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I look at what I'm spending on 2 or 3 yearly trips to Thailand as a retirement supplement. When I can no longer travel, those funds will be available for aging in place in the US. But while I'm able to travel I plan/hope to travel.

A friend tells me that Bangkok Massage in now open for business and that there were about 10 guys outside the shop Wednesday night.

There is not a candidate that I support for President beyond Mayor Pete, but I think his chances are slim. I have no second choice..

They are effectively "night shift" workers, and therefore sleeping later into the day is just the way it is. It's only fair and appropriate to understand that. When I do find a guy who is more of a daytime person, he quickly moves into the "keeper" category.

When comes to "oversleeping" I treat my guys the same way I treat guests at my home - they can stay in the bed as long as they want but can't expect me to limit my daytime activities. So at breakfast time they have choice of going with me or staying in the bed until I return. They were takers for either option. I don't have problem leaving boy alone in my room perhaps because I never had anything missing. That's a big part of Thailand's charm for me

117 Tuesday was ok with many boys. Not many new faces ... Today is Pointe of course. Day spent on Ilha de Paqueta. 1 hour by boat. Nice trip in the Bay. Ilha de Paqueta coast is 8 km long. No car on this island. Either walk or rent a bike or use taxibike. Some comments of visitors are very negative (dirty beaches, unpleasant people, bad food). I do not agree. Of course there are some plastics but the beaches are cleaned. Ofcourse since the island is on the bay, difficult to be sure of the quality of the water ... It is fun the spend the day there. The boat trip by itself (12.6 R$ for the return ticket) is already a great experience particularly the return when you head towards Rio harbour. Walking around the island is nice. Lots of flowers, typical houses, nice scenaries ... For food, you can get executive dish for 20 R$. Not to be missed of course the unexpected free sex. It is quiet and relaxing to spend a day there. And of course very safe. No risk of being robbed

