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About the IOE
Contact the IOE
Becky Francis
Q&A with Professor Becky Francis
Getting to know the Director of the UCL Institute of Education (IOE).
What is your role and what does it involve?
I'm the Director of the UCL Institute of Education, which involves leading this very prestigious and large scale institution.
How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?
I started in July 2016, having been Professor of Education and Social Justice at Kings College London for four years. My academic expertise and research has always been based on inequalities in experience and achievement in education, according to social identity, social class, ethnicity, gender, and so on. I've taken various policy interests and roles, including being an advisor to select committee enquiries, and was also standing advisor to the education select committee last year.
What's the most important thing you've learned from your students about the subject you teach?
You learn so much about different ways of doing things, different education systems, different expectations and modes of practice. In my own area of social inequality, it's fascinating to see and hear how other countries' systems are approaching this. I've gained all of that from students - hearing from them first hand, rather than reading the theory in books.
What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?
It's difficult to narrow it down to one. I'm proud of many of my research pieces and their successful impact. There have been particular policy pieces that have had a lot of impact. I'm still involved with an annual piece for the Sutton Trust, called 'Chain Effects', which looks at the relative successes or otherwise of different academy chains for their disadvantaged pupils in terms of narrowing gaps in their attainment. That has been very influential for academy chains and for government, as well as other organisations and the select committee.
"What would it surprise people to know about you?
My pragmatism, given that I am very strongly politically and socially motivated. I think it's important to try to seize opportunity wherever you find it. I try to combine what I see as the pragmatic and the utopian and hold the two together; you've got to keep your values, your future vision and your ideals about what you're striving for, but in the meantime - particularly in terms of education - I think we have to recognise that kids are in schools every day. So while we might want to transform the whole system, we have to work with what we've got and try to improve it in 'real time', and keep those two things going simultaneously."
Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of you to-do list?
Currently, I'm really proud and always excited about the substantive project that I'm running. It's called 'Best Practice in Grouping Students' and it takes a perennial sociological finding that disadvantaged young people are subject to a double disadvantage in schools because they tend to be placed in low attainment groups when they get to school.
The evidence shows that kids in those low attainment groups make less progress than their peers in higher attaining groups. So, given that kids from socially disadvantaged backgrounds are over-concentrated in those groups and they're the ones that need the most help and the most 'catch up', they are facing a double disadvantage in our system. This project works with 140 secondary schools, with an intervention on best practice in setting - where some of the identified bad practices are stripped out - and best practice in mixed attainment grouping. Hopefully, we'll be able to answer some of the long-standing questions about ability grouping in this country.
What other piece of research outside of your own subject area interests you?
I'm always very interested in different studies of social inequality, the causes of it, and what might help to mitigate it. Those questions are addressed from every disciplinary angle; particularly from social science. Within that, one of the areas that I'm interested in but don't know enough about is neuroscientific research; particularly epigenetics. I'm very interested in the epigenetic developments and findings about the impact of environment on heredity. I think in education we often still see nature and nurture as two completely separate sides of a coin. My understanding of epigenetics developments is that they suggest a blurring of the two, which is interesting and something that educators should be aware of.
Professor Becky Francis' IRIS research profile
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Professor Becky Francis
Tes people of the year 2018: Becky Francis


Around 5pm on Thursday, July 16, 2009, a severe thunderstorm moved northward through Westford, bringing hail to much of the town. Some locations had large quantities of smaller hail, while others locations had smaller quantities of large hail, and still others had a mix of both. The hail caused damage such as broken windows and screens, damaged siding, dented cars and broken windshields, and decimated gardens. The largest hailstones were over 3 inches in diameter.
Hail forms in a thunderstorm around a nucleus, such as a piece of dust. As the updrafts in the storm push the nucleus into the supercooled water in the cloud, ice begins to form around the nucleus. When the updraft can no longer kept the hail aloft, it will fall through the cloud. If it encounters another updraft strong enough to lift it back up through the cloud, it will accumulate more ice. This will continue until the hail stone is too large for any of the updrafts, and it will then fall to the ground.
In Vermont, most of the hail that occurs is small, around 1/2" in diameter or less. Occasionally, there will be a storm that produces hail greater than 1" diameter. Rarely do we see storms with hail of 2" or more in diameter, and it's practically unheard of to get hail 3" or greater in diameter in Vermont. This is much more common in the plains and midwest where the storms are larger and stronger.
The National Weather Service in Burlington has a write-up of the severe weather of this day here.


This update is special, because it released in august 8th, do you know what day is it? this is the day whcich known as Hari Game Indonesia A.K.A Indonesian Games Day. Finally we now have our official cellebration day for gamers and who ever contribute to game industry.
It's been a very long time since our last updates, now we come back with a little update for you.
We also setup some small event during this cellebration, we give away some special item, that you can by playing max war. the item including Steam Voucher.
- Find some box marked as Hari Game Indonesia, this item is hiding arround the map, so you need to search them.
- Take, and open the box, voila your prizes will be send to you after the event is finished.
In this release, we mainly focus on new island called Papua, it's a reall name, the shape of the island is based on the reall island of course, it's more like a miniatur. Survive and build your parimeter in a wild land of papua.
This release also bought some new vehicle and weapon, we've added a light machine gun and Auto Rickshaw vehicle.
That this release is not represent the final product, this is just a prototype demo, that's why we call it Pre Alpha. We release this version because we want to hear more feedback, so you can try the game and give us some feedback.
If you love this games, and want this to become true, please help us.
Here are some link that maybe useful for you.


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Word and practical problems in biology can get confusing in a hurry, particularly if you're distracted by something like exam stress! When you are manipulating several ideas, it is good practice to be thoughtful and follow rules that keep you consistent in your interpretation. As an instructor, I have seen work in which the student clearly got flustered and forgot that the mutation he or she was working on was dominant. This often leads to an answer that is inconsistent with the data.
There are a few simple rules we can use for nomenclature. Essentially, we use capital letters to indicate an allele that, in a heterozygote, expresses the proteins from that particular allele. This first appendix uses a simplified system to communicate allele characteristics. The next appendix will show a more complicated system that carries even more information in the gene symbols.
The links below take you through lessons in nomenclature.
Classical genetics requires higher-level thinking and an organized strategy. You have probably encountered symbols in high school genetics and perhaps in previous chapters assigned to you in this course. Chapter 13 points out that a position on a chromosome is a gene locus, which simply means the location at which a gene is found. At that position, the gene could be one of several variants that we call alleles. The set of alleles comprise an organism's genotype, which might affect the organism's phenotype through the action of the genotype.
When you are solving genetics problems you have to keep track of different alleles of one or more genes. This can become confusing, so understanding how a gene works, how alleles vary, how they are expressed, and the influence they have on phenotype is important. A consistent nomenclature system – a set of rules dictating how you name alleles – becomes immensely helpful. Below are buttons that take you to different nomenclature activities.


