such was their evident superiority and Austria regrouped and fought their way back in to the match.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The final 15 minutes saw Austria lay siege to the Croatia goal but to no avail.  The decisive moment of the match came minutes after Croatia's noisy supporters had taken their seats after the anthems.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ivica Olic chased a hopeful ball towards the byline where he was clumsily brought down by Rene Aufhauser. Middlesbrough's Emmanuel Pogatetz was booked for protesting against the decision but there was no element of doubt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Modric converted the spot kick straight down the middle. The goal preceded a period of neat-passing from the Croatians and Olic and Mladen Petric both went close to a second after a dangerous low Darijo Srna free kick, before Petric, unmarked in the area, blasted wide after a deep cross from Vedran Corluka.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Austria looked shell-shocked by the early setback and only late in the half did they build any sort of attacking pressure, their best effort coming when Joachim Standfest steered a header just over the bar.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The home side were more positive after the break, pinning Croatia back for long periods and swinging in some dangerous crosses. But a poor final ball too often let them down.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The introduction of veteran Umit Korkmaz for the last 20 minutes added some bite to the Austrian attack as they built to a rousing finale, but Croatia held out. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From: &lt;a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/06/08/ufncro108.xml"&gt;telegraph&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-4799944638015352038?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/4799944638015352038/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=4799944638015352038' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/4799944638015352038'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/4799944638015352038'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/euro-2008-austria-lose-with-honour-to.html' title='Euro 2008: Austria lose with honour to Croatia'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEwsx0ibODI/AAAAAAAAAEE/TtAyx65htTw/s72-c/euro-2008-mascot-fcfootballblog.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-1881829073823773987</id><published>2008-06-08T21:25:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:02.199+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama Clinches Nomination; First Black Candidate to Lead a Major Party Ticket</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEvzIzFT7tI/AAAAAAAAAD0/QFRKw0i3nIU/s1600-h/obama+family-todaysdrum.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEvzIzFT7tI/AAAAAAAAAD0/QFRKw0i3nIU/s320/obama+family-todaysdrum.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209524726461099730" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By JEFF ZELENY&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senator Barack Obama claimed the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday evening, prevailing through an epic battle with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in a primary campaign that inspired millions of voters from every corner of America to demand change in Washington.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A last-minute rush of Democratic superdelegates, as well as the results from the final primaries, in Montana and South Dakota, pushed Mr. Obama over the threshold of winning the 2,118 delegates needed to be nominated at the party’s convention in August. The victory for Mr. Obama, the son of a black Kenyan father and a white Kansan mother, broke racial barriers and represented a remarkable rise for a man who just four years ago served in the Illinois Senate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Tonight, we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another — a journey that will bring a new and better day to America,” Mr. Obama told supporters at a rally in St. Paul. “Because of you, tonight I can stand here and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States of America.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a speech to supporters in New York City, Mrs. Clinton paid tribute to Mr. Obama, but she did not leave the race. In a speech more defiant than conciliatory, she again presented her case that she was the stronger candidate and argued that she had won the popular vote, a notion disputed by the Obama campaign.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I want the nearly 18 million Americans who voted for me to be respected,” Mrs. Clinton told supporters. But she paid homage to Mr. Obama’s accomplishments, saying, “It has been an honor to contest the primaries with him, just as it is an honor to call him my friend.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton talked early Wednesday morning by telephone. He congratulated her and renewed his offer to "sit down when it makes sense for you," according to a spokesman for Mr. Obama, Robert Gibbs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mrs. Clinton responded positively, Mr. Gibbs said, but added: "There are no plans to meet tomorrow."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Obama’s victory moved the presidential campaign to a new phase as he tangled with Senator John McCain of Arizona in televised addresses Tuesday night over Mr. Obama’s assertion that Mr. McCain would carry on President Bush’s policies. Mr. McCain vigorously rebuffed that criticism in a speech in Kenner, La., in which he distanced himself from the departing president while contrasting his own breadth of experience with Mr. Obama’s record.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“The American people didn’t get to know me yesterday, as they are just getting to know Senator Obama,” Mr. McCain told supporters.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Obama’s triumph closed a 16-month primary campaign that broke records on several fronts: the number of voters who participated, the amount of money raised and spent and the sheer length of the fight. The campaign, infused by tensions over race and gender, provided unexpected twists to the end as Mr. Obama ultimately prevailed over Mrs. Clinton, who just a year ago appeared headed toward becoming the first female presidential nominee of a major party.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The last two primaries reflected the party’s continuing divisions, as Mrs. Clinton won the South Dakota contest and Mr. Obama won Montana.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The race drew to its final hours with a burst of announcements — delegate by delegate — of Democrats stepping forward to declare their support for Mr. Obama. The Democratic establishment, from former President Jimmy Carter to rank-and-file local officials who make up the party’s superdelegates, rallied behind Mr. Obama as the day wore on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When the day began, Mr. Obama needed 41 delegates to effectively claim the nomination. By the time the polls closed in Montana and South Dakota, Mr. Obama had secured the delegates he needed to end his duel with Mrs. Clinton, which wound through every state and territory in an unprecedented 57 contests over five months.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Every time a new endorsement was announced at the Obama headquarters in Chicago, campaign workers interrupted with a booming round of applause, followed by popping Champagne corks later in the evening. The aides are members of Mr. Obama’s team — a political start-up — that is responsible for defeating one of the most tried and tested teams in Democratic politics.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While the Democratic race may have ended, a new chapter began in the complicated tensions that have defined the relationship between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. On a conference call with members of the New York Congressional delegation on Tuesday, Mrs. Clinton was asked whether she would be open to joining a ticket with Mr. Obama. She replied that she would do whatever she could — including a vice-presidential bid — to help Democrats win the White House.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Barack Obama&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Biography&lt;br /&gt;Full Name: Barack Hussein Obama Jr.&lt;br /&gt;Party: Democratic&lt;br /&gt;Political Office: U.S. Senator from Illinois, elected 2004; member, Illinois State Senate 1997-2004&lt;br /&gt;Business/Professional Experience: Attorney, law firm of Miner Barnhill &amp; Galland (Chicago, IL), 1993-2004&lt;br /&gt;Date of Birth: August 4, 1961&lt;br /&gt;Place of Birth: Honolulu, Hawaii&lt;br /&gt;Home: Chicago, Ill.&lt;br /&gt;Education: B.A. Columbia University 1983; J.D. Harvard Law, 1991&lt;br /&gt;Spouse: married Michelle Robinson, 1992&lt;br /&gt;Children: daughter Malia, born 1999; daughter Natasha, born 2001&lt;br /&gt;Religion: United Church of Christ&lt;br /&gt;Home: Chicago, Ill.&lt;br /&gt;Campaign Web Site: barackobama.com&lt;br /&gt;Books&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By Barack Obama: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream [2006]; Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance [1995]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;About: Hopes and Dreams: The Story of Barack Obama, by Steve Dougherty [2007]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From: &lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/us/politics/04elect.html?_r=1&amp;oref=slogin"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/us/politics/04elect.html?_r=1&amp;oref=slogin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;and &lt;a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html"&gt;http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-1881829073823773987?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/1881829073823773987/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=1881829073823773987' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1881829073823773987'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1881829073823773987'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-clinches-nomination-first-black.html' title='Obama Clinches Nomination; First Black Candidate to Lead a Major Party Ticket'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEvzIzFT7tI/AAAAAAAAAD0/QFRKw0i3nIU/s72-c/obama+family-todaysdrum.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-1380039167795830836</id><published>2008-06-07T04:57:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:02.332+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Volcano erupts in Indonesia</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEmzj50B-FI/AAAAAAAAADs/Bv3qKi_8a9o/s1600-h/volcano+soputan-jpnn.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEmzj50B-FI/AAAAAAAAADs/Bv3qKi_8a9o/s320/volcano+soputan-jpnn.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208891873426536530" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Agence France-Presse&lt;br /&gt;JAKARTA - A volcano erupted on Indonesia's Sulawesi island Friday, spewing smoke and sending heat clouds of debris down its slopes, a volcanologist said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mount Soputan in North Sulawesi started to erupt this morning at around 9:59 am (0159 GMT), sending heat clouds as far as four kilometers (2.5 miles) and throwing ash two kilometers into the air, Agus Budianto from the volcanology office told AFP.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"The eruption is still going on," he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There was no order to evacuate as the nearest village was eight kilometers away on the western side, but people had been warned not to come within six kilometers of the mountain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Soputan, one of Sulawesi's most active volcanoes, last erupted in 2004 when lava oozed down its southwest slope. No fatalities were recorded.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From : &lt;a href="http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=120904"&gt;abs-cbnnews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-1380039167795830836?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/1380039167795830836/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=1380039167795830836' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1380039167795830836'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/1380039167795830836'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/volcano-erupts-in-indonesia.html' title='Volcano erupts in Indonesia'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEmzj50B-FI/AAAAAAAAADs/Bv3qKi_8a9o/s72-c/volcano+soputan-jpnn.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-4050294152119121210</id><published>2008-06-07T04:34:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:02.430+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Hillary Clinton meets Barack Obama for private talks in Washington</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEmwLFeA5QI/AAAAAAAAADk/UInlDtGN4JM/s1600-h/clintobama-ap.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEmwLFeA5QI/AAAAAAAAADk/UInlDtGN4JM/s320/clintobama-ap.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208888148523803906" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tom Baldwin in Washington&lt;br /&gt;Barack Obama last night held private talks with Hillary Clinton after a day in which the former First Lady had been forced to quell speculation that she was trying to force her way on to the nomination as his vice-presidential running mate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The two candidates, who have fought an intense and sometimes bitter battle for their party's nomination, met in Washington at the home of Senator Diane Feinstein following Mr Obama's evening rally in nearby Northern Virginia. The talks were reported to have been at her request.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr Obama later left to catch a plane home to Chicago with his spokesman, Robert Gibbs, saying: "It’s the end of the primary process. They wanted to talk about bringing these campaigns together in unity.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just hours earlier, Mrs Clinton had issued a statement, saying: “She is not seeking the vice-presidency, and no one speaks for her, but her. The choice here is Senator Obama’s and his alone.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr Obama swiftly expressed his appreciation for her gesture – following two days in which Mrs Clinton has repeatedly been accused by his supporters of graceless, even churlish, behaviour.