Meek's mission statement is simple, but since the business has survived nearly 100 years, it bears repeating: "Personal, trustworthy, professional . . . foundation to finish."
Last week, I addressed a group of seasoned builders at the annual Meek's Lumber & Hardware Expo in South Lake Tahoe, Nev. Meek's is a small building-materials chain that sponsors a two-day home-improvement show every spring. To kick off the event this year, they commissioned a short video featuring their employees and customers telling the story of the past 10 years in the building industry through poignant images that went from boom to bust, and back to basics. While a few people laughed nervously when the pictures of "Sold" signs gave way to foreclosures and failures, most sat in quiet acknowledgment of the hard times still painfully present. "Some lost it ALL," one caption read, but some builders survived. These builders were recognized by name as their smiling faces lit the screen, one by one, posing by trucks and job sites, honored in front of their peers.
It was a heart-wrenching and heartwarming event. This lumberyard knows its customers personally and has struggled along with them. Meek's operates about 50 locations in four states: Missouri, Arkansas, Nevada, and California. Three years ago, Carrie Meek, a fourth-generation leader in the family business, took over the presidency of the company's 12 west-division lumberyards from her father, William Meek. I asked Carrie about the relationships the company has built with its customers and how Meek's may have helped the builders survive through difficult times.
"We focus on helping the contractor on every level that helps his business," Meek said, and pointed out how the company offers services that help contractors to obtain work and provides professional services they may not be able to offer without support from Meek's.
Meek's also provides extensive training; education is at the heart of their sales approach. Each sales associate travels for training at least 12 days every year, so they know their products inside and out. Meek's also offers in-house training to contractors on properly installing complex assemblies, such as windows, siding, and decks. They want their builders to be the best in the region, Meek said.
Meek's retail floor doubles as a builder's showroom, where a contractor's customer can come in to see, touch, and study material choices with the support of both a knowledgeable sales representative and an interior designer, who act as an extension of the builder's company. "We want to help the contractor learn what their customers want," Meek said. The lumberyard also sets up retail fairs where homeowners can see project demonstrations. Meek's contractors build decks and other structures while retail customers watch. "And our builders get a lot of business from this," said Meek.
Meek's caters to the small cash-and-carry builder as well the large-project contractor. Meek said they have studied the buying patterns of individual builders to provide them with personalized services. Contractors don't have time to search shelves, Meek said, so Meek's allows builders to call in orders for any materials they sell, and Meek's prepares orders so that they are ready for pickup when the builder drives through. "We build relationships with the contractors and keep files on what each one buys. So when you call in and say 'caulk,' we know what caulk you like and buy most often," said Meek. This way, Meek's competes with national home-improvement chains by doing what a giant company can't: tailor customer service to each customer.
The company treats even cash-and-carry customers like clients, building client-style relationships over time, providing incentives such as 5% across-the-board discounts and up to a 3% rebate at the end of the year. "Our smaller contractors are always surprised when the store manager takes them out to lunch and shows them personal attention and appreciation they're not used to getting elsewhere," said Meek. They also don't compete with their customers, shying away from installed sales that would take business from area contractors. "We try to link retail consumers to our contractors," explained Meek.
Although many of Meek's pro customers do not have in-store credit, and shop with company checks and personal credit cards, the lumberyard tracks all their purchases and provides online access to this history through an "invoice gateway," where any time, day or night, a contractor can review a history of job invoices for the past two years. This way, a contractor who needs to work on billings or estimates on a Sunday afternoon can access all of his invoices without having to rummage through the glove compartment.
I pressed Meek about customer credit issues during the downturn. While seeming hesitant to share too much, Meek did say that her contractors maintained close relationships with the credit manager and that there were many times they met to work things out and move forward. "I feel like the contractors we saw through this recession are now like family. We suffered together, they came in, we talked, and we gave them as much support as we could. We all made it through," Meek said.
But I already knew this. It was palpable while touring job sites and visiting a handful of Meek's stores before the conference. It reminded me of how much my local lumberyard supported my business through thick and then very thin. That is something a national chain could never compete with, and something we can all learn from in working with customers and employees. Community building is at the heart of our business. Community investments pay off. Many successful businesses have one thing in common: a tight-knit relationship among management, employees, and customers.
Meek's mission statement is simple, but since the business has survived nearly 100 years, it may be worth repeating: "Personal, trustworthy, professional . . . foundation to finish." It starts with a personal relationship, sustains trust with ethics, and then delivers the product that was promised.
Meek's offers access to building-information management (BIM) software through the company's I-joist and truss engineering staff. Most contractors do not have the design skill or software budget to invest in this leading technology, but through the lumberyard's engineering services, Meek's contractor's can view detailed, three-dimensional drawings of complete framing plans on a job-site-ready platform, such as the iPad. Walking through the building and seeing the structure at all angles before nailing up a single stud is certainly the most economical way to "build" a visual model and correct the plans as needed, avoiding costly errors.


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Enjoy videos, photos, maps, and project updates on CerritoPeak/Eagle Rock, the Chevron property, and more. Becky Bremser, with the Trust for Public Land, will give a quick overview of conservancy action on the Central Coast. Features complimentary appetizers and a cash bar.


Description: Big Classical Hollywood Disney Music. Fun, whimsical, elegant and exciting. Full Symphony Orchestra, delightful and dreamy melody. Fantasy, Fairytale, playful and mischievous music. Music to celebrate happiness and joy.


