| Turning city into a work of art
After a rather erratic beginning, the issues surrounding the decision by the Federal Government to reassess the role of the National Capital Authority seem to be focusing on two major elements: the cutting of funds to the NCA for the construction of Constitution Avenue and the establishment of a parliamentary joint committee inquiry. It seems odd that the cutting of funds should have been announced for a specific project of great importance for Canberra before the creation of a committee of inquiry on the activities of NCA. The cutting of funds appears to have the definite intention of reducing, if not erasing, the functions of the NCA before providing an opportunity for a considered assessment of the matter within the work of a balanced committee. The interests of a nation's capital should not be approached in such a cavalier way.
In the Line of Fire: A Memoir
On Sept. 19, 2001, as the ashes of the World Trade Center still smoldered, a shaken Gen. Pervez Musharraf went on national television and radio to explain an unpopular decision to his countrymen. He had agreed, under intense American pressure, to throw Pakistan's support behind the effort to crush the Taliban, al Qaeda's Afghan host. The decision was understandably painful given the Taliban's birth in Pakistan's fundamentalist madrassas, its nurture by the country's premier intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, and Islamabad's long and lonely effort to win international recognition for the bearded rulers of Kabul. Gen. Musharraf sold it by drawing a parallel with an event obscure to non-Muslims but rich with meaning for the faithful: the Treaty of Hudaibiya (628 A.D.), a 10-year truce between the Prophet Muhammad and the then infidel but powerful tribe of Mecca, the Quraish.
Sunovia Announces Collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich for the Development of Advanced ...
Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc. (NASD OTC Bulletin Board: SUNV) and EPIR Technologies, Inc. (EPIR) are pleased to announce a collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland (ETH Zurich) for the further development of cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells. The collaboration with ETH Zurich provides the companies with important experience and knowledge within the field of solar cell development and manufacturing, and should expedite product development efforts. Specifically, the effort will involve the development of CdTe thin-film solar cells including the use of plastic substrates. Plastic substrates, upon which the CdTe solar cells will reside, are flexible. Flexible substrates permit the transportation and deployment of solar cells from rolls, which significantly reduce shipping and installation costs.
Miami Art Museum program fosters interest in architectural careers
A new project run by the Miami Art Museum is using art, architecture and the museum's own development plans to give inner-city children hands-on experience in urban planning and design. On a recent Friday, children from after-school programs in Liberty City, Little Havana, Coconut Grove and Overtown toured the museum's art exhibits, studying designs for the new Miami Art Museum building planned for Museum Park and participate in a hands-on design and architecture workshop. ''The goal is to get teenagers in underserved communities involved in the process of urban planning,'' said program coordinator Michelle Weinberg, who helped with the tour. ``We want to involve them, their imaginations and their ideas in what the city of Miami could look like, how it could be improved and what are some problem areas in the neighborhoods in which they live.'' The program, Brick by Brick, began in January and involves weekly workshops at four sites: Downtown YMCA, Little Havana Institute, World Literacy Crusade's Girl Power program in Liberty City, and the Barnyard -- Coconut Grove Cares.
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