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Both President Bush and the Republican nominee-elect, John McCain, have already congratulated Mr Obama on his victory. Mrs Clinton had not. Instead, she declared at a rally on Tuesday night that her 18 million strong army of voters should be shown some respect.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although Mrs Clinton announced on Wednesday she would endorse Mr Obama at a huge event planned for noon in Washington on Saturday, her delay in conceding defeat had clearly irritated her rival's camp.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So too was the way that some of her most prominent backers on Capitol Hill, including Congresswomen Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Stephanie Tubbs Jones, were aggressively pushing for Mrs Clinton to be given the Number Two slot.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bob Johnson, the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television, sent a letter to the Congressional Black Caucus urging them to lobby Mr Obama for Mrs Clinton as his vice-presidential nominee. He said he was doing so with her blessing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Even some of her allies believe such efforts have been at best unseemly and, at worst, counter-productive.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr Obama said yesterday he felt no pressure to rush through his vice-presidential selection process – or pick any particular candidate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“There’s no decision that I’m going to make that’s going to be more important before the November election. I intend to do it right, and I’m not going to do it in the press,” he said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From &lt;a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4078075.ece"&gt;Times Online&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-4050294152119121210?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/4050294152119121210/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=4050294152119121210' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/4050294152119121210'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/4050294152119121210'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/hillary-clinton-meets-barack-obama-for.html' title='Hillary Clinton meets Barack Obama for private talks in Washington'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEmwLFeA5QI/AAAAAAAAADk/UInlDtGN4JM/s72-c/clintobama-ap.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-8509164367289767710</id><published>2008-06-07T01:55:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:02.529+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama goes after McCain on Iraq</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEmIdo4Tl-I/AAAAAAAAADc/JF9wfCpJcsY/s1600-h/clutchmagonline.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEmIdo4Tl-I/AAAAAAAAADc/JF9wfCpJcsY/s320/clutchmagonline.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208844486801856482" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Democrat welcomes rival's invite for town hall meetings, names VP team&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NBC News and News Services&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama on Wednesday went on the offensive against Republican opponent John McCain, who responded by inviting his rival to hold a series of town hall meetings with him across the country to debate issues.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fresh off claiming the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama's campaign also announced a three-person team, including Caroline Kennedy, to lead his search for vice president.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs in which he vowed solidarity with the Jewish state, Obama accused McCain of having a "plan for staying, not a plan for victory," in Iraq. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Keeping all of our troops tied down indefinitely in Iraq is not the way to weaken Iran, it is precisely what strengthened it,” the Illinois senator said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's defeated Democratic rival, followed Obama to the podium at AIPAC, delivering a strong defense of Israel — and also of her rival in the nominating race.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Let me be very clear. I know that Senator Obama will be a good friend to Israel,” she said to applause.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On Monday, McCain took Obama to task for his willingness to hold talks with Iran. "The idea that (the Iranians) now seek nuclear weapons because we refuse to engage in presidential-level talks is a serious misreading of history," McCain said, citing unsuccessful efforts by President Bill Clinton's administration to engage with Tehran.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;McCain was campaigning Wednesday in Louisiana, where he said he had invited Obama to tour the country in town-hall settings and debate campaign issues.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"What a welcome change it would be," McCain wrote in his invitation, "were presidential candidates in our time to treat each other and the people they seek to lead with respect and courtesy as they discussed the great issues of the day, without the empty sound bites and media-filtered exchanges that dominate our elections."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Obama campaign issued a statement welcoming the idea.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"As Barack Obama has said before, the idea of joint town halls is appealing and one that would allow a great conversation to take place about the need to change the direction of this country," his campaign stated. "We would recommend a format that is less structured and lengthier than the McCain campaign suggests, one that more closely resembles the historic debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"This is one of the many items we will be addressing in the coming days and look forward to discussing it with the McCain campaign," the statement said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;VP team chosen&lt;br /&gt;Meanwhile, the Obama campaign asked a three-person team to help lead the vetting of a prospective vice presidential candidate. Kennedy has begun managing the process with high-profile Democratic insiders Jim Johnson and Eric Holder.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Johnson is the former CEO of Fannie Mae who also oversaw the vice presidential vetting for John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984. Holder was deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration and has been a senior legal adviser to Obama’s campaign. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Illinois senator on Wednesday disclosed he had spoken with Clinton earlier Wednesday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I just spoke to her today, and we’re going to be having a conversation in coming weeks. And I’m very confident how unified the Democratic party’s going to be to win in November,” Obama told reporters as he left the Senate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Asked if Clinton indicated she planned to concede, Obama replied, "It wasn’t a detailed conversation. As I said, I’m very confident of how we’re going to be able to bring the party together." He dismissed a question about her refusal to concede after the final two primaries Tuesday night by saying she was "understandably focused on her supporters."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Clinton aides, meanwhile, ramped up speculation of her as Obama's running mate. "I think a lot of her supporters would like to see her on the ticket," Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said. But Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs cautioned "there is no deal in the works."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bush, Rice congratulate Obama&lt;br /&gt;At the White House, President Bush offered his congratulations to Obama, the first African American ever to win a major party presidential nomination. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"President Bush congratulates Sen. Obama for clinching the Democratic party's 2008 nomination for president," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters. "Sen. Obama came a long way in becoming his party's nominee. And his historic achievement reflects the fact that our country has come a long way, too.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed that view, describing Obama's nomination as an "extraordinary" development for the United States.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"The United States of America is an extraordinary country. It is a country that has overcome many, many, now years, decades, actually a couple of centuries, of trying to make good on its principles," said Rice, the first female black secretary of state, serving in a Republican administration. "And I think what we are seeing is an extraordinary expression of the fact that 'We the People' is beginning to mean to all of us."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I congratulate Obama and McCain on their respective campaigns and Sen. Clinton on hers as well," she added. "I look forward to viewing it all on the sidelines as a voter."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From : &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24961184/"&gt;msnbc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-8509164367289767710?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/8509164367289767710/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=8509164367289767710' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/8509164367289767710'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/8509164367289767710'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-goes-after-mccain-on-iraq.html' title='Obama goes after McCain on Iraq'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEmIdo4Tl-I/AAAAAAAAADc/JF9wfCpJcsY/s72-c/clutchmagonline.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5688904370126635899</id><published>2008-06-07T01:30:00.000+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-07T01:37:53.088+07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Democratic Gamble</title><content type='html'>Obama is First True Insurgent to Win Either Major Party’s nod Since 1976&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NBC News&lt;br /&gt;Political connections&lt;br /&gt;By Ronald Brownstein&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It’s difficult to overstate Barack Obama’s achievement in wresting the Democratic presidential nomination from Hillary Rodham Clinton—or the magnitude of the gamble he represents for his party.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama is the first true insurgent to win either major party’s nod since Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976. In the modern primary era, the only other insurgents to capture nominations were Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964 and Democrat George McGovern in 1972. And none of those three defeated a front-runner as formidable as Clinton. Obama’s campaign will likely be remembered as the most successful primary insurgency ever.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That itself defines some of the Democratic gamble. An insurgent campaign inherently upsets existing arrangements and assumptions. It trades the comfort of the familiar for the exhilaration and unpredictability of the new. Obama’s campaign is no exception. He offers Democrats new electoral opportunities with the enormous passion and activism he inspires. But his hold on some voting blocs and states that the party traditionally targets looks shakier than Clinton’s might have been. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama almost certainly presents Democrats with a better chance to redraw the electoral map and expand their coalition if all goes well. But, in a year so tilted toward Democrats, Clinton might have represented a safer bet to accumulate the bare minimum of 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. Compared with Clinton, “Obama has a much bigger upside,” says Robert Borosage, co-director of the liberal Campaign for America’s Future. “And a much bigger risk.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25005363/&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5688904370126635899?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5688904370126635899/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5688904370126635899' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5688904370126635899'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5688904370126635899'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/democratic-gamble.html' title='The Democratic Gamble'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5430708830770302085</id><published>2008-06-06T03:17:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T17:50:02.639+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama, McCain Work to Expand Battlefield</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEhK9JHDavI/AAAAAAAAACo/vu1eTGZzPtQ/s1600-h/obama_mccain-mjmgroup.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEhK9JHDavI/AAAAAAAAACo/vu1eTGZzPtQ/s320/obama_mccain-mjmgroup.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208495383331957490" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The biggest competition could play out primarily in 14 states&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DEMOCRAT &lt;/strong&gt;Barack Obama hopes Virginia, a former GOP stronghold with a legacy of slavery and segregation, is fertile ground as he seeks to crack the Republican bastion of the South and become the first black president.&lt;br /&gt;Republican John McCain won't yield there or elsewhere, setting up potential showdowns unseen in decades in certain states.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Virginia, where Democrats taste opportunity and Republicans play defense, is a prominent example of how the Electoral College map &amp;mdash; and the fight to reach the requisite 270 votes for victory &amp;mdash; has the potential to change from elections past as Obama and McCain square off over the next five months. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Both candidates argue that they appeal across the political spectrum and can expand the electoral playing field by making more states competitive than in previous elections. Obama, the first-term Illinois senator, hopes to rally black voters in Republican-held Southern states, Georgia, Mississippi and North Carolina among them. McCain, the four-term Arizona senator, wants to fight for Democratic-held coastal states, including Maine, Washington and, perhaps, California. