Election 2008

As I sit here in my dorm room, I can here supporters for Obama yelling "Vote For Change," "Obama 08'." As I sit here thinking, I am waiting for the supporters of McCain to start chanting back in hopes of a good old fashioned chant off, if there is such a thing. But the McCain supporters have been. Even though this is the first year in which i can vote, I have been paying more attention to the Leiutenant Governor race for North Carolina. I am a huge supporter of Senator Walter Dalton and believe he is the best politician in my wonderful state. As far as the presidential election goes, we may be witnessesing a monumental change in our federal government.

Links Posting

Rick Seaney.Com
The author of this blog analyzes everything anyone needs to know about the airport industry, from passenger rights to improving airport security.

The Volokh Conspiracy
This is a very descriptive blog. The author of this blog has been blogging for a couple of years now. Within these blogs the author blogs about his own personal experiences with airport security. He displays security weaknesses and compares our security system to the Israeli security system.

Schneier on Security
The author of this blog, Bruce Schneier, covers airport security with a focus on comparing airport security before and after 9-11. The author of this blog argues that airport security was just as effective before 9-11 as it is now, and TSA should spend money on more important things such as "intelligence, investigations, and emergenacy response."

Argonne National Laboratory
"Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, along with collaborators in Turkey and Japan, have created a compact device that could lead to portable, battery-operated sources of T-rays, or terahertz radiation." These new technological advances may reshape airport security screening.

Celestial Expanse
The author of this blog analyzes a recent airport arrest of an MIT student. The blog argues that airport security has gone too far. With the blog, the author presents a video of the arrest, to which he is able to support his argument.

Israeli Airport Security
The article extensively describes airport security in a specific Israeli airport. The text focuses on how and why the US should model its airport security after the platform of Israeli airports.

John McCain
The is the official site for John McCain's campaign. This page focuses on what John McCain is planning to do under the second era of Homeland security, and his plans for improving airport security. Since the election is just around the corner, it is important to vote for the candidate whose platform the potential voter agrees with, regardless of political affiliation.

Barack Obama
For those of you who are Obama supporters, here is your chance to see how he plans to improve Homeland Security and airport security compared to the platform that John McCain is using.

The Things He Carried
In this blog, Jeffery Goldberg interview two polar opposite sides on improving airport security. He first interviews Bruce Schneier who is opposed to technologically improving airport security and believes TSA should spend money else where. The other half of the argument comes from TSA's chief Kip Hawley, who argues that making technological advancements in airport security is the only way to prevent a repeat of 9-11.

Self Analysis

When I was first assigned to create a blog covering a political issue for the upcoming election, I had a mixed emotions, most of which were negative. I was almost clueless as to what the purpose of a blog exactly was, and what opinions I had about blogs were negative (Purpose of Blogs). I thought blogs were pointless and a waste of time. On top of that, I really had no interest in either candidate running in this upcoming election, so I had no interest in blogging about a political issue (Presidential Comparison). Nonetheless, I started blogging about how airport security has been improved and is still improving as a result of the terrorist attacks of 9-11 (9-11).When I told people what I was blogging about, they often ask me why I chose this particular issue. I chose to blog about this issue because I find the thought of a repeat of 9-11 to be one of my biggest fears, and I believe I can provide valuable feedback dealing with this issue.

When I first started this project, I felt like any type of advancement in airport security was a positive factor for our country (Body Scanning Technology). Improving airport security makes the potential passenger feel much safer and protected. The new technology is so advanced, it can detect almost any possible threat (TSA Technology). However, through extensive research, my opinion about airport security has started to fade away from my perspective of it being one hundred percent positive. There is one factor that makes it not one hundred percent positive, and that is the impact of the struggling economy (Economic Crash). With the economy on the downfall, I started to understand that technologically advancing our airport security was not one of the top issues to spend money on (Schneier). New advancements in airport security have and will continue to cost our country billions of dollars (Money Spent). This is money that should be spread out through our economy to try and get back a more consistent money flow through our markets. On top of that, technologically advancing airport security would more than likely cut the number of jobs. What job was once occupied by a human would now be done by a machine. The last thing our falling economy needs is increasing unemployment (unemployment rates).

After completing this project, I feel as if I am stuck in between "a rock and a hard place." Every person would like to do away with their greatest fears, and for those people who are scared to board a plane due to 9-11, they would more than likely feel safer if the government would continue to improve airport security (Fear of Flying). On the other hand, my father is a Dentist, and going to the dentist is one of the first things unemployed people cut out of their regular routine.

Completing this project has increased my ability to think analytically and extensively. I have learned that almost all political issues can connect to all other political issues in some way. I have also become more appreciative of blogs and their purpose. I now better understand the positions of presidential candidates for the upcoming election, and can now vote intellectually. I like blogging often forces someone to critically think about their issue, and I hope to continue to blog about other issues.

Daily Post that Was Supposed To Be For October 9 But I'm Writing It Now

In my last post, I proposed that while our government improves airport security, they also need to cut down on the amount of time it takes get through each security checkpoint. With this post, I was ask to compare the amount of time it takes to get through security at a train station compared to the airport. The security at train stations, I have found, is rather short and not nearly as time consuming as airport security. This is due to the fact that the government is more focused on improving airport security since it has already been exploited with the attacks on 9-11. However, often times train tickets can be more expensive than plane tickets.

Whats To Expect For Our Future

In my theory posting, I discussed how technological advancements in airport security have two "polarized sides." The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 were a tragic event that still lingers in most American's minds. It is also an event that no one in our wonderful nation ever wants to see happen again(Attacks). The technological advancements and improvements in airport security are an obvious way to prevent a repeat of such a catastrophe. Improvements in airport security make the potential passenger feel safe about going on vacation or a business trip. However, improving airport security also has its down falls. Improving airport security will cost billions of dollars (Money spent on Technology), and with the struggling economy, improving airport security is not something the government should be putting money toward(unemployment). Also, improving technology will cut down on the number of airport security jobs. Cutting jobs will slow down the money flow causing the economy to fall even more than it already has. So, if this issue is not resolved, what could happen to our country. If we do not continue to strengthen airport security then another terrorist attack is possible. However, our airport security is much stronger than it was before 9-11, and I think we should employ more people in security rather than using technology to replace people. (Rick Seaney)

3 Fellow Bloggers

Here are some great blog posts from three of my fellow bloggers. Each of these blogs topics has been critically analyzed, and these blogs are very descriptive and thought provoking. All three are a must read.

http://studentblogger-greenblog.blogspot.com/:
This blog researches our struggling environmental issues with a "Think Green," mentality.

http://kwopuni.blogspot.com/
This blog attempts to pick our minds on environmental issues in his attempt to preserve our world for future generations.

http://voltairdoe.blogspot.com/
In this blog, the author also depicts environmental problems, but with a focus on how our struggling economy impacts environmental issues.

Cutting The Line

Since the attacks on September 11, the airport security has obviously improved and become rather strict. Improvements in airport security is obviously a good thing, but what is the deal with the long strenuous security lines. Now a days, airports suggest for passengers to arrive an hour and a half to two hours before departure. This means passengers can stand in line for up to and in some cases over an hour. Most people do not like to stand in line for more than 15 minutes much less an hour. With airport security technology on the rise, the overseers of these projects should find a way to make the machines more line efficient. The new technology will be created to detect a possible threat more efficiently than any available security machine being used today, but with all the new technology are the machines going to cut down on the long security lines or are we soon going to have to arrive three to four hours before departure.