Complex Numbers

We Hold These Truths

From "JAFBG"  [XGC]:

Write ten truthful statements.

1. Truth is hard to come by these days; many people would rather embrace comforting lies.

2. Something I learned yesterday: The famous Dutch tulip economic bubble was not as big as reported, nor had as far-ranging consequences.  

3. Joe Biden was the legitimate winner of the 2020 US Presidential election.

4. Despite all the hype surrounding the event, Richard Branson didn't actually go into space, which, by international convention, begins at 100 km above sea level. His flight was to about 80km -- significant, but not, by most definitions, space. (To be fair, it is high enough for the US to consider everyone aboard an "astronaut.")

5. Because yesterday was also Bastille Day: it's estimated that a person's consciousness might continue for up to 10 seconds following beheading by, for instance, guillotine.

6. I have never seen the movie Titanic, and hope I never do.

7. Speaking of space, the first human to get there, Yuri Gagarin (who did indeed reach space) achieved orbit in 1961. This was closer in time to the Wright Brothers' first controlled powered aircraft flight (in 1903) than it is to today.

8. While we're on that theme, yes, the Earth is approximately spherical. Not flat.

9. The surface area of the Moon is about 38 million square kilometers, smaller than the size of Asia (44.5 million km²). The Moon, however, has fewer trees.

10. (You know I had to include something about this subject) "A 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem   honouring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from bread made from barley."

Of course, I can't leave it at that. I had to look for the poem itself, at least an English translation of it. And behold, I found it.  

Presumably, the copyright has expired (it wasn't written by Disney) so here it is in all its glory:


Hymn to Ninkasi

Borne of the flowing water,
Tenderly cared for by the Ninhursag,
Borne of the flowing water,
Tenderly cared for by the Ninhursag,

Having founded your town by the sacred lake,
She finished its great walls for you,
Ninkasi, having founded your town by the sacred lake,
She finished its walls for you,

Your father is Enki, Lord Nidimmud,
Your mother is Ninti, the queen of the sacred lake.
Ninkasi, your father is Enki, Lord Nidimmud,
Your mother is Ninti, the queen of the sacred lake.

You are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with sweet aromatics,
Ninkasi, you are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with [date] - honey,

You are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,
Ninkasi, you are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,

You are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,
The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,
Ninkasi, you are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,
The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,

You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.
Ninkasi, you are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.

You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes,
Ninkasi, you are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes,

You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweet wort,
Brewing [it] with honey [and] wine
(You the sweet wort to the vessel)
Ninkasi, (...)(You the sweet wort to the vessel)

The filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.
Ninkasi, the filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.

When you pour out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.