Friendship 7... Even Smaller than my Closet at the W.I.S.H. House!

The other day I had the chance to look around the National Air and Space Museum. Right when you walk into the museum you can see Friendship 7. It is the spacecraft in which Senator Glenn, then Colonel Glenn, orbited around the earth in as a part of Project Mercury Atlas-6 mission. This was the successful first attempt by NASA to place an astronaut into orbit. Senator John Glenn, Jr. was the first American to orbit the earth- pretty impressive!

It was amazing to see such an important part of aeronautical and American history. The size of the spacecraft amazed me. I feel claustrophobic in the small closet my roommate Allison and I share when I'm picking out my outfit each morning. I can only imagine how cramped Senator Glenn was in Friendship 7 while he was orbiting the earth. It's very small!

Seeing the spacecraft in person reminded me of a story I had learned in Ohio history class in grade school. While Senator Glenn was orbiting, the earth the people of Perth, Australia turned on all of their lights so that Senator Glenn could see them from space. This story really illustrates how the Senator's historic mission inspired not only Americans, but those all around the world as well.

~Clare

The Holocaust

The Holocaust Museum was amazing yesterday. As sad as it is, the museum is something I think everybody needs to see. The whole time I was there I kept thinking about the movie "La Vita e Bella" with Roberto Berninni about an Italian Jew who gets taken with his son to a concentration camp, one of my favorite movies. My favorite part was the first quote on the wall that you see when you walk off the elevator, Eisenhower pretty much predicted that one day people would say it was all propaganda and that this never happened. The quote said that he went to the concentration camps purposely so that if ever people questioned these events, he saw them with his own eyes. The hardest thing for me to do was walk through one of the train cars that carried all of the people off to the concentration camps. The sign next to it said that hundreds and hundreds of people were packed into the cars with many children and elderly dieing before reaching the camps. I had to walk around the train car, I stepped inside and couldnt imagine the amount of people who died in that exact car. The were videos playing of the different medical experiments the Germans put the Jews through to see how long a pilot could last without oxygen and other things like that. The other part that was hard for me was the area with the shoes. Once the people were stripped of all clothing and possessions, the women and children were sent to the gas chambers. The shoes of all of those individuals were piled into one room and it was so hard to look at the childrens' shoes and the high heels of the women. At the very end there is a place that explains what happened to the Jewish population in each country. The Danish smuggled people over the border in boats, Musselini refused to give up the Jews but then after so many years was forced to anyway, etc. The very last thing you see is a video of survivors and one quote I will never forget was from a woman speaking about this museum: "For all of those who come here remember, these items are prescious, even if it is just a small shoe, it is our prescious things."
This is something absolutely everyone needs to see!!!!
Joanna

Renewables

Today while walking around the Capitol I spotted one of the most beautiful sights in the world, a wind turbine. I ventured over and discovered it was in front of the United States Botanic Garden, which Andrea and Julie blogged about earlier. Inspired by their post I decided to go inside and warm up in the desert and take in the sights of the jungle. Most was really boring, although I would love to take my Grandma there someday. The picture on top is of an Orchid, which are amazing. I also liked the exhibit displaying the many plants we derive our medicines from.

--Mike

Not Your Midwestern Corn

"Seeds are extremely important. The act of seed selection is considered sacred." I wonder if the people at Monsanto and Cargill treat corn this way? This is one of the many photos I took while at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. The whole place is extremely inspiring. The ability of Native Americans to live with nature as one never ceases to amaze me. This particular picture highlights one of the most prized possessions in the native world. Corn was used as gold was in the Old World as a form of currency. I encourage everyone to visit this museum, as it has been one of my favorites so far. The title of this post refers to the monoculture intensive agriculture we now know in the Midwest. One strain of corn is predominantly grown in our home and surrounding states, Yellow Number 2. Ironically, this corn cannot even be eaten, it is grown for use in other applications such as the manufacture of corn syrup. Happy obesity and diabetes to all! Seriously though, the modern industrial food system is one that needs to be reviewed and revised. Book recommendation again: The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan. (I am going to recommend this book every chance I get so read it already!) One of the strong points of the museum is the way the modern Native American culture is highlighted in the way they have adapted to modern society. Another book recommendation: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

--Mike

"It's Winter Time in the City"

Today the city was blasted by a strong snowstorm, dumping nearly ten inches on "the hill". I decided to take a walk around the Capitol and take a few pictures to signify our time here, after all it is Winter quarter. If you are a kid living in the area guess where you go sledding? That's right, on the Capitol lawn which is known around here as Jenkins Hill. Kids, be sure to thank L'Enfant for being able to sled on the nations most prime real estate! I'm jealous, maybe tomorrow I will ask one of the kids if I can borrow their sled just once.

