AIRPORT SECURITY

In the political cartoon I found, written by Joe Heller, the author attempts humor by having a group of diverse people standing naked in the airport security line putting all of their items including underwear in the boxes waiting to go through the scanner. The subtitle underneath the picture states “ After the shoe bomber, they made us remove our shoes I figured it was only a matter of time…” which is referring to the poster on the scanner that says “Nigerian underwear bomber.” I believe the cartoon is arguing about how ridiculous airport security is getting taking off your shoes is one thing but people are starting to airport security a little too far. I think that the cartoonist does a good job of getting his point across by the way he formed his cartoon.       

A man named Richard Reid walked through airport security with a bomb built into his shoe in 2001 and successfully made it onto the plane. While on the plane Reid tried to light the bomb with a match and did so unsuccessfully because he was tackled and bounded by other concerned passengers and airline employees. As a direct result of this incident airports all over the country are forcing people to remove their shoes and walk through airport security barefoot while their shoes and carryons are being scanned through the machines for bombs (Wikipedia, 2010). As you can see this political cartoon shows all of the people standing barefoot waiting in line but the artist takes it one step further by also having everyone standing nude as well.

Many more bombing attempts have taken place over the years in airplanes people try to hide bombs in carryon bags, shoes, and even in underwear. One man tried to sneak explosives onto an airplane by sewing them into his underwear. The cartoonists notes a small poster in his cartoon about the Nigerian underwear bomber as a direct result from this incident. Now airports are bringing in full body scanners that take detailed images of the human body. According to Samantha Bomkamp, “there are now almost 300 scanners at 61 U.S. airports, both big and small, but still that's only a fraction of the 382 primary U.S. airports listed by the Department of Transportation” (bomkamp, 2010). Not only is the process of going through security getting more difficult it is also becoming very costly.” The Transportation Security Administration, which oversees airport security, aims to have 450 of the machines installed by the end of the year, though it isn't divulging locations for the new ones. The machines,which come with a price tag in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, can reveal plastic or chemical explosives and nonmetallic weapons”  (bomkamp, 2010). I agree that by increasing how precautious security the safer that people are, but when is the line drawn between precautions and insanity.

            Overall, I agree with the cartoonist about how airport security has become so outrageous over the years. The cartoonist did a good job of showing how ridiculous airport security has become over the years. The cartoonist was very persuasive by the way he used the facial expressions and text in his cartoon. I think that it is a good idea to expand security due to the fact that the shoe bomber and underwear bomber do exist, but I think that airport security is taking this issue a little bit too far.

Works Cited

Bomkamp, S. (2010, October 20). More airport security, just in time for the holidays. Retrieved october 23, 2010, from Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20101020/ap_tr_ge/us_travel_flight_plan_holiday_security

Hellar, J. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2010, from google: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://kloris.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55026407188330120a7894c3f970b-320wi&imgrefurl=http://www.ablueview.com/2009/12/airport-security-cartoons.html&usg=__2wna4vFQXNASOuU3U4Qa0QVNFnM=&h=213&w=320&sz=27&hl=en&start=20&zoom=1&

Wikipedia. (2010, october 27). Retrieved 0ctober 25, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reid_(shoe_bomber)#cite_note-time_09-01-02-13

teen bullying

Teen bullying is becoming more and more of a problem theses days. Sometimes bullyinig can cause something as simple as an arguement or little fight but other times it gets more serious and can lead to suicides or death. According to an article titled: "Teen bullying: Should it be a crime?" a very young 15 year old girl was bullied so much that it led her to commit suicide, and caused nine other teenagers (7 being girls) to face crimminal charges. the author says that " bullying, they say, is just one of the hazards of high school life, and we can't crimminalize " kids for being kids." they then go on to say " but it's precisely becasue this kind of bullying has become so widespread, and so vicious, that something has to be done." This author tells the story of the young girl being bullied so much that it led to her young death in order to get your attention and to show people how bad bullying can be. The author mentions how children are not born with compassion and should be taught how painful their words can be. Some say parents should teach their children some compassion, but some parents think it should be up to the schools. Bullying needs to stop in schools i do agree with this, but i also agree with "The Providence Journal" when they say that it is hard to control now with the internet and social networking cites. Cyber bullying is now becoming more and more popular today. Sexting is also becoming popular which can also lead to bullying. I read an article on a 13 year old girl named Hope witsell who was trying to get a boys attention by sending him a topless picture. The article titled "'sexting' bullying cited in teen's suicide" written by: Michael inbar discusses how Hope lost her childhood and her life because of a 'sexting' incident. The photo of Hope was passed along from person to person until it eventually reached her school, parents, and a close by high school. Hopes so called friends would group around her while she was walking down the hall ways and shout "slut and whore" at her, (they were in 7th grade.) Hope hanged herself because the bullying got so hard for her to deal with anymore. About three years ago a friend of my own was not very stable and well at a party they had someone go up to them and yell in their face "go kill yourself, it's not like anyone will care", and that same night they did. Many people do not realize that what they say can affect someone greatly. Something has to be done in order to try and stop teen bullying, in order to try and prevent teen suicides.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34236377

Citizenships

Many people around here consider themselves as both members of the United States and of there indian nations. So when it comes to people traveling out of the country they should be able to use the passport of there federally recgonized tribe of which they consider themselves citizens. I understand that the United States wants people to use the U.S. passports as a means of security and safety, but why cant they come to an agreement in which they make the tribal passports just as secure as the US ones?. In the article they mention how the government is working on getting tribal cards with enhanced security features, but these cards are only good while traveling back into this country by land or water and cannot be used in place of a passport. I think that tribes should have the option to give there citizens there own passports as long as all of the security measures are taken. As long as the information pertaining to the individual is stated on the passport there should not be any reason tribes cannot give out there own passports. Many Native Americans feel strongly about not giving up their individual citizenship through their tribe so they can be regconized as an American citizen only. It is a big deal for people to stay apart of there nation without having to give it up just so controversy wont be caused.

Golden Gate Bridge

It is very disturbing to hear that the Golden Gate Bridge is sadley not only a popular place to visit but that it is also the number one spot for suicides. The board of the Golden Gate Bridge is trying to think of solutions to this terrible problem, but so far everything that they have come up with is very costly reaching totals of up to $15.25 million. According to an article titled "Golden Gate Bridge: Suicide Proofed. Sorta" written by Susie Cagle the bridge is already in debt by more that $90 million. So how do they plan on getting the money to build a suicide catcher net? The bridge commitee has already made attempts to suicide proof the bridge by placing cameras on the bridge and putting distress phones in locations along the bridge. I feel like it is a good idea to try and suicide proof the bridge but i do not think that it is realistic for this time because of how much it will cost to do this.  Source: http://www.ggbsuicidebarrier.org/

pet peeves

There are hundreds of pet peeves in the world i have multiple for instance my biggest pet peeve is when people scrape their forks on their plates when there done eating, another pet peeve is when people wear their shoes in a house after you clean the carpets, and finally when people hang paintings crooked in professional settings. http://www.getannoyed.com/