Over 30 years later, I have a car not that much different than my parents, especially when we take a look at what is under the hood.  Oh, I understand that the souped-up, high-efficiency powerhouses of today’s automotive world are very different, but most still burn the same fuel.  I lowered my expectations since my Jetsons days, and have for many years now wondered when I would at least get my hands on a decent 100% electric car.

Introducing the Volt (and its price tag)

Just the other day, Chevrolet released the price of their new Volt, GM’s very first offering of an all-electric car.  The asking price is  $41,000 – $44,600, depending on your chosen options package.  I’ve been chafing at the cost of cars ever since my first bright, shiny brand-new acquisition many years ago, and a $40K plus car seems absolutely obscene to me.

I know there will be a number of environmentally conscious folks who will look past the price tag in order to help the environment.  In a tough economy, the average consumer wants to know the financial bottom line.  So let’s take a look at the overall cost of a Chevy Volt versus your typical gas-powered vehicle.  Let’s look at the real cost of owning the machine.

How does this compare to a regular car?

My first thought after seeing the price tag was that there would be a savings in not having to purchase gas.  Would there, really?

• The average price tag of a new car last year was $28,400 – I’ll bump the number up to $30,000 just to be conservative for 2010.
• If you drove this new gas-driven vehicle for 5 years at a modest 12,000 miles per year, you would drive 60,000 miles.  Some of may drive more, but I’ll bet you don’t tell your insurance company that!
• The average fuel efficiency of new cars today is just under 20 mpg, which means you will use up about 3,000 gallons of gas over the 5-year period.
• At the average price of $ 2.75/gallon of gas, 3,000 gallons of gas would cost you $8,250.  Let’s tack that on to the price of our new car, and we get $38,250 (not including servicing the vehicles, replacement tires and parts.)

What a Volt will cost you

Which brings us to the Volt.  The goverment is offering a tax rebate of up to $7,500 towards the purchase of cars in the category the Volt fits in.  Most taxpayers will qualify for this.  So let’s assume a purchaser of a low-range Volt:

• We purchase a low-end Volt for $41,000, and get $7,500 off, so the total cost would be $33,500.
• The Chevy Volt ought to be plugged into a 240V outlet, but can be plugged into your typical 120V home outlet.  Now, 240V comes into our home, but it is split up into two separate lines serving up 120V, so should you choose to put in a special 240V outlet in your garage, the typical cost  is $300 – $800.  Let’s call it $500.
• Scientific American did a study last year and found that to charge a car was the equivalent of paying $ 0.75/gallon of equivalent gas power.  This is based on 8.5 cents per KWH and the estimated distance a car could travel on one charge – although night-time costs of electrical usage might be as low as 1/3 – 1/4th the price.  At a comparative 3,000 gallons (see above for a gas-powered car,) the cost of actually driving the Volt car could be as low as $900 and as high as $2,250 over the same five-year period.  Let’s go with $1,500 to be conservative.
• So one could look at paying around $33,500 + $500 for the outlet + $1,500 for the electricity, or a total of $35,500 (not including servicing the vehicles, replacement tires and parts.)

Not bad.  A net savings overall of $38,250 – $35,500, or $2,750.  Because I used conservative figures, we could say in the plus or minus range, that the overall cost is about even.  Now I realize I have left out service plan charges and maintenance fees, taxes, licensing fees, etc.  Let’s hope they are the same for each in the long run.

What about other electric cars out there?

Now there is a cheaper 100% electric vehicle out there, called the Nissan Leaf, which is all-electric and runs around $25,280 after tax rebate.  It gets 100 miles on a full charge, but after that you are out of luck, unless you find a place to charge up far from your home…

You might think the Volt is a lot like a Toyota Prius, but it’s actually very different.  A Prius, right from the get-go, transfers power requirements from its battery to the built-in gas engine, swapping back and forth based on road and acceleration requirements.  So you’re burning some gas from the get-go, albeit at a far more efficient manner than a typical car.

What makes the Volt different is it’s built-in ultra-efficient gas-powered electrical generator, which will kick in only after 40 miles of electric-only driving (what a full charge will provide,) allowing you to keep driving for hundreds of more miles on one tank of gas.  As long as your daily commute is under 40 miles, you will never use a drop of that gas.  Longer family trips?  Then gas will help you along, until you plug in at a motel for the night (if they’ll let you…)

Get a Volt, already!

Based on the comparison in pricing, you are pretty much left to your environmental conscious.  Do you want to drive something that makes you feel like you’re doing your part?  That lowers your carbon footprint?  Then I’d go with the Volt as your next car purchase.  Note: I did not go into the cost of leasing your Volt, which may change things around a bit for your average cost.  Consumer Reports did an article a few years ago, and determined it was cheaper overall to buy…

With a Chevy Volt, you won’t be zipping around in the skies as you head back home after a long day at work, but at least when you look out the window, you can know you are keeping those skies clearer for the day when George’s zippy sky car is a reality…

When I teach the use of Google, I tend to discuss (among other products) GMail, Google Docs, Search, and Google Sites. If you haven’t tried any of these, I would highly recommend the creation of an account, as well as some time spent becoming familiar with these promising online products.

So many teachers leave my classes surprised to find out what Google offers, proud of what they have accomplished using these web-based applications.  They are excited to discover that their work is created and saved on the Internet, never having to be downloaded to an easily-lost thumb drive, no longer tracking emailed versions of a document sent to a colleague in order to collaborate on a project.

My teachers are now happily creating and publishing online documents and presentations for use by both students and parents.  They are sharing these documents with their peers in order to collaborate, real-time, marvelling at how each and every keystroke shows up live.  They are learning to seamlessly tie it all together on easily customized classroom web sites.

So, what’s next?

After I tell my teachers what Google has been up to, I ask them how they might use the tools in their own lives and classes.  Oh, you should see their minds soar with ideas!  Inevitably, they want to know what is next, and I get asked the same questions: Where is Google headed with all of this?  How far will this cloud computing concept go?

I have a few ideas about what Google is up to. To gain some perspective, let’s talk for a minute about how your computing experience works right now…

The Kernel

When you boot up your computer each day at the office or home, you start up the electronic underpinnings of your computer.  A very small program, called a kernel, begins running a set of files in a predetermined order, running one process then another until these processes take charge of their own accord.

The Operating System

When all of the basic processes are finished, your computer is now running its “operating system.”  This is your computer’s base of operations, where you have your desktop, where you choose what programs you want to run.  The operating system runs your display, and communicates with your mouse and keyboard.  It’s the springboard from which your programs are launched and run.