--Mike

never really appreciated having a car until Lilly, Lydia, and I walked to the national portrait gallery. having to walk in the snow and freezing wind was not something I had planned on doing today but it was something we all wanted to see so we made the trek anyways. the gallery had some really nice portraits, obviously, but also had a really interested exhibit on sports heros and events called champions. I was the only one who was really interested in it because it reminded of me the football half of fame, which i have been to countless times since its in my hometown. Lydia and Lilly liked the 20th century Americans exhibit best. Lilly thought the figures from the Vietnam era were interesting and Lydia liked the civil rights era the best. we didn't try to go anywhere else because it was too cold and snowy so we came back and made pancakes.

Jeff, Lilly, and Lydia

(dictated but not read)

HRF Response to Liz Cheney

So if you read my last post, I put the link the the Liz Cheney ad to keep GTMO Open....here is the response from my office...its quite entertaining please check it out!!
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/hrfblog/2010/01/keep-america-afraid.html
Joanna =)

Pic =)

yey I can finally upload picture too....here are the four militaty generals from my press conference last week

-Joanna

State of the Union/ Liz Cheney's AD

I'm sure everyone watch the State of the Union Address last night and I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did!! And if it were not for the annoying girl drinking wine hitting on strangers and the annoying Sig Ep complaining every second of the speech, Susan and I would have enjoyed it even more! But I was very impressed with some of his polices and his calls for actions by the senate. I was also entertained by how much he called out the republican side of the room for not applauding him while the rest of the room did. I am wondering how his education plan to award those school who are succeeding but not those who are failing. Personally being from Youngstown, I have seen the inner city schools that are failing and less funding is not the option. These kids are unmotivated to try in school and since they have no funding for resources, probably fin dit pointless to put effort into anything when the government isn't putting effort into helping them succeed. Also, I was very impressed with his fections about toture and his plans to end the war and remove out troops. Not everyone was so enthusiastic about this speech as I was, including Liz Cheney. She created an organization called "Keep American Safe" and will be running ads in retaliation to the State of the Union Address advocating for more weapons to defend ourselves from terrorists rather than closing Guatanamo Bay and trying the detainees. Here is a link to her ad, which I find completely incompetent and reinforces my terrible views of her father's administration (no offense to Bush supporters)
http://www.keepamericasafe.com/
Joanna

The Ghost of Glenn School Past

Dear Glenn School WI 10 -
For breakfast go to Pete's Diner on 2nd just south of Pennsylvania SE. Also go to good stuff if you haven't yet (on Pennsylvania SE). Also there's another good little breakfast type diner on Capitol East called Jimmy T's Place. And when you're going there, be sure to go to Eastern Market if you haven't yet. That's always a fun time.
Hope this helps.
Josh Kramer (Glenn School AU 09)

This weekend I went to Hawaii, the Jungle, and the Desert without leaving The Hill

My roommate Julie and I visited the U.S. Botanic Gardens on Saturday. It is only a short trek from our house, located near the Capitol Building on the SW side. Above is a photograph of the greenhouse with the Capitol Building in the background, taken from the outdoor gardens on the west side.

As I alluded to in my title, there are multiple rooms in the conservatories with each housing plants from either different parts of the world or grouped by type of plant. They have rooms specific to Hawaii, the Jungle, the Desert, medicinal plants, orchids, and an exhibit on plants and culture. Although I have not seen to many of the tourist attractions yet (side note: after class on Wednesday I am making an official list of what I still need to see), this has been my favorite by far. I will have to go back and next time I will be sure to bring my good camera and extra batteries!

