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And why stop there?

A man moved into a new apartment of his own and went to the lobby to put his name on his mailbox. While there, an attractive young man came out of the apartment next to the mailboxes, wearing a robe. The new tenant smiled at the young man and he started a conversation with him. As they talked, his robe slipped open, and it was obvious that he had nothing else on and had a huge erection. The new tenant broke into a sweat trying to maintain eye contact. After a few minutes, the open robed young man placed his hand on the new tenant's arm and said, "Let's go to my apartment, I hear someone coming." They went into his apartment; he closed the door to his apartment and leaned against it, allowing his robe to fall off completely. Now nude, he asked him, "What would you say is my best feature?" Flustered and embarrassed, the new tenant finally squeaked, "It's got to be your ears." Astounded, and a little hurt the naked man asked, "My ears? Look at this body; it is fit and trim. I work out every day and my butt is firm and solid. Look at my skin - no blemishes anywhere. Look at my cock, it is hard and huge. How can you think that the best part of my body is my ears?" Clearing his throat, he stammered, "Outside, when you said you heard someone coming, that was me."

Families Of Missing Flight Passengers Just Hoping Media Gets Closure It Needs News in Brief • World • news media • News • ISSUE 50•11 • Mar 19, 2014 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA—Saying they have endured heart-wrenching uncertainty and deserved definitive answers, the families of passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 expressed hope Wednesday that the media will eventually receive some kind of closure regarding the plane’s mysterious disappearance. “This has been an extremely difficult time for the reporters and anchors covering this event; they have put their lives on hold over the past 10 days and we know they won’t be able to move forward until they learn the fate of this airliner,” said Sarah Wan, speaking on behalf of the relatives and loved ones of the 239 missing individuals, who remain hopeful that some sort of resolution will be reached for the sake of the various news networks and websites. “The conflicting reports and numerous remaining unanswered questions have been devastating for them. It’s not surprising that they are obsessing around the clock, wondering what could have possibly occurred on board that flight. I don’t know how they are able to stay so resilient, grasping at every new statement or bit of information that trickles out. Our thoughts and prayers go out to them.” Wan said there was still a chance the plane may have been hijacked and the passengers aboard had been taken hostage, but she didn’t want to unfairly get the media’s hopes up. http://www.theonion.com/articles/families-of-missing-flight-passengers-just-hoping,35572/

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/20/solitary-confinement-psychological-effects-sarah-shourd

Why are we such Johnny come latelys? EAP wrote about this many years ago in the TTH. Best regards, RA1

Next, Putin Will Seize Donetsk and Kharkiv Editorial in The Moscow Times By Josh Cohen - Mar. 02 2014 As Russian troops consolidate their hold over Crimea, it seems clear that President Vladimir Putin will soon have troops in eastern Ukraine as well. The Federation Council passed a law giving Putin broad authority to use the country's armed forces on "the territory of Ukraine," and this, in combination with pro-Russian demonstrations now spreading across major eastern cities, provide Putin a fig leaf necessary to move into eastern Ukraine. While many Western analysts — and even U.S. intelligence agencies — predicted that Putin would not move on Ukraine, they have clearly not understood Putin's worldview. Russia looks at Ukraine in the same way that China looks at Taiwan: as an existential issue in which lines must not be crossed. The West has missed four crucial points: For Russia, Ukraine is the birthplace of Russian civilization and a close Slavic brother. The idea of Ukraine as an independent country aligned with the West is anathema to Putin. Many Russians refer to Ukraine as "little Russia." This is best encapsulated by an April 2008 conversation Putin had with then-U.S. President George W. Bush in which Putin reportedly said: "You don't understand, George, that Ukraine is not even a state. What is Ukraine? Part of its territories is Eastern Europe, but the greater part is a gift from us." In Putin's view, Western support for the anti-Russian protests in Kiev is part of a Western plot to tear Ukraine away from its proper place next to Russia's cultural, political and economic bosom. The West should have understood that there was no way Putin was ever going to allow Ukraine to slip away. The West has grossly underestimated the extent to which Russia was humiliated by NATO expansion toward Russia's borders in the 1990s. From Russia's perspective, NATO's eastward expansion evoked deep-seated Russian fears of being both encircled and shut out from Europe. Russia has suffered numerous invasions from the West, and in Putin's mind even a European Union association agreement is a possible precursor to eventual NATO membership. Ukraine is Putin's line in the sand. It is often said that with Russia is an empire as long as Ukraine is in its camp, but without it, Russia is just another regular country. The reality is that for centuries, Russia has been an empire, and an expansionist one at that. While we can debate the reasons for this, the reality is that Russia has never seen itself as just a regular country, and for that reason Russia will always ensure that Ukraine is firmly within its orbit. Finally, Putin has decided to move on Ukraine now simply because he can. Putin knows that there is little that the U.S. or NATO can do to prevent him from having his way with Ukraine, and he is right. Short of risking war with a nuclear Russia, Putin is fully prepared to ignore any Western threats of "costs" that Russia must pay for seizing parts of Ukraine. For these ideological, historical, military and geopolitical reasons, it is natural that Putin will not stop at the borders of Crimea. Putin will almost certainly not move into western Ukraine, but in the south and east where the population identifies strongly with Russia, there will never be a better opportunity than now to reclaim what Putin considers to be lost Russian territory. By next weekend, we very well might see Russian troops patrolling Kharkiv and Donetsk, and they won't be leaving anytime soon. Josh Cohen is a former U.S. State Department official who was involved in managing economic reform projects in the former Soviet Union. He currently works for a satellite technology company in the Washington area.

