In Search of the Human Spirit

With no bid contracts for New Orleans already under scrutiny, it’s a wonder the tax payers trust anyone with their tax dollars. Among the companies that bid for contracts is a company that is trying to do right by the people of New Orleans: Environmental Chemical Corp. Their bid was accepted by US Army Corp. of Engineers and they aim to provide jobs for those who lived and worked in New Orleans.

ECC was founded in 1985. They were involved in the clean up of Moffett Field and Travis Air Force Base. However, New Orleans is the biggest project they’ve ever attempted.

The folks at ECC believe giving back to the people of New Orleans should be part of wht they do. So, they are doing whatever they can to subcontract to companies based in New Orleans.

Many of those businesses may not have offices anymore, but they have employees willing to work. ECC is actively tracking down displaced residents so they can put them to work. They need truckers, engineers, equipment operators, and laborers. ECC is providing workers with bus and airline tickets back to Louisiana and they are locating temporary housing for them. Through ECC’s effort, many former New Orleans residents will be able to get back on their feet much quicker.

[Photograph credit: Bruce Soileau, www.sxc.hu]

The giant squid or architeuthis is a rare creature indeed. For many years it seemed the stuff of legends. It lives in ocean depths thousands of feet deep. Many marine biologists believed that the rare beast would never be observed in the wild. Though a few have died in fishing nets or washed ashore, none had been observed alive until now.

A team of Japanese scientists headed by Tsunemi Kubodera had been working on the project for 3 years when last September they were rewarded. They not only photographed the giant squid but ended up with a tentacle as a souvenir. The squid was 26 feet long, purple-red in color, and probably an adult female. They are the largest invertebrates. Some can top 50 feet in length!

The team followed some sperm whales as they feed on squid. The squid was located southeast of Tokyo off of Chichijima island. The squid had been battling a line baited with shrimp–a battle that went on for over four hours! In the battle, the squid lost a tentacle. It’ll survive just fine without the tentacle according to the experts.

Photographs from the project were released only this week. The photographs are hailed as a great achievements for science. As the giant squid is so elusive, the photographs will provide many details as to their behavior in their natural habitat. Kudobera had spent 10 years studying the giant squid before he was rewarded.

If you would like to learn more about the project and their findings, a free pdf file is available from the Royal Society website: First Ever Observations of a Wild Giant Squid

http://www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/proc_bio_content/pdf/RSPB20053158.pdf

Home and Garden Television is looking for a few good landscapers and gardeners. HGTV gives them an opportunity to renovate a garden for their show “Landscape Smart”. Each week the show highlights a project. Homeowners work with professionals in landscaping and gardening for each episode.

Matt Akabane, of Tassajara Nursery, got a call from HGTV asking him if he’d like to be featured. He was pretty surprised since he had no idea he was being considered. He accepted the challenge: he had to create a garden for a 30 year old house in Lafayette, California. Akabane had to create the entire design which had to please the homeowners as well as the show’s producers. The homeowners gave their input–a garden that resembled a French country garden. Akabane then had two days to work on the garden.

Since the show provides a step-by-step process as to how the garden is created, Akabane was constantly being filmed. It takes about 24 hours of footage to create one 22 minute episode.

Tassajara Nursery is located in Contra Costa County, California. It’s been family run since 1979.

At 87 and 84, the Briant sisters have pretty much seen it all. They found themselves on a bus stuck in traffic with millions of others trying to get out of the path of Hurricane Rita. It was their second hurricane in a month. They’d be taken to safety in Dallas.

Everything was going smoothly. Then the driver noticed that something was amiss. It’s unclear but he either detected smoke or flames coming from the bus. Once he realized the danger, they attempted to get everyone off the bus.

Edna Briant could not get out of her wheelchair to save her life. One aide threw her over her shoulder and carried her out. While Edna laid on the ground, she could only think of her sister, Claire, who was still on the bus. Her sister was soon pulled out as well.

Those who were rescued were tended to by a nurse, Tina Jones, who was in the car behind them, and two off-duty paramedics who just happened to pass by.

Tragically, 23 of them lost their lives with the bus burst into flames. When the bus burst into flames, their oxygen tanks exploded. The Briant sisters owe their lives to the aide that braved the flames to save them and the nurse and paramedics who happened to be sharing the same road.