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Battleground states&lt;br /&gt;The reality: If the election is as close as Republicans and Democrats alike expect, the competition will play out primarily in 14 states. Of them, five &amp;mdash; Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania &amp;mdash; are in the Great Lakes region and offer a combined 78 votes. Two &amp;mdash; Iowa and Missouri &amp;mdash; are in Middle America with 18 votes up for grabs. Three with 19 votes &amp;mdash; Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico &amp;mdash; are in the West. Florida, New Hampshire and Oregon &amp;mdash; 38 votes in all &amp;mdash; also are on the list. Virginia, with 13 votes, is the only one in the group that didn't see high-level action in 2004. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The state hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 and hasn't been hard-fought in a White House race in years. But Virginia moves into the competitive category in 2008, given Democratic gains fueled by high population growth in the moderate-to-liberal Washington suburbs. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;George W. Bush comfortably won Virginia twice, but he lost the northern part to Democrat John Kerry four years ago. Voters there were critical in helping Democrats retain the governor's mansion in 2005 and seize a GOP-held Senate seat in 2006 that gave Democrats control of Congress. This year, former Democratic Gov. Mark Warner is expected to win easily in his race for the state's other Senate seat left open by the retiring GOP Sen. John Warner. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"We want to campaign here and we want to win here," Gov. Tim Kaine, Obama's senior-most Virginia backer, told The Associated Press after Obama clinched the nomination. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Signaling his intention to compete in Virginia, Obama on Thursday was holding an event in Bristol, in the far western corner of the state, before headlining a rally at a 25,000-seat amphitheater in this burgeoning town near Manassas and just three miles from the site of two major Civil War battles, known as Bull Run to Northerners, Manassas to Southerners. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama would boost his chances if he puts a Virginia Democrat on the ticket with him. Among the possibilities: Kaine, Mark Warner, Sen. Jim Webb. The three were campaigning with him Thursday. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Maximizing the black vote&lt;br /&gt;Democrats say Obama's ability to bring new voters into the process gives him a chance to put states like Virginia, which is nearly 20 percent black, into play. They downplay any notion that the state &amp;mdash; the base of the Confederacy where much of the war to end slavery was fought &amp;mdash; will spurn a black man and note that Virginia was the nation's first state to elect a black governor, moderate Democrat Douglas Wilder in 1989. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"Obama's going to maximize the black vote and it will probably offset the negative white vote," said Democratic Rep. Jim Moran, whose district is across the Potomac River from Washington. "The South is still unreconstructed in terms of race, but I think that Virginia is going to be the vanguard of that political reconstruction." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Republicans, in turn, acknowledge that Obama could benefit from high black turnout, but they say McCain &amp;mdash; a Navy veteran and Vietnam War prisoner &amp;mdash; can hold his own in the state where military veterans make up nearly 15 percent of the population. Republicans argue Obama is more liberal than recent Democratic winners in Virginia and say he won't persuade rural voters in an ideologically conservative state. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"He's not a moderate centrist Democrat," said Virginia Del. Chris Saxman, McCain's campaign co-chairman in Virginia. "Given who he is, John McCain is well positioned to carry Virginia." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Independent voters&lt;br /&gt;In part, the path to victory for Democrats runs through the shopping centers, industrial parks and housing developments of northern Virginia, essentially down Lee Highway &amp;mdash; the road that not only is named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee but also is the path Union troops retreated upon from those battles. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Interviews with voters at a plaza near where Obama will speak Thursday suggest that while the Democrat has his work cut out for him, so does McCain, particularly among pivotal voters who don't claim either party. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"Confused," declared Rosilyn Dudley, 68, while visiting with two friends at a coffee shop. "I started out a real Obama supporter. Then all the negative stuff that came out about him started making me wonder. But McCain's temperament worries me. Sure, he has the experience, but I can't imagine him negotiating anything." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Sweating it out on a weight machine at the nearby gym, Anne Pound, 40, was just as conflicted. She said McCain seems too stubborn and too unwilling to admit mistakes. She huffed: "He's acting just like Bush." Still, she sounded just as concerned about Obama, saying: "He's never once said anything of substance. I have no idea what he wants to do."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Source: Associated Press&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24985310/"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24985310/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5430708830770302085?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5430708830770302085/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5430708830770302085' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5430708830770302085'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5430708830770302085'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-mccain-work-to-expand-battlefield.html' title='Obama, McCain Work to Expand Battlefield'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEhK9JHDavI/AAAAAAAAACo/vu1eTGZzPtQ/s72-c/obama_mccain-mjmgroup.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-9081041265807985230</id><published>2008-06-06T03:06:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-06T03:06:39.565+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Remarks at AIPAC Policy Conference</title><content type='html'>&lt;h1&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Senator Barack Obama&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h3&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;As Prepared for Delivery&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's great to see so many friends from across the country. I want to congratulate Howard Friedman, David Victor and Howard Kohr on a successful conference, and on the completion of a new headquarters just a few blocks away.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Before I begin, I want to say that I know some provocative emails have been circulating throughout Jewish communities across the country. A few of you may have gotten them. They're filled with tall tales and dire warnings about a certain candidate for President. And all I want to say is -- let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama, because he sounds pretty frightening.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;But if anyone has been confused by these emails, I want you to know that today I'll be speaking from my heart, and as a true friend of Israel. And I know that when I visit with AIPAC, I am among friends. Good friends. Friends who share my strong commitment to make sure that the bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable today, tomorrow, and forever.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;One of the many things that I admire about AIPAC is that you fight for this common cause from the bottom up. The lifeblood of AIPAC is here in this room -- grassroots activists of all ages, from all parts of the country, who come to Washington year after year to make your voices heard. Nothing reflects the face of AIPAC more than the 1,200 students who have travelled here to make it clear to the world that the bond between Israel and the United States is rooted in more than our shared national interests -- it's rooted in the shared values and shared stories of our people. And as President, I will work with you to ensure that it this bond strengthened.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;I first became familiar with the story of Israel when I was eleven years old. I learned of the long journey and steady determination of the Jewish people to preserve their identity through faith, family and culture. Year after year, century after century, Jews carried on their traditions, and their dream of a homeland, in the face of impossible odds.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;The story made a powerful impression on me. I had grown up without a sense of roots. My father was black, he was from Kenya, and he left us when I was two. My mother was white, she was from Kansas, and I'd moved with her to Indonesia and then back to Hawaii. In many ways, I didn't know where I came from. So I was drawn to the belief that you could sustain a spiritual, emotional and cultural identity. And I deeply understood the Zionist idea -- that there is always a homeland at the center of our story.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;I also learned about the horror of the Holocaust, and the terrible urgency it brought to the journey home to Israel. For much of my childhood, I lived with my grandparents. My grandfather had served in World War II, and so had my great uncle. He was a Kansas boy, who probably never expected to see Europe -- let alone the horrors that awaited him there. And for months after he came home from Germany, he remained in a state of shock, alone with the painful memories that wouldn't leave his head.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;You see, my great uncle had been a part of the 89th Infantry Division -- the first Americans to reach a Nazi concentration camp. They liberated Ohrdruf, part of Buchenwald, on an April day in 1945. The horrors of that camp go beyond our capacity to imagine. Tens of thousands died of hunger, torture, disease, or plain murder -- part of the Nazi killing machine that killed 6 million people.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;When the Americans marched in, they discovered huge piles of dead bodies and starving survivors. General Eisenhower ordered Germans from the nearby town to tour the camp, so they could see what was being done in their name. He ordered American troops to tour the camp, so they could see the evil they were fighting against. He invited Congressmen and journalists to bear witness. And he ordered that photographs and films be made. Explaining his actions, Eisenhower said that he wanted to produce, "first-hand evidence of these things, if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to propaganda."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;I saw some of those very images at Yad Vashem, and they never leave you. And those images just hint at the stories that survivors of the Shoah carried with them. Like Eisenhower, each of us bears witness to anyone and everyone who would deny these unspeakable crimes, or ever speak of repeating them. We must mean what we say when we speak the words: "never again."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was just a few years after the liberation of the camps that David Ben-Gurion declared the founding of the Jewish State of Israel. We know that the establishment of Israel was just and necessary, rooted in centuries of struggle, and decades of patient work. But 60 years later, we know that we cannot relent, we cannot yield, and as President I will never compromise when it comes to Israel's security.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not when there are still voices that deny the Holocaust. Not when there are terrorist groups and political leaders committed to Israel's destruction. Not when there are maps across the Middle East that don't even acknowledge Israel's existence, and government-funded textbooks filled with hatred toward Jews. Not when there are rockets raining down on Sderot, and Israeli children have to take a deep breath and summon uncommon courage every time they board a bus or walk to school.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have long understood Israel's quest for peace and need for security. But never more so than during my travels there two years ago. Flying in an IDF helicopter, I saw a narrow and beautiful strip of land nestled against the Mediterranean. On the ground, I met a family who saw their house destroyed by a Katyusha Rocket. I spoke to Israeli troops who faced daily threats as they maintained security near the blue line. I talked to people who wanted nothing more simple, or elusive, than a secure future for their children.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have been proud to be a part of a strong, bi-partisan consensus that has stood by Israel in the face of all threats. That is a commitment that both John McCain and I share, because support for Israel in this country goes beyond party. But part of our commitment must be speaking up when Israel's security is at risk, and I don't think any of us can be satisfied that America's recent foreign policy has made Israel more secure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hamas now controls Gaza. Hizbollah has tightened its grip on southern Lebanon, and is flexing its muscles in Beirut. Because of the war in Iraq, Iran -- which always posed a greater threat to Israel than Iraq -- is emboldened, and poses the greatest strategic challenge to the United States and Israel in the Middle East in a generation. Iraq is unstable, and al Qaeda has stepped up its recruitment. Israel's quest for peace with its neighbors has stalled, despite the heavy burdens borne by the Israeli people. And America is more isolated in the region, reducing our strength and jeopardizing Israel's safety.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;The question is how to move forward. There are those who would continue and intensify this failed status quo, ignoring eight years of accumulated evidence that our foreign policy is dangerously flawed. And then there are those who would lay all of the problems of the Middle East at the doorstep of Israel and its supporters, as if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the root of all trouble in the region. These voices blame the Middle East's only democracy for the region's extremism. They offer the false promise that abandoning a stalwart ally is somehow the path to strength. It is not, it never has been, and it never will be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our alliance is based on shared interests and shared values. Those who threaten Israel threaten us. Israel has always faced these threats on the front lines. And I will bring to the White House an unshakeable commitment to Israel's security.