This is part two of a four-part series about the design of the new logo and website for Mesa Public Schools. For more information, please read the introduction: A New Look at Work.
I am no Michelangelo. I don't even consider myself an artist. But I do believe he was on to something: there is a proverbial angel in the marble, a statue in every stone. Even the most mediocre design has something good about it, and by "carving" it out–by freeing it of distractions and imperfections–it can be made better.
This is part one of a four-part series about the design of the new logo and website for Mesa Public Schools. For more information, please read the introduction: A New Look at Work.
Officially, Mesa's logo design and branding project began a few months ago. For me, though, the process of designing a new logo started much earlier–nearly five years ago.
I'm not often the type to reflect on my day-to-day work and think, "Oh, I've got to blog about this." (Isn't it obvious?) I'm proud of the work that I do, but not particularly boastful. Most of the time I am content to let the work stand on its own.
For the past few months, I've been working on a very exciting project at work–one of the most exciting projects I've ever worked on. I've actually been wanting to blog about it since August… but our team has had to keep it under wraps until we had final approval. This week, it was approved–a brand new district logo for Mesa Public Schools!
But this week provided a two-for-one special: in addition to a new logo, we were able to release a brand new design for the district website.
Last night, while working on +Escher's new install wizard, I thought I must have done something terribly wrong. Everything was working fine before the config file was saved, then BOOM! It stopped working if the file existed.
I spent hours on it, only to discover the true culprit: Apache. Somehow, who knows how long ago, while tinkering with Apache on my dev server, I turned on MultiViews. So requests to /config/install/ (a virtual URL path in Escher) were getting rewritten to /config.php/install/… Gross.
1. A user makes a request to the web server.
2. PHP parses and executes the requested script and all included scripts in their entirety.
3. The web server returns the results of the PHP script to the user.
The larger or more complex the logic is, the slower Step 2 gets. This can become painfully obvious to the user when a "blocking" operation occurs–a large file is created, compressed, or encoded, a call to an API or remote server is made, etc. Worse for PHP is the particular way that PHP, Apache, and other common components of the server stack handle multiple requests. In certain cases, if one user is waiting on a "slow" request, many other users may experience slow responses.
Escher's new job scheduler is designed to alleviate this problem. Instead of performing a "blocking" operation during a request, a script can create a job to perform the operation asynchronously, after the request has completed. Jobs can be set to run at some point in the future, but often, they are "scheduled" to be processed immediately.
Escher accomplishes this by making use of the Linux command-line interface. When a job is created, Escher sends a command to the command line that starts the job scheduler process. This process is non-blocking and exists outside of the current request.
A more sophisticated response might utilize Ajax to check the status of the job periodically. Here again, Escher's job scheduler can come in handy. As the background job process, the scheduler collects information about the status of the job–error messages, return status (success or failure), and more. The job itself can even save progress information, human-readable messages, and other data to the database.
There are plenty of other features I want to add to the job scheduler–especially configurability, e.g., the ability to disable automatic processing (depending instead on a system cron) or pinging one or more separate "job servers" in lieu of local processing.
I've taken some time to update a few of my old websites and projects that I've had a hand in. Now that they're slightly less embarrassing, I thought I'd share them.
– Import of Embarrassing LiveJournal entries? Check.
– Consolidation of two previous WordPress blogs? Check.
Theme that I am, at least for the moment, a little proud of? Check.
I had been saving the "nature" theme for a portfolio website, and was never really happy with the "blueprint" version of the theme that I had used for my last blog. So I relented and switched to the colorful nature theme, which I really do love. Hopefully, between the new theme and the G+ imports, I can make a halfway decent attempt at "blogging" once again.
I finally moved all of my sites (and most of my friends' sites) over to my Linode box. My past experience was with a GoDaddy box, so I am thrilled with how much control I have over the server, how easy it is to configure (via a free control panel I found), and what a beast it is for just having 512MB of RAM. Highly recommend Linode to anyone who is comfortable with Linux and wants a nice, standalone virtual server.
I don't want to post a lengthy article, but I thought I would try to back my claim with a little bit of math. Fair warning: this is common-sense math that might not hold water in real-life situations (somewhere between damned lies and statistics?) so you are forewarned.
Cloud hosting differs from "normal" hosting in that the host services are distributed across multiple servers. In theory, something as simple as running a web server alongside a separate database server could be considered a form of "cloud". However, the typical selling point of cloud hosting is extreme scalability–that you quickly expand your website to run on many servers at once, and later turn off or simply discard spare servers when they are not needed.
During non-peak hours, the website can run on as few as two servers. By not having to pay for the remaining servers when they are not needed, the website can save a significant amount of hosting costs.
For a smaller website like this, cloud hosting provides far less control and with far greater risk. The operator of the website must make a choice: turn the second server on early and incur additional hosting costs, or delay turning on the second server as long as possible, and risk site performance issues. And because the required "turn-on" point occurs when traffic is climbing at its fastest, the risk of performance issues is a very real thing.
Still, there will be a period of time at which the website simply will not need a second server. The website operator must decide if that downtime will result in actual savings over a traditional virtual dedicated hosting plan.
I tried to give Amazon every possible advantage in this case–I've neglected to take GoDaddy's 12-month discount into account, and I've specified an extremely low amount of data transfer for a website that would require such a meaty hosting plan. Even still, the EC2 solution is only competitive in price if the second server sees 33% or less utilization. And were I to expect greater bandwidth requirements, Amazon's cost quickly becomes much more expensive.
There are costs to cloud hosting well beyond dollar amounts, as well. Upgrading to a "cloud" environment introduces many new layers of complexity–load balancing, instance management, network file handling, and much much more. Amazon's administrative console is extremely powerful and helpful, but even still, the learning curve can be incredibly steep.
Do not overestimate your need for cloud hosting.
If you are first and foremost a web designer, and you aren't what you would consider a "server guy", cloud hosting is probably beyond your needs and will definitely overwhelm you. If you are more savvy, or are in a large enough organization to have one of the aforementioned "server guys", block out a good amount of time for learning in-depth about cloud hosting and developing a plan for when and how to best implement it.
For anyone who cares, these are my personal recommendations for choosing virtual/cloud hosting.
Avoid GoDaddy. The numbers are very competitive, but in my experience their servers are extremely inundated by "bloat". I suspect they also spread CPU resources very thin.
Avoid the Amazon "Free Tier" EC2. This may seem like a great starter solution for web hosting, but there are often hidden costs related to disk usage. Consider this option only for testing the Amazon platform.
Watch the Amazon Large EC2. When you can afford it, or when your website starts to outgrow something like the Linode 1536, jump to Amazon and settle in on a Large EC2. At this size, I feel Amazon becomes far more economical than any other option. You still don't need cloud computing yet, but when you do, you'll be on a platform that's more than capable for doing so.
Lately, I have been asked one question more than any other question–heck, more than all other questions combined: "What phone should I buy?" Part of my day job is spent supporting computers, browsers, email, and network connections… And yet no one asks me about those things in passing. It's always about phones. Nearly a decade after we first chuckled over the weird guy obsessed with his oversized CrackBerry… We've all caught the addiction. This is the era of the smartphone.
So… What should you buy?
Forget about BlackBerry and Palm. They have missed the window of opportunity for attracting developers, and a smartphone without software… just isn't very smart. Microsoft has actually done some interesting things with the Windows Phone 7 user experience, but I would consider its new OS an "unknown" for the time being, as Microsoft has a tendency to produce neat gimmicks with very poor follow-through.
Of course, to many technology fanboys, that is no simple question, but rather, fuel added to the fire of their latest holy war. Apple hipsters will tout the iPhone's ease-of-use; Google advocates will mention the open platform. iFans will brag that their demographic gets laid more, and Droid-heads will… Mention some cryptic thing about how nice "user intents" are, whatever that means.
Do you have a deep-seated hatred for AT&T? I couldn't blame you… Their logo, until recently, did bear an uncanny resemblance to the Death Star. All signs point to Apple breaking free from its bonds with AT&T in the near future, but for now… Go Android.
Is it important for you to have music, movies and photos with you on the go? Apple's experience with iPods and iTunes give it a clear advantage, although Google is making plans to catch up in the next version of its OS. Still: Go iPhone.
Do you rely on Google's Gmail, Documents, Calendars, and other Google Apps? Fortunately, most of these apps perform equally well (or poorly) on both platforms. However, Apple has been known to block some Google apps in the past, and there's nothing stopping them from doing so again in the future. And of course, nobody is going to know Google Apps–and Android–better than Google. Go Android.
Is important for you to be able to customize and personalize your phone software and user experience? Apple likes to control the user experience, so they don't allow apps to take over any of the default functionality of the phone. Tired of the default iPhone SMS interface? There's an app for that–but good luck getting it to use your unlimited texting plan, or accessing it from your Address Book contacts. Android, on the other hand, gives users the freedom of choice. I run a custom home screen, lock screen, and SMS app. I have multiple map apps, browsers, and camera apps installed, and could easily set one of them as the "default application" for those duties. All of these apps, and the many UI elements provided by the Android OS, interact and play nice together. This is my single favorite feature of Android, and I wish there were a desktop OS that handled these interactions so elegantly. Granted, most people don't require this level of customization. But if you're a tinkerer… Go Android.
Is it important for your phone to be extremely simple to use? Android has gotten knocked for having a less-than-elegant UI, but as of "Froyo" (version 2.2) I believe it is nearly as clean and user-friendly as the iPhone's. I say "nearly"… Apple is the king of polish, and there are certain specific actions (e.g. selecting text on a web page) that are still just a million times easier on iPhone. These are features you won't realize are missing on an Android phone until you need to use them–and many people never will. But if you want a stupidly simple smartphone, and I mean that in a good way: Go iPhone.
There are many extenuating circumstances that can trump this list, of course: carriers, coverage, keyboards, form factors… Android, being on multiple phones and carriers, is a bit more accommodating to these circumstances. But really, if you didn't answer "yes" to one of the questions above, it comes down to user preference. If that's the case, then congratulations are in order… Hopefully, whatever choice you make, you can remain a somewhat neutral party, avoiding the fanboy wars that will continue for a few years to come.
Caveat emptor: Android mileage varies greatly by phone manufacturer and carrier. Android phones from T-Mobile or from Motorola's Droid series are generally safe, HTC-branded phones have some rather invasive UI customizations. The Samsung Galaxy line of phones have made waves as the "alternative to iPhone", but in a cruel twist of fate, some stock Android features are just plain broken in the Samsung UI. And some cheaper phones are simply underpowered. In lieu of writing an article about "Which Android phone should I buy?", I will happily do my best to field any questions left in the comments.
lineHeight: Specify the lineHeight of the textarea–as a Textpandable option or a CSS declaration.
minRows and maxRows: Set limits to how small or big your textarea will expand to.
padding: Set a number of extra rows to provide for "padding". 1-2 rows is usually a good value.
width: Number of characters to allow per line before adding an extra row. If not set, Textpandable tries its best to determine safe values based on CSS declarations, col attributes, and/or pixel width.
Now, I'm calling this version 0.9 for a few reasons: I haven't tested this in IE yet, and I haven't documented the code (although it's really simple)… but most of all, it's not feature-complete: I want to get animations working. Unfortunately, with animations turned on, any change in size causes the cursor position to skip to the end and/or lose focus. I'm not experienced enough with the innards of jQuery to know why this would be happening.
It works just fine with the default speed setting of '0' (as I've short-circuited the animation script in this case). Anyone who gets animation working will be my hero!
I'm working on the redesign for my beloved first-born child, SmartPopcorn. The previous design iteration is nearly four years old, so needless to say, the new design is a big, big change with a lot of design features that weren't even available–or that I certainly wasn't aware of–four years ago: CSS selectors, min-width and max-width, position: fixed… And thank the maker, IE7 and IE8.
During this redesign, I realized two things: First, I take a different approach to CSS image rollovers than most people seem to. Second, my unorthodox approach really came in handy this time.
The outlines represent the dimensions and positioning of each element, and the shaded portions represent the background image position. It looks relatively simple, but there were a lot of difficult issues involved–either the starburst pattern was getting cut off to the left, or the main content area was too skinny, or something. The CSS image rollover for the bucket logo was actually the least of my concerns–but only by happy accident.
Typically, the background image contains two "sprites", and you manipulate the background position to display either the default or active sprite, one or the other. This works just fine, and I think it taps into the visual metaphor of the "sliding door" that is so popular among CSS gurus.
Here we have two HTML elements: the #title link, which will be on the receiving end of our rollover; and its parent element, the #side_margin div. I've always just made the background image of the parent element handle the default state of the rollover. Meanwhile, the background-image of the #title element is positioned out in la-la land, in negative-pixel territory… out of sight. When the #title's :hover state is fired, its background-image is repositioned into view. Tada, rollover.
I call this the "quantum rollover" because, well, it really doesn't exist until you observe it, right? Geeky, I know.
Is this approach better or worse than the "traditional" CSS rollover? I'm not sure. I think it's better in some cases, worse in others. I do think my approach has an advantage if your parent container is already going to include a background image–as is the case with the starburst pattern in the SmartPopcorn design. I also think that, because I've approached my rollovers this way, it's helped me to keep my designs smoother, softer, and less claustrophobic or "boxy".