Yesterday the northside of Rio proper was pretty much one large transit mess. Not due to the Centro reconstructions, but to a new initiative to combat the drug trafficers in a favela already supposedly "pacificed" by the UPP. This time it was Manguinhos, not far from the Galeao International Airport. First link are to photos from the initial occupation in 2012 and the second are from yesterday. http://www.demotix.com/photo/1522621/police-occupy-one-most-dangerous-slums-r-o-de-janeiro http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/manguinhos-tem-noite-de-tiros-ataque-upp-11940193 Except for the language in the graffiti on the sides of the destroyed buildings, not much different from photos from the Middle East. Located southwest of the airport. Manguinhos is a lower-class neighborhood as well as unplanned favela. Many might have noticed the old headquarters building of the Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz, principal research hospital for Brasil, while going to the airport. Quite ornate. By the by, I used to date the assistant director of the place a few years back. Very pleasant grounds. Fountains, Food service. Nice place to visit. The surroundings, (insert gallows humor chuckle) not so much.

Judge strikes down Michigan ban on gay marriage; state asks for a stay 5:49 PM, March 21, 2014 By Tresa Baldas Detroit Free Press WriterIn a historic ruling that provided a huge morale boost to the gay-rights movement, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman today struck down Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage, making it the 18th state in the nation to allow gays and lesbians to join in matrimony, just like their heterosexual counterparts. ■ PDF: Read Judge Friedman’s ruling striking down Michigan gay marriage ban Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed an emergency request for stay of Friedman’s ruling. In his 31-page ruling, Friedman heavily criticized the state’s position that the will of the voters should have been upheld, noting that just because voters approve something doesn’t make it right, especially when it violates the Constitution. “In attempting to define this case as a challenge to ‘the will of the people,’ state defendants lost sight of what this case is truly about: people. “No court record of this proceeding could ever fully convey the personal sacrifice of these two plaintiffs who seek to ensure that the state may no longer impair the rights of their children and the thousands of others now being raised by same-sex couples,” Friedman wrote. “It is the court’s fervent hope that these children will grow up to ‘understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.’ “Today’s decision is a step in that direction, and affirms the enduring principle that regardless of whoever finds favor in the eyes of the most recent majority, the guarantee of equal protection must prevail.” But Schuette, in his request for a stay, argued that Friedman did not follow the trend sent by other federal judges handling similar cases across the country by not staying his ruling pending the outcome of appeal. The state has long argued that the will of 2.7 million voters — who in 2004 decided that marriage is only to be between a man and a woman — should not be drowned out by a single judge. The state also argues that it has a “legitimate” interest in preserving the traditional family structure because — it claims — children thrive best when raised by married moms and dads. Friedman, though, sided with the plaintiffs: two Hazel Park lesbian nurses who argue the state has no “rational basis” for denying them the right to get married and adopt each others’ children. Today’s ruling, which came just as courts were closing, at first dashed hopes for the handful of gays who waited hours to be married. "We've been waiting years and years -- I thought the judge would've thrown us a bone," said Laura Quinn, 46, of Royal Oak. Friday was the 18th anniversary of her relationship with her partner, who stayed home while Quinn waited four hours hoping to obtain a marriage license for the couple, she said. When the courthouse closed, she trudged off, vowing to return Monday to try again. And minutes after she'd driven off, the judge's ruling came down, making it likely that Quinn and many other gays will be lining up Monday morning outside the office of Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown. The plaintiffs, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, are raising three special needs children together and want to get married. The also want to adopt each others’ children, but can’t because Michigan doesn’t allow same-sex couple adoptions. Rowse has two preschool-age boys; DeBoer has a 3-year-old daughter. The two women filed their lawsuit in January 2012, initially raising only the adoption issue but then challenging the gay marriage prohibition as well. Unlike most federal judges who have taken up the gay-marriage issue, Friedman opted last fall to hold a trial and give both sides the chance to present their arguments and scientific evidence – the bulk of which focused on same-sex parenting studies and child outcomes of children raised in such family structures. The state’s experts said that their studies show that children of same-sex couples have poorer outcomes than kids raised by married moms and dads. The plaintiffs’ studies showed no such findings. “Gays and lesbians and same-sex couples are just as confident, loving, nurturing and capable as their heterosexual counterparts,” attorney Dana Nessell, one of several plaintiffs’ lawyers in the case, argued during the trial. “ These loving couples deserve the right to marry and to adopt their children.” The plaintiffs also argued that child outcomes should have nothing to do with marriage rights, noting that there is no requirement for people to have kids in order to have a marriage license. The state argues that the voters of Michigan already have spoken on the issue and that their decision should stand. “The people of the state of Michigan should be allowed to decide Michigan law,” state attorney Kristin Heyse argued in court. Nessell said the patchwork of legislation involving same-sex marriage has led to chaos, specifically for same-sex couples who are legally recognized in one state, but then move to another and have no legal recognition. It’s especially problematic come tax time, she said, noting same-sex couples, depending on where they live, have to file separately because their marriage isn’t recognized. “This has to be resolved,” Nessell said. “This can’t continue. You can’t have this patchwork system anymore.” http://www.freep.com/article/20140321/NEWS06/303210121/Judge-strikes-down-Michigan-ban-gay-marriage-unconstitutional