The main attraction is the jungle room and it definitely deserves more than one walk through. This room has a mezzanine level from which you can take a leisurely canopy walk.

The jungle room is a typical greenhouse in that it needs fans to push down warm air to provide air movement and reduce temperature differences. The U.S. Botanic Gardens has adopted new high-efficiency fans, (pictured below) which use minimal energy, in comparison to the traditional paddle fans, to move air at a high velocity.
The conservatory also has an entire room devoted to my favorite flower, the orchid. The docent told us that there are over 20,000 accepted species of the orchid, so it is a little silly to say that it is my favorite because there are so many different types.Some other fun facts he gave us were that different type of orchids grow in all climates, including the arctic, and some grow entirely underground. The U.S. Botanic Gardens keeps specimens of over 5,000 species, of which it displays hundreds at any given time and rotates the orchids exhibit often.

A few other fun things to check out are the plants and culture exhibit, which includes some info on chocolate (cocoa beans pictured left) and the Happy Tree (pictured right) in the medicinal plants room. A tip for next time -- dress in layers, it is warmer and more humid than you think! And bring your camera!

-Andrea

Third Plenary Council Tablet

This is the Third Plenary Council Tablet from the convening of the Council in 1884. This was the largest meeting of Catholic Bishops held outside of Rome since the Council of Trent came to a close in 1563. The Third Plenary Council formulated the Baltimore Catechism, which was used until the 1970's. This historical artifact is an example of the rich history the Basilica has.
Another aspect of the Basilica is its beautiful structure. As we discussed in class, Latrobe's original architecture was renovated, ending in 2006. This Basilica is unique to others because while it maintained the distinct architectural elements common to other historical churches, it definitely had a clean, modern feeling. It was an interesting combination to see the renovations, then read about the Basilica's rich history.
-Allison

Baltimore Basilica

The Baltimore Basilica was a great place to spend some time. With over two hundred years of history, many significant people have worshipped there. John Carroll layed the cornerstone in 1806, and throughout its time, FDR, Mother Theresa and countless other historical figures have visited the Basilica. The most interesting feature was the basement chapel and crypt. Latrobe's mastermind really displayed itself in the intricate archways and brick foundation.
-Allison

So this blog is also about the Right to Life march on Capitol Hill that took place this past week. While the majority of the marchers gathered on the Capitol lawns around noon I got the opportunity to see some of them earlier in the morning. Rep. Boehner was supposed to pose with some of the Right to Lifer's from his district so I got to go stand on the Capitol steps holding Right to Life signs to help gather them together. This would have been a nice task if it weren't for the fact that I had no coat, and none of the people from his district showed up. However, I was provided with entertainment from the eccentric pro life gentleman that waved a rope that had halloween skulls attached to it as he screamed at politcians and staff as they entered the Capitol. I did get to meet with some of the pro-lifers as they trickled into Rep. Boehner's office throughout the day to say hello and snack on cookies and pastries.

I was amazed on my walk home from work by the sheer number of pro life supporters that made the trip to Washington D.C. Not only the number of people there, but also the array of people who turned out surprised me. I was expecting for the most part a majority of older people to turn out, but I was surprised by how many youth had also made the trip. It was impressive to see the many different groups come together and rally for a common cause at our nation's capitol.

SM

Happy Roe v. Wade Day!!

So as many of you have noticed there have been buses and buses of people demonstarting for and against abortion today. What a crazy day on the Hill!! We watch from our office window as whey marched on spelling out LIFE. There were even nuns out on the steps of the Supreme Court House. As I watched all of this I couldn't help but think, "you people are wasting your time, they are not going to change the bill just because of you!" But then that's democracy isn't it. Watching the O'Riley factor the other night I heard a mother and father talk about their disappointment with the US governement becuase their daughter was in Haiti for the earthquake and they haven't heard from her yet. They were urging people to write their congressmen's in order for our government to do something and find their daughter. there are som many people in this country it is so hard to think that one person's actions will make a difference. But it was today when I saw all of the people marching that I realized it takes one person to get to another person who can reach out to even more people for things to change. I would be interested in reading Lydia's paper on abortion policies after today to see what both parties are advocating for. I have mixed views, and not to turn this into a debate, but after taking a women's studies course about health views in 3rd world countries, you begin to get a mixed view on things. Anyway it was really cool to see all of the people out here today, I think a catholic school from Youngstown sent a bus or two of students here too. And once again this blod wont let me upload pictures but once it does I will put up the pictures I took from my office window of the huge crowds!
Joanna

