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By Richard Walter
Among my favorite movies is Sweet Smell of Success, screenplay by legendary playwright Clifford Odets collaborating with Oscar-winning screenwriter (North by Northwest among many splendid films) Ernest Lehman. Tony Curtis, in the most brilliant performance of his career, plays NYC publicist Sid Falco, who is always sucking up to the unethical publicity power broker, newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker (did these writers know how to name characters or what?) played by Burt Lancaster.
Falco's posture is always hunched against the cold of the New York winter night; he never wears a coat because this enables him forever to avoid tipping the coat room girls in the nightclubs where he plies his trade.
There is a short and timeless scene wherein several figures including Falco and Hunsecker make their way down a dank, dark, drizzle-dampened street in the nightclub district, when suddenly a rowdy, drunken patron is tossed out of a below-ground night club up into the gutter, directly in their path. They all step over the guy. Hunsecker pauses to look at the fellow lying there unconscious in the street. He smiles broadly and joyously proclaims, "God, I love this dirty town!"
Right there you know all there is to know about Lancaster's character. He simply adores the tawdry, shameful aspects of life in Gotham. The audience empathizes not so much with the exiled bar patron but instead with Hunsecker and Falco. There IS something seductive, something darkly reassuring, about being upright and comfortable in this urban jungle, which comfort is and brought into a kind of palpable relief by its contrast with the fallen stature of the fallen drinker. There is sympathy also for Falco, because we see the sort of coldhearted creatures to whom he is required to cater.
In a meaningful scene in the splendid Kramer Versus Kramer, a film I refer to repeatedly in my book Essentials of Screenwriting, a father prepares French toast for his young son's breakfast.
The scene reveals how inept and disinterested a father Kramer is at this juncture in the narrative. His wife, played by Meryl Streep, has abandoned the boy and his father, moving out of the house the previous evening. She's done this several times in the past, but by the following morning she has always returned. This morning, however, she is still gone. Hoffman's character is saddled with the chore of actually preparing his kid's breakfast. He decides that to do so is no big deal. Don't women make such a federal case out of simple tasks? He is certainly capable of preparing breakfast for the kid. He chooses not simply to pour cornflakes into a bowl and spill some milk over it. No, he asks the kid what his dream breakfast would be. The son requests French toast.
No problem. Kramer starts looking for a proper bowl in the cabinets in order to fix the eggs and sugar and milk and bread, but he can't find one. We realize that he is as lost in his own kitchen as I might be in the jungles of Borneo. Instead of a bowl he settles for a drinking glass. This necessitates, of course, folding and tearing the bread in order to get it into the goblet. The French toast emerges a wreck.
In a scene at the end of the movie, Kramer makes French toast again. This time, however, he has matured as a father and a man. He knows exactly where the proper bowl resides, and also the appropriate stainless steel whisk. He expertly wields a shaker containing powered sugar, which he delicately sifts onto the toast. He is by all measures in this scene the Wolfgang Puck of French toast. He knows exactly how to accomplish the task. He is quite a different character from the one we met at the beginning of the movie.
Screenwriter Robert Benton, adapting the Avery Corman novel, is able to utilize the mundane action of preparing French toast to create a metaphor representing the growth and maturation and fulfillment of the protagonist. This is so much more dramatic, so much more effective, than any car chase or shooting. A simple, common, everyday action is transformed into a transforming experience for the central character. It is far more eloquent than any amount of dialogue the sharpest screenwriter could have invented.
Writers are well advised, therefore, to search for similarly down-to-earth actions to elicit character development.
Finally, for now, let's look at Terminator II. Arnold Schwarzenegger falls from the sky stark-naked onto the ground fronting a dark, dingy, and dangerous biker bar somewhere out on a lonely highway. The establishment pulses with grim and gritty bikers drinking, farting, growling, belching, and shooting pool. Suddenly the unclothed Austrian, Terminator, enters. The audience sees from his point of view that he is measuring all the various participants as they regard him in confusion and derision. Finally he spots one particularly large biker who fits him perfectly. Quietly and matter-of-factly Arnold instructs him, "Give me your clothes and your motorcycle."
Instead of becoming angry, instead of threatening Terminator, the biker responds calmly, almost sweetly, but dripping with sarcasm, "You forgot to say please."
This may not seem like a whole lot, but I regard it as a stunningly articulate example of subtext, of implication. Subtext and implication are always more effective than text and expression, the latter two tending to be "on-the-nose," that is, too obvious, insufficiently subtle. One of the essential principles in my books holds that not video and computer games alone but all art is interactive. The biker's line is so much more effective than his saying directly something like, "Are you crazy? You think I'm gonna give up my clothes and my bike to a naked lunatic stranger? Why, me and my buddies are gonna grind you into hamburger, you moron."
It is, of course, not Terminator but the biker who is ground into hamburger.
These are but a handful of scenes that demonstrate essential aspects of dramaturgy in which by avoiding over-obvious constructions, screenwriters can draw audiences to them and their movies via subtlety and understatement.
Shout and scream and confront your audience? Drive them away. Withdraw from them instead and they will pursue you.
About the Author: Richard WalterRichard Walter is a celebrated storytelling guru, movie industry expert, and longtime chairman of UCLA's legendary graduate program in screenwriting. A screenwriter and published novelist, his latest book, Essentials of Screenwriting, is available in stores July 2010. Professor Walter lectures throughout North America and the world and serves as a court authorized expert in intellectual property litigation. For more information and to order the new Essentials of Screenwriting, visit www.richardwalter.com.


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Boondocking tipsby Tom Jones
We were having a tough time figuring out how we'd be able to boondock at places like Quartzsite for an extended time, so I asked how forum members did it without running out of fresh water or filling their holding tanks to capacity. Here's a summary of their responses, most of which we've since used successfully to boondock for two weeks at a time. More tips were added as a group activity at the 2013 RV Forum Quartzsite rally.
- One word, conservation.
- Do not let any fresh water run down the drain until it has been used.
- Use an inexpensive 'Instant Off Energy-Saving Aerator' that screws onto a faucet. It's available at Home Depot and other hardware stores.
- Capture the initial cold water from the shower in a pitcher and use it for other purposes e.g. drinking water for the dog.
- When taking showers wet down, then turn water off at shower head. Wash and then turn water on again to wash off soap.
- Shower every other day and use a wash cloth the other days.
- In dry climates wet wash cloths or baby wipes work good.
- Use inexpensive cleaning tissues.
- Use bottled water for drinking and coffee.
- Since the grey water tank fills faster than the black water tank, use a dish pan to wash dishes, then dump the dishwater in toilet.
- Use paper plates to minimize dishwashing.
- Use a paper towel to pre-clean items such as forks, knives and spoons. Wash them later with other things.
- When brushing teeth, use a glass of water to first dip the toothbrush in, then use half to rinse the mouth and the rest to rinse the brush. Don't run water while brushing the teeth.
- During the day put some water in the hand bowl and use it to rinse the hands in; Just add to it when rinsing the soap off.
- Have enough changes of clothes to be able to go two weeks without having to do laundry. If and when necessary, use laundromats.
- If in a location that has bathrooms, extend the gray holding tank capacity by doing dishes in a bowl and dumping the water in the bathroom. Extend black water tank capacity by using the campground bathroom instead of your own.
- Use a percolator on the stive instead of using an electric coffeemaker.
- Purchase shelf milk, also known as Paramilk, found in most grocery stores. Lasts longer than regular milk.
- Pack items like macaroni and cheese/jello/pudding/instant foods in zip lock bags. Remove items from their original boxes, place as much as you can in the zip lock bags and store. Be sure and cut directions out to go with products for cooking.
- Solar-powered reading lamps stay charged for a long time.
- Use a dedicated inverter for CPAP machines.
- A tea kettle kept in the oven with the pilot light on provides 'instant' warm water.
Contributions to this list came from forum members Betty Brewer, Terry Brewer, Jeff Cousins, Bill Dane, Bernie Dobrin, Ardra Fitzgerald, Jerry Fitzgerald, George Jannini, Al Goggins, Doug Jardine, Wendy Lawrence, Ned Reiter, Ron Ruward and Fred Thomas.

subset: commoncrawl


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Join Director of Winemaking, Harry Hansen, for an unforgettable evening.
Delight in a winemaker-led grand tasting on our Fermentation Overlook, showcasing all vintages of Iridium Cabernet Sauvignon, including past library vintages, current release (2016) and future vintages (barrel).
Following the grand tasting and reception, make your way to our Southview Terrace to begin a remarkable sensory experience punctuated by a multi-course gourmet wine dinner, led by Executive Chef Jim Cutler, paired with outstanding Sterling wine selections and perfectly orchestrated with the setting sun fading behind the Mayacamas mountain range.
Enjoy first-access to our current release flagship wine, whose international debut will be at the Emmys on the day following our release dinner.
Featured Menu
Appetizer Course: Fried chicken with caviar | Gougères filled with goat chevre | Oyster with yuzu
1st Course: Seared scallop with parsnips and peas
2nd Course: Butternut squash gnocchi with shaved brussels sprouts and brown butter sage emulsion
3rd Course: Beef tenderloin and short rib with potato croquet, mirepoix and mushrooms finished with demi-glace
Dessert Course: Passion fruit tart with pavlova, raspberry, coconut, kiwi and macadamia nuts
*Dietary allergies will be happily accommodated; please indicate at time of booking
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By providing us with your details, you are consenting to receive marketing information from Sterling. We will deal with your personal information in accordance with our privacy policy available here. We will always provide you with an opportunity to unsubscribe.