RISQUE RIO RENDEVOUS Another FAN-fucking-tastic TRIP TO Rio in the History Books for my husband and I. We planned this trip about 8 months ago and used kayak, skyscanner and hopper to monitor the prices for direct flights out of Miami until we saw a cheap price that we liked. Fortunately, within the 1st month, we found affordable tickets at $661 non-stop/round trip out of Miami. The apps used to monitor the flights are very useful, but I never book through the apps. Once the app sends me the alert that the price has changed, I book directly through the airline site and book the tickets. We stayed at a beautiful one bedroom apartment with washer/dryer, kitchenette, living, dining room and a nice bathroom. The apartment is in Copacabana and surrounded by tons of restaurants, shops, pharmacies and other stores. The building has a 24 hour attendant and we were allowed as many guests as we wanted and boy did we have a parade of hot, Brazilian men parading through our apartment. We flew out of Miami Wednesday, July 10th, and arrived in rio the next morning, Thursday, at 8:30 a.m. We were allowed to check in early because I actually book the Airbnb for July 9th to ensure that no one else would be in the apartment and my husband and I wouldn’t have to wait until 3 or 4 p.m. on our day of arrival to check in. Before we arrived in rio I was in contact with one of my boytoy bff’s who is now my boytoy brother or BTB for short. Hes now my BTB because he’s trashy, nasty and has an insatiable appetite for hot men just like I do. My BTB, @luvlatinmuscle had been in rio the week prior to me arriving. Before he left for his trip I was telling him what I knew about rio, sharing information about the saunas and with the permission of the guys in rio, giving him their numbers so he could have some of the best sex of his life while he was there. I also insisted that he got numbers of some sexy guys while he was at the saunas and share those Brazilian contacts for me as well. While my trampy BTB was in rio he was sending me messages and cropped photos of guys about his trysts at the saunas and his hotel. OMG!!!! He was messages and photos had me hard and wet. Lol! I have a few hot guys who I really like to spend time with in rio, but im always up for finding new dicks to ride into the sunset. Lol! One particular guy he sent photos of, we nicknamed the INCREDIBLE HULK. This nickname is so appropriate for this guy because he has a body like Lou Ferigno in the old INCREDIBLE HULK television series from the 70’s. the INCREDIBLE HULK and I chatted before I arrived, but I needed to first see my INTERNATIONAL HUSBAND, SUPERMAN. We will call him Superman because I bought him a long sleeve superman fitted shirt to cover his tattoos while my husband took pics and videos of him tearing me a new one. He knows what I like and fucks me like the $2 dollar whore that I am. I am crazy about this guy because he is what one might consider a Barbie, but he definitely doesn’t have an attitude. Also, he will fuck you for hours, give you milk and make sure you CUM without rushing or pressuring you for more money. He is my INTERNATIONAL HUSBAND. I really like this guy because hes the sexiest guy in the club and is so damn humble and gracious. Superman was scheduled to arrive at noon. He gets to the apartment, disrobes, showers enters the bedroom naked. We fucked for about 45 minutes. He always, Always, always gives me his SUPER MILK and keeps his dick in me and fucks me until I cum. Him pounding while my husband sucks my nipple feels so AMAZING. The INCREDIBLE HULK arrived at 3:30. This guy is HUGE. BODY AND DICK! Hes a little intimidating, but one of the sweetest guys you will ever meet in rio. My husband decided to sit this one out and watch television in the living room. I shut the bedroom door, The hulk and I started to play with each other and Within seconds his dick was ROCK hard. THIS GUY is a BEAST IN BED. He fucked me for 50 minutes straight. I had to make him get off because he was like the energizer bunny and my hole was throbbing from the pounding he was giving me. His hands are huge. I didn’t know how big his balls were until he started to fuck me and while he was pounding my ass, his balls were slamming into my body. I reached under him while he was fucking me and had begun to play with his BIG BALLS. I love when im being fucked and I can feel the guys balls being slammed into my body. He also grabbed my neck with his huge hands and applied pressure. Ive never been into being chocked while getting fucked but this guy does this and it feels so euphoric. He removed his hands from around my neck after about 5 seconds. I grabbed his hands and put them back around my neck forcefully and told him I like it in Portuguese. He pounded my ass and choked me intermittently throughout our session. It was INCREDIBLE. After our first session, I had this guy come over twice daily. Once in the morning and again at 11 p.m. when he would leave the gym. When the INCREDIBLE HULK left my husband told me that the guy is VERY STRONG because as he was fucking me, the windows in the kitchen were rattling. He told me it was so hot just to hear me moaning out load and also hearing the windows rattling as if someone was doing construction inside of the apartment. My husband actually masturbated while listening to all this. we went to club 117 Friday night and for some reason it wasn’t as crowded as it was when we were here in march. There were a lot of guys in 117, but it wasn’t the big crowd I expected. It is definitely a BUYERS/CLIENTS market in the saunas now. We were paying guys 100R X 2 at the saunas and 150R X 2 to come to the apartment. This was not the case when we were here for new years eve. The saunas were more crowded and the price of the guys in the saunas ranged from 120R – 200R. and 150R – 250R for them to come to your apartment. Of course we had guys to tell us they couldn’t come to the apartment for less than 250R, and we simply told them that we didn’t have that much money to pay. Two guys declined our offer to come over, but changed their minds after we ceased communication via whatsapp with them for 2 hours. When they realized we weren’t budging on out price, they agreed to our offer and came over. don’t get me wrong, the saunas had about 30 garatos there each night, it just wasn’t as crowded as it was for new years eve. During new years eve you could barely move through the saunas. It was a meat market during that time. You WONT BE disappointed if you go now as there are plenty of sexy men looking to please. Superman was the only guy from the saunas who knew we were coming in town for the 12 days. My husband and I decided not to tell any of the guys we played around with on our previous trips because some of them will hound you and expect you to solely be with them at the club. If you are new to the saunas, don’t make that mistake and get attached to one guy at the sauna. Keep your phone on you and get the whatsapp number to every guy you are interested in. almost all the guys charge a lower rate in the saunas, but charge a much higher rate to come to your apartment. the more numbers you have collected, the better your chances are of scoring