mvan1

Researchers for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority found over 200 dead crows near greater Boston recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu. A Bird Pathologist examined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's relief, confirmed the problem was definitely NOT Avian Flu. The cause of death appeared to be vehicular impacts. However, during the detailed analysis it was noted that varying colors of paints appeared on the bird's beaks and claws. By analyzing these paint residues it was determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, while only 2% were killed by an impact with a car. MTA then hired an Ornithological Behaviorist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills. He very quickly concluded the cause: When crows eat road kill, they always have a look-out crow in a nearby tree to warn of impending danger. They discovered that while all the lookout crows could shout "Cah", “Cah” “Cah” not a single one could shout "Truck."

Earlier this year, Sauna Lagoa’s entrance rates were discussed in this forum. Among other things, Lagoa had a special Monday night entrance rate of R$35 if a sauna visitor paid in cash or with a debit card. If a credit card was used, the rate was R$60. During my last trip, Rodolfo (the sole owner) discontinued the Monday night special. In short, all nights now have the same rate of R$50 if paid in cash or debit card. If paid by credit card, the entrance rate is R$60. Rodolfo might restore the Monday night special after he learns that Monday night returns to another “dead” (fraco) night like it was before he had the special rates for Monday. Last Monday had around five clients and only about ten garotos, all of whom should consider a different occupation. See this for prices and a little more about Lagoa: http://www.thermaslagoa.com.br/precos.htm and http://www.thermaslagoa.com.br/thermas.lagoa.htm -

- See post # 30 above for details The fact that you will be in Brazil next week should not be a cause of concern for you. As I wrote earlier, I was in the wrong place at the time of the incident. Probability wise, you will be able to visit Brazil without any problems. You have statistics on your side.

What a shame you felt compelled to cancel your scheduled July trip to Brazil. I had a mugging during my last trip and I left Brazil earlier than I initially planned. I did not leave early because of fear of being in Brazil. I left early because I had obvious bruises and I got tired of people asking about the bruises that I sustained in the mugging. Even though it has been ten days since the incident, I still have bruises and a prominent black eye. That mugging incident was the only such incident, for me, in more than eleven years of repeatedly visiting Brazil and more than one hundred different trips to Brazil. While I intend to be more cautious while visiting Brazil in the future, I have no intention of canceling my future trips, one of which, is scheduled for next month. You wrote "Too many wonderful places in the world to travel where you need not be concerned for your life" then you included Colombia in your list of countries. For the record, Colombia has just as bad or worse a crime rate as does Brazil. Killings of motorists in car jacking are common in Colombia, according to news reports and the U.S. State Department. You further wrote, "Granted if saunas are your thing then Brazil rules." I have to disagree with you here. While the saunas in Brazil are great, the Sauna Thermas in Barcelona is just as fine as Lagoa in Sao Paulo or Clube 117 in Rio. Sauna Thermas in Barcelona was renovated a couple of years ago and is very clean and cheerful. Most of the employees at that sauna are extremely friendly. The place is open 24 hours each day and there are usually many rent boys available. The entrance price for the sauna is less than the entrance prices in Brazil. Prices for the rent boys are slightly higher in price than those in Brazil but the location (Europe versus South America) explain the price differential. Statistically, there is no need to be “concerned for your life” while visiting Brazil as there is only a small chance of something negative happening to visitors. Those who limit taking chances lose out on so many things. The ironic part is, statistics show there is a greater chance of being injured at home or in a local traffic accident than the risk of being injured at a vacation destination, including Brazil. “The reason airfares are plummeting and Hotel rates are way down is because the average person has decided it is not safe to travel there.” For a short period of time the airfares to Brazil were extremely low. The reason is partly due to low fuel costs and other reasons not disclosed by the airlines. However, as of now, the low fares have stopped and the fares have resumed to the normal fares. I cannot imagine any reputable airline lowering its fares to Brazil because it is not safe to travel there. If that were the case, there would be lawsuits galore against airlines in the event of a tourist being injured in Brazil. As to hotel rates being down, I have to disagree with you on that. While in Rio, I stay at the Marriott and have done so for many years. The rate has varied over time but is generally in the middle two hundred dollars for each day. I would not call that rate low. When the U. S. dollar was trading at less than 2 -1, of course rates were higher. The favorable exchange rate has caused the hotel rates to mitigate a large part of Brazil’s inflation. Bottom line, I think you like Thailand rather than Brazil. There is nothing wrong with that. We all like different things. If we were all the same and we only liked one thing, what a deadly dull world this would be.

