No. 30 in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám continues the theme of bewilderment that we find ourselves, unasked, in the world, without a clear idea of the meaning of this life. The English verses portray these acts of being born and dying “without asking” as “impertinence,” i.e. insolence or […]
Israel: Polling suggests Extreme-Right Netanyahu Coalition in Trouble, as Tens of Thousands Protest
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new opinion poll in Israel, published in Ma’ariv, is summarized in al-Balad. It shows that if Israel has early elections, the currently dominant right wing coalition would fall from holding roughly 61 seats in the 120-member Israeli parliament or Knesset to only 50. Likud is projected to lose 3 […]
UN’s IPC: Gaza out of Famine for Now, but Severe Malnutrition Continues, as Newborn dies of Hypthermia
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification or IPC, on which the United Nations depends to determine the level of nutritional crises around the world, delivered the good news on Friday that Gaza is now no longer in famine. While that report is welcome, the situation that Israel is imposing on […]
California: Fossil Gas use Declining, replaced by Solar Plus Megabatteries
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The US Energy Information Agency reports that California’s fossil gas use is steadily declining. In the first half of 2025, fossil gas use was down a whopping 18% compared with the same period in 2020, to 45.5 billion kilowatt hours (BKWh). Even just in 2025, California reduced fossil gas usage […]
In 2025, 65% of Americans view Muslims Favorably, 85% view Jews Favorably
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development and director of the Critical Issues Poll at the University of Maryland has the results of a sounding done this past summer on American attitudes to Jews and Muslims. The PDF of his conclusions and those of his colleague Michael […]
Pakistan now gets 25% of its Electricity from Solar, Plans Solar Panel factory
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Pakistan’s solar power switch continues to grow by leaps and bounds. In 2023, solar was the fifth largest source of electricity generation in the South Asian country of 240 million. Then Pakistani villagers and townspeople imported 17 gigawatts worth of solar panels in 2024, catapulting the country into one of […]
Syrian-Australian Muslim halts Indian-Australian ISIL Attack on Jewish Australians
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The gruesome and terrifying attack on a Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, left 15 people dead, including a rabbi, a ten-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor. Some 24 are in hospital. The perpetrators were apparently Australian Muslims of Indian origins, Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram, […]
Conflict in Mecca: The Prophet Muhammad and Soft Power
I gave an online talk to the `Inekas [Reflection] Study Group of scholars in Iran on a chapter of my book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.. They have kindly put it up at YouTube, so I am mirroring it here. YouTube provides a computer-generated transcript. I asked Open AI’s ChatGPT to […]
“Into this Universe:” Heidegger and FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:29
One recurrent theme in the unconventional quatrains that were later gathered under the rubric of the The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is surprise at having come into being unasked, and at being sentenced to non-being at the end of this bewildering life. This sentiment to my mind is a sign of medieval Persian secularism. The […]
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