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Transformation for everyone: How a scale-up and a sprinter can learn from each other
We are absolutely delighted to partner with Levi Hazes. A young athlete with infectious optimism, Levi is currently training to compete in the Olympics. We are proud to sponsor and support him on his journey to the Olympic podium and are excited to share his story with you.
Who is Levi?
Levi Hazes is an inspiring example of a young, courageous, dedicated athlete who devotes his time to daily training to achieve his current number one goal - to compete in the Olympics in Paris in 2024. When he is not training, he studies Nutrition and Dietetics at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science. On top of all of these responsibilities, he finds space to help at homecare, clean the environment, and participate in the Young Spirits Social Club.
His drive is his love for the sport - and what makes that even more remarkable is his devotion and commitment to making the world a better place.
I'm crazy in love with this game. I will make sure the game sees the best version of me.
His goal to compete as an Olympian athlete is not simple. It requires persistence and devotion to master the challenges that are unique to a sprint athlete. It also requires courage and confidence to overcome failures and rise through the ranks to become stronger and better in his field.
I'm grateful for everything bad that's happened which I overcame. I'll give you an example: About 1.5 years ago, I tore a tendon in my calf all the way through. But jokes on my tendon, it made me much stronger. I couldn't run. I couldn't even walk for a long time. But I could still train, read, write, learn, evaluate, reflect and listen. There is always something you can do to improve yourself. There is always a little step you can make, even in the darkest place.
Our inevitable partnership
We can't help but see Levi's journey as a true inspiration for Presspage, as his values are fundamental to the transformation that PressPage is driving as a scale-up. His personal transformation and growth (both physical and mental) are based on the foundations of a strong drive to inspire others to achieve more.
As a tech scale-up who is paving the road toward digital transformation for our customers, we know that it takes a specific mix of grit, persistence and a little humor to keep making progress. That's why when we met Levi, we clicked instantly.
Levi brings his strength to the Presspage team in the form of inspiration and a reminder that when something is difficult, it's always worth doing. We're proud to sponsor and support Levi on his journey to becoming on the Olympic podium. His story is one that keeps us moving forward when we hit roadblocks.
As transformation pioneers, we are not afraid to be ambitious with our goals. Just like Levi's journey, every step needs support and a team who are all focused on the same objective. At PressPage, we aspire to achieve excellence by taking care of our customers' pain points, our employees' well-being, and enjoying the journey together. Be it in sport or business, a clear aim, a valuable mission, and the right team is a winning combination.
At Presspage, we are passionate about our customers and their success. Corporate Communication teams are our heroes, and we believe in challenging the status quo for them. Just like growing from a sprinter into a professional athlete, we both need to grow our network, find what we can offer others in similar situations, and support growth from all angles.
In an ever-changing communication landscape and in a world that has drastically shifted to digital, communications teams are on their companies' front lines and deserve inspiration and support to move through the clutter. Like training for a world-class competition, this is not an easy process. But both Presspage and Levi Hazes are ready to take the lead.


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You will find plenty of inspiration on the web as it comes to white spacious well-ventilated kitchens. But does such a kitchen live up to the hype? While embarking on a kitchen renovation or design, you might consider a white kitchen since it gives an elegant and timeless look. Such kitchens remain gorgeous for years. Maintaining whiteness is a challenge though not impossible. Let's have a look at various misconceptions, issues, and goodness related to white kitchens and white cabinets.
- Simple and neutral – White is known for providing simplicity and neutrality to the kitchen. These are the key reasons that the homeowners prefer this color for their kitchen. Also, these traits make it an outstanding base of the larger areas like the cabinets that are often expensive and time-consuming in terms of replacement. This simplicity of white kitchen cabinets allows the entire kitchen to rise above temporary trends. With white, you won't ever enter the kitchen feeling like it was painted or designed years back. White cabinets work in about any kitchen design – from vintage to country style – from traditional to contemporary.
- Versatile – White is versatile. It is easy to accessorize, update and add to. You can provide your kitchen with an entirely new personality just by maintaining the whiteness. Keep the cabinets white and change the knobs, pulls as well as other hardware. The pops of the color will be more impactful next to the white cabinets while creating a sharp contrast.
- Bright– White is known for reflecting light and thus making surrounding space brighter. White cabinets brighten up the darker kitchen or the kitchen that doesn't get sufficient natural light. Moreover, if the cabinets have a glossy finish, they will bounce even more light around. And this creates an illusion of a bigger space.
A few words of precautions
Well, as it comes to white cabinets, there are a few things that you need to be careful about. Let's have a look at them.
- Add a splash of another texture or color – Too much white often seems to be clinical instead of being crisp and clean. You can avoid such a scenario just by adding a splash of another texture or color. Mix your white cabinets with contrasting backsplashes or countertops. You can also opt for a darker shade for the lower or upper cabinets while leaving the rest white.
- Don't expose to direct sunlight – White color gets discolored over time while being exposed to direct sunlight. So be careful about that. You may opt for off-white kitchen cabinets to offset fading from sun exposure.
- Be careful about the quality – As it comes to wear and tear, you must buy only high-quality antique white kitchen cabinets. Cheap-quality cabinets are less likely to age gracefully than superior-quality items. If made and installed properly, white cabinets can have a longer life than other colors and finishes.
- Clean the spills instantly – White cabinetry doesn't get dirty, unlike wood cabinets over time. But you can easily notice spills, splashes, and smudges on white color. They usually don't blend in with white as they do with patterned or darker cabinetry. To avoid this, it is important that you instantly wipe away any spill or splash.
White is ageless. It ages gracefully. And this is even truer with white vintage kitchen cabinets installed in your kitchen. All you need to be a bit careful about maintaining the same. And the cabinets will remain simple and versatile always while giving your kitchen a feeling of being bigger and brighter.

subset: commoncrawl


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- Home
- Community Planning
- Community Planning Resources
- Hazard Mitigation
Hazard Mitigation
Hazard mitigation planning is required under the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 as a condition of receiving various types of pre- and post-disaster assistance for mitigation efforts.
York County Planning Commission (YCPC) provides the following services coordinated through the York County Hazard Mitigation Officer:
- The County Hazard Mitigation Plan (PDF), which profiles 23 natural and human-made hazards, analyzes hazard response capability, and provides mitigation strategies. The plan is a collaborative effort between:
- The County's 72 municipalities
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- Local Hazard Mitigation Planning Team
- Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA)
- York County EMA
- Support and Education: YCPC staff can attend meetings and provide input to local municipalities regarding their hazard mitigation concerns, provide grant assistance, and participate in or provide educational training for various audiences.
- Information: YCPC maintains an abundance of information relating to hazard mitigation and municipalities or other stakeholders are welcome to contact staff with questions.
- Project review: Staff is available to review and comment on proposed plans, projects, regulations, and policies to ensure consistency with the 2018 Hazard Mitigation Plan and other Comprehensive Plan components.
Mitigation Assistance
Assistance is available to municipalities that have adopted the Plan by resolution and includes the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, and the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program. More information on these programs can be found on FEMA's website.
September 29, 2020 - PEMA Hazard Mitigation Project Identification and Funding Presentation
plan cycles & Public Input
YCPC updates this Plan every five years, as required by DMA 2000. The first York County Hazard Mitigation Plan was adopted in 2008, with updates completed in 2013 and in 2018. Each year, YCPC presents a review of the Plan and provides a forum for public and municipal comment at its January meeting.
2021 Annual Report and Review of the Hazard Mitigation Plan
Public review and comment is an important part of Plan development and implementation. Input from a variety of stakeholders is important not only when updating the County Plan, but also because most municipalities adopt the County Plan as their local plan.
Additional Information
- A brief description of the update and the hazard mitigation plan is available in our Planning Perspectives newsletter (PDF).
- Questions or comments regarding the York County Hazard Mitigation Plan update may be emailed to the County Hazard Mitigation Officer.
- A variety of useful information on YCPC's hazard mitigation planning process is available in two documents used to develop the 2018 update to the Plan.
- The surveys that support the development of the 2018 Plan update are available here:
Roy Livergood
Senior Planner / County Hazard Mitigation OfficerPhone: 717-771-9870, ext. 1756


