Some wide-angle underwater photos from a few days ago at the wreck of the USAT Liberty in #tulamben #bali. One of the world's great wreck dives. Having so much fun learning to use my wide-angle camera setup! #uwphotography #scuba

theguardian.com/us-news/articl… Good to see Rosa Brooks and others wargaming out a hypothetical second Trump presidency. The take-away: it would be a lot better not to elect this dangerous fascist senile wingnut in the first place, rather than to try to mitigate damages later.

A few critters from our dives at Tulamben Drop Off a few days ago: electric fileclam, a couple of nice sea fans and a big day octopus. Another hour profitably spent beneath the waves! Diving in the NE corner of #bali is world-class!

Just landed in Leh. So good to be back on the roof of the world. Third time here for Graydon, second for Maree. Can't wait to go trekking over the rocky passes of Ladakh again!! Need to acclimatize for a few days first, though, as we flew her from sea level and we're feeling it!

It's so good to be back on the Roof of the World here in Leh, Ladakh. Looking forward to strolling around some of the mountains dominating the local skyline!

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1820367… A very good Twitter thread on the idea that ordinary Russians don't support the invasion of Ukraine and are somehow also victims of "Putin's war". This collection of letters to the Meduza website is eye-opening. Russian "liberalism" ends at its borders.

Up at the crack of doom (4am) for a 5 am departure for a 13-hour jeep trip to Padum. Luckily after that we will be moving under our own power, walking for 3 weeks to reach the Spiti Valley on foot.

Good morning Padum, Zanskar! We are off to Zangla by car with our small mountain of luggage to join our large mountain of food for a 12-day trek to Serchu. Can't wait to start walking!

Back in Delhi unexpectedly soon after 12 memorable days trekking in a remote, wild corner of #zanskar. Had to cut trip short because of dental emergency that made my head swell up. Delhi is a shock to senses after beautiful wilderness!!

snyder.substack.com/p/putins-legend Another great blog post by Yale historian of Russian/Soviet history Timothy Snyder about the historical absurdity of Putin's historical mythologizing about Ukraine, Rus, the Vikings, the Slavs and other things. Well worth a read!

A few photos from day 1 (August 9) of our Zanskar trek in northern India. We will try to post 4 photos from each trekking day. The scenery was stark, dry, otherworldly and dramatically vertical, with narrow canyons making for some challenging trekking!

Some photos from Day 2 (August 10) of our Zanskar trek. Another day spent picking our way up a narrow, deep canyon, with lots of river crossings. Spectacular desert scenery and wildflowers.

A few photos from day 3 of our Zanskar trek (Aug 11), when we trekked over the Ningri La (aka Niri La). More great wildflowers and stunning mountain passes. Going over 5000 m in altitude was very hard on the lungs!! Lots of pausing to catch our breath on the uphill.

Four pictures from day 4 (August 12) of our Zanskar trek. Marmots, wildflowers, crossing rivers on horseback and more sweeping scenic views. What a great day to be out in the Trans-Himalayan ranges of Ladakh, India!

Day 5 of our Zanskar trek (Aug. 13), over two high passes (the Lar La and the Roktang La) and down to Shade, the most isolated and most lovely inhabited village in Zanskar.

Day 6 of our Zanskar trek, from lovely Shade through a desolate desert canyon, via a hilltop monastery.

Some photos from day 7 of our Zanskar trek (August 15). The day started with excitement when our horseman told us that a snow leopard had attacked one of our horses at night. We walked down a narrow canyon to spectacular Phuktal Monastery, where we explored and spent the night.

Photos from Aug 16, day 8 of our Zanskar trek. We trudged down to a big river confluence, joined a dirt road, trudged along that for a while, then hitched a lift through road construction to reach Tangze, where we said goodbye to Zangpo, our cheerful horseman, replaced by Gonbo.

Day 9 (Aug. 17) of our Zanskar trek. A long, steep climb out of the main river valley, up to a small side valley that would lead to the final, highest pass of the trek. Lots of sweeping views, some interesting geology and tons of great wildflowers. Such a fabulous landscape!

cbc.ca/news/investiga… I didn't realize that Tenet Media was founded by a Canadian (Lauren Chen) and that one of their YouTubers (Lauren Southern) is also from Canada. Not our greatest cultural exports, I would have to say.