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If you want a quick trip to work in the morning, you might want to avoid taking a job in New York City.
Rushed commuters in the Big Apple spend on average nearly 35 minutes in transit each way, a new report from real estate website Trulia found.
It was followed by Long Island, at 33 minutes; Washington, D.C., at 32.8 minutes; Newark, N.J., at 31.1 minutes; and Chicago, at 30.8 minutes. Metro areas that sit adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean made up 7 of the top 10 cities with the longest commutes. A notable exception? Los Angeles, known for its heavy traffic, reported an average commute time of 27.6 minutes.
You're in luck if you're employed in Buffalo, N.Y., where workers commute a little over 20 minutes on average. It's followed by fellow mid-size metro areas: Columbus, Ohio, at 21.8 minutes and Hartford, Conn. at 22.3 minutes.
If you live in a city, you're probably going to spend a fair amount of your day on a bus or a train. Commute times in the 50 largest U.S. metro areas have steadily increased to an average of 27.2 minutes in 2014, up from 26.4 minutes in 2009. Yet that might not be an important figure for many workers. Only 15.9% of Americans said short commutes or proximity to public transit were among their top priorities when deciding where to live.
But there is one group—millennials—that cares about having a short commute to work. The report found that people between 18 to 34 years old value proximity to work and public transportation as more important than living in a neighborhood with a low crime rate.
There's also a difference between the commute times for renters compared to homeowners. The report found that renters in Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif; Houston, Tex.; and Long Island had the shortest commutes compared to those who own their homes. However, that's not the case if you're a New Yorker, where renters and owners alike have the highest commute times in the nation.


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A delightful succulent Shrimp Cocktail with a slightly spicy and tangy tomato and horseradish sauce to start off your meal or holiday party.
Prosciutto Wrapped Melon
Prosciutto Wrapped Melon – an easy no-cook sweet salty appetizer perfect for the holidays. Use decorative food picks to make a fun and lovely presentation.
Baked Potato Chips
Homemade Baked Potato Chips flavored with salt, pepper, and thyme. Conventional potatoes may be used but Purple Majesty potatoes make these chips stunning!
Creamy Mushroom Cheese Fondue
Treat your kids to this fun and tasty Creamy Mushroom Cheese Fondue using condensed mushroom soup and shredded cheese. Takes only minutes to prepare.
Beefy Pomegranate Quinoa Stuffed Poblanos
These Beefy Pomegranate Quinoa Stuffed Poblanos are delicious as an appetizer or light lunch. The addition of pomegranate arils give them a festive touch.
Char Siew Bao (Steamed Barbecued Pork Buns)
Make your own soft, white, and fine textured steamed Char Siew Bao filled with sweet barbecued pork filling. With step-by-step instructions.
Pan Fried Miso Butter Pumpkin
Fragrantly delicious and "addicting" Pan Fried Miso Butter Pumpkin sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. Great as a snack or side dish.
Beef and Chicken Satay
These aromatic and tender Beef and Chicken Satay are a must try. Delicious served with Satay Peanut Sauce and chunks of onions and cucumber.
Baked French Fries
Love French fries but don't like deep frying? Try these Baked French Fries. Only three tablespoons of oil used for two pounds of potatoes.
Creamy Cheese Fondue
Family friendly Creamy Cheese Fondue similar to Somerset fondue with the use of apple cider. Delicious served with sausages, potatoes, apples, and grapes.
Broiled Lobster Tails
Get fancy with these succulent Broiled Lobster Tails flavored with lemon pepper butter for that special occasion. It is totally worth it!
Quinoa Chives Fish Cakes
These tasty gluten free Quinoa Chives Fish Cakes are made with cod and garlicky Chinese chives. They are wonderful as an appetizer, snack, or light meal.
Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
These simple yet delightful Strawberry Oatmeal Bars are soft and chewy with a fresh strawberry filling. You cannot even tell they are gluten free.
No-Bake Persimmon Walnut Energy Bites
Super easy and tasty No-Bake Persimmon Walnut Energy Bites, the perfect summer time treat. No cooking or processing needed. Just mix and roll into balls.
Gluten Free Baked Chicken Tenders
These Gluten Free Baked Chicken Tenders have a crunchy rice krispies and parmesan crust. They are delicious served with a Spicy Nectarine Yogurt Dip.
Spiced Quinoa Corn Patties
Tasty and fragrant Spiced Quinoa Corn Patties flavored with garam masala. Great as an appetizer, snack or side dish. Also works beautifully in the lunchbox.
No-Bake Apricot Melon Energy Bites
These No-Bake Apricot Melon Energy Bites are so tasty yet so easy to put together. They are perfect for breakfast, snack, or even dessert.
Quinoa Filled Tofu Pockets
Delicious vinegar flavored Quinoa Filled Tofu Pockets resembling inari zushi. The tofu pockets are deep fried and seasoned with sweetened soy sauce.
Stuffed Endives with Salmon and Pistachio Cream Cheese
These Stuffed Endives with Salmon and Pistachio Cream Cheese are an easy, attractive, and tasty appetizer to put together when there is company.
Tea Eggs
Make your own marbled Tea Eggs subtly infused with an aromatic tea and spice blend. They are not only tasty but pretty as well!
Potato, Leek, and Chicken Pot Pie
Easy to prepare Potato, Leek, and Chicken Pot Pie topped with crispy puff pastry. It is warm, comforting, and delicious.


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3 weeks and a bucket of mud
I've almost been shampoo free for a month! My routine hasn't changed much and I'm really happy with the results! I've also got a couple friends on board and they gave up the 'poo' too! Last Saturday I ran a 5k mud obstacle thingy, it was awesome! Except for the aftermath part.. how in the heck is baking soda going to get all this gunk out of my hair?! I'll admit that I thought about using shampoo more than once on the mud filled hour drive home. But, I got home and mixed my shampoo and rinse together and went into the shower with very low hopes... and was completely surprised! My hair got just as clean as the rest of my friends who were in the run with me!
Now, if that isn't proof, I don't know what is!
For my 30 days of 'no poo' post, I will be answering readers questions! So, if you're curious about anything that has to do with the challenge, please comment below and next Friday I'll be posting the answers! If you're nervous to ask a question, just don't put your name and no one will know it's you! Easy as that! Also, don't make me feel like a loser with no readers.. I can see how many people look at this thing and it's well over 100! muahaha :)
The 'No-Poo'


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Cape Town - South Africa's Kevin Anderson has paid tribute to Andy Murray after the British star's emotional press conference ahead of the Australian Open - which could be his final tournament.
READ: Lloyd Harris joins Kevin Anderson in Australian Open draw
Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner, has been battling a nagging hip injury for the better part of the last 18 months.
Besides his Grand Slam success, Murray also has two Olympic gold medals and 45 ATP Tour titles to his name.
Murray broke down at a press conference in Melbourne on Friday as he said the pain had become almost unbearable.
Speaking through tears, Murray added that he'd like to bow out at his 'home' Grand Slam, Wimbledon, in July, but ruefully admitted he may not make it that far.
Taking to Twitter moments after the press conference, Anderson, the fifth seed at the year's opening Grand Slam, wrote: My thoughts are with @andy_murrayand I really hope we continue to see you fighting on court so you can retire on your own terms. Get well soon... Tennis is better with you.
Murray will be remembered as the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years (in 2013), ending the nation's obsession with finding a champion to follow in the footsteps of Fred Perry.
Murray is due to play 22nd-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round at the Australian Open, while Anderson will open against France's Adrian Mannarino.
The tournament gets under way on Monday.
My thoughts are with @andy_murray and I really hope we continue to see you fighting on court so you can retire on your own terms. Get well soon... Tennis is better with you. pic.twitter.com/0z1401hKXe— Kevin Anderson (@KAndersonATP) January 11, 2019
"I spoke to my team and I told them I can't keep doing this. I needed to have an end point..."— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 11, 2019
-Andy Murray#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/wLEplbKXOV