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Student Procedures for Uniform Purchase
Standard uniform packages have been established based on progression through the Regimental program. All uniforms and uniform items issued need to be maintained by the student for the entire time in the Regiment of Midshipmen. The items listed are the minimum uniform requirements and students should expect to replace items as they become worn and unserviceable.
4/C Students
- 4/C uniform issue: Fall student bills will include a direct cost for the 4/C uniforms that will cover the cost of their appropriate uniform package. Students will pay a $500.00 deposit directly to the Bookstore for their 4/C uniforms NLT 1 July.
- First year students (4/C) will have the following deadlines/refund dates associated with their uniform purchases should they leave the Regiment:
- Upon reporting to RPT – first uniform issuance. Once the 4/C sea bag has been picked up by the student, no refunds for this portion of the 4/C uniform issuance will be allowed.
- By 1 October – Regimental Induction uniform issuance is complete. No refunds will be authorized at this point with the Business Office. Uniform items that require altering to fit a student or were personalized will be ineligible for a refund.
- If a student leaves the Regiment prior to the completion of RPT, a refund for the Regimental Induction Uniform (second 4/C uniform issue) may be authorized by the Commandant's Department with consultation with the Bookstore and the Business Office.
- If a student leaves the Regiment after completion of RPT but before the Regimental Induction Ceremony, unused/unaltered uniform items of the second 4/C uniform issue may be returned to the Bookstore for store credit at the discretion of the store manager.
3/C Students
Effective May 2021, 3/C uniform fees will no longer be directly billed by Maine Maritime Academy. The 3/C uniform fees are now designated and referred to as an indirect cost. 3/C uniforms will be purchased directly from the Bookstore. Any "Indirect Cost" on the financial aid offer letter is eligible for borrowing at the student's discretion.
- 3/C uniform purchase: The 3/C uniform purchase will be an indirect cost for the student. Students will pay a $500.00 deposit directly to the Bookstore NLT 1 July and the remaining balance paid in full NLT 1 October. No uniform item will be released by the Bookstore until it has been paid for in full.
- Upon reporting for the fall semester, students will pick up their uniform items from the Bookstore and the student will sign a receipt for their uniforms and other required items.
All Regimental Students
- All Regimental Students must maintain their uniforms and should expect to replace uniforms and uniform items as they become worn or unserviceable. If uniform items are deemed unserviceable by the Commandant's staff, replacement of uniform items will be required at their own expense at the Bookstore.
Communication of Uniform Fee and Cost procedure changes
- Uniform Fee and Cost procedure changes will be communicated to the students via MMA email, shared on MMA social media, and posted on the Regimental Website for new and returning students.
- During the Spring semester 4/C Midshipmen will be reminded via email and during Regimental Musters about their upcoming 3/C uniform cost obligations and deadlines.
Points of contact for questions:
- Bookstore: Kathy MacArthur, 326-9333
- Finance Department: Diane Harmon, 326-2243
- Regiment: CDR Christian, 326-2299


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This album is a stone cold classic of Reggae's history. Almost everything about it is just right. Dennis Bovell's band is tight yet melodic throughout. The production is spare, giving the rhythms and vocals space in which to reverb and resonate in a typical pared down late 70s dub-style. Even the artwork, with its monochrome precision and clear allusions to the original ska period, helps capture the mood of a lost time when music really mattered. And, of course, LKJ is simply magnificent. His dub poetry is delivered with swagger, soul and elegance. He is deftly sensitive to, but never dominated by, the pulsating rhythms of his band. His abiding mood is one of cold, considered fury at the injustice he sees around him. His lyrics are rich, impassioned and often elegiac, simultaneously articulating a profound rootedness in "Bass Culture" (the sub-cultures of reggae, radicalism and poetry) and a pained sense of alienation. It is a testament to his supreme skills that "Street 66" stills sounds as fresh, radical and dangerous as ever. By the way, he didn't buy the whole Rastafarian mythology. An independant spirit – and a welcome guest on P.J. Harvey's disturbing new album.
2016 23 Apr
Reggae's Finest Hours – Linton Kwesi Johnson's "Bass Culture"
von: Manafonistas Filed under: Blog | TB | Tags: Reggae's Finest Hours 1 Comment
1 Comment
Ian M:
Love it, love it, love it. LOVE IT!
Dennis Bovell as a producer is up there with Brian Eno, Martin Hannett and Stephen Street.


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Apple's voice activated virtual assistant Siri, is now on a number of Apple devices, which include the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and the new iPad, and now Apple has filed a patent with the USPTO for an 'intelligent Automated Assistant', that would be Siri then.
You can see a small extract from the patent filing below, and the patent was originally filed back on the 9th of June of this year, although it has only been revealed today.
The intelligent automated assistant system engages with the user in an integrated, conversational manner using natural language dialog, and invokes external services when appropriate to obtain information or perform various actions. The system can be implemented using any of a number of different platforms, such as the web, email, smartphone, and the like, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the system is based on sets of interrelated domains and tasks, and employs additional functionally powered by external services with which the system can interact.
It will be interesting to see if Apple is granted the patent, as another of other companies are also developing similar offerings.
Source Engadget
Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals
Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.


