Conservative Soup - food for thought

After finding a boogey on his finger, Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean misleads public over immigration issue.

Will

One word, in my opinion, describes this woman, "dynamic". Well, I could actually use a couple dozen complimentary adjectives to describe Secretary of State Rice, but I'll let W do that. I hope that in the 2008 election, if the junior Senator from New York plunges forward at the Oval Office Condoleeza will be there to oppose her. I have decided to copy the Biography provided by The White House to further cover her accomplishments:

Dr. Condoleezza Rice became the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor, on January 22, 2001.
In June 1999, she completed a six year tenure as Stanford University 's Provost, during which she was the institution's chief budget and academic officer. As Provost she was responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget and the academic program involving 1,400 faculty members and 14,000 students.
As professor of political science, Dr. Rice has been on the Stanford faculty since 1981 and has won two of the highest teaching honors -- the 1984 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 1993 School of Humanities and Sciences Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching.
At Stanford, she was a member of the Center for International Security and Arms Control from 1981-1986 (currently the Center for International Security And Cooperation), a Senior Fellow of the Institute for International Studies, and a Fellow (by courtesy) of the Hoover Institution. Her books include Germany Unified and Europe Transformed (1995) with Philip Zelikow, The Gorbachev Era (1986) with Alexander Dallin, and Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army (1984). She also has written numerous articles on Soviet and East European foreign and defense policy, and has addressed audiences in settings ranging from the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in Moscow to the Commonwealth Club to the 1992 and 2000 Republican National Conventions.
From 1989 through March 1991, the period of German reunification and the final days of the Soviet Union, she served in the Bush Administration as Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and a Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, she served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1997, she served on the Federal Advisory Committee on Gender -- Integrated Training in the Military.
She was a member of the boards of directors for the Chevron Corporation, the Charles Schwab Corporation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the University of Notre Dame, the International Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan and the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors. She was a Founding Board member of the Center for a New Generation, an educational support fund for schools in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, California and was Vice President of the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula . In addition, her past board service has encompassed such organizations as Transamerica Corporation, Hewlett Packard, the Carnegie Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Rand Corporation, the National Council for Soviet and East European Studies, the Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition and KQED, public broadcasting for San Francisco.
Born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama, she earned her bachelor's degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver in 1974; her master's from the University of Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded honorary doctorates from Morehouse College in 1991, the University of Alabama in 1994, the University of Notre Dame in 1995, the National Defense University in 2002, the Mississippi College School of Law in 2003, the University of Louisville and Michigan State University in 2004. She resides in Washington, D.C

-Milt-

Where is the bleeding-heart anger on this one? Typical for the Left, no outcry for the disenfranchised if that person is a Christian:

Although an Afghan Christian facing possible execution for converting from Islam was likely to be released from jail "soon", it was merely after Western pressure over the case that this occurred. Abdul Rahman was arrested two weeks ago under Islamic Sharia law and faced a possible death sentence in a case that has attracted condemnation (mostly from the United States).

It was US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday to step up pressure to free 41-year-old Rahman, who converted in Germany 16 years ago and was turned in by his parents on his return to Afghanistan. "There is no more fundamental issue for the United States than freedom of religion and religious conscience," she said. President George W. Bush also said that he was "deeply troubled" by the case.

No Liberal outcry - no Leftist fervor. Typical for a group that really has no foundation for their opinion other than hatred for those on the right.

Will

Congratulations to the citizens of Indiana and Gov. Mitch Daniels. The passage of Indiana "Major Moves" is going to economically transform this stalled state to a new level of economic prosperity. Never before have so many labor unions supported a Republican backed piece of legislation to the extent of "Major Moves". The I-69 extension will provide a viable economic corridor to Southern Indiana and Evansville. My prediction; Indiana will become the logistical focalpoint for distribution of goods passing from the South to Canada, Chicago, and Motor City.

-Milt-

Shi'as, Kurds, Sunis, and others have been denied the simplest of freedoms for decades. The ability for them to express their political and religious opinion has been stifled by an overwhelming, sadistic dictator and his sons. Mass executions were conducted against the Kurds because of their willingness to demonstrate their displeasure of the Hussein regime. Shi'as and Sunis were routinely gathered for execution because of the hatred of a single man.

