Please keep in mind as you peruse and participate in Tragedy and Hope, that it is a team effort; and that it was impossible for any single one of us to have done this on our own.

Tragedy and Hope is brought to you in its visible, audible, and interactive form with the help of this team of friends:

Greg Hardesty, Director of Graphics & Design

Greg is an exceedingly gifted artist whose investment of energy breathes the necessary life into the pages of Tragedy and Hope.  He leverages his experience as a professional designer (by day), and his vision as an independent Graphic Designer (by night) and has volunteered his professional services to both 8^th Estate Media & Research and Tragedy and Hope over the past 2 years. If there’s anything visually stimulating, inspiring, interesting, or valuable in Tragedy and Hope; it’s evident of Greg’s indispensable contributions.

Paul Verge, Chief Information Officer

Paul is a documentary filmmaker who lives in Vancouver, BC whose most popular films to date are "Hijacking Humanity" , and "20/20 Hindsight: CENSORSHIP on the FRONTLINE"; in addition to his interview and expertise in film production, he’s also a managing partner in Brain Web Media specializing in Web and Network Security services.

Since information technology and multimedia are at the core of the Tragedy and Hope service; Paul’s experiences in collaborating with 8^th Estate Media led him to contribute his talents and positive attitude to several 8^th Estate Media projects- including “A Film to End ALL Wars” and currently Tragedy and Hope.

Paul first contacted 8^th Estate Media in 2006, when he was filming "Hijacking Humanity" - the first part of his mini-series “The Cause of Effect”; and therein we discovered a synergy that went beyond the actual project and into how our mutual interests in constructive, compassionate, and conscious forms of change were a natural mix. His next film following "Hijacking Humanity" is titled "Believers Beware", the 2^nd of 3 films in “The Cause of Effect” series. The 3rd and final film, "Lessons Learned" is due for a September 2010 release.

Paul’s calmness, reliability, and fortitude have been a constant and necessary contribution to all the projects which led us to the Hope beyond the Tragedy. You can view the trailer to his upcoming film "Believers Beware" here.

Joel Almonte, Chief Technology Officer

Joel lives in South Florida, where he fights the daily fires of the Information Technology world (such as our sites being hacked) and uses his experiences in the realms of security, encryption, and Data Architecture to assist us in bringing the information together in the organized form of Tragedy and Hope dot com. 

Joel’s consistency, fortitude, and a “never-quit” attitude have all played a critical role in helping us birth the mutitude of ideas we had for Tragedy and Hope into the reality which is hereby set before you.

Complimenting the graphic art and expertise of Greg Hardesty, Joel's technical experience and continual self-learning of new applications, skills, and inventive ways of getting the job done make Tragedy and Hope possible- for without the graphics, it wouldn't be much to look at- and without the servers, applications, and Joel's hands-on attitude... we wouldn't have been able to get here.

Lisa Arbercheski, Publisher

Lisa worked for Oracle Corporation from 1998-2003, most recently as the Oracle account executive responsible for managing Media, Entertainment & Publishing clients in New York City. All of the Fortune 100 corporations depend on Oracle software, databases, and services to function; Lisa’s experience amidst the world’s largest corporate media & publishing companies (specifically bridging their business needs and Information technology processes) brings a unique, relevant, and valuable knowledge set to the table. Without her fortitude, patience, and desire to empower people by combining education and mass media for the purposes of realizing the HOPE we're all seeking in our lives- Tragedy and Hope would not be here today... and it is a reflection of the beauty of her actions as well as her intentions.

Richard Grove, Researcher / Editor-in-Chief

Richard worked as an account executive in New York City, selling enterprise software and services to the world’s largest Financial Services companies. Most recently working at EMC Corporation (which provides much of the hardware used by the Fortune 100 companies), Richard was responsible for helping New York’s financial services companies become compliant with the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley regulations; which would prevent corporate collapses due to illicit electronic transactions.  After discovering that his corporation was selling software with a “back-door” which allowed illicit transactions to take place beyond oversight- he blew the whistle, which led him into court from 2003-2007.

Being a wall street whistleblower (before it was so in vogue), and having detailed the illicit dealings of past client AIG in his 2006 court appearance; Richard’s warnings of the AIG house of cards collapsing went unheard by the public.

Having personally experienced the fact that publicly-traded corporate media is not interested in warning the public of pending disasters; Richard witnessed time and time again, the refusal of “news” companies to investigate the evidence of pending calamity. Publicly-traded corporate media makes a living off of making their audience unwitting pawns in the (profit) game- all the while convincing them they are “well-informed”.

What then could be introduced to transform unwitting pawns into active players? Obviously, there’s got to be a better way; and Tragedy and Hope is the embodiment of what is missing as a result of the mandate for publicly-traded corporations to profit at all costs.

From his perspective, Richard suggests that Tragedy and Hope is the practical application of the wisdom he was granted through the process of being a whistleblower and discovering that there is a critical flaw in our system of self-governance as Americans… and therein the need for a new type of information service was construed as Opportunity.

Richard created 8^th Estate Media & Research on April 4, 2003 as a result of having worked amidst the .Com boom (1997-2001) wherein he realized the potential and the need to offer independent research and corresponding media; created for educational purposes.

In Summary:

In short, the fundamental premise behind our problem solving was summarized nicely by Albert Einstein: “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” Simply put, in order to solve the problems we face, we must raise our levels of awareness; and that is the rock upon which Tragedy and Hope was founded.

It is our intention that our collective energy shared herein be an inspiration which elevates your perspective, facilitates your personal growth, and leads you to find your own experience of Cognitive Liberty.

Tragedy and Hope: Because Caring Needs to be Reflected in Action.