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Around 6 p.m. on a Wednesday night in September, two women wearing cloth face masks stood inside the Gibson cocktail lounge in Washington, D.C., and discussed the finer points of bartending. Jewel Murray, the general manager at the speakeasy-style bar just off U Street NW, talked about how to set up an efficient workstation. She demonstrated how putting her hands on her hips and flaring out her elbows creates a space for a coworker to wiggle by behind her. She weighed the merits of leather aprons for mixologists drawn to Prohibition-era imagery (good if you carry a lot of tools, but a pain in the neck to clean). Allison Lane listened intently, absorbing information while nodding her head, asking questions, and bouncing in step to a backbeat as Gil Scott-Heron rapped "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" over the bar's sound system. Over a couple hours, several parties trickled through the unmarked door and the unlit foyer, but none of them were allowed to sit at the bar, because D.C.'s public health order prohibits serving drinks across a countertop. At one point, Lane turned to her trainer for the night and adopted a flat, reassuring tone. "I know nothing," she said, reinforcing the purpose of the exercise.
Over the past four months, Lane has become a local leader in the social justice movement that surged across the United States in response to George Floyd's death under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Back in June, she founded a nonprofit called Bartenders Against Racism (BAR), riding a wave of social media momentum that crested when she live-tweeted her experiences during a night when police stranded protesters inside the house of a sympathetic stranger on Swann Street NW. Lane, who is Black, and Murray, who is white, are both on the leadership board. During the protests, Lane has shed tears induced by both tear gas and by overwhelming emotions. Months later, she is spending less time supporting protesters and more time thinking about how the leadership board at BAR can bring about systemic change.
By devoting a night to drilling as a barback, Lane was conducting research for building a paid, equitable training program the nonprofit will organize for bartenders of color and other marginalized communities whose professional development may go ignored by employers. After shadowing Murray, she headed to an office on a different floor of the bar to type up her observations as a test trainee and analyze Murray's night as a prospective mentor. Every week since, she has returned to the Gibson for sessions geared toward topics like classic cocktails and menu creation, budgeting and pricing, floor management, and service training. The goal was to offer a six-week training program in the spring, but an announcement the Gibson's owners made the day before Lane's first session put that plan in jeopardy. The speakeasy and six of its sister bars will close indefinitely on Halloween.
While the country's drawn-out COVID-19 crisis has created a fertile environment for reevaluating norms across the bar and restaurant industry, Lane is one of several hospitality workers who are using their platforms to drive change in a profession — and a society at large — where they say opportunities for people of color are stifled at every rung of the ladder.
Three Black bar workers who spoke with Eater shared their experiences in an industry they say breeds hostility against them by locking them into entry-level positions, withholding training opportunities, tokenizing them for their cultural currency, and enforcing a code of "professionalism" they view as a double standard. While America has changed the way it drinks during the pandemic, the service workers risking their health for barely livable wages are fed up with business as usual. Periods of unemployment and momentum from America's so-called reckoning have further empowered them to speak out.
While white-collar D.C. adjusts to a remote worklife, Lane has weathered the shock of unemployment and faced the health risks of returning to her jobs to serve drinks. The most significant action she feels she can take now is to build a training program from scratch.
In September, that meant listening to Murray walk her through the steps of making a $14 cocktail full of tequila, lime maple shrub, berry liqueur, and ginger beer. When Murray placed the drink on a table next to an order of pickled beets, she set a small fire in the center of a lime garnish and included instructions for the customer to remove their mask before trying to blow out the flame.
When Lane and her colleagues first started BAR back in June, they focused on what they termed "supplytending" — handing out food and water at protests, or pointing demonstrators toward restaurants that had opened up their bathrooms. The BAR board noticed that their volunteers were mostly in their 30s, and the demonstrators they helped were a generation younger. While the 20-somethings could figure out how to stay hydrated, they would need mentors when it was time to get back behind the bar. All the marching, chanting, and sign-holding will not fix a systemic imbalance between white and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) workers in an American hospitality culture that traces its origins through 400 years of oppression in America.
Lane, 34, knew from her own experience how difficult it could be for a Black person to rise through the ranks in the restaurant world. She grew up outside of D.C., in Manassas, Virginia, which she describes as "a very white community." Since moving to the District in 2012, she's logged enough experience — at scene-y Eighteenth Street Lounge, at U Street bars like Marvin and the Gibson, at packed restaurants like Kapnos, Ghibellina, and Compass Rose — to learn that she should hold more than one job at a time. That gives her options in case managers aren't treating her well.
"I don't trust this industry," Lane says. "When I get hired for jobs, I'm not committed to you until I see you're a good manager."
Over the course of her career, she says she often showed up to a new job and was expected to perform without being trained. She's been told she was "glaring" when she was simply thinking with a blank expression on her face. She says supervisors were often more concerned with enforcing a code of "professionalism" than they were about answering her questions. She felt there was always a different standard for her than for her white, male coworkers. "I often felt like a child," Lane says. "It felt like I was being punished for having adult thoughts or being angry.
"I think some people are allowed to have bad days at work, aren't they? Why can't I? … Why does that dictate why I'm employable or not? It seems so unfair. That hasn't happened to me a lot now, but it happened to me a lot back then. How can that be if this white guy over here is just saying wild shit all the time?"
Conversations with Lane reveal a winning personality honed by years of reading customers. She makes self-deprecating jokes and brims with laughter. She talks about how much she loves food and drinks, and how she uses that as common ground to get to know coworkers. Her Twitter account is a mix of unvarnished pain, stream-of-consciousness thoughts about the benefits of therapy, and wanton cravings for Taco Bell. She doesn't pretend to know how to fix the hospitality industry, but she's going to try.
Lane says the same confidence and people skills that have helped her land jobs have made her seem intimidating to managers. She says they may want to hire someone "cool or sassy or fun" to work at a bar, but often leave new hires to figure out the technical aspects of the job on their own.
"Oftentimes I've gone into places and people think I'm some sort of Black oracle, like I know how to bartend already," Lane says. "Just because I'm confident doesn't mean I know what I'm doing. It means I'll figure it out, which is fantastic. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't train me the same way as somebody you assume is trainable."
As in the world of rarefied chefs, the path to a job as a mixologist often includes a stint as a "stagiaire," a fancy term for an unpaid worker. A willingness to learn is often attached to an acceptance to forego pay.
High-end bars "ask people to work for free," Lane says. "They kind of tear you down a little bit — actually, a lot. Like, 'Oh, give up all of this for yourself for free, and learn, and try to get a job at the same time.' That's not okay."
In August, four bars agreed to send a portion of proceeds from cocktails sponsored by a new distillery out of Frederick, Maryland, to support BAR's first fundraising initiative. BAR is raising money to pay for training stipends and more supply-tending, including a plan to pass out food and water at polling places on Election Day.
Before the pandemic forced D.C. bars to temporarily close dining rooms, Lane was juggling bartending and server jobs at the Eaton hotel downtown, the bar at the Anthem music venue in Southwest, and Cranes, a high-end Spanish-Japanese restaurant in Penn Quarter. She was laid off from the hotel job in June and still stays in contact with employers from the other two venues.
Now she spends most of her time serving at Electric Cool-Aid, a new outdoor bar in Shaw that specializes in frozen cocktails. Lane likes her new job. The owners have been bar managers around town for years, and they understand the stressful nature of the work. It's outside, which makes Lane feel safe. As always, Lane says, some customers are more entitled than others while navigating the safety protocols D.C. requires during the public health crisis. She has friends who have been insulted and demeaned for asking customers to wear a mask.
"People's classism shows, but there's an extra weight to it when my life is in danger," she says. "And I have to work. Our government is not taking care of us. Our city is not taking care of us. Our employers are not taking care of us."
When Lane waits on customers now, she can't read their faces behind their masks, so she can't steel herself for anticipated rudeness. It's a tradeoff she's willing to make.
"I'd rather you wear your mask and not see your face and assume that you're still respecting me as a person," she says.
Compared to an oncologist, say, or the demonstrators who still fill up Black Lives Matter Plaza with raised fists and raised voices, Andra "AJ" Johnson sometimes feels her work behind the bar at Serenata and Zumo is unimportant.
"Me putting a base spirit into a shaker tin and shaking it with some ice and some sugar and some citrus — my job is frivolous, right? But it doesn't have to be," Johnson says.
As a partner and beverage director at the day-to-night space at the center of the Latin-focused La Cosecha market in Northeast D.C., Johnson kept working when much of the city shut down in mid-March, operating as one half of a two-woman team sending out to-go smoothies full of tropical mamey fruit during the day and spicy pineapple-nopal margaritas at night. She led weekly cocktail classes, broadcasting her broad smile and warm personality through Zoom, and helped the bar participate as a pickup point for other pop-ups.
In June, while the outrage and pain that convulsed the country following Floyd's death was still fresh, Johnson resolved to start her own pop-up, one that would use the tools of her trade to amplify the message of the activists and the protesters arguing that the color of their skin should not put their lives at risk. She called the idea Madiba Cocktail Pop-Up, then settled on a name that felt more powerful: Back to Black.
"I'm Black first, before I'm anything," says Johnson, who was already a prominent voice for equality in the hospitality industry and is one of the organizers behind DMV Black Restaurant Week. "When my safety, my livelihood, the livelihood of my people is compromised, there's no way that I could sit back and do nothing."
Johnson, 33, would ask Black mixologists from bars across the city to join her in creating cocktails, then picking an anti-racist organization to receive proceeds from each drink. Each bartender would also be considered a storyteller, not just making high-level to-go drinks that showed off the diversity within the Black community, but also providing personal essays collected in a printed booklet. She enlisted photographer Naku Mayo to give each beverage a gorgeous portrait that would resonate on social media. Christina Mayo came on as a videographer.
Kapri Robinson was one of the first people Johnson called. Robinson gathers Black bartenders for competitions and developmental panels under the banner of a nonprofit called Chocolate City's Best. She had been furloughed from her regular gig at Reliable Tavern, a neighborhood bar in Petworth with a hardware-store motif, and laid off from an exciting part-time gig at Allegory inside the Eaton hotel before she could even begin training. Because she has asthma, Robinson says she opted to be "very vocal online" rather than protest in the streets.
When Johnson reached out, Robinson felt like the universe had provided an answer to all her uncertainty about how to meet the moment of change. She feels the opportunity to be a storyteller is cathartic.
"Whatever you want to scream to the world about being Black, say it here," says Robinson, who has since returned to Reliable Tavern for the Friday shift.
Johnson brought in three more storytellers — Frank Mills, the beverage director at fried chicken and oyster bar Roy Boys; Thamee beverage director Richard Sterling; and pastry chef Paola Velez, who co-founded Bakers Against Racism. The first Back to Black pop-up, held at Serenata over two days at the end of June, brought in $11,432.47 in donations for five charities. That included $2,000 worth of merchandise bearing a logo created by graphic designer Lorena Prada. The mixologists moved 450 cocktails, and the pop-up sold 140 black velvet brownies with chocolate-tinted cream cheese from Velez.
Roy Boys hosted a second iteration of Back to Black in August, and another installment is planned for November. Columbia Room, one of the most esteemed cocktail bars in the city, committed to sell cocktails crafted by Johnson and Sterling through the month of October, with proceeds going to Campaign Zero. After orchestrating the first pop-up herself, Johnson has made other members of the opening lineup organizers, too.
"It's never going away," Robinson says.
For her first contribution to Back to Black, Robinson named her drink after Emeline Jones, a renowned chef in the late 1800s who was born to an enslaved woman in Baltimore and went on to run restaurants in New York and Virginia. As a free woman, she declined job offers to cook at the White House. Robinson's Emeline — a mix of Dominican Brugal Anejo rum, red pea honey, African ginger syrup, lemon, and hibiscus-infused drops of Jamaican rum — was a tribute to that boss spirit. She sent the proceeds to Stop Police Terror Project DC.
For the past two years, Robinson and her partners at Chocolate City's Best have grown the cocktail competition into an advocacy and development organization with a national reach. Robinson, 27, felt she had to start a competition for Black bartenders because she had traveled to the Tales of the Cocktail convention in New Orleans and noticed that faces that looked like hers were conspicuously absent. Once she started putting on events, she heard familiar stories from Black workers: the one about being hired to barback but not getting opportunities to train as a bartender; the one about being told you'll never get the bartending job you covet; the one about training a white coworker only to see them promoted ahead of you with fewer skills.
When Robinson finally got a chance to train as a bartender for herself, at Farmers Fishers Bakers on the Georgetown Waterfront, she says she showed up late one time and had a manager threaten to take away the opportunity. She says Torrance Swain, a Black mentor for her in the bar business, had to vouch for her and volunteer to be responsible for her so she could continue training as a bartender. She says she loves the bar team at the company — one of D.C.'s largest — and was part of a diverse group, but she felt like she had to do modified work to earn her position, like passing certifications on the first try, or memorizing cocktail recipes by a certain date.
"Because of that one mistake, I was never late again," Robinson says. "I've never seen anyone else punished that way."
Dan Simons, a co-owner of Farmers Restaurant Group, says in an email that the company applauds Robinson's work on behalf of Black bartenders and pledged to personally review the situation with her and Swain. This year the Farmers group organized a paid group of advisers, called its Council on Color, to review diversity and inclusion in quarterly meetings.
"Our training programs are rigorous and intense, and we should be applying a high standard regarding knowledge, skills, and timeliness to everyone equally," Simons writes. "No one should ever be managed, [led], or treated differently because of their race. I'm hearing Kapri, I'm believing Kapri. I am both sorry and responsible for how she was treated."
Robinson says over the course of her career, including a stint at the edgy Dirty Habit bar in a Kimpton hotel, managers were more concerned with stopping her from "talking back" than listening to feedback about what her team needed. She's felt like she was being labeled as "the angry black woman" or a constant complainer when she was trying to foster a better work environment.
"It feels like they want me to feel crazy," Robinson says. "You want me to feel insane because you're trying to impose your reality of me on me."
In Robinson's experience, when managers approach Black employees like they're hostile, like they'll automatically react in a loud, aggressive way, that leads to aggravation, then dejection.
"It creates frustration, but it also creates a sense of hopelessness, almost, in which I feel as though there is no point to be doing this. … I fight that feeling all the time, because someone has to say something, is what I believe. What we see all the time in this industry is that people of color, Black women, do not continue to keep talking. They shut their mouths. They keep their eyes down and do what they need to do to keep a job."
Johnson has become a collector of these stories. For the past three years, she has been working on a book project and video series called White Plates, Black Faces that represents the range of experiences for Black restaurant workers, explores the factors that contribute to a lack of ownership opportunities and media representation, and looks at how the hospitality industry participates in institutional racism as a whole. She wants to share other people's stories in her book, and she's been conducting interviews with Black workers who work in restaurants ranging from fast casual to fine dining.
"A lot of people have not had the opportunity, simply because of the color of their skin and the lack of support and resources in order to speak against the injustices of their job in an industry that they love," Johnson says. "We do this because we love it, and we're not allowed to flourish and be nourished and enriched in our jobs because of the color of our skin, because of the preconceived notions of Black people, or people of color, period. That is — it's heartbreaking at the end of the day, and it's not fair."
Johnson doesn't feel like she ran into as many obstacles as many of the people she's interviewed.
"I am, for lack of better words, and I hate this term, I am, 'well-spoken.' I grew up in a very great neighborhood, come from an affluent family," she says. "I'm queer, where in a lot of situations for me, that was actually a plus in a hiring situation. Not all of them, but it definitely didn't hurt me in a way that I think has hurt a lot of other people. I was the cool hire. I had a lot of doors open for me in that way. I got a lot of chances out the gate that I don't think a lot of people did."
Even so, Johnson says "fine dining didn't want to see somebody like me." She was once asked in a job interview, "Can you do something with that?" She needed a minute to realize the question was about her dreadlocks. She was asked by a manager, in the middle of service, to dance in the dining room. She's been told she wasn't dressing feminine enough. She's had customers insinuate what type of food she likes, and interactions with people who didn't believe she was a manager, let alone had an ownership stake.
"It's all-encompassing. But at the end of the day, like, I do this because I love this. I think being a Black person in America, you end up going, 'Welp, there's nothing else that I can do about it, so I'm going to take it, and I'm going to learn how to control my temper, and I'm going to move on. I'm going to move on.' And that is not, it's not healthy mentally. And it gets a lot of people down, myself included. I don't think that there are too many people of color in any job, let alone the restaurant industry, that have not been expected to perform to someone else's preconceived notions of them."
- D.C. Bartenders Band Together to Provide Water and Supplies to Protesters [EDC]
- How Andra 'AJ' Johnson Will Bolster Black Ownership of D.C. Bars and Restaurants [WCP]
- Andra "AJ" Johnson Is Changing The Conversation About Race In Restaurants [Zagat]
- The Century-Old Mixologist Club, Revisited [Punch]
- American exceptionalism was our preexisting condition [WaPo]


