Imagine seeing pyramids hovering above interstate 57. That’s one West Frankfort man’s plan.

Scott Williams calls it the Little Egypt Oasis, which would eventually include: 3 pyramids, a restaurant, truck stop and botanical gardens. It would take serious road-work, like re-vamping the ramps and creating frontage roads into West Frankfort, infrastructure development and a lot of dollars and cents. But Williams says, its worth the investment.

The bridges along I-57 just before the West Frankfort exit would be the center piece for where Williams hopes to put the Little Egypt Oasis. He says, 35,000 drivers pass thru this area every day and if only 10% stopped to check it out- that would mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for the area.

Members of the Southern Illinois Networking Association agree.

Williams hopes to get help funding the roadwork from the state and federal government. The rest of the money for the project would come from private investors.

Excerpted from an article by Rachel Gartner for wsiltv.com

That’s what an Air India airlines crew might have been singing as they failed to board their Boeing 777, going instead on a sightseeing tour of the Pyramids of Giza, leaving passengers at Cairo Airport waiting for a long 16 hours.

The April 15 flight was originally scheduled from Mumbai to Toronto, but had to be diverted to Frankfurt via Cairo.

Passengers thought there were technical problems, but after a few hours, they were surprised to find out that while the pilot had been on his seat all this time, the missing seven member crew had taken advantage of the unplanned Cairo stop, and went off on a visit to the Pyramids.

One of the crewmembers admitted his act, but claimed that the delay was merely five hours and airport personnel had taken them to a different terminal, due to language problems.

An Air India spokesperson confirmed the incident and said the company would initiate action against the crew members who did not report to work on time.

Source: NDTV

This is how the author of this blog envisions the new flag

A member of the People’s Assembly of Egypt suggested placing the Great Pyramids on a new Egyptian flag. According to lawmaker Hussein Abdel-Samei, the Pyramids of Giza would replace the current flag’s golden eagle holding a shield emblazoned with the words “Arab Republic of Egypt”.

The Great Pyramids are a worldwide known icon unique to Egypt. Its elegant design would make the nation’s flag instantly recognizable and easy to memorize. The new national ensign would also be much easier to draw by school children and the general population.

However, Safwat al-Sharif, head of the Shura Council, refused to consider this suggestion, stating that Egypt is not a Pharaonic country, but instead rooted in the Pharaonic, Coptic Christian, and Islamic eras.

Source: Earth Times

Djoser permitted 11 of his daughters to be buried in his pyramid, which makes the Step Pyramid the only pyramid of the Old Kingdom that was used for the burial of the king and his royal family. Why not also allow his architect Imhotep to be buried with him? Could it be possible that Imhotep was buried in the pyramid with his king? We know that he was very close to the king, that he was the one who designed the king’s tomb to be of stone for the first time in history. His name was also written on the base of a statue of Djoser, implying that he was very important to the king. Since he designed the pyramid for the king and his family, and he may have been as close as family to the king, it could be a possibility that he was allowed to be buried within the pyramid. In my opinion, that is one possibility, and we hope to find some answers when we excavate the shaft.

drhawass.com

A mighty gathering of Egyptians and international visitors will run and walk across the Pyramids site today starting at 10 a.m. to raise awareness about breast cancer during the first Race for the Cure in the Middle East, organized by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt under the auspices of the First Lady of Egypt, H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak.

Egyptians and expatriates have formed teams of runners at their schools and workplaces to cross the Pyramids site to break the silence that often surrounds breast cancer in many countries including Egypt. Breast cancer advocates from as many as 10 countries in the Middle East and North Africa will accompany them. They will be joined by high-level officials including Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control; U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey; Dr. Zahi Hawass, Director-General of Egypt`s Supreme Council of Antiquities; Nagwa Shoeb, Director General of the Suzanne Mubarak Women`s International Peace Movement; and Dr. Mohamed Shaalan, Chairman of the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt.

While bringing national and international attention to the disease, the Race for the Cure is designed as an uplifting event – a healing event for breast cancer survivors and their families and friends, and a positive step of people joining forces to beat the disease. Awards and prizes will be given to top finishers; teams will be recognized; and live music and exhibitors will add to the celebratory atmosphere.

REUTERS

Last year, GEM secured $300m from the Japan Bank for International Co-operation in the form of a soft loan, payable over 30 years at low interest. The Egyptian government, meanwhile, will pitch in $147m, while the rest of the about $150m is expected to come from private donors, foreign companies and international organisations.

The museum itself will directly employ a staff of about 500 people along with about 1,300 support jobs, such as maintenance and cleaning. But the cash-carrying tourists will contribute to “downstream” business such as outside hotels, restaurants and transportation – an add-on benefit excepted to generate about 10,000 employment opportunities outside the museum.

For now, the Egyptian government is preparing to launch a tender for a construction firm before the end of the year – almost 17 years after a presidential decree allocated land for the project.

The National

A rise of one meter in the sea level of the Mediterranean would force about 10.5 per cent of Egypt’s population from their homes and would harm the country’s agriculture sector, as many of Egypt’s crops, including wheat and rice, are grown on the Delta’s rich soil.

So it is perhaps no surprise to see the government endorsing Earth Hour, an initiative started by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) in 2007 as a means of raising awareness of global warming.

This year, Cairo will join some 2,500 cities around the world that have pledged to turn off their lights on Saturday. The Library of Alexandria, on Egypt’s northern coast, will join Broadway theatres in New York City, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Sydney Opera House in turning off their lights in support of Earth Hour.

Private businesses in Egypt are taking part too. Visitors to the Meridien hotel chain’s restaurants in Egypt will be forced to spend a romantic evening on Saturday, as the chain announced it would rely on candle light to observe Earth Hour. Customers will also get a free drink, the chain said.

Earth Times

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