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Abstract: Objective: This study examined differences in co-occurring symptoms, psychosocial correlates, health care utilization and functional impairment in youth who screened positive for depression, stratified by whether or not they also self-reported externalizing problems.Methods: The AdoleSCent Health Study examined a random sample of youth ages 13–17 enrolled in a health care system. A total of 2291 youth (60.7% of the eligible sample) completed a brief depression screen: the two-item Patient Health Questionnaire. The current analyses focus on a subset of youth (n=113) who had a follow-up interview and screened positive for possible depression on the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 using a cutoff score of 11 or higher .
Tag Archives: health
Early experience of a pilot intervention for patients with depression and chronic medical illness in an urban ACO -…
Abstract: Objective: The objective was to describe the design, implementation and preliminary results of a collaborative care pilot program using hybrid colocation and centralized care management for patients with depression and chronic medical illness in an urban accountable care organization.Methods: Patients with chronic illness (diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease and/or congestive heart failure) and comorbid depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ]9 score ?10) were enrolled. The interventions included collaborative care for depression and chronic conditions; behavioral support, including short-term psychotherapy by licensed clinical social worker on-site or telephonically; off-site nurse care management and psychiatrist consultation through an electronic medical record.Results: Forty-four percent of patients (n=61) achieved a depression response.
Open Data
A couple of weeks ago, President Obama launched a new open data policy (pdf) for the federal government. Declaring that, "…information is a valuable asset that is multiplied when it is shared, " the Administration's new policy empowers federal agencies to promote an environment in which shareable data are maximally and responsibly accessible. The policy supports broad access to government data in order to promote entrepreneurship, innovation, and scientific discovery
Psychotherapy to Prevent Anxiety Relapse After SSRIs in Elderly
Older patients with generalized anxiety disorder on maintenance escitalopram have a better chance of avoiding relapse when going off the medication if they are also receiving cognitive behavioral therapy. Reuters Health Information
Anxiety treatment improves physical functioning with oblique scoring of the SF-12 Short Form Health Survey
Abstract: Objective: No studies have found a positive effect of anxiety treatment on physical functioning, but recent investigations of the 12-item Short Form Health Questionnaire (SF-12), which is frequently used to assess physical functioning, have suggested that orthogonal scoring of the summary measure may distort representations of physical health. The current study reanalyzes whether anxiety treatment improves physical functioning using oblique scoring in the Coordinated Anxiety Learning and Management (CALM) randomized clinical trial for the treatment of anxiety disorders.
Standardization of the depression screener Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in the general population – Corrected…
Abstract: Background: The nine-item depression module from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is widely used as an open access screening instrument for depression in different health care and community settings; thus far, normative data from the general population are still scarce. The objectives of the study were to generate normative data and to further investigate the construct validity and factor structure of the PHQ-9 in the general population.Methods: Nationally representative face-to face household surveys were conducted in Germany between 2003 and 2008 (n=5018). The survey questionnaires included the PHQ-9, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) for the measurement of health-related quality of life and demographic characteristics.Results: Normative data for the PHQ-9 were generated for both genders (53.6% female) and different age levels [mean age (S.D.) of 48.9 (18.1) years].
Repetitive Traumatic Brain Injury, Psychological Symptoms, and Suicide Risk in a Clinical Sample of Deployed Military…
Importance Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is believed to be one factor contributing to rising suicide rates among military personnel and veterans. This study investigated the association of cumulative TBIs with suicide risk in a clinical sample of deployed military personnel referred for a TBI evaluation. Objective To determine whether suicide risk is more frequent and heightened among military personnel with multiple lifetime TBIs than among those with no TBIs or a single TBI.
Xylazine a New Potentially Fatal Addition to Drugs of Abuse
Users of illicit drugs are now combining xylazine with other drugs of abuse and may be increasing their risk of death, according to new research. Reuters Health Information
The association of psychosocial factors and obstetric history with depression in pregnant women: focus on the role of…
Abstract: Objective: Depression during pregnancy can negatively affect both maternal and fetal health. The benefits of early detection and treatment for antenatal depression have been emphasized. Therefore, we investigated risk factors for antenatal depression with a focus on emotional support.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of pregnant women (n=1262) enrolled from the local division of a community mental health center.
Is brief psychodynamic psychotherapy in primary fibromyalgia syndrome with concurrent depression an effective treatment?…
Abstract: Objective: There are no studies investigating the efficacy of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy in primary fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). We conducted a randomized controlled trial evaluating an adapted form of individual short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (ASTPP) versus primary care management (TAU). The study focused on FMS patients with psychiatric comorbidity.Methods: Forty-six female patients with FMS and an International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision diagnosis of a comorbid depression or anxiety disorder were recruited in a hospital setting


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Beyonce is slaying this month to a glorious close! First, with her flawless performance on the MTV VMAs and next, with a dazzling appearance on the cover of CR Fashion book. In case you're wondering, CR Fashion Book is a magazine by Vogue Paris former Editor-in-Chief, Carine Roitfeld. The real question here is who are the pros responsible for this flawless face and tantalizing tress?
Star of WE TV's LA Hair and Celebrity Stylist Kim Kimble, rocked the hair. The 30″ plus hair was left hanging to the floor in this shot, and swirled to a sophisticated ponytail in others. On face, celebrity makeup artist, Francesca Tolot, a recurring artist for Beyonce, Gwen Stefani and supermodel Cindy Crawford, added a dramatic smoke to the eye and nude glow to the lips. Francesca's coffee table book, One Woman, 100 Faces, includes a forward by Queen Bey herself, and photos of two decades worth of looks by the famous face painter. One Woman, 100 Faces is available in stores, September 14th and on Amazon.com for pre-order, now!


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GUARANTEE: As with all my artifacts, this piece is guaranteed to be original, as described.
Early 1940s Pennsylvania Central Airlines (PCA) "The Capital Airline" Stewardess Hat Badge
Code: airtwg20010
Product Description
ARTIFACT: This is an early 1940s PCA "The Capital Airline" Pilot Stewardess hat badge.
VINTAGE: Circa early 1940s.
SIZE: About 2-1/16" in width by 1" in height.
MATERIALS / CONSTRUCTION: Gold-plated brass.
ATTACHMENT: Horizontal pin with a come-under locking catch.
MARKINGS: None.
ITEM NOTES: This is from a large collection which we will be listing more of over the next few months. MCAB/GJ12/94
CONDITION: 8+ (Excellent): Very minor wear and corrosion.


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[tab name="Description"]
Also called a "leaning seat," the TEMPRESS Guide Series Casting Seat is designed with a high-density molded foam bun that's contoured to assure long-term support and comfort. Covered in 30 oz., robust, UV-stable, Mossy Oak Shadow Grass marine-grade vinyl. The TEMPRESS Guide Series Casting Seat is made to stand up to the outside elements. Each seat is sewn with heavy, UV-stable and abrasion-proof, continuous filament, polyester thread to prevent degradation in outdoor applications. The inner sub-straights are made with tough, high-density polyethylene, which is corrosion, rot, and mildew-proof. Comes with stainless steel mounting hardware and mounts to most standard pedestals or swivels. Made in USA. Pedestal post not included.
Warning: This cushion can expose you to DEHP which is known by the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information, go to https://www.p65warnings.ca.gov/
[tab name="Dimensions"]
Brand: TEMPRESS
Warranty: 1 Year
When you buy a TEMPRESS product, your buying more than 44 years of consistently superior craftsmanship and technical innovation. It's what makes TEMPRESS, BOATMATES, and FISH-ON! ® the choice of boat builders, retailers, and anglers throughout the World.
Tempress Products is a leader in the development, manufacturing and distribution of high quality marine, after-market and OEM products. We manufacture and distribute from our headquarters in Dallas, Texas to dealers, distributors, retailers and boat builders worldwide.
Tempress Products
5052 Sharp Street, Dallas, TX 75247
Hours of Operation
Monday - Friday
8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.


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Fiesta Mexico Block Three with Border
During my visits to Mexico I was influenced by the designs and colors of their handmade pottery and flora. I designed a large quilt called 'Fiesta Mexico" and this is one of the blocks from that quilt. I added a fun border to the block for this workshop. In addition to learning to sew smooth curves, sharp points and perfect circles, you will learn to create and applique perfect 1/4" strips and perfect circles of differing sizes for an exciting border.
Click to print/view thesupply list


