Live births in Portugal in 2013 fell by half compared to records 40 years ago. In the same year, 128,000 Portuguese emigrated, the equivalent of the population of a city like Braga, the country’s fifth largest, the newspaper Correio da Manhã reported. The exact number of births in 2013 was 82,787, which … Read more
How do you analyze a photograph? By looking at it and drawing a first impression; then, by trying to see what sentiment it causes and then analyzing the reason for this feeling. Observing this photo of the Almansa Castle in Spain, we must make a distinction between two wonderfully harmonic but clearly … Read more
Once upon a time there was a huge island of trash floating in the Pacific. Only an island? No, a subcontinent! To believe the environmental movement, it spanned about 270,000 to 5.8 million square miles, i.e., one or two times the size of the U.S. (cf. Wikipedia, Great Pacific garbage patch). But … Read more
With civilized countries looking to depart from traditional methods of healthcare, and some forcibly implementing a socialist alternative, a quick look at how things are going in socialist Venezuela might give a taste of things to come. According to El Universal, 14,700 doctors have fled Venezuela seeking a just compensation elsewhere and … Read more
Medieval men had a marvelous devotion to the Magi Kings. While this devotion is based on the Gospels, they developed it with such strength that it lives on even today. In addition to a few shepherds, Providence willed that the Child Jesus receive the visit of three wise men who, according to … Read more
The Middle Ages, inappropriately called “Dark Ages,” was one of the times of greatest technological development, artistic and institutional creativity in history. This is the opinion of Prof. João Luís César das Neves, President of the Scientific Council and Professor of Economy and Business at the Faculty of Business and Economics of … Read more
The New Year is the time to make resolutions. The problem is that many people dismiss such resolutions as good intentions that are almost made to be broken. In the rush of things, no one has time to keep them. I disagree with such conclusions. My book, Return to Order: From a … Read more
The “culture of death” is attaining that which not even the atomic bomb was able to: extinguish Japan’s population. A survey by an ad hoc subcommittee of Japan’s Policy Board concluded that by 2040, almost half of the country’s municipalities will face difficulties to continue existing normally, BBC Brazil reported. The study … Read more
After the Nativity scene, the Christmas tree is the most significant symbol of the Christmas season – especially in times past, when the commercial aspect of Christmas was not as aggressive. The inventor of the Christmas tree was Saint Boniface, the apostle and evangelist of Germany. In 723 Saint Boniface felled an … Read more
Christmas should be a time of great joy, but oftentimes it isn’t. Perhaps the joy is lost in the season’s gaudy and frantic commercialization that has turned a great holy day into a secular holiday. There is also the loud revelry of winter parties present that tends to suffocate the memories of calm Christmases … Read more