Islam didn't have a hand in saving Christianity from extinction?

"Actually it was Islam in Spain that preserved what would later become christian technology and intellectualism after ancient Rome fell. Not only did it preserve historical information but invented and created new technology and science. Keep in mind this was the time when Christian Europe suffered under the Dark Ages and had lost all of that Roman intellectual knowledge and capability.  Later, Christian pre-Renaissance scholars went to university in places like Toledo and Catalina in Spain and took back what they learned to Northern and Western Europe. This kicked off the Renaissance. Without the Renaissance there would have been no imperialism, exploration and mapping of the unknown world and establishment of the colonies. Christian Europe owes a huge debt to the Universities and sophisticated societies of the Islamic Empire for its existence up until the fall of the Empire  (a huge part is due to the Mongol invasion and destruction of Baghdad; the intellectual and cultural capital of that empire). Baghdad had once been an oasis with forests of palms and water gardens. It never really recovered from that destruction. Many historians believe that it was this destruction that not only caused the empire to fall but for Islamic culture to curl inward and swing from intellectual, sophisticated and open to swing in the direction of hostile toward outsiders, conservative politically, and religious fundamentalist. Just think how different the world may have been if the Mongols had not sacked the Eastern half of the empire. Hmmmm."



http://news.yahoo.com/video/school-history-assignment-causes-controversy-131031588.html

Maleficent and Racism

I just noticed some of the accents. It seemed that the main "good" characters had English accents.

I think that a British film company was involved in the filming.

The human barbarians to the north were the ones with Scottish accents.
I think I recall the raven having an Irish accent. Cast in the role of servant.

So cultural stereotypes include the Irish as working class, born into servitude. He at least offers Maleficent a bit of wisdom about her own behavior and how she treated those around her.

The Scotts and the English have been fighting each other since the Romans pulled out of the island.
It's a long standing tradition to view them as barbarians. Warlike and stubborn.

Maybe it's reaching but it did strike me as interesting how each different group of characters had shared character traits had shared accents depending on the group.

Maleficent Review

I didn't do a Frozen review. I still don't quite know what to think of it. I appreciate the movement away from romance and true love's kiss. I appreciate the relationship between the sisters and one loving the other enough to risk her life for her. Healing love.

I did not enjoy the tropes. Manic Pixie Dream Girl is worth mentioning.

I went to see Maleficent with Jess in 3D. Amazing film and I think this review says everything that needs to be said:

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2014/06/02/maleficent-finally-disney-gives-us-a-positive-witchmother/

Although I don't agree with the author that she is a misunderstood hero. Yes, she was acting out of trauma and pain, trying to punish the man who had hurt her but she hurt innocent people in the bargain. She did act as the villain even though her growing love for Aurora helped her heal and start to see the ways in which she had callously used people, Diavlo, and hurt people like Aurora herself and her mother.

Her mother was not a major character. She was in only one scene and died off screen. I guess this made it easier for Maleficent to fill that role.

Misogyny leads to Murder

Can't get a date? Shoot up a sorority. I hear it's the new thing.


https://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/ucsb-shootings-prompt-massive--yesallwomen-twitter-movement-174906268.html


"This is a societal problem. When a country has around 100 million adult women who all change their behavior in fear of being attacked, (changing bus stops, routes to work, what they wear, avoid eye contact, become invisible online, etc.) then there is a huge problem. Putting a gun into a girl's hand does not fix it. It just creates more dead bodies. Boys need to be raised to not think they are entitled to "hunt" a girl like prey because they think she's pretty. Pulling a girl's pigtails because he has a crush on her is not okay. It's a huge red flag and no one should be winking at such behavior. Being turned on is not an excuse to attack or punish a girl. Sometimes a girl says no to a "supreme gentleman" because he's a creepy jerk and she wants to get away from him."