With those words, Urban II proclaimed the Crusades. Kings at the time “took up the Cross,” to fight in the Holy Land; and then, as now, kings and presidents, princes and governors, have been eager to wrap themselves in the mantle of the Holy Cross. As Machiavelli advised, the appearance of piety is more important [...]
You can watch the pre-election episode of The Explainer, November 4, 2008 over at YouTube. Magnificent as Obama’s victory speech (which you can read or watch here and here) was, and much as there was general approbation over John McCain’s concession speech as a “class act,” (and many Filipinos, I noticed, wistfully commented they wish [...]
COMMENTARY New era of intervention By Manuel L. Quezon III Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 07:03:00 11/06/2008 Conservative commentator Christopher Hitchens put it simply. “This is a zeitgeist moment,†he said on BBC, referring to times when the entire spirit of the times changes suddenly, practically overnight. Barack Obama’s election will mean, not a fundamental [...]
I’ve been watching The American Future: A History, the latest documentary series by one of my favorite historians, Simon Schama. A book version, it seems, has also been released (see Niall Ferguson’s review). Schama, a long-time resident in an America that, in in its post 911 incarnation, became so frighteningly different from the America that [...]
The following was forwarded to me, and I assume that it is genuine. It may be useful to readers in terms of planning their family and personal finances for the coming year. Montinola expects two major difficulties: first, as Chinese exports to America are affected, Philippine exports, mainly oriented towards China, will be affected; second, [...]
(Above: video of “Anti DEATHS” rally mounted by Catholic Church in Cebu City last July: DEATHS is the acronym thought up by the wife of Kit Tatad and represents the Church’s advocacy against Divorce, Euthanasia, Abortion, Total Family Planning, Homosexual Unions and Sex Education) Felipe Medalla some months back recounted to me that whenever President [...]