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;That starts with ensuring Israel's qualitative military advantage. I will ensure that Israel can defend itself from any threat -- from Gaza to Tehran. Defense cooperation between the United States and Israel is a model of success, and must be deepened. As President, I will implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade -- investments to Israel's security that will not be tied to any other nation. First, we must approve the foreign aid request for 2009. Going forward, we can enhance our cooperation on missile defense. We should export military equipment to our ally Israel under the same guidelines as NATO. And I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself in the United Nations and around the world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Across the political spectrum, Israelis understand that real security can only come through lasting peace. And that is why we -- as friends of Israel -- must resolve to do all we can to help Israel and its neighbors to achieve it. Because a secure, lasting peace is in Israel's national interest. It is in America's national interest. And it is in the interest of the Palestinian people and the Arab world. As President, I will work to help Israel achieve the goal of two states, a Jewish state of Israel and a Palestinian state, living side by side in peace and security. And I won't wait until the waning days of my presidency. I will take an active role, and make a personal commitment to do all I can to advance the cause of peace from the start of my Administration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;The long road to peace requires Palestinian partners committed to making the journey. We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements. There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations. That is why I opposed holding elections in 2006 with Hamas on the ballot. The Israelis and the Palestinian Authority warned us at the time against holding these elections. But this Administration pressed ahead, and the result is a Gaza controlled by Hamas, with rockets raining down on Israel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Palestinian people must understand that progress will not come through the false prophets of extremism or the corrupt use of foreign aid. The United States and the international community must stand by Palestinians who are committed to cracking down on terror and carrying the burden of peacemaking. I will strongly urge Arab governments to take steps to normalize relations with Israel, and to fulfill their responsibility to pressure extremists and provide real support for President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad. Egypt must cut off the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. Israel can also advance the cause of peace by taking appropriate steps -- consistent with its security -- to ease the freedom of movement for Palestinians, improve economic conditions in the West Bank, and to refrain from building new settlements -- as it agreed to with the Bush Administration at Annapolis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let me be clear. Israel's security is sacrosanct. It is non-negotiable. The Palestinians need a state that is contiguous and cohesive, and that allows them to prosper -- but any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel's identity as a Jewish state, with secure, recognized and defensible borders. Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have no illusions that this will be easy. It will require difficult decisions on both sides. But Israel is strong enough to achieve peace, if it has partners who are committed to the goal. Most Israelis and Palestinians want peace, and we must strengthen their hand. The United States must be a strong and consistent partner in this process -- not to force concessions, but to help committed partners avoid stalemate and the kind of vacuums that are filled by violence. That's what I commit to do as President of the United States.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;From : &lt;a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/04/remarks_at_aipac_policy_conference/"&gt;http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/04/remarks_at_aipac_policy_conference/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-9081041265807985230?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/9081041265807985230/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=9081041265807985230' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/9081041265807985230'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/9081041265807985230'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/remarks-at-aipac-policy-conference.html' title='Remarks at AIPAC Policy Conference'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5917768687725529007</id><published>2008-06-05T06:31:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-06T03:10:10.273+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama's next task: Heal rift with female voters</title><content type='html'>&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; FONT-STYLE: italic; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap"&gt;By CHARLES BABINGTON&lt;br /&gt;Associated Press Writer&lt;/span&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;td style="FONT-SIZE: 14px" valign="top" width="99%"&gt;&lt;span class="lingo_region"&gt;BARACK Obama has some urgent making up to do among a lot of angry white women&amp;mdash;lifetime Democrats who spurned him for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries and now are threatening to stay home or even vote for Republican John McCain in November. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Amid all the talk about a first black president, many women are deeply disappointed, in some cases furious, that Clinton's own historic campaign fell short and that Obama's campaign undercut her along the way. Her loss was painful for women who have encountered sex discrimination themselves, especially older women who saw her as the best hope for electing a female president in their lifetimes. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama himself must heal the rift with women, said Clinton fundraiser Susie Buell of San Francisco, or a new brand of "stay-at-home moms" might sit out the election. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"I know that women are very worked up right now," she said. Obama "has never apologized for the way Hillary has been treated." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"Worked up" could describe Cynthia Ruccia, a Democratic activist in Ohio who got a phone call from party chief Howard Dean about her concerns last week. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"Way too little, way too late," says Ruccia, who also says she'd prefer to see McCain elected over Obama based on how the campaign unfolded. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"This is about feeling that the party completely disrespected us, let us down, and we don't feel that we want to be with the party," she said. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Emotions boiled over at last weekend's televised meeting of a Democratic Party rules committee, when some women chanted "McCain '08" after the Clinton team lost its bid to win more disputed delegates from Michigan. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Many party insiders believe that, over time, most Clinton supporters will decide that a reluctant vote for Obama is better than a spiteful vote for McCain. Still, polls underscore Obama's challenge. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;According to exit polling at voting places, white women preferred Clinton to Obama by 24 percentage points in this year's Democratic contests, even tilting toward her in 12 of the 17 states where Obama won and polls were conducted. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;And a recent Pew Research Center survey found an eight-point drop in his favorability ratings since February. The center said the slip "is in some measure a negative reaction from frustrated Clinton supporters," with 43 percent of white women expressing a positive opinion of Obama, down from 56 percent in late February. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Healing the wounds will require a strong endorsement by Clinton of the man who beat her, says Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., one of Obama's most prominent female supporters. And the reality of the presidential stakes will sink in, too, she says. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"As time passes and everyone begins focusing on the differences between John McCain and Barack Obama," she said, "I think the medicine is going to be a little easier to swallow. But right now I think it's really hard for these women." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama himself has been heaping praise on Clinton in recent weeks, after it became clear he had the race won. Expect that to continue. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Also, expect Obama and his camp&amp;mdash;now expanding to include the Democratic establishment in Congress and elsewhere&amp;mdash;to point out how much closer he is than McCain to the disappointed Clinton supporters on issues they care about most. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Crucially, Obama supports abortion rights, which McCain opposes. Obama also supports more government help for health care, home buying and college than does McCain. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Jennifer Palmieri, a press aide in Bill Clinton's administration who now works for the Center for American Progress, said she does not think Hillary Clinton lost to Obama because of sexism. "But there have often been sexist overtones to the coverage," she said, proving that "the media thinks it's OK to say sexist things" about matters such as Clinton's pantsuits and her laugh, or to "poke fun at her middle age women supporters." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Despite the hurt feelings, Palmieri said, most traditional Democrats will return to the fold by autumn. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Other Democratic activists are less sure. Buell, the Clinton fundraiser, said Democratic women have a right to be angry about efforts to push the former first lady out of the race before all the primaries were finished. And she said many women feel Obama responded insufficiently to a priest who ridiculed Clinton recently from the pulpit of his former church in Chicago. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama backers acknowledge he brought some problems on himself&amp;mdash;such as saying dismissively in a January debate, "You're likable enough, Hillary"&amp;mdash;but they also say he and his aides often held their tongues in recent weeks as the Clinton camp assailed them. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Also, the Obama campaign passed up chances for negative TV ads as the campaign wound down and the results seemed sure&amp;mdash;even though she was still arguing she would be the stronger opponent against McCain. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Activists say Obama must work hard to win women's support now, and not expect Clinton to do it for him. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"Obama himself has to introduce himself in a way that really convinces women that they can place their trust and the security of their families in his hands," said Kate Michelman, a former head of the abortion-rights group NARAL and an early Obama backer. "And he will do that." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"I believe a woman president is not that far off," Michelman said, largely because of Clinton's impressive campaign. "Hillary has made that inevitable as far as I'm concerned." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Gloria Steinem, a pioneering feminist, disagrees. "For 35 years people have been asking me if there will be a female president, and I have always said, 'not in my lifetime,'" she said. "I still feel that way. The patterns of history are that, at the upper levels, we see different varieties of men first. The female comes later." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Steinem said disgruntled Democratic-leaning women ultimately will back Obama. Besides, she suggested, much of their ire should be aimed at the news media, not the candidates. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;"The media was in love with Obama," Steinem said, "and in hate with Hillary, hands down." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;___ &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Associated Press writers Jocelyn Noveck, Jim Kuhnhenn and Andrew Welsh-Huggins contributed to this report. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt"&gt;Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt"&gt;From :http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D913H2SG0&amp;amp;show_article=1&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5917768687725529007?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5917768687725529007/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5917768687725529007' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5917768687725529007'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5917768687725529007'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-next-task-heal-rift-with-female.html' title='Obama&amp;#39;s next task: Heal rift with female voters'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-6775056684695674883</id><published>2008-06-05T06:26:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-05T06:26:38.408+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama's Win Reshapes the Race</title><content type='html'>&lt;h1 align="justify"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;&lt;span class="timeStamp"&gt;Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008&lt;/span&gt; By &lt;span&gt;&lt;a onclick="javascript:window.open('/time/letters/email_letter.html','letter','width=400,height=420,status=no,scrollbars=yes')" href="javascript:void(0)"&gt;KAREN TUMULTY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;font color="#0000ff"&gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;!-- Begin Article Main --&gt;&lt;!-- Begin Tout1 --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="thumbnail" align="justify"&gt;&lt;img title="Barack Obama Hillary Clinton South Carolina" height="235" alt="Barack Obama Hillary Clinton South Carolina" src="http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2008/0801/clinton_obama_sc_0126.jpg" width="360" /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;!