A Cultural Gem: The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

I have been promising myself for about 2 weeks that I would go do something fun and touristy to get away  from the grind, so after much delay, I finally took a trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.  I admit, while I enjoyed it, I actually prefer The American Museum of Natural History over in New York City.  Yet only because I like the American Museum's collection of massive meteorites a bit more, they have one on display the size of truck!  The Smithsonian did however have many great exhibits in anthropology.  Of course it is also home of the famous Hope Diamond.

Shoved in a corner of the basement I found a 2 year old temporary exhibition on Rastafarianism which was really fun to investigate.  It was small, but the curator - really old white guy in an Adidas jacket with green, yellow, and red stripes - was talking to a couple of really old dreadlocked Rasta men.  I got the impression that one of them was the head of a particular church or held some similar role of importance within the religious community.  So I listened to them banter for awhile till I nearly felt the call of Zion stirrin in my bones, and then continued elsewhere.

I actually spent quite a bit of time in the room displaying precious gems.  While its absolutely insane that people all around the world place monetary and socio-cultural value on some decorative rocks in the ground, the cutting and setting of precious stones is an interesting art form that has evolved quite dramatically over the years.

While I don't know anything about the technical demands of cutting and polishing a multifaceted gemstone, it was clearly visible from the collection on display that the for precision has come light years.  The diamonds cut in the 18th century for example, just looked ragged and poorly crafted compared to anything sold in the modern era.  It was also interesting that all the settings were crafted by names which I have heard as they are still around today, like Winston or Cartier, even though the necklace or broche may have been crafted several hundred years ago.  I thought the most fascinating object on display was the crown Napolean had given his wife, as seen here.  I don't recall the exact number but it contained something around 475 carats worth of diamonds in addition to other precious stones.   I am including some other photos of what I thought to be quite spectacular in their aesthetic design and associated historical relevance.

Since I'm really not a fan of forcing people to live in economic oppression and violence,  its hard for me to have much appreciation for the continued mining of diamonds.  As the contemporary demand for precious elements for the manufacture of cell phones is the primary culprit in destroying nations such as Congo these days, it seems like diamonds might have some competition to be nominated the world's devastating natural resource to economic and social health.  But since the international diamond cartel De Beer's recently announced that the world diamond supply is running out,  the demand will be stabilized if not increased by the upcoming surge in value.   It all seems absurdly convenient for De Beers,  but what can one expect from an organization founded by history's super colonial imperialist, Cecil Rhodes?

I do however  appreciate historical diamonds.  After all, it is the ongoing demand for such objects that has created the world we live in and continue to shape the contours of our future.  Its incredible to think of all the wars fought just so these objects can eventually pose for my camera.  Not to mention, gemology is in itself a rather fascinating cultural institution.  

When I was in Thailand, there were a lot of street hustlers who would offer to take tourists to gem cutting workhouses where they would suppossedly try to teach unsuspecting westerners all about the gem cutting and polishing process.  Then they would offer to sell such precious stones at crazy low prices, sometimes even stating that they work with a jewler in New York or London who will be happy to purchase them from you.  In that manner the tourists will bypass customs fees for the jeweler and also make a heap of cash in the meanwhile.  Sounds like a win-win situation except:

a) Smuggling gems is illegal  

b) There is never actually a jeweler in New York or London or anywhere else who will buy them

c) The gullible tourist has just handed over several hundred dollars for nothing more than some pretty colored pieces of glass.

Overall, its not a good idea, even if you are a professionally trained geologist.  The touts tend to be sketchy characters, and not really the sort you want to spent much time with.  They do sometimes have wonderful stories, like the guy I met who was formerly an Australian kick boxer and spent nearly an hour telling me his entire life history while I sat on the curb.  Of course not all touts are trained fighters and many of them are just local kids looking to for their next meal.  Still, its probably best not to follow them down the ominous dark alley into the gem shop.