Expertise concerning stability of reinforced concrete retaining wall near Do Studzienki St. in Gdańsk residential area, May 1999.
Expertise pertaining to construction technology of corridor W-Z segment between Łąkowa St and Elbląska St in Gdańsk, April 1994.
Construction technology expertise revision of road embankment of Armii Krajowej corridor located on organic subsoil (hm 24.5-hm 28.0), October 1997.
Design project; subgrade strengthening and construction of road embankment for Sucharski corridor in Gdańsk along with technical specifications. Contract 44.1 No. (from Wosia Budzisza St), February 1998.
Design project; subgrade strengthening and construction of road embankment on Sucharski Route in Gdańsk along with technical specifications. Contract 44.3 No. (from Elbląska St), February 1998.
Technical expertise pertaining to causes of destruction and reconstruction method for slope of railway subgrade excavation near 3-Maja St in Gdańsk, July 2001.
Project concerning slope protection of a housing estate near Budapesztańska St in Gdańsk, September 2001.
Soil investigation performed in order to determine subsoil condition of designed housing estate (Żurawie Wzgórze), September 2003.
Additional soil investigation performed in order to determine subsoil condition of designed housing estate (Żurawie Wzgórze), February 2004.
Study concerning foundation of building A and B, Żurawie Wzgórze Estate in Gdańsk, May 2004.
Soil investigation performed in order to determine subsoil condition of designed housing estate. Location: Gdańsk, Obrońców Wybrzeża Rd, February 2004.
Study concerning the influence of groundwater level change in the area of investment, Gdańsk-Przymorze, Obrońców Wybrzeża Rd, plot number 53/7, May 2004.
Technical documentation concerning dewatering of excavation during foundation works for investment, Gdańsk-Przymorze, Obrońców Wybrzeża Rd, plot number 53/7, June 2004.
Geological-engineering project; Establishing geological-engineering conditions for roads travelway subgrade and transportation facilities located on South ring road of Gdańsk segment Przejazdowo-Koszwały, July 2004.
Geological-engineering documentation; Establishing geological-engineering conditions for roads travelway subrade and transportation facilities located on South ring road of Gdańsk segment Przejazdowo-Koszwały, November 2004.
Construction technology alternative of road embankment and subgrade stabilization of the South ring road of Gdańsk segment Przejazdowo-Koszwały, December 2004.
Reconstruction project concerning protection of slope located behind building No. 4 near Anna Jagiellonka St, Pogodne II Estate in Gdańsk, April 2005.
Slope protection project; Phase III and V. Miłe II Estate in Gdańsk, September 2004.
Opinion concerning slope stability located behind building near Legenda 52 Rd, Miłe II Estate in Gdańsk, December 2004.
Slope reconstruction project; slope located behind building No. 5a on Miłe II Estate in Gdańsk, February 2005.
Slope reconstruction project; slope located behind building No. 5b on Miłe II Estate in Gdańsk, February 2005.
Slope protection project; slope located behind building No. 2a on Miłe II Estate in Gdańsk, February 2005.
Slope reconstruction project; slope located behind building No. 1 on Miłe II Estate in Gdańsk, February 2005.
Slope reconstruction and protection project; slope located behind building No. 20 on Miłe II Estate in Gdańsk, February 2005.
Slope reconstruction and protection project; slope located behind building No. 20 on Miłe II Estate in Gdańsk, April 2005.
Slope protection project; slope located near T-2 transformer station on Miłe II Estate in Gdańsk, March 2005.
Project; Drainage of underground and surface water from slope and building site near buildings No. 7, 9, 11a, 13a and 19a on Miłe II Estate in Gdańsk, May 2005.
Expertise providing guidelines for design of parking plot pavement beneath Real center in Gdańsk, Kołobrzeska Rd, 2003.
Geotechnical expertise concerning determination of subsoil condition of a section of Motława river outlet near Bastion św. Gertrudy in Gdańsk, 2000.
Recommendation concerning sport facility piling in Gdańsk-Brzeźno, 2004.
Geotechnical examinations performed in order to determine subsoil condition of designed housing estate. September 2005.
Geotechnical examinations project performed in order to determine hydrogeological conditions and contamination of underground water in the area of former paint and varnish factory, Polifarb-Oliwa in Gdańsk near Bora Komorowskie Rd, October 2005.
Laboratory tests of soil samples, involvement in the development of geological-engineering examinations along with development of geotechnical part within the framework of gelological-engineering examinations for construction of Deepwater Container Terminal in the North Harbour, Gdańsk, 2004. (Employer Państwowy Instytut Geologiczny, Warszawa).
Additional soil investigation performed in order to determine subsoil condition of designed housing estate. Gdańsk-Zakoniczyn, Porębski Rd and Bergiela Rd, February 2004.
Expertise pertaining to the causes of basement flooding of Novotel Marina in Gdańsk near Jelitkowska Rd along with the development of protective measures, phase I, May 2005.
Construction methods of designed building foundations in the proximity of existing building (single-family house with an office section in Sopot, Niepodległość St 2, May 2005, Employer: Pol-Swed Projekt, Gdańsk.
Expertise concerning foundation of road embankments on the Pruszcz Gdański ring road (segment from Grunwaldzka Rd to Kopernik Rd along with PCK Rd to the Obr. Westerplatte Rd), April 2002, Employer. BPBK, Gdańsk.
Technical expertise concerning retaining wall project protecting slope near the Nowa Radunia river in Gdańsk-Pruszcz near Wczasowa Rd, 2004. Employer: Gdańskie Centrum Uslug Techniczno-Organizacyjnych Budownictwa, Gdańsk.
Expertise concerning geotechnical conditions in the proximity of platform's legs. Project concerning expanding the lifespan of the drilling platform Baltic Beta, April 2004. Employer: Petrobaltic, Gdańsk.
Report on PETROBALTIC jack-up rig foundations Location B8-3, May 2005. Employer: Petrobaltic, Gdańsk.
Recommendation concerning project "Stabilization of cliff slope from D.W. "Horyzont" in Jastrzebia Góra, 133,660-134,271 km including cliff development and dewatering" performed by Najder engineering, November 2004. Employer: Urząd Morski, Gdynia.
Temporary foundationtechnology of a segment of sanitary collector in the area of designed road facility "Działki" in Wejherowo, 2000. Employer: Urząd Miasta Wejherowo.
Investigation of peat deposition in the area of PSSE Żarnowiec, December 2001.
Expertise concerning construction technology of road embankment along with technical specification for the construction project of Lębork's ring road segment located on soil with low bearing capacity, 1996.
Expertise concerning causes and preventive methods of track settlement, track No. 2 line E65 Warszawa - Gdańsk on segment Malbork - Lisewo 283,550- 284,780 km and 288,950 - 290,250 km in the location of stabilized subgrade, September 1998.
Expertise concerning embankment foundation technology for the road network of the bridge crossing over river Elbląg , November 1997.
Appendicies No. 1 pertaining to expertise concerning embankment foundation technology for the road network of the bridge crossing over river Elbląg. Correction of the AB link, April 1999.
Recommendation concerning causes of slope failure and creation of landslide at fortified castle in Gniew, January 2001.
Guidelines concerning foundation of road embankment and pavement construction on segment C, access to Vistula river bridge in the area of Kwidzyn 0+000- km 3+770 km, 2002.
Segment B, access to Vistula river bridge in the area of Kwidzyn. Guidelines concerning foundation of road embankment on segment with organic subsoil (6+490- km 10+770 km), 2002.
Laboratory soil tests sampled from boreholes in the area of Prabuty- Kwidzyn railroad line landslide on railway segment from 45,195 km up to 45,283 km. Gdańsk, June 1999.
Project concerning reconstruction of railway embankment in the area of Prabuty-Kwidzyn railroad line landslide (km 45.195 - 45.283), July 1999.
Project concerning roadbed reconstruction in the area of Prabuty-Kwidzyn railroad line landslide on railway line segment from 45,195 km up to 45,283 km, July 1999.
Recommendation concerning railway embankment slope reconstruction in the area of Olsztyn - Łęgajny railroad line landslide on railway segment from 302,900 km up to 302.950 km. Investigation of landslide causes and development of corrective measures for the embankment slope, 1997.
Report; Study of compaction index of sand-gravel aggregate incorporated into the reconstruction of embankment slope on track No. 2 railway line No. 9 Warszawa - Gdańsk 259,675 km, March 2004, Employer: Pomorskie Przedsiebiorstwo Mechaniczno-Torowe, Gdańsk.
Guidelines concerning reconstruction of the embankment slope in the area of the landslide on the railway line Poznań - Skandawa route Sątopy Samulewo - Korsze, track No. 1 364,953 km - 364,988 km, May 1998.
Recommendation concerning roadbed reconstruction in the area of the embankment slope landslide, 364,945 km - 364,980 near track No. of 1 railway line Poznań - Skandawa. Analysis of laboratory soil tests sampled from 21 exploratory bore-holes of the roadbed landslide, June 1998.
Expertise concerning technology of subsoil stabilization and foundation of embankment widening on national rout No. 5 in Gruczno, February 1997.
Settlement calculation for modernized granary and Rother's mill in Bydgoszcz, Mennica10 Rd for the plate foundation on subsoil stabilized with Employer: BPBK Gdańsk.lime-cement columns, September 2001. Employer: Stabilator, Gdynia.
Geotechnical examinations for the road construction project of Srebrna St, February 2000, Employer: Euro-Alians Gdańsk.
Technical documentation of subgrade compaction study utilizing field vane tests in the proximity of bridge abutment on both sides of the Vistula river near Toruń, December 1992, Employer: GPRD Gdańsk.
Technical expertise pertaining to embankment foundation technology of a highway segment on the west bank of the Vistula river, December 1992, Employer: GPRD Gdańsk.
Technical expertise pertaining to embankment foundation technology of a highway segment on the east bank of the Vistula river, December 1992, Employer: GPRD Gdańsk.
Construction technology of vertical sand drains and vibroflotation stone column, Amendment 1 to the expertise pertaining to embankment foundation technology on highway segments on both sides of the Vistula river, April 1993, Employer: GPRD Gdańsk.
Report concerning piezometer installation for the measurement of pore water pressure in soil on the west bank of Vistula river in region I on TAPP construction site in Toruń, December 1993, Employer: GPRD Gdańsk.
Report concerning bench-mark settlement and pore water pressure measurement in soil beneath the embankment on the west bank of the Vistula river in region I on TAPP construction site in Toruń from 1.11.1993 till 31.03.1994, April 1994, Employer: GPRD Gdańsk.
Report concerning piezometer installation for the measurement of pore water pressure in soil on the west bank of Vistula river in region II on TAPP construction site in Toruń, September 1994, Employer: GPRD Gdańsk.
Additional geotechnical examinations along with recommendations pertaining to construction of sand drains on TAPP construction site, west bank of Vistula river - region II, September 1994, Employer: GPRD Gdańsk.
Scientific expertise concerning reinforcement of the highway bridge support foundations 7 and 8, across the Vistula river in Toruń, April 1995, Employer: DODP Bydgoszcz.
Report concerning bench-mark settlement and pore water pressure measurement in soil beneath the embankment on the west bank of the Vistula river in region I and II on TAPP construction site in Toruń from 1.11.1993 till 8.06.1995, July 1995, Employer: GPRD Gdańsk.
Scientific expertise concerning reinforcement of the highway bridge support foundations 2 through Drwęca river near Toruń, April 1995, Employer: DODP Bydgoszcz.
Supplemental subsoil investigation for the modernization of Grudziądzka St in Toruń, in the location where weak soil is present in the subsoil (from hm 1 to hm 5), 1995. Employer:GPRD Gdańsk.
Expertise concerning technology of subsoil stabilization of modernised Grudziądzka St in Toruń along with technical specification (from hm 1 to hm 5), 1995. Employer:GPRD Gdańsk.
Recommendation concerning construction of GEOSTAB designed column with cement stabilized aggregate utilizing a method suggested by HYDROBUDOWA Włocławek in location where subsoil stabilization of modernized Grudziądzka St in Toruń is necessary, June 1996. Employer: Hydrobudowa Włoclawek.
Supplemental subsoil studies for the construction of gas station British Petroleum near Grudziądzka Rd 108-112 in Toruń, in the location where weak soil is present in the subsoil, September 1997.Employer: BP Kraków.
Guidelines concerning subsoil stabilization and foundationof embankments and construction objects of designed BP gas station near Grudziądzka St in Toruń (Part 1: Embankments), December 1997. Employer: BP Kraków.
Report pertaining to supervision of works concerning subgrade strenghtening and construction of objects of the BP petrol station near Grudziądzka St in Toruń, May 1998. Employer: BP Kraków.
Guidelines concerning subgrade strenghtening and foundation of embankments and construction objects of designed BP gas station near Grudziądzki Str Toruń (Part II: Construction Objects), May 1998. Employer: BP Kraków.
Appendicies to guidelines concerning subgrade strenghtening and placement of embankments and construction objects of designed BP gas station near Grudziądzki St in Toruń (Part II: Construction Objects). Regarding part 5 and 6 (exit and entry lane), June 1999. Employer: Betpol Bydgoszcz.
Project concerning foundation of the residential-commercial building near Dzieci Wrześnieńskich Rd in Koszalin on subsoil stabilized with lime-cement columns, April 1999.
Modernization of national route No. 6 on segment Goleniów - Nowogard from 30+425 km up to 45+420 km. Design of road embankment along with subgrade strenghtening in the location where organic soil is present, 40+100 km up to 40+240 km, December 2002.
Railway transfer station-Zaleskie Łegi, Employer: BIP DOKP in Szczecin.