--sridhar@MT added the following code --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="caption" align="justify"&gt;Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="credits" align="justify"&gt;(l. to r.): Charles Rex Arbogast / AP; Jonathan Ernst / Reuters&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!---end of 10 qns code --&gt;&lt;!-- End Tout1 --&gt;&lt;!-- End Article Main --&gt;&lt;!-- Begin Article Copy --&gt;&lt;!-- Begin Article Tools --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div id="articleTools" align="justify"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- End Article Tools --&gt;&lt;!-- Article Body Start --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;There was only one way to describe Barack Obama's victory over Hillary Clinton and John Edwards in South Carolina: It was a rout. "After four great contests in every corner of this country, we have the most votes, the most delegates, and the most diverse coalition of Americans that we've seen in a long, long time," Obama declared at his victory celebration in Columbia. "There are young and old; rich and poor. They are black and white; Latino and Asian and Native American. They are Democrats from Des Moines and Independents from Concord, and yes, some Republicans from rural Nevada and we've got young people from all across this country who've never had a reason to participate until now." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Begin Article Side Bar --&gt;&lt;!-- Begin Article Side Bar Copy --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="tout3" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Obama's impressive win meant all the more given the nature of politics in South Carolina, a state whose history is fraught with race and class. Some observers wondered if the state's voters were becoming more racially polarized in the final days before the primary. That speculation was fueled by one late McClatchy/MSNBC survey that suggested Obama could expect to receive no more than 10% of the white vote, half of what the same poll had shown only a week before. But Obama instead won about a quarter of the white vote overall, and around half of young white voters, on his way to a commanding 55% of the total vote (Clinton finished second with roughly 27% and Edwards came in third with 18%). The excitement around Obama's candidacy pushed turnout to record levels &amp;mdash; a kind of surge, says Obama strategist Cornell Belcher, that "is something only Barack Obama is capable of bringing to the table." &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;It is a powerful message for the Illinois Senator to take into the Super Tuesday round of primaries on February 5. "In nine days-nine short days &amp;mdash; nearly half the nation will have the chance to join us in saying that we are tired of business-as-usual in Washington, we are hungry for change, and we are ready to believe again," Obama declared. His South Carolina victory will be topped by an endorsement by Caroline Kennedy, in a Sunday New York Times op-ed headlined: "A President Like My Father." The move will serve as a powerful, symbolic counter to the most visible surrogate in this race, Bill Clinton &amp;mdash; the boy whose own political awakening famously came when he shook JFK's hand as a 16-year-old as part of an American Legion Boy's Nation visit to the nation's capital. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Still, the sobering reality for the Obama campaign is that Clinton's massive organization will present a formidable challenge in the 20-plus states that will be voting on February 5. Clinton, knowing that bad news was coming, didn't even hold a final rally for her supporters in South Carolina; shortly after the polls closed, her campaign plane was headed for Tennessee. She issued a terse written statement noting that she had called Obama to "wish him well," and adding, "We now turn our attention to the millions of Americans who will make their voices heard in Florida and the twenty-two states as well as American Samoa who will vote on February 5th." Bill Clinton, at a rally in Missouri, added: "Now we go to February 5, when millions of Americans finally get in the act." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The former President was actually the first Clinton to speak in the wake of Obama's triumph Saturday evening, and it only underscored how his outsized, vocal presence on the trail has threatened to overshadow his wife. Earlier in the day, Clinton had churlishly compared Obama's victory to that of Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988, a remark that will likely further fuel disaffection about the Clintons amongst African-American voters. There was evidence that Obama's victory was also a repudiation of the brand of hard-knuckled politics that both Clintons had brought to the South Carolina contest. Exit polls indicated that Bill Clinton's campaigning made a difference to about 6 in 10 South Carolina Democratic primary voters. But of those voters, 47% went for Barack Obama, while only 38% went for Hillary Clinton. Fourteen percent voted for John Edwards. The Obama campaign gleefully noted that in the mostly black precincts that Bill Clinton visted in Greenville, as much as 80% of the vote went to Obama.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Copyright 2008, Time&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1707277,00.html"&gt;http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1707277,00.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-6775056684695674883?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/6775056684695674883/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=6775056684695674883' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6775056684695674883'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6775056684695674883'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-win-reshapes-race.html' title='Obama&amp;#39;s Win Reshapes the Race'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-5450757377059694563</id><published>2008-06-05T06:23:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-05T06:23:40.101+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama's Mercenary Position</title><content type='html'>&lt;h1 class="main" align="justify"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;&lt;b&gt;By&lt;/b&gt; &lt;cite&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/jeremy_scahill"&gt;Jeremy Scahill&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/cite&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="context" align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080317"&gt;This article appeared in the March 17, 2008 edition of &lt;cite&gt;The Nation&lt;/cite&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h3 class="when" align="justify"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Update from Jeremy Scahill: A day after this story went live on TheNation.com, Senator Hillary Clinton, whose staff refused for a week to answer my questions about her position on private security forces, released a statement announcing that Clinton is now co-sponsoring legislation to "ban the use of Blackwater and other private mercenary firms in Iraq," saying, "The time to show these contractors the door is long past due." Read her full statement &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href="http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=293878"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;here&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;. Her timing was interesting, to say the least. Why February 28, in the middle of a tough political campaign? Why not after last September's Nisour Square massacre, when Blackwater operatives killed seventeen Iraqi civilians? Or, better, before it? Regardless, this makes Clinton the most significant US political figure to date to issue such a call. We will be monitoring closely how much of a legislative priority this becomes for Senator Clinton. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;!-- /end .blurb --&gt;&lt;!-- /end #article-also --&gt;&lt;!-- /end .tn-sections --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="mod" align="justify"&gt;&lt;!-- /end .inset --&gt;A senior foreign policy adviser to leading Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has told &lt;i&gt;The Nation&lt;/i&gt; that if elected Obama will not "rule out" using private security companies like Blackwater Worldwide in Iraq. The adviser also said that Obama does not plan to sign on to legislation that seeks to ban the use of these forces in US war zones by January 2009, when a new President will be sworn in. Obama's campaign says that instead he will focus on bringing accountability to these forces while increasing funding for the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the agency that employs Blackwater and other private security contractors. (Hillary Clinton's staff did not respond to repeated requests for an interview or a statement on this issue.) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="mod" align="justify"&gt;Obama's broader Iraq withdrawal plan provides for some US troops to remain in Iraq--how many his advisers won't say. But it's clear that Obama's "follow-on force" will include a robust security force to protect US personnel in Iraq, US trainers (who would also require security) for Iraqi forces and military units to "strike at Al Qaeda"--all very broad swaths of the occupation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="mod" align="justify"&gt;"If Barack Obama comes into office next January and our diplomatic security service is in the state it's in and the situation on the ground in Iraq is in the state it's in, I think we will be forced to rely on a host of security measures," said the senior adviser. "I can't rule out, I won't rule out, private security contractors." He added, "I &lt;I&gt;will&lt;/I&gt; rule out private security contractors that are not accountable to US law." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="mod" align="justify"&gt;But therein lies a problem. The US Embassy in Iraq is slated to become the largest embassy in world history. If Obama maintains that embassy and its army of diplomats and US personnel going in and out of the Green Zone, which his advisers say he will, a significant armed force will be required for protection. The force that now plays that role is composed almost exclusively of contractors from Blackwater, DynCorp and Triple Canopy. And at present, these contractors are not held accountable under US law. Obama and a host of legal experts, including in the Justice Department, acknowledge that there may be no current US law that could be used to prosecute security contractors for crimes committed in Iraq, such as the killing of seventeen Iraqi civilians last September in Baghdad's Nisour Square. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="mod" align="justify"&gt;Obama's proposed increase in funding to the diplomatic security division would ostensibly pave the way for a protective force composed entirely of US government personnel, but the process of building that force would likely take a long time. Short of dramatically reducing the US civilian and diplomatic presence in Iraq that necessitates such a security force, Obama may have no choice but to continue the contracting arrangements with firms like Blackwater if he is elected President. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="mod" align="justify"&gt;The irony is that it was Senator Obama who sponsored a bill in February 2007 defining a legal structure to prosecute State Department contractor crimes in US courts. Obama staffers say they will "fight like hell to get it passed." But it may not pass before the next President takes power. Even if it does and Bush signs it, serious questions will remain unresolved about how contractor crimes can be monitored effectively. The senior adviser acknowledged that Obama could find himself in a situation where, as President, he continues using forces he himself has identified as "unaccountable." The Obama campaign, in other words, may have painted itself into a corner. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="mod" align="justify"&gt;Copyright The Nation&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="mod" align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080317/scahill"&gt;http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080317/scahill&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-5450757377059694563?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/5450757377059694563/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=5450757377059694563' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5450757377059694563'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/5450757377059694563'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-mercenary-position.html' title='Obama&amp;#39;s Mercenary Position'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-6096486183894554210</id><published>2008-06-05T06:21:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-05T06:21:50.208+07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Obama Delusion</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 class="h2-article" align="justify"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/author/robert_samuelson/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Robert Samuelson&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h2 class="h2-article" align="justify"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;WASHINGTON -- It's hard not to be dazzled by Barack Obama. At the 2004 Democratic convention, he visited with Newsweek reporters and editors, including me. I came away deeply impressed by his intelligence, his forceful language and his apparent willingness to take positions that seemed to rise above narrow partisanship. Obama has become the Democratic presidential front-runner, precisely because countless millions have formed a similar opinion. It is, I now think, mistaken.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;As a journalist, I harbor serious doubt about each of the likely nominees. But with Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain, I feel that I'm dealing with known quantities. They've been in the public arena for years; their views, values and temperaments have received enormous scrutiny. By contrast, newcomer Obama is largely a stage presence defined mostly by his powerful rhetoric. The trouble, at least for me, is the huge and deceptive gap between his captivating oratory and his actual views.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div id="article-box-ad" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;script language="JavaScript"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;!