a guy for a lot less money. Two of our regulars who we didn’t inform were noticeably upset with my husband and I when they saw us in the sauna, but wouldn’t go upstairs with them. Although we greeted them both with big smiles, handshakes and a kiss, they were not pleased that we would not go upstairs with them. some of the guys we knew didn’t give a shit and had no qualms about us not taking an interest in them for sex while in the sauna. When we walked into 117 Friday night we checked in, went downstairs to retrieve our towels, but didn’t strip naked. we decided to take our shirts off and leave on our shorts. I wore my cargo shorts and that was extremely convenient for me because I didn’t have to go back and forth downstairs to retrieve money, condoms, lube and poppers because they were in the bottom pocket of my cargo shorts. When I saw someone I liked, we went to the front desk, got a key, went upstairs, fucked and I paid them in the room afterwards. I followed my usual routine when I arrived at 117. The very first place I cruise is the video room. Oh my goodness! Im happy someone in a previous post suggested doing this. When I walked in all I heard were the guys banging their hard dicks in the palm of their hands. Those sounds are music to a tramps ears. We sat down on the red couch and watched each guy stroke his meat for our viewing pleasure. There were some pretty thick dicks inside the video and a few guys approached. All we did was get their whatsapp number and told them we will call them later. My husband is into the lighter skin Brazilian guys. I prefer mine darker and wanted to check the bar areas before I made my decision about which dick would open me up on my first night in rio. We leave the video room for the 1st bar and when I opened the door I fell in love. My prayers had been answered. There was a dark Brazilian (Black Beauty) sitting right at the door when I walked into the 1st bar. I spoke to him and the other escort he was sitting with at the table. I had seen and spoken with the lighter skin escort he was chatting with on previous trips, but he never turned me on in a sexual way. I sooooooooooo wanted the darker skin guy, but my lame ass was kinda apprehensive to speak to him because of the other escort sitting next to him. We made it outside to the back, smoking patio and there were a lot of guys there. There were no darker guys on the patio so I told my husband that the darker guy in the 1st bar was who I wanted. We walk back in the 1st bar and sit across from the dark guy. we hadn’t made eye contact until he got up to buy a drink from the bar. Once we made eye contact, I gave him a nod and blew him a kiss. He walks over to the table, we make our introductions, barter for his services (he said 150R. I told him 100R and he accepted) and the 3 of us went upstairs with our agreed upon price of 200R total. The sex was GREAT and we kept this guy in heavy rotation for 3 days straight. When we finished our session the hubby and I went back downstairs to collect more numbers. We skipped Saturday and Sunday night at the club. We played with THE HULK, SUPERMAN AND BLACK BEAUTY both days over the course of 72 hours. The would see one guy at noon, take a 3 hour break, see another guy, then another 3 hour break until we were fucked out. We also played with a few guys we met from previous trips. We arrived Thursday, when Sunday evening rolled around I lost all interest in sex. How could this be? I’ve always prided myself in being the ULTIMATE BOTTOM-WHORE! Fortunately, the lack of interest declined when we arrived at 202 Monday night. 117 is closed that night so most of the same boys head over to 202. It was crowded and very festive. Although my interest in sex had elevated, my stomach was not being too cooperative so I decided to just sit by the stage and collect numbers. I met an American guy there who I had seen in 117 a few days before. He’s 68 years old, had been in rio for 3 weeks and knew almost all the guys in the sauna. He was giving me the low-down on all the guys at the sauna as we sat and listened to the music. There was one guy I overlooked in the sauna that he had mentioned. He introduced the guy to me and we exchanged numbers. I wasn’t sure if id like the guy because the hulk, superman and black beauty had been giving my hole the attention it desired since I arrived in rio. Remember I mentioned earlier to not get attached to just one guy in these saunas? Well im glad I listened to my hungry hole and followed my own advice. i decided to invite the guy over later that night. my husband and I had sensed that the guy may have had a little attitude because he was young hung and beautiful and may have known how gorgeous he was. Boy oh boy, were we wrong. This 22 year old stallion came to the apartment and beat my hole like mike Tyson in the rink during his prime. His dick was like a long hard surf board and he made sure it was deep inside my hungry hole. As he stroked my hole I grunted like a pig being gutted alive. I had a video playing in the background with a straight guy fucking a hot woman in her ass. He watched this video while he fucked me and was making sexual sounds with his mouth while he watched the video and nailed my ass with his powerful strokes. I couldn’t even ride this guy the way I wanted to because when I got on top of him to ride, he started to pummel my ass while on his back. The icing on the cake was when after about 45 minutes of fucking I got into the missionary position. I told my husband to suck one nipple and play with the other one. The stallion had begun his amazing deep, penetrating strokes while my husband sucked my nipples and I jacked off while sniffing my poppers. After about 3 minutes of all this going on my body had begun to shake and I started to moan. I felt myself about to explode and everyone involved with making this happen knew I was about to pop. What I wasn’t prepared for was how much harder and deeper the stallion was going to go in me because he knew I was about to cum. what my husband and the stallion weren’t prepared for was how much nutt I was about to skeet all over the place. As I felt the nutt cumming through my dick I let out the loudest moan ever. My body began trembling and before I knew it, cum was all over the place. Some of The cum hit my husband in his face. He jumped up because he was startled. The stallion continued pounding until I pushed away from him. After this session with this young 22 year old I knew that I would probably never see superman, the hulk or black beauty again on this trip. We continued to see stallion each day, 2 times a day. I didn’t get a chance to get to the new sauna, but I heard from the older guy that the opening night was amazing and full of hot NEW GUYS! the weather here was amazing. Nice a cool. It rained 2 days in the morning, but cleared up both days by 4 p.m. it was actually a little chilly to the point where I had to to buy sweat pants. well it's time for us to head home. My hole cant take another dick because of the pounding its endured over the course of this trip. I hope you guys enjoy the videos and pics. Be well, fellas! 20190713_140120.mp4 20190718_111820.mp4 20190711_124921.mp4

