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HOH’s One-Minute Recess: Blame Canada!

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has a picturesque jurisdiction — its Web site features photos of soaring eagles, fuzzy polar bears and craggy landscapes. But one of the photos used to illustrate the American landscape actually depicts a scene from (gasp!) Canada.

[IMGCAP(1)]The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday called attention to the error, poking fun at Chairman Barbara Boxer’s (D-Calif.) promotion of our neighbor to the north in a snarky blog entry. “So as you consider where to spend your vacation dollars, the Senate reminds us not to forget the glories of the Canadian Rockies,— the blog item reads.

But the story behind the photo blooper is a tad more complicated and involves a little finger-pointing: A staffer for the Democrats on the committee says the photo was put on the Web site back when Republicans were in the majority, making it the GOP’s fault.

And a spokesman for ranking member (and former chairman) James Inhofe (R-Okla.) contends that the photo — provided by the vendor who oversaw the Web site’s redesign — was posted just before Democrats took over the Web site and that it was only intended as a “placeholder.—

“We had hoped to put up more pictures of Oklahoma,— Inhofe spokesman Matt Dempsey said.

At any rate, a staffer says the majority plans to take down the Canadian propaganda and put up more photos taken here in the good old U.S. of A.

Schock’s Ready for His Close-Up. Coming soon to the lockers of middle school girls: a glossy GQ spread of hunky Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.). The youngest Member of Congress (and perhaps the only one whose abs are routinely discussed in the national media) was spotted at a photo shoot with the magazine on Pennsylvania Avenue this morning.

Schock spokesman Dave Natonski confirmed to HOH that his boss would indeed be featured in the men’s mag — but noted that he wasn’t the first Illinoisan to grace its pages. “What guy wouldn’t want to have a GQ photo spread?— he tells us. “We’re just hoping he looks as good as then-Sen. Obama did in his.—

Adding to the glam factor, Ben Watts, brother of actress Naomi Watts and a renowned fashion photographer, was the lensman for the shoot. There’s no word yet on when the spread will appear, but we’ll be listening for the collective shriek of admiring interns to alert us when it does.

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