Speed of Life

By Gregg Chadwick "All men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion." - President Thomas Jefferson Let's Define Our Terms About the Proposed Islamic Center on Park Place I. Is the Proposed Islamic Center at Ground Zero? No, the new building will not be at the the former site of the World Trade Center and cannot be seen from Ground Zero. II. What is the Proposed Plan for the Building? The Park 51 Group has proposed a thirteen story building which will include: 1. Recreation spaces and fitness facilities (swimming pool, gym, basketball court) 2. 500-seat auditorium 3. Restaurant and Culinary School 4. Cultural amenities: Art exhibitions, Musical Performances 5. Education programs 6. Library, reading room and art studios 7. Childcare services 8. A prayer area ( On the thirteenth floor will be an Islamic prayer room which will be run be run separately from Park 51 but open to the New York Community) 9. September 11th mem...

Kamila Shamsie's novel "Burnt Shadows" uses a cinemascope vision to portray a Japanese woman's struggle to understand her life in a spinning world where historic forces seem to lead her and her family into an inevitable showdown with fate. Hiroko carries the memories and scars imprinted into her skin from the atomic blast in Nagasaki in 1945 from Japan to India to post-partition Pakistan. Her son Raza carries the memories into a politically charged New York where the events of September 11, 2001 still loom in our headlines. Shamsie deftly leads the reader through the haunted landscapes of the last sixty years and by distilling chilling historical events through the vision of one family her words shed light into the shadows of time. An important work that I highly recommend. More on the author: Kamila Shamsie: British Council Contemporary Authors Find "Burnt Shadows"

"Once more we pause, once more we pray, as a nation and as a people. We read their names. We press their photos to our hearts. . . . We recall the beauty and meaning of their lives." THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release September 11, 2009 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT WREATH-LAYING CEREMONY AT THE PENTAGON MEMORIAL The Pentagon Arlington, Virginia 9:34 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Secretary Gates, Admiral Mullen and members of the Armed Forces, fellow Americans, family and friends of those that we lost this day -- Michelle and I are deeply humbled to be with you. Eight Septembers have come and gone. Nearly 3,000 days have passed -- almost one for each of those taken from us. But no turning of the seasons can diminish the pain and the loss of that day. No passage of time and no dark skies can ever dull the meaning of this moment. So on this solemn day, at thi...

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