The topic comes up from time to time and usually generates comments from both ends of the spectrum from committed butterflies to those in LTR's. Dodger, well known to members of all boards, has posted an impressive account of his first LTR on Gaybutton's site. What distinguishes it IMO is his honesty and openness. Regardless of where individual members fall on the spectrum, I believe that you'll be glad you read it. "I just returned from my first visit to my deceased boyfriend’s village since his death 7 years ago. I had been prolonging this visit for all these years for no other reason than to avoid sorrow, which, admittedly, is selfish on my behalf. Thep and I had spent two years building a house with the intentions that the lower level would be for his mother, sister, and two younger brothers to live, and upper level for us. The house is located in a small village 7 klms from the town of Kantharalak which sits on the Thai/Cambodian border. Just days after the house was completed, the monks were summoned to perform the house blessing ceremony, followed, almost immediately, by my departure to the U.S. to continue working. Unfortunately, Thep and I never had the chance to spend a night together in the house." Continues at https://gaybuttonthai.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9887&start=70

A CURE for the gay man’s, “LONELY BLUES” Ever get gravely bored, sit back and think to yourself, “damn is this what life is about?” if so, then it’s probably your fault and things will never change until you change. What I mean is, most of us don’t put ourselves out there or in situations to meet new people and have new, exciting experiences. I’m know I’m extremely blessed to have a wonderful husband I can travel, dine, eat with and do countless of other things, but before I met my husband I was very active in a lot of gay clubs and activities. When I say gay clubs I don’t mean the clubs you go to at night to hear loud, obnoxious house music all night long. Those kinds of clubs bored the shit out of me. believe it or not, when I would go to those clubs, even though I was surrounded by lots of people, I felt very alone. The type of clubs im speaking of are gay sports clubs. In Miami we have a ton of these clubs. These clubs reach far beyond Miami though and you probably have them in your city or state and just never heard of them. Ive been a long time member of the Miami gay tennis and softball clubs. They also have gay bowling, volleyball, kickball, flag football and gay swim leagues. Before I met my husband these clubs helped fill a void that I desperately needed to be filled. Ive made lasting friendships and close bonds with many of the guys in these leagues. Before you stop reading because you feel as though youre not athletically inclined to participate in these sports, give me a second and I will tell you why you don’t have to be athletically inclined to participate in any of these leagues. First of all, each league has different divisions. Lets say for instance, you are not the strongest or fastest in the aforementioned sports. It doesn’t matter because they can put you in a division that you would perfectly fit in and is more your pace. The A division is usually for the gay guys who could probably play the sport professionally. The D division is for novices and are played at a much slower pace. If youre body wont allow you to participate because of a bum knee, back or any other ailment, then you can volunteer for one of these leagues. They are always looking for board members and people to volunteer at LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTS. I always play the sports so ive never volunteered, but if you ask me the volunteers have the most fun because they get to meet everyone at these local, national and international tournaments. These tournaments are lots of fun because during the tournaments the governing board have sanctioned events at gay night clubs, a members home or at a park. There is food, drinks and a shit load of comradery. These teams are usually sponsored by many of the local gay bars and they have fundraisers at these bars to raise money for team uniforms and travels. The fundraisers are a blast also. These events have afforded me the opportunity to meet a lot of nice people and forge friendships that I never would have had I not joined these leagues. A lot of times were lonely because we chose to build walls instead of bridges. In my humble opinion, the gay softball league is probably one of the better leagues to join. They have the most amazing tournaments. If you don’t believe me just google gay softball league in Miami, California or atlanta then you will see just how widespread these leagues are. Also google HURRICANE SHOWDOWN. This is an AMAZING TOURNAMENT played up in ft lauderdale each year during thanksgiving weekend. If you don’t put yourself out there to meet new people and start new friendships then you only have yourself to blame. These leagues were organized by gays in order for us to meet people just like us. I decided to write this piece because my husbands shift has changed at work and now he leaves at 3 p.m. and works until about 11 p.m. this leaves me home alone for 8 hours until he returns. when Im home alone I do get the lonely blues, but I have solace in knowing my hubby will be home by 11:30. What about the gay guy who doesn’t have a husband coming home to them at night? These clubs cant guarantee you will find the man of your dreams, (although I know many guys who have actually met their husbands in one of these leagues), but trust me on this one guys, THESE CLUBS WILL HELP CURE THE GAY MANS LONELY BLUES. Especially, if you go into the league with an open mind and a calm, humble spirit. LIFE IS LIKE A PLATE OF FOOD. IN ORDER TO SPICE IT UP, YOU HAVE TO ADD THE INGREDIENTS TO SPICE IT UP!!!!!! P.S. I also bought a Playstation 4 to help kill time when the hubby is away!! Lots of fun! Be well, fellas!!!!!

