Free Republic

Honolulu (HawaiiNewsNow) - Accorrding to the 2012 Point-in-Time Count, there are nearly 6,300 homeless across the state. A proposed house bill would establish a program that helps those not from Hawaii return to their home state and reconnect with their family. State Representative Rida Cabanilla is proposing House Bill 533, which establishes the 'Return-to-Home' program and is seeking $100,000 in appropriations to fund the endeavor. "It's (the program) only for select individuals that can really benefit from the program, meaning they have support services, they want to go home, but they can't go home," Cabanilla said. "That sort of stuff."...

My daughter is transferring from DC to Denver and she is taking me to Denver next week to look for a place for her to live. We plan to make it a mini-vacation so any help with restaurants, landmarks, must-sees is greatly appreciated! We will have a car. Thanks in advance.

After a year of medical problems and working too many hours, taking short vacation. Dallas and San Antonio. Soliciting freeper tips and hot spots for senior tourist who can still walk.

A few days ago, I checked with a half-dozen Washington-area hotels, ranging from the luxe Willard Intercontinental to the not-so-luxe Hampton Inn, and found that all had rooms available for this weekend’s Obama inauguration festivities. That was a huge change from Obama’s first inauguration, in January 2009, when nearly all the area’s hotel rooms were sold out. On Saturday, as Obama supporters arrived for the Monday ceremony, I checked with those hotels again. I asked if they had a room available for arrival on Saturday, staying three nights and departing on Tuesday, January 22. All still have rooms available. Earlier...

TSA offers holiday travel guidelines: No gravy in carry-onsBy Alexandra Jaffe - 11/22/12 04:21 PM ET Holiday travelers cannot bring certain Thanksgiving food favorites on planes, according to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) guidelines that ban the carrying of food items ranging from cranberry sauce to gravy. In a post Thursday on the TSA's blog, agency blogger Bob Burns warns holiday travelers to pack liquids, including "gravy, jams, jellies, maple syrup, oils and vinegars, sauces, soups, wine, liquor and beer," in their checked bags. "Eggnog can be an alternate to fuel depending on who’s mixing it. Sometimes there’s a fine line...

Ready to fly out of Los Angeles today to get to your family before Thanksgiving? Not so fast. Los Angeles’ labor unions have decided to protest on Thanksgiving Eve – one of the busiest travel days of the year – to snarl traffic around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). President Obama’s favorite union, the Service Employees International Union, is spearheading the obnoxious effort; it’s supposed to last from 11 a.m to 4 p.m., virtually the entire day. The LAPD says that travellers should arrive 90 minutes earlier than usual. LAX already advises people to arrive two hours in advance.

It was a quiet night at U Fleku, Prague’s premier beer hall. I sat at a long wooden table in the main bar, a Teutonic shrine to dark wood. Waiters scurried about, balancing trays of glasses filled with the rich dark lager that’s brewed on site. The evening entertainment started: a scowling, mustachioed accordionist playing Que Sera Sera. As I finished my beer, the accordionist paused and hunted through his pocket, looking miserably at some loose change. A heavy hint? The majority of travellers to the Czech Republic rarely strike farther than Prague, treading the tourist trail of Charles Bridge,...

Anyone up for a drive over Red Mountain Pass?Don't get carsick.

Glenwood Springs to Denver through Rocky Mountains

'World's worst airline' launches online booking Air Koryo, the North Korean carrier described as “the world’s worst airline”, has finally moved into the digital age with its first online booking service. The state-owned airline, which is the only one in the world with just one star according to the ranking service Skytrax, now sells flights from Pyongyang to Beijing and Shenyang in China, and Vladivostok in Russia, on its website. The website (www.airkoryo.com.kp/en), which launched in August, promises “easier, quicker, reliable booking and ticketing services.” Early reports seems to suggest the website is unlikely to help the North Korean flag...