Because Suni, Shiite, Kurd Muslems were being held under the thumb of their ruler, their own political and religious ambitions were relegated to the back-seat. Self-preservation became the level at which their hierarchy of need was limited. That has changed since the allied forces have helped these groups gain their independence. Unfortunately, these folks are not accustomed to existing at the next level - the one of FREEDOM. These poor people have simply not yet settled into a society that can support differing opinions in a peaceful co-existance. As blessed Americans we ignorantly assume that they can immediately settle into our idealistic mode of living.

Coincidentally, this civil upheaval is happening during the same period as the timely death of Slobodan Milosevic. You see, a similar experience was witnessed in the former Yugoslavia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Similar to Saddam Hussein's regime, the Soviet government had strict restrictions on how one might express themselves. Unfortunately, after the Slavs of Eastern Europe were freed, civil strife erupted. Muslims fought Muslims, Christians fought Muslims, and Christians fought Christians. Yugoslavia was split down the middle as a result.

If we could see past the politics of bad faith - through the political wrangling of blaming the U.S. - we would see that this strife is again the fault of Saddam Hussein. Like the man that routinely kicks his dog should be blamed for the dog's anti-social behavior (no I am not comparing Muslims to dogs you leftist whacks), Saddam's decades-long tyranny contributed heavily to these latest battles between Muslim groups. Interesting to note is that those that had to bare the most, the Kurds, have been far removed from these latest hostilities.

Will

In the latest killing of innocent Americans, Tom Fox's body was discovered today. Mr. Fox was a member of a Christian Peacemaker group.

Interior Ministry Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said Fox was found with his hands tied and gunshot wounds to his head and chest. There were cuts on his body and bruises on his head, indicating torture. I hope to hear the same Leftist rage [that was pointed at Bush and Rumsfeld after Gitmo] directed at those responsible for this latest murder.

God Bless Mr. Fox. God Bless our troops.

Will

Former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic has died in prison. The world is a better place today. However, thanks need to be given to the United States for helping take this murderer of Muslims out of society 5 years ago (do you think it was ever publicly acknowledged that we DID help those poor Muslims?).

Interesting to note is that the Republican Congress did NOT politicize this particular war effort that was started during the Clinton administration. Conservatives nationwide saw that the effort was needed and backed the President in a positive fashion.

Imagine if the Dems would demonstrate similar virtues during the War on Terror! The political Piranhas in Washington have done nothing less than endanger the lives of Americans while furthering their political agendas.

Will

The US is not doing enough to stop Iran's nuclear weapons development. This release by a senior Israeli Defense Ministry official to The Jerusalem Post. The Ministry official said that "America needs to get its act together". He couldn't be more correct.

We can thank the liberal media and left-leaning peaceniks if one of the most radical muslim nations in history develops weaponery that can obliterate a peaceful Israel. The false representations, sensationalism, and politicizing have truly hampered our country's War on Terror. All of this for political advancement of the Left fueled by their hatred for President Bush.

Had the war effort in Iraq been given proper recognition, Iran's boldness would likely be tempered greatly. As it stands, Iran's President Mohammad Khatami will likely be vying to provide an encore to the left's favorite son and mass-murderer Cambodia's Pol Pot.

Will

Note: Hey, maybe we can hold a peace demonstration! That'll show 'em!

By Multinational Force-Iraq
BAGHDAD, March 9, 2006 — U.S. soldiers from the 425th Civil Affairs Battalion, currently attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, donated essential goods and toys to Iraqi children from the Salhiya Orphanage in the Karadah district of central Baghdad, March 1.