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Blog: The Educated Reporter
To Teach Civic Engagement, Put Students Into Action, Advocates Say
March 2, 2018 Ben Felder of The Oklahoman for EWA
With their bodies submerged in the shallow bayou and their heads bobbing just above the water, Sunny Dawn Summers and her class of high school students talked through the process of harvesting, shucking, and selling oysters.
Just miles from restaurants in New Orleans' famed French Quarter, the students pondered the costs of labor, boat maintenance, and shipping that get an oyster from the muddy bayou floor to the dinner plate.
Summers, a former teacher, recounted the experience at a recent Education Writers Association seminar in New Orleans where journalists explored the role of schools in promoting character and civic engagement.
"We are doing all core four (subjects), plus we are adding in civics," Summers said of the activity. "The kids are like, 'This isn't school,' But yeah guys, this is school and this is what it means to do school in a way that really impacts the community."
Beyond just hands-on learning and field trips, civic education should include a level of intentionality that allows students to see the relevancy of connecting with their community, according to speakers on a panel titled "Education for Democracy: Promoting Civic Engagement."
'More Than the Curriculum'
Joining Summers were Abby Kiesa, of the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), and Robert Pondiscio of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
"Increasingly, we are seeing that the civic themes and civic skills and civic content can be embedded across subject areas," Kiesa said.
But, Kiesa added, "It's much more than the curriculum. Teachers have to be confident in teaching that curriculum and facilitating those activities, and the school leadership has to promote those high-quality practice and support the teachers."
Reporters should pay attention to how supported educators feel in teaching civic engagement, Kiesa argued, even if it takes the focus away from an end-of-year test.
She also said reporters should look for how efforts inside school are leading to connections in the larger community. Are class projects leading to a response from civic leaders? Does a focus on civic engagement lead to an increase in voter registration rates for 18-year-olds?
Civic engagement education should also help students expand their opportunities beyond high school, Kiesa added.
"When we see young people working on issues they care about," she said, "then we see them making connections to employment, to broader networks."
Teaching Skills and Knowledge
While civic engagement education can take the attention off teaching students to pass an exam, Pondiscio cautioned that reporters should not overlook how effective these programs are at helping student pass tests and gain specific knowledge.
"Do not indulge the false dichotomy of skills versus knowledge," said Pondiscio, who also is a senior adviser (and former teacher) at Democracy Prep Public Schools in New York City. "A lot of us who do civic education are guilty of setting those two ideas against one another."
Pondiscio said he supports a requirement for high school students to pass the U.S. citizenship test, believing concrete knowledge that can be captured on a test still has value.
"As a reporter, ask yourself, would you hire someone in your newsroom who couldn't tell you what the three branches of government were? Or, (if someone) couldn't tell you how many Supreme Court justices there were?" Pondiscio said.
Summers agreed that concrete knowledge is important, but encouraged reporters to focus on how effective schools are at making civic engagement relevant for students.
"I would love for kids to be able to take and pass those types of tests and I think that they would if it was relevant to what they care about," Summers said. "How do we build that relevance into their day-to-day existence? You are a poor kid from an urban center, can you change policy? Does it matter to you?"
A New Type of High School
Using real-world problems to teach students is at the heart of New Harmony High, the charter school Summers is working to open later this year. (The school received a $10 million grant from the XQ Super Schools Project.)
In New Orleans, where climate change has led to the erosion of land around the Mississippi River Delta, New Harmony High plans to focus on coastal restoration and preservation.
Students will participate in hands-on lessons that not only educate, but also inspire community engagement, Summers said.
Like all other public high schools, students at New Harmony High will be required to master core content for graduation and parents will expect students to be set up for college or a career. But, according to Summers, the real value of the new school will be the future impact its students have on their community.
"We always say we'll be successful if our students' grandchildren can still live [in New Orleans]," Summers said.
Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Contact Emily Richmond. Follow her on Twitter @EWAEmily.
Read other Educated Reporter articles.
Character & Citizenship
Character and Citizenship Seminar 2018
Student-Centered Learning
What You Missed at EWA's Seminar on Educating for Character & Citizenship
February 26, 2018 Erik RobelenElizabeth Thorne
Dozens of journalists gathered in New Orleans this month to explore a dimension of education that often gets short shrift both in schools and in news coverage: developing students' character and preparing them for active citizenship.
Reporters heard not only from educators, experts, and fellow journalists, but also students from New Orleans and beyond. Issues on tap included the moral education of young people, social and emotional learning, media literacy, and the rapid rise of "restorative justice" as an alternative to traditional disciplinary practice.
Beyond Academics: Covering Education for Character and Citizenship
The intensive focus in many public schools on basic academics has sparked concerns that the U.S. education system is neglecting a fundamental responsibility: to foster in young people the character traits and social-emotional skills needed to be successful students and engaged citizens. Empathy, collaboration, and self-efficacy, for instance, are essential in a democratic society. They also are important for success in a fast-changing job market.
Civics Lessons From House Democrats' Sit-In
June 28, 2016 Emily Richmond
Whether the Democrats' sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to protest congressional inaction on gun control legislation was a publicity stunt or a tipping point remains to be seen. But the episode last week could serve as a teachable moment for the nation's schoolchildren — and future voters.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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When it Comes to Taiwan, the CCP Doesn't Have an Original Bone in its Body: J. Michael Cole in the Taiwan Sentinel
In his first address in 2019, Xi Jinping proves once again that he and the party that he leads cannot think beyond the old ways of regarding Taiwan, writes J. Michael Cole.
By J. Michael Cole, January 3, 2019
Chinese president-for-life Xi Jinping today delivered a "major" speech at the Great Hall of the People to mark the 40th anniversary of the "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan." Since state-run Xinhua news agency had announced earlier in the week that Xi's first address in 2019 was likely to touch on the Taiwan "issue," media and analysts worldwide were keen to see whether the speech would offer any signs of a new direction in the always problematic cross-Strait ties. As expected, Xi did not, serving instead the same old, tired and failed platitudes as Chinese leaders before him.
The 4,254-character address — about 2,400 characters longer than its predecessor from Jan. 1, 1979 — checked all the usual tropes, with Xi droning on about "unwaveringly resolving the Taiwan question"; the completion of "reunification" as a "historic task" for all Chinese on both sides; "cross-Strait reunification as an irresistible historical trend"; "compatriots across the Strait are all Chinese who share a natural kinship and national identity that can never be changed by anyone or any force"; and "the peaceful and stable development of the cross-Strait situation and the progress of cross-Strait relations are the tide of the time that can never be stopped by anyone or any force."
I will not inflict more of this on the reader — you've heard it all before and you can look it up if you need assistance falling asleep tonight. It should be sufficient for our purposes here to look at some of the most "salient" points made by this most unexciting of orators, those that best highlight the Party's inability to deal with the facts.
Of course, the platitudinous ramblings of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader would not be complete without some self-serving revisionism. Over the past seven decades, Xi said, China and Taiwan have "reached the '1992 consensus,' [which is] based on the 'one China' principle" under "the basic principles of 'peaceful reunification' and 'one country, two systems.'" Left unsaid is the fact that, for one thing, the so-called consensus does not exist and that whatever verbal agreement was reached between negotiators between the two sides in 1992 was (a) a party-to-party affair which left out the Taiwanese people and (b) contained an agreement to disagree on what "one China" means, with the Kuomintang (KMT) insisting on "different interpretations." Also missing was the admission that the Taiwan side never agreed to the "one country, two systems" formula offered by Beijing, not to mention the fact that the said formula hasn't exactly yielded the kind of results in Hong Kong that would appeal to the Taiwanese.
Xi then promised that the social system and way of life in Taiwan would be fully respected, and the private property, religious beliefs and legitimate rights and interests of Taiwan compatriots would be fully protected after peaceful reunification is realized. What with Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang, the nearly total subservience of Chinese media to the CCP, control of the Internet, rampant surveillance, Orwellian "social credit" system, the mass arrests of lawyers, activists, Christians, intellectuals and others who do not toe the party line, only a fool would take Xi's promise at face value.
The same holds for Xi's proposal for "institutional arrangements" for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, whereby Beijing and Taipei would conduct "democratic consultations" on cross-Strait relations and the future of the nation. (Do not such bodies already exist, in the form of the Mainland Affairs Council and the Taiwan Affairs Office?) Given Beijing's constant warping of democratic principles and the inflexibility of the center-rules-all CCP model, such negotiations would inevitably lead to losses for democratic Taiwan. And here again, whatever agreement was reached would, using the Hong Kong model as an example, almost inevitably be ignored by Beijing after a certain period of time. It is also very clear that "political parties and all sectors on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," who under the arrangements "may recommend representatives to conduct extensive and in-depth democratic consultation on the basis of the common political foundation of upholding the '1992 consensus' and opposing 'Taiwan independence'" would exclude a large number of people in Taiwan — a majority of them, in fact.
As expected, Xi made no promise to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, though he noted that "Chinese do not fight Chinese," which presumably would mean that when the missiles rain down on Taiwan, those who declare themselves "Chinese" would be spared the horrors of destruction and loss of family members. But wait, Xi says, the threat of force also doesn't target "compatriots in Taiwan," but only "the interference of external forces and the very small number of 'Taiwan independence' separatists and their activities." That goes well beyond a bullseye CEP — the missiles would have to read minds and discriminate between "independence separatists" and those who favor something else.
But here's the catch: what to make of the majority of Taiwanese who favor the "status quo," who, in other words, do not support unification? Do they get a smaller warhead dropped on their houses? Xi's remarks here reveal the CCP's continued inability, or refusal, to admit that its Taiwan "problem" is a much larger one, one that stems from clashing values and the embrace, almost universal, of liberal democracy by the Taiwanese, whether they be "green" or "blue," and regardless of their views on the "1992 consensus." In other words, if the CCP were to use force against Taiwanese "separatists," it'd have to kill a whole lot of people, not just "a very small number" of "separatists." And needless to say, the notion that "separatism" or the desire to maintain one's sovereignty is somehow the result of manipulations by "external forces" is preposterous at best, a complete misreading of the choices that the Taiwanese have made for decades.
Xi then urged young people across the Taiwan Strait "to shoulder important tasks with courage, be united and friendly with each other, and strive for a better future hand in hand." Whether the omission of not-so-young people from this sentence means that older people on both sides need not be friendly to each other is anyone's guess. But what is certain is that China's track record on friendliness has been severely lacking, what with the barrage of attacks on Taiwanese artists on the Internet, the ugly Chinese nationalism on display, time and time again, on university campuses worldwide — oh, an the not-to-be-shelved military threat against Taiwan. Here the CCP's definition of Taiwanese friendliness is subservience. Bow to our will, become complicit in the Chinese dream as defined by the CCP, and though shalt not be threatened.
Once again, it is clear that the CCP is the greatest impediment to the peaceful resolution of conflict in the Taiwan Strait. It is its rigidity, its lack of imagination and refusal to face reality, not "Taiwanese separatists," that stands in the way of some sort of peace. Since 1979, the CCP and the Chinese people have had many occasions to better understand Taiwanese society and the complexities of its democratic system. Xi's painful regurgitation of old tropes this morning tells us that either the CCP hasn't learned a thing, or it has, but, cornered by its own rhetoric and ideology, it cannot admit otherwise lest such an admission reveal its fraudulence to the Chinese people.
Four thousand, two hundred and fifty-four characters. At their heart, a threat, the rest confabulation aimed primarily at the Chinese rather than "Taiwanese compatriots."
J. Michael Cole is chief editor of Taiwan Sentinel, a Senior Non-Resident Fellow with the Global Taiwan Institute, Senior Non-Resident Fellow with the Taiwan Studies Programme at the University of Nottingham, UK, and an Associate Researcher with the French Center for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC). He is author of the MLI report, The Hard Edge of Sharp Power: Understanding China's Influence Operations Abroad.
Columns, Dragon at the Door, Foreign Affairs, In the Media, Indo-Pacific, Latest News, Recent News
CCP, China, Taiwan
Hong Kong is a Mess for Beijing; Taiwan Would be a Nightmare: J. Michael Cole in the Taiwan Sentinel Liberal democratic societies are simply incompatible with the increasingly authoritarian mindset that animates the Chinese...
Wishful Thinking and the China Threat: J. Michael Cole in the Taiwan Sentinel Well before Donald Trump came to power, when more accommodating forces were in charge in...
Pro-Police Rally in Hong Kong - We've See This Before in Taiwan: J. Michael Cole in the Taiwan Sentinel United Front Work groups in Taiwan and Hong Kong use the same playbook and rely...
30 Years On, The CCP is Still Unrepentant About the Tiananmen Massacre: J. Michael Cole in the Taiwan Sentinel From Tiananmen Square in 1989 to Xinjiang today, the Party hasn't learned a thing about...
The Taiwan Strait in 2018 – Still a Dangerous Flashpoint: J. Michael Cole for Inside Policy While the world's attention is fixated on North Korea, it would be imprudent to ignore...


