USVI-On-Line

cnet news.com has an article on the Real ID fiasco. It's actually relevent to STJ as well: The company mentioned, Shipyard Brewing, is the contract brewer for St. John's brewpub's staple beers and ships the ingredients for their on-island brewed beers.

http://www.news.com/Real-ID-could-mean- ... =nefd.lede

Take a look at the states map. If you don't have a passport, you may be unable to use your drivers license as id after May 11. That could mean being rejected from that flight to St. Thomas. My state of Virginia is effected.

I think the new requirements for travel documentation will have an impact on USVI tourism. This is a $14.6 billion dollar change mandated by Congress, that must be implemented by the states, with no Federal funding.

Cheers, RickG

Hey Fred, GET A PASSPORT!

Thanks for this update Rick - we are bringing two new families without passports to STJ in late June. I may encourage them to get the passports now. I just told them a week ago that they weren't required.

I'll definitely keep my eye on this. Also, any idea on the rules if you live in one state (WI) but fly out of another (IL)??

Tracy

Is this a veiled effort to get everyone to ride the train?

Thanks for passing that along RickG. Luckilly everyone Im traveling with this year has a passport.
Whew!

California Girl wrote:This Real ID thing is SO STUPID! How long do you suppose it'll take to fake one? Those who have the inclination to make fake documents will be all over this, so what's the point? Stupid, stupid! And consider the money that will be spent doing this when we already have a good system (passports) in place?

I'm not political, and I don't necessarily like anyone who's running, but I can't wait to get Bush out of office! What a buffoon!

Tell me how you really feel

Now, do we actually think the hired TSA folks, who can barely acknowledge a passenger's passing resemblance to a current driver's license picture, will be able to navigate the bureaucratic waters of the Real ID program? I feel safer already...

Tracy,

My understanding is that it is not the origination city or state that has a bearing on this. It is the QUALITY of the document. The TSA is saying that some states' DL's are easier to forge than others. I've noticed that more check points are making me take the DL out of the plastic cover so they can look at it under a special light. It looks like a UV light and they are looking for state seals that are not otherwise visible.

A passport is always the fastest way past these folks in the VI.

JIM

Chet wrote: Tell me how you really feel

LMAO!

CG-I think you are missing the point. Do you really think one should have a passport to travel within the continental US?

I am all for anything that will make our IDs such as drivers licenses more secure.

We had a conspiracy that used the trucking school in our little town of 10,000 to give fraudulent commercial drivers licenses to hundreds of Somali and Bosnian immigrants. Some local doofus took payoffs to pass them on their driving skills tests. Over 100 of them went on to be authorized to haul hazardous materials.

One of the schools that sent their applicants down here was in Kansas City,the MBS (Muslim Brothers and Sisters) Trucking School. I won't even go into that angle. There are about 15 persons under federal indictment and many have already pled guilty.

This is just to illustrate:
Yes, it is inconvenient
Yes, drivers licenses can be faked
Yes, you will face a federal rap if you do.

There are two main issues at point here.

1) Can the Federal Government in a constitutional republic dictate through legislation that States implement certain policies and procedures regarding intra-state documentation for a state-granted privilege? No.

2) Can the Federal Government be trusted to keep private the data collected for what is, in essence, a national id card? No it cannot.

The proper thing for the Federal Government to do is issue national id cards AND implement EU style privacy laws. This won't happen because special interests make a lot of money in the US selling private information.

What can we do? Keep passports current.

Cheers, RickG

Thanks for the heads up Rick...
The writing has been on the wall for a while ya'll...get passports!

Rick-

I agree with you. In the meantime-passports

We live in an affected state - MO, and are flying out of TN which is also affected.

Half of our June party has passports, so I guess we will apply some pressure to the rest to get theirs.

On the bright side, it will make a day sail to VG possible for all of us.

My husband and I stayed at Long Bay Resort on Tortola in '94, and took a daytrip to VG with, I think, Smith Brothers.It was great, and we want our sons and their families to see it.

Update and FAQ at: http://www.news.com/FAQ-How-will-Real-I ... =nefd.lede

Cheers, RickG

Rick, I agree with you that the Federal Government doesn't have the right to dictate to the states what sort of driver's licenses they may issue. On the other hand, the Feds clearly do have the right to accept for identification purposes only those they deem to be sufficiently secure. The libertarian side of me wants the states to win and the Feds to butt out. The side that's concerned for our lax national security wants the Feds to win. In any case, when our ports aren't secure and our borders are porous, taking off our shoes at the airport and having a "correct" driver's license is a strange way to think we're any safer.