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, […]
Scientists Prove Justinian’s Plague, which Continued through the Rise of Islam, was Caused by Y. Pestis
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The first recorded world-historical pandemic took place in the Roman Empire and Sasanian Iran, as well as neighboring areas such as Arabia, 541- 750 CE. It began during the reign of Justinian (r.527 – 565) and continued during the rise of Islam and the fall of the Sasanian Empire in […]
Iran Seeks China’s help to Install 7 gigs of new Solar Capacity in “4th Industrial Revolution”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – With the prospect of new Iranian nuclear power plants looking dim after Israeli and American bombing of its civilian nuclear enrichment sites, and with a need to export its fossil gas rather than consuming it domestically, the Tehran leadership is at last turning to renewables for electricity generation. President Masoud […]
European Parliament asks for Recognition of Palestinian State, Upholds halt to Aid to Israel
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Thursday, the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, passed a resolution asking European Union member states to recognize a Palestinian state. It isn’t the first time that the European Parliament has given support to Palestine recognition, but this resolution is the first directly to call on member states to undertake […]
“Take the Cash in Hand:” Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:12
Quatrain no. 12 in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám concerns the imperative to live in the moment and take our pleasures where we can, disregarding visions of future power or the afterlife, which we may never achieve. XII. “How sweet is mortal Sovranty!”-think some: Others” How blest the Paradise to […]
Top 4 Reasons Netanyahu Bombed Negotiators’ Offices in Qatar
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bombed the building being used by civilian Hamas negotiators in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, in the midst of ongoing indirect negotiations with them. Five low-level Hamas members were killed, along with a Qatari security guard, but the top negotiators survived. Earlier this […]
“A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse, and Thou:” Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:11
The eleventh quatrain in the first edition Edward FitzGerald’s translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám became one of the more famed poems in the English language. It epitomized romance for people in the late 19th and through the 20 century. Nervous young men brought it along on dates to read out as an ice […]
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