AS- Zip must mean the topic of Cancer and the topic of Capricorn. The searchers think they have found wreckage that might be MH370 in the Indian Ocean somewhere near Australia. What never be known if why. Best regards, RA1

I guess I am just too left of this issue to let sleeping dogs lie. But, having been in the business of escorts for 20 years, I can tell that that escorts and clients are positive and you never know what you are going to get. They will not tell you. Assume that every partner you have is positive and then weigh the risks of sex with them. If you decide you will not have sex with anyone that is positive, join a convent. Give up gay sex totally. You will fail. If you decide that you want to have safe sex with someone that might be positive, then your numbers of potential partners are greater. If you decide to bareback with anyone and don't care if they are positive or not, then you have to accept the responsibility of that decision. I hate when others make decisions for me and I do not wish to tell others what to do sexually. Do what you are comfortable with. If you only want safe sex blow jobs, then go for it. If you want a bareback blow job, go for it. If you want anal sex with or without a condom and you have a consenting partner, go for it. You decisions about what and how you have sex are your business and not mine or anyone elses. As for me, I am still HIV Negative after over 20 years of coming out of the closet. If I choose to have sex with someone, I weight all the risks involved and then I made a decision that I can live with. If I go to a sauna and have sex with a guy that has had sex with 200 guys this month, I make a calculated risk assessment. If a sauna boy asks me how many partners I have been with, I'll be honest with him and tell him over 5,000. He can then decide if he wishes to have sex with someone who is more of a whore than he is. But, in the end, anyone who has sex with men is taking a risk. Hell, if you are having sex with women, you are taking a risk. If you wish zero risks, go to Thailand, join a Buddhist Temple and maintain your celibacy (hard to do with cute Thai monks). OK. Guys, I have said my peace. Have at me!

The whole fascination with the mystery is in itself fascinating. I haven't been watching the news that closely but I imagine it is a major topic there. Realized how much it is a focus of attention when I got an email from SiriusXM about a special program on the matter: Malaysia Air Mystery – A Listener Roundtable Tonight 6:00 pm ET SiriusXM's David Webb hosts an interactive special dedicated to connecting listeners to experts in the fields of aviation, intelligence, national security and more as it relates to the what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. I suppose human nature to speculate as someone else has mentioned. I may just listen in to hear what people are saying, especially the "experts".

If you're lucky.

Congrats!

Minsk or Bust!

Or possibly both.

Hey. But what do I know. I'm just an ignorant favela dweller who is totally out of the loop on what goes on down here. A broken down beach bum, if you will. But hey, I feel great post heart surgery. Haven't been this feisty in years. Not sure if it is due to my much-improved health(first time off heart medications in 17 years) or all of the great sex with the hot Brasilian boyfriend.

Not sure why I expect Minsk and Pinsk to be up next for reconquest by Putin.

Oh stop already. Nao mijar na minha bota e me disse que esta chuvendo. I say this to Cariocas and after about thirty seconds of thought they crack up laughing. HI-LAR-I-OUS!!! In this day and age, and after the past thirty plus years, do we still need the lectures and even more, do we need these unsubstantiated rumors? And if Mr. You-Know-Who really wanted someone, he could afford to pay whatever it took too turn whoever's head, even PR2K's fantabulous, straight-as-SF's Lombard Street,the Marvelous Marcelo. The boys might protest publicly but in private they are bidness whores turning tricks to pay the rent, support the girl friends and kids. sometimes tuition bills. And lest we forget, supplements and steroids. Translation: Don't piss in my boot and tell me it's raining.

Possibly the biggest secret this side of Jodie Foster's orientation.