Ed Casabar @edcasabar@social.cleverlibre.org

Just announced today. The mounted samurai horse race, the Soma Nomaoi, that I attended at the end of July in Minamisoma, Japan, has been moved, starting 2024, to the last Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of May. This was due to the deaths of 2 horses and a number of the samurai suffering from heat exhaustion at this year's event.

#japan
#SomaNomaoi

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#Travel
#Photography
#PhotoMonday
Photo 1 of 4, ©️Ed Casabar | Photography

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#SomaNomaoi
#Travel
#Photography
#PhotoMonday
Photo 1 of 4, ©️Ed Casabar | Photography

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#Travel
#Photography
#PhotoMonday
Photo 1 of 4, ©️Ed Casabar | Photography

Two years of planning. I finally attended the #SomaNomaoi in Minamisoma, #Japan, a small agricultural city about 1.5 hrs south of Sendai in Fukushima Prefecture. Photos taken during the Nomaoi (“wild horse pursuit”) July 30, 2023. Following a tradition that goes back centuries, mounted modern samurai, carrying battle flags attached to their body armor, race at the Hibarigahara horse track and festival site. Thus honoring the samurai history and tradition of capturing wild horses and revering them for their power and will.

#Travel
#Photography
#PhotoMonday
Photo 1 of 4, ©️Ed Casabar | Photography

Some of the photos I've taken these last few days in #Fukuoka, #Japan for the #Hakata #Yamakasa Festival.

Oisa!

(Roughly translated as “Let’s go!”, “You can do this!”, “Push!”

#Travel
#Photography
#TravelPhotography

Basashi (horse sashimi) at Hatsu-uma, Fukuoka, Japan. Very delish! 5 stars to Chef Kenta Hikawa's cuisine and service.

Google Translate his website: https://hitosara.com/0010002164/?fbclid=IwAR26L8EDpRQmDvRBuQqBcNnRw3Ac0bpE_EiZTsEK2p4gdhfSwS1k8KkaPcc

#travel
#sashimi
#bizzarefood
#Fukuoka
#japan

On #Day500 of #Russia ’s war on #Ukraine, video of President #Zelenskyy paying tribute to the fallen soldiers at the recaptured #SnakeIsland. A testament or reminder:

1. Of Zelenskyy’s bravery and compassion for his soldiers

2. That Russia does not have air or sea superiority over Ukraine

3. That Ukraine does not have a navy, and the UAF were able to get him there and back safely.

#StandWithUkraine
#RussiaIsATerroristState

Fellow Americans, on this #July4th , remember that 247 years ago, a highly motivated, but outnumbered, under-equipped volunteer army defeated a larger, more powerful imperial foe. Then think about the parallels to #Ukraine.

Attached pic: the Motherland Monument in #Kyiv, lit up by the Ukrainians in red, white, and blue for July 4th.

#russia
#russiaisaterroriststate

Russia's and Putin's rats are fleeing their sinking ship.

Former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul is calling it a #civilwar.

#russia
#russiaiscollapsing
#ukraine
#prigozhin

Holy sh*t!! Russian state propagandist Vladimir Solovyov calling it a #civilwar. And former Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul doing the same.

#russia
#russiaiscollapsing
#ukraine
#prigozhin

Now the rest of Ukraine is following Zelenskyy's lead and grabbing up all the popcorn they can. 🤣

#russiaiscollapsing
#ukraine
#prigozhin
#shoigu
#putin
#coup

Gotta love the internet. 😆 #prigozhin vs. #shoigu. Where the hell is #putin? You'd think he'd be trying to calm the public. #Russia #coup.

In the dystopian and terrorist country, Russia, St. Louis’ own Washington University / @WUSTL is accused in the latest Kremlin propaganda of genetically engineering “warfare locusts”. Translation courtesy of @Gerashchenko_en. Sad to think Russians actually believe this stuff.

Another photo of a plaque I took at Moscow's #SolvetskyStone outside of #Lubyanka. In Russian and English, it says:

"During the years of terror, over 40,000 people were shot in Moscow on groundless political charges. Their bodies were buried in the cemetery of Yauza Hospital (Now Hospital 23) between 1921 and 1926; at Vagankovo Cemetery between 1926 and 1935 and cremated at the Moscow (Donskoi) Crematorium from early 1930s, until, at least, the 1950s. Starting in 1937, two NKVD execution sites - the Moscow suburb of Butovo and the Kommunarka Collective Farm - were also used as burial places. More detailed information on this subject is available at Memorial Society at: 12 May Karetny Pereulok."

#russia

The WaPo article reminds me of my first trip to #Russia in 2008. One of my private tour stops was to the #SolovetskyStone, commemorating those lost in the #Gulag. Ironically, it's located just outside the former #KGB 's notorious #Lubyanka Prison.

#travel
#photography

As a result of #Russia ’s war in #Ukraine, average Russians are now repeating a scary part of Soviet history (the Great #Purge / Great #Terror of the late 1930s). Now, in 2023, snitching on or denouncing each other is becoming more common, so Russian citizens are self-censoring their speech and activities in order to avoid arrest and imprisonment.

From the WaPo article: “This wave of denunciations is one of the signs of totalitarianism, when people understand what is good — from the point of view of the president — and what is bad, so ‘Who is against us must be prosecuted,’” said Andrei Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based political analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

During the Terror, the slippery slope of denunciations started with high-ranking Communist officials. Eventually, average Soviet citizens were encouraged to report any activity that was considered suspicious. Neighbors disappeared in the middle of the night, taken away by the KGB. The estimated number of people arrested during and sent to the gulags during the Terror varies greatly somewhere between 2.6-7 million. The best estimates are that at least 1.3 million were sentenced to death and 700,000 executed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/27/russia-denunciations-arrests-informants-war/

Battling for Breath | © Ed Casabar
Muay Thai at Rajadamnern Stadium
Bangkok, Thailand

70 mm 1/500 sec f 2.8 ISO 8000
Canon 5DM3, 70-200 mm f2.8 L

#Travel, #Photography, #travelphotgraphy
#MuayThai, #Bangkok, #Thailand

Humanitarian and volunteer soldier from the UK in #Ukraine, #MacerGifford, gives an incredible interview. Probably one of the most articulate persons I've ever heard speak about the war. A truly amazing individual. Well worth listening to the whole podcast on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOzTmMRcehE