Blog 2 The Continuous Rise of Airfare.

No one can deny the accomplished feeling one gets from finding a good bargain; whether it be for clothes, an electronic device, college textbooks, n'importe quoi as the french like to say.  Whatever your preference may be, my guilty pleasure comes from finding a super good deal on airfare, regardless of if I actually am traveling to the destination or not.  No, instant gratification is never the case when flight shopping, but perseverance and endurance pays off.  And finally, after weeks and weeks of searching for a cheap flight to surprise to my family for Christmas, a sigh of relief instantly came, but at the strikingly high dollar amount of $900 USD.  For some, traveling once was an affordable leisure of bountiful experiences, and for others a necessity to visit family and close friends living abroad.  But what was once an affordable leisure now is practically an investment.   

In the past year, many changes have affected the affordability of airfare for global nomads, businessmen, and the general population alike. The two main proponents of the current price hike are accredited to higher jet fuel costs, as well as recent merges among popular airlines. Without a doubt, these days none are unaffected by the current cost of fuel, as many Americans are having to dig deeper into their wallets at the gas pump. Just the same, airlines are being hit hard by the increasing price of fuel. Delta, a major American airline reports spending $12 billion USD this past year on fuel alone in comparison to $9 billion the previous year. Although airlines might have you fooled otherwise, there is another underlying cause of the recent price inflation of airfare. Due to the growing number of airlines filing bankruptcy in the past few years, many industry mergers are also to blame for this atrocity. The three main mergers have been: “Delta linking with Northwest; United, with Continental; and Southwest, with Airtran”. A capitalist economy cannot function without competition among companies being present. If so, it wouldn't be capitalism, but rather a communistic approach. Yes, these recent merges amongst airlines limit the amount of competition ensuring the cost of flights to rise as a shared monopoly subsists. In addition, these major airlines are now taking almost complete ownership of major airports throughout the United States. This is in part due to airlines having main hub airports, airports designated or primarily offering one specific airline as it's fundamental carrier. Smaller, regional airports are unable to compete without the funding of airlines who claim them as “hubs”. These two circumstances have lead to a 4.8% increase of domestic airfares throughout the country within the last year.

Many travelers are considering alternative methods of transportation, as flights are simply out of anyone's price range. Yet for the few determined, or better said those without a choice of how to cross the oceans of the world, it is simply the price one must pay to play the game.  

Date and Time:  Sept. 7th, 2012  ~16.50
USA Today - Fliers pinched as airfares take off.

Blog 1: Unaccompanied Minors facing Deportation after Illegal Immigration

A recent New York Times article, dated August 25th, 2012, investigates and legitimizes the current influx of unaccompanied minors who illegally immigrate into the United States, many of whom are detained and are facing deportation proceedings in the southwestern States.  Authorities have detained roughly 21, 842 unaccompanied minors in recent months, a 48% increase in just one year.  Although illegal immigration from predominately Latin American countries overall has seen a decrease, it is the immigration of children that has seen its peak recently.  This surge of refugees is blamed upon increased violence of gangs and drug traffickers who forcibly try to recruit young children.  The parents of these children are most often times already illegal immigrants with steady jobs in the United States who are trying to reunite with their children.  However, when the passage falters, these children, whose ages range anywhere from four to sixteen years old, must face the legal battle of deportation entirely on their own.  As a public defender is not provided in immigration courts, these minors are left to defend their case, often times not even realizing the offense they have committed.  Even now claim-makers and voluntary organizations, such as South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR) who advocate for the legal representation of immigrants, are overwhelmed with the amount of proceedings currently taking place.  Many migrants are excluded from a recent Obama administration policy providing presecutorial disgression should they have not committed a crime within the US.  This however proves counterproductive considering their initial entry into the country is an act of an illegal crime. Even though most will face deportation, 40% of unaccompanied minors have been found eligible to gain legal immigration status.  These cases must prove the minor experienced neglect or abuse at home or had become victims of human traffickers.  In addition, many must have legal sponsors, primarily legal relatives living in the United States, to gain this status.  In this circumstance, their illegal immigration can be deemed as refugee asylum seekers.  Nevertheless, many argue this predicament to be a violation of human rights, as a child without legal representation in a US court goes against the notion of US law granting everyone the right of legal representation.  As well, many are infuriated by the idea of these children, who the majority are attempting to flee violent situations in their home countries, are being deported and sent back into the calamities they initially tried to escape, as it is a fatal threat to their well-being and a crime against humanity.

NY Times Article: Young and Alone, Facing Court and Deportation

Date: Aug. 31, 2012  10.10

Libya Rebels on Oil Exportation

Pahoua Moua

SOC 202

4/8/11

Blog #11

Recently, Libya has been having trouble with transporting oil. A tanker went to get oil from port of Marsa el-Hariga which escalated into violence. In countries today, since the economy is still trying to help pull itself back up, there are many violence acts. Oil today is essential because we can use it in ways of transportation.

The tanker that was to bring back oil can hold up to about 1 million barrels of oil. The shipment of oil this time around will only be a fraction of what used to be an average of 1.6 million barrels of oil from Libya. Since there were many issues, this would have been the first time in 18 days that oil would be transferred out of Libya. The Libyan government forces attack on rebels for trying to take back the key oil town called Brega. Exports will most likely remain low and will not make any global difference but the Middle East Energy analyst states that they will provide independent revenues for rebels. The tanker will get paid after they finish loading the oil for each shipment.