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The Whickers Announces 2018 Award Recipient
The Whickers recently announced the recipient of the 2018 The Whickers/Chicken & Egg Pictures Award: congratulations to Ilinca Calugareanu and the A Cops and Robbers Story team!
Named for pioneering British broadcaster Alan Whicker, The Whickers is dedicated to supporting emerging voices in the field of documentary. The award, focused on Accelerator Lab participants, was conceived to ensure that more women enter the nonfiction filmmaking pipeline. Previous recipients include The Feeling of Being Watched by Assia Boundaoui and The Surrender of Waymond Hall by Jane Greenberg.
A Cops and Robbers Story follows Corey Pegues, one of the highest ranking black executives in the NYPD, who revealed a few months after retirement that before joining the NYPD he worked the streets dealing crack cocaine for one of the most notorious drug gangs in the US, the Supreme Team. The project was recently featured as a docustory in The Guardian. Said director Ilinca Calugareanu, "It is such an honour to be this year's recipient of The Whickers/Chicken & Egg Pictures Award. Thank you for believing in us and in the importance of Corey Pegues's story. Your support means so much!"
Ilinca's debut documentary feature, Chuck Norris vs. Communism, is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
Post by 2018 Communications Intern Morgan Lee Hulquist.
Announcing our 2018 Accelerator Lab grantees!
Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to announce the third cohort of our Accelerator Lab for first- and second-time filmmakers!
The Accelerator Lab is focused on identifying and supporting women nonfiction directors working on their first or second feature-length documentary. This program brings together ten projects helmed by first- or second-time directors, with a special focus on underrepresented voices.
"Community-building is key to this program," says Chicken & Egg Pictures Program Director Lucila Moctezuma. "While the Accelerator Lab for first- and second-time filmmakers certainly helps women filmmakers to enter the industry pipeline, it also provides them with a community of support that helps them to stay in the pipeline. The reality of being a film director is that it can often feel daunting and isolating. By explicitly encouraging peer-to-peer mentorship among our cohort, we provide emerging filmmakers with a chance to bond with and learn from one another, to help one another carve a space for themselves in the industry, and to equip them with the strength of a community they can rely on throughout their careers."
Synopses of the 2018 Accelerator Lab grantees' compelling projects are below, and you can get to know the directors by viewing the linked project pages. Grantees will work on these films during their program year.
Our next open call for the Accelerator Lab will take place in the spring of 2018. For additional information on the program, including application criteria, please visit our Programs page.
Congratulations to our newest grantees, and wishing you a fantastic year!
A Cops and Robbers Story, directed by Ilinca Calugareanu (ROMANIA / UK)
Corey Pegues, one of the highest ranking black executives in the NYPD, reveals a few months after retirement that before joining the NYPD he worked the streets dealing crack cocaine for one of the most notorious drug gangs in the US, the Supreme Team. To many he is either a perp in cop costume or a criminal turned hero. But who is the real Corey Pegues?
People's Hospital, directed by Siyi Chen (CHINA / US)
As the Chinese society criticizes dysfunctional hospitals, a doctor's daughter revisits the small-town hospital where she grew up—this time with a camera, in the middle of a chaotic ER.
Enemies of the State, directed by Sonia Kennebeck (MALAYSIA / GERMANY / US)
An average American family becomes entangled in a bizarre web of espionage and corporate secrets when their hacker son is targeted by the U.S. government.
The Youth, directed by Eunice Lau (SINGAPORE / US) and Arthur Nazaryan (US)
The Youth is an unflinching look at the forces that drive one to adopt an extreme ideology. Through the eyes of a father who seeks to understand how his son is radicalized by the propaganda of the Islamic State Army, The Youth reveals how a Muslim American family is affected by the geopolitics and polemics that fuel the resurgence of reactionary and right-wing political movements. Through this intimate lens on the Somali community in Minnesota, The Youth explores the racism and prejudices against immigrants, the rise of radical Islam, and what it means to be Muslim in contemporary America.
Number 387, directed by Madeleine Leroyer (FRANCE)
This is the story of a Greek physician who collects pendants and bracelets.
This is the story of an Italian woman who has been fighting for 15 years to "make bodies talk."
This is the story of those who watch over the forgotten migrants.
Since the beginning of 2016, 3,649 migrants have died while attempting to reach Europe by sea. 3,649 names, the vast majority of which have been diluted in the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean.
What happens to the dead? Who identifies them?
What do the mothers, the brothers do to try to find their missing loved ones?
For years, medical examiners have been trying to give back a name, dignity, a memory to these forgotten souls.
This film tells their story.
Electric Malady, directed by Marie Lidén (SWEDEN / UK)
Director Marie Lidén grew up with a mother who suffered from an illness that the world did not recognize—Electrosensitivity. Years later, in a technologically advanced world, Marie gives a poignant account of the lives of two electrosensitives: William, a 41-year-old Swedish man, and Tyler, a 13-year-old Canadian boy. Using Marie's own family story as a thread, the film explores William and Tyler's isolated worlds and their families' unrelenting commitment to help their children.
Through The Night, directed by Loira Limbal (US)
To make ends meet, Americans are working longer hours across multiple jobs. This modern reality of non-stop work has resulted in an unexpected phenomenon: the flourishing of 24-hour daycare centers. Through the Night is a verité documentary that explores the personal cost of our modern economy through the stories of two working mothers and a child care provider, whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center in New Rochelle, NY.
Always in Season, directed by Jacqueline Olive (US)
As the trauma of a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present, Always in Season follows relatives of the perpetrators and victims in communities across the country who're seeking justice and reconciliation in the midst of racial profiling and police shootings. In Bladenboro, NC, the film connects historic racial terrorism to racial violence today with the story of Claudia Lacy who grieves as she fights to get an FBI investigation opened into the death of her seventeen-year-old son, Lennon Lacy, found hanging from a swing set on August 29, 2014. Claudia, like many others, believes Lennon was lynched.
Reentry (working title), directed by Jennifer Redfearn (US)
Women are now the fastest growing population in the U.S. criminal justice system, increasing at nearly double the rate of men. The majority of women going into prison are serving time for drug related charges. This immersive, character-driven film follows three women—who are part of a new reentry program in Cleveland, Ohio—as they prepare to leave prison, reunite with their children, and find jobs after serving time for drug related charges.
Writing With Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh (INDIA)
In one of the most socially oppressive and patriarchal states of India emerges a newspaper run entirely by rural women. Meera, its popular reporter, decides to magnify the paper's impact with an audacious move—to transform from print to a digital news agency. Working in media dark villages, mocked and discouraged, this is the story of a visionary woman's feisty spirit in building what will probably be the world's first digital news agency run entirely by rural women.


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Dorfman Pacific Toddler Stretch Mittens on a String, Turquoise
Soft acrylic provides softness and warmth for their little hands. The spandex allows it to stretch to the perfect fit, and grow with them. The 26 inch string goes into one sleeve, around the back, and out the other sleeve. This will prevent your child from losing their mittens outside, at school, and just out… Read More »


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This is our fifth CD, played by five musicians, with music by five American composers (including a five-movement work entitled Take Five). This circle of Fives brings us back to our roots: five brass players exploration and love of new music. We founded the MAE to expand our musical horizons – to stretch our understanding of musical language. We have moved in many directions while never losing sight of our initial focus. This CD is the realization of our ongoing effort to seek out pre-existing works, and to generate new works through commissioning. We present here an exciting variety of sounds and rhythms. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Our thanks to the composers, and to you, the listeners. New music is alive and well.Download booklet
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Join the the revolt! Public education belongs to the people of America.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
NYS may not be racing up to the top
Poor lame duck Governor Paterson unable to raise charter school cap to 460 (the numbers seems to continue getting larger) because no cash to buy the political support for them.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Assembly Member Sam Hoyt to attend $1,000 fund raiser hedge fund mangers organized for him Mayor Bloomberg hosting
"...many hedge fund managers are expected to attend a $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser on Wednesday at the Harvard Club for Assemblyman Sam Hoyt of Buffalo. Mr. Hoyt, a Democrat and a charter school supporter..." Also, they met with gubernatorial hopeful attorney genral Andrew Cuomo, April 9, 2010 for an informal fund raiser.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Here We Go Again
Here We Go Again
Pro-charter school outside groups in Buffalo trying to influence the election
to elect candidates they support. The Education Reform Now Coalition and
outside entity is leading the way with higly paid street canvassing, telephone calling,
disingenuous information about the other candidates. It's almost like an "Operation Rescue"
has come to town but focused on education. Vote, Tuesday, May 4, 2010.
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On Monday March 18, 2019 as the day began, Benjamin Wilkinson of Mayerthorpe, formerly of Anselmo, AB, passed away peacefully, with his family by his side at the age of 88 years.
Ben will be deeply missed and always loved and never forgotten by his children Benny (Gale), Doug (Patsy), Randy (Anna) and Christina all of Mayerthorpe. Grandchildren Lisa (Nick), Jessi (Jia), Kelly (Dawn), Lance, Kasey, Justin (Amanda), Hilda (Brant) and Vada. Great Grandchildren Michael, Ella-Rae, Lillie, Alvin, Tate, Dusty, Hunter, Shae-Lynn, Cierra, Keyra, and Kree.
Sister Lorraine (Peter) Trynchy. Sister-in-laws Gin Andrew, Mabel Wilson and Hazel Wilkinson. Brother-in-law George (Cindy) Hayes and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Ben was predeceased by his wife Winnie Mae, grandson Dusty Wilkinson, parents Frank Sr. and Walburga Wilkinson, brother Frank Wilkinson Jr., mother-in-law Molly Wilson, brother-in-laws Jim Wilson, Bud Wilson and Doug Andrew, as well as sister-in-law Ellen Wilson.
The family will greet friends at a reception on March 31st at 2:00 p.m. at the Anselmo Hall.
Private Family inurnment will be held at a later date.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Benjamin Wilkinson, please visit our floral store.


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Almost 240 years ago, the founders of our nation had a common philosophy, both of the nature of humanity and the limitations of government. Risking their lives to challenge the established order of divinely-ordained monarchies, the Continental Congress wrote in the Declaration of Independence that government exists to secure the rights that originate from natural law on the basis of creation, and that legitimate government exists to recognize and protect those rights, not to overpower them:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed[.]
This view of governance turned politics on its head. The framers of the Declaration may have struggled to put their philosophy into practice, trying the Articles of Confederation first and finally producing a central government with some authority in the Constitution, and they may have failed to address slavery and women's rights, but the Constitution itself set the framework for those fights later. It put boundaries on where government could reach, and more importantly where it could not. The Bill of Rights were not a condescension of specific rights to people and states, but the enforceable limits of the power of government in regards to rights that people have simply from their nature as sons and daughters of their Creator.
Do we still share that view widely in the US today? Matt Lewis says no, and it's at the heart of our political divide:
This might sound like a pedantic point to make, but nearly all of our political discord comes down to fundamental differences in our worldviews. Two very good people can start out with two very different philosophies of life and inevitably come to two very different conclusions on a nearly innumerable amount of problems. Sometimes the consequences are profound. And that's the case here. Rejection of this foundational principle of God-given law would inexorably lead someone to come to vastly different conclusions about any number of things compared to someone like me who embraces this premise. When liberals and conservatives differ over whether or not the state has the right to usurp this or that right, dig deep enough, and you will often find the root of the disagreement lies here.
I believe very strongly that our rights come from God. And I believe nearly as strongly that the implications of believing that our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are granted by the state are potentially catastrophic. Ideas have consequences, and while some might see quibbling over such esoteric and grandiose ideas to be a waste of time, the truth is that where one comes down on such fundamental questions will likely predetermine where one comes down on a wide range of modern-day "hot-button" issues. When you consider how much of the current political debate hinges on fights about individual liberty and the size and scope of government, this makes sense.
Set aside religion and consider this: If our fundamental rights are merely granted by the state, then they can be taken away by the state. What is more, the state would have no moral compunction not to rob us of our rights. The state is not particularly moral or special or better than people. The state is people. If they don't have some larger, higher moral code that guides them, then assumptions about what constitutes the "good" are, at least to some degree, arbitrary. Absent an immutable standard, why wouldn't the law of the jungle rule? In nature, predators prey on the weak. Can we honestly convince ourselves that people are better than that? Some are, sure. But many are not.
Without an absolute law that transcends the whims of man, the very concept of "rights" metastasizes into a definition having more to do with the current and often capricious preference of the majority. Oppressed minorities have long found comfort (and, in fact, seized the moral high ground) by pointing out that there is a greater law, a universal sense of right and wrong, that transcends the will of the majority.
I wholeheartedly concur. So did the framers of both foundational documents of our republic, who mistrusted "democracy" in its pure sense and tried to keep it at bay with the system of government found in every state and in the federal government. We use democratic procedures to elect people to a representative republic, one that is limited in scope by the Constitution (and by both the federal and state constitutions at the lower level).
The combinations of an enforceable Constitution and the deliberative nature of the structure of our republic keeps our society from imposing its will by mob rule. Many nations have constitutions, both written or traditional, that carry little weight, and most of those only use them for window dressing on tyranny. Our tradition remained vibrant because we believed that our rights didn't come from condescension by politicians, but from God and "unalienable" by human action, regardless of the power and corruption that may be presented. Our Constitution protects against both, however imperfectly, and will — until we stop believing in the philosophy that fuels its power.
If we lose that, and allow the Constitution to become merely an old document with no legal or moral force on the basis of majority whim, we lose the Republic, and we lose our national soul. That is the danger in viewing rights as an allocation from other men as opposed to our birthright as created sons and daughters of God.
Jazz may have more on this later, so stay tuned.