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Welcome to Jim's Blog ~ Dedicated to Helping Your Small Business ™
« Business planning will always be relevant to success
The opportunities in adversity »
In the marketplace, it ain't over 'till it's over
Jim Blasingame
on 10:21 am
in Entrepreneurship and Inspirational and Motivational
. Tags: entrepreneur, Inspirational and Motivational.
One of sports history's greatest upsets happened at the 1975 U.S. Open tennis tournament at Forrest Hills, New York, when the Spaniard, Manuel Orantes, defeated legendary Jimmy Connors in straight sets (6-4, 6-3, 6-3), in Connors' own back yard.
But that contest isn't the best part of this story. Beating Connors to win a professional tennis Grand Slam tournament couldn't have happened if the night before, against all odds, Orantes had not demonstrated enormous courage and extreme perseverance.
In the semi-final match between Orantes and Argentinian, Guillermo Vilas, the Spaniard was down two sets to one, five games to zip in the fourth set, and two match points in the sixth game. Vilas was serving triple match point to the seventh power.
If Orantes loses one more point in this game the match is over. And even if he battles back to win this game, he would then have to win the next six games in order to force the fifth set to determine who advances to the finals. Tennis fans know a score of 2-1, 5-0, 40-love, is an against-all-odds, improbable comeback scenario.
There's another group that can appreciate the long odds Orantes faced—small business owners. Entrepreneurs are no strangers to the marketplace equivalent of triple match point to the seventh power. Here's what it might look like: losing a major customer, having an unexpected expense, and a cash flow crisis resulting in a call from the bank, all in the same hour. The question is not whether a small business will have triple match point challenges—Orantes faced it only once, small businesses see it all the time—but how well the owner manages them.
Back to the tennis match: In perhaps one of the gutsiest display of guts in the history of pro tennis, Orantes overcame that triple match point to take the sixth game, and then proceeded to win the next six in a row to claim the fourth set 7-5. This courageous comeback not only produced the momentum to beat Vilas 6-4 in the final set and get Orantes into the finals with Connors, but, as you now know, it carried over to the next day when he became the 1975 U.S. Open champion by dispatching one of the greatest tennis champions of all time in straight sets.
Next time your business is down triple match point, remember that as long as the game isn't over you can survive. As long as you have the desire to win you can succeed. As long as you believe in yourself you can gain the momentum to win today and become a champion tomorrow.
Even when you're down triple match point, you can still win.
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For fine dining in an intimate setting, Panache, at the Auberge Saint-Antoine, a Relais & Chateaux hotel, is a top choice. Chef Louis Pacquelin's cuisine pairs classic dishes and a sophisticated style and presentation that is a joy to behold. To top off the experience archaeological finds are displayed in the public area of this top-rated accommodation and dining establishment.
Dinner began with Chef Louis Pacquelin's fois gras with pear and birch syrup, then a velvety squash soup with mushrooms and hazelnuts. The main dish, Besnier farm rabbit was prepared with spices from the Tajine and Quebec endives.
Dessert, Brest-Quebec with apple, maple and pecan nut is the creation of the Saint-Antoine's pastry chef, Yves-Marie Rolland, from Brest, France. He fused Quebec elements with the classic Brest-Paris dessert of choux pastry filled with mousseline cream. This work of art, fit for a king, is crowned with a spun sugar and topped with gold leaf.