Personalized Spaces

After starting up, I don’t like to see the Hello Kitty or Sonic the Hedgehog backgrounds my kids discovered how to place on my home computer.  I’m not sure when they learned this, but I am pretty sure they figured it out faster than it took me to open my very first box of Strawberry Pop Tarts as a kid. I have different user accounts on my home machine, each with a different environment our family members can customize to their heart’s content.

Where we work tends to be similar in nature, in that many of us have to log into a network, in order to get our personalized desktops and desirable files delivered to us.  Log in as someone else, and you get their stuff.  And written up for snooping.

After logging in or choosing our profile we can see and choose from our programs, which we start up to perform certain necessary tasks.  We can download or purchase more, and arrange icons to get to them as we please on our personal desktop.

You can then, finally, open a web browser and connect yourself to the Web, enjoying the incredible and vast information there….like Google. Or my blog. LOL.  Can’t blame a guy for trying…

Moving your computer to the Cloud: Chromium OS

Time to talk about Chromium.

A year ago, Google began to openly talk about a free Google alternative to the pricey Microsoft Windows or Apple operating system.  You could download it and dump the other guys.  Geeks gathered together and awkwardly danced, as they celebrated the advent of an operating system that wouldn’t put a dent in their little Spiderman wallets. Linux enthusiasts rolled their eyes and asked what the big deal was, since they had been enjoying this for years now. Sheesh.

Yawn. We’re still waiting for Google to provide a stable build of Chromium that even the novice can simply download from a slick website and then install – tossing out the old regime and chortling loudly.  What happened, Google?  Because I have been keeping that chortle inside for a very long time. I’m chokin’ on this chortle already.

What I think is going to happen

I believe that Google’s semi-release of Chromium was meant to get the more nerdy folks among us to download, install and beta-test their code on their fancy-pants “virtual” machines.  To give it a shot and provide some feedback.  Google hoped to crowd-source the debugging of its code to people who didn’t mind running it in a bastardized environment.  I believe we have never gotten an easily used version of Chromium OS to run, because it was never meant to be installed and run on your computer in the first place.  But if we weren’t supposed to install it on our computers, where would Chromium OS go?

Google is going to do to your operating system what it did to your office suite – take it online and make it free.  Google is going to move your computer to the Cloud, dudes.

The Google Kernel

Here’s how I think it will work…

Google is going to provide you a kernel of code that you’ll download and install on your existing computer.  This little program will replace the part of your computer that runs things.  This kernel will replicate many of the processes your computer goes through now in starting itself up.

Your Google kernel will run just enough processes on your machine to startup your display, find your keyboard and mouse, then connect you to the Web and identify your machine to Google’s servers.  From there, your virtual and personalized instance of Chromium OS, always running on the Web, will be displayed on your screen, sent to you via a high-speed Internet connection.  You will be looking through a virtual window at your new computer, on the Cloud, updated real-time through your every keystroke and mouse movement.

The Online Processor

Today, when you move your computer’s mouse or type in your keyboard, it sends signals to your computer’s internal processor(s,) which then provide feedback to the programs being used and to your display, so you can see the changes and movement.  With Chromium OS, Google will move your computer’s “work station” to the Cloud, which will then take over the job of receiving and processing data and sending signals back to your monitor.

The Google Kernel will allow future desktops, laptops and other mobile computing devices to be much more slim-lined, with minimal processing power needed, except to boot up and connect to the Cloud.  Storage and processing requirements will be much smaller – however your Internet bandwidth will need to be bigger, and your graphics card faster.

For those of you worried about losing data, Google will likely give you the option to download a mirror-like install of Chromium on your local machine, which will sync with your online OS, in order to maintain a local backup copy to work on.  When Google is back online, everything will automatically re-sync for you.

Your Operating System, personalized and “over there” – at a price?

With Chromium, your OS will never again need to be upgraded by you at a cost – when Google upgrades the operating system in its server farm, your instance of the system is automatically upgraded, for free.  How will Google afford to maintain and upgrade hundreds of millions of virtual computers in the Cloud?  The same way they give you everything else these days – ads.

Chromium will likely be a free service, with some part of the interface serving up Google AdSense and other advertisements – similar to what you see in Google Search.  Don’t want the ads?  Then pay a monthly or annual service fee to remove them.

With Chromium OS, just as you have on your computer today, you’ll get storage – probably something like 20 GB, with more available to you if you pay an annual subscription.  It’s not a big deal, as Google already provides you around 7 GB of storage space for its other free products.

Programs as Apps

All of the programs you see on your machine today provide a variety of functions you have deemed desirable to do what you do in life.  Many of these programs you paid a pretty penny for, winked a few times at that nerdy guy in IT to “borrow,” or simply copied from your weird friend who wears that Orange Crush T-shirt way too often.  Yes, we know about him.  Shame on you.

Tomorrow’s programs will simply be applications (or apps) which reside in the Cloud, and are largely free or far cheaper than what you pay now.  You will use Chromium, your online operating system, to access and run these apps on the Cloud, and save your work there, too.   Think in terms of what occurs with your iPad or iPhone – you download and use programs that perform a particular function – some are free with limited features, and some you pay for if you need more.

Google already has a burgeoning office suite in its Docs, Calendar and Gmail offerings (which gets better every month they work on it.)   Add to this Picasa photo albums with the new PhotoShop-like Piknik editing tool, blogging software from Blogger.com, Google Reader and so many others.  Add the myriad of apps being created by Android programmers and placed in their store, and you just might find yourself with everything you already can do, at a fraction of the price, and available 24/7 everywhere in the World.

I would imagine that the folks at Google will also gobble up the best products put forth in its app store, slap their name on it, and have you pay to own an instance of the app with Chromium.  Or will provide it free with some ad spots built-in.

Will my device be useless if Google crashes?

Yes.  But Google’s servers are historically up and running around 99.96% of the time.  This is considered exceptional, and just might beat the amount of time your current PC was down this last year…

How will this work with the Google Tablet?

I believe Chromium OS will roll out sometime after the Google Tablet does, likely around the time the 2nd generation of the device arrives.  This will give Google a full year to debug their mobile computing device and its Chromium operating system, and develop a loyal following.

When Chromium OS shifts to the Cloud, people will absolutely freak.

This will utterly crush what people think about computing and computers forever.  Think about it.  Your operating system follows you, wherever you go, even though it’s not with you.  Buy any mobile computing device and as soon as it connects to the Web, you have your computer again – in your classroom, at the pizza joint, on vacation.  Everywhere.

If someone steals your tablet or laptop, they won’t know your login credentials, so there is no access to any of your important files.  And when you replace your device, simply login to Chromium OS and everything will be as it was before.