Press Conference

Yey!!! I can upload pictures!!!! Here is the one from the same press conference with me and the military leaders =)

I found a link to the website from one of the reporters who was at the press conference yesterday if you would like to explore this more =)
http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/01/21/retired-generals-hit-back-at-critics-of-gitmo-closure/print/
Joanna

Bombardier Excitement

We visited the National Museum of the American Indian. One interesting aspect of modern American Indians' lives is the ongoing importance of fishing. This motorized vehicle made to travel on ice is called a bombardier. This convenient vehicle saves the fishers from many cold days camping on the ice.
-Jeff & Allison

Just posting some interesting websites following our climate change discussion on Wednesday. The first is an award winning environmental economics blog written by two very smart men in a very non-partisan way. One of them, Tim Haab, is a renowned professor at THE Ohio State University. The second site is one I found from a google search that presents two clashing arguments on climate change policy, very interesting.

http://www.env-econ.net/

http://www.america.gov/e-exchange_open.html


Happy Reading,

--Mike

Press Conferences

The past two days have been extremely exciting at work! Yesterday morning we had a briefing with the New York Times where I head from an interrogator, attorney, and a vice admiral. They talked about what they want to see happen at GTMO including swift action to close the facility and trial in federal courts. It was really interesting to hear from Matthew Alexander (a pseudonym he goes by because he is still actively involved in contracts and interrogations in Iraq) and his stories of interrogations and what he learned from them. Many points that he discussed with be very useful sources for my paper. Today was even better, we held a press conference with four retired military leaders who stood behind President Obama a year ago today as he signed the executive orders to close GTMO. Obviously it is not closed but these generals have been writing letters to the President and giving lectures on the benefits to closing it and the negatives of torture. After the conference I was able to personally interview two of the generals for my paper while introducing myself to all four of them. It is really great to be able to meet the people who I have read about so much lately in the news and editorials. My favorite part was when I introduced myself to Major General Nash and told him I was from Ohio State, his response was, "Oh yea? You guys have quite a football program out there!" haha, an Chris said at orientation that nobody would be discussing OSU sports on the Hill!
Joanna
p.s. ill post the picture soon but the website keeps giving me weird java script instead of the actual picture =(

Arlington National Cemetery

This past weekend I was able to take advantage of the warm, sunny D.C. weather and head over to Arlington Cemetery. The last time I had been to the cemetery was when I was in eighth grade for a class trip. I remembered a great deal from my first visit, but it was interesting what struck me now, visiting as an (almost) adult.

Walking among the resting places of America's fallen heros, some well known and some unknown, I felt a deep sense of patriotism and pride in our country. Watching the changing of the guard I was much better able to understand the solemn beauty of the tradition in which we honor those who sacrificed their lives for our country than I was as a fourteen year old. A group of giggling middle school students reminded me of the first time I visited Arlington and watched the changing of the guard. So much has changed since then, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have made our nation more aware of the important sacrifices our service men and women make for us and our freedom each day.

The grave-sites of Arlington chronicle American History. Visiting the resting places of Presidents Taft and Kennedy, numerous Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the crew of the Challenger, Pierre Charles L'Enfant (city planner of D.C.) and countless other historical figures was exhilarating for a history buff like myself. Visiting the graves of Robert Kennedy and Ted Kennedy was especially poignant for me. I have always admired the work of all of the Kennedy family- their work for civil rights and social justice. As the race for his former Senate seat was heating up and the reconciliation of the House and Senate Health Care Reform legislation about to begin, it was moving to remember the man who did so much to bring this legislation to Congress.

-Clare

Refocused Attention

Stemming from our interesting 'Current Events' discussion in today's seminar, I would like to propose an alternative to worrying about small Biblical inscriptions on the Marine's ACOG's. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/slideshow?id=9580847
While worries over a perceived American retaliation jihad seem sensical, the actual inscriptions are so miniscule that the sandy combat zones would likely crust over the inscriptions before the claims are used against us.

