REAL ID is a case study of how constantly shifting politics in the United States makes it nearly impossible to get constructive long-term projects done. First developed in 2001 after a patchwork of security authorities failed to stop the hijacking of multiple flights on September 11, and finally passed by then-President George W. Bush in…
Look, we're not your mother. We can't nag you about making sure your driver's license has been converted to REAL ID. The law requiring REAL ID was only passed by Congress way back in the years following September 11 and signed into law in 2005 by President George W. Bush. Maybe that hasn't given you…
The oft-postponed REAL ID deadline is almost here—only 17 years or so behind schedule. Passed by Congress in response to the September 11 attacks of 2001 and signed into law in 2005 by President George W. Bush, the measure requiring state-issued IDs to have federally mandated security features in order to be used for commercial…
The temporary hiring freeze that has been ordered across the entire U.S. federal government by the Trump administration could wreak havoc on national parks this summer, observers warn. In addition to putting the brakes on the hiring of new workers for positions at the National Park Service, which is overseen by the federal Department of…
This post was originally published in December 2022 and contains updated information. The deadline for all Americans to be using Real I.D., the strengthened identification format that was announced in 2005 during the George W. Bush administration after the security disasters of September 11, 2001, has been affirmed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Americans…
The minute you step aboard a cruise, you're entering a bubble. Your phone calls cease, your e-mails go unchecked, and day-to-day pressures can't reach you. A good cruise is like a world unto itself, and that's a big reason we go on them. But when you embark on a cruise ship, you're also often saying…
A new permanent display of movie memorabilia from the 1997 blockbuster Titanic features a projection of a famous line uttered by Kate Winslet's Rose: "I'll never let go." But the exhibit's focal point evokes the line's unspoken addendum: Nor will I scoot over. The item in question is an 8-foot-long chunk of elaborately carved balsa wood…
Younger travelers surely know that airplane cabins, like many areas of public life in the late 1970s, were once divided into sections for smokers and non-smokers. (Usually, the smokers had to sit at the back of the plane.) So this gag about a "smoking" ticket was almost a gimme for the writers. Unpleasant fact about…
Even though nearly everything about flying has changed since the rules were set, the FAA has blocked evacuation testing that reflects actual conditions.
This year of aviation started ominously on January 2 with the fiery runway collision between Japan Airlines Flight 516 and a military aircraft in…