Monthly Archives: December 2025

ABOUT MAGELLAN TRAVEL INDEX The Atlântico Business School (ABS), a university in Porto, Portugal, built a new index that tracks the achievements of global travelers, and has partnered with the Extraordinary Travel Festival (ETF) to launch this index. Their collaboration aims to make the ETF/ABS … Continue reading →

Parents are desperate to get leucovorin for their children, but promised help has not arrived. If President Donald Trump wanted Americans to take away one message about autism, it was this: Blame Tylenol. During his September press conference on the … Continue reading →

Whatever happened to the samurai? The samurai were a preeminent class defending Japan for centuries. But as the Tokugawa shogunate ushered in an era of stability, the need for them faded, forcing these warriors to find a new way of … Continue reading →

IS THERE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM  Theologians, historians and astronomers have debated the Biblical story for centuries. “The Adoration of the Magi” by Guiseppe Chiari (1654-1727). The Virgin Mary, seated on the left and turned to the … Continue reading →

THE POPULIST REVOLT AGAINST COGNITIVE ELITES  The problem with fixating on inequality, oligarchy, and other abstractions By Joseph Heath December 15, 2025, THE ATLANTIC  One of the great mysteries about the rise of populism, in both the United States and Europe, … Continue reading →

GENERAL  MINDANAO EAST VISAYAS GREATER MANILA  LUZON CENTRAL & LUZON 

Day 6 Wed Dec 24 PHILIPPINES – EAST VISAYAS (Tacloban, Samar) Flight. DVO to CEB @02:50-03:55 // CEB to TAC @07:30-08:20 There was no luggage storage at the airport, so I brought both bags with me and hired a motorcyclist to take … Continue reading →

PHILIPPINES – MINDANAO NORTH and WEST (Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan) Tentative WHS Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary Butuan Archeological Sites (16/05/2006) Kitanglad and Kalatungan Mountain Ranges: Sacred Sites of Bukidnon Mt. Malindang Range Natural Park (16/05/2006) Airports: Butuan (BXU), Cagayan … Continue reading →

December 2025 xe.com 1 US$ = 59.3 PHP (PESO) 1 CA$ = 42.85 PHP Intangible Cultural Heritage Aklan piña handloom weaving. Piña is a textile made from pineapple leaf fibres and woven using a handloom. Farmers harvest the leaves of … Continue reading →

PHILIPPINES – LUZON – CENTRAL (Batangas, Tarlac, San Carlos) Day 11 Sun Dec 28 Car rental Avis. Cost 22,000 including a 10,000P deposit that is returned minus tolls. Grab to the Avis Car Garage out in SE Manila (454P+118 toll). … Continue reading →