Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Wednesday, the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez in Spain announced that it would dispatch a rescue ship to be in the vicinity of the 50 ships that make up the Sumud (steadfastness) flotilla aiming to provide humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip. It joins Italy in this endeavor. This […]
“In this batter’d Caravanserai:” FitzGerald’s translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:16
Revised. Quatrain 16 in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám underlines that life is fleeting for everyone, even the rich and powerful, and even for monarchs. FitzGerald was an “entrepreneurial Radical” in Victorian terms, who disliked the aristocracy and favored the republican form of government for newly established […]
76 Years after Colonial Britain Scheduled a Palestinian State, UK to Recognize Palestine
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Nadeem Badshah at The Guardian reports that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to recognize a Palestinian state today, Sunday. Spain, Norway and Ireland took this step in May 2024 when Israel disregarded the International Court of Justice’s preliminary injunction against continuing actions in Gaza that were plausibly genocidal, […]
Turkiye hosts Largest Solar Power Plant of any European Country, as its Solar Installations Surge to 3.1 GW in H1
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Turkiye [Turkey] is a European country, since part of its territory lies in Europe. So the following sentence is true: Turkiye hosts the largest solar power plant in any European country. The plant, however, is not situated in Turkiye’s European provinces but in the Karapinar Desert, about sixty miles east […]
Riyadh-Islamabad “Islamic NATO” to Check Israel in Shadow of US Decline
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a dramatic signal that the Arab Gulf nations have completely lost faith in the American security umbrella, on Wednesday September 17, Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense pact with Pakistan. Mirroring the language of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization charter, they announced that an attack on […]
“And those who husbanded the Golden Grain:” FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:15
Stanza 15 of the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám has for its theme a denial of the afterlife and resurrection. XV. And those who husbanded the Golden Grain, And those who flung it to the Winds like Rain, Alike to no such aureate Earth are turn’d As, buried once, Men want […]
“Like Snow upon the Desert’s dusty Face:” FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:14
Quatrain 14 emphasizes how short life is, even with all the good things the earth offers us (of which we should take advantage while we can). XIV. The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon Turns Ashes — or it prospers; and anon, Like Snow upon the Desert’s dusty Face Lightning a little Hour or […]
“Look to the Rose:” Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:13
Stanza no. 13 of the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s translation of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is about the free gifts we receive from nature. XIII. Look to the Rose that blows about us — “Lo, “Laughing,” she says, “into the World I blow: “At once the silken Tassel of my Purse “Tear, and […]
Israel’s Netanyahu starves 1 in 5 Gaza Children
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that 19 of every 100 Palestinian children in Gaza are malnourished. That is up from 15 in July. Even more worrying, UNICEF found an increase in cases of acute malnutrition. In July 8.5% of children examined manifested symptoms of the condition. In August, […]
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