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Practical Help for Women Addicted to Pornography
Susan's face betrayed her disgust the first time her husband suggested they watch an adult movie together. "Honey, not only will it enhance our lovemaking," Jim exclaimed, "but I won't need to have a sex life separate from you. It will end all the sneaking around."
She had long since given up hope of him quitting his online addiction, but this was too much. "We are Christians, Jim," she protested, "and this is wrong!"
"Wrong?" Jim argued. "I know of Christian therapists who suggest couples use it to improve their sex lives. How can that be wrong?"
"Over the past few years a disturbing new trend has emerged: women viewing pornography in alarming numbers."
After years of dealing with Jim's secret sex life, Susan eventually acquiesced and joined what is becoming an ever-increasing number of Christian women who regularly view pornography. This phenomenon bucks the "cw" that it is men who are visually stimulated and thereby more prone to viewing porn. Traditionally, women are far more likely to engage in wistful, romantic fantasies than crude scenes of people engaging in sexual acts. However, over the past few years a disturbing new trend has emerged: women viewing pornography in alarming numbers.
To illustrate, Nielsen NetRatings reports that nearly one-third of the visitors to adult websites are female. They estimate that 9.4 million women in the United States accessed online pornography in September 2003. (1)
A recent article in Today's Christian Woman seems to support their assertions. "One out of every six women, including Christians, struggles with an addiction to pornography," claims authoress Ramona Richards. "That's 17 percent of the population, which, according to a survey by research organization Zogby International, is the number of women who truly believe they can find sexual fulfillment on the Internet." (2)
I personally have my doubts that 17% of Christian women are viewing pornography. Nevertheless, even half that amount represents a very distressing number of women.
Porn and the Married Woman
Jim introducing Susan to the world of adult entertainment is typical of how most females become involved. The first time he brought home a movie, she was shocked at what she saw. It was so revolting to her that she tried to ignore the scenes being played out on their bedroom television set, instead focusing her attention on her husband. As for Jim, she had never seen him so passionate toward her. It was thrilling! Susan grappled with what she had done over the next few days, vacillating between guilt and excitement. In the end, she made a conscious decision that she was willing to exchange her self-respect for his affection.
Just as Jim had promised, there was a heightened level of excitement in their intimacy that hadn't been there since their wedding night twenty-some years before. Once she got past the initial shock of the explicitness, she actually came to look forward to their "special times" on Saturday nights. The intense pleasure of these experiences gave them something they could share together.
One thing that was a bit surprising to Susan was the quality of the videos. They weren't the cheaply produced films she had come to expect. The world of adult entertainment had its own producers, directors, camera crews, stars and starlets. Everything was top-notch. Over time, Susan began to not only enjoy the effects of the movies on their sex life but the movies themselves. While Jim was fascinated with body parts and explicit scenes, Susan was drawn to the seductive storylines and her favorite actors—and actresses. Yes, a lust for women had been kindled within her.
"As the number of Christian men addicted to porn continues to increase, it can be expected that the number of wives and girlfriends involved will also grow."
Their relationship seemed idyllic those first few weeks. Although Susan had to silence her guilty conscience and stifle her nagging concerns, she and Jim got along better than ever before. But, as we all know, the pleasure of sin only lasts for a season. Unbeknownst to her, a very evil, corrupting influence had been loosed deep within her being. The "sex-is-everything" mindset communicated by these motion pictures began to break down many of her inhibitions. She found herself fantasizing about other men—and women. Sometimes she even secretly watched the movies by herself while Jim was at work.
There was another troubling development occurring as well. Their relationship, which had become full of tenderness and devotion, began to deteriorate. Jim became more distant than ever, causing Susan to become suspicious and argumentative. They squabbled over petty differences. What's more, when they were out in public, Jim openly gawked at every pretty girl he saw. How could Susan scold him, after what she had allowed into their home? Little by little things became worse, until finally, Jim left and Susan filed for divorce. Now, as a middle-aged woman with a failed marriage, the loss of her self-respect and the hollowness of soul that porn produces, she was more miserable than ever.
This case is fairly typical of what occurs when wives allow pornography to be brought into the home. As the number of Christian men addicted to porn continues to increase, it can be expected that the number of wives and girlfriends involved will also grow.
Porn and the Single Woman
Being led into the sordid realm of pornography by an addicted husband is no longer the only introduction to it. Millennials have grown up in a culture where porn is not only accepted but is pervasive. This has produced a new disturbing trend: single women seeking out internet porn for themselves.
One such person was Julie, a serious-minded, young businesswoman. Like Susan, before becoming involved in porn, Julie's life would have been considered normal by today's Christian standards. Although involved with the singles group of her church, she struggled with feelings of loneliness. Julie secretly envied the "bubbly" girls in the group who always seemed to attract the guys. Sometimes she despaired of ever finding "Mr. Right." For some time she had been watching one of the leading network soap operas, allowing the immorality portrayed on the show to fuel her secret fantasy of being a beautiful seductress.
"The truth was that she continually fostered romantic and sexual fantasies about a number of male acquaintances…"
She was embarrassed one evening when the pastor's wife came for a visit while the show she had recorded that day was playing on her TV set. The older woman's face flushed when she saw a torrid love scene being enacted on the screen. Julie's feigned indignation masked the fact that she had come to enjoy this kind of fare. The truth was that she continually fostered romantic and sexual fantasies about a number of male acquaintances at her job.
Another pastime unexpectedly developed in Julie's life. One day, she confided her struggles with loneliness to a girlfriend from church. Her friend suggested she visit Christian chat rooms on the Internet where she could develop risk-free relationships with men. At first, she tried it hesitantly and carefully, but before long she was heavily involved. Eventually, she expanded her involvement to include larger, secular chat rooms. Initially, the amount of sexual talk alarmed her, but she gradually became fascinated with it. It was almost like being a starlet in her own soap opera!
Occasionally, Julie would come across messages that posted adult websites. In the beginning, she resisted her curiosity about them, but she finally got to the place where she had no resistance left. One night she impulsively clicked on a link to an adult website. She panicked when an image of a copulating couple popped up on the screen, quickly closing the site with trembling hands. That scene haunted her memory until, a few nights later, she revisited the site. She was so enthralled by what she saw that she was completely drawn in. After the exhilaration of that night her soap opera seemed tame and boring. She found herself returning to the adult websites time and again. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but, despite repeated promises to quit her behavior, she kept going back to it.
Were Susan and Julie (3) normal, "godly" women who were caught off guard in a moment of weakness and succumbed to a powerful temptation? No, I cannot believe that. For good reason the apostle Paul said, "If you walk in the Spirit you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16) The crucial element to a victorious life is not the object of temptation but the spiritual condition of the person being tempted. Perhaps a few pointed questions will help us better focus on the real issues at stake here.
"The crucial element to a victorious life is not the object of temptation but the spiritual condition of the person being tempted."
f Susan's life was right with God, would she have ever agreed to look at a dirty movie in the first place? Wouldn't she have had the wisdom to know that the outcome of such a decision could only be disaster? She faithfully attended church, but her decisions clearly indicate a very weak (or nonexistent) relationship to God. Paul could have been describing Susan when he said, "But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives." (I Timothy 5:6)
If Julie was truly walking with the Lord, would she have been watching soap operas? Would she have been so obsessed with romance that she would visit online chat rooms? Would she ever have clicked on that first erotic website? The truth about this young lady is that she had long since given over to the "Cosmo girl-me first" mentality so prevalent among today's young women. Yes, she too attended church faithfully, but the reality was that God was not the center of her existence but rather an add-on to her worldly, selfish life. It was therefore relatively easy for her to cross one moral boundary after another until she stepped across the line into pornography.
These two stories, and the thousands of real ones they represent, reflect how important it is for a shepherd to closely monitor his sheep. As Paul approached the end of his life, it seems that his overriding concern was to do his utmost to see that the Church would stay on course. He shared many powerful truths with his closest confidants, a few of which we can employ to better protect our young women from becoming casualties of the sex-saturated culture in which we live.
Paul understood that, left to themselves, women can easily be led astray. (II Timothy 3:6) To help protect them, he enlisted the aid of a vital resource within the ranks of the churches: godly, mature women. He wrote, "Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior… teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored." (Titus 2:3-5)
"The immature Christian—whatever her age—needs discipleship: she needs a mature saint to take her under her wing, so to speak, and bring godly instruction into her life."
Personal Discipleship
Listening to good sermons and reading interesting books can be helpful, but the immature Christian—whatever her age—needs discipleship: she needs a mature saint to take her under her wing, so to speak, and bring godly instruction into her life. A woman may hear sermons, but unless she is held accountable to respond to those words, she will derive only limited benefit. Lost in a crowd of listeners, she can easily ignore and disregard what she is hearing. Paul provided for this problem when he gave the four-fold method of true discipleship: "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." (II Timothy 3:16)
Practical Instruction
Most girls and women sitting in our churches are being indoctrinated in the world's values. They need godly women to instruct them about the Christian life. How should young girls dress? How do they handle dating? Is there anything wrong with watching television sitcoms or soap operas? What does it really mean in our day and age to live a holy life? How can they know their lives are pleasing to God? What can they do to escape the selfishness of our culture? How does a wife handle it when she discovers her husband is addicted to pornography? These are the kinds of practical and meaningful issues about which women simply need to be taught. Perhaps special, temporary classes can be arranged to impart the answers to these important subjects.
Caring Reproof
Teaching is important, but women also need personal involvement in their lives. Reproof is an important tool to help individuals stay the course. Left to themselves, women can easily stray off the narrow path and, like we saw in the cases above, become totally backslidden. If a godly mentor had been involved in either of those lady's lives, there is a good chance they would not have gotten so far off track. Reproof comes into play when the mentor sees her "student" going astray. She steps between her and the source of her temptation and in godly love says, "No! You can't do that!" As Paul said, "...if another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path..." (Galatians 6:1)
"When a mature woman becomes involved in another woman's life, she will soon discern any areas of her life that do not line up with Scripture."
Discerned Correction
The corrupting effects of the spirit of this world upon the human mind should never be underestimated. It has the power to alter a person's perspectives, values and attitudes. One of the reasons it is imperative that a believer maintains a vibrant devotional life is because she so desperately needs the constant influence of God's perspectives upon her thinking. When a mature woman becomes involved in another woman's life, she will soon discern any areas of her life that do not line up with Scripture. Correction is there for the purpose of helping to guide her back into biblical thinking and living.
Authoritative Training
Women must also be trained to live righteously. The term used by Paul here (Gk. paideia) is usually translated with the English word discipline. Translators were correct to apply the term "training" here, but it must be understood that it contains within it a stronger sense than one would typically think. There is an element of authority that is connected to this word which is clear in the passages in which it is used: father-son, God-believer and even Pilate-criminal (Jesus). While teaching tends to be impersonal and vague, training is very personal and specific.
Lastly, I want to mention one final principle Paul left with Timothy: "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." (II Timothy 2:2) This principle also applies to "faithful" women—especially your wife. As you delegate authority to these important soldiers, I believe God will use them to rescue women who might otherwise be headed for disaster.
(1) Jason Collum, "A Woman's Struggle," AFA Journal, March 2004.
(2) Ramona Richards, "Dirty Little Secret," Today's Christian Woman magazine. September/October 2003.
(3) These are fictitious persons who are composites of women to whom we have ministered.
Kathy Gallagher is the Co-Founder and Senior Administrator of Pure Life Ministries. She has been ministering to Christian women for over 20 years and has a deep desire to see them living a fulfilled life in Christ.
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Got 1 round of seeded practice down. The track is really good today, the weather is, it's all good. Truck was first. Felt good, and I had a really clean 6 minute run. I was able to throw some fast laps down too. I got the fastest seed time in P1.
4wd was next and it went good too. Car felt really good and smooth. I had a clean run, couple bobbles, but no marshals. 3rd fastest seed time. Gonna make a little change for P2.


