Brazil Update - Elections and Rare Earths

Version 3: Sat, Oct 10, 2026

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva waves to supporters during a presidential election campaign rally in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

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Brazilian Elections

The first round of the elections in Brazil on October 4 showed Flavio Bolsonaro ahead with 47% and incumbent President da Silva at 45%. ^[1]

All the polls show a very tight race on the second round on October 25.

We should note that foreign interference is not unusual in elections in Brazil as well as in other Latin America countries. ^[2]

But as Yogi Berra once said “It ain’t over till it’s over”! Lula has been here before and he is a fighter so let us not write him off just yet!

No matter what the results of the second round, President Lula and the Workers’ Party can be proud of Law No. 15,506/2026 on critical and strategic minerals.

LLM: Milei, Thiel and Eschatology

Version 1: Fri, Oct 2, 2026

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Grok generated image: Milei on the left, Thiel on the right.

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Peter Thiel moved his family to Argentina. Many reasons have been proposed so far, but can there be an esoteric one too? Are Milei and Thiel ‘esoteric brothers’ so too speak? Not quite but definitely in the same ‘neighborhod’. Behind all the “techno-utopia” there are some very strange ideas.

Film: Odyssey

Version 1: Fri, Sep 4, 2026

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By Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Head of Odysseus wearing a pileus depicted on a 3rd-century BC coin from Ithaca / Thunderbolt within wreath, 300-191 BC. Æ 18mm (3.48 g).

LLM: The First Agent Problem

Version 1: Fri, Aug 28, 2026

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By Zirguezi - Own work, CC0, Link

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Prompt:

Consider a small European country, with a highly educated prime minister. Nothing lasts forever as they say, so the PM plans for his future when he at some point loses power. So he adopts policies that do not necessarily help his country but increase his profile with international organizations such the European Union, WEF, various think tanks, or UN-related agencies. Would that be a case of the so called “First Agent Problem”?

LLM: Land and expand by Palantir and Oracle in UK

Version 1: Thu, Aug 13, 2026

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By Łukasz Nurczyński - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

A model of Roman fort Deva Victrix (c. 3rd century CE) at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester.

The Roman army was if not the originator, clearly an early adopter of the “land and expand” military strategy.

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Continuing our exploration of American big tech’s influence in European economy and politics. This time taking a closer look at the “land and expand” business strategy applied in UK with the help of two LLMs, one from US, the other from China.

Techno Update: i2 v. Palantir

Version 1: Fri, Aug 7, 2026

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By Palantir - https://www.palantir.com/, Public Domain, Link

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In a recent post I speculated that Palantir may be involved in industrial espionage and that is one of the reasons that may explain the Spanish government’s decision.

Techno Update - Palantir Problems in Spain

Version 1: Thu, July 30, 2026

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Official portrait of Pedro Sánchez in February 2026 - By Ministry of the Presidency. Government of Spain, Attribution, Link

Earlier this year the government of Spain directed a number of companies backed by SEPI, a state-owned holding company, not to sign new contracts with Palantir.

Among the companies involved the following have significant present in Latin America:

Country	Business Activity
Telefonica	Brazil
Navantia	Brazil, Chile
Indra	Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Colombia

The decision by the government in Spain follows similar decisions in France, Germany and as we have posted recently in Switzerland.