Hey guys, i have been reading this forum for quite a few years already… mostly silently. I was and am fascinated of all the advice and your shared experience. My experiences in Thailand are quite different from the majority of the ones posted here. I am very lucky that Thai guys like how I look a lot; and therefore I do not need to pay for sex. While being average-to-ok-looking where I live (Germany), I am quite popular in Bangkok. I am 42 years old, a bit muscled, masculine and hairy. Many guys in SEA seem to find that quite attractive. As I come to Thailand 2-3 times a year for the last 7 years, I wanted to write a few times about my experiences and adventures. But I thought it would sound arrogant and rude though, like putting me "above" the other users. Especially the great posts of goldmember and the blog of Christian pfc, but also some recent posts of a few younger members, plus the kind reminder of vinapu not only to read the forum, but also to contribute, made me start writing… As my last time in Bangkok was in January, no fresh memories to share… I can only tell that It was - once again - awesome. I had one of the best threesomes with my boyfriend and a cute Chinese guy. I went to Babylon sauna with my friends on January 1st to detox from the party at dj station and GOD the night before and had good fun with a thai and a cambodian guy. I spent 1,5 hours of beautiful massage at prime almost every day. I Met my regular thai fuck buddy. And enjoyed the drag shows at stranger bar. After Bangkok, i went to Phuket, and was quite disappointed from the gay party scene compared to the last time i have been to patong some years ago. The Zag bar is about the only place you can go. And i did not like it a lot, as the Shows were ok, but not more. The Boat bar, my (former) favorite party place, is still there, but not really crowded until late. I am going to Bangkok again in October and will tell you how it was when I am back home. In the meanwhile, I just wanted to say hello and thank you for being the sharing community you are :-)

A woman, black, progressive and from a southern state, lol.....just what an old white moderate guy needs.