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The additive feeding systems in the plastics industry have at least two separate control programs, one for injection molding – for dosing precise amounts in part of the production cycle, and another for extrusion – for continuous feeding. In this post we'll discuss a third program for extrusion blow molding that's present in a number of leading feeders in the field, among them the ColorSave 1000.
Extrusion blow molding (EBM) can be viewed as a hybrid of injection and extrusion. On the one hand, it produces individual products, one each cycle, using a mold, like injection. On the other hand, the feed is continuous, like in regular extrusion. Accordingly, the EBM program is also a hybrid between injection and extrusion. It feeds the additive continuously and yet allows the treatment of production cycles individually. We'd like to show that it's preferable to use an EBM feeder for an EBM system.
Since the feed is continuous, it's possible in principle to use a feeder with an extrusion program (continuous feed) with an EBM system. This feeder would do the job well, however for the machine operator a feeder with a specific EBM program is easier to operate and generally preferable.
A feeder that speaks the operator's language
In a feeder with an extrusion program, the operator can enter a constant additive throughput in kg/hour, or if the feeder is synchronized with an extruder the operator can enter the extruder's maximum throughput in kg/hour and the desired percentage of the additive. In each of these options, the operator must enter data in terms of throughput in kg/hour. These terms are the "language" spoken in classic extrusion factories, such as those that produce pipes, profiles, films, etc., however in a factory with extrusion blow molding machines, the machine operators' terms are not throughput in kg/hour, but rather product weight.
The product weight is a given that the operator knows or can easily find out by weighing the final product and adding the weight of the material from that cycle that was not used and is to be recycled. As soon as the product weight value is known, it can be entered along with the desired additive percentage and that's it, you can start working.
Always synchronized with the production machine
When working with a feeder with an EBM program that's synchronized with the production machine, one can always enter the desired percentage for the production process. As a rule, working with synchronization with the production machine, which allows the operator to enter the desired additive percentage, is always preferable to working without synchronization, in which case constant throughput must be entered.
So how can the feeder work with a percentage of the system's throughput? How does the feeder know what the extruder's throughput is at any given moment? In order to know the extruder's momentary throughput, you need a synchronization value and a reference point, and then the extruder's momentary throughput can be calculated with simple math. The mathematical calculation is usually multiplication or division of two values – the synchronization value, which is variable, and the reference point, which is constant.
Interim summary
So far we have shown that for an EBM system operator working with an EBM feeder is preferable to working with an extrusion feeder, since the EBM feeder "speaks his language" and is always in sync with the production machine.
The illustration below shows the main screen of the ColorSave 1000 with an EBM program. You can see that the set point is product weight and desired percentage.
In the next section we'll see that with a feeder specific to EBM the synchronization is not only constant, but also easier than the synchronization of an extrusion feeder, and it's also easier to calculate the reference point in a feeder with an EBM-specific program.