During the past several months, several threads have discussed negative changes in connection with visiting Brazil. Crime and inflation were the most important items. However, last night when I went to the airport to catch my flight home from Brazil, I checked in at my airline and got a boarding pass. Note that Americans cannot check in on line in Brazil. After obtaining my boarding pass, I walked toward the security point. As I got closer to the security access point, I noticed long disorganized lines of people blocking access to security. This was odd, especially for an early Thursday evening. The disorganized lines backed up into the corridor of the airport. The lines moved slowly. Finally, after almost one hour, I was able to see the actual security area where passengers place their carry on luggage then pass through a metal detector. I could finally see the reason for the bottleneck of people trying to get through the security process. For the first time in all my trips to Brazil, all passengers were told to remove their shoes! They were not told of the shoes off requirement until they actually got to the conveyer belt where they place their carry on objects to be scanned. The shoes off thing was time consuming and unexpected. As I looked around the area, I saw hundreds of people removing their shoes only to return to the scanner and put their shoes through the x-ray scanner then wait for their shoes to put them back on again. After the scanning was done, some passengers had to wait for a place to sit so they could tie their shoe laces. All the while, the lines got longer. I asked a few agents why the shoes off policy began. I was told that Brazil is exercising its "reciprocity" authority because Americans make Brazilians take off their shoes when Brazilians pass through American security in the U.S. I stated to the agents that not all passengers going through the Brazilian security are Americans but they are still required to remove their shoes. All I got were a few shrugs from my questions. In addition to the long lines and unnecessary waste of time, the worse thing about the shoe nonsense is preventing people from going out to their planes on time. During the silly “security” process, representatives from various airlines came out to the crowds that were waiting in line and shouted out certain flight numbers and certain destinations. They did this because many passengers were stuck in line and were about to miss their flights. Passengers were told to identify themselves if they were on specific flights being announced. These passengers were given priority clearance because their flights were due to depart while they were still in the so-called security process. I recall, more than ten years ago in Brazil, there was a similar “reciprocity” arrangement (payback) at Brazilian immigration against Americans visiting Brazil. This had to do with a requirement to fingerprint and photograph all foreigners visiting America. All foreigners (including Brazilians) had to be fingerprinted and photographed when they visited the U.S. A judge in Brazil got angry over that American requirement and ordered immigration in Brazil to fingerprint and photograph only Americans out of what Brazil called “reciprocity.” That childishness ended after a few months. I wonder how long the shoes off policy with last. I suspect the shoes off policy will end after airlines complain that the boarding process cannot begin on time because passengers are unnecessarily delayed in security. One positive thing at Brazil immigration is the fact that passengers are no longer selectively harassed at the boarding gates to have their carry on luggage inspected. Such a silly process accomplished nothing except to prevent passengers from finding overhead space for their carry on luggage. One would think that since Brazil is having such a rough time economically and it is getting such a bad name in the press because of the high crime rate and high inflation, Brazil would not behave in such a childlike manner when it comes to requiring all passengers to remove their shoes merely because such a requirement originated in the U.S.

Really, the last one - Dear Abby, I've suspected that my son is a homosexual, and when confronted with the evidence, he denied everything and said it would never happen again.

And, finally (again) Dear Abby, My mother is mean and short tempered I think she is going through mental pause.

Too many? Dear Abby, My forty year old son has been paying a psychiatrist $150.00 an hour every week for two and a half years. He must be crazy.

Yet, another - Dear Abby, A couple of women moved in across the hall from me. One is a middle-aged gym teacher and the other is a social worker. These two women go everywhere together, and I've never seen a man go into or leave their apartment. Do you think they could be Lebanese?

And, perhaps another silly comment: Dear Abby, You told some woman whose husband had lost all interest in sex to send him to a doctor. Well, my husband lost all interest in sex and he is a doctor. Now what do I do?

Speaking of JOKES - Dear Abby, I have a man I can't trust. He cheats so much, I'm not even sure the baby I'm carrying is his.

