Skeptics Beware

Debunking debunkers - an article at fivethirtyeight dot com, a data site started by Nate Silver and my preferred spot to see what's happening with certain political races. The site has more on sports than any other top and I ignore that, but ESPN must give Silver the gold to dig deep into the numbers that help us to steer clear of media profit driven distorted drama. - dc 

Chile Chocolate Attack

Katrinka went with a group of Bali International Women's Association  BIWA to Delicacao Bali a real cacao plantation yesterday a couple of hours away in world heritage scenic Tabanan and brought back some chocolate naturally and one type was a bunch of little Chile Chocolates. She said they were too hot for anyone to eat more than one. I had three. Wasn't that hot spicy but I can see that a person wouldn't want to gobble them down. But then a strange thing happened. My tongue started swelling up and got two really hard knots fairly large in it toward the tip. It took a while for me to realize I was having an allergic reaction to the chile chocolate. In twenty minutes it started to subside. I ate another to see what would happen. Nothing. I've had another three since then. Nothing. Hmm. - dc

“A Western Soto Zen Statement on the Climate Crisis” issued

posted various places, here tis Lion's Roar link. - thanks Jackie Cox

Our Wedding Video

During our honeymoon on Gili Air, edited down Will Wiriawan's video of our wedding and the reception to half an hour in 21 segments. On this page of my Youtube channel. Hit Play All to see them in sequence. I use the name there David Reich Chadwick which I wish I'd done for everything for a long time cause there are none other with that name but lots of David Chadwicks which I haven't experienced till the Internet.

Off to the Banjar Wihara

Officiall known as the Brahmavihara Arama Buddhist Temple in Singaraja today for a ten day retreat that starts tomorrow at 6pm. Back on the 24th. Auto SR lecture excerpt posts prepared.

That image is of what they call the dharma hall. I'll be sitting and walking in it or in front of it. We can go do that elsewhere at a number of spots, some more natural above the river, but I find it better to just stay there.

No Knives

Restaurants in Bali mainly just give you a fork and spoon to eat with - unless they're posh and setting it like the West. For those who get meat that needs to be cut they'll add a sharp knife. Katrinka has a I guess English or European style of eating where she uses a knife with her fork to eat almost anything. I'd joke she uses a knife with her spoon to eat soup. But now she's used to using a spoon with her fork instead. I'm used now to eating rice with a spoon - or a fork. Good places usually include a small knapkin but the usual is to have tissue on the table, even toilet paper. I was given toilet paper in a nice Malaysian home when I asked for a knapkin. That photo is of a fancy setting for a party with forks on the left and spoons on the right. You can also eat with your hands here because that's the tradition. What would my granny Reich say! 

Delivery Cost

Pregnant Aussie wife of Bali national is going to have baby delivered by her Aussie/Bali mother-in-law midwife at a top Bali hospital soon. She said it would cost $3000 Aussie dollars, which means thirty million Indonesian rupiah which means about 2300 US dollars. That's so much for here. They're going to charge her a tourist price cause she doesn't have the right visa for a local one although she's done a lot of her growing up here, mother married to a Balinese man.  So weird.
She could go to a cheaper place like I did but her family owns four restaurants and villas so I guess they want the best. She said if she went to Australia she could have it for free. Wow.  Our friend Sarah just had a baby at a famous midwifery birthing center in Ubud called Bumi Sehat (Healthy Earth) which only asks for a donation. Clay was born in Japan in a birthing center 25 years ago - covered by national health care which included $1300 to us from the government because they try to encourage Japanese to have babies.

Global warming may be far worse than thought, cloud analysis suggests

In the Guardian. Ho hum. Another new feedback loop, another faster and worser story for us to ignore.

Edibles in the Wild

Leaf, Root, Fungi, Fruit

Brief pieces written for Out There Magazine dot com

Kelly Chadwick

Here they are on cuke - with links to the magazine versions

Cecek in Sink

Pronounced Chechek. People call them gekko but They're tiny and all over behind the pictures on the walls and under cabinets. Wow - there's one getting a big something - spider? We hope they get cockroaches which we capture and put out now and then. There were two cecek in the sink the other morning who couldn't get out. Then one that got out Katrinka said the other day. They try to frantically when we try to help them with a piece of paper for them to climb on. There was a cecek in the sink the sink a few days ago. I just barely touched it's tail with a paper towel and the tail came off. I pushed it up and out from behind then watched the lone tail twitch rapidly for a minute then slow down to a stop like its battery had run out. We guess they'r going in for water. We'll leave some puddles out for them.

New Song

Dua Nol Tiga (Two Oh Three) - in Indonesian and English

Welcome to the world Rosa.

Breaking Tennis News

The following email was sent to our fourth Ian who has gone back to Aussieland for at least a long time. Phil in the middle is a retired judge from upstate Michigan whose yearly three month stay with his wife is about over. Scott from London on the right lives here. Nyoman from here in Bali couldn't play today. Usually we have four of the five and rotate. We rotate with three as well. That's a poorly maintained but fine with us clay court a short walk from here. I don't know how to smile on purpose. - dc

The Internations Invitational Classic, an extremely competitive tennis showdown, took place again today in Bali. The guys were a man down, but they battled through. Phil the ambidextrous law breaker was reportedly using underhanded time-pressure tactics to secure a victory. However, it turned out that no one knew what the score was anyway. The players, pictured below, observed a moment of silence for their MIA comrade. [Sent to Ian by Scott]

Indonesian Conservation Movement

STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE ACEH CITIZEN LAWSUIT MOVEMENT

Sign the petition if you agree. You can read about it if you follow the link. Trying to preserve the Leuser Ecosystem. Good luck to them. The general attitude here is to destroy their treasures for the sake of "development" which mainly means making some investors richer. Sort of like the rest of the world but more so.

Proof Positive

That the human race isn't crazy and suicidal and trashing the planet.
Click on Read More to get the good news.


April Fool!

Just another exclamation point

Warmest Arctic Winter