keroscenefire

I rarely use a condom for oral, unless the escort asks that I or him use one. I understand there is a risk. But I just don't think the risk is enough to take away from the pleasure of both giving and receiving oral sex.

I have nothing to add to the conversation except to say I am impressed by how empathetic, thoughtful and well-reasoned the discussion is on this thread. This is why I enjoy this forum so much. Reading through this really challenged my perspectives. Thank you.

I haven't yet, but would love to. Definitely need to go to either DC or Palm Springs the next time it happens. Also, would be happy to meet for lunch or play tour guide to anyone who finds themselves in Denver.

I always liked Queer as Folk. I agree it really captures gay life realistically with bathhouses, gay bars etc. I liked the characters too, especially Michael who is a comics reading gay nerd just like me. I've visited Pittsburgh a few times and it doesn't have an obvious gayborhood like Castro or Dupont Circle. Things are a little more spread out, but there certainly is a gay scene. I stayed in the Lawrenceville neighborhood in an AirBNB owned by a gay couple and there were a couple of gay bars there and a few more in a neighborhood called Shadyside. The Strip District is this really cool open-air market that also had a couple of gay clubs and was also where the city's bathhouse was located. It was an impressive bathhouse, with multiple floors including a rooftop deck. But I think the fact that Pittsburgh is smaller and has a smaller gay scene was actually an element of Queer as Folk...they talk about how small the dating pool is and stuff like that.

I think it's ok to leave before services have been rendered. You could perhaps give a small donation just for the time he spent perhaps responding to your texts or whatever. But yeah I think it's fair to just say, "Unfortunately you look a lot different than your pictures and I am no longer interested in getting a massage. Here is $20 for your time and sorry for any inconvenience." He may be pretty annoyed at you, but I think it's fair. Photos can sometimes be a tricky thing because even recent ones could look a lot different than someone does in person. But I also think you can tell if photos are older when the guy was super in shape and he has since let himself go a bit. Personally, I would rather they just share more recent, accurate photos. Many guys still look pretty damn sexy even if they have stopped doing their daily crossfit.

I think it's ok to leave before services have been rendered. You could perhaps give a small donation just for the time he spent perhaps responding to your texts or whatever. But yeah I think it's fair to just say, "Unfortunately you look a lot different than your pictures and I am no longer interested in getting a massage. Here is $20 for your time and sorry for any inconvenience." He may be pretty annoyed at you, but I think it's fair. Photos can sometimes be a tricky thing because even recent ones could look a lot different than someone does in person. But I also think you can tell if photos are older when the guy was super in shape and he has since let himself go a bit. Personally, I would rather they just share more recent, accurate photos. Many guys still look pretty damn sexy even if they have stopped doing their daily crossfit.

I had it in late March/early April (recently got a COVID antibody test confirming the illness). It was the worst I've ever felt. Two weeks straight of high fever, body aches, chills, uncontrollable coughing, shortness of breath so bad it felt like I had like a 200lb man sitting on my chest at all times. Fortunately I had an oximeter and my doctor available via phone reassuring me that I didn't need to go to the hospital unless my O2 readings went below 80 percent, which fortunately they never did (although they got to low 80s quite often). That's the other economic reality of this disease. Anyone who gets it is going to have to stay home from work for probably 2-3 weeks at least just for a typical course and obviously it could be much longer if they have to go to the hospital. I wouldn't wish COVID-19 on my worst enemy.

Well he is a 20-year old. Personally, that's too young for me. As a teacher, I really don't go for these kids that look like they could be my students. I actually kinda prefer the 30s-40s guys...usually have more to talk about as well.

Did you even look at the link of my article. It specifically says that in 14 states (and Puerto Rico) they are having the most COVID-cases then they have ever had. Some states are having more than 1,000 cases a day for the last week including Florida and California. Arizona is running out of hospital beds and ventilators and has declared an emergency for its hospital system. North Carolina has reached a record for the number of COVID hospitalizations, so has Texas. It's definitely true that in many parts of the country, things are getting better and it may be appropriate to loosen some of the social distancing rules in certain areas. But if you are truly following the data, then you it strongly suggests many areas should not be opening up (and for what it's worth I 100% support things like increased unemployment benefits, so people don't lose their housing/health insurance, etc.)

Did you even look at the link of my article. It specifically says that in 14 states (and Puerto Rico) they are having the most COVID-cases then they have ever had. Some states are having more than 1,000 cases a day for the last week including Florida and California. Arizona is running out of hospital beds and ventilators and has declared an emergency for its hospital system. North Carolina has reached a record for the number of COVID hospitalizations, so has Texas. It's definitely true that in many parts of the country, things are getting better and it may be appropriate to loosen some of the social distancing rules in certain areas. But if you are truly following the data, then you it strongly suggests many areas should not be opening up (and for what it's worth I 100% support things like increased unemployment benefits, so people don't lose their housing/health insurance, etc.)

Well this is why from a policy perspective, it'd be a great idea to have paid sick leave in every job and encourage people to work from home if possible.

Actually there have been some really big outbreaks and spikes in COVID in more than a dozen states since Memorial Day. 14 states and Puerto Rico have seen their highest-ever 7-day averages of COVID cases. Mostly in rural areas in the South and along the west coast and southwest.

