Yesterday, two American soldiers were killed at the Frankfort Airport in Germany.  Today’s U K Telegram reported:

“Witnesses heard 21-year-old Arif Uka make the cry “God is the greatest” in English as he launched Wednesday’s attack on a busload of US military personnel, increasing the likelihood that it was motivated by radical Islamist beliefs.”

The suspect is an Albanian Muslim from Kosovo who is reported to have been radicalized ‘in the last few weeks.’  Hesse state Interior Minister Boris Rhein has told the news that the suspect acted alone and was not a part of a larger terrorist network.

CNS News reported today that:

“…But he (the suspect’s uncle, Rexhep Uka) said the family was pro-American and was also having a hard time imagining that their nephew was involved.

“”I love the Americans because they helped us a lot in times of trouble,” he told The Associated Press in Kosovo. “I had an American neighbor and we never had a problem. What happened in Germany is beyond me.”

“Behxhet Uka, a cousin of the suspect, said he had spoken to the gunman’s father in Frankfurt by telephone several times. The family told him that they only knew that their son did not come home from work at the Frankfurt airport on Wednesday.

“”We heard about this from the local police, and it was confirmed that this shooter was my first cousin,” he said. “I would hope that this is not true, but if it is true, it will be very hard for us here in Kosovo. We could not imagine something like this would happen because Americans are our brothers.””

The comment that interested me was the comment that Arif Uka had been radicalized in the last few weeks.  This is the true cause for concern.  What was he taught that caused him to do what he did?  What is the root of the action?  We need to answer that question and then attack the root.

The Washington Examiner posted an article yesterday on some of the government spending plans of President Obama and Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood.  President Obama is asking for an 84 percent increase over 2010 levels in the Department of Transportation Budget for 2012. 

The article reports:

“The man Obama appointed in 2009 to manage the Transportation Department is former Illinois Republican Rep. Ray LaHood, who a few months ago promised to put cars and bicycles on “an equal footing” in federal funding decisions.”

Try fitting your family on a bicycle for a family outing!  How will that work with an aging population? 

The article points out that the ultimate goal of the thinking behind funding ‘big things,’ as President Obama and Security LaHood propose, instead of funding ‘traditional things’ like roads and bridges, is to force people to move to cities where mass transit is readily available.  The difference here is very simple, yet very stark–mass transit tells you where you go and when you go; people in private cars have the freedom to decide where and when they go.  This is ultimately an issue of personal freedom.

One example of misspent government money is the Dulles Rail project now being built in Northern Virginia.  Phase I of this project will cost the government $900 million.  The Federal Transit Administration predicts that the finished line will attract only 10,000 new daily riders and is not expected to impact the miserable traffic that the area is known for.    

The article concludes:

“Policies that reduce American’s mobility also dramatically shrink their access to new job opportunities, which is crucial to wealth production in a dynamic economy.  Mobility equals freedom, but under the Obama administration’s latest transportation proposal, taxpayers will pay more for less of both.”

Mass transportation projects are not the answer to either America’s energy problems or her unemployment problem. 

Today the Heritage Foundation in its The Foundry section posted an article about the rising cost of gasoline in America.  The article pointed out that although the unrest in Libya has some impact on the cost of oil (which went over $100 a barrel today), the upward trend in price is largely due to the increased demand for oil around the world. 

The article reports:

“…long before the recent protests even began, analysts were predicting $4 a gallon by this summer and $5 a gallon by 2012. Anyone could have predicted that the recovering world economy, coupled with the continued growth of India and China, was going to push oil prices higher. So if an Administration wanted to keep gas prices down, they could have mitigated increased oil demand by increasing domestic oil production. But that is not what the Obama Administration has done. Instead of increasing domestic oil supplies, the Obama Administration has cut them at every opportunity, and Americans are now suffering because of those choices.”

In February, as the unrest in Egypt was unfolding, Energy Secretary Steven Chu was asked what the Obama Administration could do to control the rising price of oil, his reply, “The best way America can protect itself against these incidents is to decrease our dependency on foreign oil, in fact to diversify our supply.”   The question then becomes what he meant by the phrase ‘diversify our supply.’   The Obama Administration’s definition of a diverse energy supply is corn, wind, solar, and electric cars.  Some of these ideas may be practical in the future, but as of right now, when we need a diverse energy supply, they will not do the job. 

The article points out:

“The major source of biomass production, corn-based ethanol, produces less energy per unit volume than gasoline, contributes to food price increases, costs taxpayers $4 billion to produce 2 percent of the total gasoline supply, and has dubious environmental effects. The electric cars the Obama Administration has invested in are prohibitively costly, do not fit the needs of the American consumer, and are also environmentally suspect. The other sources of energy the Obama Administration is subsidizing and promoting–wind and solar–not only make up a minuscule 1 percent of America’s electricity generation but are entirely irrelevant to gasoline supply in the transportation sector.”

