This is the sculpter left from the 9/11 .....it is different than when it was at the twin towers. The people of NYC wanted to keep it as it is now.
Ted is standing in front of a little fire station . It was a block from our hotel. Our guide told us that every firefighter from this station died in the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers. These plaques are in their memory.
This is the famous Times Square. Visual advertising over load. I never thought of people always being at Times Sq. This triangle shaped section of streets and intersecting streets, is crowded all the time. So it seemed whenever we went there. It was only 1/2 block from our hotel.
Do you see the roxy sign? This was a deli. It had cheesecakes that looked as if they weight 5 pounds. big cheesecakes with all kinds of yummy toppings. No, I didn't have any.
This is a nice statue of George M. Cohan. Perfect place for him to be. Near all the theaters.
I would not ever want to drive around this area. Our tour guide told us that more people are injured or killed in traffic than any other means. I think people were walking around as if they were in Disney world, not in streets with moving traffic.
Here's the barber in the window. He was waving to us. No one is in the chair. I think it looks inviting. I have an uncle who's been a barber for over 40 years and drives a school bus too.
This is the theater that was just across the street from our hotel in NYC. The Barrymore was showing the musical Chaplin. We stayed at the Edison Hotel. I checked the beds for bugs, and there was no bugs or bug poop. The news told people how to look for the little rust looking spots (poop) or blood spots on the matteress.I even checked the box springs and around the headboards....yes, I know it's gross but you can't be too careful.
This is the Cathedral Chucrh of St. John the Divine. It's at 1047 Amsterdam avenue/112th st. NYC. It is hugh and old. Such beautiful stone work, inside and out. Full of statues, and carvings.built in 1892. The year Ellis island opened. It is chartered as as a house of prayer for all people and unifying center of intellectual light and leadership. Many faiths worship together in services held 30 times a week. but there was no services going on when we toured the church.
This beautiful rosette is the 4th largest in America. I do not know where the other three could be.
I am always amazed at the stone carvings of churches. Well old buildings in general. I know there are wonderfully talented people in the world, but I don't know any stone carvers. While we were at the NBC studios, we also walked to Saint Patrick's Cathedral. It was under some construction. Lots of scaffolds in NYC.
This is on Ellis island, where immigrants entered the U.S. till 1954. One lady in our group found her grandfather's name on the Wall of Honor. she knew the date he entered .
This is the view of NYC , from Ellis island. I think the U.S. park's department takes care of everything . They are in the process of repairing things all the time. I am pretty sure it's lack of funds, that some of the buildings were closed off to the public.
Over one hundred million Americans had ancestors who came through Ellis Island.
This is the view of Ellis island from my seat on the harbor cruise. It was lightly raining, so I took this photo from the inside. Honestly this is an interesting historical place, Ellis island. Go to visit if you ever get a chance.
This is the building where the Jerry Seinfield show's soup Nazi had his shop. Our guide says there was a man, that only sold soup. He wanted to sell as much soup as possible , so you needed to have your mind made up when it was your turn.
Heading to Macy's. The Macy's that has the parades. There are trees and flower containers along the streets.
Trump Tower. The man has and does spend money. It's a great building. Not sure if the globe goes with it.
This odd long stretched out statue is Mr. Eiffel. He is holding his little Eiffel tower. I only took this photo because he designed the statue of Liberty too.There were a few of these little statue, in a row , of other men. But I didn't have time to take photos, as we were headed to the ferry boat. This is on Liberty Island, I never thought of there being trees here, since I had never seen this before.
Maybe we could say a prayer for the people in need, after yesterday chaos at the Empire State building.
Ted and I walked to the Letterman studio. It was closed on Thursday. We would have loved to had tickets for the show. Dave Letterman is a fellow Hoosier. It was a good walk from our hotel. Two ladies on our tour took one of those bike/rickshaws. The man could not speak very good English and said 3 dollars a block.....then charges them 46 dollars. It was not 12 blocks, no way. They walked back to the hotel. I am thinking they were take in.. The girl in our hotel gift shop said she rode in a cab all the way down town for 17 dollars. We were warned about such things. Live and learn, I guess.
This statue is in Battery park, it represents the huddled masses, I think...not so sure.This is were I saw the most street people or signs of them. You catch the Ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands here.
This fountain is in the park also. Lots of kids were playing in it. One little blonde boy actually stripped naked to play in it. The other kids stopped and look at him for a moment , then went about playing again.Too funny.
This is not good photography, it's photos on the run. It rained as we were getting ready to go in the building. You can see forever on the observatory. But it was raining and things became foggy. Now I will tell you going to the observatory gives new meaning to-- packed like sardines. There is not a lot of room up there and people can be rude. Maybe not intentionally, but they should look, then let others get a chance. But I did get a photo of the Chrysler building. Then Ted took a photo of me and I do not know how to turn then . :(:( Oh did I tell you , no one speaks English in NYC? No one lives there either, it;s all tourists. LOL, just kidding. I love my time there and would love to go back. Maybe in spring or autumn. Oh by the way, once you get to the observatory, it's another 17 dollars to go to the very tip top.
And boy do I need it. I want to soar with this hawk for at least an hour.:):) I absolutely love flying, but this is going to be a travel club bus trip. I like those kinds of trips too...oh heck,I'll just admit it, I love to travel. As long as I don't have to drive interstates anymore, I don't care how I get there.
This is the sky this morning on our way into town. What a wonderful day it is.The temperature's so pleasant.
This is a re-cycled item. Ted is taking it to market on Saturday. It's the feet cut from our s-i-l's armoire. I said they looked like candle sticks....so Ted cut and routered some bases of oak and added them to the feet.
Gardeners Will You Help Me ????