Australian, Joshua Berris, was celebrating his birthday by surfing off of Kangaroo Island. Seals were playing in the water, and Berris thought he saw one a short distance away. The 26 year old then found himself face to face with a Great White Shark. The shark which was almost 16 feet long circled him before attacking. The shark bit him in the legs and tried to drag him away.

Berris decided his only option was to fight. He began pummeling the shark with punches. He was able to free himself. Then another surfer helped him make it to shore. Lewis and Nathn Downie, friends of Berris, climbed a cliff then ran to the nearest phone to get help. A rescue holicopter was brought in to get the injured surfer to the Flinders Medical Centre.

He has lacerations in his hands and legs. Doctors expect him to make a complete recorvery.

[Photograph credit:

If you had on the news Wednesday evening, you probably witnessed one of the most amazing feats of piloting ever. A JetBlue airbus took off from Burbank, California, Wednesday, at 3:17pm. There were 140 passengers on board. They were heading for JFK airport in New York. Soon after take off, the crew realized that the nose gear was turned sideways.

An attempt was made to right the errant wheels to no avail. They then had to make an emergency landing at LAX airport. Before they could land, the airplane had to lose most of it’s fuel in order to decrease the weight of the plane. For 3 hours, the pilot circled Southern California in order to burn off excess fuel. All the while, passengers witnessed events from the inside and outside–they had television access on board the flight!

At about 6:20pm, the pilot made an attempt to land. With all eyes watching, including mine, the plane descended towards the runway. As the wheels touched the ground, sparks flew. The nose gear caught fire, but this was considered normal. The pilot kept the nose even, preventing the nose gear from breaking off. Within seconds, the plane slowed to a halt. Fire crews were at the ready, but fortunately, they were not needed. Passengers walked off the plane of their own volition. Their nerves were probably frayed, but they had landed safe and sound.

At 3 years old, Matt Savage was diagnosed with autism. He went through rough patches. There was a time when music and television caused sensory overload for Matt. But, with the help of special behavioral therapy, he’s leading a normal life.

He’s always been very bright. He could read before he was two. He taught himself how to read piano music. Somewhere along the way, his parents realized he had a knack for music. He began learning the piano. During a craft fair, Matt walked up on stage while a jazz band was setting up their instruments. He sat down at the piano and proceeded to amaze everyone with his ability. He played along as if he’d always been apart of the band.

That was the beginning of his music career. At the age of 7, he joined the New England Conservatory of Music. He began writing songs–mostly jazz which is what he really loves. At 9, he produced his first CD “Groovin’ on Mount Everest”. He’s now part of the Matt Savage Trio and has 3 CDs under his belt. He’s performed in other countries and will be going to the San Francisco Bay Area this month.

Matt’s 13 years old now and a bit of a Harry Potter look alike. He has a special gift. And, we’re very fortunate he’s sharing it with us all.

You can visit Matt’s website and get a taste of the boy wonder’s music: Savage Records Home Page

[Photograph credit: Kostas Papadimitriou, www.sxc.hu]

In this day and age where energy demand is high and so are prices, businesses and government agencies are looking for renewable energy sources. In California, the city of Millbrae and Chevron Oil Company are teaming up to convert kitchen grease into electricity. The kitchen grease will be used to fuel a sewage plant.

The facility has been upgraded to support the new energy source. They’ll collect cooking grease from local restaurants. The plant as a special system set up that can process the grease and turn it into natural gas. The plant will generate it’s own power so as not to be dependent on the electricity grid. They will also sell back to the power grid creating a stream of revenue. The new system will cut carbon dioxide pollution as well.

The savings are hoped to be around $250,000 a year. As more people look to alternative energy sources, they may follow Millbrae’s lead.

[Photograph credit: Päivi Rytivaara, www.sxc.hu]

[I heard these guy on the Ed Schultz show today. I was deeply touched by his passion and motivation and I wish there were millions more like him.]

On September 1st, Carmel Valley businessman, David Perez, wiped the tears from his eyes. He was devastated by the images from the Gulf Coast. He listened to our government officials saying everything would be fine, but he didn’t believe them. He turned off the tv and decided to act.

