Ozymandias

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

-Percy Bysshe Shelley
1792-1822

Two news items prompt this thought. Item one from The Independent

How Islamic inventors changed the world
From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Muslim world has given us many innovations that we take for granted in daily life. As a new exhibition opens, Paul Vallely nominates 20 of the most influential- and identifies the men of genius behind them.

The article then lists the 20 with a brief paragraph of explanation. Let's look at the dates of these inventions: #1 - Coffee - pre 15th Century #2 - How the eye works - 10th Century #3 - Chess as we know it - 10th Century #4 - Attempted flight - 852AD and 875AD Are you starting to see a distinct trend here? In fact there is only one item in this list of 20 that comes later than the 15th Century. That is the inoculation of people with Cow Pox as a defense against Small Pox and this happened in 1724. What caused this culture of enlightenment to undergo such a plummet to today's culture of fear, ignorance and thuggery. The other news item is this one from Yahoo/Reuters:

The sun is going away, but don't panic...
The Nigerian government, anxious to avoid a repeat of riots that marked a solar eclipse in 2001, warned citizens they may suffer "psychological discomfort" during a new eclipse this month but urged them not to panic.

Information Minister Frank Nweke said an eclipse five years ago caused riots in northern Borno state because people did not know why it happened.

"Some people even felt some evil people in their communities were responsible for the eclipse," he said in a statement on Thursday aimed at reassuring Nigerians that the eclipse is expected to darken parts of the country on March 29.

"The eclipse is not expected to have any real damaging effect, only social and psychological discomforts are envisaged," Nweke said.

Nigeria is predominantly Muslim. The life expectancy at birth is around 46 years. The median age of the population is 18 years old. The joke of the matter is that the country is very oil rich and has a large agricultural output. Apparently, the Muslims in power do not see the benefit of a general education for their citizens.