Yeah that is a very interesting statement from the WHO. Apparently it's based on contact tracing. An infected and symptomatic individual gives COVID-19 to someone, but that person is asymptomatic, they are only rarely infecting other people they contact and they are basing that on contacting those individuals and finding them COVID-19 negative. I mean, it makes sense. We know that COVID is primarily spread through aerosol droplets especially from coughing and sneezing. If someone isn't coughing or sneezing because they are asymptomatic, then yeah they probably aren't spreading the disease too much. But you do also wonder if some of this is also because people are generally being more careful..they are wearing masks and washing hands and not being around people for a very long time. The WHO is also making a distinction between "asymptomatic" and "presymptomatic." Asymptomatic people truly do not appear to be spreading COVID very much, but those who are maybe just beginning to have symptoms can and are spreading the disease. There might be people who are maybe just having a headache or slight fatigue who end up having COVID and are spreading it around before they get more sick. So definitely anyone who is feeling even just a little sick should consider staying home and getting tested, especially now as it becomes more available.

Hyena Queen?

Yeah Singapore hasn't been that bad overall..just with their migrant population. As for Ecuador, the biggest outbreak actually has been in the large port city of Guayaquil. This city lies on a muggy coastal delta with average temps in the 80s year round. It does appear that an underfunded and ill-prepared hospital system contributed to the deadly consequences of the outbreak there though.

It's probably a combination of both. Heat and humidity of the summer months likely do damage the virus with increased UV rays unraveling the RNA structures of the virus and increased humidity making it harder for the infectious droplets to spread very far. But yes, it's also likely that more people are outside and not in the crammed indoor conditions that this virus loves to spread in. I also wonder if people are biking and walking more than taking public transit with the warmer weather, decreasing their contact with people. But we've also seen bad outbreaks in very warm and humid areas like Ecuador and Singapore, so we shouldn't assume that we can't have a bad outbreak in the US just because it's summer.

I've been enjoying a local reporter named Kevin Torres. He's actually gay as well. Here is his instagram. He sometimes posts shirtless shots of him in his hot tub. https://www.instagram.com/kevintorresagram/

My car insurance premiums went cheaper. Also my cell-phone got rid of its data caps which of course suggests that they could make plenty of money without caping my data at 10GB. And best of all, my student loan interest has been frozen for six months. I'm using the time to pay down other bills so I'll have less debt overall.

I think that is somewhat unknown at this point. It definitely is the case with some viruses like influenza, that the lower the initial viral load, the less severe of disease. While other viruses like norovirus can sicken people with a very small number of infectious particles. There has kinda been conflicting reports with COVID-19 and the main way to test this through "challenge" studies that give people various doses of the virus under experimental conditions is considered unethical with a virus that is potentially so deadly.

Could be a couple of things: 1) Viral loads may be lower because of social distancing and mask wearing. Those who are exposed to infectious individuals are getting much less virus because of these factors and loosening the restrictions could increase viral loads and therefore create a more harmful illness. 2) There is some thought that COVID is mutating to a less-harmful form. A study from Arizona showed some deletion of nucleotides in the virus over time that is similar to the mutations that occurred with SARS that made it less harmful. In some ways, this could be more advantageous to the virus, because it would allow it to spread more easily among asymptomatic people. We don't know if this mutation is widespread, however. For what it's worth the WHO has pushed back pretty hard against the Italian doctors who said that COVID is losing strength.

This really couldn't happen until prostitution of all kind is made completely legal. The reality is that clients are always going to have the most to lose. Law enforcement rarely if ever goes after providers but they have gone after clients. Plus many escorts (though certainly not all) are completely open about what they do to friends and family with many being in the porn industry or whatever. Very few clients are open about hiring due to the legal and social stigma involved. Ideally we could live in a world where there is no stigma and no legal issues with hiring escorts. But we don't live in that world and the system you propose would be very dangerous as a result.

Yes and a lot of these companies aren't even regularly monitored by the people who own them. Back when the Panama Papers exposed a lot shady offshore accounts, a lot of celebs were listed like Emma Watson, Bono, and Jackie Chan...they had no idea their money was being put there.

Because sometimes our parents/grandparents need much more care than can be provided at home. My cousin(s) recently put my aunt in a nursing home. My one cousin works full-time in a very stressful job and my other cousin is basically a fuck-up, barely able to take care of her own kids (she is one of these religious conservatives that doesn't vaccinate her kids and home-schools them as a result..she has been on social services radar more than once). My aunt has dementia and is very willful and stubborn to the point where she would be leaving the house and getting the police called on her. So everyone thought it would be best to put her in a nursing home where she could be monitored more safely.

It looks like there are many different vaccines with different approaches and results. I think it's possible we'll see a few different ones come into development. Hopefully they offer some strong protection even if it is just to prevent people from getting dangerously ill.

A new study done in California suggests those who recover from COVID have a strong immune response. The doctors behind the study say the T-cells produced after the infection are strong, robust and protective of reinfection. They don't know for sure how long this immunity might last, but are hopeful for a "long-lasting impression," based on the quality and number of memory T-cell produced by the recovered patients they studied (possibly around the same 2-3 year period of SARS and MERS immunity). These same studies have also looked at the data from the Moderna vaccine and the immune response it produced compared favorably to that of these recovered patients. So good news I'd say on the vaccine and immunity front, though this was a relatively small study (only 20 patients), but still good news overall.