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Lockdown Drills, Are They Foolproof?
March 22, 2021
Lockdown drills, every school goes through them now. It is perhaps more common than fire drills, but are the lockdown drills foolproof?
Every school has a different method to a lockdown. Like the ALICE method, but most schools turn off the lights, lock the doors and crouch in a quiet corner. This is also known as "Locks, Lights, Out of sight."
Is it the safest way to avoid getting hurt?
It is not just the preparations of the emergency that may not be safe, but the mental effect that the drills inflict.
It causes anxiety, stress, and trauma in the fight or flight defense system.
Let's talk about the methods to a shooter emergency drill.
ALICE: The ALICE acronym stands for (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate)
Alert your peers of the threat, Lockdown means barricade or prepare to evacuate.
Inform, which means communicating with others where the threat is.
Counter means if you run into the threat, do NOT fight back, instead out flank the threat. You can do this by movements and distractions to confuse the threat. You can do this by throwing something like a book to get the attention away from you.
Evacuate, when safe you leave the premises away from the danger zone.
This method is a little more complex but gives students a better chance to survive.
The other method is "Locks, Lights, Out of sight" This method, when an emergency happens, this alarms teachers to lock the doors, turn off the lights, and go in a corner away from the door.
This is the method that we use here, most of the time that prevents students from evacuating in the threshold of danger, especially if there are no windows. Some people describe it as "sitting like ducks."
I am not a professional, I advise everyone to do what they think is right, avoid following crowds, study the map of the building you are in and mark all the exits, grab nothing but your phone and go to the next door business. I do NOT think you should John McClane it from the movie "Die Hard"


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Gorillas are very much like us. They can make an enormous variation of sounds. Gorillas can easily make themselves heard. There are also many subtle sounds and gestures within a troop.
Conservationist Dian Fossey lived with gorillas and identified 17 vocalisations. Making sense of the sounds gorillas make has been integral to demystifying their world.
Here are the basic sounds made by a gorilla, including those that you are most likely to encounter on a mountain gorilla trek.
Gorilla Sounds – From Belch to Burp
This non-aggressive and non-threatening call is the gorillas saying they accept the presence of visitors. Trekking guides imitate this belch when a group first approaches a troop.
Chest beat
Immortalised by the movies, the chest beat is what almost everybody on a gorilla trek wants to experience. Note that they make this sound using open hands, not clenched fists as the movies suggest.
It's essentially a display of strength and dominance over another, directed towards both males and females in the troop. Although it seems a show of aggression, a chest beat is not a battle cry or the start of a fight.
Similar to the belch but more high-pitched, singing signifies contentment. Gorillas sing when they are happy and these reassuring noises tell everyone else that they are content.
Ha ha ha chuckle
Yes, gorilla laugh and chuckle just like us. Like humans, this playful sound is most commonly made by the younger members of a troop. The gorilla chuckle is a little more complex, as it is both a laugh and an invitation for another to join them.
Scream or roar
A frightening display of power, usually accompanied by a charge. Gorillas bare their teeth and make a very loud waaaaaah sound, scaring others away.
Bear in mind that they don't use a chest beat to scare off intruders as many suggest – a scream or roar is the sound made by gorillas when they are angry.
Uh uh uh
A sound similar to what you've probably heard in humans before (perhaps an uncle or teenage boy), this gorilla sound translates as back off. They would use it to say something like "hey, back off, I'm going to eat that plant."
Silence is very perceptible among primates. For gorillas it's not a comfortable silence.
When they sense danger they will stop and fall silent, using gestures to communicate before deciding what to do next.
Sudden silence often means, "watch out, something is happening."
Subtle sounds
The sounds detailed above are those perceptible to researchers. Gorillas have many other forms of communication, including sounds that are only known or used within the specific troop.
These are used for the same reasons we as humans make sounds. Gorillas communicate about food, make noises related to mating, give out discipline and show support, or express their own problems.
Many of these subtle sounds can't be distinguished because they are different between troops. There isn't a single gorilla language but many different languages. So we will never know all the sounds that a gorilla makes. 🙂


