Mavica

I'd intended / wanted to be in Rio during that same period. I finally located an airfare (to Rio) that was palatable. Visiting Rio would result in pleasurable sex, more than I expect to encounter in Mexico City or here in Tampa Bay, FL. However, the determining factor for the choice of Mexico City is deep (non-sexual) friendships there. I have a 54-year long affinity with Mexico, including having lived in Mexico City previously. Friendships trump (no pun intended!) sexual escapades. So, I'll sacrifice the sex for the opportunity to maintain and enhance friendships. I'll try to get to Rio later this year.

I view the security issue differently, or think I understand the concerns ... as a USA born / resident but someone who has lived in several countries and traveled to many others. "exaggerate fears and paranoia" and "blind to the ridiculously violent culture they are immersed in" might themselves be exaggerations. In the cities we come from in our own countries - each of us - we know a lot more than we know about places we haven't been to before. We know, at home (most of us), where troubled spots are, where to stay away from, etc. For many years I lived in Chicago, but the areas I lived in were not insecure. Although the crime rate in Chicago is less than many other USA cities, there are neighborhoods / sections of the city where rates of crime and violence and deaths are dangerously high - and we know to stay from them. I would read of reports of tourists turning off highways into the "bad" neighborhoods looking for a gas station, a grocery store, or someplace to eat. Some were badly victimized. The challenge when we travel away from familiar areas is we don't know what we don't know. The personal safety / security concerns regarding Rio de Janeiro are well documented ... and reinforced by local residents cautioning tourists, hotel staff cautioning tourists, travel blogs and forums reporting on incidents of crime and harm and local residents cautioning visitors walking in sections of Rio ... to be careful. Some years ago travel forums for Rio saw many reports, first-hand witness reports, of individuals waiting for the tram up to Santa Teresa being mugged, robbed and badly injured by gangs. Real, not imagined. I rode the tram up to Corcovado, and the tram was protected by an armed security guard because gangs had been hopping aboard along the way and robbing tourists / passengers. My first trip to Rio, with an elderly friend of mine, we were waiting for a bus on Av. Nossa Sra. de Copacabana at Rua Siqueria Campos, not far from Hotel Atlantico Copacabana, when three or four young men approached, as the bus approached, and proceeded to beat-up a man waiting for the same bus, standing 10 ft. away from us. Real, not imagined. On another visit, I was on a chair under an umbrella at the Impanema beach when a gang from a favela tore through that area hitting people sitting nearby with clubs robbing them of valuables. Yet another visit, a local resident approached me when I was walking in Centro and in pretty good English cautioned me against street violence and asked me why I was walking there. Real, not imagined. My concerns have not been exaggerated and though I attempt to be as cautious as I can ... I continue to wander about with an intuition I think I've developed ... I hope I've developed! I lived in Mexico for 6 years, and when there I've been the victim of multiple crimes: drugged in a bar and all of my valuables robbed from my apartment, my apartment(s) robbed at other times, mugged on the street multiple times. I thought / think I know the city and "dangerous" areas ...but I was victimized nonetheless. After having moved back to the USA, I still return to Mexico City once or twice yearly. I don't know how long you've lived in the USA, but the comment "I feel like a White guy feels in the US, while many Americans here experience what people of color feel in US streets: targeted." lacks context. To the best of my knowledge and observation, crimes against persons of color are perpetrated by persons of color. White people aren't killing Blacks on the South Side of Chicago, Blacks are killing Blacks. On the West Side of Chicago, Latinos are killing Latinos ... not "White" non-Latinos. Drug cartels / gangs and the obscene availability of firearms are principal culprits responsible for the violence and carnage. None of us should NOT be concerned for our safety when traveling to unfamiliar places. Gay men oftentimes place ourselves in harms way more than some other individuals. Thank you for listening / reading.

I'll be back in Mexico City May 19 > 29, 2023. I might take a several day trip away from the city during this period, but most of my time in-country will be in Mexico City. If you'll be in the city at the same time period, please let me know. Thank you.

An obscene amount of money was spent on that court race: $42 million. As for 1 in 3: to believe that is to be hallucinogenic. Maybe 1 in 3 Democrats will describe themselves that way. Not 1 in 3 of the overall electorate in the USA. As for polls: they are a very small sampling, and my observation has been that most people do not respond when called. Let's not drink the kool-aid.

I walk a lot when in Rio, or any other destination. For me, an interesting (daytime) walk has been through Campo de Santana and afterwards through the sprawling street marketplace "Saara". After leaving the park I enter the market (across the street) at Praça da República and on R. Sr. dos Passos throughout. It's a congested marketplace with many places to eat and where you can buy just about anything inexpensively. The street market continues to R. Uruguaiana where there is a Metro station. I've also explored on foot much / most of Copacabana, Ipanema, Cinelandia, Urca, Gloria, Catete, Larangeiras, Lapa and Niteroi Centro. Only one favela (the name of which I do not recall): as a small tour participant many years ago. Only once did I fear I would be a victim of crime / violence - but it hasn't happened, yet. Beach time for me is usually several days a week at Ipanema, and on other days I'm on foot exploring. Evenings are reserved for GP enjoyment! SAARA Market:

Not going to happen. Nope.