text:
Category: Civil Liberties
To accuse is not proof of the truth
The flurry of accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the attendant surge in the past few days of the #MeToo and #WhyIDidntReport hashtags has resurfaced for me a topic I've wanted to discuss, and on this day I'm happy to say that it is a topic which has nothing to do, at least not directly, with the president we cannot shake from the headlines for even one stinking day. (Today he had to suffer the indignity of having the United Nations General Assembly laugh at him; I admit I enjoyed that very much.) I've had this thought in the past year or so as events have forced the issue of sexual violence against women into public discussion, which is for the good, but now I'm hearing a drumbeat more loudly, more certain and more forcefully stated: the belief that all right-thinking Americans must accept all accusations by women of sexual harassment or sexual assault or rape at face value, without exception and without the need of corroborating evidence. I've got a problem with that. Let me risk stirring up multiple hornet's nests all at once.
I have no problem with the protesters who argue Black Lives Matter, because I think I understand what they mean. They do not mean black lives matter more than white lives (or the lives of any other color), despite the counterargument from some mostly disingenuous people who are trying to diminish the BLM effort. The protesters are trying to persuade their fellow Americans that despite our country's clear history of treating black people as less than people—even writing it into our Constitution—an inequitable, ignorant, hateful behavior that continues today, they are appealing to our better angels to persuade us that black lives matter, too. At least that's how I understand it.
They're not saying that white lives don't matter; they're not saying that white lives matter less than black lives. They're calling attention to the recent string of deaths of black people, mostly young black men, at the hands of law enforcement across the country, in questionable circumstances, to try to make us all see the unfairness which they recognize as part of their daily lives. The protests grow out of their personal experience, and they're arguing for a commitment on behalf of all of us to the American ideal of fair treatment for all. That's also what the athletes are saying when they demonstrate during the national anthem: they aren't protesting the song, or the flag, or the military, or the country in general, despite what you hear from the president (listen instead to the many many veterans who acknowledge that the right to this protest is exactly the thing they went to war to protect). The players are taking advantage of their position in the public eye at that moment to do the thoroughly American thing of exercising their freedom of speech. We each of us is free to disagree with their methods if we choose.
Now, I'm not saying that women in America have been treated the same way that black people have been treated. (To any commenters who would criticize me for saying just such a thing, I refer you now to the previous sentence where I say quite plainly that I am not saying that.) But I think it's clear that women have been, and still are, treated differently from men in American society—there's a Constitution thing there, too, of course—and that today they are making another push on behalf of their equality as Americans. Specifically, they are speaking up on the subject of how, historically and contemporaneously, they have been and still are the victims of sexual violence.
In a society devised primarily by men with laws written primarily by men, in a society in which women were not considered equal citizens to the men, it should not be surprising that the men in charge protected themselves from accusations of sexual assault by women. We can be ashamed of it, but not surprised. Women were treated as property, as live-in baby-makers and babysitters and household help, and as "things" to be used by a man for his pleasure. The men of those times turned a deaf ear to any woman's protest of mistreatment, knowing that the woman would not be taken seriously and that even if her complaint were believed, well, so what. The women of the time came to know the likely result of speaking up, and so they didn't.
In more modern times we like to think that we've become enlightened enough not to behave in that way toward women; recent examples abound that prove how wrong we have been to think that. Even as women became more financially independent of the men in their lives and more able to sustain a public accusation, they knew that the default response of male-dominated society remained to disbelieve and to dismiss accusations, and to find ways to punish the accusers for having accused.
What is changing now—for the good, I believe—is that the public airing of accusations of sexual assault has caused the scales to fall from more men's eyes, for us all to recognize that this is real and pervasive, and to feel at least a little sick to our stomachs that we've closed our eyes to this reality for so long and allowed the women in our lives to suffer. We're coming around, as a society, to having our default response to these accusations be to search for the truth rather than to dismiss the charge out of hand. Yea, America!
What concerns me is those who are filled with the fervor of the rising tide of righteousness who go a step too far and treat any accusation of sexual assault as proof of the truth of the charge. It's the right response to take an accusation seriously, and to investigate as we do when any crime is alleged; but it's not right to assess a guilty verdict and hand out punishment solely on the basis of an unproved accusation.
Some of the accusations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh seem more believable than others; inasmuch as they are being made against a nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States, who proclaims his innocence of the charges, they deserve to be investigated to try to determine if they are true or false, and to learn what we can about the nominee in the process. (BTW, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee: that's exactly what the FBI does; that's what it's there for…put it to work). Let the system work; there is no reason to rush a vote on this nomination…well, no good reason, anyway. The GOP proved quite clearly, thank you, when refusing to take any action at all on the nomination of Merrick Garland in 2016, that the Supreme Court can get along nicely with one seat vacant.
America's growing recognition of the ways in which our country has not lived up to the lofty goals of our Founders, and our continuing efforts to make those wrongs right, must continue. Reaching the ideals of equal treatment under the law and providing a level playing field for all Americans, of being the open and welcoming society of our dreams, will take longer than we would like it to but we've got to keep going, keep our eyes on the prize. But we won't get there by trashing our belief in innocence until proven otherwise.
Posted on September 25, 2018 by Pat RyanPosted in American Values, Civil Liberties, History, Justice, Patriots, PoliticsTagged #MeToo, #WhyIDidntReport, Black Lives Matter, Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump, FBI, Merrick Garland, Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Constitution, United Nations. Leave a comment
Equal protection: it's what we do here at the ol' USA
The first time I wrote about gay marriage rights here was more than four and half years ago ("Equal justice for all: the gay rights tide has turned," Oct. 15, 2010) and the kernel of the argument was already formed:
We can proclaim not to understand why people are homosexual, or embrace a religious belief that homosexual activity is a sin, but none of that matters in a tolerant, secular, civil society. The experts can't say why a person is sexually attracted to one gender or the other. And it violates the rights of due process and free speech guaranteed to each American in the Constitution to treat someone differently because of their sexual orientation just as it would to treat them differently because of their gender or their ancestry.
You don't have to "understand" gay people any more than you have to "understand" people of a different race or a different religion. You only have to understand that these people are Americans like you, who believe in American rights like you do, who want to enjoy American freedoms like you do…
This week, history: a 5-4 decision from the Supreme Court of the United States in Obergefell v Hopkins takes its place alongside the great civil rights and civil liberties decisions of American jurisprudence. The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of all Americans to civil marriage, and all its advantages and protections, be they heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual. As far as the civil law is concerned this isn't about sex: it's about equal treatment under the law.
Homosexual conduct is no longer a civil crime in this country, and thus is no reason to withhold the full rights and exercise of citizenship from homosexuals. Homosexual conduct is objectionable within many organized religions, to be sure, and virtually all of the opposition to extending the right to marry to gays and lesbians has come on religious grounds. For the most part I don't question the sincerity of that religious belief (although it would be prudent to account for the cynical exploiters, primarily from the political realm).
Chief Justice Roberts says the US Constitution has nothing to say about same-sex marriage.Evangelists might note that Jesus didn't either
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) June 28, 2015
But that's beside the crucial point, which is that, in this country, civil law is not answerable to religious law. The First Amendment guarantees that we each and all get the freedom to practice our religions, but also guarantees that none of those religions wields authority directly over civil society. The Constitution protects us from any majority that would try to force one or another religious doctrine onto everyone—because the Constitution takes religious liberty for all just that seriously—and guarantees that all men and women deserve equal treatment under law. Despite the nearly hysterical dissenting opinions of some of his colleagues, Justice Anthony Kennedy's decision didn't create a new right; it reminded us about a right that's been there all along…and my friend Mr. Jefferson recognized the rationale by which Kennedy connected the dots (and Peter Foster of the Daily Telegraph reminded via the Twitterverse) long ago:
The rationale behind today's #gaymarriage #supremecourt decision …as advanced by Thomas Jefferson. http://t.co/YPce6gws7C—
Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) June 26, 2015
Obergefell does not mean that First Amendment protections of religious liberties are at risk, despite what you've heard. Some of that reaction is well-intentioned misinformation; most is hot air from right-wing politicians and conservative religious extremists who need a boogieman to scare their supporters into donating money. (I'm looking at you, Governor Abbott—thanks, Evan Smith for the Tweet-tip.) In either case, they are wrong. Religious organizations are exempt from this ruling, as they are exempt from many other laws, like, say, tax laws. As Lisa Falkenberg put it in this morning's Houston Chronicle, this ruling has no applicability to individuals in their private lives or to private religious institutions: "It does not keep anyone from judging, or hating, or even just politely refusing to acknowledge gay people. No court ruling has ever told a pastor whose wedding he or she can bless. That hasn't changed."
It is possible to believe in the religious sacrament of marriage and still accept this court's decision on civil marriage rights for homosexuals. Michigan Representative Justin Amash, a Tea Party/Libertarian/Republican, made the point quite nicely this week on Facebook:
Throughout history, different cultures have defined marriage according to their own customs and practices. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, and atheists do not share identical views on marriage. In fact, significant differences regarding marriage exist even within Christianity.
What makes marriage traditional is not its adherence to a universal definition but rather that it is defined by personal faith, not by government. For thousands of years, marriage flourished without a universal definition and without government intervention. Then came licensing of marriage. In recent decades, we've seen state legislatures and ballot initiatives define marriage, putting government improperly at the helm of this sacred institution.
Those who care about liberty should not be satisfied with the current situation. Government intervention in marriage presents new threats to religious freedom and provides no advantages, for gay or straight couples, over unlicensed (i.e., traditional) marriage. But we shouldn't blame the Supreme Court for where things stand.
To the extent that Americans across the political spectrum view government marriage as authoritative and unlicensed marriage as quaint, our laws must treat marriage—and the corresponding legal benefits that attach—as they would any other government institution. So, while today's Supreme Court opinion rests upon the false premise that government licensure is necessary to validate the intimate relationships of consenting adults, I applaud the important principle enshrined in this opinion: that government may not violate the equal rights of individuals in any area in which it asserts authority. (emphasis added)
The civil right of marriage is open to all Americans. We must be diligent about making sure that the implementation of this decision protects the First Amendment rights of those with a religious objection to same-sex marriage, keeping in mind that it doesn't give them the right to ignore the law. And while we're at it we should work on getting rid of the laws which still permit discrimination against gay Americans in the areas of housing and hiring and other aspects of day to day life, and any other laws that violate anyone's right to equal treatment. Because we're Americans, and that's what we do.
Posted on June 28, 2015 June 28, 2015 by Pat RyanPosted in American Values, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, History, Intellectual Dishonesty, Justice, Religion, That's Life, ToleranceTagged Adam Liptak, American Psychological Association, Daily Telegraph, Evan Smith, Facebook, First Amendment, Greg Abbott, Houston Chronicle, John Cleese, Justin Amash, Libertarian, Lisa Falkenberg, Monty Python, New York Times, Obergefell v Hodges, Peter Foster, religious freedom, religious tradition, Supreme Court, Tea Party, Thomas Jefferson, Twitter, U.S. Supreme Court. Leave a comment
Get yer red-hot SCOTUS arguments, right here!
The briefs and the arguments for today's Supreme Court of the United States hearing on the same-sex marriage case are available…go have a read and a listen, and we can all join the High Nine in deciding the case!
transcript and audio of the argument on Question 1
This is the stuff of history, kids…don't miss it.
Posted on April 28, 2015 by Pat RyanPosted in American Values, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, History, JusticeTagged gay marriage, gay rights, Obergefell v Hodges, same-sex marriage, Supreme Court, Supreme Court of the United States. Leave a comment
It's a good news/bad news Friday
The good news comes from the Supreme Court of the United States, which has decided that it will hear arguments on whether or not same-sex couples have a right to marry. This New York Times story summarizes the cases from Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and Kentucky that are at the heart of an appeal of a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit which the High Nine have now agreed to consider.
The court said it will hear two and a half hours of argument, probably in the last week of April. The first 90 minutes will be devoted to the question of whether the Constitution requires states "to license a marriage between two people of the same sex."
The last hour will concern a question that will be moot if the answer to the The first one is yes: whether states must "recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out of state."
This is very exciting: within just a few months we'll have a ruling from the country's highest court on whether same-sex marriage is to be permitted in all 50 states, not just the 36 states and the District of Columbia where it is legal now.
Now, the bad news: the Southern Education Foundation believes that "For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families." The Washington Post has a good summary of the report.
Half of all public school students in America are poor? Half?! (More than half in 21 states; Mississippi at 71% has the highest percentage.) I find myself surprised by this confirmation of how far the abandonment of our public schools has gone by those who can afford other options. (Full disclosure: although most of my education was in public schools, I attended and graduated from a private high school.) A free public education for all was a great example of America's commitment to a society where everyone has an opportunity to succeed. We all paid our share for public schools, even those who sent their kids to private school or whose kids had finished school or who never had any kids at all, because it meant a better-educated society and that was a benefit for all of us.
But more and more, people became unhappy with their public school systems. When the quality of the education declined people got upset that their kids were being cheated out of their futures; in some cases it was court-ordered desegregation that made people unhappy with their public schools. Many of those who could afford to moved to suburban school districts and took their tax money with them, leaving the city schools with less and less money to spend on teachers and books and buildings. Which meant even poorer quality education, which prompted more parents to flee, and the cycle continued.
Today people are trying to get voucher laws passed that will in effect allow their school tax money to pay for their kid's education in private schools, taking even more money out of the system that is the only resort for the poor, the students whose families can't afford private schools or charter schools or anything other than the old school down the street.
I understand that parents want the best for their children; I get it that despite recent improvements our economy isn't as strong as it once was and a lot of people don't have the jobs and income they want and deserve. Still, I'm saddened at how many people seem to feel that abandoning the greater good for American society—the education of everyone else's children—is the best way for them to take care of their own.
Posted on January 16, 2015 by Pat RyanPosted in American Values, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Education, Intellectual Dishonesty, Justice, Politics, ReligionTagged Adam Liptak, education, gay marriage, gay rights, Hollingsworth v. Perry, Lyndsey Layton, New York Times, public school, same-sex marriage, Southern Education Foundation, Supreme Court, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington Post, Windsor v. United States. 1 Comment
The inexorable march of justice
A federal judge struck down Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage Tuesday, handing gay rights advocates their second legal victory in as many days and striking the last remaining ban in the Northeast.
The state's laws, which ban same-sex marriages, were struck down as unconstitutional by U.S. District Court Judge John Jones III, who ruled in favor of the 23 plaintiffs whose lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and others.
"We are a better people than what these laws represent," Jones wrote of same-sex marriage bans in his ruling, drawing comparisons between the civil rights movement and the modern gay marriage movement. "It is time to discard them into the ash heap of history."
The ruling, from US District Judge John Jones, makes Pennsylvania the second state this week and 11th state since the Supreme Court's 2013 ruling on same-sex marriage to have its ban overturned in court. But it's possible the ruling will eventually be put on hold as it works through the appeals process, which would prevent future same-sex couples from marrying. (The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is urging Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, to not appeal the ruling.)
Jones, like judges in previous same-sex marriage cases, cited the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution and deemed Pennsylvania's statutory ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional. Unlike many other states, the state constitution in Pennsylvania doesn't have a provision barring same-sex marriages.
So, where do we stand?
What's with Montana and North Dakota?
Posted on May 20, 2014 May 20, 2014 by Pat RyanPosted in American Values, Civil Liberties, Justice, Politics, Religion, ToleranceTagged American Civil Liberties Union, gay marriage, gay rights, German Lopez, Judge John Jones III, Lambda Legal, Niraj Choksi, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Reid Wilson, Vox.com, Washington Post. 5 Comments