Thank God it does not have the range to do London - Bangkok. My selection criteria is different to the OP article and Vinapu. Apart from timings and price, aircraft type is an important criteria for me. If I'm not treating myself to Business then I'd rank them in the following order for long flights 1. A380 / A350 2. Increasingly rare 3 - 3 - 3 777s 3. 787 4. 3 - 4 - 3 777s Horrible 5. Any narrow body aircraft For 1 or 2 I'll pay more.

Well if Iran's president said it it must be true and correct.

Yes. I thought it was perfect for him....I guess that nickname really pisses him off, lol. I still, however, think he looks like a human turtle....

Boys playing on their phones whilst in bed with you - I definitely don’t like this. One night after sex I was ready for sleep - it was about 1 am. I always wake up around the same time as if I was back home - that is between 7 and 7.30, so I needed to get off to sleep. Initially it was 90% dark with only a little light from the bathroom door slightly ajar. Suddenly there was glare from his phone and when I looked over he was playing a game - I think candy crush. When I protested he was offended and said it was too early for him to sleep. The night finished with me telling him to go which he did. You gave to realise they live nocturnal lives and their body clocks reflect this causing problems like the one I describe.

Those are signs of poor management, ESPECIALLY at these small properties. My "claim to fame" as a hotel GM was raising guest satisfaction scores and REVPAR (revenue per available room)...whereas many managers concentrate on ADR (average daily rate). Also because of my management style, reduced employee turnover...happy employees = happy guests (normally) Many employees are lazy and find it easier to say, book on Agoda, Expedia, etc... than to do the actual work or look for a manager to approve the lower rate. On average is a 20 % commision and waiting 45-60 days to get paid, front line employees don't care, however, a manager should.....I sake my head when a manager declines to honor the lower rate and says book online, smh

If you're up for it, you can have a lot of fun at Siam Park City waterpark one day. Get wet With the new Blue Line MRT stations opening up, good old fashioned urban exploration is a bit easier for Chinatown/Old Town now. Also in the other direction entirely you can now get to the Erawan Museum by BTS. It's reasonably interesting and some nice photo ops. If your guy is even a little bit Buddhist he will usually appreciate a visit to Wat Saket/Golden Mount. Also, a selfie-worthy chance to make merit feeding the fishes at one of the river piers is always good and much appreciated. Oct. 13 is Ok Phansa (end of lent). Good day to make merit at a temple. There's a better-than-o.k. Thai restaurant called Steve Cafe & Cuisine by the river near Thewet Pier. Easy to get to by boat and then a short confusing walk, and there's a lovely nearby temple and cute little market so a nice opportunity to take a river boat and explore and have a good lunch. Steve Depending on when you're in BKK, there may be activities related to the Royal Barge Procession. The Charoenkrung Creative District gets better and more interesting every day. Lots of shops and galleries and especially cafes and restaurants to explore. Highly recommended. I enjoy Thai cooking classes as a fun daytime activity. It depends on how comfortable you and your guy are in a group activity. I really highly recommend Cooking With Poo & Friends. Poo

very , very wise advice

at least we know now there's no problem with visitors there

I’m the type who when checking review sites looks for the really negative reviews. They can be revealing...sometimes, one person’s dislikes can be exactly what I’m looking for.

The Agoda prices for Tarntawan are very low- about 60% of what they were when I was there in May. Or they were when I booked a few weeks back. I can't see them going much lower for Thai nationals. Perhaps it's an introductory offer owing to the change of management. An odd thing about Agoda (and perhaps other agencies) in Thailand. Sometimes, the prices undercut rack-prices by a huge amount; in other cases, the hotel offers better prices for direct booking. Jomtien's (excellent) Agate is in this second category.

And the piped-in 80s music is the best!  @SolaceSoul, yasssssssss! I forgot to mention the 80's music. I was there on my last visit a few weeks ago and another American guy with his family and I started singing and reminiscing about the songs being played while we ate breakfast.