--&lt;br /&gt;OAS_AD('Block');&lt;br /&gt;//--&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The subtext of Obama's campaign is that his own life narrative -- to become the first African-American president, a huge milestone in the nation's journey from slavery -- can serve as a metaphor for other political stalemates. Great impasses can be broken with sufficient good will, intelligence and energy. "It's not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white," he says. Along with millions of others, I find this a powerful appeal. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;But on inspection, the metaphor is a mirage. Repudiating racism is not a magic cure-all for the nation's ills. It requires independent ideas, and Obama has few. If you examine his agenda, it is completely ordinary, highly partisan, not candid and mostly unresponsive to many pressing national problems. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;By Obama's own moral standards, Obama fails. Americans "are tired of hearing promises made and 10-point plans proposed in the heat of a campaign only to have nothing change," he recently said. Shortly thereafter, he outlined an economic plan of at least 12 points that, among other things, would: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;-- Provide a $1,000 tax cut for most two-earner families ($500 for singles). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;-- Create a $4,000 refundable tuition tax credit for every year of college.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;-- Expand the child care tax credit for people earning less than $50,000 and "double spending on quality after-school programs."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;-- Enact an "energy plan" that would invest $150 billion in 10 years to create a "green energy sector." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Whatever one thinks of these ideas, they're standard goodie-bag politics: something for everyone. They're so similar to many Clinton proposals that her campaign put out a news release accusing him of plagiarizing. With existing budget deficits and the costs of Obama's "universal health plan," the odds of enacting his full package are slim.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;A favorite Obama line is that he will tell "the American people not just what they want to hear, but what we need to know." Well, he hasn't so far. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Consider the retiring baby boomers. A truth-telling Obama might say: "Spending for retirees -- mainly Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- is already nearly half the federal budget. Unless we curb these rising costs, we will crush our children with higher taxes. Reflecting longer life expectancies, we should gradually raise the eligibility ages for these programs and trim benefits for wealthier retirees. Both Democrats and Republicans are to blame for inaction. Waiting longer will only worsen the problem." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Instead, Obama pledges not to raise the retirement age and to "protect Social Security benefits for current and future beneficiaries." This isn't "change"; it's sanctification of the status quo. He would also exempt all retirees making less than $50,000 annually from income tax. By his math, that would provide average tax relief of $1,400 to 7 million retirees -- shifting more of the tax burden onto younger workers. Obama's main proposal for Social Security is to raise the payroll tax beyond the present $102,000 ceiling. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Political candidates routinely indulge in exaggeration, pandering, inconsistency and self-serving obscurity. Clinton and McCain do. The reason for holding Obama to a higher standard is that it's his standard and also his campaign's central theme. He has run on the vague promise of "change," but on issue after issue -- immigration, the economy, global warming -- he has offered boilerplate policies that evade the underlying causes of the stalemates. These issues remain contentious because they involve real conflicts or differences of opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The contrast between his broad rhetoric and his narrow agenda is stark, and yet the press corps -- preoccupied with the political "horse race" -- has treated his invocation of "change" as a serious idea rather than a shallow campaign slogan. He seems to have hypnotized much of the media and the public with his eloquence and the symbolism of his life story. The result is a mass delusion that Obama is forthrightly engaging the nation's major problems when, so far, he isn't. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div id="article-author" align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Copyright 2008, Washington Post Writers Group&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;From :http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/02/the_obama_delusion.html&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-6096486183894554210?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/6096486183894554210/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=6096486183894554210' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6096486183894554210'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6096486183894554210'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-delusion.html' title='The Obama Delusion'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-8462454056781803813</id><published>2008-06-05T06:18:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-05T06:18:31.664+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Republicans defect to the Obama camp</title><content type='html'>&lt;h1 class="heading" align="justify"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;DISILLUSIONED supporters of President George W Bush are defecting to Barack Obama, the Democratic senator for Illinois, as the White House candidate with the best chance of uniting a divided nation.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Tom Bernstein went to Yale University with Bush and co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team with him. In 2004 he donated the maximum $2,000 to the president&amp;rsquo;s reelection campaign and gave $50,000 to the Republican National Committee. This year he is switching his support to Obama. He is one of many former Bush admirers who find the Democrat newcomer appealing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Matthew Dowd, Bush&amp;rsquo;s chief campaign strategist in 2004, announced last month that he was disillusioned with the war in Iraq and the president&amp;rsquo;s &amp;ldquo;my way or the highway&amp;rdquo; style of leadership &amp;ndash; the first member of Bush&amp;rsquo;s inner circle to denounce the leader&amp;rsquo;s performance in office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Although Dowd has yet to endorse a candidate, he said the only one he liked was Obama. &amp;ldquo;I think we should design campaigns that appeal, not to 51% of the people, but bring the country together as a whole,&amp;rdquo; Dowd said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!--#include file="m63-article-related-attachements.html"--&gt;&lt;!-- BEGIN: Module - M63 - Article Related Attachements --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;!--&lt;br /&gt;function pictureGalleryPopup(pubUrl,articleId) {&lt;br /&gt;var newWin ="" window.open(pubUrl+'template/2.0-0/element/pictureGalleryPopup.jsp?id="'+articleId+'&amp;&amp;offset=0&amp;&amp;sectionName=WorldUSAmericas','mywindow','menubar=0,resizable=0,width=615,height=655');"&lt;br /&gt;}&lt;br /&gt;//--&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;!-- BEGIN: Comment Teaser Module --&gt;&lt;!-- END: Comment Teaser Module --&gt;&lt;!-- BEGIN: Module - M63 - Article Related Package --&gt;&lt;!-- attached links --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="related-attachements-top padding-top-10" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h3 class="section-heading"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Related Internet Links&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="padding-bottom-5 padding-top-3" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul class="chevron-list chevron-blue"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a class="link-666" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/Democratic%20debate%20round-up:%20the%20reviews%20are%20in"&gt;Hillary outshines Obama in debate&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul class="chevron-list chevron-blue"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a class="link-666" href="http://timesonline.typepad.com/comment/2007/04/we_shouldnt_be_.html"&gt;Obama gets it wrong on Virginia Tech&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul class="chevron-list chevron-blue"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a class="link-666" href="http://timesonline.typepad.com/comment/barack_obama/index.html"&gt;Comment Central: More coverage on Barack Obama's presidential bid&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- end attached links --&gt;&lt;!-- END: Module - M63 - Article Related Package --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="related-attachements-side padding-top-10 padding-bottom-10 padding-right-7" align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h3 class="section-heading"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Related Links&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;form name="relatedLinksform" action="" method="post"&gt;&lt;/form&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul class="chevron-list chevron-blue"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a class="link-666" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1749931.ece"&gt;Reagan rules as rivals try to win over party faithful &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;form name="relatedLinksform" action="" method="post"&gt;&lt;/form&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul class="chevron-list chevron-blue"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a class="link-666" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1752233.ece"&gt;Security net for candidate with rally appeal &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;form name="relatedLinksform" action="" method="post"&gt;&lt;/form&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;form name="relatedLinksform" action="" method="post"&gt;&lt;/form&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- BEGIN: POLL --&gt;&lt;!--This block will execute if an article of type Poll is attached--&gt;&lt;!-- END : POLL --&gt;&lt;!-- BEGIN: DEBATE--&gt;&lt;!-- END: DEBATE--&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="clear related-attachements-bottom" align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="padding-top-5" align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- END: Module - M63 - Article Related Attachements --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Bernstein is a champion of human rights, who admires Obama&amp;rsquo;s call for action on Darfur, while Dowd&amp;rsquo;s opposition to the war has been sharpened by the expected deployment to Iraq of his son, an Arabic-speaking Army intelligence specialist.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;But last week a surprising new name joined the chorus of praise for the antiwar Obama &amp;ndash; that of Robert Kagan, a leading neoconservative and co-founder of the Project for the New American Century in the late 1990s, which called for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Kagan is an informal foreign policy adviser to the Republican senator John McCain, who remains the favoured neoconservative choice for the White House because of his backing for the troops in Iraq.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;But in an article in the Washington Post, Kagan wrote approvingly that a keynote speech by&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Obama at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs was &amp;ldquo;pure John Kennedy&amp;rdquo;, a neocon hero of the cold war.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;In his speech, Obama called for an increase in defence spending and an extra 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 marines to &amp;ldquo;stay on the offense&amp;rdquo; against terrorism and ensure America had &amp;ldquo;the strongest, best-equipped military in the world&amp;rdquo;. He talked about building democracies, stopping weapons of mass destruction and the right to take unilateral action to protect US &amp;ldquo;vital interests&amp;rdquo; if necessary, as well as the importance of building alliances.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&amp;ldquo;Personally, I liked it,&amp;rdquo; Kagan wrote.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Disagreements on the war have not stopped John Martin, a Navy reservist and founder of the website Republicans for Obama, from supporting the antiwar senator. He joined the military after the Iraq war and is about to be deployed to Afghanistan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&amp;ldquo;I disagree with Obama on the war but I don&amp;rsquo;t think it is a test of his patriotism,&amp;rdquo; Martin says. &amp;ldquo;Obama has a message of hope for the country.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Financiers have also been oiling Obama&amp;rsquo;s campaign. In Chicago, his home town, John Canning, a &amp;ldquo;Bush pioneer&amp;rdquo; and investment banker who pledged to raise $100,000 for the president in 2004, has given up on the Republicans. &amp;ldquo;I know lots of my friends in this business are disenchanted and are definitely looking for something different,&amp;rdquo; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Not to be outdone, Hillary Clinton has many Republican defectors of her own, including John Mack, chief executive of Morgan Stanley, who helped raise $200,000 for the president&amp;rsquo;s reelection, qualifying him as a &amp;ldquo;Bush ranger&amp;rdquo;. He said last week that he was impressed by Clinton&amp;rsquo;s expertise. &amp;ldquo;I know we&amp;rsquo;re associated mainly with the Republicans but we&amp;rsquo;ve always gone for the individual,&amp;rdquo; Mack said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;According to figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, Obama and Clinton have vacuumed up more than $750,000 (&amp;pound;375,000) in individual contributions from former Bush donors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;Some of the donations reflect the natural tendency of those with power to shift to the likely White House winner. Penny Pritzker, the staggeringly successful head of fundraising for Obama, voted for John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic candidate, but also donated that year to Bush. As she was a head of the family-run Hyatt hotel chain, it was considered a prudent move.