What are IAM Roles ?
Using IAM we can define who can access which resource in EC2, RDS, S3 and all the other AWS services. In addition, IAM lets us define a set of temporary permissions that are not attached or do not belong to users or groups. These permissions are called Roles and can be assumed by applications or AWS services to enable programmatic access to defined resources.
There is wide scope that we might need this if your application within the EC2 instance makes a lot of API calls with other AWS services. One good example I can think of is your application accessing S3 bucket to retrieve files or your EC2 instance requiring access to cloudwatch to send log data for customized metrics. If your EC2 instance does not assume any role, then you need to pass the API keys within your application (SDK) to access the relevant service.
This approach becomes challenging when you securely distribute credentials to each instance, especially those that AWS creates on your behalf, such as Spot instances or instances in Auto Scaling groups. Also this becomes a problem when you rotate the keys since you will need to update it in all the instance.
In order to overcome the above said problems, we can make use of EC2 Roles.
Lets quickly see the steps on how to create and attach an IAM Role while launching an EC2 instance.
You can't assign a role to an existing instance; you can only specify a role while launching a new instance.
Login to AWS console and select Identity & Access Management (IAM).
Give a name for the role and click "Next Step". I'm naming it as devopsideas-test for this example.
We have successfully created a role and you can view our newly created role under Roles section.
In this step lets see, how we can attach the newly created role while launching an EC2 instance. I have skipped the first few steps of creating an EC2 instance since that is pretty straight forward.
At Step 3 of creating a new EC2 Instance, you'll be configuring your instance details. Click the drop down next to IAM role option and you'll see the name of the role that we created. Select the role and carry on with the usual procedure to launch an instance.
And that's it !! We have attached an IAM EC2 Role for our new instance. We can further create our own custom policies ( like accessing a specific bucket in S3 ) and attach it to this role. Through this way, we can avoid passing API keys within our code and server.
You can follow the below steps for implementing the above using command line.
Create the "devopsideas-test" role and specify the trust policy that we created above.
And we are done. We can further assign relevant policies to this role.
That's it for this article. Hope it was useful.


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The ranks of dividend raisers are thinning out now that we're between earnings seasons, but you'll want to hear about these three payout hikes.
We're now in that long valley between earnings seasons. As a result, dividend declarations -- which many companies make around the same time they release quarterly results -- are tapering off. We should expect that trend to continue into the early summer.
Yet, thanks in no small part to many companies' improving results, a handful of enterprises raised their payouts last week. Here are three of the more notable hikes.
This energy major has been a serial dividend-raiser for several years. True to form, it has lifted its quarterly distribution yet again, by 2% to $0.59 per share.
That wasn't one of the more generous increases in Williams' history, and it's no wonder: Q1 net profit was exactly half that of the same period the previous year at $70 million ($0.09 per share). That came as no big surprise, given the weakness in the oil price, but it was notably lower than analyst expectations of $0.13 per share.
The future looks a little brighter, though. The company has a backlog of about $30 billion in projects, which promises to help lift revenue and profitability substantially.
Further, earlier this month the firm acquired the master limited partnership it controls, Williams Partners. The move will save the combined company lots of scratch in incentive costs and tax obligations, among other expenses, making it easier to hit its aggressive target of 10% to 15% annual dividend growth until 2020.
The oil price doesn't look like it will recover significantly anytime soon, and the industry overall has struggled lately. But Williams investors have much to look forward to in terms of operations, and the consolidation was a smart move that could really boost the bottom line. Thus I think the firm's dividend will continue to grow.
Williams Companies' new dividend is to be paid on June 29 to shareholders of record as of June 12.
Northrop Grumman's quarterly dividend increase is the largest among our three contenders this week: The aerospace giant lifted its payout 14% to $0.80 per share.
The raise came close on the heels of the company's Q1 results, which featured net profit down 19% year over year but still managed to handily beat analyst expectations. Sales ticked up by 2% to $6 billion.
International sales have increasingly contributed to Northrop Grumman's take in recent times. These climbed by 20% in fiscal 2014, and it looks as if the momentum will continue -- for instance, wealthy nations such as Japan and South Korea are shelling out for the firm's sophisticated military drones.
So growth is on the table, and the firm's free cash flow is high relative to its payout (although the former does tend to swing, sometimes violently, from quarter to quarter). It has now managed to lift that distribution annually for 12 years running, so I'd count on that streak continuing in the near-term future.
Northrop Grumman's upcoming payout will be dispensed on June 17 to shareholders of record as of June 1.
Investors in this data storage hardware and systems specialist are getting a few more coins with their next quarterly dividend: NetApp has pushed its payout 9% higher to $0.18 per share.
Unfortunately for those investors, that's about the only figure that's going up at the firm these days. NetApp's Q4 results showed notable year-over-year drops in net revenue (down 7% to $1.5 billion) and net profit (down 32% to $135 million). The declines were attributed to its new product, Clustered OnTAP, which existing customers have been hesitant to upgrade to.
NetApp has responded by enacting the latest in a history of job cuts (about 500 workers this time) and providing earnings guidance for Q1 that was well under the average analyst estimate.
So the company will have to do more with less -- i.e., provide what those clients want in Clustered OnTAP with reduced manpower. The cut in guidance, plus the lack of growth in both the top and bottom lines across the last few years, indicates that its prospects aren't great.
These developments don't bode well for the future of the dividend, even though NetApp was once able to cover both its dividend and several share repurchase programs with available free cash. The fundamentals don't look good at all, so I think the new payout may not be viable for too much longer.
Nevertheless, NetApp's new dividend is to be distributed on July 23 to stockholders of record as of July 10.


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The taxonomy of Tulipa places the genus in the family Liliaceae, and subdivides it as four subgenera, and comprises about 75 species.

History
While tulips were known from at least the 12th century in Persia, and appear in decorative art in Turkey in the 13th century, the first description in European botanical literature, was by Conrad Gesner in his De Hortus Germanica (1561), which he referred to as Tulipa turcarum, and states he saw in a garden in Augsburg in 1559.

Phylogeny
The taxonomy of Tulipa has always been complex and difficult for many reasons. Tulipa is a genus of the Liliaceae (lily) family, once one of the largest family of monocots, but which molecular phylogenetics has shown to be a much smaller discrete family with only 15 genera. Within Liliaceae, Tulipa is placed within Lilioideae, one of three subfamilies, with two tribes. Tribe Lilieae includes seven other genera in addition to Tulipa. Some species with a more eastern distribution (China, Korea, Japan) formerly classified as Tulipa are now considered as the separate genus Amana, including Amana edulis (Tulipa edulis). These species are more closely allied to Erythronium, although some authors believe that all three genera of the Tulipeae could be treated as a single genus.

The evolutionary and phylogenetic relationships between the genera currently included in Liliaceae are shown in this Cladogram.

Subdivision

Subgenera and sections
Historically, subdivision of the genus and speciation (separation of species) has been based on vegetative and floral characters, but further research has shown these to be quite plastic, even within a species. Together with population variability, hybridisation and naturalisation, the classification and taxonomy of tulips has been complex and controversial.

The genus Tulipa was traditionally divided into two sections, Eriostemones and Tulipa (as Leiostemones), and comprises about 76 species. In 1997, the two sections were raised to subgenera and subgenus Tulipa was divided into five sections:
 Clusianae
 Eichleres
 subdivided into eight series
 Kopalkowskiana
 Tulipanum
 Tulipa
Subgenus Eriostemones was divided into the sections:
 Biflores
 Sylvestres
 Saxatiles

In 2009, two other subgenera were proposed, Clusianae and Orithyia, and this total of four subgenera was corroborated by a 2013 study by Maarten Christenhusz and colleagues. That study did not find support for any of the previous sections proposed, and since hybridisation is relatively common, it is probably better to refrain from subdividing the subgenera any further.

Species
Historically there has been considerable disagreement about the number of species within the genus. For instance tulips often grow in remote inaccessible hills and valleys where winters are harsh and summers long and dry, and may flower for only a short period, meaning that species are often missed. Furthermore, descriptions of species were often derived from studying cultivated bulbs, and the variability of the wild population was poorly understood. Many of these species were never identified in the wild. These taxonomic difficulties are those associated with long established cultivation, hybridisation, selection and naturalisation. Treatments of the genus vary considerably in how they deal with speciation, with some, such as the Flora Europaea (1980), taking a very broad approach, and others a much more narrow approach. For example, a broad approach treats T. orphanidea as a single variable species with a range of forms, while those using a narrow approach divide the species into T. bithynica, T. hageri and T. whittallii.

The number of accepted species has varied between 50 and 114, for instance The Plant List (2013) includes 113. A 2013 review lists 76, as described here. This list was used as the basis for Kew Gardens monograph of that year, The Genus Tulipa.