Expertise concerning subsoil stabilization technology developed by UNITECH-INWEST No.11/UP/00302/01/94 for railway network of designed transfer station, passenger train section Szczecin-Zaleskie Łęgi, 1996.
Expertiese concerning bearing method of embankments for railroad passanger line transfer station facility Szczecin-Zaleskie Łęgi, segment from A-A to K-K. December, 1996.
Expertiese concerning foundation method of embankments for railroad passanger line transfer station facility Szczecin-Zaleskie Łęgi, segment from L-L to Z-Z. July, 1997.
Guidelines concerning subgrade strengthening and foumdation of embankments for roadway network crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin, 1996.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. North and South bound travelway of Nowocłowa corridor- east side. Technology for subgrade strengthening and construction of roadway embankments. November, 1999.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Gdańska St North bound travelway. Technology for subgrade strengthening and construction of roadway embankments. March 1999.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Gdańska St South bound travelway, intersection with Nowogdanska St. Technology for subgrade strengthening and construction of roadway embankments. February 1999.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Eskadrowa St South bound travelway. Technology for subgrade strengthening and construction of roadway embankments. March 1999.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Nowocłowska corridor South and North bound travelway- west side. Technology for subgrade strengthening and construction of roadway embankments. February 2000.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Construction of access road to WD-2 overpass and its intersection with Gdansk St. Technology for subgrade strengthening and construction of roadway embankments. April 2000.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Construction of access road to WD-2 overpass and its intersection with Gdańska St. Technology for subgrade strengthening and construction of roadway embankments. (exchange project), June 2002.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Exit from Gdańska St to Nowogdańska St –Księżnej Anny St. Technology for subgrade strengthening on roadway section resting on organic soil. May, 2000.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Nowocłowa corridor South bound travelway- west side (from 4+47 hm to 6+41 hm). Technology for subgrade strengthening and construction of roadway embankments. May, 2000.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Nowoclowa corridor South bound travelway- west side (from 4+63 hm to 6+43 hm). Technology for subgrade strengthening and construction of roadway embankments. June, 2000.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Contract 41.7(eastern side). Intersection of Hangarowa and Leszczynowa St. Technology for subgrade strengthening and construction of roadway embankments for access road leading to outside lane of Leszczynowa St overpass. April 2001.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Contract 41.7(western side). Collector road travelway D-E. Foundation and construction technology of roadway embankment for travelway of collector road D-E section stretching from Księżnej Anny St to Węglowa St passing under Nowocłowa corridor overpass (0+58 hm- 3+55,5 hm). April 2001.
Crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin. Access road from Basen Górniczy to Port. Foundation and construction technology for roadway embankment section stretching from Basen Górniczy to Port passing under Nowocłowska corridor overpass (0+000 km - 1+031.43 km), December 2001.
Design documentation concerning subgrade strengthening for construction of Szczecin Rapid Tram line (segment from 2+010 km to 2+425 km), May 2004.
Analysis report of testing LC columns results and monitoring services during construction of North bound travelway ,west side bridge crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin, with access up to WD-4A (section from 0+82 hm to 2+12 hm). October, 2002. Employer: PEDIM Szczecin.
Analysis report of testing LC columns results and monitoring services during construction of North bound travelway ,west side bridge crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin, with access up to WD-4A. North bound travelway exit ramp from WD-2 (section from 4+63 hm to 6+43 hm). October, 2002. Employer: PEDIM Szczecin.
Technical raport concerning proper subgrade strengthening. Monitoring services during construction of North bound travelway investment, west side bridge crossing through Regalica river in Szczecin with access to WD-4. Access to overpass WD-4 (section from 0+82 hm to 2+12 hm). North bound travelway- exit ramp from WD-2 (section from 4+63 hm to6+43 hm). April, 2003. Employer: PEDIM Szczecin.
DUO II gas station, Employer: Dedeco Architectural Office Szczecin.
Design documentation concerning strengthening and raising original ground level for construction of DUO II gas station situated next to Szosa Stargardzka St in Szczesicn. June 2001.
Radziszewo, Employer: Design Office Mieloch & Rabiega Poznań.
Foundation technology of roadway section widening at intersection of 118th Road (9+450 km) with local road in Radziszewie.April, 2000.
Foundation concept of embankment for Wojewódzka road no 122, Ognica city bypass section stretching from Rurzycy river valley (0+270 km - 1+240 km). January , 1999.
Design documentation for foundation of Ognica city's bypass embankments on section where subgrade is composed of organic soil. (from 0+270 km to 3+110 km and from 3+110 km to 3+600 km). March, 2000.
Technology of subgrade strengthening and stability of roadway embankments for Szubina city bypass roadway section, in line of national road No. 5, layedout on organic soil. Phase I, April 2005.
Subgrade strenghtening and stability of roadway embankments for Szubina city bypass roadway section, in line of national road No. 5, layedout on organic soil. Phase II. Research study program concerning embankment sinking into organic soil. April 2005.
Technology of subgrade strengthening and stability of roadway embankments for Szubina city bypass roadway section, in line of national road No. 5 (from 64+400 km to 64+500). Phase III. Construction of subgrade strengthening and roadway embankment. June, 2005.
Ekspertise concerning subgrade strengthening and foundation of embankments for county road nr 05608 section Wojdal-Pakość (crossing Noteć river in Wojdal). November, 1996. Employer: PDM Chojnice.
Guidelines concerning foundation of Siekierkowka corridor right-of-way, section Czerniakowska Bis St and Wał Miedzeszyński St 1997.
Siekierkowska corridor in Warszawa. Laboratory determination of physical and mechanical properties of additional organic soil samples and laboratory determination of appropriate lime-cement mix for LC columns. November 1998.
Eksperties concerning embankment conditions for Siekierkowska corridor right-of-way in Warszawa, Czerniakowska St- Bis. Completion one.. June, 1998.
Siekierkowska corridor in Warszawa. Section from 5+000 km to 8+144 km . Subgrade strengthening and foundation of roadway embankments, section from 5+300 km to 6+200 km. 1998.
Siekierkowska corridor in Warszawa section from 5+000 km to 8+144 km. Ekspertiese concerning embankment construction for travelway and sidewalk section from 6+200 km to 7+000 km. 1998.
Siekierkowska corridor in Warszawa. Ekspertiese concerning foundation conditions for roadway network. Modernization of Wał Miedzeszyński St, section Wersalska-Narodowa St. April, 2000.
Siekierkowska corridor in Warszawa. Ekspertiese concerning foundation conditions for roadway network section stretching from Sobieski St to Wał Zawadowki. Completion IV (0+000 km - 3+754 km). August, 2000.
Siekierkowska corridor in Warszawa. Section from Bora-Komarowskiego St 5+600 km to Płowiecka St 8+144 km. Roadway technology of earthwork on section from 5+600 km to 7+000 km (architectural- engineering, design-build project).August, 2004.
Krolewski Castle analysis of slope stability loaded with self weight of moving pile driver on section of access road up to upper terrace of castle gardens. Septembe,r 1996.
Krolewski castle in Warszawa slope stability analysis of roadway section stretching from the bottom of the slope to the upper terrace of castle gardens. October, 1998.
Ekspertiese concerning concept of foundation stability Kubicki arcades in Warszawa. January, 2004.
Ekspertiese concerning foundation strengthening of Kubicki arcades in Warsaw. January, 2004.
Ekspertise concerning subgrade strengthening and perfoming earthwork for widening of existing national road nr 274 Gubin-Polupin section from 12+930 km to13+065 km. July 1998.Employer: DODP Zielona Góra.
Ekspertise concerning dam stability analysis for GILÓW tailings resevoir with refrence to designed exploitation of copper ore bed in protection pillar for years 1996-1998. 1995.
Dam stability analysis for GILÓW tailings resevoir with refrence to designed exploitation of copper ore bed for years 1999-2001. 1998.
Dam stability analysis for GILÓW tailings resevoir with refrence to designed exploitation of copper ore bed for years 1999-2001. December 2004.
Stability analysis of ZG TRZEBIONKA sediment pond dikes regarding extended use of pond.1994.
Testing permability characteristics of flotation waste in ZG TRZEBIONKA sediment pond. 1995.
Engineering and technological design for construction and utilization of ZG TRZEBIONKA sediment pond up to ordinate +325 meters above sea level. 1996.
Optymalization of technological design for utilization of ZG TRZEBIONKA sediment pond in Trzebina up to ordinate +325 meters above sea level. 1998.
Optymalization of technological design for utilization of ZG TRZEBIONKA sediment pond in Trzebina up to ordinate +325 meters above sea level. Phase II. 1999.
Fesability study and conditions for storage of flotation waste in ZG TRZEBIONKA S.A. 2000.
Optymalization of technological design for utilization of ZG TRZEBIONKA sediment pond in Trzebino up to ordinate +325 meters above sea level. Phase III. June, 2001.
Industrial utilization of flotation waste deposited in ZG TRZEBIONKA sediment pond in Trzebina for construction dikes system and minimalization of pond impact on environment. December 2001.
Optymalization of technological design for utilization of ZG TRZEBIONKA sediment pond in Trzebina up to ordinate +325 meters above sea level. Phase IV. June 2002.
Engineering and technological design for construction and utilization of ZG TRZEBIONKA sediment pond up to ordinate +340 meters above sea level. November, 2002.
Optimization of technological design for utilization of ZG TRZEBIONKA sediment pond in Trzebina up to ordinate +325 meters above sea level. Phase V. Project stage prior to construction and utilization of the pond up to ordinate +340 meters above sea level. March, 2003.
Optimization of engineering technical design concerning utilization of ZG TRZEBIONKA S.A. sediment pond in Trzebino up to ordinate +340 meters above sea level. Phase I. April 2004.
14.	PB Geostab Sp. z o.o. judgment concerning deformations effects of ZG Trzebionka sediment pond dikes system and its foot on stability of dikes and safety of storage reservoir (monitoring period 09.2003 - 09.2004) during X meeting of agreement group investigating utilization of protection pillar in day 19.11.2003.
Optimization of engineering technical design concerning utilization of ZG TRZEBIONKA S.A. sediment pond in Trzebina up to ordinate +340 meters above sea level. Phase II. March 2005.
Data analysis for technical report concerning safety condtition of Goczałkowice and Kozłowa Góra water reservoirs during hydrotechnical facilities committe supervision. Employer: IMGW Warszawa.
Design documentation concerning subgrade testing along a roadway section in Vicinity of Tczew from 34.550 km to 38.770 km, and location of designed culverts for needs of bridge crossing through Motlawa river. February 1994. Employer: Transprojekt Gdańsk.
Eksperties concerning shoulder strengthening during roadway section widening in vicinity of Tczew. March, 1994. Transprojekt Gdańsk.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Redaki transfer station 223.800 km –226.000 km. Roadbed, December 1998.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Ząbrowo transfer station 218.200 km –220.100 km. Roadbed, December 1998.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Gralewo to Rybno, section: 162.100 km –173.100 km. Roadbed, December 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Rybno to Montowo, section: 173.100 km –183.700 km. Roadbed, December 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Mlawa to Dzialdowo, section: 134.400 km –148.200 km. Roadbed, November 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Turza Wielka to Gralewo, section: 158.100 km –162.000 km. Roadbed, December 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Działdowo to Turza Wielka, section: 148.000 km –158.050 km. Roadbed, November 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Konopki to Mława, section: 113.900 km –130.300 km. Roadbed, December 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Świercze to Gąsocin, section: 71.400 km – 79.600 km. Roadbed, December 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Ciechanów to Świercze, section: 90.000 km – 98.000 km. Roadbed, December 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Ciechanów to Konopki, section: 98.100 km – 113.800 km. Roadbed, December 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Świercze transfer station 62.500 km –71.400 km. Roadbed, December 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Susz to Prabuty, section: 232.700 km – 241.500 km. Roadbed, November 1997.
Geotechnical documentation. Modernization of railroad line E65 Warszawa-Gdynia. Section stretching from jurisdictional DOKP – Gdynia. Transfer stations from Redaki to Susz, section: 225.900 km – 231.600 km. Roadbed, November 1997.
Slope stability analysis for road embankments on Zamkowa St in Olsztyn. Roadway section with covered drainage ditch. May 2001.
Trzęsacz, Employer: Stabilator Gdynia .
Ekspertise concerning cliff stability in Trzęsacz. 2000.
Ząbkowice Śląskie, Employer: Stabilator Gdynia.
Settlement calculations for grain storage tank in Ząbkowice Sląskie resting on subgrade strenghtend with lime-cement columns. August 2001.
Soil investigation in order to determine geotechnical conditions. 2005.