Another scoundrel has been caught and is on his way back to serve his sentence - http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/italian-mob-boss-pasquale-scotti-arrested-in-brazil/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRioTimes+%28The+Rio+Times%29

The above quote came from my post # 30 above in the 4th paragraph. Let me begin with a word that I find fascinating because the word has such strong meaning and applies to what I have written below. The word is wonderfully demonstrative. The word was originally a Yiddish word that has gained acceptance in the English language. The word is chutzpah = shameless audacity; impudence; nerve Remember, above I quoted a section of my earlier post that mentioned one of my favorite sauna boys being arrested over the weekend for mugging an English tourist. I did not mention that the tourist was a gay tourist that had been trying to engage the sauna boy for a brincadeira. Anyway, here is where chutzpah is appropriate: Tonight I received a collect phone call from the sauna boy who had been arrested, and remains in jail. Incredibly, he asked me to pay for a lawyer to represent him in his court case where he will be charged (as a second offense) in the mugging and robbery of the tourist. He said that if I did not pay for a good lawyer for him, I would not see him for a long time. After what he did to that English tourist, I don't want to see him ever again. Obviously, because of what he did, I refused to hire a lawyer for him. For some strange reason, the sauna guy does not realize what a turn off it is to me for him to have mugged a gay tourist. The sauna guy told me he did it because he needed the money. I say nonsense. Three hours prior to mugging the Englishman, the sauna guy had spent time with me. He had plenty of money. Later tonight, the sauna guy's wife called me also pleading that I hire a lawyer for the sauna guy. Her pleas were self serving. I ended the phone call asking her not to call me again. chutzpah

My experience has shown that my method for choosing cabs is efficient, for me. While it is true there are more scams in Rio, I never had a problem with my method of selecting a cab there either. We each have to do what is most comfortable for each of us under the circumstances.

Is this place still used by many posters to the forums? I stayed there more than ten years ago and it was only tolerable because of the liberal visitor policy. In the interim, all one needs do is read the reviews of this hotel on Tripadvisor. According to most reviews, the place is nasty and is in terrible disrepair. Some guests reported that their belongings were stolen by employees of the hotel. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g303506-d307969-Reviews-Atlantico_Copacabana_Hotel-Rio_de_Janeiro_State_of_Rio_de_Janeiro.html/BackUrl#REVIEWS When I visit Rio I stay at a different hotel. Every now and again I pass by the Atlantico Hotel. At night, one-third of the lights showing the name of the hotel are burned out. The burned out lights tell a lot about this run down hotel.

Is this place still used by many posters to the forums? I stayed there more than ten years ago and it was only tolerable because of the liberal visitor policy. In the interim, all one needs do is read the reviews of this hotel on Tripadvisor. According to most reviews, the place is nasty and is in terrible disrepair. Some guests reported that their belongings were stolen by employees of the hotel. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g303506-d307969-Reviews-Atlantico_Copacabana_Hotel-Rio_de_Janeiro_State_of_Rio_de_Janeiro.html/BackUrl#REVIEWS When I visit Rio I stay at a different hotel. Every now and again I pass by the Atlantico Hotel. At night, one-third of the lights showing the name of the hotel are burned out. The burned out lights tell a lot about this run down hotel.

Initially, I thought the incident was merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That is only partially accurate. I am a firm believer of statistics and probabilities. Statistically, considering the potential dangers in Brazil together with the number of times I have visited Brazil, I was long overdue for an unpleasant incident to occur. This belief makes the incident seem less traumatic to me. I am generally cautious and aware of my surroundings. I would not enjoy myself if I felt it necessary to constantly look over my shoulder for potential muggers. This would detract from my enjoyment in Brazil. As I wrote, due to the current rise in crime in Brazil, travelers need to be aware that there is currently a major economic recession in Brazil with lots of unemployment. The unemployment means that countless people have no jobs and have no regular source of income. Most guys have families to support. Not being able to support one's family creates a potentially explosive situation. With hundreds of thousands of jobs lost in Brazil just this year, it doesn't take a genius to realize the clear and present danger to tourists or to anyone, for that matter. As to taxis, it is possible to ask the guys at the sauna "check out desk" to call a taxi for you. In addition to the saunas calling a cab for you, it is sometimes possible to get an upscale restaurant to call a taxi for you. Also, depending on the city you visit, hailing a cab from the street is relatively safe provided you pick a cab that has a light on the roof of the vehicle. I have never had a major problem with taxis in Brazil. However, I once had a taxi driver with a bogus meter that was obvious. Each block we went, the meter increased one or two reais. Had I not protested to the driver, the typical ride of R$20 would have been R$200 with the rigged meter. That was an isolated instance. I have found that most cab companies in Brazil are reasonably honest. Also, there are many taxi stands in Brazil near hotels and major attractions. Normally, you can find a taxi at a stand unless it is late at night. Once again, visit Brazil with great enthusiasm. However, be aware of the potential threats created from Brazil's horrible inflation and recession. -