Subgenus Clusianae
Tulipa clusiana Redouté (lady tulip) - Greece, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, W Himalayas
Tulipa harazensis Rech.f. - Iran
Tulipa linifolia Regel (Bokhara tulip)  - Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa montana Lindl. - Turkmenistan, Iran

Subgenus Orithyia
Tulipa heteropetala Ledeb.  - Altay Krai, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang
Tulipa heterophylla (Regel) Baker - Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa sinkiangensis Z.M.Mao - Xinjiang
Tulipa uniflora (L.) Besser ex Baker (Siberian tulip) - Siberia, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Kazakhstan

Subgenus Tulipa

Tulipa agenensis Redouté (eyed tulip)  - Greece, Middle East
Tulipa albanica Kit Tan & Shuka (Albanian tulip) - Albania
Tulipa alberti Regel (Albert's tulip) - - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa aleppensis Boiss. ex Regel (Aleppo tulip)- Turkey, Syria, Lebanon
Tulipa altaica Pall. ex Spreng. (Altai tulip)  - Altai Krai, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang
Tulipa anisophylla Vved.  - Tajikistan
Tulipa armena Boiss. (Armenian tulip) - Turkey, Iran, South Caucasus
Tulipa banuensis Grey-Wilson (Afghan tulip) - Afghanistan
Tulipa borszczowii Regel - Kazakhstan
Tulipa botschantzevae S.N.Abramova & Zakal. - Turkmenistan, Iran
Tulipa butkovii Botschantz. - Uzbekistan
Tulipa carinata Vved. (Pamir tulip) - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan
Tulipa cypria Stapf ex Turrill (Cyprian tulip) - Cyprus
Tulipa dubia Vved. - Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan
Tulipa eichleri Regel (Eichler's tulip)  - Turkey, Iran, Caucasus, accepted by the World Flora Online  but regarded as a synonym of T. undulatifolia by others
Tulipa faribae Ghahr., Attar & Ghahrem.-Nejad - Iran
Tulipa ferganica Vved. - Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa foliosa - Turkey
Tulipa fosteriana W.Irving - Afghanistan, Central Asia
Tulipa × gesneriana L. (garden tulip)
Tulipa greigii Regel (maculate tulip) - Iran, Central Asia
Tulipa heweri Raamsd. - Afghanistan
Tulipa hissarica Popov & Vved. - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa hoogiana B.Fedtsch.  - Turkmenistan, Iran
Tulipa hungarica Borbás (Rhodope tulip) - Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria
Tulipa iliensis Regel - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Xinjiang
Tulipa ingens (Tubergen's tulip) - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa julia K.Koch (Julia tulip)  - Turkey, South Caucasus, Syria, Lebanon
Tulipa kaufmanniana Regel (waterlily tulip) - Central Asia
Tulipa kolpakowskiana Regel (sun tulip) - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Xinjiang, Afghanistan
Tulipa korolkowii Regel - Central Asia
Tulipa kosovarica Kit Tan, Shuka & Krasniqi - Kosovo
Tulipa kuschkensis B.Fedtsch. - Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran
Tulipa lanata Regel - Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, W Himalayas
Tulipa lehmanniana Merckl. (Lehmann's tulip)  - Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asia
Tulipa lemmersii - Kazakhstan
Tulipa ostrowskiana Regel - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa persica (Lindl.) Sweet (Persian tulip) - Iran
Tulipa platystemon Vved. - Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa praestans H.B.May (multiflowered tulip)  - Tajikistan
Tulipa scardica Bornm. (Balkan tulip) - Kosovo, Greece
Tulipa scharipovii Tojibaev - Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa schmidtii Fomin - Iran, South Caucasus
Tulipa serbica Tatic & Krivošej - Kosovo, Serbia
Tulipa sosnowskyi Achv. & Mirzoeva - South Caucasus
Tulipa suaveolens (= Tulipa schrenkii)  Roth (scented or Crimean tulip, Schrenck's tulip)  - Ukraine, Crimea, Russia and south of Siberia, Caucasus, Iran, Kazakhastan
Tulipa subquinquefolia Vved. - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa systola Stapf - Middle East
Tulipa talassica Lazkov - Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa tetraphylla Regel  - Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa × tschimganica Botschantz. - Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa ulophylla Wendelbo - Iran
Tulipa undulatifolia Boiss. - Greece, Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, Iran, Central Asia
Tulipa micheliana Hoog – Central Asia to N.E. Iran, accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families , but regarded as a synonym of T. undulatifolia by others.
Tulipa uzbekistanica Botschantz. & Sharipov  - Uzbekistan
Tulipa vvedenskyi Botschantz. - Tajikistan

Subgenus Eriostemones

Tulipa biflora Pall. (two-flowered tulip) - Macedonia, Egypt, Crimea, Russia, Asia from Saudi Arabia to Xinjiang + Western Siberia
Tulipa bifloriformis Vved. - Central Asia
Tulipa cinnabarina K.Perss. - Turkey
Tulipa cretica Boiss. & Heldr. (Cretan tulip) - Crete
Tulipa dasystemon (Regel) Regel - Central Asia, Xinjiang
Tulipa humilis Herb. (rainbow tulip) - Caucasus, Middle East
Tulipa kolbintsevii Zonn. - Kazakhstan
Tulipa koyuncui Eker & Babaç - Turkey
Tulipa orithyioides Vved.  - Central Asia
Tulipa orphanidea Boiss. & Heldr. (syn. T. hageri) (green or orange wild tulip) - Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey
Tulipa regelii Krassn. (plicate or Regel's tulip) - Kazakhstan
Tulipa saxatilis Sieber ex Spreng. (syn. T. bakeri) (rock tulip) - Greece, Turkey
Tulipa subbiflora Vved.
Tulipa sprengeri Baker  - Turkey
Tulipa sylvestris L. (wild tulip) - Eurasia from Portugal to Xinjiang
Tulipa turkestanica (Regel) Regel - Central Asia, Xinjiang
Tulipa urumiensis Stapf (tarda tulip) - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran

Unplaced
The horned tulip is often offered in the trade as "Tulipa acuminata", but is in fact a cultivar, unknown from the wild, and should be distributed under its correct cultivar name: Tulipa 'Cornuta'.
Tulipa boettgeri Regel – Central Asia; accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families , but regarded as unplaced by Christenhusz et al.

Species reclassified to other genera
These species were classified as Tulipa but are now placed in other genera
Tulipa anhuiensis X.S.Shen, now: Amana anhuiensis (X.S.Shen) Christenh.
Tulipa breyniana L., now: Moraea collina Thunb. (Iridaceae).
Tulipa edulis (Miq.) Baker, now: Amana edulis (Miq.) Honda.
Tulipa erythronioides Baker, now: Amana erythronioides (Baker) D.Y.Tan & D.Y.Hong.
Tulipa graminifolia Baker ex S.Moore, now: Amana edulis (Miq.) Honda.
Tulipa latifolia (Makino) Makino, now: Amana erythronioides (Baker) D.Y.Tan & D.Y.Hong
Tulipa ornithogaloides Fisch. ex Besser, now: Gagea triflora (Ledeb.) Schult. & Schult.f.
Tulipa pudica (Pursh) Raf., now: Fritillaria pudica (Pursh) Spreng.
Tulipa sibthorpiana Sm., now: Fritillaria sibthorpiana (Sm.) Baker.

Etymology
The word tulip, first mentioned in western Europe in or around 1554 and seemingly derived from the "Turkish Letters" of diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, first appeared in English as tulipa or tulipant, entering the language by way of  and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern Latin tulīpa, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend ("muslin" or "gauze"), and may be ultimately derived from the  delband ("Turban"), this name being applied because of a perceived resemblance of the shape of a tulip flower to that of a turban. This may have been due to a translation error in early times, when it was fashionable in the Ottoman Empire to wear tulips on turbans. The translator possibly confused the flower for the turban.

Notes

References

Bibliography

Books

 , In

  see also Species Plantarum
  In

Articles

Websites
 , see also Angiosperm Phylogeny Website

External links

Tulipa
Tulipa

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Need help solving $\int\frac{\sin(x+1)\cos(x)}{\sin^2(x)+4} dx$ As the title says I need help solving the indefinite integral
$$\int\frac{\sin(x+1)\cos(x)}{\sin^2(x)+4}dx$$
Thank you for any help.

A: Hint:
$$\frac{\sin(x+1)\cos(x)}{\sin^2(x)+4} \,dx= \frac{(\sin{x}\cos{1}+\cos{x}\sin{1})\cos(x)}{\sin^2(x)+4} \,dx = \\
 = \cos{1}\frac{\sin{x}\,d(\sin{x})}{\sin^2(x)+4}+ \sin{1}\frac{1-\sin^2{x}}{\sin^2(x)+4}\,dx.$$
Can you proceed?

A: Hint...start by expanding the $\sin(x+1)$ term using the compound angle identity, so thatvyou have two integrals $$\cos1\int\frac{\sin2x}{9-\cos 2x}dx+\sin1\int\frac{1}{1+4\tan^2x}dx$$
The first is immediately apparent, and the second will work out using $t=\tan x$ and application of partial fractions.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


According to the founder of Nuclear Crimes, Andrew Kishner, the continual leaking of nuclear waste into the ocean is being covered-up by officials and is getting worse each day.
Kishner claims that TEPCO, the company in charge of monitoring the plant, has data that shows radiation pouring into the Pacific Ocean non-stop for the past six years.
According to scientists who have examined the radiation levels of fish in the ocean, the days of "eating fish from the Pacific ocean are over".
Despite efforts from the Japanese government to bring the problem under control, the fish have been saturated by the continuous radiation being pumped into the ocean. The contamination has also resulting in the closure of fishing industries.
Worryingly, new studies reveal that fish caught off the West coast of the United States and in Canada are also being tested positive for radiation poisoning.