text:
Can the rag trade ensure cotton makes the green grade?
John McGarrity
Cotton farms consume water and damage soil on a huge scale in China, the world's largest producer. Can western clothing chains help improve the crop's dire environmental record?
China supplies nearly 60% of the world's cotton, much of it grown in the northwestern province of Xinjiang (Image by Sean Buchan)
"Fast fashion" has been one of the big developments in clothes retailing over the last decade, where pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap versions of the latest trends are rolled out rapidly and on a huge scale, with the cycle repeated many more times during the year than was typical with seasonal style collections.
As it is a marketing approach based in large part on supplies of cheap cotton, major producing countries such as China are paying a heavy environmental price in terms of soil quality and water supply.
For western clothing brands that use China for most key stages in their supply chains, the falling cotton price and central government's decision to scrap a price floor may seem like commercial good news. But it risks endangering future cotton supply, according to a new report from CottonConnect, a clothing industry-funded enterprise.
Weak prices mean that farmers may have to switch to other crops or leave the land altogether, the report says.
This would mean lower production of the crop, and higher prices for buyers in the longer term, a trend that may eventually have to be passed on by retailers in a highly price-sensitive sector.
But increasingly for European and North American clothing retailers looking to improve their image, there are strong environmental reasons for keeping cotton farmers on the land and paying for schemes to cut down on the use of water and fertiliser when growing cotton.
The loss of almost 1,200 lives when the Rana Plaza clothing factory building collapsed in Bangladesh in 2013 shone the harshest of lights on the human cost of low-wage, outsourced manufacturing of cheap clothing for western retailers.
But at the start of the production chain, the environmental impact of cotton production is also coming under increasing scrutiny as water supplies in countries such as China become increasingly scarce.
CottonConnect, which is funded by retailers including C&A, the John Lewis Partnership, M&S and Primark, is aiming to improve the image of the clothing retail industry by using sustainable business practices.
In the report, the organisation reckons that 'sustainable cotton' could make a big difference to reducing soil erosion and water waste in China, which supplies almost 60% of the world's cotton.
Although demand for the commodity is still largely driven by sales of low-cost clothing, a growing trend for organically-grown crops in richer countries could help improve the lives of farmers and improve environmental practices, CottonConnect says.
Xinjiang project
The benefits could be most apparent in the arid, dusty north-western province of Xinjiang, China's poorest and most politically-restive region that farms over half of China's cotton.
Here, CottonConnect is managing projects to improve productivity and reduce environmental impacts, which now includes 4,000 farmers across 11,000 acres, producing 8,500 tonnes of cotton.
The organisation has also teamed up with the Better Cotton Initiative, a clothing industry initiative, which is implementing sustainable practices across 8,000 acres.
Although these schemes cover just a tiny percentage of Xinjiang's annual cotton output of around 3 million tonnes, CottonConnect hopes to broaden the techniques to other parts of the western province and in other countries.
Only 6% of the world's cotton is judged to be sustainable by meeting several different industry standards, says CottonConnect. But at present almost of none of the cotton that is certified as 'sustainable' is produced in China.
Undaunted, CottonConnect says it hopes various initiatives worldwide will raise the share of sustainable cotton in global production to 30% by the end of the decade by encouraging less wasteful practices in the world's major producing countries, which also include India, US, Pakistan and Brazil.
The manufacture of a cotton-shirt can use on average 2,500 litres of water globally, but in China the figure is likely to be more. Cotton production is said to account for around 2.5% of global water use.
Up to 60% of the water used in the manufacture of a cotton garment is in the fields, but this can be reduced massively through drip irrigation, says Alison Ward, chief executive of CottonConnect.
Mulching of soil and covering waterways can help reduce the use of fertilizer and pesticides, improve soil quality and cut down on erosion, Ward adds.
"Simple interventions can make a huge difference," she says.
In other countries where greener methods have been monitored, the benefits are clear. A recent field study in India has showed that better environmental practices reduced use of agrochemicals of 81%, led to a 49% cut in the amount of water, an 18% reduction in chemical fertiliser use, and a 15% increase in the profitability of farms.
In Xinjiang, farmers have two water sources, the Tarim River and groundwater, with snowmelt offering a welcome, but erractic, additional supply.
But CottonConnect says the water table in Xinjiang is lowering fast. Water accessible at 30 metres in previous years is now only found at 80 metres, and flood irrigation is needed at least twice a year to deal with the double challenges of pests and a highly alkaline and saline soil.
Environmental disaster
China's government is well aware of the environmental problems posed by cotton, and following a huge relocation of the cotton and clothing industry to Xinjiang in the 1990s, the government is trying to encourage cleaner, greener growth in the textile sector, and promote sustainable and productive agriculture and efficient water use.
But for a commodity that is based on high volume and low margins, the environmental benefits of government policy are scarcely evident so far.
Across the border from Xinjiang in central Asian states such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the environmental impact of cotton production is still all too apparent.
Huge Soviet-era irrigation schemes and intensive collective farming of cotton led to the drying up of one of the world's largest internal seas and turned large swaths of farming land into a giant dustbowl -- lessons from history that the world's cotton producing countries, and the clothing industry, will need to remember.
John McGarrity is a journalist and editor based in London. Before joining chinadialogue he was a specialist in energy, climate policy and low-carbon finance with Point Carbon News and Reuters. He is a graduate in history from Trinity College Dublin and studied newspaper journalism at the University of Ulster, Belfast.
Officials failing to stop textile factories dumping waste in Qiantang River
Despite local government promises to close them down, cloth dyeing plants are still poisoning a major river in eastern China.
The denim capital of the world: so polluted you can't give the houses away
It makes a third of all jeans sold in the world, but the pollution is so bad in Xintang, south-west China, that local people refuse to work in its textile industries
Fog-catching fabric could improve water collection in deserts
Cotton-based material could capture drinking water in arid areas and boost agriculture