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: How can setting one c# method-scoped variable affect another? This one really has me stumped.  I'm working with another developer who called me because he couldn't believe what he was seeing.  We stepped through with the debugger together and I saw it too and had no explanation.  Here's the scenario.  He is writing a method that interacts with a 3rd party COM object through an auto-generated COM wrapper (generated simply by adding the COM component as a reference.  Here's the top of his method:
  public bool RefolderDocument(ref IManDocument oDoc)
    {
        string strCustom1 = (string) oDoc.GetAttributeValueByID(imProfileAttributeID.imProfileCustom1);
        string strCustom2 = (string) oDoc.GetAttributeValueByID(imProfileAttributeID.imProfileCustom2);

The purpose of the code is to get a project number and subproject number from a "document" object (oDoc).
Here's what happens as you step through.  After the first assignment strCustom1 has the expected value "32344" (a project number) and strCustom2 is empty as expected.  After the second assignment, strCustom2 gets the subproject number "0002" -- but strCustom1 has been changed to 32334 -- one character has been changed!?
It struck me as some kind of old-school c-language stack-overrun (which I wouldn't expect in a managed application even if it was interoperating with a COM component).   We were all baffled.  In an attempt to hack around this bizarreness, I tried to copy the contents of the first string to another location like so:
  public bool RefolderDocument(ref IManDocument oDoc)
    {
        string strCustom1 = string.Copy((string)oDoc.GetAttributeValueByID(imProfileAttributeID.imProfileCustom1));
        string strCustom2 = string.Copy((string)oDoc.GetAttributeValueByID(imProfileAttributeID.imProfileCustom2));

Same results!  We were grasping at straws at this point and dropped the code from .NET 4 to .NET 3.5 (CLR 2) but no change.  One perhaps relevant point is that this is a service and we are attaching to the service process.  The build is targeting x86 and the service location is definitely in the Debug output build folder.
Is there any logical explanation for this?  I'm stumped as to how to proceed.

A: Looks like strCustom1 and strCustom2 have both been set as references back to the result of GetAttributeValueByID. I know not why, and it would be interesting to see if someone else on here (Paging Dr. Skeet lol...) can.
In the short term though, I think you'll find this will solve the issue for you...
 public bool RefolderDocument(ref IManDocument oDoc)
    {
        string strCustom1 = "" + string.Copy((string)oDoc.GetAttributeValueByID(imProfileAttributeID.imProfileCustom1));
        string strCustom2 = "" + string.Copy((string)oDoc.GetAttributeValueByID(imProfileAttributeID.imProfileCustom2));

My idea is basically to have it evaluate an expression rather than working with the referernce directly...
Martin.
Ps. What's with the string.Copy()?

A: Likely COM memory management rules aren't being followed by the COM object and it's overwriting memory the CLR believes it owns.  Simple things like not creating a new object for GetEnumerator() can really screw up COM interop and the caching it does.
You also have to realize, the way the COM call is actually working is by passing a reference to memory for the string.  Although you call it like:
str = oDoc.GetAttributeValueByID(imProfileAttributeID.imProfileCustom1)

It's really called more like:
hresult = oDoc.GetAttributeValueByID(imProfileAttributeID.imProfileCustom1,&str)

So you can see the COM object has a pointer right into the CLR memory.
In other words, look at the COM object, not your .NET code.

A: I've encountered problems that looked similar to the one you've described.
I my case, the .NET/compiler/runtine/CLR worked great, and the only problem was visual studio debugger displaying incorrect values. Try writing your values e.g. to System.Diagnostics.Trace, or to console, to check if this is your case.