The teachers I teach work hard to keep up with how much technology is changing.  It’s a difficult task, but full of incredible possibilities.  It’s important for them to keep wrapping their brains around the changes, because I believe there are amazing things on the horizon from the people at Google.

My college professor’s eyebrows jumped as he scanned the pages from his latest writing assignment, his forehead breaking into tight lines as he stared at one particular sheet of paper.  From under a newly-troubled brow his gaze shifted almost tectonically in my direction.  Once again,  I knew the jig was up for me…

It happens whenever I’m required to take a writing class, typically after the first few assignments are handed in.  I get spotted.  The invisible kleig lights of the classroom are shifted in my direction, and for the rest of the semester or year the teacher singles me out.  I don’t mind the attention; Hell, I welcome it when I hand in the damned assignments, don’t I?  I love to write, to catch the attention of others through it…

The writing bug hit me during the Winter of 1980, comfortably nestled into 8th grade, and helplessly in love with every girl who dared to approach within 10 yards of my hormones.   It probably helped that I had been living in beautiful, incredible Verona, Italy, surrounded by the historical architecture of Romance.

A poet looks at the world the way a man looks at a woman. ~ Wallace Stephens

Our English teacher announced to us that the Armed Forces Radio Network was running a poetry contest.  The ultimate feel and topic of the piece was to be left up to us, but the poem had to do with the theme “Gates of Tomorrow.”  There was a quiet murmur in the room, a slow-building excitement.  Why was I feeling it, too?

I had never cared for or about the act of writing previous to this moment.  My childhood had been spent in determining the daily fate of my G.I. Joe action figures or watching enough cartoons to force my mother to launch me from the house.  As far as I was concerned, writing for homework was the quiet punishment I deserved simply for not having attained graduation as of yet.  As my teacher passed the instructions to each of us, stapled to a blank sheet of paper, it simply happened for me.  From my mental eclipse emerged the thumbnail rays of blindingly bright words, brilliant and pure concepts, all promising to emerge further, if I merely paid attention to them.

Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. ~ T. S. Eliot

I wrote furiously, unable to keep up with the torrent of ideas, the shape-shifting ocean of words coming into view as they crested all around me, only to disappear from view again.  What the Hell was happening to me?  I wasn’t simply jotting down rhymed words letter by letter; no, I was the potter, single-minded in handling my spinning clay, choosing its shape gently by feel and pressure, in the palms of my hands.  I had the certain feeling that the poem was already written a hundred different ways, bits of it strewn as random forest trees, I having to decide my safe path among them.

If you enjoy writing, you know this feeling.  You are not so much coming up with something as tapping in, opening a valve and directing the flow.  Oddly, I am not much of a reader.  I have a stack of books awaiting me at home.  Like the mountains I see in the distance, I can see the tomes on the shelves, knowing therein resides a part of myself I can find only upon visiting.  If I made them my home, if I forced myself to stay there and set all other worldly needs aside, I would eventually change, wouldn’t I?   Those many books, you see, are my gates to tomorrow…

Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful. ~ Rita Dove

Today is Great Poetry Reading Day, an annual reminder to include in our lives, to take back into ourselves, those concise, condensed works of literature surrounding us.  I know I tend to steer clear of the mental work required of good poetry, taking the time to read and re-read, to think and filter, the words of others.  But the tide is turning for me…

Of all things, Social Media has been bringing poetry back to the forefront of my mind.  Poetry takes the many words we might use to express what we feel to others, and wrings out as many we may deem unnecessary.  It is distilled writing, a path from one emotional state to another lined with stones set far apart, so that we must extend ourselves in getting there.  What is Twitter, but a method of bringing people into our lives through 140 character outbursts?

Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn. ~ Thomas Gray

I’ve always enjoyed sharing my writings, whether here or through my poetry.  I find writing something of interest to others to be a challenge, one I love winning as often as possible.  If I can touch you through my writings, then I have found a comfortable place for you within my home.  I suppose it’s what I love about Twitter – the combination of audience and opportunity.

Twitter, when done right, can be both poetic and beautiful – but it takes time and determination to wring one’s status updates of the extra words.  I’m horribly guilty of over-tweeting.  So how do I learn to tweet less, to make my status updates dense thickets of thought, desirable for others to hack through over and again?

This would be a good day to begin anew, connecting with those great voices that are all around me, pointing out the next step for me.  Perhaps I need to begin, once again, reading some great poetry…

By now, you’ve all heard about the earth-wide movement (or lack thereof) that occurred yesterday, known as Boobquake.  Boobquake was begun by blogger Jennifer McCreight, in response to Islamic Cleric Hojatoleslam Kaze Sedighi, who publicly stated that recent devastating earthquakes were due to women exposing an excess of cleavage.

McCreight urged women everywhere to come together on April 26th to voice their opposition to this blame-game, by wearing low-cut blouses to the workplace and about town.  If there was no measurable increase in seismic activity due to the thousands of newly-opened blouse buttons across the World, perhaps people like the cleric would simply give it a rest, already.

Did Boobquake prove its theory?

One estimate is that over 200,000 women took part in the social experiment, in a fine attempt to prove Sedighi wrong.  The result?  According to the U. S. Geologic Survey, there was no greater instance of movement about the earth’s tectonic plates yesterday, although there may’ve been a number more auto accidents due to the increased gawking.

Did Jennifer McCreight (photo to the right – and a host of well-endowed women) prove, once and for all, that there are no direct correlations between the confident display of feminine sexuality and ongoing natural disasters?  Have we completely squashed the cleric’s argument?  I’m not so sure…

What about the flip side of sexuality-temblor interrelations?  What would happen if millions of the opposite sex were absolutely, completely, turned off sexually for the day?  Would the planet Earth, for one grand 24-hour period, take a respite from the shaking and quaking, flooding and thunder, fire and famine?  Would we all, for a time, enjoy an unprecedented level of symbiotic unison with Mother Nature?

What else could be done…

This is where the men of the World have their chance to also contribute to Jennifer’s unique social experiment.  We men can completely quell the sex-as-disaster-maker theory, as bandied about by Cleric Sedighi.  (Apparently it’s not enough to simply remind Sedighi that modest-dressing Iran has one of the most geologically active regions on the globe….)

We have to do more to knock Sedighi’s argument into the dust.  We have to absolutely break it apart and drive it to dust at our feet.  To the men of the World, I give you that opportunity.  I give you TubeQuake…

What is TubeQuake?

