Georgia Senator Speaks in Support of Alternative Energy, Free Trade at Emory

Left to right: Sen. Isakson speaks with Georgia State Sens. Ronnie Chance and Cecil Staton.

Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson touched on a wide range of topics including his Swedish ancestry, alternative energy and free trade during a speech on March 25 at Emory University in Atlanta hosted by the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia.

Members of the audience included Swedish Honorary Consul General Jill Olander and British Consul General Martin Rickerd, as well as State Sens. Ronnie Chance and Cecil Staton.

Mr. Isakson said that his grandfather Anders Bingston left Sweden in 1903 and, when passing through Ellis Island, became Anders Isakson because his paperwork noted that his father's name was "Isak."

He said that he has been to Sweden on several occasions and praised Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. for scheduling a route to Stockholm to open June 3.

The major thing that Mr. Isakson said the U.S. can learn from Sweden is developing multiple new energy sources.

"Sweden is way ahead of the U.S. in terms of renewable energy," he said, adding that nuclear energy may play a major role in addressing environmental energy concerns.  "I do not think we can reduce our dependence on oil and our carbon footprint without revitalizing nuclear energy," he said.

Mr. Isakson also said that he will continue his support for free trade, claiming that two trading nations are less likely to go to war with one another.

"I have voted for every free trade agreement that's come across my desk and I will continue to," he said.  "Our greatest defensive weapon is in trading goods because people will like you if they're buying your products."

There are currently pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea that supporters hope Congress will vote on before the Bush administration leaves power.

 

 

Gandhi Foundation Co-founder Dies

Giriraj Rao, co-founder of the Atlanta-based Gandhi Foundation USA, succumbed to a month-long illness and died April 1 at North Fulton Hospital at age 83, according to Subash Razdan, the foundation’s current chair.

Through the foundation, the Chennai, India native worked to promote non-violence and community service, establishing the foundation in anticipation of the placement of the Mohandas Gandhi statute at the King Center in 1998.

Mr. Rao came to the U.S. in 1947 and worked as a scientist at Atlanta's Coca-Cola Co., where he was involved in the development of products including Diet Coke, Diet Sprite, Fresca, Mellow Yellow and Tab.

He served in leadership roles at various cultural organizations including the Indian-American Cultural Association, the Asian/Pacific American Council and the National Federation of Indian-American Associations.

Mr. Rao became the first Asian-American to receive the Governor's Award in humanities from Gov. Sonny Perdue and was recognized by the Dalai Lama for his work in non-violence at a conference at Emory University last year.

His funeral will be April 5 at the Wages and Sons Funeral Home in Stone Mountain.  Mr. Rao is survived by his wife Elena, sons Matthew and Shawn and stepdaughter Alisa.

Celebrity Chef Organizing Malaysia’s First Dining Tourism Conference

Chef Zam

Malaysian celebrity chef Zamzani Abdul Wahab, popularly known as “Chef Zam,” is organizing his country’s first dining tourism conference at KDU College’s School of Hospitality and Tourism in Kuala Lumpur.

Chef Zam celebrated 50 years of Malaysian nationhood with the Malaysian Association of Georgia last August.  He told GlobalAtlanta that he was exploring ways of infusing Southern cooking in Malaysian food during that visit.

The 2008 Gastronomic Tourism Conference will highlight molecular gastronomy, a method of cooking using scientific principles.

Presenting chefs include Heiko Antoniewicz, a German chef who has created menus for Prince Harald of Norway and the U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth and author of “Finger Foods, the Pride of Culinary Art.”