A: I don't know exactly why or how this is happening and I hope someone comes along with an answer.  As a work around i would parse the returned string into an int and then execute the second statement.  At least that will get around the lost value problem.
int Custom1 = int.Parse((string)oDoc.GetAttributeValueByID(imProfileAttributeID.imProfileCustom1));
int Custom2 = int.Parse((string)oDoc.GetAttributeValueByID(imProfileAttributeID.imProfileCustom2));

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Harry Connick Jr Says Frank Sinatra Kissed His Wife Jill Goodacre 'Right on the Mouth' in the '90s
By Gracious Egedegbe
Music artist Harry Connick Jr. has an unpleasant history with the late 20th-century best-selling music legend of all time, Frank Sinatra, one that dates back to the '90s.
Harry Connick once recounted his first meeting with the late music legend, Frank Sinatra, in the nineties, during a live performance at an event. The 52-year-old narrated the not-so-pleasant ordeal during an appearance on "This Morning." He recalled:
"The performance was an unpleasant experience… I don't get nervous, but I was really nervous for that, and I blanked out. I completely forgot the words."
: Singer Frank Sinatra performs at The Universal Amphitheatre on July 6, 1980 in Universal City, Los Angeles, California | Photos: Getty Images
His then-girlfriend, now wife, Jill Goodacre, was also present to witness the unfortunate turn.
The singer shared how they met Frank at the lift
and made attempts to apologize for the poor performance, but got the shock of a lifetime instead when the '90s legend flirted with his wife inappropriately. Harry said:
"I said 'I'm sorry, I'm much better than what you saw' and he took my wife and held her and said, 'You're beautiful,' and kissed her on the mouth, and that's that."
That marked the last time the award-winning composer ever sang for Frank Sinatra. Harry described the kissing gesture as "unacceptable" and "completely inappropriate" despite his revered hero worship for the late singing idol.
Harry Connick & wife Jill Goodacre during NBC 2003-2004 Upfront - Arrivals at The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, New York, United States | Photos:Getty Images
The music artist also described the supermodel as his "everything," without which he'd be nothing.
Jill, however, thought the situation hilarious and continues to tease her husband with it to date, even twenty-five years after their marriage.
The former Victoria Secret model began her relationship with the singer when she was at the peak of her modelling career, and a beauty to behold. They got married shortly after and are parents to three beauties, Tatum, Kate, and Charlotte.
Harry Connick, Jr., wife Jill Goodacre and daughters arrive at the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium | Photos :getty images
When asked about their lasting love even after several years had passed, Harry Connick explained:
"Every day, we grow deeper and deeper in love with each other."
The music artist also described the supermodel as his "everything," without whom he'd be nothing while describing her years of battling cancer as the scariest moments of his life.
Harry Connick Jr. and Jill Goodacre during The Second Annual Quill Awards Gala at The American Museum of Natural History in New York City, New York, United States | Photos : Getty images
It can be recalled that the couple first opened up about Jill's secret 5-year battle with breast cancer in 2017 after she went under remission.
Angie Dickinson Almost Married Frank Sinatra amid 20-Year On-And-off Affair Yet Wed Man Who 'Never Loved Her'
George Strait 'Eloped' with His 'Really Hot' Wife — 51 Years Later They 'Still Like Each Other'
George Strait Was 'Just Kind of Shut down' for Years after Loss of Daughter Who He Will Never Forget
The actress was diagnosed with the condition in 2012 through a sonogram. After a series of lumpectomies and radiation exposures, the star soon settled for tamoxifen pills, which she took for the next five years.
Jill Goodacre during "A Fine Romance" Gala Benefiting the Motion Picture & Television Fund - Arrivals at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, California, United States | Photo: Getty Images
Sadly though, the side effects of the estrogen modulator took a toll on the former lingerie model, causing an imminent weight gain, which she has managed to control.
Notwithstanding, Connick still views his wife as the most beautiful woman in the world, and their love has continued to blossom over the years.
Patrick Swayze's Last Words Before He Slipped into a Coma
Annette Funicello Met 2nd Husband at 16 - He Saved Her Life & Became Her Full-Time Caregiver
Adam Levine Realized He Loved Future Wife & Mom of His 2 Kids after Their Split: 'It Was a Wild Ride'
Michael McKean Remembered Annette O'Toole Was Called His Wife Before Their First Kiss and 22 Years of Marriage
Elvis Was Pressured to Marry 'Living Doll' Priscilla Who Was 'Young Enough to Train' Any Way He Wanted
Michael Bublé's Wife of 11 Years Thought He Was Gay When They Met Yet He Fell in Love at 1st Sight
Michael Bublé & Wife to Welcome 4th Baby Who May Be Their Last Child after 1st Son's Long Cancer Battle
Michael Douglas' Wife Was Branded a Gold Digger & Affected by Awful Comments over His Cancer
Tom Hanks Has Been Married to Wife Rita for 33 Years Who He Met amid Broken Marriage to College Sweetheart
Who Is Pierce Brosnan Married To? Meet the James Bond Star's 'Luscious Love' Keely Shaye Smith
Minnie Riperton Took Last Breath in Her Husband's Arms at 31 — Inside Their Interracial Marriage
Tina Turner's 2nd Spouse Sacrificed an Organ to Save Her Because He 'Didn't Want Another Woman'
Eddie Van Halen Lived Alone in Last Years Yet Was Married & Confessed His Love to Ex Valerie Bertinelli


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You Can Give A Robot A Paintbrush, But Does It Create Art? : All Tech Considered Pindar Van Arman is a painter — and a software designer. His latest project? A portrait-painting robot. Its paintings "dance on the edge" between creations by humans and machines, he says.
All Tech Considered
Tech, Culture and Connection
You Can Give A Robot A Paintbrush, But Does It Create Art?
December 6, 20159:08 AM ET
Allie Caren
Whether you play an instrument, sing or sculpt, "everyone does some kind of art," Pindar Van Arman says.
Van Arman is a painter, but he's also a software designer. He has built a handful of machines and worked on a DARPA challenge team in California to build a self-driving car.
His latest project? A portrait-painting robot.
The concept is simple: A user uploads a picture, and the robot (a.k.a."bitPaintr") paints it.
The added bonus? Users can remotely jump into the software and join the robot to help it paint, whether that user is in the same room or 3,000 miles away.
Pindar Van Arman in his studio with paintings created by his bitPaintr portrait-painting robot. Craig Hudson hide caption
Craig Hudson
Pindar Van Arman in his studio with paintings created by his bitPaintr portrait-painting robot.
BitPaintr's purpose isn't to replace the painter, but to help the painter — like a painting assistant. This is Van Arman's fifth robot in 10 years. Earlier versions included bulkier devices that produced a simpler painting and painting that used pre-written algorithms or followed user-generated coordinates that took too long.
Van Arman, 41, says bitPaintr paints totally on its own — as long as you want it to — and adds that it has developed its own style.
He likes how it's hard to distinguish whether bitPaintr's paintings, which start at $50, were created by a human or a robot. He says they "dance on the edge" of something in between.
Van Arman, of Tysons Corner, Va., adds that he was never able to fully grasp his own, unique style as a painter.
"But my robot can," he says.
Though Van Arman is influenced by recent innovators like Matthew Stein of The PumaPaint Project and Ken Goldberg's The Telegarden, robotic painting first came into the picture in the early 1970s.
It started with AARON, software written by artist Harold Cohen, and has been evolving ever since.
How Can Robots Learn New Tasks? Practice, Practice, Practice
So what is creativity, then, if a robot with a paintbrush can be — or appear to be — just as creative as a human with a paintbrush?
Mark Riedl, an associate professor at the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing, says it depends on how you define creativity and its bounds.
"Anything that produces anything or solves a problem is undergoing a creative process. Solving a math problem is a creative process," he says. "[It's] not what most people think about when you ask whether computers are creative or not."
He says most people wouldn't think a GPS system is creative just because it found a new route home from work, but in reality, it is.
Riedl says there is creativity and Creativity ("small c" and "big c").
He says "creativity" has to do with everyday activity: the little things that we do hundreds of times in our daily lives; the things that could be creative, but usually aren't.
A Robot Orchestra Grows In Brooklyn
To be "Creative" is to have a spark and imagination that people get credit for on a societal level, he says — the Picassos and the Mozarts of the world; the people who have "produced something that's taken on this additional level of meaning."
Riedl says what robots create is far from human-level quality art, but he sees robots entering the creative process as a positive thing.
"It's my sense that we, as creative beasts, want the computers to keep up with us," he says.
And thanks to innovators like Van Arman, it seems like they will.
Although his friends joke that he has invented a "really expensive, slow, bad printer," Van Arman says teaching a machine how to be creative has helped him get to the bottom of what creativity is — and appreciate it.
"When you're trying to teach a machine to do something that's easy for humans, it really makes you sit back and see what humans are doing," he says.
Van Arman says he hopes to have a traveling exhibition in the near future.
interactive computing


