TotallyOz

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday that she will instruct immigration agents to consider same-sex relationships the same as heterosexual ones in determining whether an individual should be deported, a victory for advocates and members of Congress who worried verbal instructions could be ignored. Although the administration had previously told reporters and others that same-sex relationships will be taken into account when making deportation decisions, putting it in writing for field officers is considered to be an important change. "This is a huge step forward," Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of gay rights and reform group Immigration Equality, said in a statement. "Until now, LGBT families and their lawyers had nothing to rely on but an oral promise that prosecutorial discretion would include all families. Today, DHS has responded to Congress and made that promise real." DHS released guidelines in 2011 instructing agents to consider a variety of factors -- including family relationships, the age an individual came to the U.S. and other ties to the country -- when determining whether the immigrant is high-priority for deportation. More than 80 House Democrats, led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), called in late July for the Department of Homeland Security to add a specific mention of same-sex couples to its guidelines. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/deportation-same-sex-couples_n_1923094.html

This is just not debatable. There is no place in Bangkok that even comes close to the number of guys or the rooms that Hero has. No place can even come close? Can they? Please give me details on any place that you think could even stand in Hero's shadow. I'll test it for you and compare the 2 as I have yet to be let down at Hero (at least in my memory which is not too good.) More gay massage places with as many cute guys? Details please!

The downstairs massage place I once liked to go by and see is no longer serving massage. It is the gogo place for Super A. I asked them about the upstairs and they said they were renovating. The boys were OK. The drinks were 150 baht which is OK for me but more than Super A for water. I liked the massage place as they always had a group of handsome guys. There were still a few there but not as many as when it was only a massage place and there was a wide variety of guys from men to boys to fem boys to ladyboys. Something for everyone. I found one boy I liked and wanted to book him for tomorrow and I got his number and made the exchange and paid was paying is off for tomorrow but the mamasan said off was 400 baht but for Advance it was 500 baht. I already had the boys number and appointment and I knew he would show but I was tired and I told her she was nuts but paid anyway. We will see if the boy shows tomorrow and if so, I'll be happy as he was cute, said he gave a great massage and even better sex. So, we shall see. BTW: walking in, we had to dodge the pools of water collecting in pots and pans on the floor. I guess the higher prices are going to renovate both places eventually.

It was my first foray into the Heart Beat Club across the street from Soi Twilight. There was a mamasan I liked from Future Boys many years ago and he was in the street and beckoned me in. I obliged. I liked the layout of the bar. I thought the seats were comfortable and the music was not too loud. They had a nice video of the dancing boys which I liked. There were about 15 boys there all together but we got there around 11PM. Most of the guys looked gay and there were some ladyboy waiters. I liked the place but they charged 250 baht per drink and no show and few boys. Pretty stupid IMHO. But, this is Bangkok and I guess I should not expect smartness in gogo bars. jk

And, the only way to get the best deals is to sit in front of your computer, plug in dates and see what works. Try with Expedia and the to to the company website. When you have a good fare, call the airline and get the exact routing you want. It is best to spend some time with the person at the other end and smooze as they can find you good deals if they want. I know many that do this for a living and they tell me that it depends on how hard they want to work to get the right fare. For my last trip, I was able to spend over an hour with the call center and get exactly what I wanted on a multi-leg trip which was less than a round-trip with 3 less stops. In other words, come up with several scenarios and ask them which works and if other days are cheaper or how to best work this to save money. Sometimes, they will actually help you and not be a dick. I have played the airline games for far too long and I get frustrated with them as they often do advertise great deals but there are so few of them that they want to to call and be disappointed. But, if you learn to check the sites, ask friends, check FlyerTalk and other boards and ask suggestions on this board, you may find a great deal. It has worked for me many times.

This is very exciting to me. I hope to take the BF to see this while I am on holiday!

My niece ordered this from Amazon and will read it when she gets it. She is very excited to read it. Anyone read it?

Sad to see long term character die in this week's episode. He was one of my favs on the show!

To my surprise, I learned that SeatGuru is not up to date. I was on a new Delta 747-400 with the newly configured lay flat seats and it didn't show on Seatguru. I picked my seat anyway and was VERY pleasantly surprised at how comfortable they are. I am told that all of Delta's long distance flights will be converting to these seats.

Do you think these debates really matter? I am really? Hey, I love them. I eat up every word and every argument and misstep. But, do you think they matter with the few people that really count?