If you plan to do more than sightseeing, Tokyo has at least 200 gay bars in the Shinjuku ni-chome district. But only a few of these will welcome foreigners. So do research beforehand. Check sites like https://www.travelgayasia.com/tokyo-gay-bars/ If you are into saunas, there is an excellent 24 Kaikan Sauna in the ni-chome district. There is an etiquette to sauna going in Japan. Let us know if this is where you choose and I can amplify. Shinjuku station is one of the busiest in the world and has seeming miles of underground shopping. Great for getting to ni-chome if its raining. Walk to Exit C8 a the BYGS Building. The bars are just around the corner, as are at least two of the escort host bars. Just dont expect much English to be spoken at the latter. There are also escort host bars where you can book the boy of your dreams online to come to your hotel. This can save a lot of time and trouble. This is Japan and so expect them to turn up on the dot. But one hour of fun will mean precisely that. Not a minute more. The great thing is that the websites give precise detail of every guy on their books, their age and stats and icons showing what they will or will not do when they are in your room. A page of one site is illustrated below. Last recommendation is get a good bilingual map. English is commonly used on signs but it is not universally spoken.

Despite U.S. Economic Success, Financial Anxiety Remains This Gallup data is an important companion piece to the post immediately above. There are two things in it I find fascinating. First, these days more than ever before people's perception of the economy is hugely partisan. And that is a real change from before. If you are a Republican, it tends to be the "best economy ever" - whether it actually is or not. If you are a Democrat, you see red lights flashing. And that's exactly the reverse of what it was under Obama, when Republicans thought the economy and our very Constitution were being destroyed day by day. The Gallup poll confirms that on every measure, there is a huge link between partisanship and perception of economy reality. Of the 27 % who say they have no economic concerns, 67 % approve of Trump. And 63 % of that group are Republicans. With the 49 % who who have one form or another of "immediate" cash flow concerns, it's exactly the opposite. Only 30 % of that group approve of Trump. And only 33 % percent of that group are Republican. So you do have to wonder. Are these people basing their view of their economic situation on whether they are a Democrat or Republican? Or are they a Democrat or Republican because of their view of their economic situation? Either way, these numbers explain why and how Trump can get kicked to the curb by Warren or somebody like her. And his race baiting and immigrant bashing won't help him - even though he'll sure try as hard as he can. If only 1 in 4 Americans say they have "no concerns" about things like cash flow or health care or long term financial security, there are HUGE cracks in Trump's support that are not measured by these top line economic numbers. We certainly learned that in the 2018 midterms. Some part of that was a referendum on Trump being a jerk, no doubt. But some part of it was about health care and all this economic anxiety that lies beneath Trump's "happy talk" and the race bashing. I think this is why both Warren and Sanders are both on to something, and it is working. And why ultimately if Biden's argument is lets just go back to 2008 or 2012, it ain't gonna work. And if Warren beats Sanders, I think this is why. Sanders, to his credit, is framing this in terms of what he's thought since Ronald Reagan was elected. Like Millennials, I give him a ton of credit for consistency and perseverance in sticking to a good set of core principles. But Warren is getting better and better in framing this in terms of what is happening right now. And why it is a result of the shitty leadership we have right now. So far, she's the only one doing that. Mayor Pete and Kamala Harris are saying great stuff, but to my ears it has not really been framed around emotional, gut level bumper stickers like Warren is doing - at least not yet.

