Marc in Calif

If that was the intent of your statement, it was less than clear to me.  Do not vote the way most people vote sounded as though you were suggesting write in and third party voting, which are fine if that is your desire, but should not, in my opinion, be the goal of encouraging people to vote.  Perhaps teaching people to vote their conscious, or vote their best interest would have made your intent clearer to readers such as I.     Clearly I agree with your statement that most black Americans do not vote, as I made the same statement in my post.  

I completely disagree.
Most people don't vote.
Most people don't understand what and who they vote for and why.
Educating black people that an educated vote counts is FAR from "proselytizing". It's empowering.

Most black Americans do not vote at all, so educating people in general and black youth specifically in view of this lack of participation, is a wise use of volunteer time.  Explaining to them how to that their "vote counts best by not voting the way most people vote" is proselytizing not volunteering.  

Excellent point, and I don't disagree. I didn't intend to neither put down those who actually volunteer, nor to refer to specific individuals. I'm talking about the culture, which allows for more generalizations. No way am I suggesting that there aren't any youth who are doing a wonderful job at volunteering, especially those who I've seen at pet shelters.

I have never heard of the substance of her plagiarism.  That being said, plagiarism can stem from something as insignificant as an undocumented footnote, an incorrect quote from a source, etc.  As for Dr. Gay's testimony, I found that she was guilty of making the mistake of expressing her personal opinion instead of couching her words in a manner to placate a hostile audience.

"Strife" seems like an unfortunate name for an escort.

Who knows what kinds of animosity, bickering, clash, conflict, disagreement, fighting, warfare, argument, combat, and dissent might occur?
(my thanks to Mr. Roget)

It shouldn't be necessary, but I always appreciate when a translator is onboard.

Here are my spa and cruisy park/beach experiences living in Honolulu:
~SPAS~
Island Club is the cruisiest of all the spas. Guys walk around completely naked in the mens locker. There is a sauna, steam room, hot tub, and gentlemen's lounge all within the mens locker. It is socially acceptable and normal to be completely butt ass naked, naked as the day you were born. It's a great place for nudists. It's extremely cruisy. Guys are playing all the time. It's very much like an unofficial bathhouse. Sounds perfect, right? Nothing can be this perfect, right? Right... it's $250/month plus an annual fee, plus other sign-up fees. Residents of the building get a significant discount. There are no day passes but you can request for 1 free week to test it out.
Only go to Herbal Spa if you have made arrangements to meet someone there. Otherwise, you will spend your day alone there. It is completely empty all day long. The facility itself is OK. It's old but everything works. There are lots of places to play discreetly; the issue is finding people to join you in there.
UFC Gym has a sauna in the mens locker. Most guys go in wearing swim trunks, some wear only a towel. It gets cruisy late at night after 10PM. Most guys who train here during the day are serious about fitness and aren't looking, so be careful not to mess with guys who aren't looking. The gym itself has a very straight alpha vibe, so there's plenty of eye candy but not much play except late at night as mentioned. The mens-only sauna in the locker is a very nice amenity that is hard to find these days. It's a nice gym, too. Not crowded. $60 a month. Open 24h. You can ask the front desk for a guest pass.
YMCA Nuuanu has a sauna in the mens locker. Lots of daddies. Lots of guys go naked in there but it's not very cruisy if at all. It's a very friendly, chatty atmosphere. It's almost too wholesome. It can be a nice place if you want to be naked with other guys but there's not very much playing here.
 
~PARKS~
The Banyan Tree
https://maps.app.goo.gl/BfYoj3mJP6dTHeZa9 and tennis courts across the street around 8PM to 10PM. You should leave the area at 10PM as that's when the Honolulu police begin to patrol this area. Kapiolani Park officially closes at 10PM every day so the police kick everyone out at that time.
The Tree is also active in the early mornings while it's still dark out, around 5AM.
This area is extremely active. Tons of tourists and locals congregate here for sex every night. Lots of group play. It's like an outdoor orgy. It has a very anonymous vibe because of how dark it is.
 
