Six Degrees South

Lockdown is reasonably endurable in Jakarta as there are literally thousands of food delivery options available.  Tonight was a completely vegan meal consisting of spicy tempeh skewers, kung pao tofu with organic brown rice, and vegan strawberry cheesecake with berry sauce. It was all very delicious and proof that vegan cuisine can be a tasty and healthy alternative.

My pace slowed considerably this month, down from 6 to 4 books.  That's what happens when you read longer books.  By far, the most important book I read was Amy Sohn's "The Man who Hated Women."  Every American who cares about women's rights should read this book.  It chronicles the era of Anthony Comstock (circa 1870-1910), a crusader who made it his personal mission to rid the nation entirely of what he considered pornography, as well as contraception.  He lobbied Congress and was able to get the Comstock Act signed into law.  Basically it outlawed all publication or transmission of any material related to sex and contraception.  Even worse Comstock was granted the power of a postal inspector, so he could personally enforce this draconian law. Sohn tells the stories of the various men and women (mostly) who Comstock viciously hounded, arrested, and prosecuted--ruining these progressive's lives so thoroughly that he drove several of them to extensive prison t

If you are wondering why you haven't seen much activity on the blog for a while, it is because Jakarta has been under lockdown since the first of July.  Indonesia has had about the most dire COVID situation in the world during that time.  Though I have been vaccinated, Sinopharm only has a 70% efficacy rate and two colleagues I work with who had this same vaccine became fairly ill with the virus in the past few weeks. So, I have pushed my planned Bali trip that was scheduled for July to October and I am just sitting tight in my 17th Floor perch, except to pick up food deliveries or to run a very rare errand that can't be avoided.