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Successful Guide on How to Become a Microsoft Certified Trainer
Since the advancement of technology, Microsoft has been bringing us the coolest gadgets, the latest software, and the most exceptional services. And thank God for this company because our lives have been more comfortable if not all better.
But behind the big-name are the computer geeks, tech wizards, IT geniuses. Whatever we call these people, even if we admit it or not, they are one of the people who make our lives easier. They make all those IT languages better for us to understand and let us navigate our tech-free from all the stress. But becoming one of them takes courage and lots of studying to become trainers, well, specifically Microsoft Certified Trainer.
If you are planning to be one, you are stepping into the right place. Further down is a step by step guide on how to become a Microsoft Certified Trainer. But first, let me tell you the benefits of being a Microsoft Certified Trainer. MCTs are one of the most eligible experts in their field, and through the Program, IT personnel can fully update their skills.
Are you intrigued yet? I bet. Now let's go and read on the steps to becoming an MCT.
Step 1. Know the prerequisites of the Program.
Before setting your goal to become a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), you should know that particular prerequisites should be acquired.
The requirements to become an eligible applicant for the MCT Program are as follows:
- You must have a current Microsoft certification.
- One way to have your Microsoft certification is to earn a CompTIA CTT+ Certification. This certification is for instructors who want to know if they have attained the standards in the training field. It is basically to validate their knowledge in using the tools and techniques that are necessary for teaching the learning environments successfully.
To earn this certification, you have to pass two exams; one is a written exam, and the other is an application which involves making a video.
- You do not have the CompTIA CTT+ certificate; there are other eligible Microsoft certifications such as:
- Essential Educate Trainer (internal Microsoft – certification)
- Friesen Kaye and Associates
- Global Knowledge Instructional Skills Certification
- IAMCT Approved Technical Trainer (IAMCT ATT)
- IPM (Institut für Personalberatung und Managemententwicklung)
- Learning and Performance Institute Trainer Performance Monitoring and Assessment (TPMA)
- Learning Tree Train the Trainer Program
- Marcom Deli
- Microsoft Certified Trainer Instructional Skills Certification (MCT-ISC)
- New Horizons Instructional Skills Certification
- PrepMasters USA
- You must possess instructional skills that you can verify through your Instructional Skills Certification (to check on the list of different types of Instructional Skills Certification, click on https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/mct-certification#mct-program-entry-requirements).
- You are already working as an instructor in an academic institution, or you are working as an IT in a tech company, ask your employer or your manager to fix you a personal reference/proof of employment and that can serve as your verified instructional skills.
Step 2. Review the MCT Program Guide and the MCT Program Agreement.
The Program Guide basically describes the MCT Program and gives an overview of it. More work, eh? Don't fret because this is a critical step to understand further what the whole Program is. Click on the link to have your taste of the Guide (https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE2XZuQ).
What about the MCT Program Agreement? What does it contain? This Agreement includes the scope of being a Microsoft Certified Trainer, including benefits and compliance. It is basically your contract with the MCT Program, and this is another critical step, so read on it here https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE2XWWa.
If you have read and understood both the Program Guide and the Agreement, you are ready for the next step!
Step 3. Application.
You are almost there! In this step, you will be applying online with this link https://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=13&ct=1581944240&rver=6.7.6631.0&wp=MBI_SSL&wreply=https%3a%2f%2fmcp.microsoft.com%2fAuthenticate%2fMCT&id=297103. This is called the MC enrollment Tool.
After clicking the link above, it will ask for your Microsoft login details. If you do not have a Microsoft Certification ID (MCID), you can obtain one by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com.
Pro Tip: After completing your application, do not forget to reread and review the details to make sure that you have filled it incorrectly. Trust me; this is a lifesaver.
What's Inside the MC enrollment Tool? It lets you:
- Review the MCT program requirements and also sign both the Program Guide and Agreement. The signature is electronic, and this validates your understanding of the Agreement.
- Update your profile; this includes your contact information, which is for the MCT Communications use.
- Payment method selection. The fees depend on your country/region and employment status, so better use the MCT Support page here https://trainingsupport.microsoft.com/en-us to further help you with your membership fees.
- Pro tip: you can get a discount on your fee if you work for a Certified Partner for Learning Solutions (CPLS) or if you work in Microsoft IT Academy. The discount can range from 25% to 100%!
Step 4. Wait for your Welcome email.
After you complete your application, wait for your welcome email, click on that email, and access your MCT content on your Certification dashboard.
Once you renew your MCT, you must follow the MCT Program renewal requirements. You must:
- Have a current Microsoft Certification or qualification. For the list of criteria, you can check it out here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/mct-certification#current-microsoft-certifications-and-qualifications-eligible-for-the-mct-program.
- If you are a new MCT, you must teach at least one Microsoft course.
MCT Alumni Program
If the MCTs can renew their contract, they can be an alumnus too! For the MCT Alumni Program, you have:
- To have a current or prior MCT program participation (teaching, pieces of training, etc.)
- To be in good standing with the company
- To pay the annual program fees (depending on your country/region)
For the application on becoming an MCT Alumni, you can access the MCT Alumni Agreement here https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE2XP6W. Everything you need to know, including the steps on the application are found on the link.
If you are thinking of re-joining the MCT from the Alumni status, you can always read the requirements of the MCT Program and pass all of them. Furthermore, you can apply again by providing proof of your instructional skills, be it the Instructional Skills Certificate or the personal reference made by a former colleague or co-worker.
Benefits of Being an MCT Alumnus
Exclusive access to the MCT Alumni content on the Certification dashboard awaits those who become an alumnus. You also have access to the MCT Central, where you can find all things tailored to MCT and the MCT community. But wait, there is more! You also get examination discounts during your re-entry into the Program and access on books related to the exam.
Remember, before applying to become an MCT, you must consider all your certifications and superimpose them to the qualified certifications in Microsoft. Furthermore, make sure to have all the requirements. Without all the essentials, the MCT enrollment Tool will not accept your application. Also, don't forget that the application fees are based on your country/region, so ask the Microsoft Training Support for the conversion of the charges. Now just carefully follow the tutorial above, and you are on your way to becoming a Microsoft Certified Trainer!
Don't forget that being a Microsoft Certified Trainer does not only help your career; it also helps your students have more knowledge about the Microsoft tech world.
If you have any questions, you can always contact the Microsoft Training Support here https://trainingsupport.microsoft.com/en-us.
If you are interested in becoming a certified CompTIA CTT+ genius, you could also click this link https://www.comptia.org/certifications/ctt and work your way through the test.


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Power Ranger Black 2nd Skin, Adult Costume
Sorry, currently out of stock
Morph into the Black Ranger in our awesome Power Ranger 2nd skin costume!
Take on evil in a cult classic fancy dress outfit, and be the life of the Power Ranger party!
Great for a 90's or superhero themed fancy dress.
An all in one jumpsuit with the Power Rangers logo featured on the mock belt design.
Attached to the jumpsuit is a hood which goes over the face and has a zip at the back.
This awesome costume has been designed to enable the wearer to breathe, see and even drink (water only) through the material.
Please note that Second Skin outfits are stretchy and are based on height rather than chest size for fitting. For that reason, we advise the following size guide:
M (Medium) fits up to 5'4'' - 160cm
L (Large) fits up to 5'10'' - 180cm
XL (Extra Large) fits up to 6'3'' - 190cm
Looking for a group fancy dress idea? Take a look at our other Power Rangers costumes.
- 2nd Skin Body Suit
Hand Wash OnlyMaterial
100% Polyester
Royal Mail 24 (1-2 working days) £3.99
UPS Next Working Day by 6pm (delivers Monday to Friday only) £6.99
UPS Next Working Day by Midday (delivers Monday to Friday only) £7.99
UPS Saturday Delivery £8.99
Order by 4:00pm Mon - Fri for same day dispatch if using Royal Mail as your shipping service.
Order by 4:00pm Mon - Fri for same day dispatch if using UPS as your shipping service.
Orders received on weekends and bank holidays will be shipped the next working day. You will receive an email with a tracking number after we have shipped it.
You can return any item up to 28 working days from receipt of goods, subject to the following:
- The item must be unused and without damage, and in a saleable condition.
- We require all original packaging.
- Makeup, face paint, fangs & teeth, tights, stockings and underwear must remain unopened and with original seals intact.
To start a return, please follow the instruction on the returns form received with your order. Escapade.co.uk does not pay for return delivery.
None of the above affects your statutory rights.


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Resson Aerospace Takes Flight With $3 Million In Venture Capital Funding
Fredericton's Resson Aerospace, a bioinformatics and data analytics company, announced today that it raised $3 million in venture capital funding led by Rho Canada Ventures and Build Ventures.
Other investors include BDC Capital, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and private investors.
Resson Aerospace launched its solution for large-scale agricultural companies in 2013, and quickly built relationships with some of largest producers in the world.
The company's Resson Agricultural Management and Analytics System (RAMAS) integrates large-scale cloud-based data analytics with sensor fusion and robotic platforms to provide agricultural producers with an unequalled view of crop production and field conditions.
"We help major food producers operate more efficiently to maximize production and profits," said Peter Goggin, CEO and Co-Founder of Resson Aerospace. "We are already working with some of the largest agricultural companies in the world. With this funding we can accelerate our technology, hire key staff and continue to lead this emerging space."
Rho Canada Ventures has been following the company since its earliest days. "We are impressed by the traction Resson Aerospace earned with some of the biggest names in agricultural production. With this funding, they can bring more new technology to the market to improve the efficiency and profitability of their customers," said Jeff Grammer, Partner with Rho Canada Ventures.
"Food production is a multi-trillion-dollar global business. In a short period of time, Resson Aerospace has emerged as leader in using technology to improve crop yields. With a smart team and a strong product plan, they have a bright future ahead," said Rob Barbara with Build Ventures.


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The custom Linux distribution formerly known as Ubuntu Eee is now called Easy Peasy. And as of tonight, it's available for download.
Easy Peasy is based on Ubuntu 8.10 and includes custom drivers and software to ensure that the operating system works properly on most Asus Eee PC hardware. The disc image weighs in at just over 800MB, so you'll either want to burn it to a DVD (rather than a CD) or use something like UNetbootin to install the OS using a USB flash drive.
I don't have time to take Easy Peasy for a spin tonight as I have to wake up at the crack of dawn tomorrow (actually several hours before hte crack of dawn) to catch my flight to CES. But if you have a chance to try Easy Peasy out before I do, let us know what you think in the comments. How does it compare to Ubuntu Eee 8.04.1? What about Eeebuntu?
thanks bkobb!