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: rspec controller test not working when trying to test for scope I have a controller method like so:
def count
  response = model.scope(params[:age])
  render json: {count: response.count}
end

Where the scope is supposed to query the table for the model with any records that have records with the specified age. The controller method works fine but writing the rspec test for it is not working.
I try to make some test data for the model like so:
let(:model) {create(:model, age:20) }

and then in my rspec test I try something like
 it  "calls endpoint and returns correct count" do
    get :method, params: {age:20}
    puts parsed_response
  end

I would assume that this test makes a get request to my endpoint with 20 as the age parameter. Since I made fake data for the model with one instance having age 20, I would assume the count would return 1 for the test. However it returns 0 when I view the parsed response in the puts. Is my undertsanding of how factory bot works incorrect? Am I testing the count incorrectly?

A: Option 1
Try changing from
let(:model) {create(:model, age:20) }
to
let!(:model) {create(:model, age:20) }

*

*when you create with let if you have not used that object/instance in the test case, the object never gets initiated/created in db.

*while let! creates the object immediately whether you use it or not.
You can read about let and let! here
Option 2
Usually I avoid using let!. Try changing your test case to
 it  "calls endpoint and returns correct count" do
    create(:model, age:20)
    get :method, params: {age:20}
    puts parsed_response
  end

Also, pro tip about debugging
def count
  p model.all <<<----- add this line to see what all records you have?

  response = model.scope(params[:age])
  render json: {count: response.count}
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Obama administration has punished another government official for daring to expose mistakes stemming from a classified program. This time it's Jeffrey Sterling, the former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent who revealed troubles within the agency's clandestine mission to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Sterling, who managed the covert operation codenamed Operation Merlin, was found guilty Monday on nine counts of espionage despite arguing he was a whistleblower troubled by the CIA's "ill-conceived, poorly executed and reckless" effort.
The case represented "the latest example of the Obama administration's unprecedented attack on unauthorized leaks and whistleblowers," Jon Queally wrote at Common Dreams.
The Department of Justice tried to force Risen to testify and finger Sterling as his primary source. But Risen refused to talk, and eventually Justice officials declined to compel him to provide incriminating testimony.
"The Justice Department had no direct proof that Mr. Sterling, who managed the Iranian operation, provided the information to Mr. Risen, but prosecutors stitched together a strong circumstantial case," the Times reported.
Sterling will be sentenced April 24.
And all this time, Obama himself is an illegal alien usurper, being protected by traitors and enemies of America. The justice system in America has fallen.