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Friday Offcuts 11 October 2019
Click to Subscribe - It's FREE!The impact on log prices as a consequence of the US-China spat has been well documented in recent months. Just this week the American Hardwood Export Council reported that in June, when the full 25% tariff rate came into effect, trade volumes to China were half of what it was a year ago. Parts of the US wood processing industry are already been significantly impacted on.
Half a world away, it appears that Australia's AU$1.4-billion plantation woodchip industry is also being hit by the dispute. Australian wood chip exporters have been experiencing falling demand for woodchips from Chinese paper mills as a direct consequence of the US slapping tariffs on Chinese paper products. Three Australian woodchip shipments are reported to have been cancelled or deferred since July with fears that further consignments might be affected. Like harvesting crews in New Zealand, timber haulage companies in Australia involved in chipping operations are now reshuffling their crews as a response to the current slow-down.
A year or two ago forest products companies in the region were treated to a look into some of the early work being undertaken by an emerging American engineering and robotics design company, Boston Dynamics. It's a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was an FIEA technology event. Local companies were given an insight into how robotics were being developed and could in future play an integral role in wood manufacturing operations. Understandably, the videos accompanying the presentation showed the company's humanoid robot precariously teetering as it tried to walk.
It was all rather stilted but the potential for improvement was certainly there. Check out the video we've included this week. It demonstrates just how far this company – and the robot, Atlas – has come in just a few short years. It opens up a world of opportunity (watching this I keep thinking though of the 2004 sci-fi movie, I Robot). A great video to end the week on and to get you thinking.
As a final note to this discussion, it's interesting to see that NZ's largest appliance and technology retailer has just unveiled Nola. It's their new digital human team member. It's (or she) will be based at their soon-to-be-opened store to assist shoppers navigate their way around and answer questions. Nola is going to be one of the first human-like interfaces backed by artificial intelligence to be used in the NZ retail space. Noel Leeming have future aspirations of her playing a much wider role across different platforms.
Finally, the latest issues of monthly news and tech updates for the three newsletters, harvesttech.news, www.woodtech.news and foresttech.news were sent out to industry readers across Australasia this week. If keen on reading and/or subscribing to any of the three (all are free and targeted to a specific part of our industry), click on any of the links supplied. And on that note, enjoy this week's read.
This week we have for you:
Innovative forest monitoring platform goes mobilePutting the world's eyes in the skies to work to improve human lives and combat climate change is now easier thanks to an overhaul of the Food and Agriculture Organization' innovative geospatial monitoring system.
A new version of SEPAL - System for Earth Observation Data Access, Processing and Analysis for Land Monitoring - has been developed that enables advanced forest monitoring from mobile phones. It also provides access to high-resolution data updated daily by a fleet of more than 190 satellites run by Planet, an integrated aerospace and data analytics company.
The new SEPAL 2.1 platform was launched in New York at the Nature for Climate Hub, an event coinciding with the United Nations Secretary General's Climate Action Summit. The easy-to-use platform offers anyone, anywhere unparalleled access to satellite data and supercomputing power. It paves the way for increasing accuracy and transparency of countries' reporting on national plans to mitigate the effects of climate change and fine-tune land-use policies and their implementation, as well as enhancing collective tenure rights where appropriate.
The SEPAL project is funded by Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI). Along with access via mobile phones, the new SEPAL platform also provides access to Planet's daily monitoring data for eight forest countries - Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, and Mozambique. These countries are front-runners to unlock results-based finance for carbon emission reductions through the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Carbon Fund and BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes.
"As of today, the FAO Forestry Department supports over 70 countries as they develop forest monitoring capacities to support Sustainable Forest Management and Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems in order to receive results-based payments. These first eight countries will serve as a test case for how advanced earth observation technologies can help facilitate new solutions in REDD+ and beyond," said Julian Fox, FAO's team leader for National Forest Monitoring.
Planet is imaging all of Earth's landmass every day in four spectral bands, at a spatial resolution of 3.7 meters per pixel, in a bid to offer "insights at the speed of change." This means that those engaged in forest management are potentially able to gain access to an unprecedented data monitoring rate to track forest cover and changes in land use, and address degradation on a continual basis.
"The adoption and use of SEPAL for forest monitoring has exceeded all expectations and its impact on country reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is already a significant improvement compared to previous years," said Tiina Vahanen, Chief, Forestry Policy and Resources Division in FAO's Forestry Department.
Source: reliefweb.int
First Esri Forestry Workshops for NZTo capitalise on those travelling through to Rotorua to attend the New Zealand leg of the ForestTECH 2019 series this year, two workshops have been set up for ForestTECH 2019 delegates by the specialist systems integration and information management company, Eagle Technology.
The first will run at the conference venue, the Distinction Hotel, the day before the two-day conference, on Monday 18 November. The second hands-on workshop runs the day after the conference on Thursday 21 November. As this second workshop is being run at a computer suite at Toi Ohomai, numbers will be restricted to 20 places.
Building on the Esri Platform demonstrated at the NZ Esri Users Conference in August, these forestry specific workshops have been designed to meet the growing interest from forestry companies across the country in using geospatial tools and workflows.
Both workshops run between 9.00am and 4.30pm. To attend, workshop delegates will have to have signed up for the ForestTECH 2019 conference. Registration to the workshops can be made whilst registering for the ForestTECH 2019 conference.
1. Esri Forestry. Pre-Conference Workshop, Monday 18 November 2019
This workshop provides a high-level overview of the Esri Platform incorporating forestry specific workflows.
Topics covered include;
(a) Technology update/transfer (10.7.1 Enterprise, Online)
(b) Mobile Apps (Collector (offline workflows), Explorer – migrating staff and contractors from paper to digital, Workforce (offline might be available), Tracker, QuickCapture)
(c) Survey123 – in depth (Online and Enterprise - what are the data considerations, Using Survey123 and Collector for multiple workflows, Webhooks – extending workflow past just data capture, Reporting including Dashboard construction (Wood Marketing Services to present)
(d) ArcGIS and system integration
(e) ArcGIS Pro – Imagery analysis
(f) Workflows flows for Imagery
(g) Managed Services
2. Esri Forestry. Post-Conference Workshop, Thursday 21 November 2019
This workshop is a hands-on workshop using computers at Toi Ohomai's computer suite. It will focus on use of the Esri technology tools incorporating forestry specific workflow. It will be limited to no more than 20 places and seats will be filled on a first in -first served basis.
Learn the basics of Esri ArcGIS Platform apps and how to bring them together in workflows that will optimise your organisations field operations. The ArcGIS Platform apps that will be covered are; ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, Collector for ArcGIS, Survey123 for ArcGIS, Workforce for ArcGIS, Navigator for ArcGIS, Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS.
Topics include;
(a) Planning your field work by defining where field work needs to be done (ArcGIS Pro)
(b) Configuring spatial data collection apps (Collector for ArcGIS and Survey123 for ArcGIS)
(c) Assigning tasks and dispatching field crews (Workforce for ArcGIS)
(d) Helping personnel arriving to their destination quickly and safely (Navigator for ArcGIS)
(e) Efficiently executing field data capture (Collector for ArcGIS and Survey123 for ArcGIS)
(f) Monitoring field operations (Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS)
Full details on all of this year's workshops and the ForestTECH 2019 November programme can be found on the event website, foresttech.events
Tasmanian hardwood CLT operation underwayExciting news out of Tasmania is that a brand new, purpose-built hardwood CLT plant will be constructed in the state's north-west industrial centre of Wynyard. Stirling Machinery has been selected by CLTP Tasmania to supply state-of-the-art machines for stage 1 of the project, due to be completed before the end of 2019.
Both a domestic and international game changer, this new partnership will help deliver the first commercially available hardwood cross laminated timber panels. Several significant innovations were established as a result of the project including;
- 'Whole of log' sawing to deliver the entire spectrum of structural characteristics from all parts of the tree, not only low grade, delivering a superior engineered outcome over softwood panels.
- Creation of a new structural product from a plantation species that is otherwise only processed as high-quality chips for the pulp and paper industry.
- A 'plantation to project' approach by utilising 15-to-20 year-old sustainably grown Tasmanian plantation hardwood Eucalyptus nitens (shining gum).
Stirling is proud to be involved with this historic development and has been hard at work compiling the comprehensive portfolio of machines required. The project will require cross-lamination timber building systems, CNC to specification cutting and glue lamination and finger jointing lines. "We are obviously delighted to be on board with this project," Stirling Machinery MD Craig Honeyman says.
"It's going to bring huge benefits to this regional community, and it will reinvigorate the manufacturing industry. Our partnership with CLTP Tasmania is important not just to us but to investment in Australian business as well."
The Wynyard plant will involve a considerable capital investment in laminating machinery at the outset and with a strong focus on technology and automation, employee costs will be significantly reduced. The new CLTP Tasmania operation will deliver hardwood manufactured products into new markets.
Construction innovations and the rise in off-site built modular construction have brought about an enormous opportunity for cross-laminated structural timber. Its strength and integrity as a building product have been proven through rigorous testing, plus its other main selling point is its capacity to use large quantities of younger and lower quality plantation-sourced logs. In a massive tilt for innovation, the waste material generated from the new plant will be converted into direct injection biofuel which will feed back into the grid as dispatchable, on-demand electricity.
CLTP Tasmania's CEO, Chris Skeels-Piggins looks forward to the plant's first production day with eager anticipation. "There's no doubting this will be a momentous development in the wood processing industry," he says. "It's going to pay dividends for the community, for the utilisation of species that were previously unusable for structural products and we're going to make a real dent in the import of overseas structural timber."
Photo: Stirling Machinery Managing Director, Craig Honeyman; CLTP Tasmania CEO, Chris Skeels-Piggins
Source: Stirling Machinery
Just how far the humanoid robot has comeLast week we covered the release by Boston Dynamics, of their first commercial robot. This week we're offered yet another spectacular look at the humanoid Atlas' growing arsenal of skills, this time demonstrating its incredible gymnastic capabilities.
Accompanying the Spot sales announcement, Boston Dynamics also revealed another in its long line of impressive Atlas robot videos. Atlas is the company's humanoid robot, and in the past we have seen it rapidly evolve from being first allowed to roam tetherless in 2015, to completing a spectacular parkour routine just three years later.
Now, in what is arguably the robot's most spectacular video to date, we see Atlas perform a complex gymnastic routine demonstrating amazing balance. The dynamically swift flexibility of Atlas in this new video is simply spectacular with flawlessly smooth motions.
Atlas is still essentially a research robot with no suggestion it will be available commercially in the near future. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering how far Boston Dynamics has come in such a short time, with its robots precariously trying to just walk only a few years ago.
Source: Boston Dynamics
Foreign forestry companies grow in NZThe four largest private landowners in New Zealand are all foreign-owned forestry companies, an RNZ investigation has found. Despite a clampdown on some overseas investment, including a ban on residential sales to offshore buyers, the Labour-led government has actively encouraged further foreign purchases of land for forestry through a stream-lined 'special forestry test'.
Since the government was formed, the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) has approved more than NZ$2.3 billion of forestry-related land sales - about 31,000 hectares of it previously in New Zealand hands. Of that, about half has been sold via a streamlined 'special forestry test' introduced by the government last October. Overall, nearly NZ$5b of sensitive land has changed hands through the OIO since the government was formed.
The information comes from an RNZ investigation into land ownership in New Zealand. Using Land Information New Zealand data, Companies Office searches and other research, RNZ has compiled a list of what we believe are the 100 biggest private landowners in New Zealand by area, not including the Crown and public entities (which control at least 28 percent of the land) or iwi.
Together, these landowners have freehold ownership of 1.42m ha of land - more than 10 percent of all privately-owned land and about 5 percent of New Zealand's total land area of 26.8m ha. That comes close to the 6.7 percent of total land RNZ could conclusively identify as Māori-owned. Tūhoe, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and the Central North Island grouping of eight iwi were the largest iwi landholders - although Tūhoe's holdings include Te Urewera, which has special independent legal status.
The analysis found at least 3.3 percent of New Zealand's land is foreign-owned.
This story is part of a series, Green Rush, which is looking at forestry and land ownership in New Zealand
More >>
Forestry scoping study for FCNSWUBS' investment bankers have been called back in to NSW Treasury to help consider options for the state's commercial softwood plantation business. Hot on the heels of advising NSW on its three-pronged poles and wires privatisations, it's been revealed this week that UBS has been mandated to run a scoping study on the assets housed in NSW's Forestry Corporation.
While it is understood NSW Treasury's deliberations have just started, and ink has barely had time to dry on UBS' mandate, the fact NSW has called in the investment bankers is a clear sign the assets may well end up as the state's next chunky privatisation.
NSW's move comes after Victoria sold its softwood plantations in 1998, while Queensland reaped AU$603 million when it sold Forestry Plantations Queensland in 2010. Bankers reckon NSW's business could be worth as much as AU$1 billion, although there is little information in the market about exactly what the state would consider selling and terms attached to any sale.
Source: afr.com
NSW forestry firefighters put through their pacesLocal Forestry Corporation of NSW staff have completed the first stage of their annual fire season preparations, passing gruelling fitness tests that simulate the strain placed on the body during firefighting. Many Forestry Corporation staff are trained as firefighters and must pass an annual fitness test, which involves walking 3.22 kilometres in less than 30 minutes wearing an 11.3 kilogram vest.
Adele Wedding is the Southern Planning Manager with Forestry Corporation in Tumut and one of the organisation's many trained firefighters preparing for bushfire season. "Getting ready for the fitness test not only helps firefighting, but it also has benefits in preventing injuries for our teams out in the bush and increasing general wellbeing," Ms Wedding said.
"Some of our staff even volunteer for a more arduous fitness test required for overseas deployment or remote area firefighting, or in my own case, just as a personal challenge. This involves walking 4.83km in less than 45 minutes wearing a 20.4kg vest, or 15.4kg vest if you are under 68kg in bodyweight.
This year staff from National Parks and Wildlife and Hume Forests have also undertaken fitness walks conducted by Forestry Corporation's Belinda Wielinga in Tumut, Batlow and Tumbarumba. "This cooperation between agencies during fire season preparations develops relationships which assist once the season is in full swing," Ms Wedding said.
"Bushfires are a big risk to our forests and communities — as one of the state's firefighting agencies, our firefighters have been on the frontline fighting significant fires in the region in recent years," Ms Wedding said. "We need to be confident staff are fit and able to manage the physical pressures of the fire front, so fitness tests are a crucial part of our preparation for the official fire season each year, along with scenario-based exercises and a program of hazard reduction burning."
Forestry Corporation is responsible for more than two million hectares of native and plantation forests and has been formally involved in fire-fighting for more than 100 years. The organisation also works in partnership with the Rural Fire Service and National Parks and Wildlife Services to help limit the impact of fire on forests and communities across the state.
Photo: (L-R): Softwood Plantations Division General Manager Mike Beardsell, Sales and Procurement Manager Peter Stiles, Radio Technician Silvia Grant and new Regional Manager Dean Anderson
Source: FCNSW
RPBC Launches New WebsiteThe Radiata Pine Breeding Company has launched a new website. Chief Executive, Brent Guild, says it has been a long time coming with this being the first bona fide internet presence the company has had in almost three years.
"We are very pleased to reconnect with the market in this way. Our new site caters to a much broader audience than in the past, as we continue our efforts to take the message about tree breeding and genetics to a wider set of stakeholders". Significantly the site not only provides access to GF Plus Values, which have traditionally been available via germplasm producers and licensed nursery growers, but also to the first public release of RPBC's underlying Breeding Values.
"RPBC is committed to running a more open campaign. Ultimately it's about recruiting genetic gain to the forest as quickly and as accurately as possible, and to do that we first need to lift the general level of the conversation in the marketplace", says Guild.
The site will continue to develop and evolve, with the intent that it becomes a destination for those looking for research and educational resources, as well as a window into the management and philosophy driving the national breeding population.
To access the new site, click www.rpbc.co.nz
US-China trade war hits Australian woodchipsAustralia's AU$1.4-billion plantation woodchip industry has been dragged into the US-China trade war, with a number of shipments to the Asian economic powerhouse cancelled in the fallout from the dispute.
Amid fading hopes of a speedy breakthrough in the trade war, timber exporters have been hit by falling demand for woodchips from Chinese paper mills, which have become the industry's biggest customers.
Since July, at least three ships that were supposed to take Australian woodchips to China have been cancelled or deferred, and there are fears further consignments could be affected.
While shipments from Albany on Western Australia's south coast have been hit hardest, it's believed other woodchip export hubs in South Australia and Victoria have also been disrupted.
The setbacks have put the brakes on an industry that had been enjoying sustained growth since a wave of turmoil brought on by the failure of the managed investment scheme scene a decade ago.
Earlier this year, prices for bluegum woodchips reached a record high of more than $US180 ($265) a tonne, fuelled by soaring demand from Chinese paper mills, which have overtaken their Japanese counterparts as the biggest buyers of the commodity.
Forest Industries Federation of WA president Ian Telfer said the decision by the US to slap tariffs on Chinese paper products was hurting the profitability of mills, which was crimping demand for Australian woodchips.
Making matters worse, he said, was anticompetitive trade conduct by South American countries, which were dumping big volumes of cheap pulp on to Asian markets including China's in a bid to clear a supply glut.
Source: ABC
China trade war hurting US hardwood millsIt is hard times for the U.S. hardwood lumber industry. The trade war with China has caused a steep drop in U.S. exports of the product, and now the industry is cutting jobs. China used to account for about half of all U.S. hardwood lumber exports, about US$2 billion annually. The Trump administration's 25% tariff cut through that demand.
In the 12 months since tariffs on U.S. hardwood were announced in July of last year, lumber exports to China were down US$615 million compared with the previous year, according to the American Hardwood Export Council. In June of this year alone, when the full tariff rate went into effect, trade volume to China was half what it was a year ago.
"The American hardwood industry is facing a watershed moment in China. As political and commercial ties between our two countries continue to deteriorate, our industry is caught in the middle of a fight with a country who has been our largest market for a decade," wrote Tripp Pryor, international program manager at the council, in an August report. "The real long-term danger here is that we are losing market share that will not easily be won back."
Workers at Northwest Hardwoods' mill in Mount Vernon, Washington, don't have much time left on the job. The mill is set to be shuttered in November, and all 70 jobs gone. The Tacoma, Washington-based company, which is one of the largest producers in North America, is also closing a plant in Virginia, cutting an additional 30 jobs, and is then laying off 30 more at the corporate level.
China was its No. 1 export customer. Northwest Hardwoods' CEO said the tariffs were just too much too fast. "We saw an immediate response from Chinese buyers," said CEO Nathan Jeppson. "Our business, much like the rest of the industry, is highly dependent and has forged a large relationship selling into the Chinese market, and since the middle of last year, if you just look at year on year, sales are off 43% in total exports to China."
More >>.
Source: cnbc.com
Rail adds to supply chain efficienciesKiwiRail's addition of log wagons on freight trains to Port Taranaki will avoid the need for 2,700 truck trips on the region's roads, New Zealand's KiwiRail Group Chief Executive Greg Miller says.
Six log wagons have been added to the daily freight service between Whanganui and New Plymouth, enabling up to 45,000 tonnes of logs a year to be transported to Port Taranaki for storage and export.
"The addition of these log wagons highlights the real benefits rail can have for New Zealand's regions," Mr Miller says. "Six wagon loads a day will avoid the need for about 2,700 truck trips each year. This not only helps reduce congestion on Whanganui and Taranaki's regional roads and highways, it also reduces road maintenance costs and transport emissions - given rail has 66 per cent fewer emissions per tonne of freight carried than trucks.
"Rail improves the resilience of the forestry supply chain - giving more options for logging companies to get their harvests to port. The additional wagons to Port Taranaki are a solid start and, if there is demand, KiwiRail could run a dedicated log train to the port in the future."
According to statistics published by the Ministry for Primary Industries, forestry harvests across New Zealand have been growing dramatically since 2008. They are currently at around 36 million tonnes per year, and are forecast to remain at high levels for the next decade.
In the Western part of the Southern North Island, which includes Whanganui, harvests are forecast to increase from 1.5 million tonnes in 2019 to 2.3 million tonnes by 2024 and remain at that level until the mid-2030s. "The fact is, with significant harvests forecast for the years ahead, rail is a must have," Mr Miller says. "The trucking sector alone cannot cope with the volumes of logs, so road and rail have to work together".
"Delivering logs by truck from the forests to Whanganui, to be railed to Port Taranaki, and then be shipped overseas shows how the different transport modes can work together to support regional growth."
KiwiRail is working on number of other forestry projects across the North Island, with support from the Government's Provincial Growth Fund. These include reopening the Napier to Wairoa line to transport logs to Napier Port and investigating a potential new log hub in Dannevirke. KiwiRail has also extended logging capacity between Masterton and Wellington's CentrePort.
NSW bushfires start of a long summerUp to 30 homes have been destroyed or severely damaged and some residents suffered burns when a huge out-of-control bushfire in northern New South Wales ripped through the rural hamlet of Rappville.
Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers says the blaze wreaked havoc on Tuesday afternoon ahead of what's likely to be a "very long summer" of bushfires. Rogers said on Wednesday that two fires - at Drake near Tenterfield and at Busbys Flat near Rappville - had joined together to form one large blaze which has already consumed 92,000 hectares.
Crews continue to battle the massive fire as they work to contain it over the coming days. "Unless we get some really meaningful rain, I think it's going to be a very long summer. Before these fires, we had already lost around 44 homes in NSW due to fires so far this fire season, and obviously that number could climb significantly from these fires."
More than 30 fires are burning across NSW but the RFS hopes more favourable weather conditions will help them get the upper hand ahead of forecast weekend rain. The cause of the fire is being probed, with investigators working to establish whether it was accidental or started deliberately, the deputy commissioner said.
Source: The Gaurdian
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Episode 79
Generation Women
November 22nd, 2018
34 mins 38 secs
Season 4
About this Episode
Show Summary
A slight shift in theme this week, perhaps a sign of change to come in the new season. Karen talks to Sinead from Generation Women about supporting women as they rise to the top of their career. Sinead has always been ambitious hugely due to the influence her Father played in her life. After his death she felt a little lost, but not for long, she soon excelled in her own career. Today Sinead has a stong passion to help women in her coaching and speaking events. Karen asks Sinead about what makes a great leader and what can often cause people to leave a job.
Enjoy and give Sinead a hello on her Social Media mentioned below
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What Is Best of Monmouth?
Best of Monmouth is a celebration of Monmouth's finest—not just shops, but people, services, and spectacular culinary and creative talents—as voted by the readers of Monmouth Health & Life. Best of Monmouth showcases nearly 100 of this year's winners in categories including: best new restaurant, steak, seafood, wine list, romantic dining, salon/spa, and many more. It is a party like no other!
How does Monmouth Health & Life choose Best of Monmouth winners?
Monmouth Health & Life asks readers to choose their favorites—be it, their most loved Mexican restaurant, their favorite new drinking spot, their No. 1 spa—through an online ballot. The people, places, and services that get the most votes are deemed the year's Best of Monmouth Winners.
Don't your advertisers automatically win?
Absolutely not. Best of Monmouth results are entirely based on your ballots; there is no connection between advertisers and winners.
Where is the Party?
This year, Best of Monmouth is being held at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel, 1401 Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park. Find the directions here!
How big is the Party?
We have more than 100 displays and expect over 1,500 guests.
When is the Party?
Thursday, October 11, 2018. VIP entrance is at 5:00 p.m, General admission at 6:00 p.m. Things wrap up at 9:00 p.m.
What about bad weather? Is there a rain date?
Everything is either inside the venue or under a canopy or tent. The event is held rain or shine.
How much does it cost?
VIP passes are $65 at the door and General Admission passes are $50 at the door.
How can I purchase passes?
Buy your Best of Monmouth tickets here!
I purchased my passes. How do I get them?
You will be sent an email receipt. Print out this email and bring it with you to the party.
Are tickets refundable?
Tickets are non-refundable, no exceptions. Remember to bring a printout of your admission ticket and bring it with you.
What about parking?
The Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel has a small lot and there is plenty of metered parking located conveniently around the hotel.
What should I wear?
Wear nice, comfortable clothes. We won't turn you away, but jeans and T-shirts are frowned upon.