It seems obscure to argue about such small details, when there are so many larger issues, both domestic and international. For example, over 340,000 Indians are put to work as "manual scavengers." Essentially, these Dalits, (formerly known as Untouchables,) work their whole lives cleaning up others' excrements. These jobs are not only illegal and incredibly dangerous for health concerns, they are also widespread. Hundreds of thousands of people forced to clean up human waste their entire lives seems a bit more pressing than diminutive inscriptions on Marine scopes.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/world_agenda/article6995142.ece
-Allison

National Momuments....farther apart than they look!!

So on the gorgeous weekend I decided to take Mike's "rate buster" name and cross off as many items on the list as I could. I thought I would start at one monument and walk all the way down to the mall...not as close as it appears but I got some great exercise from it. The monuments that I liked the most were the war monuments. The line that I liked the most came from the Korean War monument dedicating that place to "soldiers who died for a country they never knew and a people they never met." The Vietnam Monument was very sad as well. Many people have left cards and signs by the names of the fathers/husbands/sons for their birthdays or holidays saying that they are not forgotten. The World War II monument, which is relatively new, has each state represented. What I liked the most about this one was the different sections that are dedicated to fighting by land, air, and sea. There are many infamous presidential quotes around the whole monument, one of which was the quote announcing the attack on pearl harbor. Finally, seeing the Lincoln and Washington Memorials were also very cool. Seeing them up close is a lot different than seeing them on tv...they are HUGE! In the American History Museum I was actually able to see the original casts of Lincoln's face and hands and compare my hand size to his. Standing next to Lincoln's statue and reading his Gettysburg Address carved on the wall was really an amazing sight.
Joanna

The National Archives

Being involved with Human Rights First means spending time focused on the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It was really cool to see the original documents preserved. I love the movie National Treasure and always wanted to be able to see the Declaration up close. I was able to make out all of the signatures on each document. The lighting was really dim and we were not allowed to use the flash on our cameras in order to make sure the documents don't get damaged. The murals on the walls above the documents were also really nice to see. I always loved American History growing up so being able to visit all of these museums was a great way to spend my weekend!
Joanna

More sightseeing from our list

I was able to visit the actual house where Lincoln died, which is right across the street from the Ford's Theatre. It was cool to see but it was actually really sad. I saw what was called the grieving room, where his wife sat and waited to hear the news of his death. I was a bit surprised to hear how long he lived after taking a bullet. Back in those days I would have thought being shot would kill a person quickly either from the impact, loss of blood, or infections.

I was also able to visit the Arlington Cemetery. It was also another sad place to be but I felt privileged to stand in the presence of so many men who fought for our country. I visited the Kennedy's grave sites as well as the tomb of the unknown soldier. Out of the whole experience watching the changing of the guards was really special to see. I could not believe how quiet everyone was for the ceremony. The inscription on the tomb sends chills down my back every time I read it..."Here rests, in honored glory, an American soldier known but to God." I was surprised to see that there are acutally 3 tombs at this site, I always thought it was just one soldier but there are three tombs. With friends of mine from home being in the armed forces and sent over seas, it was a reminder of what is happening with the war today.
Joanna

2 more Smithsonians

This weekend was awesome, the weather was great and I was able to go all over DC! I went to the National Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum. I was amazed to see how small Friendship 7 was!! I can't believe John Genn was in that tiny capsule for so many hours. I could never imagine orbiting the planet in that! I really enjoyed being able to walk through one of the space crafts to see how they live in space. The small working areas and shower totes, it was crazy. I thought my room at Chi Omega was small!! My favorite part of the Natural History Museum was by far the gemstone exhibit with all of the jewelry! I was surprised to learn that it is the element boron that actually gave the gem its blue color. I also never knew that the reason it is called the Hope Diamond is because the last owner was an Englishmen named Henry Philip Hope....makes a lot of sense. The emerald necklace made for Spanish Royalty caught my eye too, partially because that is my birthstone. After seeing those jewls I better find myself a rich husband!
-Joanna

Think your life is hard?

At least the FBI doesn't think you look like bin Laden.