Although I believe that your advice is well intended, I hope you really don't mean for people who expressed concern, to stay away from Brazil. There is no question, Brazil has changed for the worse since the recession hit. I see it and I saw first-hand. Countless young men are curently without work due to the recent and major economic recession in Brazil. Even young men who are not street people resort to stealing and street mugging if they have families to support and have no money for necessities. Wives and children cannot go without food. Rent must be paid. Some formerly peaceful guys resort to desperate measures to feed their families. One of my favorite saunas guys was arrested over the weekend for mugging an English tourist. Furthermore, hobos on the streets have become more aggressive. More so than I ever saw in my many trips here. I did encounter some street guys last week but I was not bothered by them. However, for the first time in 124 trips to Brazil, I got mugged the other night. Fortunately, my injuries will heal but the injuries are quite obvious. I get a lot of questions from people, such as "what happened to you?" particularly when they see the black eye I got from the incident. It was simply a matter of my being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even though I am cutting my current trip short because of the incident, I have every intention to return to Brazil in early July. Obviously, the mugging will heavily influence my behavior while in Brazil now and in the future. After I return to Brazil, I will change my pattern of getting to and from the places I visit. I will use more cabs than I previously did. I find it very convenient to go to the saunas and other places via the Metro and walk only a few blocks. It was during one of those short walks that I got accosted by street thugs. There are a lot of young street people wandering around aimlessly even in good parts of the cities. Many of the guys appear to be on drugs. If a non street person happens to cross their path, obviously, it is not a pretty picture. Brazil remains a great place to have a wonderful time. As I wrote, I will return. Unfortunately, at the present time, the economy in Brazil is on the skids which puts lots of potentially dangerous people out of work and in need of money. Just be careful while visiting this splendid country and its wonderful people.

Many things have changed in the past few months as well as past couple of years with respect to obtaining a tourist visa to visit Brazil. Except for one in-person visit at a consulate office, almost everything is now automated. You no longer have to go pick up your visa/passport like you did only last year. It is mailed to you. The section of the application that asks for a contact in Brazil is not critical for being correct, as most tourists stay in hotels and are transient. Tomcal's advice is propitious and should answer that section of the visa application. Below is a link to the Brazilian web site that answers all your questions related to obtaining a tourist visa. Be sure to pay attention to the section where it tells you WHERE or which consulate office to apply for your visa (based on your residency). Please observe the warning in the visa instructions in that if you attempt to have your visa processed at the incorrect consulate office, your visa application will not be processed. Depending on which consulate office is assigned to you, the processing time is different. You can use an agency to obtain your visa but you are going to pay upwards of around $200.00 for their services. Here is the link: http://cgwashington.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/visa_application_form.xml -

Initially, I had planned not to respond to the issue of crime in Brazil. I did not want to scare off future visitors. However, considering that ihpguy already raised the issue, and others responded, it is only fair that I offer my first-hand observation of the situation. Here is an article that discusses the killing of the doctor that ihpguy mentioned: http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/cyclist-stabbed-at-rios-lagoa-died-from-his-injuries/? By the way it is not only Rio with problems of violence and unemployment. At the present time, there is a real crisis in Brazil. The economy and crime are out of control. I am in Sao Paulo again and the streets are filled with more homeless people than I have ever seen in prior trips. My favorite upscale restaurant where I often have lunch had only a fraction of the number of patrons normally seen on Friday around noon. The drop in business is clearly a result of unemployment. Last night while returning from a market, three guys came up to me claiming that they had no money and no food. They were not threatening. They were desperate. I felt so bad for them that I gave them the groceries I was carrying plus some cash. I cannot help but wonder what they would have done (if anything) had I not been so gracious to them. During my many trips to Brazil, I became friends with several garotos that I previously met in the saunas. Most of these garotos had jobs and worked the sauna to supplement their day jobs. Each and every garoto I have known for a number of years is now unemployed. Good grief - what does that say for the economy of Brazil! The news is filled with stories about rampant inflation in Brazil and demonstrations are frequent attempting to oust President Dilma because of the horrible economy. She did not cause the problems. The people just want the problem solved. I certainly don't know the solution to Brazil's problems. I do think that the warning placed by ihpguy is appropriate, especially under the present situation in Brazil. Face it, when hungry, poor, strong young unemployed males see gringoes walking around with money, how tempting it must be to relieve the gringo of his assets (or his life). Informed visitors should raise their level of caution. -

