Lucky

Townsend, I can tell that you are up on all of the happenings in LA. For you to stop posting these bombshells would bring the place to a halt and we can't have that. So, please continue to do your research and drop these items on us so we all can take note of them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/business/economy/us-may-back-mortgage-refinancing-for-millions.html?hp The government may propose a program to allow those underwater in their mortgages to refinance at today's new lower rates. Read the article, then tell me if is a good idea, okay? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/business/economy/us-may-back-mortgage-refinancing-for-millions.html?hp

When I wrote my comment, I guess I was expecting EXPAT to explain the attraction, as I don't see it.

Someone had to! It's more of the Kim Kardashian thing. I just can't understand the deluge of publicity her wedding got. I don't see her appeal. So, when you posted about Amy and Tony, the same sentiment arose. I just don't get why we should care. But I know people do, so I don't oppose posting it, I just wanted to share my thoughts. That's okay, isn't it?

Since I cannot start a new thread, I tack this on here: New rules making things better for passengers are set to take effect. Kathleen Pender at SFGate.com tells us what they are: Starting today, airline passengers get more rights and protections as new Department of Transportation rules take effect. The new rules require airlines to refund baggage fees on lost bags, pay more cash to passengers bumped involuntarily from oversold flights and prominently disclose on their Web sites all fees for optional services such as checked bags, meals, upgraded seating and canceling or changing reservations. Although very few passengers are bumped involuntarily, the new compensation rules could make it easier for passengers who are willing to be bumped voluntarily negotiate a better deal with airlines, says Jon Fox, a consumer advocate with the California Public Interest Group. The new rules also expand the existing ban on lengthy tarmac delays to cover international flights at U.S. airports. Last year, DOT prohibited U.S. airlines operating domestic flights from stranding passengers on the tarmac for more than three hours without returning to the gate and giving them a chance to get off. The rule also required airlines to provide food, drink and bathroom facilities after two hours on the tarmac. Airlines that violate the rule can be fined up to $27,000 per passenger. Starting today, the same rule applies to international flights delayed at U.S. airports, but give airlines four hours instead of three before returning to the gate. The new rule applies to foreign and domestic airlines but does not apply when flights to or from the United States are stuck on the ground at foreign airports. Gary Leff, co-founder of Milepoint.com, says the new rules sound impressive "but won't change the travel experience for the vast majority of passengers." Under the new rules, airlines must: --Refund any baggage fees charged if they lose your luggage. --Provide a link on their home page to a Web page that discloses all optional fees. --Increase cash compensation for involuntary bumping on oversold flights. Previously, bumped passengers got the one-way value of their ticket, up to $400, if the airline got them to their destination within one to two hours of their originally scheduled arrival time for domestic flights and within one to four hours for international flights. They were entitled to twice the one-way value of their ticket, up to $800, if the involuntary bump delayed them for more than two hours for domestic flights and more than four hours for international flights. Under the new rule, bumped passengers will get double the one-way price of their ticket, up to $650, for the shorter delays and four times the one-way value of their tickets, up to $1,300, for the longer delays. These amounts will be adjusted for inflation every two years. While that sounds like a lot, very few passengers are involuntarily bumped -- a little less than 1 out of every 10,000 passengers in the first half of 2011, according to the Air Transport Association. "The upside (of the new rules) has been greatly exaggerated," says Ed Perkins, a contributing editor to SmarterTravel.com. "Everybody focuses on those almost-double payment numbers for bumping, but keep in mind those are maximums. If you are on a cheap ticket you will get a lot less than that." Also, if you are a connecting flight, the mandatory payment applies only to the segment from which you get bumped. For example, if you are flying from San Francisco to New York via Chicago and get bumped from the Chicago-New York leg, the airline can pro-rate your bump payment based on the fare from Chicago to New York. Perkins says the only potential downside in the new rules is if airlines cancel more international flights, which often leave only once per day, to avoid steep the steep tarmac penalties. That was the fear when the tarmac rules on domestic flights took effect last year. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood proclaimed earlier this year that the rule had "virtually eliminated" lengthy tarmac delays on domestic flights. But it's not clear whether the new rules have caused more flight cancellations. Research by independent airline consultants Darryl Jenkins and Joshua Marks say it has; LaHood says it has not. In his blog, LaHood says, "the number of flights canceled after tarmac delays of more than two hours -- the flights that could have conceivably been canceled to avoid violating the rule -- increased only slightly" since the rule took effect. But Jenkins says that's because airlines worried about penalties are not waiting two hours to cancel flights, they are canceling a lot more flights after 90 minutes to make sure they have time to get back to the gate and remove other planes if necessary, which leads to more flight cancellations throughout the system. Under more rules that take effect Jan. 24, airlines will have to: --Include all taxes and fees in advertised fares. --Let passengers hold a reservation without payment, or cancel it without penalty, for 24 hours after the reservation is made, if the reservation is made at least one week before departure. --Disclose baggage fees when passengers book a flight and on e-ticket confirmations. --Provide prompt notification of delays of over 30 minutes, as well as cancellations and diversions. Many airlines already provide these services, but Congress has refused to mandate them, says Rick Feaney, CEO of Farecompare.com. Since the Obama administration took over, "they have been edicting many of the things that were in the passenger bill of rights through the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration. It's good. Some of these things (such as refunding bag fees for lost bags) were so commonsensical you think nobody would break them," but they sometimes did, Feaney says. Posted By: Kathleen Pender (Email) | August 23 2011 at 05:07 PM Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/pender/detail?entry_id=96012#ixzz1VuPY0kAO