Hot, and humid? Sweaty bodies, everywhere? Heavenly!

It's easy to be critical of the individual we're discussing. Initially, reading the OP - I was (critical). However, hindsight gives each of us 20-20 vision. What we know about the incident is limited in scope and provided in newspaper reports which may or may not be an accurate portrayal. Was he wearing head protection? There seems to be uncertainty about that point. Maybe / probably he wasn't. He did pay for and obtain travel insurance. Think about it, though: It's probably true that a miniscule percentage of persons who purchase travel insurance read through the fine print or understand what is or isn't covered if a claim arises. Would he have acted similarly (not wearing head protection, if that's what happened) knowing his insurance wouldn't protect him / provide coverage? Only he knows. Each of us reading the discussion has probably engaged in behavior that's considered risky when we travel. Many of us (probably most of us) act spontaneously. I've been guilty of that behavior and will probably act without thinking things through in the future. Gay men aren't the only individuals who may act without forethought. I'm not inclined to contribute to the gofundme collection for this individual, but I do wish him speedy recovery.

I agree.

When I was a young man and read of old(er) men getting up multiple times overnight to urine, because of prostate problems - I thought that was the later life I was destined for. At 59 my body presented another choice, however: prostate cancer. Now, without a prostate (was removed), and cancer-free ... I piss like an 18 year old. The trade-off: It's the rare day I get a hard-on, and what had become a happy life as a (mostly) top ... vanished as if overnight (after surgery). I'm okay with that though ... because I'm alive. 😁

I recall hearing about the doorman a couple of years ago .. when Michael Cohen was investigated, charged, and imprisoned.

Partially true. For various reasons, some voters don't want their party preference known other than to themselves - so they don't vote in a primary election. One has to declare a party preference when voting in a primary ... in all of the states I've resided in. In a primary, you receive only the ballot for the party you've declared - Republican or Democratic. That's how the "public" knows the affiliation your political preference. In cities / towns with strong political organizations, there are poll watchers who record for their records - the records of the party which has sent them to watch - what preference you call-out to the local election judges. In a general election everyone gets the same ballot and ones party preference is irrelevant to the official voting process.

In the USA, I doubt voters claiming to be independent are actually that. Rather, they purport to be independent when they're in fact partisans. Independents don't vote in primaries.

Sex on the Mexico City Metro system is not unheard of, late-night. Oftentimes, on Linea 1 of the Metro System ... the last car in the train is where the young(er) guys engage in the sport. You can see some videos of this activity on the porn websites.

Sounds like a great trip! I'm envious! 😁

And now we have an assumed to be transgender terrorist who killed innocents, children and others. 😔

The same was said about Donald J. Trump. His opponents underestimated the support he would garner, as they do today. The same may be said about Ron DeSantis (in the future).

I think you're giving Trump credit he doesn't deserve. Actually, Trump delegated the judiciary matters to others; by and large ... he was disinterested. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Sen. Chuck Grassley solicited the nominees and saw to their successful approvals. The "Judge" who is the subject of this discussion was a local administrative appointment, not someone appointed by a President.

I recall a lengthy conversation I had in the sauna at Club 117 in Rio with an older gentlemen who talked about how 117 and such facilities were a continuation of the Greek custom of lounging and admiring the naked bodies and sex of virile young men ... and partaking of the pleasures of their company. When I was in elementary and high school in Chicago, boys in PE classes swam naked - swim suits were not permitted. Also, too, the YMCA forbad men and boys from wearing swim trunks - naked swimming only. About the "Michelangelo incident": I've already expressed my thoughts on that.

An Administrative Law Judge is typically a political appointment, if I'm recalling correctly, and they handle mundane matters and this one did ... adjudicating traffic tickets. They're lawyers, but they aren't in the same league as a Circuit Court of US District Court Judge needing either election by voters or appointment by a President of the United Stated and confirmed by the US Senate.

I read the OP's comments, then searched for other news reports about the incident ... and I sense the OP here and resulting discussion is more than less an exaggeration or incomplete reporting on what happened. There's an "other side" of the story not appearing in this discussion: that the Principal who was terminated or resigned in lieu of termination chose not to follow school policies in a number of areas for some time. Additionally, it's being reported that the school didn't ban viewing of the statue, but required advance notice to parents of students in certain grades that it would be shown ... a policy that was adhered to the prior year. The President of the Board of the school is a former director of the Florida Democratic Party, and many would describe him as progressive in his activities. Nowhere do I see, in the reporting, reference to the Roman Catholic or other Christian faiths. I don't know that what I read in my own search for information is completely accurate, but it seems to me some of the people posting here should "look" before they "leap."

He was an administrative law judge, not a Judge in the Court system.

More than any other reason, I think it's due to increased travel. I renewed my US passport last year and it took just a week, from start to finish.

Simply assuming as accurate whatever any nation's intelligence agency says is true would be ill-advised.