TubeQuake is a fairly easy concept, guys.  On July 15th, 2010, I am calling upon all men, in each nation, of each color and creed, each faith and persuasion, to wear the abhorrent equivalent of fashion birth control.  That’s right, I’m talking about proudly displaying, for all the lovely ladies to see, the traditional knee-length white cotton tube sock.  Sporty stripes are optional.

Regardless of what else you are required to wear that day, whether it be a 3-piece tailored black suit, shorts, jeans, coveralls, or what-have-you, complement it with your very own bright, white tube socks.  The newer the better, so as to draw undesired attention to them (and hopefully bring us one step closer to natural tranquility.)

Will the feminine stomach-lurching, eye-rolling and laughing reactions to this proud display of I-don’t-care-what-looks-good Manhood-gone-awry bring temporary peace to our World?  Will each guffaw, each sprayed-out glass of wine in the restaurants you visit bring our planet one step closer to healing itself?

Join me on July 15th.  Please let your boyfriends, husbands, brothers, fathers, cousins, nephews, friends and bromances know about TubeQuake.  Let’s grow this to 1 Million strong, and help completely prove that Jennifer was absolutely right…

Steve Woods

Join the TubeQuake Facebook fan page.

The empty space…..

It had been a long morning, as our team set up the canopy, tables, barbecue and decorations for Dinuba, California’s Annual 24-hour Relay for Life event, sponsored by the American Cancer Society.  Our Relay event’s theme this year was color, with a particular color having been tied to varying forms of Cancers.  Our team wanted to play off of a theme of the recently-ended Winter Olympics, so we, of course, chose Olympic “Gold,” which in turn was used to emphasize childhood Cancers.  Given that we were a school team, it was quite appropriate for us.

By the time we had set up our canopy, draped snow-white sheets replete with fake ski slope trees, planted skiis and poles, erected half-size Christmas trees and placed white tinsel everywhere, we were tired.  Then came the tables, barbecue grill, boxes of provisions for our team members, lawn chairs and more, and soon our feet were very sore.

All was completed just in the nick of time, as we were alerted to the 9 a.m. opening ceremonies by the flicker-whine of a nearby microphone.  Along with all of the other teams, we turned our gazes to the small stage at the closest end of a football field that would become our temporary home, our volunteered gathering, our combined walk, our conjoined battle against a merciless foe.

This is not my first Relay for Life, but each time I hear the first speech tearfully thanking us for our participation, it happens.  I begin to become painfully aware of those standing around me, of who they’ve lost, of what some of them have gone through (and continue to go through each day.)  I forget my pains from the morning ministrations, knowing my burdens go away as soon as I flex my feet on the track surrounding the field, while those dealing with Cancer’s effects have no refuge.

With the completion of the opening ceremonies, everyone walked onto the track and began the official first lap, pulled together from all over town to this spot, moving forward alongside each other with a common goal.  You can’t help but smile at the children, so full of energy, bounding ahead of their teams, carefree in mind and spirit, many unknowingly harnessing their energies to pull others through painful times…

Throughout the day we all took our turns walking, passing our team numbers off and thanking each other for the chance to seek shelter under the canopy, to open a soda and rummage for an overly-grilled hot dog.  What would otherwise be a monotonous day was often broken up by fun-filled themed laps.  We were ready, pulling out boxes of crazy hats, western clothing, Disney costumes, super-hero capes, purple and gold outfits, red, white and blue items.  We raced cardboard cars (ours was a bob-sled, in keeping with our Olympic theme.)

We take Relay for Life seriously, my fiancée Nadira and I.  It’s not just because we know people who have suffered through Cancer, or have lost someone to it.  It has hit home for us, too, as it has for so many.   At the school Nadira teaches at, the students had an enormous “Penny War,” raising over $3,000 in two weeks, an astounding figure for a school of only 450 students.

Later in the afternoon, men and women quietly began hanging up strings of lights around the football field, in preparation for the Luminaria.  It’s impossible to miss the groups working through the corner of our eyes as we continued our now-slower paths around the track.   As soon as the lights were strung, box upon box of decorated white bags began to appear, lights pulled through them and stapled firmly in place, decorations facing the walkers.

Every year, more and more little white bags appear around the field, adorned with the names of those lost to Cancer, those still fighting a form of the disease, and those who have won the fight.   Many of the Luminaria are personalized, colored by the loving hands of children, crayon marks doing their best to draw some sort of re-connection, some form of aid and comfort, some measure of victory.  It is the sight of the Luminaria that remain with me throughout the year, pushing me to volunteer again and again.

When dusk arrived, the kleig lights were turned off for the official Luminaria lap, a lap where we are all to walk completely in silence, reflecting on the day, on our purpose.  And that’s when I saw it, truly saw it for the first time that day — the far end of the field, where no bags are hung, a wide open space between the rows and rows of lit-up names on the left and right.  And I got hit with it like a ton of bricks…

I miss him terribly.  My Dad was a friend to me, the architect of my sense of humor.  He was wonderful to me, quick witted and hard-working, always taking care of things around our home and lives, even though his little aluminum boat and fishing rod (and the fish in nearby lakes) were calling to him.  I lost him to Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in ’98, just months after having been told of his condition.  I soon found myself left in my own wide open space too, the name of my father all around, lit up in multi-colored memories.

On that field, on that very night, I looked around me, at the walkers silently stealing glances at the bags.  I felt the combined weight of loss, pain, triumph and thanks on that field, moving in a semi-circle of Hope, spelled out on the stands and in our faces, in the prayers that rose from the very soles of our shoes.

I realized that we all had to do this, to spend this day walking, to do what little we could to raise funds toward research.  Because if we didn’t, slowly and surely that empty space at the end of the field will get taken up as well by those little white bags with names and crayon marks.

Relay for Life has me, year after year, because I need to see them, those little white bags.  I need to know that wide, open area still exists, and is not filled in, not yet at least.  It is an annual reminder to myself that my time with my father was a blessing, to be cherished.  That the people reflected on those colorful little bags were all blessings.  And that the empty spaces in our lives can be a blessing, too…

Five days earlier, on February 25th, it was supposed to be just another Thursday for Reedley Police Officer Javier Bejar – patrolling the streets, keeping an eye out, responding to calls, ensuring a presence in the quiet community of 23,000. In a few hours, he would complete his paperwork for the day, and head home to his waiting family.

In the neighboring town of Minkler, Deputy Joel Wahlenmaier of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, along with County Fire Department investigators, were attempting to serve a search warrant on Rick Liles, a suspected arsonist. After hearing the initial knock, Mr. Liles shot a high-powered rifle through his front door, critically wounding Deputy Wahlenmaier and sparking a gun battle.