"You have not been to Brazil in what? 12 or more years or more ago but you are a authority on the saunas there....hmmm Have you thought that there are a significant number of gay men that are not sexually attracted to Asians and particularly the effeminine types that you like?" In two days, I will be returning to Brazil for my 124th trip. I visit Brazil every five or six weeks and spend between two weeks and one month each time I visit there. What caused you to believe that I have not been to Brazil in 12 years? You have me confused with someone else because I am "not sexually attracted to Asians and particularly the effeminine types that you like?" It is the masculine garotos that attracts me to Brazil, not the effeminate guys you alleged. "You have jumped into the Brazil forum to talk about Thailand on more then one occasion!" Not only did you confuse me with another person and get facts all twisted and incorrect, you don't even know that this is not the Brazil forum, it is the Asian forum. This forum is generally a place of entertainment or a place to disseminate information or to help other forum users. However, your post fails to fall within the foregoing categories. Instead, your post is down right inaccurate and it makes no sense. Your post should be an embarrassment to you.

"Unfortunately you don't know what you are talking about . The girlie clubs get harassed way more then the Gay Clubs and it is just for the police to pad their pockets. Visitors are never bothered except for drugs and under age prostitution which they should be and would certainly be harassed in the USA etc for any of those type of situations." Unfortunately, you don't know what you are talking about with respect to my post. You failed to "connect the dots" because more than one thought was presented in my post and the subject matter in my post (police harassment) is related to all three countries (Thailand, Spain and Brazil). Even if the visitors are not "bothered" by the Thai police, the mere fact that the police enter the premises and speak with the visitors creates anxiety for them. "The customer is never harassed unless you consider asking for his passport to be harassment." Yes, I do consider it harassment if a customer visits an establishment and the police enter and ask to see a visitor's passport. There is no logical purpose accomplished by the police in asking a customer for his passport, except to harass. "All the newspaper clipping you posted have nothing to do with Thailand. So why even mention them . This Forum is about Asia and what goes on in Spain or Brazil can be posted in the Forum that is for those areas." Your above comment again confirms that you dropped the ball and again failed to connect the dots. If you still don't see the relationship of the information I presented, I suggest you focus on something else. Oh, and thank you for your response.

Thanks for expanding on your posts concerning the police in Thailand. You mentioned that police also target clubs in Ft. Lauderdale, in the U.S. " looking for underage, drugs, prostitution." Maybe I am just lucky but I have not been in a gay bar or a club in the U.S. that had the police enter looking for those type of things. During my many trips to Brazil and visits to the saunas, I have never been present during a police raid. I know of only one such raid that happened more than eight years ago involving Sauna Alterosas in Sao Paulo. That sauna was raided because a church moved in across from the sauna and the church people did not like a male brothel just across the street from the church. Shown below is a photo of one newspaper article that depicts how the police lined up sauna customers against a wall in the sauna. How degrading it must have been for the patrons and garotos to have their photo appear on television news and in various news papers. Luckily, I was not at the sauna the day the church people called in the police. The only time I personally witnessed a situation that involved police harassing the gays was in Madrid, a few years ago. At that time, there was a campaign to round up hustlers who were foreigners that over stayed their allotted time to be in Spain. The cost of police salaries and police equipment to maintain such a campaign seems difficult to understand given the depressed economy of Spain. For a few days of the campaign to catch the illegal hustlers, there was a "paddy wagon" of sorts parked outside of Adan sauna. The police presence not only kept away the illegal hustlers (for fear of being arrested), clients stopped visiting the sauna because most of the hustlers were foreign and did not show up to work at the sauna. Police raids are not going to stop illegal hustlers in Spain and police raids will not stop illegals hustlers in Thailand, either. I don't see how anyone could call police presence in a gay club anything except harassment. Bottom line - I remain surprised at the police raids in Thailand and, given the above facts, perhaps I was a bit harsh by making it appear that police harassment is limited to Thailand. -

These low fares are a first time. They could change at any time. If you wait until next week to make a purchase, there is no guarantee that the low fares will still be available. Tickets are purchased on line. These fares might be available next week but then again, a bird in the hand et cetera. -

Not only integral, but bright and witty. -