How can we call ourselves Christians if our hearts are in the pleasures of the world. Just by going to church will not save us. We need to decide who we want to follow each day. Things of God or things of the world. Only by giving up our old life and following Jesus will we be saved. We need to be convicted by the Word of God in order to know how to live. We must develop a relationship with the Lord in prayer. There needs to be a change in our hearts. We must be born again and rid ourselves of all envy. We must tear down our pride. We must give our addictions to Jesus. We must learn to hate sin. The Lord has died for each of us. His blood was spilt for the redemption of mankind. We must pick up our cross and follow Him. The Lord is our light and will lead us safely home if we believe in Him. Give up what is holding you back. Cry out for mercy in sincere repentance. Let the healing hands of Jesus bring you into the fold. He will deliver you from all fear. You will no longer be slaves to the world. For we are made children of God. The Lord loves you and desires for you to be saved.
My heart was lost in the world before I found Jesus. I relied on the comforts of the world to be happy. It never lasted and I was always looking for something new that would satisfy me. The odd thing is, I'd go to church, and the message I'd learn would convict me to the heart. However, I never truly acted on the Spirit. I was satisfied with my time at church but also my time in the world. I had one foot in it for God and the other in it for the world. I had never given my life to Jesus. There was always a whole in my heart. It wasn't until my sorrow was too hard to bear that I cried out to Jesus. I knew I was lost and needed Him in my life. My Lord Jesus came to me and had mercy on me. He healed my heart. My old ways are over. I walk in the ways of God for I love Him. I love my time in the Word of God. The Lord has my heart in prayer. I love His presence. All I want to do is praise Him. He has brought me so much joy. My heart is beaming with gladness. Thank You Lord for redeeming my soul. I love You with all my heart.
9 For You, Lord, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
10 You who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.