The Coming Economic Crash — And How to Stop It By Elizabeth Warren I think Warren just took another big step forward to the nomination with this. Part of what makes it so powerful is that, as the link to a Politifact article points out, she got it more or less exactly right in 2005 and 2006 and 2007 when she warned about subprime and predatory lending. And how that would push us off the cliff. Which it did. If we are in recession by next November, it's a moot point. Trump's racism won't help him a bit. But I have to assume he's hoping that he can win by flogging a supposedly good economy, and then whip his base into a frenzy on racism. Including the part of his base that isn't doing so well, and who noticed that he didn't deliver on health care or manufacturing jobs. Warren more than anyone is the candidate that seems like she has thought it all through. And this answers the question: "What is your core motivation for running? What problem are you really trying to fix?" One of the themes that has reverberated for me all year so far among pundits I respect is "choice v. referendum". So two examples. Nicole Wallace of MSNBC said that when she worked for W. the key goal in the 2004 Prez race was to make it a choice, rather than a referendum on W. She said had it been a referendum on W., he would have lost. So they made it a choice between W. and flip flopper Swift Boater Kerry, with the idea that at least you knew where W. stood. Republican Alex Castellanos has made an argument that is similar. He sees 2020 shaping up to be a "Papa Bear" v. "Mama Bear" choice election. And by that he means Papa Bear stands for a good economy and being tough (Trump) and Mama Bear stands for goodies and handouts (some Democrat). He thinks Papa Bear (Trump) will win if that is the choice. So if you buy any of that, what is interesting about what Warren is doing (unlike Sanders, or anyone else), is that she is making this a referendum on greed and corruption and leaders that are leading us down the road to ruin, just like they did a decade ago. You can integrate into that all her "Mama Bear" stuff - like student debt relief, better wages, green manufacturing jobs. She is a poster child "Mama Bear", which is both a compliment because she is tough and fierce, and a concern because I don't think Castellanos is wrong. But I think this is an important part of the core argument she would need to make, if nominated. That this isn't just about freebies or giveaways. This is about seeing clearly that we are headed toward the edge of a cliff, just like we were a decade ago, and acting now to prevent it. The "choice v. referendum" dichotomy is a bit oversimplistic. 2020, like every election, will be some of both. But I think Wallace and Castellanos are right, in essence. Trump obviously agrees, since he is trying to make this a choice between capitalism v. socialism, or legal immigrants v. invading alien hordes with all the appropriate and racist not-too-subtle subtexts. I think Warren is on to the recipe for winning. Not only by taking on the Racist In Chief as such. But also on the fundamental issue of his stewardship of our economy.

I agree on both counts. Warren is my favorite. And I think (as Glaude said in that MSNBC piece above) the internal debate is actually good for the Democratic Party. It's democracy. We have an abundance of riches. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/?ex_cid=irpromo Here's another thing that I find interesting that relates to the points about Millennials and suburban left/centrists. As of today the polling shows that in all the early states (Iowa, NH, SC) and some of the key big states (CA, TX) Biden is still in the lead. (I'm referring to the July YouGov polls.) But Warren and Sanders and Harris are all now in this pack that is not far behind. As you say, Mayor Pete is still the queer alternative, but he's off in the distance. So in almost every case in the polls in these 5 states (except SC) if you add up the percentage of votes Warren and Sanders gets, it exceeds the percentage Biden gets. And also in almost every case these four candidates get over the 15 % hurdle it takes to get any delegates in the first place. I've been saying since January that I would not discount the possibility of a ticket with both Warren and Sanders on it. In January it looked more like it might be Sanders/Warren. Today it looks more like it might be Warren/Sanders. And I know that idea is horrifying to a lot of Democrats for a whole bunch of reasons. Two East Coast liberals? Please! But my two points would be this: 1) They may need to do it to get more delegates than Biden. That's what the numbers suggest as of today. 2) There have now been several good analytical pieces written about how their bases are very different. Want Millennials? Go Sanders! Want educated center/left suburban women? Go Warren! So there is some built in conflict, but there is also some built in compliment there in terms of bringing different people together. And as much as any two candidates, they have been allies with complimentary change platforms. And frankly, to show my bias, I'd rather have Warren be the # 1 because I just think she's smarter when it comes to policy, and she's proving it every day. Of course you could say the same about Warren and Harris, sort of. The data suggest their supporters are more similar. But it would be exciting to have a ticket with two women who have great ideas, great energy, and are aggressive as hell working to take down the Racist In Chief. The way this is playing out I'm hoping that some of these things are just going to sort themselves out. They often do. Including Trump hitting the panic button and just doing dumb shit, like his racist tweets, that lay thegroundwork for his own demise.