For a whole lifetime, I’ve made praising wine a constant exercise. I always have its instruments around me. Prude, if reason is your teacher here, cheer up– for your teacher is my student. Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 89
Archives for April 2012
Muslim Keyholder of Church of Holy Sepulchre Opens it for Easter Pilgrims
On Good Friday in Jerusalem, religious cooperation among Christians, Muslims and Jews is on display. The key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is turned by a Muslim family, the Nuseibehs, and another Muslim family, named Judeh, stores the key overnight. Christian authorities overseeing the church, held to have been built on the site […]
Omar Khayyam sung in Persian by the Kamkaran Group
The Kamkaran group performs Khayyam’s poetry in classical style in Tehran:
Omar Khayyam (88)
Since we have to go, what is it to exist? What is it to chase impossible ambitions? They’ll never pass by anyplace with a sense of well-being. What is it to be deprived both of travel and of rest? Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 88
Videos on the Muslim Brotherhood and the Quest for Power in Egypt
Aljazeera English on the Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat al-Shater and his plans to run for the presidency of Egypt: The USG Open Source Center paraphrased this piece from the Muslim Brotherhood web site Cairo Egyptwindow in Arabic for Weds. April 4: “Article by Muhammad al-Suruji entitled: “10 important questions on al-Shatir’s nomination” dated 4 April. The […]
Tomgram: Bill McKibben, How You Subsidize the Energy Giants to Wreck the Planet
Bill McKibben writes at Tomdispatch.com Payola for the Most Profitable Corporations in History And Why Taxpayers Shouldn’t Stand for It Any More By Bill McKibben Along with “fivedollaragallongas,” the energy watchword for the next few months is: “subsidies.” Last week, for instance, New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez proposed ending some of the billions of dollars […]
The Paradox of Israeli Politics: Sternfeld
Lior Sternfeld writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment Israel’s center-right Kadima Party has just elected an Iranian-Israeli, Shaul Mofaz, as its leader, in an attempt to position itself to defeat the hard right Likud Party’s Binyamin Netanyahu in the next elections. Mofaz is promising to take up the plight of Israel’s middle class, […]
Life of Omar Khayyam pt 5 (Documentary)
Fifth and final part of “The Genius of Omar Khayyam” — the continuing appeal of his poetry and philosophy, and the question of how much of Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat translation is Fitzgerald and how much Khayyam:
Rafsanjani: Iran does not Want Nukes, Should improve relations with US, Saudi
Former Iranian president Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, gave an interview in a security studies journal recently, and I thought it might be important to share some key passages here. They were translated from the Fars News Agency by the USG Open Source Center. Rafsanjani is head of the Expediency Council, which resolves conflicts between the […]
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