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Words on my Mind
Words, Writing and Life Experience
Creating a Memoir
ENCOUNTERS WITH THE FAMOUS & THE UNIQUE
About Victoria Giraud
Newspaper Writing
FIRES – A CALIFORNIA SCOURGE
by Victoria Giraud.
Add fires to U.S. disasters! What a year 2017 has been for disasters in the US–hurricanes, floods and now fires. Climate change has not been holding back. In California we were grateful for our excessive rain this past winter, but we're paying a price for more greenery with extreme fires in both Northern and Southern California. Every September and October, we have months of hot dry winds called Santa Ana's that encourage fires.
Because I now live in residential area a few miles from our mountains, I am essentially safe from wildfires. Not from earthquakes, but that's another subject. I've experienced many massive wildfires during over 50 years in SoCal. I remember several fire disasters while living in the Conejo Valley area, northwest Los Angeles County. The Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains are considered prime fire territory. I learned a great deal about fires from direct experience and from being the Editor of the local Acorn newspaper in Agoura Hills.
A fire is an exciting topic when you write the news. Since I knew people all around the area, I could get a variety of personal stories when the October 1982 fire roared into town. Costs were estimated at $5 million then—probably a pittance compared to current fires. This fire started close to Bell Canyon, an exclusive area of homes to the east of Agoura, on a Saturday and burned 54,000 acres and 65 homes before it ended in Malibu on a Sunday. It followed a typical pattern: racing from one set of mountains and a valley before leaping the 101 Freeway, then burning through the Santa Monica Mountains before reaching the beach. Fires in the last few years in Southern California have been even more extensive and damaging.
My family home was spared; we lived in Hillrise, a housing development north of the freeway surrounded mostly by wild grass and some oak trees. Grass burns rapidly if the fire is close enough but it's easier to control; the fire doesn't stick around to really take hold, unlike the highly combustible chaparral in the mountainous areas (referred to as a bush fire). I climbed the hill behind my house to watch in horror and fascination as the smoke, propelled by strong winds, climbed into the skies and the fire got closer. How people fared depended on where they lived and if they'd cleared the brush around their property.
The photo below is the smoky view from my backyard hill.
In Old Agoura, a nearby neighborhood north of the 101 Freeway full of small ranches and various animals, friend Rita was terrified in her home, still under construction. "We lost wood, paint, and the hen coop," she said. "But the chickens lived. I don't think they will ever lay again!"
Toni, who lived south of the freeway in the vegetation-rich mountains, struggled to keep control of her horses while she hosed down the hill behind her home. Just as the fire seemed to get out of control, a fire engine arrived. The noise spooked a horse, which lost its footing and rolled on top of Toni's sister. Paramedics took the slightly injured sister to a nearby hospital, and she was fine.
"The wind strength was unreal and the smoke so dense you couldn't see the flames," said Fran Pavley, who also lived south of the freeway. Pavley, who has been politically active for years and served many years in the California legislature, still lives in the area.
When fires consume the vegetation in the canyons prevalent throughout Southern California, there can be hell to pay for residents of these bucolic areas, and to those who fight the fires. A fire chief told me that one of the fires that had burned through steep and scenic Malibu Canyon was left to burn itself out. The energy generated was more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in WWII.
Nature always regenerates. After a fire, spring brings flowers that hadn't been seen since the last fire, perhaps many years before.
Fire in Malibu in 2007
BARRACAN MEMORIES -WHEELUS AFB, LIBYA
I keep track of my important keepsakes from my life as a military brat. As a fledgling reporter, from October 1956 to May 1958, I cherished the school newspaper and held onto 17 Barracan newspapers from Wheelus Air Force Base High School just outside Tripoli, Libya. I'm surprised how well they've held up considering I've moved about 20 plus times since my family left Wheelus for the US in 1958. The photos are a bit blurry, but we didn't have top quality printing. Nevertheless, the copy is still easily readable. I'll share more of them as time goes on, but I had to present my first big story on the front page–Ebb Tide is Theme of Junior-Senior Prom–even though I didn't get a byline. I made sure I didn't forget this milestone since I wrote in ink: "I wrote this" on my copy!
Barracan May 1958
From the inside of the March 26th newspaper, I found that "Platter Chatter" written by Errol Cochrane announced that the number one song request on Armed Forces Radio was Perry Como's "Catch a Falling Star," and the number two was Elvis Presley's "Don't." Chuck Berry had number six with "Sweet Little Sixteen." John Carlson wrote the column "Teen Town Tips" and wrote that there would be a Hay Ride at the Teenage Club. Three "six by's" (trucks) will be used and there was room for 60 people. The cost was quite reasonable — twenty-five cents each! I remember attending this event with Tom Henderson, who was also my date for the Junior-Senior prom. I even remember Tom joking about Johnny Mathis' latest song, "No Love but Your Love." Tom thought Mathis' words sounded like "Nola Fajola." It's a funny and poignant memory since Tom passed on a few years ago. The Quidnunc column was high school gossip and written by Sharon Rayl. She reported on those who went to the base theater to see Elvis Presley in "Jailhouse Rock" — like Chuck Montgomery and Betty Hubbard, Bill Butcher and Carolyn Kunz, Steve Gaynor, Karen Gamel, Kathie de Russy and Arnell Gross. There was a new two-some around campus–Al (Atomic Age) Kulas and Mary Pat Riordan. Al Kulas left this world just this year. I wonder where Mary Pat is?
These memories from long ago have been fun to relate, especially since there are so many former Wheelus students who have kept in touch over the years. I have been meaning to scan more copies but time slips away and I've had a surgery that delayed me for a while. I had wanted to copy them for our Wheelus reunion in June but the good intention was there without the results. I have new copies for my blog on my To-Do list for later.
GHOST ENCOUNTERS — SO CAL
Paraphrasing Shakespeare, whose 400th birthday was the other day, Hamlet said to Horatio: There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
I have always been interested in the supernatural; I've had some experiences and know many friends who have had them as well. It's a great topic for articles and stories. I've written a short book on Amazon about a true fascinating positive encounter—Angels in Uniform—and I interviewed a man who was living in a haunted house. The interview, upon which I based this blog, was published in the Daily News Southern California newspaper when I had a column.
Glen Peterson had bought a dilapidated "castle" in the Santa Monica Mountains and began restoring it years ago. Resembling a German castle on a hill with its bell tower, gables, decorative wood beams, courtyard and guest house, the home was built in 1939 by Theodore Spurkuhl, a Paramount Studios director of photography known for his pioneering use of spotlights. Spurkuhl worked with many of the film greats: Ronald Coleman, James Cagney and Fred MacMurray, for instance, and was noted for his work on "Beau Geste" starring Gary Cooper.
Sparkuhl Home
Spurkuhl put a great deal of energy into building the home. Since it was wartime, he even added a secret room in case the Japanese invaded or the Germans won the war. His descendants, who visited the site while Glen was restoring it, thought the cinematographer might have put too much intensity into the building project since he died in 1940.
Before Glen bought it, the home was owned by actor Nick Nolte, who purchased it in 1975 during the filming of the TV miniseries, "Rich Man, Poor Man." The other primary actor in the series, Peter Strauss, had also bought property nearby. Coincidentally, Strauss' property was later sold by Glen, who had been a real estate agent, to the National Park Service. This 1970s miniseries was featured on a PBS documentary "Pioneers of Television" not long ago.
The 70s were wild and crazy for Nolte. I remember seeing his old yellow Cadillac broken down by the side of a mountain road one day. Nolte and his friends partied quite a bit and the house suffered a good deal of damage. It was finally abandoned to birds of all types, squirrels and various other animals. It was a mess of animal droppings and the like when Glen began his restoration.
One evening after the house was beautifully finished, Glen was home alone enjoying a quiet evening. While listening to a new Terence Trent Darby recording and near the end of the song, Glen heard a loud knocking on the back door. He checked both inside and out and found no one. Back inside he restarted the song. The knocking began again at the exact same place.
This time he checked the windows, "I had repaired the windows just that morning," Glen recalled, specifically to keep them from opening due to strong winds. They were all still closed, and he began the recording once more.
Glen played the song eight times, and he told me, "the pounding kept happening at the same time each time." Every time it happened, he checked for a reason for the knocking, but found none. On the ninth try, the record played through to the end, and there were no further knocking sounds.
The mysterious last two lines of the song that finally played were: "No grave can hold my body down; this land is still my home."
SEXY MALE STRIPPERS FOR ENTERTAINMENT
This past week, the second Magic Mike film featuring male strippers debuted in movie theaters. I wouldn't doubt that there will be plenty of women buying tickets to see the very fit, six-pack bodies of Channing Tatum, Michael Strahan (of football fame and co-host of the Kelly and Michael morning show on ABC-TV) and others. There's no real meaningful story behind the film; it's strictly for fun and viewing pleasure. It reminds me of the 1980s: male strippers began to be all the rage when Chippendales was established in 1979 as the first all-male stripping troupe in a Los Angeles nightclub. The very attractive men would strip down to a G-string and allow women to watch. Not long after, women would tip the strippers by walking up to the stage and tucking currency in the guy's skimpy underwear. This type of entertainment is commonplace now but it was slightly scandalous years ago. Chippendales and similar shows are now worldwide besides in New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
I attended a similar show at that time, and I don't remember if it was part of the original Chippendale's or a copy of the show. I had a purpose, although a fun one. I was the editor of the local Acorn newspaper in the Conejo Valley that was distributed in Agoura, Westlake Village, Oak Park and Thousand Oaks. Since I wasn't taking this assignment I had given myself "seriously," I decided to write it from the point of view of an innocent "country bumpkin" and be shocked and astounded by all the near-naked bodies. I enjoyed coming up with a few Southern sayings from my dim memory of them.
Even though we female attendees of this event were living in Los Angeles, the home of the entertainment industry, there were many young women there who weren't familiar with this slightly shocking revelation of the fit and toned male body. I think I've lost the original copy of the silly old story, but I do have a photo to share. I took this photo of one of the enthusiastic strippers, who probably had a mix of Native American and Latin heritage, and he loved posing for me.
It was somewhat unique at the time to bring such a show to the "boondocks" of the Conejo Valley. We were the next valley over from the more famous San Fernando Valley, which in more recent years has been home to porno films. Remember Mark Walberg's fairly salacious "Boogie Nights" with Burt Reynolds and Julianne Moore? It was filmed in the San Fernando Valley.
Whizin's Center, where my Acorn office was located, was a unique Western style shopping center. In one of the buildings there was a spacious room that was once an old restaurant and was large enough to accommodate a stage and tables for the ladies to imbibe food and drinks while they watched the naughty entertainment. That included me–after all I had to document the experience. Many have seen the original "Magic Mike" or even the older British film, "The Full Monty" and can imagine what went on. Our entertainers that night, however, failed to completely disrobe. They wore a G-string to hide their equipment, so we didn't get to see the "full monty," just everything but.
This photo, one of the many I took during my journalism career, has always been a favorite. He shows just the right attitude for what he's doing. Fortunately, he had on enough clothes for his photo to be displayed in a family newspaper.
A WRITER/EDITOR'S HISTORY
My writing career has been an adventurous one: lots of fun, great experiences and for years very little money. As I tell my editing clients—you must create through love, not desire for quick fame and fortune. Like most creative endeavors, writing is rewarding for the heart and soul but it takes time for compensation to reach your wallet, much less the bank. Sometimes it never does.
Victoria Giraud
Reporting stories began with the Barracan, the Wheelus Air Force Base High School newspaper in Tripoli, Libya. I was 14, it was the 1950s and our high school had less than 100 students. The school was surrounded by palm trees and the Mediterranean Sea was a short walk away. Wheelus High was filled with typical American teenagers: jeans, loafers, saddle shoes, and crinolines to poof out our circle skirts were typical attire. We had proms, one radio station that played rock 'n roll (an audio version of "American Bandstand"—unless you were new to Wheelus, you probably didn't even know that TV program existed), and a teenage club that had its own student band, Stardust.
Although I wrote a few stories, I only recall one of them—the Junior-Senior prom with Ebb Tide as the theme—held at the Tripoli Beach Club. Ginny Stewart had a coketail party first at her family's nearby villa. The entertainment as I remember it: a fully dressed Libyan woman in a very modest wrap-around indoor garment doing a belly dance to a rhythmic drum. She pushed some of the shawl-like elements of her dress down to accentuate her hips. The woman was most likely a servant of the Stewarts and could be less modest within the house. Outside she would have worn barracan, an all-encompassing white wool garment that covered her head to toe, exposing only one eye and her feet.
In college—William & Mary in Virginia—I wrote for the Flat Hat college newspaper. Lots of stories I no longer remember, but I was pleasantly surprised at one class reunion when a displayed scrapbook had three of my stories!
When my kids were in grammar school and didn't need my full attention, I wrote my first column: Hillrise Highlights, which covered local events and soon turned into a political campaign to get a nearby highway bridge widened in Agoura, California. As a concerned citizen, I participated in gathering signatures to get the County of Los Angeles or the State interested in funding the construction.
I graduated to covering news for the Acorn, a weekly newspaper for a rapidly growing suburb of LA, in the Conejo Valley, on the border of Ventura County. By the early 1980s I was the editor, responsible for a little bit of everything—writing and editing, headlines, photos, attendance at chamber of commerce meetings and mixers. City incorporation attempts, wildfires, water quality, and commercial/residential growth were some of the pressing issues in those days. There were also the unusual stories: my trip in a hot air balloon in a fur coat and attending a nightclub show of sexy male strippers, an early Chippendales-type show.
In the 1990s I got to mingle with a few celebrities on a couple of magazines I helped co-create, write and edit. One of them featured Bob Hope for our initial cover. Alas, Hope was recovering from prostate surgery and the closest I got to him for an interview was visiting his manager's office in Burbank, a testament to Hope's many movies with its giant blowups of movie stills going back to the 1930s.
Beverly Hills Country Club, a posh tennis club, decided they needed a magazine featuring their members. My boss was an enterprising Iranian who spoke English but was not fluent in writing English. For our first cover, I interviewed Barbara Eden in her home along Mulholland Drive. Delightful and personable, she wore a cropped top and low riding pants, showing off her still fabulous figure and revealing the belly button blocked out on "I Dream of Jeannie," her famous TV series. Yes, the cover was "photo-shopped."
Appropriately for a sports club magazine, I did stories on members, Rafer Johnson, the Olympics decathlon champion from the 1960s, and 1940s tennis champion Jack Kramer, who had remained active in the sports world promoting tennis and then golf. My first tennis racket was a Jack Kramer and I told him so. Both of these athletes were gentlemen and easy to chat with.