I know this topic appeals to you, EXPAT, and it may appeal to others. But I couldn't care less about a duet between Amy and anybody.

I can't answer that question, but a few years ago I had a similar experience with Marriott. They had a promotion where you had to stay so many nights and then won these prizes. I spent $790 to stay, I think 13 nights, always at the cheaper places, and in the end I won: 2 tickets anywhere Continental flew (I chose Japan) 8 free nights at the Marriott Marquis in New York One week free rental from Hertz and, a collection of coupons good at Marriott shops and other places. So, over $4000 in prizes for $790. They never repeated that offer.

Anton, thanks for joining in and adding to the conversation. I/we appreciate it, and would hope to see you here more often.!

We can have a million on line and it doesn't matter- unless they post, or at least some of them. Just as I said yesterday, people come here and want to see interesting things to read. But lurkers, by definition, don't post anything.For them, it's a one-way street. I write for the other guys here who actually post. If a lurker likes what I post, honor that by posting something yourself!

Well, frankly, I wonder if Four Aces has left this world. I can't imagine him not responding to a note from me!

I only hire escorts who can wear the badge!

So if you bring some rough trade to your room, does that make you a diamond in the rough?

Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to start any new threads in the Pub for awhile. But that was to encourage others to do so. But wow, I have never seen the place so quiet. Not a single peep in the Pub today. Not good guys. When folks come* here they want to see some new stuff to read. If there is nothing, they may not hurry back. So don't make folks think the place is closed. Start a new thread! * meant in the traditional sense. No one really cums here!

You mean this one? Sears penis

Three of us joined a packed house to see The Help this afternoon, and we all liked the movie. I decided that the critique I posted above is off base. For one, people are going to see this movie, and it has a message that is still good today. In Palm Springs, there is an apartheid with the Mexican people living together and separate, for the most part, from the whites. The Mexicans are the gardeners and the house cleaners, much as the blacks were in the movie. What was interesting, too, is that the audience did not want to leave after the movie. Half of the audience was still seated when I left. As for acting, I thought Minnie (Octavia Spencer) was great, as was Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain). Chris Lowell, as Stuart, was a doll, but I liked Mike Vogel better as Johnny Foote. Chris Lowell (pic not from the movie) Mike Vogel

I can attest that Oz is good company in Thailand, plus he knows everybody and every place!

How odd! My brother just invited me to visit him in Omaha. I said no.

Many a time I have written Oz or Ty to beg them to correct a mistake I made and did not catch before the edit period.

Do I get ten minutes alone with Ralph? Thanks for the nice comments.

Yikes! I see that ten of the threads on the first page of the Hooboy Pub were started by me. I don't like that, as I want others to start threads that thrive. So no new threads by me until my first page count goes down!

The Help gets a devastating critique in today's LA Times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2011/08/is-the-help-hollywoods-latest-liberal-civil-rights-fantasy.html

And more: Cristiano You can meet Rafael Nadal at Macy's New York Herald Square on Thursday, August 25th, at 5 pm. Maybe even wait in line for hours!

Every Sunday I like to look at the NY Times wedding announcements to see who the cutest guy is. What do you think of today's choices? All in fun, right? The Asian: The Caucasian: The Gay Guys:

The bf waited in line for hours at Macy's to get me this poster of Marky Mark, and a signed pair of briefs. He got to shake Marky's hand- the very hand that held his dick and probably got cummed on many times. The poster now hangs in my bathroom, where I see it every day, and never tire of looking at it. So it was a good gift, eh? Like many of you, as a boy I loved looking at the Sears catalog pictures of men in their underwear. They never had bulges though. It took Calvin Klein to restore male virility to advertising. Even as time passes, and it does even for Mark Wahlberg, there are always new men willing to pose in their skivvies for us. For that we are grateful, are we not?

I clicked on the link in his last post and wrote to that blog. Do you have a better address?