Israel is escalating its incursion into the Gaza Strip.  The latest count shows 8500 Palestinian deaths and 1400 Israelis.  Read this to better understand the  difference between the Hamas and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS ).  For one, the former is 36 years old, while the latter developed more recently. 24 years ago.  Here is what  Russia hopes to gain  from the Hamas-Israel conflict. Jacob Lew was finally confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to Israel .  He was Treasury Secretary for President Barack Obama. This position has been vacant since July, so one wonders if partisan politics stood in the way of confirmation.  Supposedly, it was for Lew's dealings during the Iran Nuclear Deal. Had another excellent breakfast at the Sheraton Yokohama Bay. Then a short taxi ride to  the Diamond Princess.  Took a long time to check-in and finally boarded around 1 PM and had lunch. Noticed someone walk by who looked very similar to Steve of 15 Craigside.  So went up for closer look. N

First, though: Maine shooter  Robert Card is dead , self-inflicted. Are we headed to war with Iran?   The Hamas-Israel War and Syrian incidents were all orchestrated by Iran.  What about Russia and China? Before you go to sleep Saturday night, turn back your clock one hour.  By a  63% to 16% majority , Americans don't like to do this, and statistics show these two changes/year are just not good for society.  Congress is attempting do something, and, if anything, will keep it always at daylight savings time.  Hawaii, and a few other locations in the U.S., don't make any changes. When is Halloween Night?  Every year it is observed on October 31, which is a Tuesday this year.  The celebration marks the day before the Western Christian feast of All Saints, or All Hallows Day, from where comes Halloween.  Goes back to the Celts and the festival of  Samhain , mentioned in the earliest Irish literature from the 9th century. Not much to say about our Honolulu to Tokyo flight because we

In Brazil , the voting public, as in the USA, returned to the presidency an old-time liberal politician, kicking out the ultra-conservative miscreant, another Donald Trump.  Not to say that the new president is the equivalent of Joe Biden, for Luiz Inácio LULA da Silva was a former president who was convicted of graft and served 580 days in jail.  He is 77, and Biden was elected to the White House at the same age.   Lula just this May got married  for the third time, to a 55-year old sociologist.  About incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, he is the model of Trump, with integrity and conspiracy problems, also blaming the loss on crooked counting.  The results were close, with Lula getting less than 51% and Jair more than 49%.  Certainly, Bolsonaro will maintain a Trump-like effort to legally or illegally maintain power.   I don't think, for example, that he has yet conceded .  Also, he has been blamed for mishandling the pandemic.  Brazil is #2 to the USA in total COVID-19 deaths. Halloween d

This was a good week at 15 Craigside.  Not terrific, but above average.  As most readers know, I am in a Honolulu retirement community.  I lived next door in the Craigside condo for 32 years and saw my present building coming up, and merely out of curiosity almost 9 years ago dropped by for a visit, was convinced to move in, and now have been here for more than 8 years. A few months after becoming a resident, I posted on  COULD 15 CRAIGSIDE BE PURGATORY?   We are surrounded by graveyards and churches, as that article showed.  Then a few years later, in June of 2017, I posted on  FOUR SEASONS HUALALAI VERSUS 15 CRAIGSIDE .  This hotel is among my favorites, and you can read for yourself about this comparison.  Earlier that year ( in May ) I had a related posting titled,  OKAY, IS THIS HEAVEN OR WHAT?    This blog site has been vacillating about whether 15 Craigside is Purgatory or not.  Well, after my 44-day Global Adventure and anticipating a week on the Big Island next month to intera