The call every officer (and officer’s spouse) dreads made its way across the County, filling Officer Bejar’s patrol car with an icy dread. Officer down.

A day earlier, the motorcade route had been formally announced, and those living on the neighborhoods affected knocked on each other’s doors.  People began making signs out of wooden stakes and cardboard, poster board and cardstock.  Big hands wrote big words with black, red or blue sharpies, little hands drew unsteady pictures with colorful crayons.  The message and the reason for it was the same, regardless…

Javier Bejar, son of Wenceslao and Saloma Bejar, had immigrated with his parents to the community of Orange Cove, California from Mexico in 1985, at the age of 4. Adapting quickly to his new country, Javier did well in the small, local schools, eventually participating in the Reedley Police Department Explorers program while attending Reedley High School. After graduating in 2000, Javier joined the Marines, serving honorably in both Iraq and Kuwait and was awarded on numerous occasions. Upon honorable discharge, he then attended police academy, became a police officer in 2005, and was awarded Officer of the Year a mere 3 years later. A model officer, he also earned a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and managed to marry his life-long friend and sweetheart.

Every law enforcement officer swears an on-going oath, a commitment, to protect and serve his or her community.  To become a police officer is an almost sacred commitment, a sacrifice of one’s knowledge, efforts, energies and time quietly and without acknowledgement, making sure that we can all safely go about our days, our lives.  It is also a sacrifice for their families, as they offer up their fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and brothers, wives and sisters to protect our own…

When Officer Bejar arrived at the scene, there were already a number of officers surrounding Mr. Lile’s home, awaiting his next move, hoping he would give up peacefully. Javier got out of his car, and crouched down behind it, gun drawn, listening to a rundown of what had happened thus far. The suspect was armed, and was likely alone; his ex-wife had left the residence already. A deputy had been killed. Civilian on-lookers were being shied out of range as quickly as they could be moved.

Eighty yards away, hidden inside his home, Mr. Lile raised his high-powered rifle anew, peered down the sight, and scanned the scene outside. His rifle sight ended its deadly journey at Officer Bejar’s car, and Rick Liles took one more shot. As the officers saw another of their own fall, the Thursday afternoon erupted in a hail of gunfire.

The Bejar family of Reedley has led a life of sacrifice.  Wenceslao and Saloma gave up the lives they knew in Mexico to create a brighter future for their son, Javier.  Javier Bejar grew up in this knowledge, and sought out to lead a life of service to his country.  Reedley Police Officer Javier Bejar’s life was one of sacrifice to his community and family…

Thousands of officials and law enforcement officers from surrounding communities paid their respects to Deputy Wahlenmaier and Officer Bejar.  Because Officer Bejar was on life support for almost 5 days, our stricken community attended en masse and watched on live television two very public funeral services.  Officer Bejar was finally laid to rest on March 8th.

Over 100 motorcycles and 700 vehicles from Police, Fire, EMT, Probation, Sheriff’s Department, and the United States Marines drove through the community to pay their respects, and to remind us all of the supreme sacrifice they have all offered time and again in public service.  It is said that there were so many vehicles in support that cars were still leaving the Fresno Convention Center when the burial service began 20 miles away at the cemetery in the town of Reedley.

It would be easy for those officers on motorcycles and patrol cars, vans and trucks to be angry at this senseless loss of yet another brother.  It would be understandable for them to have some blind resentment, to feel unappreciated in this loss.  Until one saw the thousands of men, women and children standing by the roadside, signs in hand, saluting them, shouting what was written on paper and in their hearts.  Thank you.  We love you.  You will be missed.  God bless you…

Today is Supreme Sacrifice Day.  On this day, I wish to say thank you, for all that you have done for us.  We love all of you, our men and women in uniform, who work under dangerous circumstances for our safety.  All who have given that supreme sacrifice continue to be sorely missed.  To the families of Deputy Wahlenmaier and Officer Bejar, God bless all of you.  You have a grateful community and country, who will always be in your debt.

Today is Everything You Know is Wrong Day. It is a reminder that we must take the time to take in new information as it arrives (especially these days,) and embrace when we discover what we “know” is lacking, either due to previous mis-education or simply new advances in knowledge. It’s time to make sure we truly deserve the mantle of the most intelligent species on Planet Earth.

How many times have we all sat back and heard our grandparents tell us stories of the way things used to be? Of how all of the magic surrounding us emerged on the scene? I’ve often stopped and imagined how much of my grandparent’s world has changed, moved on, or been cast aside. Relativity. Space flight. Geosynchronous orbit. Nuclear power. Thermonuclear devices. Social upheaval. Microprocessors. Green energy. Streaming media. DNA sequencing. Genetically modified foods. Weather forecasting.

How much of what we all used to know as fact and relied upon in our daily decisions has become broken crockery by the roadside, as technologies have emerged in all sciences, casting new light on previous notions?

It seems that almost every year there is an advance made somewhere that affects a technology everywhere. Using advanced boolean search technologies, historians have been able to draw from mountains of scanned documents to paint far more accurate (and humbling, or dare I say humanizing) life accounts of notable figures from our past. Ancient and severely damaged documents such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, long abandoned as illegible, have been re-assembled and digitally enhanced to provide a more complete (and sometimes confusing) picture of our great faiths. Disparate technologies are being brought together by brilliant minds to create almost magical things, such as organic digital storage, self-lighting walls, holographic newscasts and flying cars.

If you think your grandparents have been getting a little lost trying to keep up with things in the last 20 years or so, wait to see what happens in the next 20 years! In almost every aspect of our lives, that which we as individuals or a society thought was crystal-clear has been shown to be fuzzy at best. Everything we thought we knew, even what we hold near and dear, is being questioned. We’re discovering everything we think just might be wrong.

Twitter is unlearning me. I click on the links provided to me from individuals from a variety of backgrounds and interests. Because of this, I am exposed to the news they feel might be of interest to all. I read articles and papers from psychological, agricultural, astronomical, historical and even mathematical journals, just to name a few. Because of the wonderful hyperlinks steadily moving under my eye, I’ve found that there’s been an awful lot of incorrect information jangling around in my brain. I’m removing what is out-dated, and painting a new picture of the World around me as I go.

Did you know….