Great video. Thank you. Does Meio Mundo have one of those showing their new renovations? : )

When I travel Delta, I rarely board the plane from Tokyo to Bangkok without meeting at least one person I have met in LOS. Yesterday was no exception. I met a guy that I have known for years but now lives in Chiang Mai. I met him initially in Pattaya and really enjoyed his company. When I saw him on the plane, we had a lovely chat and conversation and I hope to meet up with him in a few months when I head up to Chiang Mai. I also met 2 guys from the plane that recognized me from Bangkok. LOL They said he remembered me from my Hamburger reviews and had met up with me at one of them a year or so ago. That plane, Tokyo to Bangkok seems to have a lot of people each time for people I know. Do any of you ever experience the same thing with this or other planes?

Traveling is tough on your body. I went to bed at 2am last night and took an Ambian to sleep and thought I'll be in bed till 10AM or so. At 6AM, my beloved called and said, "what are you doing?" He could not reach me on the cell phone as I have not turned it on yet so he called the hotel directly. I said, "sleeping." He said, "OK. Well, sleep honey, I am on my way to Bangkok and will be there in 2 hours." I said OK. but, as you know waking up with the sound of an alarm or a loud phone is never conducive to returning back to sleep. I asked him why he called so early and he said, "I didn't want you to go out of the hotel and get lost." LOL Does this tell you what he thinks of my direction skills? LOL Get lost. Jeeze. I haven't done that since..... well, better not to discuss that topic.

It all depends on which city you are using. Which one are you going out of and which plane? If SeatGuru and Delta have different configurations, you can assume that your plane is the new configuration. Not sure why they don't keep up with this but I asked the lady at the airport and she said she didn't know which plane it was either. But, if it shows a 1-2-1 business configuration or according to the people on the flight a 1-3-1 configuration, they are both the lie flat seats. Just an FYI on what I was told yesterday.

I took Delta yesterday to Thailand as things changed for me as to when I was leaving and I wasn't able to get on the Korean Air flight I wanted. I used old reliable Delta after I found a great savings for me on a trip which made it worth my while. I started in Texas and then Atlanta, Tokyo and Bangkok. The Atlanta to Tokyo haul was on the new planes with the lie flat beds. SeatGuru had it wrong as I kept trying to figure out if I was sitting next to someone or now. I was not. The lay flat seats really are lay flat and 100% flatness. Even someone like me big and over 6'3" was able to lay flat and comfortable. They are done in a 1-2-1 configuration and I liked either side as you really were all in your own little world. The next leg was the same old Egg Back seats they have had for years but the steward to me that this was changing as they were moving all the plans to be remodeled to the newer lay flat seats. For me, it was amazingly comfortable. I did miss the lounge area at the back of Korean Air but for this trip, they were much more expensive. I got a round trip for 4750.00. I thought a good deal. Have others flew other configurations with their lay flat beds and had different experiences?

Happy Birthday. I still think the airport is beautiful and fucking horrible to use. Long walks, no trams, not easy paths. Not well thought out and still not fixed.

Bangkok is a great city but the traffic is nuts and the prices are much higher for boys, food and housing. Pattaya is fun and exciting and has a lot to offer someone who likes the gay nightlife. Drinks are half the price or more than half of the bars in Bangkok. I do fear that the city is trying to move to a friendly environment and away from the sex trade. I am just not sure that will happen soon. I see changes everytime I am there and the scene gets a bit more boring each time. But, that said, it is still the easiest place to find a guy for a long term thing and have fun with him at a reasonable price. Arabs may make the area more conservative but that hasn't happened it.

I just could not get into American Horror Story. But, I LOVE Walking Dead. Great show! Jeeze, how do I have so much time on my hands to watch all these damn shows?

Thank you so much! Great suggestion!

I found some good deals from Bangkok to Hong Kong for the New Year and I'd like to take the BF there for Disney. I got got rates and then all the add ons started. Still round trip for each of us with 20k of luggage each way and one of their front row seats (11.00 extra each way with more legroom) was about 270.00 USD. Do you think I'll find better than this closer to the time? I did check on expedia and they were over 500 per person each way. I just have not used Air Asia and want to know how comfortable they are.

I don't like him either. But, I love the show and I often fast forward on him and it makes it much more enjoyable.

I have many conversations with him over the years. RIP Keith!

Lovely! Thank you! Been watching the show on and off for over 30 years! Mostly off the past few years but now...

I now see Z909 with 0 and not negative 1. I liked his post. But, I think it was red because a few years back I tried this feature with member positives and negatives. It only lasted a few days and was a mess! So, we did away with it. I would think that that red -1 was from years ago and now that I liked his post it is gone. The "like" system is now in this version as you can now like a post and not a person. Back years ago it was the person and not the post. I think Z must have had someone that gave him a negative mark and now he is back to zero. But, lets get him up high and everyone like his posts so he gets some positive feedback.

Loving Jimmy Smitts new character. He really did shine in this week's episode! He is still one hot MF. I had the biggest crush on him in LA law and like fine wine, he gets better with time!