Free Republic

Gov. David Ige said the new rule will not go into effect for at least two weeks.Hawaii will require visitors to the state to have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster if they want to skip quarantine. Currently, under the rules of the state's "Safe Travels" program, travelers who don't want to quarantine for five days must either be fully vaccinated -- meaning two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine -- or have a negative COVID-19 test within one day of travel. However, the program is changing the definition of "fully...

Waikiki Beach is often where visitors first fall in love with Hawaii. Its soft sand, calm and inviting waters and view of Leahi (aka Diamond Head) are known worldwide. Once home to Hawaiian royalty, Waikiki is now a popular tourist destination, generating 41% of the state’s tourism revenue in 2015. But climate change threatens the iconic beach. With global sea levels conservatively estimated to rise at least 3 feet by 2100, Waikiki Beach may not be around at the turn of the century. Some scientists think Waikiki Beach could disappear even sooner. On the island of Maui, two opposing groups...

"Using two Hawaiʻi telescopes—the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy Pan-STARRS on Haleakalā, Maui and W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island—a team of researchers conducting the Young Supernova Experiment (YSE) transient survey observed the red supergiant during its last 130 days leading up to its deadly detonation."

Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) said Thursday on CNN’s “Newsroom” that the Republican Party is attempting to stop “Black people, Chicanos, Asian-American people from voting.” Hirono said, “What I’m seeing are voter suppression bills being enacted by state legislatures across the country, so that is a direct threat to our democracy. Voter suppression bills by the hundreds. So you have a state like Georgia where they’re trying to take over the election board. They already have, where you can’t give water or food to people standing in line for hours, where you have one voter who can challenge another voter, and...

COCONUT ISLAND, Hawaii (AP) — On a moonless summer night in Hawaii, krill, fish and crabs swirl through a beam of light as two researchers peer into the water above a vibrant reef. Minutes later, like clockwork, they see eggs and sperm from spawning coral drifting past their boat. They scoop up the fishy-smelling blobs and put them in test tubes. In this Darwinian experiment, the scientists are trying to speed up coral’s evolutionary clock to breed “super corals” that can better withstand the impacts of global warming. For the past five years, the researchers have been conducting experiments to...

Charles Louis “Sonny Boy” Saunders lost his life when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the 18-year-old’s body has finally arrived at his hometown of Winnie, Texas, where he will be laid to rest 80 years to the day after he died serving his country. KTRK in Winnie Texas reported on Saunder’s amazing journey home: Last week, the body of Navy Seaman 2nd Class Charles L. Saunders arrived at Bush Intercontinental Airport. The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office then escorted the hero’s body to Winnie. The attack on USS Oklahoma resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen,...

A few dozen survivors of Pearl Harbor are expected to gather Tuesday at the site of the Japanese bombing 80 years ago to remember those killed in the attack that launched the U.S. into World War II. Herb Elfring, 99, said he's glad to return to Pearl Harbor considering he almost didn't live through the aerial assault. "It was just plain good to get back and be able to participate in the remembrance of the day," Elfring told reporters over the weekend.

80 years after the day that will live in infamy, let’s remember the men who lost their lives on the USS Arizona. I’m so privileged that one of the two remaining Arizona survivors, Lt. Cmdr. Lou Conter (Ret.) has become a dear friend. I attended his 100th birthday celebration in September, and visited him recently. He’s doing great, but the rigors of traveling to Hawaii and attendance at the public observances would be a bit much. As I do every Pearl Harbor Day, I offer my son’s 2017 Eagle Scout project video biography of Mr Conter. https://youtu.be/T_L0kWTqPiA

Dozens of survivors of the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii will gather on Tuesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the event, which sent the United States into World War II. About 40 Pearl Harbor survivors and 110 World War II veterans will attend the 80th Remembrance Ceremony at Kilo Pier in Honolulu to commemorate the loss of 2,400 service members and civilians during the surprise Japanese attack on the island of Oahu on Dec. 7, 1941. "This year's ceremony -- 'Valor, Sacrifice, and Peace' -- honors the sacrifices of those who died in the...

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden paid a visit to the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. early Tuesday morning to mark the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Bidens spent just over ten minutes at the memorial. They observed a wreath decorated with the state flower of Kansas, which the White House said was there to honor the late Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kansas), who died on Sunday. Dole suffered life-threatening injuries while serving in World War II and went on to be a stalwart of the Republican Party. Jill Biden also placed a bouquet...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 ~ On Sunday, December 7th, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the U.S. Forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. By planning his attack on a Sunday, the Japanese commander Admiral Nagumo, hoped to catch the entire fleet in port. As luck would have it, the Aircraft Carriers and one of the Battleships were not in port. (The USS Enterprise was returning from Wake Island, where it had just delivered some aircraft. The USS Lexington was ferrying aircraft to Midway, and the USS Saratoga and USS...