• Sailors in Columbus’ day already knew the Earth was a globe.
• We actually use 100% of our brain’s capabilities.
• The Pilgrims of Plymouth never wore black, tall hats or buckled shoes.
• Hair and fingernails do not grow after we die.
• Abner Doubleday did not invent Baseball.
• Napoleon Bonaparte was a man of average height.
• Humpty Dumpty is never referenced in the story as being an egg.
• Cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis or other inflammatory conditions.
• A bull cannot see the color red.
• The Roman Catholic concept of the Immaculate Conception does not refer to Jesus himself.
• Sugar doesn’t make a kid act more hyperactive.
• The “Coriolis Effect” does not determine the direction of your toilet’s water flow.
• Nobody knows what the original forbidden fruit was.
• The term “Theory” does not, nor has it ever when used in Science, insinuate doubt in the veracity of the concept.
• Our tongues are not the same with regard to taste, or which “zone” tastes what.
• Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb.
• Shaving does not cause our hair to grow back either thicker or more dark.
• Henry Ford did not invent either the automobile or the assembly line.
• Being out in the cold does not increase your chances of catching one.
• All bats have eyes and are capable of sight.

I chose the above because many of us (including myself at one time) held an opposing viewpoint, until proven otherwise. I could cite for the reader all of the underlying sources disproving these popular notions, but figured the information is readily available for anyone really interested in it. So take a drive on the Information Superhighway, then shoot me a few particles on the Social Media Superconductor.

Because the integration of so much information has caused (and continues to cause) such sweeping change everywhere, some suggest that we are rapidly approaching a Singularity — a period of time scientifically when our knowledge level and abilities, whether through integrated discovery or technological convergence, begin to explode around us. How could such a thing happen?

We are an incredibly intelligent species; however, our brain power is only so limited. Which is why we find supercomputers to be of such great help in accomplishing complicated tasks. We continue to make great strides in artificial intelligence, and it is only a matter of time before we begin to be able to more fully converse our needs to the computers, letting them do the heavy lifting in unison for the rest of us.

We currently share our scientific and sociological discoveries by reading about them or attending lectures, by purchasing licensing rights and making agreements over days, weeks or months. What if one day our working computers talked real-time amongst themselves, sharing all emerging technological advances in all areas from around the Globe, computing in micro-seconds the usefulness of all that is known thus far? When this happens, will we be able to keep up?

My list of bulleted items above were based on long-held beliefs and myths held for great periods of time by large groups of people due to misinformation or misconception. I wonder, when we reach that apex of advancement and a technological Singularity finally occurs, will we be adding to that list:

• Humans are not the most intelligent species on Planet Earth.

Until that happens, I will sit back and enjoy the steady flow of info and comraderie I find here… I meant me and you, not the computer…

In social media, it’s all about the followers, isn’t it?  Have you ever come across someone providing status updates and information on Twitter or Facebook, without anyone listening?  For social media to work for us, to be interesting, we need to develop relationships with others, to provide something of value in our written words, and keep it up.  It’s always nice to have others learn about you and decide to listen too – social media is a very large campfire to tell our story around.

DUNBAR’S NUMBER

The Guardian newspaper in the UK in an article last year stated that the average Twitter account holder has around 126 followers.  I’m sure that the average has gone up since then.  Recently published research by Robin Dunbar, professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford, underscores the long-held belief that the average person can only successfully maintain up to 150 relationships, even when looking at interactions in social media.

THE NUMBERS GAME

Up to last month, I had over 4,000 followers.  I’m not bragging, so bear with me.  I suppose I was doing well, if one provides a greater emphasis upon the number of followers as a measure of tweeting success.  I began to wonder about my actual level of interaction with my followers, so I searched for a few tools to help me measure my true interaction level with(or influence on) these people.

One of the tools I found and used (and I recommend you try it out too,) is Friend or Follow, which provides you, without having to log in, a clickable listing of:

• The people you are following that are not following you back (Followings)
• The people who are following you that you are not following back (Fans)
• The people you are following that are following you back (Friends)

Each of these listings provides a grid of avatar images.  A pause over each avatar shows each person’s:

• Full name
• Number of follows and followers
• Location
• Date last tweeted
• Date their Twitter account was created

Pretty cool stuff.  A question that arose in my mind was “What was I trying to get out of Twitter, anyway?”  After all, who you choose to follow creates your social media experience, right?  So what happens out there? What (and who) exactly do we all have to choose from in Twitter?

Not long ago, Pear Analytics of San Antonio, Texas analyzed 2,000 tweets from U.S. accounts over 2 weeks, and broke down what they saw as follows:

• News-related tweets from mainstream media accounted for 3.6% of the tweets
• Spammed content was being sent out 3.75% of the time
• Shameless self-promotion by companies made up 5.85% of the traffic
• Pointless babbling (incoherent on their own merit messages) were passed 40.55% of the time
• Conversation-based messages made up 37.55% of what was seen
• Passed-along retweets of others’ content constituted 8.7% of what was found

WHAT DO YOU NEED FROM SOCIAL MEDIA?

I know what I want from social media.  Relationships.  Friendships.  Community.  Just how much of this was happening with my 4,000 followers?

I discovered that almost half of the people following me (2,000 people!) hadn’t tweeted in over a month.  The average length of time someone keeps a Twitter account is about 18 months — had so many simply given up on Twitter?  Over 1,000 of them hadn’t tweeted in more than 3 months, and hundreds hadn’t said anything in practically a year.   How could I build a relationship with someone who wasn’t even on Twitter anymore?

I also found a ton of spammers, self-promoters, and a fair share of people who simply babbled on without actually responding to people who replied.  Among these accounts were a few jewels, shining examples of people who were using Twitter in the manner for which it was designed — to actually interact with others.

REBUILD IT – THEY WILL STILL COME

I began pruning my followings carefully over many, many hours, with an eye for the people that I either cared to listen to (regardless if they followed me back,) and people who actually conversed with me on a regular basis.  I got down to following around 800 people, (20% of my followers) and waited to see what happened.  Over the next 3 days, I lost 400 people in response to my actions, and not one contacted me to ask why I had dropped them.

I was still unsatisfied that I better start to meet my needs in social media.  After all, I still had thousands of followers who weren’t really there.  I decided to take a much bigger leap, and created a whole new Twitter account – an absolute do-over, documented here.  I followed everyone important to me, then tweeted invites to anyone listening for a solid week.  I then deleted my old account.  I was a new man…

I’m up to 530 followers now, only 25% of what I had before.  And you know what? The level of interaction is the same.  Although my followers have relatively more recent accounts, only about 20% of them actually say something to me once in awhile, comfortably below Dunbar’s magic number of 150.  And I am okay with that, because I simply adore these people, and I know they wish to build a relationship with me.

I still have my share of spammers and self-promoters following me.  I’ll welcome anyone who wants to follow.  I like my new, albeit smaller family.  We share our joys and trials together, and care about each other.

JOIN ME!