The 1990s included a few years of writing a weekly column, People and Places, and local play reviews for the Daily News, a major newspaper that still exists. I must have seen and reviewed about 200 plays, performed by a range of talent of all ages. I was a positive reviewer; it was essentially community theater and equity waiver. I recall a production of "Mr. Roberts," starring Harry Belafonte's son-in-law. Belafonte was there and I was thrilled to shake his hand as he told me he loved community theater. No, I did not hum any calypso songs!
One of my weekly columns focused on Jake Lloyd, a seven-year-old starring in his first movie, "Jingle All the Way" with Arnold Swarzenegger (before he became the Governator). Jake was charming; on the sound stage of 20th Century Fox, he led me up to a sort of catwalk on the upper levels of the living room set, where I could have an overview and see where the cameras and lights were positioned. They were filming the last scene of the movie that day. As filming is erratic, the last scene of filming would be the actual first scene of the movie. Jake went on to play Anakin Skywalker in a Star Wars movie, "The Phantom Menace."
FLYING HIGH – A BALLOON RIDE IN SO CAL
Life is enhanced when there are risks involved. A little fear is good for the soul—like going up in the sky ensconced in a very small basket attached to a huge hot air balloon. I didn't go around the world in 80 days, just into the Southern California sky early in the morning. The experience was thrilling and great fun, and I didn't have to pay for it.
Penny, an adventurous single friend who owned a beauty salon, had had a momentous birthday the previous summer. I'll guess she turned 40. I attended her party, and one of her most exciting gifts was a balloon ride for two. Since she didn't have a significant other in her life at that point, and she was promotion oriented, she decided I would be the ideal companion for this unique venture. I would write about it in the Acorn, the local paper I edited.
Champagne before takeoff
Up in the Air We Go!
We planned to make it a special event by drinking a champagne toast before we took off, even though it was only 7 a.m. To further enhance the experience, we found a local businessman who sold fur coats; he agreed to lend two of them in exchange for some free publicity. Fur was the ideal covering for two babes on an adventure, after all!
Witnesses and a photographer were needed, so we enlisted the aid of our kids, dragging them out of bed on a Saturday morning, long before they were ready. Sunrize Balloons used an empty field for their launching site in Moorpark, which was an area of rolling hills and low mountains. Aware of weather patterns, the experienced balloonists scheduled flights early since mornings usually had mild winds.
We arrived at our outdoor rendezvous ready for anything, and it didn't disappoint. We were going up with a male pilot, and two other passengers, captains in the local fire department, who were hilarious, we soon discovered. Except for the pilot, we were all novices.
There were five of us in the balloon basket as it gently lifted up. Right away, the jokes began between us. The subjects of going up, hot air, and balloons offer plenty of material, naughty and silly. Humor also helps to ease any anxiety as you realize you're in a small basket and could fall out! No parachutes available.
It was overcast as we lifted up, but we soon saw the sun in a very blue sky dotted with clouds. The view below us encompassed the burgeoning cities of Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, and Westlake Village surrounded by the Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills. Except for the occasional joke and the sounds of gas blowing hot air into the balloon as we rose higher, all was serene and mystical. I felt fragile and powerful at the same time.
When we descended, the pilot decided to show us a few balloon tricks. I believe he called it "bunny hopping" as he guided the basket up and down again in a brushy area surrounded by hills. The fun was short-lived; a prickly bush caught the basket. Rather than risk his passengers, even though we were only about ten feet off the ground, the cautious pilot radioed for help. His team drove a pickup truck over the small hill, anchored the basket and helped us disembark—ladies first, of course! We'd had a fantastic ride and being "rescued" at the end made it even more memorable.
NEWSPAPERS – THE JOY OF REPORTING
I've enjoyed writing for newspapers since I was 14 and doing stories for The Barracan at Wheelus Air Force Base High School in Libya in the 1950s. I reported for the Flat Hat at the College of William and Mary and a few years after I got married and moved to California, I went to work at a new weekly newspaper. I've loved all my forays into the world of journalism.
In 1978, when I was first hired as a reporter, the Acorn was a little newspaper (8 to 16 pages) and might have had a circulation of about 10,000. It had once been just a "shopper" with ads for local businesses in a hilly valley between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills, northwest of Los Angeles. Besides the venerable and almost ancient oaks, the Reyes Adobe, built in 1796, was the most historic point of interest in an area dotted with ranches, which was developing into a suburbia filled with new housing.
My husband, a civil engineer for Los Angeles County, worked in nearby Malibu, a quirky but famous beach location just a short drive through the mountains. We bought a home in this sylvan area in 1970 because houses in Agoura were new and reasonably priced, and it was an ideal area for raising our two children.
When I answered the ad for Acorn reporter, I was offered $25 a week for a few stories. Although it was only a pittance, I wasn't desperate and the job required very little time, ideal since my kids were both under ten. My first big assignment was to put together a special issue of stories detailing the new development plans for Agoura and Westlake Village, which were rapidly expanding with shopping centers, restaurants, and quite a few small businesses.
After hours of work calling builders, picking up photos and maps, and typing the stories, I was feeling cheated by my low pay. Gathering my courage, I cornered Bill, our gregarious owner, and demanded more. He agreed and paid me the enormous amount of $40! I didn't complain; it was too much fun working there.
Bill was just the man to run a paper: he'd been in the armed forces and then gone into sales. He kept a cheap little cabinet in his private office filled with booze, obviously remembering the days when bosses drank at the office and when they went out to lunch. (Anybody seen "Mad Men" on TV?). For the most part, I've found that newspaper people, no matter how influential their paper, are generally congenial and have outrageous senses of humor.
The Acorn was located upstairs in a fairly new at that time, all-wood, rustic-style building, part of Whizin's shopping center, named for Art Whizin, its founder, who had an office near us. Designed like an open plaza with a roof, the downstairs featured Koi carp fishing ponds, a few shops and a couple of restaurants. From the center of the high-peaked ceiling of the second floor hung a huge mobile with a wooden Indian and other Western artifacts, created by Whizin's son, Bruce.
Fairly current view of Whizin's Center. Canyon Club features bands of all types.
The office was small, only three rooms, and messy, like a newspaper office is supposed to be. Way before computers, we had old-fashioned equipment I wasn't familiar with. One of our printing machines—perhaps the headlines?—produced lots of tiny perforations and these paper circles got embedded in the shag carpeting. Some years later my husband went into his own business and rented this same office. Some of those bits of paper were still in the carpet!
The Acorn is still operating, all these years later, but from a different location. It presents local news from Agoura Hills, Oak Park, Westlake Village and Calabasas.
LA NEWSPAPER BIZ HUMOR
I find that newspaper people are generally lively and fun to be around. Their senses of humor can be outrageous and sarcastic since they've read or seen so much in life. I have my favorites who write for the LA Times. Steve Lopez is a regular columnist and is famous for his non-fiction book, The Soloist, about a schizophrenic homeless musician. A few years ago it was made into a movie starring Jamie Foxx. Lopez touches on many subjects, much like my approach on this blog. I've even Emailed Lopez with compliments and he replied. Today's column was a funny one about missing some of LA's crazy news while he was on vacation back East, particularly Justin Bieber's latest mischief, supposedly throwing eggs at his wealthy next door neighbor's home in a gated Calabasas, CA community. Apparently, 11 sheriff's cars responded to the complaint! I know the area well since I've often eaten at a nearby restaurant, and that area was part of the San Fernando Valley territory covered by the weekly newspaper I wrote for years ago.
Reading Lopez's column reminded me of some of the people I worked with in the newspaper/magazine biz, especially a couple of fellows who were in the production side of the business. Jan was a whiz in semi-professional bridge and always seemed to be laughing, telling jokes or sharing the latest gossip. He knew lots about the newspaper technology of the 1990s but didn't take any of the so-called "news" seriously. Roger was quieter, had a French last name and wore slip-on shoes like the Crocs of today. These two guys, who made sure the stories were properly typed, cut and pasted onto the pages, had a wicked sense of humor. They knew I would laugh at almost anything, and it quickly became a game to see if I'd catch certain deliberate mistakes. I remember there was one item that involved pickles and the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, but you'll have to use your imagination for that one.
The most hilarious incident (not X-rated) that I remember during my years at The Acorn was a brief announcement in the Community Events section. I saw the small headline about an art exhibit featuring a painter who had created several wonderful oils, one in particular titled: "Jesus, Mary and Bill." A man named Roger something was hosting the event, and my mind made no connections between this exhibit and our production fellow. Since Southern California is filled with zany artists, I figured the item was legitimate. It wasn't until the paper was printed that I discovered my mistake. The following week when I was back checking for errors and writing headlines, Jan pointed it out. I had forgotten Roger's surname, which would have given me the clue. We all had a good laugh, and I learned a lesson about not believing everything I read.
Some stories I wrote were pure entertainment, like the one about the latest craze, a male version of striptease performed for women only. In Los Angeles when the club Chippendale's was new and unique, it featured sexy young men dancing and stripping. Someone enterprising decided to bring a similar show to the boondocks, which Agoura was sometimes labeled.
Whizin's Center had a large room that was once an old restaurant. It could accommodate a stage and tables for the ladies to imbibe food and drinks while they watched the salacious entertainment. That included me–after all I had to document the experience. Many have seen the British film or the stage play, "The Full Monty" and can imagine what went on. Our entertainers that night, however, failed to completely disrobe. They wore a G-string to hide their equipment, so we didn't get to see the "full monty," just everything but.
This photo of one of the dancing strippers shows just the right attitude. Fortunately, he had on enough clothes for his photo to be displayed in a family newspaper.
FIESTY FEMALE FIREFIGHTERS
Fire season in California can start at any time, season or not. There was a fairly large one not long ago in Riverside and another one even more recently. Men aren't the only ones who fight the blazes. I discovered some out-of-the-ordinary firefighters when I wrote a story about Malibu Conservation Camp 13 some years ago. A film director friend thought the story was so interesting that it would make an exciting movie.
Nestled within the Santa Monica Mountains off a lightly trafficked road in Encinal Canyon is the camp, which housed at that time about 100 women, who were convicted felons serving time for embezzlement, drug use and drug sales. To serve their time there, they are classified as trustworthy; as a minimum security facility, the camp is run on the honor system. It's not meant to be a vacation; these gals, in their 20s, have to stay in top physical shape to fight the fires they are called out on. Who needs a gym when you have to climb up hilly terrain daily, from 1.2 miles to 2.6 miles, and do it in 25 to 58 minutes? Crews of 14 women inmates stay "on call" 24 hours a day, and they have to respond within five minutes after a fire call is received. This is serious business.
At the time I interviewed the camp commander, and he pointed out the difference between male and female prisoners: "We don't have the gang affiliation problems. Women get along better; they're inclined to do a good job with the least amount of problems." It's intriguing for me to look back at this story at a time when women are becoming more powerful in the workplace and actually running huge companies. When these female firefighters have served their time, their excellent training qualified them to eventually work with the California Department of Forestry.
For a woman who has to serve time, getting sent to a camp in the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains is a great alternative. It seemed a bit like a summer camp, and all was not work. They had a library, TVs, a hobby-craft program and a lot of support for recovering drug users. Visitors are allowed on holidays and weekends, and those who come to visit enjoy a scenic drive, and good mountain air mixed with moisture from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
On my way back from my interview, I still vividly remember a very large owl in the middle of the empty two-lane road. He was in the midst of devouring something—perhaps a rat or other small animal. I slowed down to appreciate him. He was not intimidated by me in my small car. Moments later he spread his amazingly large wings and flew away into the trees.
ENCOUNTERING FENG SHUI By Victoria Giraud
Just before the new century dawned, I discovered there's a system besides astrology to determine personality types. The Chinese nature science of Feng Shui has been around for at least two thousand years, a testament for longevity and proof there's something to this way of thinking and/or analyzing.
As a weekly columnist for the Daily News, a Los Angeles newspaper, in the 1990s, I was always looking for material (much the same as I do now for my twice-weekly blog). I had gotten a mailing for Creative Options Day, a women's event at Cal Lutheran University and noticed Pat Sendejas' name as a speaker on Feng Shui. It was the perfect way to explore something new and get an interview at the same time.
It took a while to connect with this very busy and talented woman, but after we did the interview, our relationship turned into a long friendship and even a business relationship. I have edited several of her books, like: Live Your Life on Purpose.
As Pat succinctly says, "Feng Shui is the Chinese art of living in a harmonious environment in order to receive the greatest benefits in life, health, love and prosperity. It's based on years of philosophy and mathematical calculation, and interprets the types of energy in a home or a business. It's based on when a building was constructed and where it is placed, its interior design and environment, and the people who will live or work there. There is no good or bad," according to Pat. "If you're aware of what's happening, you have more choices to make changes."
In Feng Shui, all humans are a certain natural personality type: Earth, Metal, Wood, Water or Fire, depending on the month and year you were born. Pat determined I was an Earth Yin, which fit me perfectly. Simply put, I am the nurturing "Mother Hen" who worries about others—the type who advises friends to take a jacket when it's cold outside! Supportive colors for me are red, purple, and burgundy, and I like water (I've been a swimmer all my life). I'm also partial to things made of earth, like ceramics. clay, and rocks.
Directions are important to the various Feng Shui types. As an Earth Yin, I should ideally sit in a chair that faces Northeast or West, and for the best sleep, my head should be directed either toward the Southwest or the Northwest. In case I search for a man in my life, my ideal partner would be an Earth Yang, who would be creative and a people person, although stubborn!
How energy flows in a home is important to Feng Shui and Pat's book describes in detail what to avoid in placement of furniture and how to enhance the energy. However, energy changes every year and every month and learning about the best remedies is very important. It's all quite fascinating and if you're interested in exploring, go to the links below.
A thorough description of the philosophy of Feng Shui would involve more than this blog is designed for, so I'll offer a link to a free Feng Shui info sheet and a link to Pat's website.
Pat Sendejas' Special Report on Feng Shui, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/79a3nld
Pat Sendejas website:
www.WithinYourSpace.com
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text:
An informative and fancy zsh prompt for Git users.
* oh-my-zsh
* zsh-autosuggestions
* zsh-syntax-highlighting