The policies of the Obama Administration have not allowed America to develop its carbon-based energy sources.  Until this week, no drilling permits had been issued in the Gulf of Mexico since the BP spill (meanwhile President Obama supports offshore drilling for Brazil – see Wall Street Journal article of August 18, 2009).  Interior Secretary Ken Salazar canceled 77 leases for oil and gas drilling in Utah in his first month in office.  Last fall, Secretary Salazar announced that the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coast, and the Pacific coast will not be developed, effectively banning drilling in those areas for the next seven years.

America has the resouces and the ability to have a thriving economy.  One of the current drags on the economy is the high price of gasoline.  Developing our own natural resources would employ Americans, end our dependency on foreign oil, and fuel our economy.  It’s unfortunate that this Administration is unwilling to do that.

Yesterday Politico reported on the House Appropriations subcommittee hearing involving the investigation into the Justice Department’s handling of the voter intimidation case against the Black Panthers in Philadelphia. 

The article reports:

“”Think about that,” Holder said. “When you compare what people endured in the South in the 60s to try to get the right to vote for African Americans, and to compare what people were subjected to there to what happened in Philadelphia–which was inappropriate, certainly that…to describe it in those terms I think does a great disservice to people who put their lives on the line, who risked all, for my people,” said Holder, who is black.”

So let me make an attempt to understand that remark.  The voter intimidation in Philadelphia does not rise to the level of the fight for the African American vote in the South, so it’s not noteworthy.  Sorry, Mr. Holder, to me, a man threatening me with a billy club at a polling place sends a message that my physical safety may be in danger.  I am your basic little old lady, and I would find a tall man with a club who was not a policeman rather intimidating.  The fact that your Justice Department refused to take this event seriously enough to charge the defendents and put them in jail (particularly when you consider that the video of the event went viral on YouTube) tells me that you do not take my right to vote seriously. 

The article further reports:

“In a series of questions and comments earlier in the hearing, (Representative John) Culberson insisted that race had infected the decision-making process. “There’s clearly evidence, overwhelming evidence, that your Department of Justice refuses to protect the rights of anybody other than African Americans to vote,” the Texas Republican said. “There’s a pattern of a double standard here.””

One of the heroes (although possibly reluctantly) of the Civil Rights Movement was Lyndon B. Johnson.  President Johnson is quoted as saying, “Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.”  Mr. Holder’s Justice Department has not advanced the cause of Civil Rights, it has slowed it down.

The government is spending more than it is taking in.  That is not a sustainable practice.  The freshman class of the House of Representatives was elected largely because they wanted to cut spending and balance the budget.  The Democrats, keeping in character, are fighting spending cuts and talking about taking more money from ‘the rich.’  This is a very predictable battle. 

Meanwhile, CNS News reported yesterday that a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that was released on Tuesday cited waste and duplication in the federal government’s many programs, agencies, offices and initiatives.

The article at CNS News reports:

“The report (titled Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue) is intended to help government policymakers deal with “rapidly building fiscal pressures facing our national government,” the GAO said.

“The report aims to (1) identify federal programs or functions where unnecessary duplication, overlap, or fragmentation exists; and identify the actions needed to address such conditions as well as the potential benefits of doing so; and (2) highlight other opportunities for potential cost savings or enhanced revenues.

“The GAO report includes 81 areas for consideration.”

The GAO is required by law to make this report.  Some of the areas mentioned in the report included adding revenue by developing domesting energy resources, selling buildings that federal agencies no longer use, and cutting costs by combining various agencies that have overlapping duties.

We need to cut federal spending.  Ending duplication might be a good place to start. 

The question all of us need to ask is, “What brings peace?”  What are the lessons of history?  When Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement on September 29,1938, he had the best of intentions.  His goal was to avoid war and to bring peace to Europe.  We all know how well that turned out.

Today, the Palestinians are asking for a state of their own (we can overlook the fact that they were given 80 percent of the land originally promised to Israel in the Balfour Declaration in 1917 as their own state).  The country they were given is today known as Jordan.  Nevertheless, there is not peace in the Middle East, and generally speaking, Israel gets blamed for being intransigent.

Well, what is the problem?  I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I have a few ideas.  A website called Israeli Frontline lists the rocket attacks on Israel from the Palestinians each month.  The previous link is to the list of attacks in February.  Now maybe I’m missing something, but I think rockets aimed at civilian populations might in some way inhibit the peace process.  Until the rockets stop coming and the people shooting them want to make peace, peace is not possible.  Peace in Europe during the 1940’s was achieved after the aggressor state (Germany) was soundly defeated and had no choice but surrender and cooperate.  Germany has since become an upstanding member of the world community of nations.  There is a lesson to be learned here.  Until those forces within the Palestinian community who desire to destroy Israel are soundly defeated, there will be no peace in the Middle East.  Another way to look at the situation is to ask the following two questions, “If all of the Arab nations surrounding Israel gave up their weapons, what would happen?  If the nation of Israel gave up her weapons, what would happen?”  The answer to those two questions tells you all you need to know about why there is no peace in the Middle East.

“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!”

 Benjamin Franklin

Yesterday John Hinderaker at Power Line posted an article about the American response to what is happening in Libya.  Mr. Hinderaker cites a Peter Wehner article at Commentary Magazine in which Mr. Wehner makes the case that the cautious response to the situtation in Libya  by the Obama Administration may have dangerous consequences.