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Social Media Marketing for Small Business
Event Info
Our Social Times is teaming up with Constant Contact to host a FREE social media marketing seminar for small & medium-sized enterprises in London. The intensive, half-day event will feature expert speakers on a range of key topics:
• The 7 Step Social Media Marketing Strategy
• How To Supercharge Your Facebook Marketing
• How To Generate New Leads On Twitter
• Tips and Tricks for Social Media Success
• "Live" Case Studies and Q&A
The seminar will feature expert speakers at the forefront of this exciting industry, including Luke Brynley-Jones (Founder, Our Social Times), Ron Cates (Development Director, Constant Contact) and Tammy Kahn Fennell (CEO, MarketMeSuite). This high-value event will focus expressly on the needs and interests of SMEs. It will also include a panel discussion featuring small businesses that are already implementing social media effectively within their marketing.


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En Primeur Releases: 21 June 2021
Giles Cooper
21 June 2021
Cos d'Estournel has been on a truly remarkable roll with huge scores from the key critics for each of the last five vintages – and the new 2020 continues this procession. It is released today at GBP 1800/12. Celebrating 20 years of ownership, Michel Reybier will adorn the 2020 Cos with a one-off gold printed bottle as pictured here.
"I love the way this Cos d'Estournel shimmies and shines—a unique vintage signature expressed so beautifully at this estate!" Lisa Perrotti-Brown
As we have come to expect there is a legion of fans for the 2020 Cos, but there are a few key points that really stand out in the critics' observations: Neal Martin admires its "freshness and a sense of light" and the way it delivers its layers of fruit, then with time, "more Saint-Estèphe-like traits: freshly tilled soil, cigar box and touches of warm gravel." This sense of quiet, detailed perfection is also admired by Bordeaux guru Michael Schuster who states "a ripeness absolutely without excess, and remaining so fresh; subtle, flattering, prolonged, quietly aristocratic, the very essence of grand vin, and with terrific persistence." US critic Jeff Leve agrees: "This is a refined vintage for COS. You find lower alcohol and the wine feels more energetic on the palate and in the finish".
"A most complete and refined claret of first-growth quality" Michael Schuster
From its peak high up on the St Estephe escarpment, looking down onto Lafite at the north end of Pauillac, Cos d'Estournel's mystical eastern-inspired Chateau has always produced wines of exotic hedonism. The last decade has seen a real shift in style focusing on creating wines that are beautifully balanced with classical elegance and finesse. The team are clearly increasingly driven to reflect the remarkable mineral terroir of the estate rather than the sheer power of its opulent fruit.
Another year, another great Cos.
The estate's ever-improving deuxieme vin Pagodes de Cos 2020 is also available at GBP 372. This is very definitely designed to be an earlier-drinking expression of the hallowed Cos terroir but it lacks no quality as a result of its forward style: indeed Michael Schuster states "This is so complete and harmonious, you would never have identified it as a second wine 20 years ago ... even ten. Glorious "second" claret."
96-98pts LPB, robertparker.com "The 2020 Cos d'Estournel is composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot. The harvest took place September 10–24 with a yield of 39 hectoliters per hectare. The alcohol weighs in at 13.46% with a pH of 3.9 and an IPT (total phenolic index) of 80. It is being aged in French oak barrels, 55% new. Deep purple-black in color, it pops with explosive scents of ripe red and black currants, black cherry preserves and black raspberries, followed by sparks of violets, wild sage, pencil lead and clove oil, with emerging hints of iron ore and damp soil. The medium-bodied palate has amazing elegance and grace contrasted by jaw-dropping energy, featuring a firm frame of finely grained tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with a whole firework display of mineral nuances. I love the way this Cos d'Estournel shimmies and shines—a unique vintage signature expressed so beautifully at this estate!"
95-97pts Neal Martin, vinous "The 2020 Cos d'Estournel is a very different proposition to the Les Pagodes, more so than in other years. Much more intense on the nose of intense black fruit, it is beautifully defined, with enticing scents of blackberry, Dorset plum and topnotes of blueberry and briar. After 30 minutes in the glass, it develops more Saint-Estèphe-like traits: freshly tilled soil, cigar box and touches of warm gravel. There is an openness to these inviting aromatics. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins (so different from the "iron girders" of yore). There is freshness and a sense of light in this Cos d'Estournel, though the backbone remains in situ on the cedar and mint finish (a nod to neighboring Pauillac, perhaps), then a lingering marine/seaweed note on the aftertaste. This is a finely crafted, very succinct Cos d'Estournel that may well be hiding something up its sleeve for after bottling, and I suspect it will gain more spine during its barrel aging."
97-98pts Michael Schuster, WOFW "Subtle black fruit, and a lovely, insistent gravel impression, already a nose that really tempts one to linger; rich, medium-full, beautifully, imperceptibly defined by its acidity and with superfine, velvety tannin; here is a mouthcoating, sweetly ripe Cabernet core, but a ripeness absolutely without excess, and remaining so fresh; subtle, flattering, prolonged, quietly aristocratic, the very essence of grand vin, and with terrific persistence. Great Cos, providing the sort of sensory satisfaction and appeal you get in a rich, detailed, sustained mezzoforte chord from a prime orchestra. A most complete and refined claret of first-growth quality. There is such polish in all the Cos wines—a great tribute to the team, led by Dominique Arangoits. 2030–60+."
97-99pts Jeff Leve "Deep garnet in hue, the wine shoots from glass with tobacco leaf, currants, spice box, cigar wrapper, blackberry and cassis. Elegant, fresh and vibrant, the wine is silky, long and precise. There is a cool spicy note that rides along with all the layers of soft, polished fruits on the mid-palate and in the finish. This is a refined vintage for COS. You find lower alcohol and the wine feels more energetic on the palate and in the finish, even though the pH is high at 3.9. Let it sleep for at least a decade before popping a cork. Produced from a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot, 13.46 % ABV, the harvest took place September 10 to September 24."
97pts Jane Anson, Decanter "You need to take a little time to let the concentrated flavours seep out, this is a long hauler. The tannins build slowly but surely through the palate, sombre and serious right now, particularly for an estate that is known for its exuberance. The opulence is there if you give it time, and as the tannins elongate and relax, richer notes of bilberry fruits, toasted cedar, salted chocolate, turmeric and black pepper spice arrives. Harvest September 10 to 24. A 3.9pH is the highest since 2003, but any threat of low acidity is balanced by high tannins, and relatively low alcohol. A yield of 39hl/ha (43hl/ha in 2019)."
97-98pts James Suckling "This is a very refined, polished Cos with superb finesse and length. Medium-to full-bodied, very fine and persistent. Really long with beautiful tannins. Rich, but fresh and linear. Yet, the alcohol is around 13.5%. 62% cabernet and 38% merlot."
GBP 1800 per case/12 IB
Other formats are available:
Halves – GBP 1820 per case/24 IB
Magnums – GBP 1810 per case/6 IB
Double magnums – GBP 1890 per case/3 IB
Imperials – GBP 1245 each IB
92-94pts Jeff Leve "Fresh, bright, spicy and almost ready to go. The wine is medium-bodied, savory, lifted and polished. The fresh, red pit fruits are accompanied by tobacco leaf, spice, cigar box and savory notes on the nose, palate and finish. Drink this young while waiting for the Grand Vin to develop. The wine blends 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot."
93-94pts James Suckling "This is a racy Pagodes with beautiful fruit and tannins that leave a nice, persistent finish. Medium to full body. Savory finish. Tight and clean."
90-92pts Michael Schuster, WOFW "Fresh, sweetly ripe Cabernet to smell, and mineral, too, "serious" immediately, just to smell! Rich medium-weight, fresh, with superfine tannins, a lovely balance; supple, fleshy, graceful, detailed wine, with remarkable complexity for Pagodes, and lovely length to finish. This is so complete and harmonious, you would never have identified it as a second wine 20 years ago ... even ten. Glorious "second" claret. 2025–35+."
GBP 372 per case/12 IB
Other formats are available:
Halves – GBP 392 per case/24 IB
Magnums – GBP 382 per case/6 IB
Double magnums – GBP 462 per case/3 IB
Imperials – GBP 293 each IB
Pavie Macquin is another wine that has been in a purple patch of form over the past decade and their 2020 is another knockout. It has been released today at GBP 691/12.
This vintage proved beyond all doubt that St Emilion is really happy in its new groove, delivering wines which prize freshness over power and vineyard expression over concentration. For it is easy to forget that St Emilion boasts one of the most complex arrays of soil types, aspects and varietal blends of anywhere in Bordeaux – something which in the past few vintages has started to once again, thankfully, become clear. However the 2020 vintage also supplied oodles of that rich, inky dark fruit and intoxicating aromatics and few achieve this more clearly, along with a quite startling mineral character, than Pavie Macquin.
"one of the most alluring and complete recent vintages I can remember tasting. In a word: dazzling." Antonio Galloni
"shimmers with energetic red and black fruit layers and loads of floral and earthy sparks… A real head-turner!" Lisa Perrotti-Brown
"I love this wine, which has a monster of a mid-palate yet stays tight and focused on the palate, with riveting precision." Jeb Dunnuck
One of the jewels in the crown of the Thienpont family estates (on the Nicolas Thienpont side) alongside the much lauded Larcis Ducasse, this remarkable piece of terroir up on the steep 'côtes' combines a multitude of different soils and aspects giving a variety of characters and textures from across the property. Just down the hill from resurgent Troplong Mondot and cousin Jacques Thienpont's L'if estate, the terroir boasts an ideal blend of clay and limestone; this helped the land hold up magnificently during the hot summer and kept the vines amply supplied.
At the price this wine delivers enormous 'bang for buck' and provides the perfect combination of freshness, minerality, fruit purity and power for which these St Emilion hillside estates were once so famed. The good times are back… don't miss out.
96-98pts LPB, robertparker.com "The 2020 Pavie Macquin has an opaque purple-black color, exploding from the glass with an intoxicating perfume of violets, Ceylon tea, forest floor and eucalyptus over a core of blackberry preserves, Morello cherries and stewed plum, plus wafts of crushed rocks and unsmoked cigars. The medium to full-bodied palate shimmers with energetic red and black fruit layers and loads of floral and earthy sparks, framed by exquisitely ripe, finely grained tannins and amazing tension, finishing with a long-lingering perfume of black fruits. A real head-turner!"
95-98pts Antonio Galloni, vinous "The 2020 Pavie Macquin is one of the most exotic Saint-Émilions of the year. Inky red fruit, lavender, rose petal, mint, plum and kirsch all open in the glass. Succulent and racy to the core, the 2020 possesses mind-blowing intensity yet remains fresh, vibrant and full of energy. It is one of the most alluring and complete recent vintages I can remember tasting. In a word: dazzling."
96-98pts Jeff Leve "Inky in color, with dark purple accents, the wine explodes with flowers, incense, licorice, black fruit and touches of blueberries. Rich, intense, flamboyant, sensuous and silky, this hits all your pleasure buttons simultaneously. The wine paints your palate with layers of decadently ripe fruit that is simultaneously sweet, fresh and dense. The seamless finish does not quit. Instead it builds and expands, growing in intensity and complexity. This is going to be stunning with a decade or so of aging."
95-97+pts Jeb Dunnuck "This cooler, limestone terroir has created a gorgeous 2020 Château Pavie Macquin displaying the classic, pure, elegant style that's common from this address. Inky colored, with incredible cassis fruits as well as notes of white flowers, candle way, tobacco leaf, and charcoal, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, flawless balance, and a great finish. I love this wine, which has a monster of a mid-palate yet stays tight and focused on the palate, with riveting precision. Based on 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, it's going to need a good decade of bottle age but will be incredibly long-lived. Tasted twice."
95-96pts James Suckling "Sweet-berry and orange-peel aromas with hints of stone and oak on the nose. Medium-bodied with firm tannins and a fine-grained finish. Restrained plushness to this. Reserved."
95pts Jane Anson, Decanter "There is a richness here, a powerful spread of black fruits, that grabs you from the start. Perhaps less razor precision than the Larcis Ducasse (also part of the Nicolas Thienpont stable) but more width and depth of flavour. This has texture and brambled power, sappy saline on the finish, touches of austerity, graphite laced through with grilled cassis and aniseed. Some reduction at this point, will clear over barrel ageing. Tasted several times, and each time the pumice stone and chalk of limestone grips on and will not let go. A yield of 31hl/ha."
GBP 691 per case/12 IB
Other formats are available:
Halves – GBP 711 per case/24 IB
Magnums – GBP 701 per case/6 IB
Double magnums – GBP 781 per case/3 IB
Imperials – GBP 506 each IB