He was going to help those affected by the hurricane. Initially, he was going to make a donation like the rest of us, but when he saw the ineptitude and idiocy, he had to do more. He charted airplanes and brought 384 people from the Gulf Coast to California. This was only the beginning of the one man relief effort.

Perez then sought donations of food, medicine, water, and whatever else the people needed. He collected 380 tons worth and got a fleet of cargo planes, jets, barges, and other forms of transportation to get it to the places in Louisiana and Mississippi that needed it the most. To date, he has shipped almost 500 tons of goods to the region. He has also spent a quarter of a million dollars of his own money to run the operation.

Perez knows what it’s like to be down and out. When he was a child, his family left Morocco for America. His mother kicked his father out when he was young. The family worked together to stay afloat. He started his own business at 18. In his early 20s he was becoming financially successful, but he watched it all slip away. In a short span of time, his girlfriend was killed in an automobile accident–he was driving. He spent 9 months in jail. Then watched the business he created fail.

That was 1987. He is now 42 and wiser. He’s had six businesses since then. Now he runs Surge Global Energy.

He feels a need for atonement to make up for his youthful indiscretions. On the Ed Schultz radio show, he broke down while retelling the story of his girlfriend’s death and when reporting what he saw when he visited the Gulf Coast after the hurricane.

Initially, Perez worked through the proper channels including the Red Cross. But, progress was moving too slow. People were still starving three weeks after the hurricane and flooding. He decided to form his own foundation called the 2 Life 18 Foundation so that he could help the people directly without all the bureaucratic red tape. They have sent supplies to the St. Barnard Parish and will work with Baton Rouge next. He has extended more their supplies to those who has helped. He has also provided houses, cars, and jobs so the people can get back on their feet.

His passion and can do attitude has helped him save lives in the Gulf Coast when larger organizations and government agencies couldn’t get passed the starting gate. With another hurricane making it’s way towards the gulf, relief efforts need to be stepped up and the work of people like Perez become even more important.

You can learn more about Perez at his website: 2 Life 18 Foundation

[Photograph credit: NASA images courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC]

It’s been a bit of struggle finding something not related to Hurricane Katrina lately, so I thought I’d tell you about a group that I do volunteer work with. This is a bit of free advertising for the website. So be warned. My opinions are incredibly biased!

Two years ago, big changes were happening on AOL and the genealogy forum no longer existed in it’s previous form. At that time some of the volunteers left for new adventures on the internet. With the help of sponsor, Joe Albert, www.genealogyforum.org.

It would suffice to say that genealogists may be the most helpful people on the planet. In what other enterprise do people spend hundreds and hundreds of hours doing research and then share it with anyone who might (or might not) be related? Genealogyforum.org takes that unwritten law of genealogy and provides a place where people can learn, explore, and share their genealogy pursuits.

The sole purpose of the website is to help genealogists. This is done in four main ways:

1. Every day their are live genealogy chats. They chats are moderated by a person who knows the topic well. Questions are fielded, information is shared, and everyone learns something.
2. Genealogy Chat Resource Centers are being built to help genealogists learn ways to do research and to learn more about their heritage. There are three chat centers at present. The hope is that in the future all genealogy chat topics will have their own resource center.
3. A message board is dedicated to the exchange of genealogy information. Each category is moderated. Moderators as well as visitors chime in to answer questions and share research experiences.
4. Each month a topic is posted where staff and the public can submit articles. Topics are chosen that explore genealogy, history, and heritage. They cover a wide range of topics and attempt to explore the personal experience as well as the wider “how to” field.

In addition to this, there is a United States Research Links directory that provides links to free genealogy databases, indexes, and information for all 50 states. There is also an Ancestor in the Spotlight section where you can submit articles about your favorite ancestors. And, there is a monthly newsletter.

Remarkably, all this is done by a small group of 20-25 volunteers. In fact, everyone at genealogyforum.org is a volunteer. Each volunteer brings their own research experiences to the table. There is a sense of dedication and a feeling that genealogy should be share with anyone who wants to hear! In a day when everything goes for a price, it’s great to know there is a free community for the exploration of genealogy right here on the internet!

If you’d like to visit the website, here’s a link: Genealogy Resources and Live Help

If you are researching your family tree and would like to find out more about the