Oil is a big part of the economy nowadays because we use it so much due to technology and transportation. Merging and traveling to many different places will account for use of oil. It effects the economy because we are not only wasting money oil and gas but we are also emitting harmful substances into the atmosphere. What we need to keep in mind is that too many harmful substances can lead to global warming.

Libya Rebels on Oil Exportation

What happens in Japan?

Pahoua Moua

SOC 202

3/24/11

Blog # 9

WHAT HAPPENS IN JAPAN?

As the earthquake and tsunami’s take over Japan, they are destroying Japan’s flow of exports. Ports are destroyed and businesses are at a loss of profit. You can probably assume that this is not one of the major issues as to helping Japan back on its feet, but it is also one of the major ways to bring its country back in shape; making it contradictory.

When the natural disasters occurred in Japan, it wiped out 13 ports of transportation. For these ports, they are used for exports or many other things. They have started to rebuild these ports to get imports and exports. One of the ports carries one of the world’s largest grain imports. However, since the disaster has happened, this is not the biggest threat. One of the threats is from nuclear radiation in the water or vessels. This causes transportation to go from the oceans to air transportation. This is an issue because it has limits capacity for cargoes and is at a higher rate. However, this will be temporary for Japan’s transportation. The International Air Transportation Association (IATA) confirmed that there is only fuel enough for 10 days at Japanese airports. Making it harder for air transportation due to limitations they have started to rationalized strategies. There are no signs of when the shipping industry is going to be limited but ocean carriers avoid Japan and air carriers stay grounded; making the world’s 3^rd largest economy at a loss.

Natural disasters will always come and go. They damage transportation ports like in Japan which in this economy is very hard because everything we produce is either imported or exported. This is a crisis unto Japan because they are losing profit and expenses because of it. Not only were they in a crisis with the disaster but since they are the world’s third largest economy, they are harmed by this effect. Not having transportation is bad because everything we do mostly today in the world is exports and imports. Making both sides lose to expenses and profit.

http://www.internationaltms.com/

Ekol Logistics Expanding?

Pahoua Moua

SOC 202

2/25/11

Blog #6

Ekol Logistics Expanding?

Ekol Logistics, a logistic company in Turkey which started in 1990, is planning to expand their transportation services. They plan to expand over to the Northern European Countries such as Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. In order for this to take action, they are teaming up with SKS Transportation. The board chairman of Ekol Logistics states that they have trust in SKS International Transportation because of their experience in the field for 10 years. The shareholder of SKS Transportation commented on cooperating with Ekol Logistics this year of 2011 and expanding European standards. Ekol Logistics are said to receive about 12 million if they are able to work together in transportation.

Expanding transportation services are great especially if you or your company want to grow exponentially. Expanding is not a bad thing but if you do try to expand there are side effects to this procedure. Some of the problems that they have to think about are the cost of fuel and the pollution that is emitted up into the atmosphere. Therefore, they have to take up the option of weighing the positives and negatives.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/02/21/prweb5078834.DTL

India Proposes a New Way to Build

Pahoua Moua

Soc 202

2/18/11

Blog #5

Recently, India has been trying to think of ways to build efficiently. The Indian Road Congress (IRC) and World Roads Association (PIARC) were organized to introduce “Reducing Carbon Footprint in Road Construction.” The reducing carbon footprint in road construction is a proposal to build innovative green materials and eco-friendly technologies. Since the world is changing rapidly, there are opportunities to open up to new ideas. Having known about climate change and global warming, we also know that it is harm for us as humans. Dr. Joshi, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways states that building efficient roads and technology will help decrease poverty but at the same time set off more pollution due to vehicle use.

Newer technology and a better way to save because of efficient road construction are agreeable to an extent. However, I think that building more efficient roads and technology can also cause more problems in the community. Since we rely so much on transportation as a way of getting from point A to point B, we will definitely see more vehicles out on the streets. Therefore, emitting hazardous gases in the air and causing more problems in the community. I think that India has a good perspective on how we should start building things efficiently but we will always have ups and downs on an idea. So we should view the proposal with a broad perspective keeping in mind that things may turn out how we expected it to or not.

Eco-friendly Technologies

Traveling To See Egypt’s Pyramids? Think Again!

Pahoua Moua

SOC 202

Blog 4

These days news in Egypt is rising higher than ever. Travel agents are having a hard time dealing with those who want to travel to Egypt to see the marvelous pyramids. Recently, it is said that hot spots of Egypt have been turned into a field of battle making tourists cancel trips. Therefore, it makes it harder on travel agents because they are losing profit from trips. They are, however, giving different options for travelers to consider. The tour companies are extending tour dates until march if there are still people who are interested in going for credit plus and 10 percent discount on the tour. For those that do not want to go, they will get their money fully refunded back. This only applies to those who have bought insurance, to those that have not bought insurance for the trip is discounted because they are now considered a “forseeable event”.

Tours are always occurring around the world and to travel to Egypt would be nice but hearing about the latest news, is not such a bright idea. Egypt is not doing so hot economically so to go there while they still have issues would cause more problems. Making good traveling choices and not attending the Egypt tours are a safe bound for now because if anything goes wrong on the tour not only is the traveler in trouble but it can cause problems for the companies as well. Therefore, before going on a trip make sure to research what is going on in the country and buy insurance so that you won’t lose a ton of money. Travel wise!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travelwise/2014157876_trpucci13.html