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Somehow, I stumbled upon this fascinating story about the end of the Spanish-American War in the Philippines and how the Spanish were ready to surrender but didn't want to surrender to the Filipinos. Instead, they wanted to surrender to the Americans. So the Americans made a secret deal with the Spanish, who were holed up in the old walled city of Intramuros. The Americans would attack, the Spanish would put up token resistance and then quickly surrender and the Filipino resistance would be totally screwed out of a stake in their own country. And yes: They were pissed. Ended up fighting the U.S. for another decade or so. I didn't know about this story despite the fact that I spent a week in a hotel just outside the walls of Intramuros when I taught a workshop there, six years ago. That's my photo downpage. Aug. 13, 2013.