Basically, the FBI wanted an "updated" picture of bin Laden and this Italian guy, Gaspar Llamazares, happens to look similar to how they believe bin Laden now looks.

As I'm sure you can tell, that's good ol' Osama on the left. The right is Llamazares. In the middle, we have the FBI's prediction of the current bin Laden.
Llamazares, understandably, is unhappy about this. He said he's worried that travel to the U.S. will be difficult. Apparently, airports have the technology to compare your passport photo to pictures on record and he fears that he could be identified as bin Laden (which is legit, seeing as "bin Laden" now has half of Llamazaers' face).

He claims that, with the exception of their shared age (52), they have nothing in common.

This is just another interesting example of the things that the U.S. government in an effort to catch terrorists. I mean, who cares about some Italian lawmaker having strangers think he's a deadly terrorist? Dude, suck it up. This is TOTALLY going to help us catch bin Laden. Provided he shaves his beard and tries to casually strut through the airport any time soon.

Read the full article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959804575007063176194420.html

-Lilly

I would like to post an extensive story about my adventures in washington but for the most part everything I have done has been covered by everyone else.

Jeff

Grocery shopping in the capital of the free world

Yesterday was not a day fit for more sightseeing. Instead, a couple of us ventured to the mecca of American consumerism also known as Costco. Due to the most awesome location of our house right in the center of Capitol Hill there is a lack of big box grocery stores and other like establishments in order to preserve the nature of the neighborhood. While I think this is necessary as I am one who is definitely for this preservation (along with many others measured by a willingness to pay a premium for these homes) my suburban Midwestern roots come through and I yearn for the blinding glow of fluorescent lights, overcrowded aisle ways and the allure of potential money saving deals. As you can see from above, a trip to the grocery in DC is a bit more complicated than back home. Because very few people drive here, pedestrians carrying armfuls of grocery bags on the metro is a daily occurrence and quite comical at times. In order to ease the burden of carrying numerous bags we decided utilizing suitcases would be a good idea. In another attempt to make the carrying of a ton of groceries back to the metro less cumbersome, some members of the group; I am not going to tell the whole story but lets just say Pentagon police officers do not like shopping carts full of overloaded suitcases being pushed onto their territory. And now it is time for some econ: Did you know that Europeans spend nearly twice as much of their disposable income on food products than we do here in the States? Thank you Costco team and Lilly especially for a hilarious day! Book recommendation: The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

--Mike

Black Holes, Friendship, and Art (that I don't understand)

Yesterday, I visited the Air and Space Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum.

At A&S, Lydia and I saw an IMAX movie about

Black Holes ($9 for 25 minutes didn't turn out to be worth it but Liam Neeson was the narrator so that redeemed it a little) and we saw the Friendship 7, which John Glenn orbited Earth in. Pretty cool, John. Pretty cool. Besides that, the museum was a lot of stuff about aeroplanes, which didn't excited me as much, and planets, which freaked me out because space scares me. You can imagine how freaked out I was while watching the black holes movie. I mean, seriously.. those things are messed up.

Between exploring the museum and waiting until 5 pm for our movie to start, we went to the Contemporary Art Museum nearby. I liked half of it and thought the other half was ridiculous (I watched three people debate the meaning of a picture that was just two shades of blue splattered on a canvas). The building itself was pretty cool but completely impractical (a giant circle with nothing in the middle) and half of the art was "Untitled," in which case I KNOW the artists don't know what the point of their art was, either. Example:

Lydia actually discovered that this one has a mirrored front, so you could potentially argue that the artist wanted you to make your own art or something. I think he just did it accidentally because he didn't know how to deal with the materials he used.

But maybe I'm a little bit too critical. Especially considering I have no artistic skills whatsoever. I have attached a drawing of mine to prove it:

I drew a picture of my friend and she drew a picture of me. You can tell by the labels who they're supposed to be and I'll let you be the judge of who is more creative in their interpretations. Not sure the Smithsonian would find it artistic but if I think of a weird enough title I bet I could find SOMEONE who considered it art.. right?

Don't crush my dreams.

(Lilly)

click here to see photos from the dome tour!