Convert all these formats into numeric or string (alphabet) data for entering into SPSS..
How is your satisfaction with the customer service of the staff of Suxes?
Enter these types of data As it is….
Determine whether the data supports the researcher's hypothesis.
Descriptive statistics are used for summarizing frequency or measures of central tendency.
Are the most commonly used statistics.
Frequency shows the number of occurrences.
Also calculates measures of central tendency, such as the mean, median, mode, and others.
What kind of computer do people prefer to own?
Crosstabs are used to examine the relationship between two variables.
It shows the intersection between two variables and reveals how the two interact with each other.
What color do people prefer for their computer?
What color do you like to have for your computer?
37. Selecting Cases Filter out and specify which variable to use for analysis with the select cases function.
38. Splitting the File The split file function is used to compare the responses or performance differences by groups within one variable.
To show how PASW Statistics can help interpret results obtained from a sample and make inferences about the population .
SAMPLE POPULATION Is it statistically significant?
A null hypothesis (H 0 ) is a statistical hypothesis that is tested for possible rejection under the assumption that it is true.
The purpose of most statistical tests is to determine if the obtained results provide a reason to conclude whether or not the differences are the result of random chance.
Rejection of H 0 leads to the alternative hypothesis H 1 .
The significance level ( α ) sets the standard for how extreme data must be before rejecting the H 0 .
To reject H 0 , data must meet a significance level ( α ) of 0.05.
α = 0.05 means data would have occurred by chance at most 5% of the time.
If p-value (sig.) ≤ α , then reject H 0 .
If p-value (sig.) > α , then fail to reject H 0 .
Hypothesis Testing Take note that the result is always stated in relation to the null hypothesis , not the alternate.
Direction Magnitude The strength of the linear relationship is determined by the distance of the correlation coefficient (r) from zero.
49. Research Question #1 Is there a relationship between academic performance and Internet access?
Is there an instructional effect taking place in the computer class?
Is there a difference in the average number of seedlings grown in the light and those grown in the dark?
Multiple response sets are used when respondents are allowed to select more than one answer in a single question.
By running a frequency analysis, the result provides an overall raw frequency for each answer.
Crosstabs can also be used to examine the relationship between the sets and other variables.
Useful for users who store each of their topics in separate files, and eventually need or want to combine them together.
This allows users to import data from one file into another.
Both sets of data (from each file) must contain a common identifier for each of the cases that the user wishes to combine.
An identifier identifies the correlating cases from the additional data files.
To show users how PASW Statistics can help in answering research questions or testing hypotheses by using regression.
To provide users with step-by-step instructions on how to perform regression analyses with PASW Statistics.
61. What Is Linear Regression?
Regression: Finds the model that minimizes the total variation in the data (i.e., the best fit).
62. What Is Polynomial Regression?
Polynomial: A finite length expression constructed from variables and constants.
Polynomial Regression: A special type of multiple regression used to determine the relationship between data (e .g., growth rate, progression rate).
Variables can be classified into two categories: independent and dependent variables.
An independent variable is a variable that influences the value of another variable.
A dependent variable is a variable whose values are influenced by another variable.
This is influence, not cause and effect.
Before performing regression, users need to determine whether a linear relationship exists between the two variables.
A scatter plot allows users to examine the linear nature of the relationship between two variables.
If the relationship does not seem to be linear, then the result may be a weak regression model.
65. Scatter Plot Create a scatter plot to determine if a linear relationship exists between variables.
Estimates the linear relationship between one dependent ( Y ) and one independent ( X ) variable.
Since we already know the values of X and Y , what we are trying to do here is to estimate a (slope) and b (Y-intercept).
Estimates the coefficients of the linear equation, involving more than one independent variable.
For example, users can predict a salesperson's total annual sales (the dependent variable) based on independent variables, such as age, education, and years of experience.
Most data transformations can be done with the Compute command.
Using this command, the data file can be manipulated to fit various statistical performances.
To show how PASW Statistics can help answer research questions or test hypotheses by using the Chi-Square test and ANOVA.
To provide step-by-step instructions on how to perform the Chi-Square test and ANOVA with PASW Statistics.
To show how to import and export data using Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
To show how to use scripting in PASW Statistics.
It analyzes data in order to examine if a frequency distribution for a given variable is consistent with expectations.
Chi-Square test for Goodness-of-Fit test : estimates how closely an observed distribution matches an expected distribution.
Before a Chi-Square test is run, weight cases should be used to identify and let PASW Statistics know what the observed values are.
ANOVA : An alysis O f Va riance.
One-Way ANOVA can be thought of as a generalization of the pooled t test.
Produces an analysis for a quantitative dependent variable affected by a single factor (independent variable).
Instead of dealing with two populations, we have more than two populations or treatments.
The null hypothesis in ANOVA is rejected when there are some differences in μ 1 , μ 2 , …, μ x .
But to know where specifically these differences are, the post hoc test is used.
84. Using Post Hoc Tests LSD stands for List Squared Difference.
A Two-Way Analysis of Variance procedure produces an analysis for a quantitative dependent variable affected by more than one factor.
It also provides information about how variables interact or combine in the effect.
Data can be imported into PASW Statistics from an Excel spreadsheet.
Data can be exported from PASW Statistics into an Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint slides, etc.
Used to capture commands that are used repeatedly.
This function simplifies working with multiple analyses on a consistent basis.
Can use different data files as long as the variables in the commands always have the same name.


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Ought has never fully won me over on a single album. I'm fully in love with 3-4 of their songs, but a lot of their other ones are just a little too Wire/Fall/post-punky for my baby ears. But when they're on, they're on. Italicized. This new one, then, is a bit surprising; it doesn't have that 1 killer single, but at the same time, the whole record comes together better for me than their others. Mostly that's because they've clearly shifted their sound into a more "melodic" direction. Scare quotes mandatory, since their singer has a, um, unique (italicized) way of delivering words into a microphone. Speaking of unique vocalizing, do you like Future Islands?
I really ought to dislike should dislike Ought. Especially for a band so obviously influenced by a handful of 70s post punk slash art punk groups like The Fall and Wire and Television that I admittedly and disgracefully have a hard time listening to. Basically anything that revolves around dissonance and sloppy hollered sing-talking turns me right off. No offense to those groups; I appreciate their place in the canon, but they just bring me zero pleasure. Ought, on the other hand, and for reasons I can't even pinpoint, are enjoyable to me. They just make tasteful choices. The singer—well, shout sing talker—has a unique and instrumental voice, and like a great rapper, or actor, or the guy from Future Islands, he knows how to make his projection and tenor work for the betterment of the song, even if he's not actually "singing" any particular melodies. Or if he's just trying to sound like Mark E Smith. Anyhow, this record is a better one front to back than their debut, though it's missing the one killer single which that album had in "Habit," one of my favorite songs of that year. Still, it's a good one, and this is a good group. And no I'm not going to go back and try to "get into" Wire. I've tried. It's not happening.
An equally satisfying and disappointing melange of old-school Tortoise, old-school Talking Heads, and old-school Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, with a little Television, Wire, and Don Cab thrown in for good measure . And I'm not going to write anything more about it, because I just depressed myself by using the phrase "old-school Clap Your Hands Say Yeah."


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It will explore below and then climb a treacherous, winding, mountain path that leads you to The Nowhere.
At the end of the car ride (here's a tip Reyn learned the hard way, the car makes a few stops, don't get out until you are in front of the barn) copy a horse, wear the horse, explore The Nowhere level.
Once astride our mighty, patient steeds, we continued to follow the road. Mari pointed out some attractive turkeys (Reyn took a landmark for free-range poultry) as we made our way to the end of the road, through a rainy forested glen, into a wintery space, showing a car driving off into the winter. Beside the car, poetry explaining that perspective and the feeling.
Here are some more links to explore this experience, and others.


Ciel Creative Space dedicates its walls to feature our amazing local talent. We believe in promoting and highlighting the best the Bay has to offer. Whether you're an up and coming artist or a seasoned aesthete, we would love to bring your vibes to our space as a way to inspire.
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For Spring of 2019 we have chosen The People's Conservatory in Oakland as our charity. The People's Conservatory fosters high level arts creation, study and performance in an effort to promote cultural awareness and positive social change.