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.Katharine Weymouth
Katharine Weymouth
An interview with the Washington Post publisher in the Post Bezos Era
by Eugene L. Meyer
With the sale of The Washington Post last fall to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the Graham family ended its 80-year control of the newspaper. But one family member remains in place. At Bezos' request, Katharine Weymouth, 47, a member of the fourth generation in the family to be associated with the Post, is still at the helm as publisher.
Weymouth, who assumed that position in 2008, grew up on Manhattan's Upper East Side. A graduate of Harvard and Stanford Law School, she went on to join the Washington law firm of Williams & Connolly before going to work in the newspaper's legal department, on its digital media operation and as vice president for advertising.
A granddaughter of the late, legendary Katharine Graham and niece of former publisher Donald Graham, Weymouth is a single mother (she's divorced from lawyer Richard Alan Scully). She lives with their three children in a four-bedroom house in Chevy Chase, D.C., that was built in 1920.
Following the newspaper's sale to Bezos for $250 million, she sat for an interview in her sixth-floor office in the Post building, which would be sold nearly two months later to Carr Properties for $159 million. The office overlooking 15th Street is adorned with family photos and her children's artwork; her desk and coffee table previously belonged to her grandmother.
How did you wind up with your grandmother's furniture?
When they renovated her office after her death [in July 2001], they offered me her office furniture, and I loved the idea of working at her desk. I like to think I get some osmosis from her furniture. I became close to my grandmother once I moved to Washington [in 1993]. We used to have fun Friday night dinners, just the two of us, and she often took me as her date to events. My grandmother's housekeeper still works for me.
Did you want to be publisher?
I grew up surrounded by journalists…[but] that was never my goal.
You were the one who suggested to your uncle, Don Graham, that the paper be sold. The story goes that you brought it up when you were both sitting on a bench.
It's been portrayed as a seminal moment. It was really Don and I talking every week. It was more of an evolution of a conversation we'd been having all along.
Were you surprised to be asked to stay on as publisher? Will you be in this position a year from now? There's speculation you won't.
I was not surprised to be asked to stay on. Jeff Bezos is humble enough to acknowledge that he is new to this space. I will continue as long as he's willing to have me. There is understandable speculation about that, but it is pure speculation.
If you had a second career choice, what would it be?
I have no idea. I focus on the career I'm in.
You were a lawyer before you were a publisher.
I went to law school for not a good reason. I needed a practical skill. My mother was nagging me to go to graduate school. But I also felt law school would give me a lot of good options—and I loved being a lawyer. At The Washington Post, I did employment law, vetting news stories, software contracts.
It was a fantastic place to see different departments. I did that for two years here, and then spent two years at [washingtonpost.com].
What can Jeff Bezos do that the Grahams couldn't?
I personally believe there's no magic bullet. If there were, someone would've found it, how to transform for the digital era. But we are in a great position. We have a credible brand, deeply engaged readers, [and we] cover Washington. And now we are owned by someone with deep pockets who cares what we do and is willing to invest for the long term.
What has changed now that the Post newspaper is owned by Jeff Bezos?
People have stopped wearing ties, that's the biggest change around here. …He hasn't yet told us what to do, not that he would. He's buying it for all the right reasons: It's an important institution. He said, "I'm an optimist by nature and, yes, I'm optimistic about the future of the Post. If not, I wouldn't join you." Can he bring something to the table? He clearly does have deep pockets. By itself, that's not enough. He is obsessively focused on the reader's experience.
Have you and he discussed changes you might make under his ownership that you were unable to or didn't make before?
I do not anticipate any dramatic changes. He has made it clear that he wants to build on what we do best, with a deep focus on serving our readers…[while] experimenting with new ways of presenting our journalism digitally that will create even more compelling experiences for our readers and users.
What is your proudest accomplishment since becoming publisher in 2008? And what's your biggest challenge going forward?
My proudest accomplishment is something I cannot take credit for: the journalism we have published over the past five years. From the coverage of the financial meltdown that started in 2008, to our coverage of Afghanistan, Iraq and China, to our coverage of our local governments, crime, schools and the arts.
Our challenge is building on what we have been doing: continuing to publish award-winning, compelling journalism for our readers in a digital world. We want to meet our readers where they are—on any device, 24 hours of the day, with coverage they simply cannot find anywhere else.
A look at Great Falls, by the numbers
Conversations With The Candidates
Interviews with the six Democratic candidates for county executive
Roger Berliner
Medical Office Receptionist |
Junior Associate |
Clyde Group
Temporary Sales Representative |
Event and Communications Assistant (Remote) |
The Good Food Institute
68E Dental Specialist |
Volunteers & Mentors |
KID Museum
Media Relations Specialist |
JBS International, Inc.


Today I'm partnering with JCPenney to share some great spring outfits under $100! JCPenney is a one-stop spot for spring fashion. If it's a retailer you haven't visited in a while, you may be surprised by the treasures you can find. One of my most popular posts last spring was one featuring a few JCPenney outfits. The prices are AMAZING without sacrificing quality. I pulled together some great pieces to share a few casual spring outfit ideas.
I went into JCPenny, saw this striped shirt, and had to have it! I love the nautical vibes, the faded blue linen look, and button detailing. They only had small in store and I would have normally wanted X-Small, but I couldn't pass it up. These skinny jeans are actually Junior's jeans, so go for one number size above your usual jean size. They are a little bit shorter than I usually wear, but then again I am tall and they are juniors. That being said, the quality is really good!
The blush handbag reminds me of a designer item without the steep price tag. The color is perfect for spring. The sandals are a cute throw on and go pair that gives you good height.
Since temperatures are fluctuating so much this time of year, cardigans are a great layering piece. This neutral cardigan is SUPER soft and cozy (wearing XS for reference). I paired it with a basic white tank that's both amazing quality and value. I am wearing my usual size (XS) in the tank and it's just roomy enough to knot. Consider going up if you're between sizes and think you will knot this tank regularly. You can reference my tee shirt knotting post here if you want a quick refresher.
I've mentioned on Facebook and Instagram that snakeskin seems to be sneaking up on leopard as the most popular animal print. These cute snakeskin flip flops are a budget friendly way to try the trend.
I'm having trouble finding this exact ANA necklace online, but I think I love this $11 Y-necklace even more!
We are struggling to break through freezing temps most days still so I didn't get many photos of my new denim shorts. They're great quality and on sale for only $16 today! I always size up one in shorts because I like to wear them a little lower than my skinny jeans. The inseam on these shorts is 3.5 inches – which for me is perfectly between "short shorts" and matronly shorts. Unlike some stiff denim cut offs these shorts have a lot of stretch so they hug your legs just enough that your undergarments aren't showing when you're sitting down.
My striped cotton button down (wearing XS) comes in 6 color options and is on sale for only $16!!
All of the pieces I shared today are easy to rewear throughout the coming months.
Let me know if you have specific occasions you're trying to dress for and I will include some outfit ideas in future posts. Thanks for stopping by! If you don't want to miss a blog post you can sign up for my weekly newsletter here to see what I shared on the blog and weekly sale finds.


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NYCFC signs Romania star Alexandru Mitrita as Designated Player
New York City FC has signed Romania international midfielderAlexandru Mitrita as a Designated Player, the club announced on Monday.
Mitrita, 23, joins fromRomanian side Universitatea Craiova after putting pen to paper on a multi-year contract.
NYCFC paid an $8.5 million transfer fee, MLSSoccer.com reported, citing a source with knowledge of the deal. That would be the third-highest transfer fee ever paid by an MLS club, after Atlanta United's purchases of Pity Martinez (reported between $14M-$17M) and Ezequiel Barco (reported $15M).
Hehas already joined the team at their preseason training camp in Abu Dhabi.
"I'm very happy to be a part of this team and I'm looking forward to getting started," Mitrita said in a team statement. "It is a great joy for me and I will do my best to play at a high level. I want to make everyone who believes in me proud that we were able achieve this transfer.
"I know this is a good group and I'm going to a club where young players can develop and grow. The team has a very good coach who has experience with lots of great clubs in Europe.
"MLS is a very strong league, otherwise I would not have come here. I don't want to say too much now in terms of goals and objectives -- I prefer to see how things progress. I want to take things step-by-step and give my all in every match and we will see what we can achieve together."
A longtime Romania youth international, Mitrita has made five senior appearances for his country since making his debut in March of last year.
"Alexandru is a very talented attacking threat who can score goals and create chances when running at the opposing team," said NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna. "At almost 24, he's part of an exciting younger generation coming out of Romania.
"He comes to New York during a stage in his career where he's extremely motivated to make the next step after recently breaking into the Romanian national team. He possesses an innate desire to win and is focused on becoming an important player for our Club as we challenge for the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup.
"He was an important player at his previous club and very well-liked by an amazing and loyal fan base. Our fans will immediately notice the personality he carries on the field and they'll really enjoy watching him play for NYCFC."
Nicol: David Villa a class act on and off the pitch
Steve Nicol reflects on the impact David Villa has had on Major League Soccer after announcing his departure from NYCFC after four seasons.
sportsespnalexandru mitritasoccer transfersmajor league soccernew york city fc


This years week of Prayer for Christian Unity is January 18 -25th. On January 23 at 7:00 pm at St. Francis Cabrini Catholic Church (3201 E. Presidio Rd in Tucson). There will be an evening of the greater community gathering to pray for unity. The theme of this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is "Your Right Hand, O God, Glorious in Power".
O God, your right hand is glorious in power. Extend your hand to help us discover new ways that unite your people in the Body of Christ, the Church. May the strength of your hand take away all misunderstanding and prejudice that hinder our calling to be one in body and spirit. Draw us together in the bond of peace, of faith and charity that we may be one in Jesus Christ our Lord who reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit , One God, forever and ever. Amen.


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Welcome to Fullerton Studio, specializing in piano, voice, and Musikgarten. Learn to play or sing or both either in person or online.
Piano Lessons are giving to ages 4 and up. For ages 4 & 5 a parent must be present during the lesson because a large part of learning happens at home. The parent must learn alongside the child. I also have lessons for adults, not only children, and my teaching method can lead to any style of playing.
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Navigate cursor history across multiple files, similar to jump back and jump forward in Sublime Text.