Brace yourselves: Researchers at University of Huntsville in Alabama say they are using "Dilithium Crystals" in a new fusion impulse engine that could cut the travel time to Mars down to as little as six weeks, not the six months it takes now. Txchnologist, an online magazine sponsored by General Electric, talked to team member and aerospace engineering PH.D. candidate Ross Cortez, he said "The fusion fuel we're focusing on is deuterium [a stable isotope of hydrogen] and Li6 [a stable isotope of the metal lithium] in a crystal structure." "That's basically dilithium crystals we're using," he said (Snip) The

What takes 200 hotel rooms, four jets, five helicopters and 35 motorcade vehicles? A typical presidential trip, according to The Travel Channel, which goes behind the scenes in its special "Travel Like a President," set to air Tuesday. Andy Singer, the network's general manager, says the show is "designed to give viewers an all-access, unprecedented look at the enormous level of detail and thought that comes with the territory when you are the leader of the free world.” It looks at famed presidential accommodations, such as the Waldorf in New York, and follows President Obama during a vacation to Hawaii.

Taxpayers spent $1.4 billion dollars on everything from staffing, housing, flying and entertaining President Obama and his family last year, according to the author of a new book on taxpayer-funded presidential perks. In comparison, British taxpayers spent just $57.8 million on the royal family. Author Robert Keith Gray writes in “Presidential Perks Gone Royal” that Obama isn’t the only president to have taken advantage of the expensive trappings of his office. But the amount of money spent on the first family, he argues, has risen tremendously under the Obama administration and needs to be reined in. Gray told The Daily...

It’s no secret that American carriers lag far behind their Asian counterparts when it comes to service and amenities. None of the big three U.S. airlines — Delta Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines — cracked the top 50 in airline consultancy Skytrax’s annual poll of the world’s best airlines, which was released this summer.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., launched a Twitter tirade against American Airlines Friday night after experiencing delay problems involving a flight to D.C... @marcorubio: Trying to get to DC for early morning votes tonight but let's just say this has not been the best week in American Airlines history. A sample of more of Rubio's tweets: @marcorubio: Delaying flight for "maintenance" to squeeze connectors from other flight, oldest trick in book.Feel bad for crew.#cmonman #AmericanAirlines

Chicago tops nation in tax burden for travelers For an average visit to downtown Chicago, a traveler will pay about $40.31 in combined taxes per day, a study finds. Three Florida cities tied for lowest cost. By Hugo Martín, Los Angeles Times September 10, 2012 Chicago, the city that brought us deep-dish pizza, Oprah and "da Bears," is also home to the nation's highest tax burden for travelers. The lowest taxes imposed on travelers can be found in the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach. Those are among the findings of new research by the...

This is one way for an airline to build customer support: host a mid-flight, bikini-clad beauty pageant. AFP reports that the Vietnamese carrier VietJet hosted a Hawaiian-themed dance contest to celebrate the airline's maiden flight between Ho Chi Minh City and the tourist hub of Nha Trang, but got in trouble -- not for the parade of scantily-clad women -- but for making the mistake of not first gaining permission by the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam. The airline "violated local aviation regulations" by organizing "an unapproved show on a flight," Nguyen Trong Thang, chief inspector of the Civil Aviation...

....breathtaking scenes with the Discover America’s signature song ‘Land of Dreams’ written and sung by Roseanne Cash, viewers don’t get a raincheck on the campaign’s multicultural theme and the spiral in the sand that builds the Open Society Logo in opening scenes. Such is the power of subliminal.  Discover America is $12.3 million dollars worth of free advertising for Soros. Blame Brand USA for the Open Society’s free advertising ride. Brand USA is governed by an 11-member Board of Directors appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, with headquarters based in Wa, DC. “Brand USA was established by the Travel...

If diplomatic achievements were measured by the number of countries visited, Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the most accomplished U.S. secretary of state in history. When her plane touched down at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington on Tuesday morning, the former first lady and America's top diplomat completed an epic 13-day journey of 27,000 miles -- about 2,000 miles more than the circumference of the Earth -- through and over Europe to Asia and then doubling back to the Middle East.

> This is a chat I just had with Allegiant Air. They showed that I had seat 32E but on their online seat assignment chart only shows 30 rows. In order to have any baggage, I had to pay $30. The thing about the charge was they didn't put that in until the very last step in booking confirmation. Why don't they just put their damn fares at they want to charge rather than screwing with us. Below is my chat. Please wait, an agent will be with you shortly. Your chat session has started.. Cheryl: Thank you for contacting...