Are you courageous enough to follow too?  To interact with someone who will ask you questions about your life, who will provide assistance when asked, who will laugh, cry, think and pray with you in times of need?  Who will never ask you if your teeth are white enough, or if you’d like to see photos of me being naughty? Are you ready for some community-building?

If the answer is yes, then why not take a chance on me?  What are you waiting for? Please join me on Twitter today!

Hinamatsuri is an extremely old ceremony, filled with color and meaning.  Soft, red fabric is laid all over, especially on stepped tables.  On the fabric are carefully placed dolls, hundreds of them, thousands all over.  From Hello Kitty to miniature Kabuki or Geisha versions, the dolls are considered to be empty containers with a spiritually important purpose.

As people look over the dolls, remarking at their whimsy or beauty, prayers are quietly given, meant to summon into memory recollections of evil or undesirable spirits, situations and thoughts, tragedies and terrors.  The intention is to move that which has burdened you, your family or your community into one of the dolls.

Many of the dolls at the shrine, along with trinkets and sweets, will be placed upon tiny straw boats, and placed upon the waters of the Takano and Kamo rivers, to float away, along with the bad spirits, omens and thoughts.  More prayers are said as the participants silently watch the boats float away with their worries and fears.

Hinamatsuri provides the people of Kyoto and Japan an annual cathartic feeling, as they begin to positively look forward to a better year ahead….

“…you will cast all your sins into the depths of the sea…”  ~ Micah 7:9

In Jewish tradition, there is a similar ceremony, held around Rosh Hashanah, known as Tashlich.  Tashlich is a Hebrew word, translating as “to cast away.”  It is a rarity among Jewish ceremonies, believed to be so important to spiritual growth that it is observed even on the Sabbath.

In preparation for requesting forgiveness from ourselves, each other and God, Jews keep some bread crumbs in a pocket while pondering on all of the sinful behavior they took part in during the previous 365 days.  Tradition has it that as we open our hearts and memories in honesty, the crumbs will absorb our sins and grief.

It is important to do this quietly, alone, and over a long period, thinking of everyone we may have wronged, no matter how slight the act seemed to us.

To perform Tashlich, special prayers are read aloud as the bread crumbs are cast into a free-flowing body of water, such as a stream or river.  The movement of water is essential, ritually carrying the sin-filled crumbs from where they were thrown.

In Ancient Israel, lakes and rivers were few and far between, so small shallow wells (cisterns) were dug up and used.  Kurdish and Yemenese Jews immersed themselves fully in Mikvot (ritual baths) to clean themselves of their sins.  The Jews of Safed climbed upon their roofs and prayed over the Sea of Galilee below.  In Galicia, Jews prayed over tiny boats of straw, them floated them out onto the water with lit candles.  When the candles burned down, the boats (and sins) caught fire and were destroyed.

The concept of Tashlich has evolved in modern time to mean that we are not so much casting off our sins as casting off attitudes and behaviors that caused them.  It is committing oneself to work on bettering ourselves, to be more understanding, more accepting, more loving toward and caring for our fellow Man.

“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake.  But be sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.”  ~ Akio Morita

In many larger Nations, a formal period of self-imposed reflection, asking of forgivenes, and casting off of bad behaviors does not exist.  We leave it up to ourselves to realize on our own (or through friends, family or religious leaders) that this is necessary for us to grow and move forward in life.  Do we as a Nation, as a Society, run the risk of repeating our mistakes without this periodic introspection?

We tend to stand together in times of crisis, such as now, after the tragedies of Haiti and Chile.  We stand together in times of great loss, as great leaders pass away or are murdered before our eyes.  In War, we are both torn apart as family at the kitchen table and bonded for life with strangers on the battlefield. We miss no chance to join together in celebration.  In the moments of greatest trial and tribulation, we can become much closer, a larger global family.

I wonder about Hinamatsuri and Tashlich.  Are we missing something important in our desire to grow closer as a family, in that we do not reach out and join together to ponder our behaviors, to ask forgiveness of our loved ones, our friends, our co-workers and ourselves?  Should we endeavor to begin, as a Nation, as a global family, to partake together in these celebrations of thoughtfulness and emotional release?

Many people are suffering recently, sleeping outside in the rubble amidst terror-filled memories and dreams.  My thoughts and prayers are with the peoples of Haiti and Chile.  May their pain and sorrow, the terrible tragedy of life lived hard before all of our eyes, be moved away from them, away into the deep still oceans, to return no more…

Steve Woods

Please read previous postings on how to forgive, and how you can begin to make a difference in the World using Social Media.

Black and white, of all faiths, they sat throughout the bus despite still-in-place Jim Crow seating laws, as they headed deep into the Southern states.  They were fearful and hopeful, faithful and proud.  But they were together.  They had Faith.

Mardi Gras and the values of Justice, Faith and Power

Beginning today (the day before Ash Wednesday,) Mardi Gras is serious business in New Orleans.  Unless your business is directly involved in the celebration, not a lot goes on for a few days, at the least.  Mardi Gras is a celebration of lights, sounds, music, people, food and laughter.  It is a commemoration of life, Creole style, a visual and auditory feast, a joyous celebration of another year of renewed Justice, Faith and Power.   Without a sense of Justice in our lives, we would be in constant strife for some semblance of fairness around us.  Without Faith, we would rapidly find few reasons to live at all beyond our choices day to day.  Without some sense of Power, we cannot see what we do mattering at all in not only our own lives, but the lives of others. These three basic and important values are essential to the residents of New Orleans, especially following Hurricane Katrina.

Celebrations similar to Mardi Gras are held all over the World for two whole weeks, leading up to the Christian fasting period of Lent.  Venice, Italy and Mazatlan, Mexico also have their own celebrations, along with many other major cities around the World.

American origin of Mardi Gras

In 1704 King Louis XIV of France sent off his brothers, Iberville and Bienville LeMoyne, to renew France’s claim on the coastal lands bordering Northern Gulf of Mexico. Iberville and Bienville’s ships sailed a few miles into the mouth of the Mississippi River, and moored, planting French flags in the soil and christening the area Point du Mardi Gras, and forming a new French colony.  It is at this very place that the traditions of the rich French American Creole culture of New Orleans sprang up.

During our colonial period, New Orleans’ use of African slaves was very different than the typical plantation scene.  Black slaves were taught city-based trades (cobbler, plumber, etc.) that wound up being useful following the abolition of slavery, so they remained in New Orleans long after the Civil War ended.  It is in part because of this that there is such a dominant (yet poor) African American community there to this day, contributing to its unique style.

The first of the two buses reached Anniston, Alabama, to a mob of over 200 angry white protesters, who threw rocks through the windows and slashed the tires of the bus.  Rushing past the onslaught, they got 6 miles out of town and visited a service station to get the tires replaced.  It was there that the bus was firebombed.

