On August 31, 1217, Fernando III—one of the greatest men nobody's ever heard of—was crowned King of Castile.
He was eighteen years old and would spend his illustrious reign reclaiming more land from the Moors than any other king of the Reconquista. 🧵
On this day in 1520, 500 Spanish conquistadores and 1,000 allied native warriors defeat 20,000 Aztecs at the Battle of Otumba. The stunning victory paves the way for the fall of Tenochtitlan the following year and the collapse of the entire Aztec civilization.
In 1956, there was a TV show called "The World We Want" in which high school students from all over the world were invited to the United States to have candid discussions on social issues and current events.
One student by the name of Raul Contreras from the Philippines sat down with three other students from Indonesia (Ratnati Iskandar Dinata), Japan (Yoriko Konishi), and the UK (Judith Reader). They were asked to share their own prejudices.
Contreras began by facing Konishi and saying, "Being brutally frank, I am prejudiced against [the] Japanese. Not to the extent that I hate them, but I got this as a result of World War II."
For context, Imperial Japan committed numerous atrocities across Asia, including the Philippines. The Manila massacre, which took place in 1945, led to the murder of at least 100,000 civilians.
Despite his anger, Contreras also took the time to express empathy towards the Japanese civilians of post-war Japan and their struggles to help pay war reparations. "Most of them even have to suffer the cold in the classrooms because they can't afford to heat the schools," he said.
The conversation amongst the students soon turned to that of skin color and segregation in American society. The above clip shows Contreras highlighting the hypocrisy in America's pledge of allegiance, which states "liberty and justice for all."
"That’s why China’s talks with us are under false pretenses. For me it’s just for show, to show the world that they talk to us, but beneath all that, what their actions say is different."
Gibo nailed it. Same for Beijing's outreach to ASEAN on SCS issues. https://t.co/sx6VKYg0M9
Europe is belatedly discovering how unbelievably stupid it was to import millions of people from cultures that despise Western values and which often promote hatred toward the people who have let them in.
Spare a thought for poor ole Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive of Ryanair.
After arriving in a hotel in Manchester, he went to the bar and asked for a pint of Guinness.
The barman nodded and said, "That will be £1 please, Mr. O’Leary."
Somewhat taken aback, O'Leary replied, "That's very cheap," and handed over his money.
"Well, we do try to stay ahead of the competition", said the lbarman. "And we are serving free pints every Wednesday from 6 pm until 8 pm. We have the cheapest beer in England".
"That is remarkable value", Michael comments.
"I see you don't seem to have a glass, so you'll probably need one of ours. That will be £3 please."
O'Leary scowled, but paid up.
He took his drink and walked towards a seat. "Ah, you want to sit down?" said the barman. "That'll be an extra £2. You could have pre-booked the seat, and it would have only cost you £1."
"I think you may be too big for the seat sir, can I ask you to sit in this frame please".
Michael attempts to sit down but the frame is too small and when he can't squeeze in, he complains "Nobody would fit in that little frame".
"I'm afraid if you can't fit in the frame you'll have to pay an extra surcharge of £4 for your seat sir".
O'Leary swore to himself, but paid up. "I see that you have brought your laptop with you" added the barman. "And since that wasn't pre-booked either, that will be another £3."
O'Leary was so incensed that he walked back to the bar, slammed his drink on the counter, and yelled, "This is ridiculous, I want to speak to the manager".
"I see you want to use the counter," says the barman, "that will be £2 please."
O'Leary's face was red with rage. "Do you know who I am?"
"Of course I do Mr. O'Leary."
"I've had enough! What sort of a Hotel is this? I come in for a quiet drink and you treat me like this. I insist on speaking to a manager!"
"Here is his e-mail address, or if you wish, you can contact him between 9.00 am and 9.01am every morning, Monday to Tuesday at this free phone number. Calls are free, until they are answered, then there is a talking charge of only £1 per second, or part thereof".
"I will never use this bar again".
"OK sir, but do remember, we are the only hotel in England selling pints for £1."
🍺🍺
Twin Lagoon, Coron, Philippines is made up of two bodies of water separated by stunning limestone cliffs with the most outstanding geological features of the region
[📹 Paul Nunez / pikeitup07]
When most think of 🇵🇭 presence in the West Philippine Sea, it’s either BRP Sierra Madre’s post at Ayungin Shoal or Pag-asa Island. But we should also remember the countless other stations throughout the WPS such as:
-LMS Mantiloc
-Rizal Reef
-Patag Island
-Parola Island
Game of Thrones went from something people couldn't shut up about to total cultural irrelevance.
Meanwhile people still watch, and rewatch, and make reference to The Sopranos.
First article detailing 🇪🇸 Navantia submarine pitch to 🇵🇭 Navy:
-$1.7 Billion offer covering 2 S-80 Plus Submarines, training, and facilities.
-Submarine Base location to be at Ormoc, Leyte in the Central Philippines.
-Financing via 🇪🇸 loan.
1/3
https://t.co/hzenxX8SP1
Images recently made public show that US deployed assets such as US Navy P-8A and US Army MQ-1C GE-ER, to monitor the Philippine supply mission in the South China Sea. There's a strong likelihood that the USCGC Munro of the US Coast Guard was also situated nearby.