The Washington Post ran a story Sunday that stated that diplomats in Tripoli had informed the Obama Administration to be careful in their reaction to the Libyan situation in order not to endanger the lives of Americans in Libya. 

Mr. Wehner pointed out in his article:

“”Overruling that kind of advice would be a very difficult and dangerous thing to do,” said Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. “That was the debate, and frankly we erred on the side of caution, for certain, and at the cost of some criticism,” he continued. “But when you’re sitting in government and you’re told that ignoring that advice could endanger American citizens, that’s a line you don’t feel very comfortable crossing.”

“The Obama administration’s position assumes that Muammar Qaddafi needs a pretext to kill Americans. He actually doesn’t. He has done so in the past, and he could just as easily do so now, regardless of what kind of “messaging” emerges from our government.”

The danger here is setting the precedent that America will not act if American citizens might be in danger or that there are no consequences for killing or mistreating American citizens.  We have already set this precedent by refusing to do anything about the two American hikers held by Iran since July 31, 2009.  Shane Bauer, 27, his girlfriend, Sarah Shourd, 31, and their friend Joshua Fattal, 27 were detained and put in jail for allegedly crossing an unmarked border.  Since then, the three have been accused of spying and placed in Tehran’s Evin Prison.  Sarah Shourd was freed on September 14, 2010.  There is a debate as to whether or not a ransom was paid or who paid it.  We may have to wait for a new President in order to see these hostages freed.

The Central Asia Development Group is an organization working in Afghanistan whose goal is to increase the level of economic and social stability and hopefully decrease the loss of life by reducing people’s motivation to fight. Matthew Goldthwaite posted an article on the group’s blog about one of his recent trips to the Chora District, Urozgan Province, Afghanistan.

The article explains:

“It isn’t every day that you get to begin a meeting with your host telling you, “Thank you for risking your lives to come meet with us today.” These were the words spoken to me today by Gul Agha, governor of Chora district in Urozgan province, as we met with him and other community leaders to discuss the selection process for laborers participating in a CADG implemented development program on behalf of the Australian Government’s Overseas Aid program (AUSAID).”

“When the Governor said this, it was not a new realization to me that that my colleagues and I had risked our lives to get to this meeting. In fact, the danger was ever present in my mind for the duration of the two hour road trip, without armored vehicles or military escorts, across a dirt high-desert road that resembled a lunar landscape, separating Tarin Kowt from Chora. The danger was even more apparent when I was informed that insurgents had attacked Chora the previous evening and the road we were traveling on had claimed over a hundred lives due to insurgent attacks in the past year alone.”

In the article Mr. Goldthwaite explains the work of the Central Asia Development Group and how the group attempts to help build an infrastructure in Afghanistan while providing jobs for people and helping bring unity to the many tribal factions.  Please follow the link above to read the entire article.  This may be one way to bring peace to Afghanistan.

Yesterday the U. K. Guardian reported that Rajib Karim was convicted by a jury at Woolwich crown court of plotting to blow up a plane during the time he was working for British Airways (BA).  Mr. Karim is described as a disciple of the Yemen-based radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.  Anwar al-Awlaki was born in the United States and is of Yemeni descent.

According to the article:

“Police took months to break encrypted messages on his computer. They found he had been in direct contact with Awlaki, who is accused of having links to the attempted bombing of a plane over Detroit during Christmas in 2009 and an attempt last year to explode ink printer bombs on freight planes heading to the US.

“Karim, who worked for BA in Newcastle, studied electronics at Manchester University from 1998 to 2002 where he gained a 2.2. He then went back to his native Bangladesh, where he supported an extremist organisation.”

I don’t consider myself a violent person, but it seems to me that Awlaki is attempting to sponsor terrorism around the world.  Could a well-placed predator drone end that effort?  Is it better to kill one man who is declaring war on civilians in western countries than to allow the continued attempt to kill innocent civilians?

A few weeks ago, on February 14th, Watson, a super computer from IBM, made his debut on the television show Jeopardy.  After three days of competition, he won $77,147.  His two opponents won $24,000 and $21,600.  They weren’t even close.

Yesterday Watson tried again against some of our Congressmen in Washington.  According to the Wall Street Journal‘s Washington Wire Blog and the Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, New Jersey), this time Watson lost.  Watson lost to Representative Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat.  Representative Holt was a five-time Jeopardy winner more than 30 years ago.  He commented that Watson was “just a little Atari.”  

According to Representative Holt’s website:

Rep. Holt earned his B.A. in Physics from Carleton College in Minnesota and completed his Master’s and Ph.D. at NYU. He has held positions as a teacher, Congressional Science Fellow, and arms control expert at the U.S. State Department where he monitored the nuclear programs of countries such as Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union. From 1989 until he launched his 1998 congressional campaign, Holt was Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, the largest research facility of Princeton University and the largest center for research in alternative energy in New Jersey. He has conducted extensive research on alternative energy and has his own patent for a solar energy device.   

That explains a lot!  It’s nice to know that a human can actually defeat a computer on Jeopardy.