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This Week in Books - 8/20/17
The Myth of the Andalusian ParadiseDario Fernandez-Morera ISI Books, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2016 Within the official introduction: Page 11, Introduction This book gives special attention to primary sources (medieval Christian, Muslim, and Jewish chronicles; literary works; religious and legal texts; and biographies), and usually quotes them verbatim so that nonscholars can read these materials (which in modern publications on Islamic Spain frequently are not part of the narrative and often not even part of the notes) and decide for themselves whether the widespread hagiographic interpretations of Islamic Spain are warranted or not. Unless otherwise indicated, assertions in this book are abundantly supported by these medieval Christian, Muslim, and Jewish primary sources, which are either quoted in the text or cited in the notes. There is extensive notation, and every premise is backed up. So when a subject is approached, the reader can find the source of information. Page 60 Despite the bubonic plague, locusts, drought, and the civil wars that ravaged Spain in the years before the Muslim conquest, the Catholic kingdom of the Visigoths still presented itself as a wonderland to the uncultured eighth-century Berber invaders. Medieval Muslim chronicles tell of the astonishment the Islamic warriors experienced at the splendor of Toledo, Seville, Cordoba, Merida, and other Visigoth cities. They also tell us that the Muslim armies' sacking of Spain was stupendous. Christian chronicles corroborate these accounts, as does the archaeological evidence of the treasures Christians buried before fleeing the invaders. Other indicators are noted, including the shadow of the coin showing the value of slaves. Pages 154-155 Elsewhere Avila observes, "In spite of the existence of sporadic instances of women whose activities seem to indicate a certain independence and freedom - the most famous example being that of the well-born poetess Wallada - all indications are that freedom of activity for Andalusi (free) women was limited to the domestic sphere." Wallanda was the daughter of a sexual slave of foreign origin, from whom she may have inherited her mores, and she was never married, so she never became a muhsan. At the very least, this book is a fine counterweight to the perceived multi-culturism of Andalusia, the book quotes very precise slave prices and the Muslim view of the black African. To continue: Page 237 As Robert M. Haddan, Aptin Khanbaghi, Louis Milliot, and other scholars have noticed, the Christian dhimmis served as an intermediary between the more primitive society of the Islamic invaders and the superior civilizations of the Christian Greek Roman Empire and the Zoroastrian Persian Empire. The Persian Muslim chronicler Ibn al-Nadim testified that "in tenth-century Iran, the majority of philosophers were still Christian." In all, the book is a damning counterpoint to the Muslim occupation of Spain. The author does a fantastic job of remaining relatively neutral while laying out the evidence. Of course a decent understanding of history and dates will help the reader, but the text can stand on its own. This Week in Emergency Preparedness Ah, the boogie bag. Nothing around our campfire can start a conversation or confrontation quite like this topic. As the emergency preparedness planner for the family, and as a volunteer firefighter, I had identified an out of control prairie fire as threat number one, so I had a boogie bag tailored for such a threat. I give myself a C, perhaps a C- on packing. The easy part: what I got right. Food, though not tasty. Water, though not enough. A Mick Dundee for when the creepy truck driver was walking about the family car at the refugee post. Basic medicines and first aid. That I had one. That last point was probably the best part (puts on Jack Burton voice) because when the ash flakes of hell are falling and the air is crackling one thing for sure is Dad had thought of this, and you hit the road and find safety. Huge morale boost. Nobody was blindsided or froze. Life is not fun when you can't see one block and the temperature goes up 15 degrees in fifteen minutes. What I got wrong. To start with, all my vehicles had less than half a tank of gas, one less than a quarter tank. Not enough food and water for three, for three days. What I had was not fun to eat - more on that later. No spare clothing which cost about fifteen minutes. In my defense on that one, the season was winter to spring transition and my children had outgrown their previous spring clothing; the difference between the C and C- viewer's discretion. Clothing, what a hassle. You desert people can relate; 90 in the day, 20 at night. Fortunately we had a second pack handy and were able to pack current clothing for the affair. Not enough for three days, but extra undies and socks are nice to have, if not necessary. My first chance off the line I changed socks and it was like peeling duct tape off of wall paper, an actual health and safety issue. I have two packs now, tools and textiles. Textiles has socks and undies pre-packed. What else I missed? Charging cords, or rather, had old ones which didn't fit new things. Some of those port-a-battery-chargers would have been nice. Also missing was the DC/AC power inverter, probably located next to my three missing tape measurers. Point of order - cell phone reliability was totally squashed. I have good walkie-talkies which are no good if left on the charger. A pre-flight checklist would be good to have; I would have had the walkies, among other things, which would have pushed me into B or even B+ range. What else would have been nice? Pack of playing cards. Coloring books and crayons. Actual physical stuff to keep minds occupied during lulls, and lulls in this circumstance were long and often. Comfort food would have been nice. Marine emergency rations will get a person by, but some cherry or sour apple hard candies would have been fun. I had nicotine gum, but not nearly enough for a three day odyssey. Whatever habits a person has, smoking, drinking, chewing pencils, is going to explode in a high stress situation. Take that into account. And my wife, whoa was she hard on herself. She had a total firearm failure when creepy trucker dude started creeping. In short, she grabbed what was convenient instead of what was hers. She must have done that while I was getting gasoline. Ah, gasoline. The time I saved with having a boogie bag allowed me to beat the crowd to the pumps. Internet was sporadic; took me about eight attempts for the transaction to occur. Lucky there was still power. I do have a mechanical pump in inventory, but it would have done me no good in this instance. It was not yet spring, so I had not filled my lawn mower gas cans yet. Almost a very costly mistake - family could have made it out of the way, but not to the planned destination and would have had to fill up. Because scared people suck and attract predators, it is in my playbook to avoid filling stations especially. All in all, having a boogie bag and route of escape (go to x's house via a-town and b-town) proved to be very handy, if anything it is having a starting point during an emergency. I was assisting the town's evac and it was apparent who had and had not pre-planned an emergency. It could have cost lives. I am sure I will think of other things, and questions/comments are certainly encouraged, especially as you all in cities get ready to consider widespread civil disobediences. If I lived back where I have, in a city, I would plan to be stuck in my neighborhood or even residence for up to five days without power or even water. Just me. I lived next to a major interstate intersection; evacuation would have been near impossible. Shoot, it was tough getting anywhere on regular traffic days, and was too close to the intersection to take back roads, they would cram up way too quickly. I'll leave it at that. Urban shelter in place is about exact opposite of my considerations. Again, I am just sharing a story, not an instruction manual. If anything, I hope I am showing there is no right way to pack, only good and better. Keep up to date as well - bandage technology has progressed bounds since I put together my basic first aid kit some ten years ago. Tourniquets were not even a consideration then, now they are being built into clothing expressly designed to be applied by the patient operating solo. There is some very neat stuff out there if it has been a while since packing your boogie bag. I mean flashlights, are you kidding me? Remember when a mag-lite was holy crap bright? I have a dang nick-nack key deal with a light brighter than they were and for $5. Multi-tools, there are some very cute ones out there, probably some which look rustic and have beard trimmers. Basically, if it can't disconnect/reconnect a car battery it is worthless. Posted by: swksvolFF 2017-08-20 |
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