What with all the Haiti craze (which, granted, is justified), I thought I would share a few interesting links. Having watched the news all day at my office, I feel moderately well-educated on the topic, but if you aren't you should catch up. It is quite the catastrophe.

What I found most interesting was the rapid response of Google and GeoEye to update satellite images of Port-au-Prince. You can read the article at http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/international/google-maps-haiti-earthquake-images-update-011410 or proceed straight to some of the images themselves at http://twitpic.com/y3q7k.

Because second-hand pictures are never good enough, I examined the city in its entirety with the help of Google Earth and found the image below. The center block, I discovered after research, is one of the slum neighborhoods just off the coast. Considering the houses surrounding the slum are modest at best, the living conditions in Haitian slums must be absolutely atrocious. Fortunately the global community has stepped up with unprecedented support to recover and rebuild.

If you were born with a heart and/or soul, it might better your karma to donate to one of the many needful organizations that have so quickly and graciously come to the aid of Port-au-Prince and its citizens.













On a lighter note, FailBlog is one of my favorite websites, and I ran across this gem:


And we wonder how terrorists sneak past our formidable American security.















LJH

NO Pictures Allowed...but I was there!- The White House

So today was the much anticipated White House tour. I was nice...I was able to tour the West Wing last summer and see the Oval Office, the Roosevelt Room, and the Old Executive Offices so seeing the East Wing (or the First Lady's Wing as the one security guard referred to it) was great! My favorite was the Blue Room, partially because I love that color but more because I love the view of the front yard from the room. Unlike Mike, I did not ask permission to sit down, so when nobody was looking I sat in chairs in the Green Room and the Red Room! It was interesting to learn that the people who work these guard jobs have to have accomplished something "Great" in their lives before they can work at the White House. Many old professional athletes become guards here. The views from the rooms in the White House were amazing! I hope to be able to go back sometime soon, and I would love to actually meet the President one day....how can we make that happen through the Glenn Program???
-Joanna

Weak...

The Dome Tour was really cool....the getting lost part and questioned too many times why I didn't have a sticker, not so much. The best part was going to the very top and being able to see where my office was and almost to our house. I have been able to go in the St. Louis Arch and the Empire State Building but being on the top of our Capital just seemed different, better. I was surprised to know that you can only go up there with a congressional member, I felt pretty special, and kind of surprised...there isn't much a person and do to damage that thing! The other cool part was the graffiti, that was so cool to be where people stood in the 1800's. I was also able to see the old Supreme Court house...kind of intimidating with the low lighting and all. My mom booked a regular people's Capital tour for the end of the month, so I will be excited to see the rest of the Capital....since I'm not as cool as the rest of you congressional interns and don't have a staff badge to see it everyday =)
Joanna

Proof of 2 Smithsonians

so I am a little late on blogging, I have been working on research at the LOC and because Leroy neglected to mention in his ridiculous speech that each library has odd hours, I have been living at the LOC finding resources for my paper. Luckily I am almost finished with everything! The castle was really cool inside, there were little sections inside that I thought of as previews of what the other smithsonians will have in their museums. In the American History Museum I really loved the tv section; I got pictures with Dorthy's shoes, saw Fonzy's leather jacket and Archie's chair from all in the family (love, LOVE that show!) The best had to be the First Lady's Dresses. There was an informatinal videoing showing how many were destroyed becuase that wew not properly displayed and showing many more dresses. I learned that not all of them are on display at once, they rotate which ones they display. I hope the next time I go back they will be on a different rotation. It was also nice to see the Abraham Lincoln section and the war sections. There was a very powerful video you all need to see in the war section with a bunch of veteran's quotes about their experiences and pictures from the war. It's kind of sad but really good. My family comes to visit at the end of the month and I know they are all exctied to go to this museum!
Joanna

ON TOP OF THE FREE WORLD.........LITERALLY

Today we all went on a Capital Dome tour........yes be very jealous. The group I was with was blessed to have an eccentric and all-knowing tour guide who took us on an amazing journey through the capital building. Not only did we get to see the beautiful view from the top of the Capitol, but our guide is well known by everyone and anyone. We met people from NASA astronauts who recently returned from mission STS 129, to Patrick Kennedy and many in between. Above are pictures from throughout the day. More to follow.

--Mike