Murphy says the original design plans were recently discovered, showing how the property was rigged with 200-kilowatt generators, massive air-intake tunnels and a custom ventilation system to be used in the face of disaster.

FORBES: Connect

Compared with the funereal pall that seemed to envelop the national psyche in April and May, when daily life was made doubly depressing by incessant, repetitive television commercials from celebrities appealing for unity and optimism in the face of disaster, as well as seemingly hourly alarms about radioactive pollution from the Fukushima nuclear plant, life seems to have returned to the patterns, and generally, concerns pre -3.11.

FORBES: Japan: Back to (a New) Normal

In the face of each disaster, we carefully developed a new plan.

NPR: The Practice of Slowing Down

Sometimes it was dark humor, even gallows humor in the face of impending disaster, but the laughter was always close to the surface, ready to explode at any moment.

FORBES: The Acid Test Of Radical Management: Laughter

In the face of environmental, economic disaster, it is the image of the people that stays with us, that remind us of the fragile nature of humanity in the race toward a more powerful society.

FORBES: Japanese Disaster: What Are The Impacts On The Auto Industry?

Projects include resume building workshops for unemployed men and women, disaster relief in the face of tornado and wildfire damage, and creating a community garden that has gone on to provide fresh, organic produce for low income children.

WHITEHOUSE: Service as a Life and Legacy

In an era of rising seas and extreme weather events, we are only going to face more giant post-disaster price tags, which will increasingly compete with rising entitlement costs and other runaway expenses for political attention.

FORBES: In An Age Of Catastrophes, Federal Disaster Aid Spirals