~BEACHES~
Polo Beach up in north shore is the most well-known unofficial nude beach. Only go here if you've made arrangements to meet people here, because it can be very hit or miss. It can be completely empty which can be a bummer if you took a day trip and drove 40 minutes out there only to find no action.
Diamond Head Lighthouse beach is another cruisy nude beach. It's conveniently located in Waikiki. Due to its close location to touristy areas, this beach tends to always be populated at all times of the day. The nude area is directly below the lighthouse. It is naturally blocked off by cliffs on either side, making the nude area very private. There are cave-like drawbacks into the cliffs where guys can go play semi-discreetly. Everyone is completely naked at this beach. It's very cruisy. It has somewhat of an outdoor bathhouse vibe but much more chill.
 

Murray Hill Gang goes back at least a decade. Russian twinks (like Aleksey) kept appearing in the Murray Hill area of Manhattan. They held very dubious credentials, think a lot people got burned in their meet ups.

I would bet pure regrouped Russian Murray Hill Gang West. Consistent $160 rate is a big clue. 

YMMV but based on price my two faves....
Enrico
https://www.masseurfinder.com/massage-therapists/43631/
Cesar - old info - hes on hiatus for a few weeks

 

On the subject of tenors I will be in Barcelona end May and have secured tickets for La Cenerentola with Javier Camarena. I have read great things about this singer in the Rossini repertory. I will report back.

Society of the Snow vs. Alive: What Are the Differences Between Andes Plane Crash Movies? | Den of Geek
WWW.DENOFGEEK.COM Two movies tell the same tragic tale 30 years apart. What, if anything, do they have in common?  

GA has much better viewership and, frankly, a better cast and script. 

This they canceled - but they renewed the sleep-inducing 'Gilded Age' ???

SEEMS WORTH SEEING:
Kieran Culkin is amazing in ‘A Real Pain’ at Sundance
Johnny Oleksinski https://nypost.com/2024/01/20/entertainment/kieran-culkin-is-amazing-in-a-real-pain-at-sundance/ Making Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin the leads of a heartwarming movie about family bonds (the non-back-stabbing kind) and self-discovery would seem counter-intuitive.
Culkin has just finished up playing Roman Roy, the cutthroat, foul-mouthed media scion on HBO’s “Succession.” And Eisenberg, even though he’s had a long and varied career, is still best known for his role as subzero Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2011’s “The Social Network.”
Maybe, you think, these guys would be better off portraying a duo of quirky serial killers.
But thrown together, this awkward pair is magic in “A Real Pain,” an enriching dramedy that had its world premiere Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival. A story of two cousins’ trip to Poland to connect with their late grandma’s roots, it’s one of the best movies of this year’s fest so far.
And it marks a major improvement from Eisenberg’s last go-round as a writer-director, 2022’s “When You Finish Saving The World.” The spark was there, yes, but not quite the execution.
Everything falls into place here. His screenplay for “A Real Pain” — inspired by details of his own life — is funny, aching and wise; the vantages of the European country he captured are steeped in history and tragedy; and he gets a performance out of Culkin that’s every bit as good as his extraordinary turn from “Succession.”
Except, you know, he’s not a complete jackass.
Eisenberg has framed the duo as a tried-and-true comedic combo — a Felix and Oscar from “The Odd Couple” — leading us to think we’re getting “National Lampoon’s Genealogic Vacation.” But the filmmaker subverts our expectations at every kilometer.
David (Eisenberg) is an introverted, responsible, successful tech worker who lives with his wife and child in New York City, while Benji (Culkin) is an unemployed life of the party up in Binghamton who loves pot and can’t control his honesty.
There is, we learn, much more to these two than sit-com tropes and frat house barbs.
They hop on a tour group in Warsaw to visit important sights of Jewish history en route to their grandmother’s childhood home that she fled in 1939.
Also clutching cameras are the recently divorced Californian Marsha (Jennifer Grey), a curious Brooklyn couple (Daniel Oreskes and Liza Sadovy) and a Rwandan-Canadian named Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan) who converted to Judaism after escaping the genocide of his home country.
“A word of warning,” says their British guide James played by Will Sharpe from “The White Lotus.” “This will be a tour about pain.” But, the scholar adds, it’s also “a tour that celebrates a people — the most resilient people.”
Impressive throughout is the way Eisenberg balances reverence for his locations and belly-grabbing comedy, while using those elements to support each other.
When they visit the Warsaw Uprising Monument, honoring Poles who stood up against the Nazis, wild-and-crazy Benji hilariously (but beautifully?) gets the buttoned-up group to pose like they’re also insurgents fighting along with the sculpture.
Later, Eisenberg depicts their solemn walk through the Majdanek concentration camp with the stoicism and straightforwardness it deserves. Words are sparse, and back on the bus a pan across the blood-drained faces that ends on a shattered, crumpled Benji knocks the wind out of you.
A few minutes later comes the funniest line in the movie. The pacing is spot-on.
Making a new European road trip flick comes with some baggage, so to speak, but even as Eisenberg walks the path many other filmmakers have, he doesn’t easily give into contrivance. Surprises abound, and his unique brand of sentimentality isn’t exactly sentimentality as we have come to understand it.
For instance, in “A Real Pain,” somebody getting slapped in the face — hard — brings tears.
Culkin gives viewers the pull-the-fire-alarm quality they love about his untethered personality on “Succession” or during award show speeches in which he muses on his ear hairs. Removed of Machiavellian motives, this would appear to just be him. Benji blurts out totally inappropriate comments that other people could never get away with. Yet, very un-Roman, his default mode is kindness; he always goes in for the hug. Culkin’s brotherly chemistry with Eisenberg, also wonderful, is totally believable.
That he is so good here comes as a relief and another sign that we are living in a Kieransance.
Eisenberg said at the end of his premiere that, with this film, his aim was to explore pain on a smaller scale (a dead grandparent, a flailing life) and on an epic one (the Holocaust). He’s succeeded and, in so doing, made a big punchy film that’s intimate and nuanced at the same time.
In short, a real pleasure.

