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I have worked at this site, and the Indians who lived here are the ancestors of the PeeDee (my tribe). It is a pretty cool site, and the folks who work on it every year are the best!

Museum to highlight archaeological dig site

HARTSVILLE, SC (WMBF) - The Hartsville Museum has announced plans for an October exhibit that promises visitors a glimpse into the lives of those who once lived and worked at The Johannes Kolb archaeological dig site.

"We Were Here: Archaeology of the Johannes Kolb Site" will open to visitors on Oct. 1 and is expected to run until Nov. 14. The Johannes Kolb site, an archaeological dig located in Mechanicsville, is named for a German immigrant who settled there in 1737. Archaeological excavations have uncovered objects spanning from 12,000 B.C. up to the early 20th century.

Within the upcoming exhibit, visitors will be able to see things like Native American stone tools, some of the oldest pottery in North America, historic pottery and household items such as an engraved silver spoon, scissors, cufflinks, and nails, and other objects that were made/purchased, and eventually lost by people of the past.

There will also be a short looping film featuring primitive technologists demonstrating how some of the Native American tools were used and made.

The exhibit was created and developed by Erika Shofner, a Masters student at the University of South Carolina Anthropology Department as part of her thesis project. Erika's research focus is in archaeological public outreach and using archaeology as a teaching tool in the K-12 classroom.

For more information, visit hartsvillemuseum.org.

You can use this link to urge your representative to sign on to the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Please sign it and please pass it on. Because my marriage counts too.

http://www.RepealDOMAnow.org

Call me crazy, but even after eight years with a President who thought gays and lesbians were his personal whipping boys (and bois, and girls, and dykes), I still believe you should respect the office. That goes double if you serve the country either as an elected official, or in the Foreign or military service. I personally always behave in public, especially when I am in situations like being overseas or on camera, as though my actions, good or bad, reflect my country.

Because they do.

So I am both angry and embarrassed this morning. Angry at Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) and embarrassed to be from South Carolina. I don't personally care what his opinion is on health care reform. Because that isn't the point. The point is that when you are representing your state and your country in that chamber, you behave with civility. You don't yell out calling the President a liar. Your perogotive is to stay quiet and not clap if you disagree. You had your time...eight years (and, in fact, 20 of the last 28 years)...to have your view stated by the man at the podium. You shouldn't even boo, though that is certainly preferable to yelling out "you lie."

Joe Wilson, you should know better. I bet your mother raised you better than that.

Seriously. In the past little over a year, SC has made the news for Miss "the Iraq" SC, a man getting intimate with a horse, a "family values" governor disappearing on the Appalachian Trail (not wait, that was to Argentina to screw his misstress), and that same governor being accused of outing his political rival so he didn't have to resign.

So seriously Joe. We have enough bad press already.

UPDATE: As of this morning, Rob Miller, a South Carolina Iraq War veteran and Democrat challenging Joe Wilson for his 2nd Congressional District seat in 2010, has raised $150,000 in the hours following Wilson's outburst. So there is something good for SC!

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I know it is a cliche', but I am going to say anyway what you already know. Vote. It is important.

Lots of folks have died to give you the right to vote. Lots more have died in other countries for want of what you have, the right to have your say. Vote for them. People you have known and loved in your lifetime were excluded from the right to vote because they weren't white or weren't male. Vote for them.

People, including the military and the foreign service, are STILL serving, STILL sacrificing, STILL dying, for your right to vote. Twenty-nine years ago today, on November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students took over our embassy in Tehran and held 52 diplomats hostage for 444 days. Those diplomats were serving for you, serving you and your right to vote. (You can read more about that and see the names of the hostages on Diplopundit.) Vote for them too.

Even if the person you support doesn't win, honor the fact that you get to have a say because so many have fought for it before you. Please don't throw that away.

Honoring those who served.


Veterans Memorial, Cherokee Indian Reservation, NC

This blog has served two purposes: a means to let my friends and family keep up with my comings and goings, and a forum to discussion of the life in the Foreign Service. While these two purposes have considerable overlap, I have decided to make this blog for friends only. So if you one of my livejournal friends, you will still be able to see all of the entries. If you want to see this journal, I encourage you to sign up for a livejournal account (they are free) and add me as a friend. For everyone else, please go to http://lifeafterjerusalem.blogspot.com. I promise it will have all of the discussion about the Foreign Service but fewer silly pictures of cats!