A touch of the New

Well, for anyone that visits the blog page at http://blog.myearthprint.com/, you can see that the site has once again received a facelift.  After all, for some things - like the interwebs - its important to run with the trends. Actually, back in the remote corners of my laboratory, I'm putting together a whole new blog using Wordpress.  But it will probably be a couple months before the final product is safe for consumption.

Just a few days ago I met up with a guy who does web design for nonprofits and small businesses.  Although I did that stuff in college, the technology has changed so much in the last 10 years that I really needed someone to give a solid overview of how to work with Wordpress, MySQL, and PHP.  After about 2 hours, I got to a point where I could start to figure this stuff out on my own now... although the learning curve is still there.   Eventually this blog will be dumped into the other, alongside the content from my other blogs and hopefully the visitor traffic won't fall off a cliff. Regardless, its going to take awhile.

As for other news, well, I'm still hustlin the streets of DC.  The biggest news is that Mallory will now be arriving here in May, shortly after she presents her paper "Exploring the Value of Collective Responsibility for Armed Groups in the Context of New War" in Prague, Czech Republic at the 7th Conference on Global War and Peace."  I'm so excited!

As for my own research work... well thats on  pause for the moment while I work on more immediate endeavors.  In addition to the job stuff, I've been hard at work on finally completing my analysis of Sphere protocol within protracted humanitarian emergencies.  So while nothing is new is underway, I'm still trying to tie up many of the loose ends that have remained fluttering about for the last 2 years.  I guess you could say there has been a longstanding demand for some spring cleaning and its finally happening.

Looking for a Tea Party but Found a Fiesta!

Today is the day of the important vote on legislation for health care reform in America.  A few months ago, I decided to trust my own judgement rather than the television, and  I  downloaded a copy of the health reform bill and read all 1,500 pages of it.  It took a long time to get through it, page my page, and article by article.   I made various notes along the way way and in the end came to the conclusion that while it fails to actually fix the abominable health care in the United States, it is an necessary step in the right direction.  As someone who has worked hard to put himself through school and receive an excellent education, yet is equally feeling the economic squeeze of our times, I look toward health care reform as a very important element in my life.  Until then, I hope nothing bad happens and I fear to get sick, given my own inability to acquire health coverage.

Having recently moved to DC, I was quite curious about the nature of activity going on at the capital building. I actually live just down the street from the white house, and thought I would go investigate any protests and counter protests regarding the health care bill.  After all, while the news might show the rallies of 'tea parties' I presume there are likewise advocates for the bill on attendance as well. So I grabbed my camera and jumped on the metro to see whats up.

Upon arrival I expected all sorts of raucous behavior and 'patriotism' to be swarming the lawn.   I expected to see a bunch of white people complaining about how this would be an introduction to socialism, in an identical manner as the protests against medicare, medicaid, social security, and civil rights.  But what I found was something far better.

The tea party protesters were out protested.  Not only that, but they were overrun by a mass of white, black, latino, arab, gay, straight, young, and old folks all advocating migration reform.  It was gorgeous.  Thousands upon thousands of people marched from the Washington Monument, past the capital, and to a stadium rally, advocating for changes in migration policy.  To present pathways for citizenship, to recognize the equitable right to education and labor protection.  Naturally, as someone who works within and studies the dynamics international migration, I couldn't be any happier.

As for the tea party folks... well they didn't look quite so satisfied.  Most disappeared, and the few that were left ...eh, maybe just disappointed.  One guy sauntered down the street with a crumpled banner in his hand that just said 'No,' while another slept at the wheel of his RV.

As for myself, as much as I was pleased by the spectacle, I was content to just snap a few photos and walk around for awhile.  For the first time, I walked around the grounds took a  loop back toward the White House.  It was the first time I had really looked at the White House outside of the Bush administration, and I was surprised how different it looked.  Previously you could hardly see the building as it was hidden within massive pine trees. Now all those trees are gone, and it sits in a pristine and serene fashion.