## requirements
* git, curl and zsh

## install
git clone https://github.com/gujord/fix-my-prompt.git && ./fix-my-prompt/install.sh

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Unveiling Ceremony for the Joint Research and Innovation Centre – UK and China Sign Heads of Terms
The National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) both welcome today's development in the implementation of the UK – China Joint Research and Innovation Centre (JRIC). NNL and CNNC are respectively the lead organizations for the UK and China, taking forward the JRIC work.
Today's signing of a Heads of Terms Agreement and unveiling ceremony between the UK and Chinese sides, marks the latest milestone since the JRIC was first announced during former Chancellor George Osborne's visit to China in 2015. It also marks the significant achievement of collaboration between UK and China. It is expected that JRIC will open a UK based headquarters soon.
As outlined at the time, the vision of the JRIC is about inspiring innovation in nuclear research and development through UK-China collaboration. To achieve this vision, JRIC will facilitate strong partnerships between UK and China nuclear research and development organizations.A collaborative approachwill develop leading-edge research and innovative technologies which will support safe and reliable nuclear energy around the globe.
Since the initial announcement, work has been carried out to identify the key priority areas of research, and the full programme of work will be finalised in due course. A principles agreement on the ownership and exploitation of intellectual property, developed partly in conjunction with the UK Government's Intellectual Property Office, has also been agreed.
A full programme of work will be finalized in due course, but initial work may include:
Developing advanced manufacturing methods that could improve the consistency, speed and cost of modular manufacture;
Transferring innovation in virtual engineering, which has been developed and demonstrated successfully in other industrial sectors, further into the mind-set of the nuclear landscape.
The JRIC team will continue their work to establish a programme of work for the Centre and to strengthen links with other UK and Chinese bodies, including universities and companies working in the nuclear sector.
Please send any enquiries to media@jric.uk


A record year for debt-funded stock buybacks may soon become even more rewarding for shareholders.
While there is no way to track debt taken out for share buy-backs alone, U.S. corporations have taken out $59.4 billion in debt this year - or about 8 percent of the total amount of U.S. corporate debt issued - to fund special dividends to shareholders, according to data from Dealogic. That is more than double the $28.4 billion issued for special dividends in 2014, which are another way that companies reward shareholders and tend to parallel buyback purchases.
The companies that have been buying back stock the most aggressively have not outperformed this year, however. The S&P 500 Buyback Index, which tracks the performance of the 100 stocks with the highest buyback ratios in the S&P 500 - a group that includes Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc, Cameron International Corp, and Motorola Solutions Inc - is down 6.8 percent for the year to date, a performance about 1 percentage point worse than the benchmark as a whole, according to Thomson Reuters data.