His choice of 'feuds' after that was questionable, and less memorable, at best. 
Capote and The Swans may be entertaining, but does anyone under the age of 70 know who these people are without Googling them ? 
There are so many other 'feuds' he could play out. 

The first edition of the series with Bette Davis & Joan Crawford was absolutely superb.

I really enjoy ‘Beef’. I’ve recommended it to everyone I know.
But like @jeezifonly I would not binge-watch it. For me, the greatest pleasure is to watch 1 episode per evening. 

Spoilers!
Here's a good, therapeutic, analysis of the show.
 
 
 
And Here is the showrunner and the two stars talking about the final episode.  The showrunner looks young.  I need to watch his other show, Dave.
 
 

Wrapped it up last night….amazing show. @Rod Hagen thanks for the links above.

Finally got around to seeing this recently. I had not heard of it until the Emmy's, where it swept many awards. I thought it was a terrific roller-coaster ride, but I also loved the movie Parasite. There are similar themes. Loved the sex scenes with Young Mazino who played Paul. OMG, what a body! I had to rewind that ass several times. I so wanted one of the characters to be gay, but the only gay reference was the homophobia that is quite prevalent in Asian culture. I thought the casting was perfect. Did not know that Ali Wong and Bill Hader are a couple. I'm looking forward to watching it again. There are quite a few details that are easy to miss, given how much is going on in the story.

I've never had the pleasure of a "guy next door" who looks like this as a neighbor (or even a neighbour)! 

Yet another guy who doesn't understand the English descriptions cut and uncut. This is often the case with non-native speakers.

First of all, geologists and seismologists would never say "you will see." The more appropriate phrases are "you frequently see, "you might see," or "you sometimes see."
But much more important is the fact that the earthquake in Turkey and Syria was a 60-mile rupture between the Anatolian and Arabian tectonic plates -- nothing to do with the North American plate at all. (There is no "Atlantic plate"; maybe you're thinking of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?)
"Southeast Turkey and northwest Syria are prone to dangerous seismic activity because they lie on the junction of three enormous tectonic plates — the African, Anatolian, and Arabian — whose collisions and snaggings cause earthquakes.
Monday's quake likely came from the East Anatolian Fault, where sections of the Arabian and Anatolian plates can become locked together by friction." 
https://www.livescience.com/why-was-the-earthquake-that-hit-turkey-and-syria-so-deadly
What seismological research also tell us is this:
Powerful Earthquakes Can Trigger Other Ones on Opposite Side of Earth, New Research Shows
When an earthquake does trigger other quakes on the opposite side, it is most likely to induce those quakes "within 30 degrees of the original quake’s antipode — the point directly opposite it on the other side of the globe."
I might point out that Guatemala and Buffalo are nowhere near 30 degrees of the Turkey quake's antipode. The antipode of Istanbul is in the South Pacific ocean: French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, and New Zealand.
So the original claim that the Buffalo earthquake was probably a random coincidence is much closer to the truth.