What if Japan had not attacked Pearl Harbor eighty years ago today? The attack is today regarded as an enormous tactical success, but a strategic failure. Several older battleships were damaged or destroyed, but the treachery of the attack spurred the United States to fully mobilize for war and to pursue that war with a vengeful fury. The attack also pushed the United States to adopt innovative tactics that would quickly overturn Japanese advantages in air and naval technology. What other military options did Japan have besides an attack on Pearl Harbor? It would have been extremely difficult for Japan...

An Oregon family has turned to crowdfunding to send their 101-year-old Navy veteran dad back to Pearl Harbor — where he heroically helped fend off Japan’s surprise attack 80 years ago. Kimberlee Heinrichs’s GoFundMe page had raised nearly $9,000 of its $10,000 goal as of early Saturday. Her father, Ira “Ike” Schab, was a U.S. Navy musician, assigned to the destroyer USS Dobbin, on the quiet Sunday morning of Dec. 7, 1941, according to Hawaii News Now. He had planned to meet his brother, when Japanese planes began to attack. “It’s hard what to say the feeling that runs through...

A potent storm has begun to wallop the Hawaiian Islands with gusty winds and widespread flooding rain, with blizzard conditions expected at some higher elevations, AccuWeather forecasters say. Much of the 50th state has been abnormally dry recently, with parts of Hawaii in severe to extreme drought. Needed rain began on Friday, but it may be too much of a good thing. Due to the threat of excessive rainfall, flood watches have been issued for all of the islands and are expected to remain in place through Monday afternoon. Drought that has been developing over Hawaii became more intense after...

That headline is correct, there is a blizzard warning out for parts of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Of course, most visitors to the park on the Big Island won't have to bundle up unless they're planning to scale Mauna Loa, and that's not being advised. According to the National Weather Service, Mauna Loa's summits can experience winds of 100 mph this weekend along with 12 or more inches of snow. "Blowing snow will significantly reduce visibility at times, with periods of zero visibility," the agency said. "The strong winds will likely cause significant drifting of snow." At the park, officials...

Honolulu (HawaiiNewsNow) -- A Hawaii lab has detected a petroleum product in a water sample collected from the Pearl Harbor-Hickam system -- a worrisome finding that comes as the investigation into the source of the fuel-like odor and oily sheen from the water continues. It’s the first confirmation of what military households and other impacted residents have been reporting for days: That their water smells like fuel and has made them sick. But the results also raise more questions, including how much petroleum is present and what kind it is. Environmental Health Deputy Director Kathleen Ho stressed the results are...

In response to the recent tragedy in Oakland County, Michigan, what did the anti-gunners do? Following their standard course of action, they are politicizing the deaths of four high school teens in an attempt to undermine your constitutionally-protected rights. In fact, bowing to the will of their far-Left overlords, anti-gun senators are bringing H.R. 8 to the Senate floor—which is a bill to institute Universal Background Registration Checks (UBCs). And to make matters worse, they are trying to do this by unanimous consent—without an actual vote. Please, contact your Senators and make sure they know you’re opposed to H.R. 8...

A Swiss human experimenter, a Hungarian Nazi collaborator, and an Iranian tech tycoon walk into Washington D.C. What do you call them? The absentee owners of the Democrat Party. It’s not a joke. Unfortunately it’s grimly serious. Politico recently reported that the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the leading dark money machine of the Left, had pumped $410 million into Dem 2020 efforts to defeat Trump and Republicans. The Sixteen Thirty Fund had raised a record $390 million that year and half the money came from just 4 donors. While the names of the donors are secret, the article did note the...

On Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Velshi,” Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) said she agrees with the notion that people don’t care about gas prices if they can’t afford child care so they can work. Guest host Maria Teresa Kumar said, “One of the things that we saw was a historic infrastructure bill that passed that’s going to alleviate, not just our roads and clean water, but has implications for a brighter future when it comes to climate energy and so on and so forth. However, now, the second part of this plan, the human infrastructure, the one that will build back...

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard broke from her party and celebrated fellow Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s loss in the Virginia gubernatorial race this week, calling the outcome a “victory for all Americans.” Gabbard, who has criticized other members of her party including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the past, appeared to accuse McAuliffe of running a campaign that was racially divisive. “McAuliffe’s loss is a victory for all Americans. Why? Because it was a resounding rejection of efforts to divide us by race, the stripping of parental rights, and arrogant, deaf leaders. This benefits us all,” the former Hawaii representative and...