The second bus reached Birmingham, where it was stopped by yet another mob, the riders forcibly dragged outside, and beaten.  Freedom of Information Act releases later showed that the FBI knew of the planned attack and did nothing to prevent it.  Alabama’s then-Governor John Patterson was unapologetic, stating that he felt the riders deserved the treatment.

Traditions related to Mardi Gras

There are a variety of practices unique to the celebration of Mardi Gras.  There are special foods, including King cakes, which are similar to the Rosca de Reyes (recipe) cakes of Mexico in that they are multi-colored, ring-shaped, and have little baby statues baked therein.  Whoever cuts their slice off and finds the baby must host next year’s party, or at least purchase next year’s King cake.

There are special colors for Mardi Gras: purple, green and gold, signifying the values of Justice, Faith, and Power. Everywhere you look during Mardi Gras you are assailed by these colors, in clothing, signs, streamers, confetti, coins and beads.  People are cajoled into creating and wearing elaborate costumes of these colors, and joining in the festivities.  Feather masks are also welcome.  This is a time to boisterously announce your continued freedom and right to enjoy life.

Everywhere you go during Mardi Gras, you hear it.  Zydeco – the uniquely American Traditional Creole folk music, heavy on the accordion and washboard.  Walk down any alley, and you just might find yourself dancing with strangers, who may welcome you with strings of beads, all to get you in the spirit of things.  There is a definitive sense of strength, of the ability to carry on, despite the rubble still within walking distance from the French Quarter.

Despite the setbacks, many of the Freedom Riders wanted to press on in their pursuit of Justice; however, the bus company did not want to risk any other buses, and the drivers refused to drive any further.  So many were afraid due to the ferocity of the attacks against them, that the bulk of those riders left able to carry on wound up having to fly to New Orleans.

Reports of the attacks caused many leaders of the Civil Rights Movement to consider strong yet peaceful actions of an immediate nature, in order to ensure that the Movement did not die in the face of such violence.  Another set of Freedom Riders formed up and borrowed buses, heading out to Birmingham to tackle the issue head-on.  They received the same level of non-protection from law enforcement, and were also beaten at the roadside.

Mardi Gras Parades

An absolute staple of Mardi Gras, the first parade in the United States wasn’t held in New Orleans, but in Mobile, Alabama in the early 1700′s.  It wasn’t until 1830 that the parades moved to the French Quarter.  Due to New Orleans’ more carefree environment, the parades quickly grew in size, scale (and level of risquety) to what we see today.  Traditionally, as many as 60 parades rolled through New Orleans in the two week span between Ash Wednesday and Lent.

As times have changed, so has the face of the parades.  After Hurricane Katrina, the floats were used to send a message about the Federal Government’s slow response in helping the people of the Lower 9th Ward.  Things are still getting back up to speed, and with each passing year more and more floats arrive, as more Krewes get re-organized.

In1872, Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff visited New Orleans during a Marti Gras celebration that was relatively somber and small (the Civil War had left its mark on New Orleans.)  Romanoff’s visit helped to move people’s attention away from the destruction, and in his honor a King (Rex) and Queen henceforth has been chosen to preside over the celebrations.

Not only were these new additional Freedom Riders beaten, but also those that came to their aid, including members of the U.S. Justice Department.  Many thought they were going to die that very day.  Americans were torn as they watched what transpired on national television. When news of this reached then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, he called in Federal Marshals to the scene to protect the riders.  Martin Luther King, Jr. flew to Montgomery to form up a crowd to confront the mob, but wound up barricaded in a local church until Kennedy forced Governor Patterson to call in the police and National Guard.  The riders were released to lick their wounds and continue their journey of peaceful defiance, of hope and faith.

Krewes and Doubloons

Each float is put together by a “Krewe,” or organization with its own name, structure and membership.  Each Krewe has its own flair, which is interpreted in its floats, costumes and music style.  The larger and more famous Krewes hold their own special ball for its members to commemorate the festivities.

Multi-colored doubloons are thrown from the floats during the Mardi Gras parade, with different motifs chosen by each Krewe to commemorate their presence in the celebration.  This practice was started in the 1960′s.  Coins are date-stamped for the given year.  Because some Krewes have intricate workings done on the coins, many have become collector’s items.   The very first time doubloons were tossed in 1964, no date was stamped on the coins, making them both unique and valuable.

Because of Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of doubloons disappeared along with the homes storing them, causing the prices of these collectibles to soar.  Like the people who had to flee before the storm, they are slowly resurfacing, coming back into circulation, rejoining their past.

Upon arriving at Jackson, Mississippi, the Freedom Riders were arrested and jailed for two months, despite having not broken any laws.  But because of their efforts, word spread and hundreds came to Jackson to continue to steady march to New Orleans, to greater rights, to equal access under the law.  Over 300 people were jailed.  The Freedom Riders never made it to New Orleans, but their efforts forced President Kennedy to take a stand on Civil Rights, ushering in a new level of protection for those who had suffered injustice for over 350 years.  Despite efforts to silence them, the Freedom Riders had developed a new sense of Power.

The Zulu Krewe

The advent of the Civil Rights era allowed many African Americans to seek membership in previous all-white Krewes, to participate in the Mardi Gras parades.  It was tough to obtain membership for awhile, and in response the Zulu Krewe was formed, the very first African American Krewe in New Orleans.  If you can’t join them properly in the celebration, then make your own party even better…. Since then the Zulu Krewe has grown substantially in numbers and stature, participating in large numbers during Marti Gras, and raising funds year-round to help impoverished families get help, holiday gifts, and even college scholarships.

A painful past, a celebration today, a hope for tomorrow

Hurricane Katrina tore a wound through New Orleans almost five years ago, ripping up homes and lives, flooding the area with despair.  Although many New Orleans residents got out on buses, cars, trains and planes before the storm hit, the poorest remained to weather the storm.  Largely African American, many still bearing the financial and emotional burdens of the past, they huddled together while the winds pummeled them over and over.  Many thought they were going to die that very day, and we all know many did indeed perish from the storm.  The pain was made worse by a government lacking in timely response, while we all watched the tragedy unfold on national television.

We have a new, modern President, once again.  He got into office promising Change.  Hope.  To the people of the Lower 9th Ward, who are still, to this day suffering in substandard conditions, waiting for someone to help them rebuild their homes and lives, they simply want their lives back.  They want to celebrate Mardi Gras in joy and comfort.

As they say in New Orleans, they want once again to see the colors of Justice, Faith, and Power.