Will

I teach an introductory Economics course for a local community college in Indiana and I like to discuss Wal-Mart often. I personally choose not to shop at Wal-Mart for one particular reason, I don't like the service I get there. I tip my hat to Wal-Mart for the success it has built for itself over the years and the wealth it has created for shareholders and the "everyday low prices" it provides for us consumers.
Recently, Wal-Mart has become the target of corporate hating liberals in states like Massachusetts and Illinois. State legislation has been aimed at making Wal-Mart carry greater costs for health care expenses for its emplyees. Is this fair? I do not believe corporate success should equal government intervention. Besides, don't employees have the option of working elsewhere? "Not in our neighborhood", some people have said to me. "Wal-Mart has run every mom and pop store out of business", they continue. This is true, that an open Wal-Mart has forced many small sole proprietors to close shop. I do not blame Wal-Mart for this at all. We, as local consumers, have failed to provide support for "Mom and Pop". We have swarmed to the open doors of low prices at the expense of our neighborhood grocer, hardware, shoe shop, and pharmacist. We do benefit from having Wal-Mart in our town. We demand the convenience it provides. "We can buy everything at one store", a student said to me. Have our preferences won over our old obligations of supporting "Mom and Pop"? Wal-Mart positioned itself early to provide consumers the most product for the dollars we have available. Sam Walton was a genious at predicting what type of spenders Americans would become. We save nearly nothing, but we want to have everything. Wal-Mart is the pusher for our product addiction. Sorry Mom and Pop, until we change our habits you'll have to wait.

-Milt-

By Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi FrontPageMagazine.com January 27, 2005
Elio Bonazzi and Alireza Saghafi were co-writers of this special feature. (This picture, smuggled out of Iran, was taken in 1992 in the town of Arak)

Given Iran’s incessant foreign policy saber-rattling—including its continued development of nuclear weapons, support for Islamist terrorist groups, and facilitation of the terrorism in Iraq—it’s easy to lose sight of the horrifying domestic situation within the Islamic Republic. The mullahs have not only destroyed the lives of countless foreigners through their worldwide export of Islamic terror and extremism; they’ve also plunged the Iranian people into a violent, hellish abyss of torture, repression, hopelessness, drug addiction and despair.

Women sentenced to death by stoning are buried in the ground up to their necks. Iranian law regulates the size of the stones used by the executioner crowd; stones cannot be big enough to kill the sentenced woman too quickly, as the purpose of this barbaric ritual is to inflict as much pain as possible before death. On the other hand, stones cannot be too small, as each blow must be dramatically painful.

While stoning captures the imagination of Westerners as the most barbaric act committed under Shariah laws, other forms of sentencing perpetrated by the Islamic Republic are just as horrific. For example, Iran employs several types of body mutilation, from the amputation of hands, arms and legs to the macabre procedure of plucking out the eyeballs of the sentenced without the use of anesthetics. Even minors and those who are physically and mentally disabled are regularly executed.

The international community, in particular European countries, has been quite indifferent to such atrocities. It prefers to engage the Islamic Republic in lucrative business deals, relegating the human rights issue to a mere footnote, a ritualistic and rhetorical passage usually present in high-level discussions with Iranian officials, but never taken seriously or enforced.

Will

Excerpts from http://www.operationiraqichildren.org/

American soldiers passing through Iraqi villages were horrified at the squalor of Iraqi schools, which had been severely neglected under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.

[Children were] corralled in sweltering one-room buildings without air conditioning, fans, windows, solid floors, or even toilets.

Libraries and books are almost nonexistent. "Imagine sending your child to a school in which there are virtually no books, no pencils, no paper, no blackboards".

Soldiers gather supplies sent by family members, friends, and various groups and take them to villages, sometimes coming under fire as they work to reconstruct the schools and deliver learning tools to Iraqi kids.

"I have seen Iraqi kids climbing on our soldiers and hugging them and kissing them".

Will

In The Past 12 Months, Iraq Has Undergone A Political Transformation That Is Virtually Without Precedent. Iraqis have completed three successful nationwide elections, voted for a transitional government, drafted the most progressive, democratic constitution in the Arab world, approved that constitution, and elected a new government under their new constitution. Each successive election has seen less violence, bigger turnout, and broader participation than the one before.

More to come...

Will

This from Reuters (March 1, 2006):

Saddam Hussein admitted he ordered trials that led to the execution of dozens of Shi'ites in the 1980s but said he acted within the law as Iraq's president.

"Where is the crime?" Saddam demanded to know after offering what a U.S. official at the court called a "damning" admission of his role in killing 148 men from Dujail and razing the farms around the town after an attempt on his life there in 1982.
More to come...

Will