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California State Senator Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres) remains committed to passing new water bonds to increase California's water supply, despite the defeat of his proposed bill.
Cannella joined with State Sen. Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) in January to introduce SB 927. The proposal was for a $9.2 billion water bond, with $3 billion in new water storage, $2.5 billion to protect the Delta water supply, and $1 billion for clean drinking water, with a boost of $400 million for disadvantaged communities.
Cannella issued a statement on Tuesday after the defeat of SB 927 in the Senate Natural Resources and Water committee.
"SB 927 received bipartisan support, demonstrating the need for a water bond that will create new water for California," he said in the statement. "Our current drought has highlighted the fact that we have already taken too long to get started on rebuilding our water system, and we must take action immediately."
With the defeat of SB 927, Cannella will continue to support other water bond proposals for the state.
"I look forward to working with my fellow legislators on passing a new bond for the November ballot that will increase storage, protect the Delta, and provide more clean drinking water," said Cannella. "I am supporting other water bond proposals that meet the same goals of SB 927, including AB 2686 by Assemblyman Perea and SB 1250 by Senator Hueso."


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Tag Archives: builder
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Six years ago (in 2015) Salesforce released a new component-based framework called Lightning, which was designed with non-coding Salesforce users in mind. It includes the Lightning Component Framework as well as several useful features that simply make developing a responsive application for any device a lot easier. In this article, we look at the Salesforce Lightning benefits and features that come with the new software
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Lightning is a modern-day interface that allows users to create Lightning pages without having to write code by using custom-built Lightning Components. With Salesforce Lightning you can complete all integrations in a short amount of time. Salesforce's Lightning components provide a client-server framework that can help you speed up application development and performance.
It's also suitable for use with Salesforce's mobile app.
To enjoy the Salesforce Lightning benefits, you need to know which features to tap. Lightning will provide you access to an entirely new method of conducting business. Although Salesforce Classic allows you to build leads, the Lightning Experience includes extra features to help you better manage your sales activities.
The Path component allows for the tracking of different phases in the business process, whilst the News component provides timely updates on leads.
We've put together a list of salesforce lightning features to help you learn more about this advanced platform.
Salesforce Lightning is jam-packed with the latest cutting-edge technological innovations that can help you improve customer and interdepartmental relationships. It allows you to take advantage of the cloud's capabilities for practically anything you do on this platform. You'll also get every new Lightning feature thanks to three automatic upgrades each year.
More than 55 new Sales Cloud pages and over 150 new functionalities are available with Lightning. . Each one is intended to increase rep productivity and help the company grow.
We've come up with these five features that are proving to be the most useful and sought by both front-line and back-office staff.
The most notable aspect of this enhanced platform is Lightning Voice for Salesforce. It allows companies to engage with clients and prospects faster than ever before by allowing audio conversations to be made directly from Sales Cloud.
This means you can make and receive calls in context wherever you are using Salesforce, including on your mobile device, while also taking notes and logging these calls. You can even select a local phone number for your area.
Steelbrick CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote), which is built entirely on Lightning, makes Sales Cloud the industry's first lead-to-cash sales platform. Without even leaving their CRM, you can now execute complex quoting, acquire discount approval, generate branded proposals and contracts, and even collect signatures.
Salesforce and Microsoft have formed a strategic partnership that brings the world's number one CRM and the world's leading productivity suite together. Salesforce's partnership with Microsoft has elevated business management to new heights.
Now you may sign in to your Lightning platform using your Outlook account, which eliminates the need to switch between apps. Furthermore, Lightning Synchronization syncs your logbooks and contacts throughout your Office 365 Suite, Salesforce, and all of your other Microsoft Exchange accounts.
The Lightning Platform is used to build the Salesforce1 Mobile App. The new Lightning desktop experience was sparked by both of these breakthroughs. By using the Salesforce1 Mobile Application, you can access all of your platform customizations right from your phone.
To create apps, you don't have to be a hard-core programmer. Anyone can use Lightning Builder to create mobile and desktop apps and personalize Lightning Experience pages by dragging and dropping Lightning Components. In the Lightning App Builder, there are three types of segments
In the Salesforce AppExchange platform, there are over 157 Lightning-ready third-party apps, all of which have been pre-vetted. As your business migrates to Lightning, Lightning-ready apps are designed to provide the most consistent user experience possible. All you have to do is look for apps on AppExchange that have the 'Lightning Ready' symbol and use them according to your needs.
Snap-Ins are one of the Cloud Lightning Service's most useful features. Snap-Ins are made with Lightning Components and enable your business to swiftly incorporate customer service into your apps and websites. This allows you to efficiently reach customers wherever they are.
The Lightning Customer Community is Community Cloud's most feature-rich release to date, allowing businesses to engage with their consumers fast and intelligently. The all-new user interface provides a new degree of customization as well as engagement options, allowing your company to give an unrivaled customer experience.
Everything about Lightning has been designed to be more aesthetically beautiful and simple to use, which is evident when switching between the various dashboards. Salesforce Lightning benefits the user in developing apps using pre-built components from a drag-and-drop library easier than ever before, eliminating the need to code and test throughout the development process.
Salesforce Lightning also features more Einstein AI connectors than Classic, making it easier to obtain deep insights into everything from opportunities to automated contacts. Some capabilities, such as the Einstein Bot Builder, are unique to Salesforce and are only available in the Lightning Experience.
Below we look at the Salesforce Lightning benefits you will experience with the new interface.
It's simple to use the lighting components and framework. When it comes to salesforce lighting, no specific technician or IT expert is required. The lighting applications may be utilized on any platform, including mobile and desktop computers, making it easier for users to access, streamline processes, and provide excellent experiences.
Today's businesses are run through applications, and salesforce lighting's components aid in the development of new apps. For example, a corporation needs an app to communicate with customers, thus lighting features encourage the creation and development of a simple drag-and-drop library with customizable components.
The lightning app builder and the lightning component framework are used to create apps quickly while adhering to industry standards and specifications.
Salesforce lighting components are compatible with enabled platforms with standard adjustments. Lighting components can be used to introduce specific demands and customized features. There is no risk or pressure for app designers or developers to look for technical information to accomplish the required results.
The user experience is enhanced by the lighting design system. The organization needs to design an app that clients can use easily and that improves their long-term relationship with them. Furthermore, consumers should be able to understand how to use the apps.
The lighting design system is a short guide that instructs users on how to use the program. Businesses flourish and succeed in a trustworthy environment with visual and interaction design patterns.
Salesforce Lightning benefits in the development and performance of apps, is linked to innovation, intelligence, and tailored services, among other things. The apps are used for sales, community, app design, and services. Customers draw attention to products and services, which increases customer growth, fosters global competitiveness, and provides a strong brand position in the respective marketplaces.
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Compared to the older Salesforce Classic, it's clear that the new Salesforce Lightning offers a lot more features and capabilities. You can simply move to this platform to experience the full Salesforce lightning benefits and rapid growth in your business while also getting a taste of cutting-edge technology.
Plumlogix is your partner for digital transformation, now and into the future. Partner with a trusted Salesforce partner and find out how we can transform your business to reap these Salesforce Lightning benefits.