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;With the Democrats widely expected to win in 2008, Clinton&amp;rsquo;s status as frontrunner is encouraging Wall Street money to migrate to her, while Obama may be picking up some mischievous &amp;ldquo;Stop Hillary&amp;rdquo; donations from still-loyal Republicans. But there is plenty of genuine enthusiasm to go around.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;A poll released by Rasmussen last week showed Obama overtaking Clinton for the first time by 32% to 30%, although another poll by Quinnepiac showed her with a 14-point lead over the Illinois senator, her nearest rival.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;The current issue of the New Yorker contains a profile of Obama, which highlights his appeal to conservatives.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;For his optimism about the future, Obama has been dubbed the &amp;ldquo;black Ronald Reagan&amp;rdquo;. He frequently challenges the black community to support two-parent families and encourage school students, instead of criticising them for &amp;ldquo;acting white&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span class="byline"&gt;(Sarah Baxter, Washington)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;From: &lt;a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1752381.ece"&gt;http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1752381.ece&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-8462454056781803813?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/8462454056781803813/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=8462454056781803813' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/8462454056781803813'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/8462454056781803813'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/republicans-defect-to-obama-camp.html' title='Republicans defect to the Obama camp'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-4353656934588519430</id><published>2008-06-05T06:15:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-05T06:15:26.895+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Can Obama say no to Clinton?</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday that he and Sen. Hillary Clinton will be "having a conversation in the coming weeks," but will they talk about sharing the ticket?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!--startclickprintexclude--&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div id="imageChanger1"&gt;&lt;!-- PURGE: /2008/POLITICS/06/04/obama.vp/art.obama.afp.gi.jpg --&gt;&lt;!-- KEEP --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="cnnStoryPhotoBox"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="cnnImgChngr" id="cnnImgChngr"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div id="cnnImgChngrNested"&gt;&lt;img height="219" alt="art.obama.afp.gi.jpg" hspace="0" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/POLITICS/06/04/obama.vp/art.obama.afp.gi.jpg" width="292" /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="cnnStoryPhotoCaptionBox"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="cnn3pxTB9pxLRPad"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now that Sen. Barack Obama is his party's presumptive nominee, everyone wants to know who will be the No. 2.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="cnnStoryPhotoBoxNavigation"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div id="cnnImgChngrPrvsLbl"&gt;&lt;a onmouseover="CNN_changeImg('cnnImgChngrPrvsBtn',1)" style="CURSOR: default" onclick="CNN_ArticleChanger.CNN_navChngBack(); return false;" onmouseout="CNN_changeImg('cnnImgChngrPrvsBtn')" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/04/obama.vp/index.html#"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div id="cnnImgChngrLbl"&gt;Fears of a divided party increased as the protracted primary season dragged on, but Obama and Clinton both insisted that the Democrats would unite once they have a nominee. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now, that time has come, and although some top politicians say Obama must put Clinton on his ticket, others say Obama needs to say no. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Obama's search for a running mate has begun. Former Deputy U.S. Attorney Eric Holder, former first daughter Caroline Kennedy and Democratic insider Jim Johnson are on the vice presidential selection team.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Concern about the division in the party arose because Clinton and Obama appealed to such different segments of the electorate. Clinton did well with working-class voters and the elderly. Obama rallied the support of affluent, well-educated voters, African-Americans and the younger generation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clinton won the big states -- like Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- that she says are necessary in order to win in the fall. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Exit polls throughout the primary season have indicated that a significant portion of Clinton backers would not vote for Obama if he were to become the nominee.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!--startclickprintexclude--&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="cnnStoryElementBox"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h4&gt;"I think there's a danger that there will be an embittered Hillary group that will stay home or will vote for [John] McCain," said David Gergen, a CNN political contributor. &lt;span class="cnnEmbeddedMosLnk"&gt;&lt;img height="14" alt="Video" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif" width="16" border="0" /&gt; &lt;a onclick="CNN_changeMosaicTab('cnnVideoCmpnt','videos.html',true,'/video/politics/2008/06/04/lkl.obama.wins.cnn');" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/04/obama.vp/index.html#cnnSTCVideo"&gt;Watch analysts discuss what a joint ticket would accomplish &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;He said he thought her speech Tuesday -- in which she did not concede -- showed defiance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;"In effect tonight, she was saying ... I have these 18 million people, and if you want them to come over and support you, you've got to listen to me, and you have to pay attention to what I want," he said. &lt;span class="cnnEmbeddedMosLnk"&gt;&lt;img height="14" alt="Video" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif" width="16" border="0" /&gt; &lt;a onclick="CNN_changeMosaicTab('cnnVideoCmpnt','videos.html',true,'/video/politics/2008/06/04/am.seg.obama.vp.cnn');" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/04/obama.vp/index.html#cnnSTCVideo"&gt;Watch how Obama's camp is being pressured to pick Clinton &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lanny Davis, former special counsel to President Clinton, has started a petition to get Hillary Clinton on the ticket.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;"My petition was very carefully worded and very personally felt. I didn't ask anybody's permission," he said on CNN's "Larry King Live." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;"I said in the petition, 'We know this is your decision, Sen. Obama. Here are the reasons why we think we can help you in putting this country together again with your strengths and with her strengths to actually elect a president and a vice president.' " &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two former Clinton staffers started VoteBoth.com, a site advocating for a unity ticket.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;The site says it "believes that both Sens. Clinton and Obama should run together for the general election, combining two awesome factions of energized voters and organized campaign strategists, to result in victory come November."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some key backers of the "dream ticket" include Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York. They also endorsed Clinton in the primaries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Billionaire businessman and BET founder Bob Johnson, a close adviser and friend to Clinton, also launched a campaign Wednesday to persuade Obama to offer Clinton the No. 2 spot, and the New York Observer on Wednesday used its editorial page to urge Obama to make Clinton his pick. &lt;span class="cnnEmbeddedMosLnk"&gt;&lt;img height="14" alt="Video" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif" width="16" border="0" /&gt; &lt;a onclick="CNN_changeMosaicTab('cnnVideoCmpnt','videos.html',true,'/video/politics/2008/06/04/am.seg.johnson.veep.cnn');" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/04/obama.vp/index.html#cnnSTCVideo"&gt;Watch what Johnson says about a "dream ticket" &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Mr. Obama has shown enthusiasm for a new style of governing; having a vice president of Mrs. Clinton's capabilities and experience would go a long way toward effecting real change in Washington," the paper said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, said she doesn't see a joint ticket in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Obama is now basically in charge of the Democratic Party. This is the end of the Clinton era of the Democratic Party. This is purely reality," she said on "Larry King Live." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Huffington said that putting Clinton on the ticket would mean "having to deal not just with Hillary Clinton and her disappointment, but having to deal with Bill Clinton and the way he's been running the whole campaign."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bill Clinton has come under fire for being too vocal in his criticisms of Obama.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Former President Carter has also said he does not see how Clinton would help Obama's ticket. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lawmakers said Tuesday that Clinton said on a conference call that she if asked by Obama, she would be interested in serving as his running mate, but Obama's campaign is staying mum on the issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Communications director Robert Gibbs said there was no discussion of the vice president spot when Obama and Clinton talked late Tuesday night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;"I think we'd just crossed the delegate threshold an hour or two before that, so obviously, the vice presidential process will begin in a little bit more earnestness today," he said on CNN's "American Morning."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;"I think there is no doubt that there's energy and enthusiasm Sen. Clinton brought out millions of new voters. Sen. Obama brought out millions of new voters. It's now incumbent upon us to make sure that we get all of those people united under one tent moving forward and and capturing this White House in November." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gibbs said no one can say what Clinton is going to do, perhaps because "nobody knows the answers right now."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;That's something Clinton's own words seem to support.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Now, the question is: Where do we go from here?" she said Tuesday night. "And given how far we've come and where we need to go as a party, it's a question I don't take lightly. This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!--startclickprintexclude--&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="cnnStoryElementBox"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="cnnStoryElementBoxAd"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="cnnStoryElementBoxAdHead"&gt;Obama told Clinton he looks forward to sitting down with her when the timing is right, Gibbs said.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="cnnInline"&gt;But, he added, that doesn't necessarily mean they will discuss becoming running mates.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="cnnInline"&gt;From : &lt;a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/04/obama.vp/index.html"&gt;http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/04/obama.vp/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-4353656934588519430?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/4353656934588519430/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=4353656934588519430' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/4353656934588519430'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/4353656934588519430'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/can-obama-say-no-to-clinton.html' title='Can Obama say no to Clinton?'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-845529444742411447</id><published>2008-06-05T06:11:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-05T06:11:06.638+07:00</updated><title type='text'>Insiders debate social media's influence on Election '08</title><content type='html'>&lt;h1 align="justify"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;SANTA MONICA, Calif.--How are Twitter and Facebook changing the game for the 2008 presidential frontrunners? Online media executives say the answer will be pivotal to future campaigns, but that it won't come until November.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;"Voter-generated content is the wild card of 2008," said Micah Sifry, co-founder and editor of the Personal Democracy Forum and the political site TechPresident.com. Sifry spoke here Monday night for the opening of Economics of Social Media 2008, a one-day conference. "The bottom line is that the campaigns have lost control."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;Sifry, who was part of a panel of online media executives discussing social media and politics, was referring to the rise of sites like YouTube, &lt;a title="Twitter's political coming of age? -- Friday, Mar 21, 2008" href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-10787_3-9900477-60.html"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;, and Facebook since the 2004 elections. Newly armed with online pulpits, more citizens are using these &lt;a title="Information overload in the Facebook-ABC presidential debates? -- Sunday, Jan 6, 2008" href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9841291-7.html"&gt;sites&lt;/a&gt; to vocalize opinions through video, blogs, or podcasts, and to mobilize community efforts around the candidates. At the same time, the presidential candidates are taking advantage of social media sites to reach new audiences, raise money, and respond to voters in real time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;"We're entering the age of mass participation in the making of a campaign and not just in the making of the result," Sifry said.