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Tag Brazil GDP
Petrobras boomtown turns desolate as refinery's billions vanish
May 4, 2016 May 4, 2016 Brazil Institute	Leave a comment
Sabrina Valle and Carlos Caminada – Yahoo Business, 05/04/2016
Located just 30 miles east of Rio de Janeiro's bustling Copacabana beach, Itaborai looks like many oil boomtowns after the bust — except the deserted stores and empty glass towers that loom over this town of 220,000 speak of some bigger cataclysm than the collapse of crude prices.
"They said this would be the new oil city," says Jefferson Costa, one of scores of migrants from Brazil's impoverished north lured here by a multibillion-dollar petrochemical project that was supposed to create more than 100,000 jobs. Work on the complex, known as Comperj, has stopped, and unless new investors materialize, the single refinery now standing may never produce a single drop of fuel. "It's empty inside," says Costa, a plumber who lost his job six months ago when construction came to a halt. "People say it will become a large warehouse."
Comperj has become a symbol of pervasive corruption at Brazil's state-run oil producer, Petrobras. A sprawling investigation by federal police and prosecutors dubbed Operation Carwash has revealed massive graft, implicating construction conglomerates, banks, oil service providers, shipbuilders and politicians. About 2 percentage points of the 3.8 percent contraction in Brazil's gross domestic product last year can be attributed to the effects of the scandal on the company and its suppliers, according to estimates from Tendencias, a consulting firm based in Sao Paulo.
Brazil's real: how low can it go?
February 8, 2016 Brazil Institute	Leave a comment
Joe Leahy, John Paul Rathbone – Financial Times, 02/08/2016
When Dilma Rousseff attended the 2016 opening session of Brazil's congress this week, she appealed to lawmakers to approve tax increases to tackle a widening gap in the country's public finances.
Most critically, the president called for the reintroduction of a tax on financial transactions, known as the CPMF, that was abandoned in 2007 after objections from business. Opposition congressmen booed her.
But with Brazil reporting a budget deficit last year that was the biggest among emerging economies except for Saudi Arabia at over 10 per cent, unpopular measures are needed to save the country from a deepening fiscal hole, analysts say
Brazil's Rousseff to cut key fiscal goal against Levy's warning
December 16, 2015 Brazil Institute	Leave a comment
Lissandra Paraguassu & Alonso Soto – Reuters, 12/15/2015
Dec 15 Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff will cut a key fiscal savings goal for next year to safeguard an iconic welfare program, a senior lawmaker with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday, a move that could raise tensions in her economic team.
Congressman Ricardo Teobaldo said the government asked him to alter the budget guidelines bill to reduce the 2016 primary surplus goal to 0.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) from 0.7 percent.
The target measures the balance of government revenues versus spending excluding debt servicing payments, and is considered a key measure of debt sustainability and fiscal health.
Brazil: Basket case or buying opportunity?
September 21, 2015 Brazil Institute	Leave a comment
Laura Dew – Investment Week, 9/21/2015
Investors were given yet another reason to steer clear of Brazil after political turmoil and high debt levels saw ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgrade the country's status from investment grade to 'junk' this month.
S&P said the general government deficit is expected to rise to an average of 8% of GDP in 2015 and 2016, before declining to 5.9% in 2017 – versus 6.1% in 2014.
It cut Brazil's credit rating from BBB-minus to BB-plus, while the outlook remains negative, meaning further downgrades could soon follow.
Desperate times, desperate moves
September 4, 2015 Brazil Institute	Leave a comment
The Economist, 9/5/2015
When a president has single-figure approval ratings, faces calls for her impeachment, and has lost control of her political base, is she in a position to play hardball with the country's legislators? Brazilians will soon find out.
On August 31st Dilma Rousseff, their president, sent Congress a budget for 2016 with a gaping primary deficit (before interest payments) of 30.5 billion reais ($8 billion), or 0.5% of GDP, challenging its members to close the gap. It was a break with the sound-money practices that have underpinned Brazil's economy. It was, some critics say, illegal. Certainly nothing similar has happened since at least 2000, when Fernando Henrique Cardoso, then the president, transformed public finances.
On a charitable view, Ms Rousseff was shocking legislators into making hard decisions rather than simply blocking her fiscal proposals. A harsher reading is that she does not know how to lead Brazil out of recession. The markets took that view. The day after the budget bombshell, the Ibovespa stock index fell over 2% and the currency closed at 3.7 per dollar, its lowest since December 2002. On September 2nd, the central bank held steady a key interest rate it had been raising since last year.
Brazil's economy falters, but worse may be to come
June 15, 2015 Brazil Institute	Leave a comment
Nicolas Bourcier – The Guardian, 6/9/2015
The signs that Brazil's economy is in trouble have been visible for a while now, but the worst could be still to come. The figures published last month for gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2015 confirmed the absence of growth that has plagued Latin America's powerhouse for the past five years.
With GDP down by 0.2% since the new year – a fall of 1.6% compared with the same period of 2014 – Brazil has registered its worst result in six years. Even if it has actually fared better than the 0.5% drop forecast by the markets, the outlook for the world's seventh-largest economy nevertheless looks gloomy. The figures are bad enough to reduce the already limited room for manoeuvre available to the newly appointed and ever so orthodox finance minister, Joaquim Levy. Last month he announced far-reaching austerity measures, with cuts amounting to 69.7bn reals ($22.4bn), prompting an outcry from members of his own party, who want a more flexible line.
The government led by President Dilma Rousseff is expecting a 1.2% fall in GDP, higher than the 1% forecast by the International Monetary Fund. If the first forecast is right, it would be Brazil's worst performance in the past 25 years. "Everyone was hoping that the economy would bottom out in the first quarter," says economist Paulo Gala, "but confidence is still deteriorating, [and] the volume of road transport is plummeting, as are car sales. The recession seems to be deepening."
Amid Brazil's economic crisis, consumers struggle with debt
Jenny Barchfield – ABC News, 6/15/2015
Francisco Xavier emerges from a payday loan shop, his brow more furrowed with worry than when he entered. His loan request was denied, and he has no idea how he is going to pay out-of-control bills, including credit card payments that gobble up nearly half his monthly income.
Xavier, a taxi driver, is among the rapidly burgeoning ranks of "super debtors" — people who rose into the middle class during Brazil's nearly decade-long boom, but now find themselves drowning in debt as Latin America's largest economy stalls, causing inflation to heat up and unemployment to rise.
Brazil's top credit information bureaus estimate that as of April, more than 55 million Brazilians were behind on paying off credit cards or loans. That's 37 percent of the adult population in a country of about 200 million people, and the numbers are rising. According to the SPC credit information bureau, the lists have grown by an estimated 700,000 people since January, when the top credit bureaus began working together on combined lists for the first time.
Brazil's real leads gains as Embraer wins $2.6 billion in orders
Paula Sambo – Bloomberg, 6/15/2015
Brazil's real climbed the most among major currencies as Embraer SA won jet orders worth $2.6 billion, adding to speculation that the South American country's inflows will increase.
Executives of the company announced Monday at the Paris Air Show deals with United Continental Holdings Inc. and other foreign buyers, cementing its standing as the biggest maker of regional jets. The planemaker reached an agreement with a Chinese airline and expects growing demand in the Asia-Pacific region over the next two decades.
"Big deal announcements mean long-term, stable capital inflows and positively impact the current account and the currency," Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at London Capital Group, said by e-mail.
Brazil's Economy Expanded Slightly in 2014
March 27, 2015 Brazil Institute	Leave a comment
Jeffrey T. Lewis and Rogerio Jelmayer – The Wall Street Journal, 3/27/2015
Brazil's economy posted in 2014 its worst performance by far under President Dilma Rousseff's administration, a blow to her prestige as her government works to regain credibility with markets and pass an austerity program through Congress.
The country's gross domestic product grew just 0.1% in 2014 from 2013, and expanded 0.3% in the fourth quarter from the third, Brazil's statistics agency said Friday. GDP shrank 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2014 from the same period a year earlier.
The agency changed the way it calculates GDP starting in the fourth quarter, including activities such as investment in research and development for the first time, to bring the methodology more in line with international standards.
Brazil registers record deficit in current accounts
January 26, 2015 Brazil Institute	Leave a comment
Lise Alves – The Rio Times, 1/26/2015
Brazil's current accounts in 2014 registered a record deficit of US$90.948 billion, according to data released by Brazil's Central Bank (CB) on Friday, January 23rd. The result was well above 2013's deficit of US$81.108 billion and the highest registered since the CB started the series in 1947.
Last year's annual deficit is equivalent to 4.17 percent of the country's GDP, the worst result since 2001.
The Central Bank released both December 2014 results as well as results for the entire year. For December, the country's current account, which is measured by the sum of the balance of trade (goods and services exports less imports), net income from abroad and net current transfers, registered a deficit of US$10.317 billion.


Christianity and Mormonism - Where are they different?
I feel almost nervous writing this, but this blog is as much for me as it is for the few people who may one day come across it. God meets you where you are and is involved in what you are doing, and because I am currently reading this book about Mormonism (Under the Banner of Heaven), that is what is on my mind. So, when I went to church this evening I prayed that God would show me the differences between these two religions which both hold the Bible as truth, claim to be the only way, yet are different. I just couldn't put my mind on what the big difference was.
God used tonight's church service in so many ways through the sermon and singing and God gave me clarity while we were singing. That Mormonism is a works-based religion whereby you can assure your salvation by doing certain things and lose your salvation by doing other things. Also, the prophets and teachers in the Mormon church build themselves up and gain power; however, Jesus tells us that the greatest in the kingdom are those that serve and look out for the least.
Save for now, I'll have to finish this one later.


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68 for Walsh after blistering back nine at World Amateur Team Champs
Lauren Walsh (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
Lauren Walsh showed her class with a superb back nine of 30 to card a three-under 68 in the Esparto Santo Trophy – The World Amateur Team Championships in le Golf National in France.
The Castlewarden native turned in two-over after bogeys on the first, eighth and ninth while she did birdie the 2nd.
However, the two-time Curtis Cup player turned on the style on her way to the clubhouse including four successive birdies in the middle of her back nine.
A birdie on the 10th was followed by four on the spin from the 11th while a dropped shot on 17 was cancelled out by a brilliant closing birdie to lift her to three-over and into the top-28 in the individual leaderboard.
Elm Park's Anna Foster carded a three-over 74 to drift out to eight-over while Kirkistown's Beth Coulter is on fourteen-over after a round of 74 of her own.
It leaves Ireland perched inside the top-20 in a share of 18th on nine-over.
Germany hold a four shot advantage heading into the final day on thirteen-under, spearheaded by Helen Briem who shot a 66 to edge into the lead by the minimum on seven-under.