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Transnational retailing through airways has become a popular way to earn a living among Vietnamese people for the past two years, in which they sell traditional foods and herbs from their hometowns.
A journalist of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on his flight from Hanoi to Moscow had a chance to get more information about this special livelihood through small talk with retailers who accounted for more than a quarter of the passengers.
Le Thi Oanh, a 35-year-old living in Hanoi, said she gave up her job as a garment worker two years ago for an offer of retailing local goods overseas from a friend, which later earned her family a more decent income.
She takes up to 15 round-trip flights each month from Hanoi to sell specialties of her hometown including Vietnamese herbs, traditional desserts or fruit at Mokka Market in central Moscow and brings home luxurious perfumes, clothing items and edible products within a day to prepare for the next "business trip."
Le Thi Oanh carefully watches her luggage as well as the security staff at the airport hall in Moscow, Russia. Photo: Thao Thuong / Tuoi Tre |
"We hardly have time to relax and enjoy scenic sites where we sell our goods," said Oanh about her job while having her brunch on the plane.
"As long as my children are well supported, my effort is worth it," said another retailer named Nguyen Van Luyen about his decision to do this job.
Oanh opened up about her effort to purchase discounted flight tickets to make an extra income, but she sometimes made a loss on buying high-priced tickets at peak times to maintain the long-lasting business with international partners.
She also said airport security checks were so strict that she had to carefully pack goods with unpleasant odors such as durians or fermented foods and weighed them precisely to make sure they would make it through.
A small market shop selling Vietnamese goods in Moscow, Russia. Photo: Thao Thuong / Tuoi Tre |
"We always try our best to follow the rules and stay away from illegal business," she added.
H., a retailer from Thanh Hoa Province, shared that Vietnamese people living overseas, especially in Moscow, always seek for a traditional home meal when they are away, so local specialties immediately capture their hearts when being displayed at the market.
"They are willing to pay up to eight times the price to have a Vietnamese signature meal," she said.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!


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Salesforce rolls out video tools, other products for sales reps in the COVID era
With COVID-19 seemingly here to stay for a while, the changes many organizations made at the beginning of the year -- shifting to remote work, for instance -- may be more permanent than initially expected. In response to this new reality, Salesforce is effectively rebooting the Sales Cloud, introducing a series of new tools for sales reps who can't make their typical in-person customer visits.
"Virtual selling is the new normal," Doug Camplejohn, GM of Sales Cloud, said to ZDNet.
First, Salesforce Meetings is a new video management system that works with a sales rep's video conferencing tool of choice -- whether it's Zoom, Google Hangouts, or any other platform -- to create a more sales-focused video call experience. It's designed to help sales reps prepare before a call, engage more effectively during the call, and close the loop after the call.
There's no software to download to use Salesforce Meetings, and it doesn't replace any video conferencing tools -- it effectively brings what you see from your video meeting to your CRM. Sales reps just need to share a link with customers to launch the meeting from within Salesforce Meetings.
Before hosting a meeting with customers, the new system compiles relevant information for sales reps to help them prepare. Pulled from the Salesforce CRM and Einstein Insights, that information can include customer history, open service cases, or whether a key decision-maker has changed roles recently.
During the meeting, sales reps can use the program to take notes, queue up presentations, and view talking points during the meeting. They can also use it to show customers a branded video overlay. Also, Salesforce Meetings can show the speaker at the same time as their slides, rather than one or the other, so they can give their presentation with more a human connection.
After the call, Salesforce Meetings taps Einstein to analyze the content of the call and offer automated next steps, such as adding people to an Opportunity Record.
In addition to Salesforce Meetings, Salesforce is introducing an expanded version of Einstein Call Coaching with features aimed at video call coaching. Einstein Call Coaching uses speech recognition and natural language processing to analyze call recordings, helping sales teams and managers spot trends in calls -- such as whether competitors are getting mentioned more often. Now, sales teams can use the product to analyze video calls as well.
Salesforce also has a new product for sales reps that want to assess whether it's safe and appropriate to make an in-person visit to a customer. The Salesforce Maps Field Safety Kit combines territory data from Salesforce Maps, CRM data from Sales Cloud, and COVID-19 data from Tableau to provide a better picture of the situation on the ground at a customer's location.
Lastly, Salesforce is expanding its inside sales tools to help field sales reps that are being forced to adopt insides sales strategies. The High-Velocity Sales product, designed to automate steps for prospecting, now supports all kinds of sellers. Now, sales reps can use it not just to automate email and call tasks but tasks like quarterly check-ins with customers.
The new tools illustrate how Salesforce is benefitting from the business trends brought on by the pandemic. Many companies and industries have been forced to do more business digitally, including sales. In fact, Salesforce said last month in its most recent financial report that the prior quarter was one of its best. Revenue was up 29 percent from a year ago, while Sales Cloud revenue grew 13 percent.
COVID-19 "forced this triage on companies," Camplejohn said. Initially, organizations focused on "'How do I make sure my employees are safe?'" he said. "Then it was, 'How do we check in on our customers?' Now it's, 'How do I return to growth and make sure my team can be effective and make sure I have a handle on my revenue operations?'"


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So last week I get clobbered by a slingshotted waterballoon and am ordered (after E.R. and specialist) to lay low. Tomorrow, Monday, I go in for a check up to get prognosis. On four different eyedrop medications; swelling is down, skin is going through a rainbow of colors, zippo pain.
I do not do well doing nothing. I usually jog, ride bike, or whatever each day…and am not supposed to walk much less anything else for a while. Thankfully I can read, and I've been doing that; and television is okay, though a bit blurry.
But I admit I'm antsy. Looking forward to a trip to Tennessee Tuesday, returning Sunday and leaving Monday for two weeks of camp ministry in Alma, Nebraska. All of this, of course, contingent on a good report from doc tomorrow.
My seven-year-old asks, "Why, why you, Dad?" I tell him it's an accident, and yet I also am convinced of God's sovereignty. I'm very thankful it hit me and not my "passenger" Jessica. But why did God allow it to clobber anyone?
Beats me. I said I know God is sovereign, but I don't "get" it. I believe in the truth of Romans 8.28, but I can't perceive the good.
What if the catscan reveals a tumor that otherwise would have gone undiagnosed? What if leaving camp early somehow allowed someone to hear the gospel in a different way and thus come to salvation?
What if…what if…what if….
"Chill, Jack" is what I hear God whisper. "As you so often say, Jack, 'don't let what you don't know mess up what (Who) you do know.'"
Okay, Lord, I'll chill. I'll trust. I'll understand this injury is so mickey mouse compared to what so many are going through…but I confess I still grit my teeth a bit…
I will "Be still, and know that (You) are God." I won't pester You with the "what ifs" or the "whys."
And it will be a cold day in the lower regions before I take part in a slingshotted water balloon game involving live targets!


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Last Updated on 03/12/2021 by OTC
Over the last 30 years, with its Defense Division, Soucy has provided for the Defense markets over 31,000 CRTs ( Composite Rubber Tracks) to military customers located in Canada, Brazil, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherland, UK, Germany, Malaysia, and Singapore. Soucy Defense Division builds partnership with defense and security OEM's for new vehicle builds, and also interact with vehicle integrators for vehicle refurbishing and overhaul. Products are currently under development and testing within the UK, USA, Germany, Australia, and South Korea.
Read more information about Soucy Defense Division at this link https://www.armyrecognition.com/canada_canadian_defence_industry_manufacturer_uk/soucy_group_composite_rubber_tracks_for_combat_armored_vehicles_canada.html
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