Bad News for Bali

 Bali reopening to foreign tourists delayed as COVID surges. - Jakarta  Post

RIP Jacque Barzaghi

 Jacques Barzaghi, a Former Fixture Beside Jerry Brown, Dies at 82 - NY Times

Thanks LRC

Texas Humor

I go in and out of being strictly a lacto ovo vegetarian (dairy and eggs ok). Sometimes go vegan. I was back home in Texas during a vegan period and a neighbor learned that when she asked what could she bring me to eat. When she said, "Oh you must really love animals," I remembered my favorite retort to that gathered somewhere along the path. "Nope. I don't love animals. I hate vegetables."

Bill keeps trying

Bill Gates: A Stark and Simple Message for the World -- from the Goodmen Project

It's a review of Gates' new book:

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: the Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need,

Yea!

Got the 2nd shot yesterday at the spacious and lush with foliage Bali Hyatt. A legion of doctors and nurses and I guess out of work hotel workers were on hand to guide us efficiently and politely through every step. Slept a lot last night. Felt okay but there have been many urgent trips to the kamar kecil, the small room as it's euphemistically called. Dinner just wanted red rice and bananas, reputed to be binding, with sesame salt. Good night. There's Katrinka in line to sign in. She's got our papers. 

Great Barrier Reef

 UNESCO lists as in danger - So timid. Admit it - coral worldwide is dying. Some faster than others. A two degree change in ocean temperature is hard on it. Kelly and I snorkled in Mexico, Hawaii, and here in Bali decades ago and he's seen the drastic change, what once was colorful turning gray. I have too. There are some that are adapting but will they adapt to the next degree hotter and the one after that? Not just coral but the variety and plentitude of fish and other ocean life has degreased greatly. Locals tell me how when they were kids there'd be all sorts of colorful, lively sea-life right off the shore just about anywhere. More and more if feels lonely in the water. Meanwhile, the human race is increasing its destructiveness, greatly outpacing attempts and preservation.

Suntikan or injeksi vaksin besok

 Katrinka and I go to Bali Hyatt tomorrow morning to get our 2nd AstraZeneca shots. Then we can walk to Ryoshi for a nice Japanese lunch, go home and... we'll see how it goes after that. After the first she was pretty good. I slept more, kept working but mainly from bed. Low energy. Not bad.

NRCAT

 The National Religious Campaign Against Torture - that's their website. I used to post stuff from them now and then. It's been too long. They've been part of the campaign to end solitary confinement for a long time. I pray for their success.

Another neat Quora Q n A

 Why isn't Adam a Jewish name?

Bad New but not unexpected

 Earth trapping more heat NASA says - way more

Home News

Just learned our second Astra-Zeneca shot is scheduled for next Wednesday, the 23rd, three months after the first. It was going to be at the end of May, but I was pleased to see they followed AZ advice to space them three months apart for maximum efficacy. I never looked forward to a shot this much. 

Attenborough warns close to destabilizing whole planet

G7 agrees to get more aggressive about coal

Reading Today at Ubud Poetry Show

 Bali Go Down

In love with the lovely people - embraced in their culture so fine

Priest pours holy water o'er us - and we wear the three colored twine

Entranced in dances and Monkey Chants - offerings, altars, and weavings

The lushness the sea the sky and the breeze - we never want to be leaving

 

Ah darn but it's going down - down  - Bali go down - Tibetan long horn sounding

 

Arrived on a Monday morning - flight from Singapore

Started off in Kuta - surroundings  to explore

Hadn't been in Ubud - in almost thirty years

Didn't recognize it at all - so jam packed front and rear

 

It's going down - down  - Bali go down - Theramin sighing

 

They called it the overbuilt island - way back in 92

And they didn't stop or miss a spot - another shop could undo

Fleets unloading at Gilimanuk - planes pourin to Ngara Rai

Concrete an trash are piling up - nothing scapes the charm killers eye

 

It's going down - down  - Bali go down - Saw crying

 

As fast as the hopeful new opens - lonely ruins line long the street

Empty eateries beach chairs rooms taxis and floors - awaiting millions new feet 

Then one brick too many was laid - and a shaking and rumblin began

The ground shifted down from the weight of it all - and the ocean rushed in cross the sand

 

It's going down - down  - Bali go down - Timpani rumbling

 

From the deck of our ship - we look back as she slips

And like Titanic slinks - into Davey Jones' sinks

Silent and numb - with tears on the run

 

Wavin bye bye Bali Goodbye - bye bye Bali Goodbye - bye bye Bali Goodbye

 

Violin singing - shiva dances

Ya'll Come

 

                                                       A day away for Katrinka and DC

Dua Nol Tiga

Two Oh Three - a song that originated in repeating that number - dua nol tiga - so I wouldn't forget what room I was going to.

Freedom of Speech

Working with Gus (pronounced goose) on a song in Indonesian and English. Talking about other songs he could produce. At one point he said in America you can write anything you want. But you can't do that here. I thought about what the limits are. They'd be somewhat different for locals and foreigners. We never of think that cause we feel so free here. I think local people here in Bali feel free too. Few would even want to write something controversial. For instance, there are laws here about dissing religions - not just Islam but the approved ones. There are six. You can check that out here.

But now they're in the way of Progress

 Amazon-dwellers lived sustainably for 5,000 years - BBC Science

Bali Opening up to tourists

We keep hearing that Bali's going to let tourists in starting next month. Prez Jokowi said so recently. But they'll have to really want to come and have bucks to pay for quarantine which now for the few who can come in is five days in an approved hotel. And we hear they're considering moving to 14 days. And the quarantines are strict. One rumor we hear is that the tourists will then have to stay in one of the Green Zones. Sanur where we live is one of them. Ubud and Nusa Dua too.. They've tried to get everyone in those zones vaccinated. It was mandated but I there's no enforcement I know of. We get our second shot of Astra Zeneca later this month. It's also rumored that tourits have to stay in the Green Zones. We'll see.

from Mongabay - news and info from nature's frontline

 New Attenborough film sounds alarm on planetary boundaries, but offers hope

Myanmar

 Burma Benefit Film Fetival - check it out

A Washington Post article on something we forget about

 

Tulsa isn’t the only race massacre you were never taught in school. Here are others.

Weather

This is the best time of year here in Sanur and it gets better July and August. Sometimes won't need a fan. Keeps going till mid September - or that's what it's done before. Cool breezes. Kites in the air everywhere, some of them huge, some small.