Hawaii Letters of Transit

Gov. Ige: bet he's a Casablanca fan

Yesterday I recounted how my COVID-19 letters of transit were in order for my trip to Hawaii.

In 13 days the effort will no longer be necessary. According to the Star Advertiser: [bold added]

Fully vaccinated U.S. travelers flying domestically — including island residents returning home — will be allowed to bypass Hawaii’s quarantine and pre-travel restrictions, as long as they upload their vaccination records to the state’s Safe Travels website and arrive with a hard copy of their vaccination records. All current travel restrictions will remain in place until July 8, [Gov. David] Ige said.

I take that back. Instead of a hard copy of a negative COVID-19 test, we must carry around our vaccination card.

We still need letters of transit, just different ones.

Memorial Day, 2010

On Memorial Day it's appropriate that we honor the forgotten:

We do not need to glorify war to give thanks for their sacrifice. Young men do not make wars, and no one needs remind them of the ghastliness or grisliness of war. Our obligation is to look at Arlington Cemetery (or any military cemetery, or at a local law enforcement cemetery of policemen who died to keep us safe) and respect what these men have given us. Most of the fallen are now forgotten. Their memory, their shortened lives, their mangled bodies laid into some distant grave -- these plain and awful data of history -- cannot hold the attention of a world in which only the last day's news cycle is real.

All those who serve in the armed forces make personal sacrifices that we office jockeys can barely imagine. Compared to their problems, ours don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world, as Rick said to Ilsa. So let's take a moment today to remember them with gratitude, and by doing so put our own lives in perspective.

Today is also a good day to give thanks to those who returned from battle with lasting wounds.