Lucky

More pix of Chord: Vman Chord And: More Chord

The Donald loves attention. He was at a Broadway show I attended and made sure everyone got to see him. Once everyone was seated after the intermission, he remained standing in case anyone had missed him. At least he is slightly more qualified for president than The Sarah. BTW, Mitt Romney also said she would make a great president. So we might have The Donald, The Sarah, and the Twittmitt all running together.

Sarah Palin says that the country is on the road to ruin. Yet today liberal New York Times columnist Bob Herbert says that democracy in the US is weakening. Could it be that there is some agreement between the two? Well, the question of course assumes that Palin has actually studied the issue, which I doubt. Herbert says in today's column: "While millions of ordinary Americans are struggling with unemployment and declining standards of living, the levers of real power have been all but completely commandeered by the financial and corporate elite. It doesn’t really matter what ordinary people want. The wealthy call the tune, and the politicians dance. So what we get in this democracy of ours are astounding and increasingly obscene tax breaks and other windfall benefits for the wealthiest, while the bought-and-paid-for politicians hack away at essential public services and the social safety net, saying we can’t afford them." I agree with what Herbert says, but if democracy is weakening in the United States, is that not the same as saying that the country is on the "road to ruin?" Democracy is, after all, the main principle on which the country is based, and if it is weakening, that cannot be the road we want to be on. Yet I doubt that Palin, now a multi-millionaire, would have the rich losing their control of the matters Herbert refers to. Despite her claims to be a "soccer mom" she is hardly an economic pal of Joe Sixpack. Her "road to ruin" is the opposite of Herbert's. She would have the country more enthralled with the right wing, more willing to enact Patriot Acts, and more willing to save taxes for the rich. So, we may be weakening, as Herbert says, but the road to ruin is possible if Palin gets any more influence on the course of events in this country. Then we'll know that America does not expect much depth in its leaders. The Herbert column in its entirety: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/opinion/12herbert.html?ref=opinion

Years ago the Marriott program offered a special reward if you stayed so many nights. I accomplished this by spending $765 at Marriotts, but got over $4000 in benefits- for example, 8 free nights at the Marriott Marquis in New York, a free week rental with Hertz and a few others that added up. They never repeated the offer. I stayed on off-nights, which were cheaper, but in places I wanted to go, like San Diego or the Marriott next to Six Flags. All the points in the world don't count if you cannot consistently count a good room, a good location, friendly staff, and in the winter, a plowed parking lot!

I have been encouraging kjun to post more, so I might note here that he did post a thread on this a couple of weeks ago. His title might not have led one to know that it was about flight attendants. http://www.maleescortreview.com/forum/index.php?/topic/6162-thailands-third-sex/page__p__33017__fromsearch__1#entry33017

Lurker, it's good to see that you have your trip back on the schedule. The new job must be going well.

Thanks, again, guys. It was quite nice to see the MER and Daddy's community share their best wishes during this difficult time for me. I am now back home after a very long and tiring series of flights. So, I had my family and my internet family supporting me and now we can move on, hopefully to a long period of peace and goodwill.

Thanks, Adam. I am aging myself (and my partner) with my typo above. We have been partners for 28 years, not 38. I've been making lots of mistakes these few days- dropping things, losing things. My mind isn't itself!

Many, many thanks for the kind thoughts. I arrived here shortly after my mother passed away, so as of yet have not seen her. The first viewing is this afternoon, with another in the evening. The funeral is tomorrow. Many of you have already gone through this and know what it is like. For the others, I hope it is a long time before you lose your mother. My mother was my friend. She accepted my partner of 38 years as a member of the family. He's listed right there in the obituary next to my name. Many of my friends who met my mother liked her, and it was frequently said that "gosh, I wish my mother was like that." We know of so many homes where the gay son loses touch with his parents because they cannot accept their homosexuality. It may not have happened immediately with me, but my mom and dad did come around early enough and accepted me as a gay man without reservation. Mom was the kind of person who would talk to anyone, and she made a lot of friends this way. Yes, sometimes it embarrassed me when she would approach a total stranger and ask why they were buying so much olive oil at Costco, but the other parties never seemed to mind. So, today and tomorrow is good-bye, and I know it will be hard. I think it is a great thing that one can receive so much support from the guys who post together with me on the internet. If one of you guys who posts at Daddy's could do me a favor, since I am banned from posting there, could you post a thank-you to all of the guys there who have similarly expressed their condolences? I would appreciate it. And, by the way, I received a nice email from the guy who I think is the Real Rock Hard!

23 people viewed this thread, and therefore have become eligible for one "get out of jail free" card. Please apply at your local police department, using code MER, followed by the number assigned when you viewed the thread. The rest of you are assumed not to care about the police and will be ticketed at a higher rate than the rest of us.

In other papal news, Reuters reveals today that the pope's organ donor card is now invalid. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger had signed the donor card, but once elected pope his body became the property of the Vatican. Any organs from the Pope transplanted into another human would become relics, and this is not allowed for obvious reasons. I mean, you wouldn't want someone cutting your kidney out to have a relic of the pope, would you? http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/04/us-pope-organs-idUSTRE7131RL20110204

Confidential to the two of you who might wonder where I am: I will be traveling for the next several days and unlikely to post. Hold the fort, okay?

OMGNSFW seems fine to me. Stick with it.

You know, Cooper, I agree with you on this. But it does make me feel like an old fogie to be saying, well, "kids today..." The media throws sex in their faces constantly, and given their raging hormones, they eat it up. I think the media has more to do with the decline of America than the government does.

Same for you!

I am happy to note that we can agree on this subject. I didn't even know that you were a baseball fan!

I listened to Giuliani, and you have no idea how hard that was for me. Why CNN would ask a former mayor for his opinion on Egypt escapes me. But he did back Obama, so I credit him for that. He could have done the usual hatchet job just to make hay.

Last time I went to Mission 261 with you, Townie, they all understood you perfectly, even when you asked for ketchup for your rice. So what happened? Did you get blown?

You may be right, Cooper. I usually enjoy the show better once the auditions are out of the way and they get down to business. We'll see.

After a 16 year career, most of it with the New York Yankees, pitcher Andy Pettite today announces his retirement. The Yankees, having failed to land Cliff Lee, could probably use Pettite, but he has made millions and wants to spend time with his family. I always enjoyed watching him pitch, especially as the camera focused in on is big brown eyes as he stared at the catcher for the sign. So, goodbye, Andy. Thanks for the memories.

firecat, I don't doubt that you are right. I pointed out that it is usually just a matter of the hotel wanting more money. Regular guests and the guests in the top floors may not get stopped. Oz usually enters the hotel on a throne, being carried by ten of the hottest local guys. Which hotel is going to stop that? Eeyore, nice to hear from you. I will probably be reading this thread for some time to come so I can re-live the memories.

Good question, Cooper. My answer is yes. I saw the show for a few minutes and could not look at Steven Tyler. He has to be the most unattractive guy on TV. I think zipperzone hit it on the head in his first post on this subject: "I can't stand Tyler, JL is bad for my diabetes and who wants to hear anymore of Randy trying to speak English?"