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… feature Envantage's own Dragon DHA software, and are setup and calibrated on an individual basis, not as standard production line instruments. We use actual customer samples to provide sample-specific databases to minimize the number of misidentified components and ensure timely automatic processing of routine samples once the unit is put into service at the customer site. We deliver AND support detailed hydrocarbon analysis bundled analyzers built on the widest variety of manufacturer's model GCs and data systems, with configurations based upon ASTM, IP, DIN, and customized methods. These methods are often referred to as PONA or PIANO analysis. Reference methods include:
These analyzers can be custom configured to suit many different methods and hydrocarbon stream types, including the Dragon DHA Light Ends Analyzer ( D7900 / IP 601) specially designed for analysis of Light Ends in Crude Oil and Condensates. Let us help you configure the right options for your specific detailed hydrocarbon analysis needs.
News You Can Use – Switch to Hydrogen Carrier Gas:
The official ASTM D6730 Method specifies the use of Helium as the carrier gas. In recent years Helium has become less available, and, as a consequence, more expensive. Switching to the use of Hydrogen as a carrier gas is not only more economical but its chemical properties affect linear velocities in a way that results in the added benefit of shorter analysis run times.
We have posted an article on our blog that was originally written in 2000 by our good friend Neil Johansen. Neil was instrumental in developing the ASTM DHA Methods that we utilize today. In 2000 he took it upon himself to implement hydrogen as the carrier gas and work out the operating conditions necessary to match the DHA component separations obtained using Helium. We have reprinted the entire article on our blog complete with instrument operating conditions and chromatograms. A pdf of the entire article is available for download.
Click here to see the blog post
Click here to download the pdf: Fast_DHA_H2


