Election day:
- Brazil.
- October 25.
- Flavio Bolsonaro (left) and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro holds a slight lead in polls with 50.9% of the vote.- It was Flavio's father who was jailed for an attempted coup to hold onto power.
- Lula represents the left-wing camp, while Bolsonaro the right.
The history is too much to totally comprehend, because Jair Bolsonaro (father of Flavio) gained nationwide recognition during the 2016 impeachment proceedings against Lula's protegee, then-President Dilma Rousseff. Bolsonaro went on to win the 2118 election while Lula was serving a prison sentence on corruption charges. But Lula's conviction was overturned, and he made this comeback. In the meantime, Jair Bolsonaro was convicted by Brazil's Supreme Court over a 2022 election conspiracy case. Following all this?- Flavio is a toned-down version of his father Jair.
- Who should you root for?
- Well, Donald Trump shares a close personal alliance with Jair Bolsonaro.
- Trump does not support Lula.
- But Lula met Trump in the White House in May of this year and they exchanged public compliments.
- And, three weeks later met with Flavio Bolsonaro in the Oval Office.
- I was confused, so asked Google AI, which person would be better for future relations with the USA?
Determining whether a victory for Senator Flávio Bolsonaro or incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil's October 25, 2026, runoff election is better for the United States depends on how U.S. policymakers weigh competing economic, security, and diplomatic priorities. Foreign policy analysts from organizations like the Hudson Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations observe that each candidate presents distinct trade-offs for Washington. [1, 2, 3]
- Oh well, what about Israel's elections on October 27?
- This is run a bit differently. These will be parliamentary elections, and which party best able to form a coalition government in the Knesset of at least 61 votes determines who becomes president. Netanyahu's party is Likud. But they don't necessarily need to win the most votes. There are 10-12 parties in the Knesset. See the difficulty?
- President Trump supports Benjamin Netanyahu.
- Vice President Vance declined to endorse Netanyahu.
- I asked Google AI, about these elections.
Whether a victory for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the October 27 Knesset elections is "better" or "worse" for the United States depends on differing political, strategic, and regional perspectives.
Finally, the U.S. midterm elections on November 3. I'll come back to this some other day. I still am worried if these will be held.
Tuesday is nostalgia day for this blog site, so today I continue my series on searching for my roots. In September of 2009:
- ANOTHER JOURNEY BEGINS
- THAILAND: LAND OF THE NICE
- IF IT’S THURSDAY, I MUST BE IN SAIGON
- I MADE IT TO VIETNAM
- HO CHI MINH CITY
- HONG KONG
- KOREA
- SOME FACTOIDS FROM THE ORIENT
- FROM TOKYO TO NIIGATA ON THE SHINKANSEN
- NIIGATA: #1 IN RICE AND SAKE
- CONTINUED ROOTS SEARCH IN AKITA
Today, my first stop was to the Ganryuji Temple near Kariwano in Akita Prefecturewhere I learned that the priest we only met with in April recently passed away. I’ll need to return and talk to his son, who is now the new priest, something like the 14th generation. Both great-great-grandmothers probably lived in this region around Daisen City soon after 1800. Interesting that this Nakayama (Kenjiro's mother side) gravestone looks very similar to Kenjiro's on the island of Kauai. Most of them in this graveyard look different. By the way, there seems to be a lot of Takahashis in this part of the Japan.
A year later, in September of 2010, I began another World Odyssey.
What I was doing was re-tracing the journey Kenjiro's (he is my father's father, or my grandfather after whom I was named) parents took through a government policy to fend of Russia from Hokkaido. My effort began in Akita. This Japan portion was only the beginning of a monumental world trip. Went next on to Seoul. The total global journey:
China
Switzerland
Kenya
Tanzania
Qatar
Norway
Netherlands
Italy
USA
DC
Austin
Las Vegas
Honolulu
But back to my roots search.
- About 156 years ago, or around the year 1870, Kenjiro's parents caught a ship from Akita to Otaru.
- So I did the same in 2010.
- Lunch was served in my cabin.
- About a dozen small Japanese dishes arrived with a Sapporo beer, and I thought that was it. But no, then came ikura/rice, miso soup and a fancy tsukemono:
- As I mentioned earlier, Kenjiro was born in Otaru. His family eventually found their way to Sapporo, then up to Utashinai.
- My next roots posting will continue my quest.
- On this trip I had dinner with two old friends, ocean engineering professors at Nihon University. Hiromi was the person who accompanied my wife and I in the April 2009 roots search.
I'll end this series later with my visits to the home of Kenjiro Takahashi, Utashinai on Hokkaido. It is the city with smallest population in Japan. Why those tall lights? In the winter there is so much snow that that snowplows pushing snow to the side can reach banks of 10 feet and higher.
- Yesterday, the eye was at 160 MPH.
- But weakened to 150 MPH earlier today.
- However, at last check, jumped to 180 MPH.
- The path is now closer to Ishigaki Island.
- Has a population of 48,816.
- There is a new airport.
- Kind of like Hawaii of the past, with economy of pineapple and sugar, plus tourism.
- Sister island of Kauai.
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