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;Betsy Morgan, the Huffington Post's CEO who joined the newly minted "Internet newspaper" just six months ago from CBS.com, said that the candidates have been much savvier about the way they use the Internet in this campaign. Presidential contender Barack Obama, for example, wrote an editorial exclusively for the Huffington Post and that message was presented on the front page in a way it would not have been in &lt;i&gt;The New York Times&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;"He got the message out in the way that he wanted," she said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;Despite the increasing power of the Internet to the campaign, the candidates are still spending most of their money on advertising with traditional media on 30-second commercials, she said. "There's still that feeling that that spending will get people out of their chairs," Morgan said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;It may take another political cycle for the ad dollars to follow the trends. Manuel Perez, senior supervising producer of CNN.com, said that Obama has shown that his "grassroots" efforts on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites has gone a long way to engage young voters. "That's a big change," Perez said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;Other media executives said what's different about this campaign is that people are contributing to a near real-time feedback loop through the Web that's changing how stories unfold.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;"The networks that provide 'first to see' immediacy (in the news) will rise," said Leonard Brody, co-founder and CEO of NowPublic, a citizen journalist Web site that has more than 140,000 contributing writers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;Chuck DeFeo agreed. DeFeo is vice president and general manager of Townhall.com, a conservative online community with more than 250 podcasts. "People (have the) ability to shape the narrative...and knock them off their talking points. We'll only see more of that."&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;Sifry said that Obama has defied the odds related to rival Hillary Clinton, who held the lead in the national polls last year, because of his grassroots efforts with social media, including on Twitter, Facebook, and MyBarackObama.com. He said that Obama appeals to a dominant constituency online of younger voters, as well as an upper-class, more intellectual voter. For that reason, he said, Obama has 1.5 million individual donors at this stage in his campaign, or about what George W. Bush had in November 2004. (DeFeo was quick to correct Sifry by saying that Bush had more like 1.6 million donors at that point.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;"After this political cycle, we won't see a campaign without a social network," said Sifry. "I think come fall, McCain will suffer because he doesn't have an organic social media effort or (what he has is) at least one-tenth the size of what the Democrats have now." &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;DeFeo countered that during Bush's presidential 2004 run, members of the campaign urged people to take action offline, rather than online, by working a phone bank or organizing a "walk the vote" campaign. Those actions presumably had more a direct correlation to the outcome at the polls.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;"The last thing we wanted people to do was create a blog," said DeFeo, who worked on that campaign.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;Still, he acknowledged that the 2008 campaign is different.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;"This is truly an election that will be pivotal," DeFeo said. "We've yet to see how online social media will effect" voter turnout.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span class="author"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Posted by &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href="http://news.cnet.com/8300-10784_3-7.html?authorId=137"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Stefanie Olsen&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span class="author"&gt;from: &lt;a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9931171-7.html?tag=blogFeed"&gt;http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9931171-7.html?tag=blogFeed&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-845529444742411447?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/845529444742411447/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=845529444742411447' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/845529444742411447'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/845529444742411447'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/insiders-debate-social-media-influence.html' title='Insiders debate social media&amp;#39;s influence on Election &amp;#39;08'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607533633165418646.post-6739729595946860481</id><published>2008-06-05T06:08:00.001+07:00</published><updated>2008-06-05T06:08:11.386+07:00</updated><title type='text'>In tech support, Obama bests Clinton</title><content type='html'>&lt;div section="txt"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h1&gt;&lt;img class="cnet-image" style="WIDTH: 327px; HEIGHT: 231px" height="345" alt="" src="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/bto/20080305/obama_550x345.jpg" width="550" /&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="cnet-image-div" style="WIDTH: 505px; HEIGHT: 102px"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="image-caption"&gt;File photo: Sen. Barack Obama criticizes Bush's warrantless-wiretapping program in a speech at Dartmouth College.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span class="image-credit"&gt;(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News.com)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody"&gt;In theory, Hillary Clinton should have been the perfect tech-friendly candidate in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;Practically from the moment she was sworn into office in 2001, the New York senator began wooing &lt;a title="Hillary Clinton's Silicon Valley overtures -- Monday, Jul 12, 2004" href="http://news.cnet.com/Hillary-Clintons-Silicon-Valley-overtures/2010-1028_3-5264021.html" context="com.caucho.jsp.PageContextImpl@389fb6ee"&gt;technology firms and their executives&lt;/a&gt; in preparation for her presidential bid. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;She &lt;a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:S.2580:"&gt;introduced&lt;/a&gt; five different broadband bills. She showed up at roundtables with chief executives like Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, Adobe Systems' Bruce Chizen, and Symantec's John Thompson. She spoke at a board meeting of the Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Apple, Cisco Systems, Dell, eBay, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft. She talked up &lt;a href="http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=234955&amp;amp;&amp;amp;"&gt;nanotech&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=235200&amp;amp;&amp;amp;"&gt;lower taxes on stock options&lt;/a&gt;, and better &lt;a href="http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=234912&amp;amp;&amp;amp;"&gt;e-voting security&lt;/a&gt;. She won a coveted &lt;a href="http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=4529"&gt;endorsement&lt;/a&gt; from prominent venture capitalist John Doerr, and, in fact, won more votes in Silicon Valley during last month's California primary. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;So just how did Barack Obama--who managed to retain his delegate lead despite losses Tuesday in Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island--become the favorite in tech circles? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;It shouldn't--again, in theory--have turned out this way. At the time Obama announced he wanted to be president, he had accumulated a mere two years of experience in the U.S. Senate. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;The Illinois senator's tech-law forays were limited to topics like complaining that airline pilot uniforms were readily available for purchase over the Internet[1], and warning that TV networks had better tone down the amount of "adult content" in their broadcasts or Congress would do it for them[2]. An information-technology-in-health-care bill was &lt;a href="http://obama.senate.gov/press/050627-obama_says_technology_key_to_c/"&gt;co-sponsored&lt;/a&gt; with Clinton. And, in 2005, Obama even let his Barackobama.com domain name lapse--the ultimate politechnical misstep, solved only by a friendly domain auctioneer helping him out. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;The only two Obama bills (of which he was the primary sponsor) that became law during those two years dealt with matters as unimpressive as &lt;a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.03757:"&gt;naming a post office&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.02125:"&gt;doling out U.S. taxpayer dollars to the Congo&lt;/a&gt;. No wonder that his hometown newspaper, the &lt;cite&gt;Chicago Tribune&lt;/cite&gt;, which had endorsed him during his Senate run, reported that Obama managed "to finish his first year without a signature achievement." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;What propelled Obama to Internet-ional prominence was a combination of charisma, background, a remarkably well-received &lt;a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19751-2004Jul27.html"&gt;convention speech&lt;/a&gt; four years ago, and a willingness to embrace technology. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;One 2004 article from &lt;cite&gt;CIO Insight&lt;/cite&gt; said: "While the power of online marketing is still in its infancy, Barack Obama, the senator-elect from Illinois, has collected more e-mail addresses in some states than the senators from those states. Stay tuned!" The convention speech opened other doors; it led him to meet Warren Buffett, who in turn introduced him to Bill Gates and Donald Graham, chairman of The Washington Post Co. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;Being relatively young and a favorite of political bloggers didn't hurt either. In August 2005, Obama was one of only four senators (Clinton not among them) with a blog, which he claimed he updated himself. He also--a rarity in a sitting senator-- engaged bloggers directly by posting a &lt;a href="http://obama.senate.gov/blog/050930-tone_truth_and_the_democratic_party/"&gt;response&lt;/a&gt; on DailyKos.com about political litmus tests and judicial appointees. "It was a good opportunity to engage an activist community in a forum that is rapidly growing," Obama told the &lt;cite&gt;Washington Post&lt;/cite&gt; at the time. "If you take these blogs seriously, they'll take you seriously." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;From that beginning, it wasn't a huge leap to build a commanding presence in tech circles through mechanisms like an &lt;a href="http://www.lessig.org/blog/2007/11/4barack.html"&gt;endorsement&lt;/a&gt; from Stanford law professor Larry Lessig, clever use of &lt;a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/barack_obama_campaign_central_desktop.php"&gt;wikis&lt;/a&gt;, and the &lt;a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/24/technology_aids_obamas_outreach_drive/"&gt;my.barackobama.com&lt;/a&gt; social-networking site. Obama's unambiguous opposition to the Iraq war and opposition to retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies certainly helped too. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;In October 2005, during a Senate hearing, Obama said this to &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Sauerbrey"&gt;Ellen Sauerbrey&lt;/a&gt;, a Bush appointee to a State Department post: "It doesn't appear that you have very specific experience." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;This also happens to be the same charge that Clinton is levying against her Illinois rival today. And it's proving no more effective; Sauerbrey ended up getting the job anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Footnotes: &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;&lt;i&gt;[1] Excerpt from &lt;cite&gt;Pantagraph&lt;/cite&gt; (Bloomington, IL) newspaper, March 11, 2005: "U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama, both Democrats, asked Congress to investigate the easy availability of airline pilot uniforms on the Internet after viewing a media report in which a reporter received a uniform without being asked for identification." &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;&lt;i&gt;[2] Excerpt from &lt;cite&gt;The Atlanta Journal and Constitution&lt;/cite&gt;, November 10, 2005: '"But if the industry fails to act-- f it fails to give parents advanced controls and new choices--Congress will," Obama said. He noted, however, that regulation is not the only answer and that the nature of TV sex is more important than the amount. "The adult content in 'Schindler's List' is far different from the type on 'Desperate Housewives,' " he said.' &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;&lt;span class="author"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Posted by &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href="http://news.cnet.com/8300-13578_3-38.html?authorId=111"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Declan McCullagh&lt;font color="#0000ff"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class="postBody" align="justify"&gt;&lt;em&gt;from: &lt;a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9886171-38.html"&gt;http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9886171-38.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5607533633165418646-6739729595946860481?l=gopadang.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/feeds/6739729595946860481/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5607533633165418646&amp;postID=6739729595946860481' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6739729595946860481'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5607533633165418646/posts/default/6739729595946860481'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://gopadang.blogspot.com/2008/06/in-tech-support-obama-bests-clinton.html' title='In tech support, Obama bests Clinton'/><author><name>Herry Padek</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08161465954652208105</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='23' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_W-88R_u8frs/SEZ18idyZuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Pf2go9_MmuM/S220/esg.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