What will trigger the next correction?
On that fateful day, after five days of intensifying stock market declines, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost an astonishing 22.6 percent of its value (for its part, the S&P 500 dropped 20.4 percent), plummeting 508.32 points after a 5-year run from 776 in August of 1982 to a high of 2,722.42 in August, 1987. Black Monday's losses far exceeded the 12.8 percent decline of October 28, 1929, the start of the Great Depression.
But a closer look at the coverage and its aftermath is revealing, especially for what is missing. There is no "smoking gun." According to the Big Board's Chairman, at least five factors contributed to the record decline: the market's having gone five years without a major correction; general inflation fears; rising interest rates; conflict with Iran; and the volatility caused by "derivative instruments" such as stock-index options and futures. Although it became a major part of the later narrative, Phelan specifically declined to blame the crash on program trading alone.
In other words, the market collapse had no definitive (or even clear) trigger. The market dropped by almost a quarter for no obvious reason. And while it's counterintuitive, that observation is wholly consistent with catastrophes of various sorts in the natural world and in society. Wildfires, fragile power grids, mismanaged telecommunication systems, global terrorist movements, migrating viruses, volatile markets and the weather are all complex systems that evolve to a state of criticality. Upon reaching the critical state, these systems then become subject to cascades, rapid down-turns in complexity from which they may recover but which will be experienced again repeatedly.
This phenomenon was discovered largely on account of the analysis of sandpiles. Scientists began examining sandpiles and discovered that each tiny grain of sand added to the pile increased the overall risk of avalanche, but which grain of sand would make the difference and when the big avalanches would occur remained unknown and unknowable.
Notice that often a single grain of sand added to the pile makes very little difference. Sometimes there is a good bit of shifting around. But once in a while the addition of just a single grain of sand can result in the collapse of an entire side of the pile. This finding is consistent with the "butterfly effect" in chaos theory, which refers to idea that a small change at one place can result in large differences in a later state somewhere else. Thus a hurricane's formation might be contingent upon whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped its wings several weeks earlier. It's eery — really odd even — but nonetheless true.
For the markets, that means that we should not expect ever to be able to identify the trigger of any correction or crash in advance or to be able to predict such an event with any degree of specificity. This understanding doesn't change my outlook (which remains cautiously constructive), but it does emphasize the need to manage one's risks aggressively and to hedge appropriately. Tomorrow could be the day that the market tanks…and you shouldn't expect to see it coming.
This entry was posted in Capital Markets and tagged 1987 Market Crash, Black Monday, Risk Management, Self-Organizing Criticality by Bob Seawright. Bookmark the permalink.


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Home » Worldwide Destinations » England » Harry Potter in London: Warner Brothers Studio Tour
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Harry Potter in London: Warner Brothers Studio Tour
travelsmartwoman January 9, 2019 tours, museum, Worldwide Destinations, England Leave a Comment
Harry Potter in London seems natural…at least to fans like me. Where else would smart and sophisticated wizards and witches be found? And, after 12 rejections, it was a London publisher who finally agreed to take a chance on a boy wizard with lightning-bolt scar.
You'll see Harry's room under the stairs while in queue to enter the stage sets.
Actually, for ten years, Harry–and his friends and enemies–were found about 20 miles northeast of London, in Leavesden, making eight films in a former WWII fighter airplane factory. After the astounding success of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, by J.K. Rowling, the idea to make it a film was obvious.
Everyone thought that Disney would be the logical winner of film rights. But when they weren't able to agree with Rowling's demands, including that all actors be British, Warner Brothers scooped up the deal for a measly $2 billion. By the time filming began in 2000, there were four books out–and Pottermania was epidemic. A major location was needed to accommodate the sets and everything that goes with movie-making. Leavesden was perfect…except for occasional off-site locations, everything from the books was faithfully created there.
When "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2" was finished in 2010, everyone looked around at a decade's worth of sets, props, costumes, animated creatures, and elaborate workshops. It was too good to let go. Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour was planned and opened on March 31, 2012.
Harry Potter in London: Forget Universal Studios…this is BETTER!
The Great Hall's ceiling of wooden beams and candles were digitally created. Here, the pumpkin props are real. (All photos by Suzanne Ball)
No matter your age, when you take enter the studios (ALL tickets are sold in advance with timed entry.) you'll keep saying, "Here's Dumbledore's Office!" "The Great Hall–it's so big!" "So this is how they filmed Quidditch!"
Who can forget when Ron and Harry "drove" to Hogwarts?
Every set looks so different…and yet familiar. Stand in front of the Mirror of Erised. Climb on a broomstick and take a ride. Enter into a wand duel. Learn how special effects were made; even when you understand, you'll still be in awe. Maybe even more, because it's so amazing.
As you walk through the sets, notice that every prop is, well, proper. Dishes on the tables at The Burrow. Tiny handwritten labels on bottles in Potions Class. Embroidery on costumes. Engraving on cups. There is an entire room of hats. Items that were in the background or seen onscreen for a few seconds, it doesn't matter. The attention to detail is beyond impressive.
Dolores Umbridge: Her Pinkness!
One of my favorite displays was dedicated to Delores Umbridge and her fondness for kittens and all things pink. Dolores was saccharine-sweet, but manipulative. The sign by her display explains that as she gained power, her outfits became brighter pinks; I hadn't noticed that before. The Props Department searched London for her fancy furniture. Special Effects added footage of romping kittens to the plates and photos around her office.
Snape stands in front of his Potions Class set. The bottles all have handwritten labels.
If there's a scene from a Harry Potter movie you remember, there's a set and props here. Even the Forbidden Forest! After the first movie was filmed on location in Black Park in Buckinghamshire, it became apparent that shooting in the dark with conditions that couldn't be controlled wasn't going to work going forward. So a "new" forest was constructed, complete with Aragog–and his 18-foot arm span. Hagrid's shack? Ministry of Magic? Malfoy Manor? Privet Drive? Diagon Alley? Hogwarts Bridge? And of course, Platform 9¾ beside the big red Hogwarts Express. It's all here…and more.
The creatures & the castle: two departments at their finest
As you leave the studios, you enter special areas showing the craftsmanship of Creature Effects. All those goblins, animals, and characters like Dobby, Griphook, Greyback…and Voldemort. Faces, ears, hands, feet–each one is unique. Even those in the background have individual features. Makeup and prosthetics, plus hours of application time, made each one look "real."
Animals of all kinds, from Buckbeak to Fawkes, were made in different versions and stances. Even the plants–remember those screaming Mandrakes?–required a team to design, make prototypes, then produce the final product.
The Hogwarts Castle model includes landscaping and real plants!
The crowning achievement of the Art Department was the model of Hogwarts Castle, used in every film after "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." First done in cardboard in small-scale, it has every detail of the castle: turrets, courtyards, windows, and doors. The landscape was copied from the Scottish Highlands. The crew of 86 included 2,500 fiber optic lights that can be programmed to simulate lanterns and torches. Fun fact: If all the man-hours that were put into the castle, from the first drawing to the final landscaping, the result would be over 74 years!
I'll be honest: this is one of the best attractions I've ever been to. As a Harry Potter fan, I loved seeing everything that I'd imagined when I read the books. As a film buff, I was blown away by the information about how filming works, learning about special effects, and admiring the attention to every detail. I'd go again!
Butterbeer! Need I say more?
The entire tour (although you are really on your own) takes about 4 hours. Because of timed entry, there is never a pressing crowd. Halfway through, there is a cafe to stop and enjoy a Butterbeer, along with Muggle food, British-style: hamburgers, sandwiches, salads, and soups. Bakery items and Butterbeer ice cream, too. A cafe in the entrance area serves breakfast items, light lunch food, and an afternoon tea for two.
Tickets must be purchased in advance! Basic admission is £47.00 ($59.00) for adults (over age 16) and £38.00 ($48.00) for children 5-15. Under 5 is free, but a ticket is still required. (2020 prices)
There's an upscale package that includes admission, a digital guide, and very nice souvenir guidebook.£56.95 ($72) for adults, £47.95 ($60.50) for kids. (2020 prices)
Get there from London from Euston Station in a little more than one hour: Train (20 min) Walk (10 min) Bus (6 min) Walk (15 min). Or…find a tour company to transport you there and back–and book your ticket. That's what I did: Viator, an online tour clearinghouse, charges about $110 for the trip (2020 price) including admission. (Food, drinks, and your own wand are at your own expense.) It's a full day trip, and all you have to do is show up at Euston Station.
Updated July 13, 2020. Please check the Warner Bros "Making of Harry Potter" website for the latest information regarding tickets, safety, and your visit.
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