Stanza no. 20 in in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám celebrates wine as a means of escaping lingering shame and the dread of an unknown future. It is about, as the hippies used to say in the 1960s, “being here now,” with a little help from a mind-altering substance. […]
Syria’s Parliamentary Election Results look Alarmingly like Iraq 2005, which produced a Civil War
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Syria’s parliamentary elections on October 5 raised alarm flags for me on several grounds. First, they were not conducted on the basis of a direct vote. Sixty “constituencies” were established to elect 121 members of the People’s Assembly of Syria (only 119 were actually elected). Another 70 members will be […]
Wind and Solar Provide 40% of Brazil’s Electricity for first time
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – This month Brazil’s National Electric System Operator estimated that wind and solar are now producing nearly 40 percent of the country’s electricity. It was just in August of this year that the country’s wind and solar installations hit the milestone of generating over a third of the country’s electricity (some […]
Israeli Government Votes to Implement Trump Peace Plan for Gaza as Hamas Pledges to Uphold it
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – According to the Israeli newspaper Arab 48 , the Israeli government on Friday approved the ceasefire in Gaza and the hostage exchange, and agreed to begin withdrawing troops from the west of the Strip. The approval came after the arrival of President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoys Steve Witkoff and […]
“From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen:” FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:19
With no. 19 in in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the theme turns away from the glory of kings as a flash-in-the-pan to the impermanence of life for everyone. One of the tropes common in the subsequent poems, already used in no. 18, is that we are clay and […]
As Ceasefire Looms, Gaza’s Children are Still Starving
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Trump peace plan has resulted in an agreement between Hamas and Israel to pause fighting and exchange prisoners. Other points in the plan, including an Israeli troop withdrawal and the laying down of arms by Hamas, appear still to be being negotiated, which is to say that we are […]
For First time in History, Renewables Overtook Coal in Global Electricity Production in H1
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Ember energy analysis firm has released its global electricity report for the first half of 2025, and it contains two big surprises. The first is that sustainable sources of energy have now overtaken coal for the first time since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The second is that […]
IC Fundraising Appeal: Support Independent Journalism in a Year of Living Dangerously
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – These are parlous times for people who speak out against injustice, and I cannot thank our loyal readers enough for their continued devotion to this site and for their spiritual and material support. I got a call recently from University of Michigan campus police warning me to be careful, since […]
“The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled:” FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:18
Stanza 18 in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is the last in the series that emphasizes the impermanence of royal glory and it transitions to a subsequent set of meditations on the transitory character of life itself XVIII. I sometimes think that never blows so red The Rose as […]
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