Category Archives: Travel

FLYING DOMESTIC? YOU WILL NEED A U.S. PASSPORT, THANKS TO GEORGE W. BUSH

EPassportsNEW YORK, New York (The Adobo Chronicles) – Flying from New York to San Francisco? Louisiana to Los Angeles? Minnesota to Florida? New Hampshire to Colorado? Well, you’d better have a valid U.S. passport.

Sure, these are domestic flights, but thanks to a law signed by President George W. Bush in 2005, following 9/11, issuance of state IDs and driver’s licenses has become more strict and cumbersome.

The REAL ID Act forces all U.S. states and territories to demand more proof of identity when issuing IDs, such as a verified original copy of a person’s birth certificate. Plus, it also increases the technology present in the government-issued cards.

Four states —  New York, Louisiana, Minnesota and New Hampshire — have refused to comply with the new law which means that if those four states don’t upgrade their ID systems, the Transportation Security Administration or TSA will demand that residents use passports rather than driver’s licenses to board domestic flights beginning in 2016.

The TSA will accept U.S. passport cards which cost $55, or passport books costing $135 as valid ID.

On the positive side, this will mean more revenue for the State Department which issues U.S. passports and passport cards.  Foreign embassies and consulates in the U.S. will also see increased revenue for non-U.S. citizens who will need to secure passports from their respective countries of origin.

MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVING (MADD) SUES UBER FOR RISE IN ALCOHOLISM

The Uber logo
The Uber logo

SAN FRANCISCO, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), an international advocacy group fighting against the damaging and oftentimes fatal effects of motorists who drive under the influence (DUI) of alcohol, today announced it was suing the popular ride-sharing company Uber for the sudden rise in alcholism.

The California chapter of MADD claims that people are drinking twice as much alcohol than they were prior to Uber.

Bartenders have confirmed that their customers are now more likely to order a second, third or fourth alcoholic drink because fewer of them drive their cars to the bars.

“The so-called designated driver arrangement never really worked,” according to one bartender at Renegades, a gay bar in San Jose, “because nobody really wanted to have a night out with friends at a bar just drinking orange juice or bottled water.”

“My customers would usually say, ‘I shouldn’t, I’m driving,’ when offered another round of drinks.  Now they don’t think twice about ordering a second glass of wine or cocktail,” he said.

Unofficial figures from police departments across the U.S. and elsewhere seem to show as much as a 50% decline in DUI cases since Uber drivers started hitting the roads. In just the last month, DUI checkpoints have made zero arrests.

Only in California will companies be sued for doing something good!

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES TO CHANGE ITS NAME

imageHONOLULU, Hawaii (The Adobo Chronicles) – Hawaiian Airlines, the official airlines of the Aloha State is changing its name effective Januaruy 1, 2016.  Going forward, it will be known as “The Plane.”

The change is being made for purposes of easier name recognition and is consistent with the  names of the rest of Honolulu’s modes of transportation, such as The Bus and The Cab.  Hawaii’s railway system which is now under construction and is expected to be operational in 2016, will take name “The Train.” image

The Adobo Chronicles also learned that the hotel chains operating in Hawaii are in a bitter fight  to be the one to be called “The Hotel.”