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The tradition is always the same.
Every April 8, Connie Gruber visits her husband's grave.
She and daughter Brooke kneel in front of his tombstone in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Together, they run their fingers over each letter in his name, saying out loud "Brooks Scott Gruber."
Connie carries with her two things: flowers and a constant ache in her heart. This year, though, she brought with her something she hasn't had since he died in an aircraft crash in the Marana desert -- peace.
It was bad enough to lose her soulmate, but in the accident's aftermath a Marine Corps news release blamed her husband and Lt. Col. John Brow for the Osprey accident that killed 19.
It's taken 16 years, but Connie -- ever the faithful Marine Corps wife who supported her pilot husband's many far-flung assignments -- has finally accomplished her own mission to clear his name.
Couple had a lot to celebrate
Brooks and Connie married in 1992, after meeting on a blind date two years earlier. He was a helicopter pilot, a first lieutenant, a month away from being deployed for the Gulf War. She was a teacher at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville.
"I liked him immediately," Connie said in a phone interview from her home in Jacksonville. Connie is an instructor and supervisor of elementary education students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
"You hear the expression 'I've known him all my life,' he was just that friendly and easy to talk to."
The Grubers had a lot to celebrate as they rang in 2000. They delighted in every milestone of their child, who'd arrived in July. Connie had completed her doctorate in education and landed a new teaching job. The young family had settled into their new home in Jacksonville, and Brooks was excited about his elite assignment to be one of the first to fly the Osprey, a hybrid aircraft that can take off and land like a helicopter and fly horizontally like a fixed-wing plane.
"He believed in the Osprey, he believed in its mission," Connie recalled. "He said to me that it's going to save lives."
Because the baby was so young and Brooks was only scheduled to be stationed in Yuma until April or May, the Grubers decided Brooks would go alone. He left on Valentine's Day.
Testing a new aircraft
Brow and Jim Schafer were also part of that pioneering squad deployed to Yuma for operational testing of the V-22 Osprey.
"The Marine Corps is a band of brothers," Schafer, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, said in a phone interview from Reedville, Virginia.
This crew was tight.
"We're testing aircraft, we're doing some weird things," he said. "The closeness gets even more."
Schafer recalled how Brooks, an all-star hockey player at Virginia Military Institute, drove to Virginia to give Schafer's son his own personal two-day hockey camp. Schafer fished with Brow and his two boys.
Brooks' call sign was Chucky after the doll in the "Child's Play" horror movies, not because Brooks would ever be mistaken for a crazed kid's toy but because he had that same, no-holds-barred enthusiasm.
"That man was always ready to run through a brick wall," said Schafer, whose own call sign is Trigger. "He was full of energy."
Brow was known as Boot. Schafer nicknamed him "the Booterometer," because he was honest and level-headed. "He was like our sanity board."
The night of April 8, the Osprey crew had left the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma to run through a nighttime simulated rescue operation in Marana.
Boot, 39, was the pilot and Chucky, 34, the co-pilot of Nighthawk 72, which flew behind the lead Osprey. Schafer was part of the second wave of the exercise and estimates he was 5 minutes behind them. He couldn't believe it when he looked down and saw flames shooting up into the black sky. All aboard Nighthawk 72 died.
Painful path to the truth
At Brooks' memorial service, the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" played as a slideshow flashed moments from his life. The oldest of three boys, Brooks was known for his confidence and huge, infectious grin.
North Carolina Republican Congressman Walter Jones sat behind Connie, who cuddled baby Brooke on her lap. The longtime legislator's district includes Camp Lejeune and he'd just joined the House Armed Services Committee. Though he didn't know the Grubers, he wanted to pay his respects. Two years later, he became Connie's fiercest ally.
The grieving widow couldn't believe the pain of losing Brooks could get any worse. Then the Marine Corps issued a press release three months after the accident that further pierced her heart. It highlighted a combination of "human factors" that led to the crash and bluntly stated: "Unfortunately, the pilots' drive to accomplish that mission appears to have been the fatal factor."
From then on, media accounts of the incident -- the pilots lost control of the aircraft while trying to maintain position behind the lead Osprey and crashed -- simply cited pilot error.
"It compounded our pain and delayed the healing process greatly, tremendously," Connie said. "I felt that he died in the desert in Marana and then he died again in the press. He continued to be sacrificed."
Starting with the leaders at Marine Corps Air Station New River, where Brooks worked, Connie began calling and knocking on doors. She wrote to the Pentagon.
"I got a response that reassured me that my husband and John Brow were excellent pilots and were handpicked to fly the Osprey," she recalled. "I appreciated that and I believed every word of that, but what I really needed was an answer about the press release and what it had done to their reputations and what it had done to their place in military aviation history. As pioneering pilots, they had done everything they were taught."
After two years and no headway, she began working on members of the House Armed Services Committee. One of her letters arrived for Jones. It was obvious he wasn't the first or only one to receive such a missive -- the letter was typed yet his name was handwritten in -- but it spoke directly to him.
"Basically, it said, 'If you are a man of integrity, please help me clear my husband's name,'" Jones said in a phone interview. "I just could not get it out of my mind. It was such a heart-wrenching letter, the unfairness of him and John Brow being blamed."
'They were set up'
Jones took up the cause on behalf of Connie and Brow's widow, Trish. To say it was an uphill battle is an understatement. Former secretary of defense-turned-vice president Dick Cheney had long been against the Osprey program.
"There was so much pressure on the Marine Corps on saving the V-22," Jones said.
The Marine Corps, he said, wouldn't even look at the research they'd accumulated. "We had to fight them tooth and nail."
Schafer -- who said he nearly "bit it" the week before the fateful crash -- says corners were cut and pilot training inadequate, and his buddies took the fall.
"Marines don't leave their dead on the battlefield," he said. "We pride ourselves on that. We left Boot and Chucky on the battlefield. ... They were set up. You took the very best pilots in the Marine Corps and you overloaded them."
In the years since the 2000 crash, lawsuits were settled, Marine Corps officials were charged with misconduct for falsifying Osprey maintenance records. Marines died in other Osprey accidents.
Still, it took until the summer of 2015 before Jones found someone who would listen: Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert O. Work, a former Marine who had been confirmed to his post the year before. Work penned the letter that the pilots' families had wanted for so long.
In its six pages, Work points out that a string of events led to the accident and that there were deficiencies in the V-22's development and engineering as well as safety programs that were only corrected after the crash. While Work says Brow and Brooks made decisions that contributed to the accident, he disputes that they were solely responsible.
"The totality of evidence confirms the adage that every accident is the result of an interrelated chain of events; if any link in the chain is broken, the accident never occurs. And after considering all of the links in the chain of events that led to this particular accident, I disagree with the characterization that the pilots' drive to accomplish the mission was 'the fatal factor' in the crash."
Jones hand-delivered the letter to Connie and Brooke the afternoon of Feb. 17. They laid a copy at Brooks' grave.
"We just focused on the justice of it, really, the justice in all the words," Connie said. "As hard as the truth is and as hard as it hurts, it was accurate. We're grateful to have the truth out there, the full truth."
The importance of integrity
Brooks Gruber's name graces a Jacksonville bridge. It's also etched on a stone marker outside Marana Northwest Regional Airport and on a polished black granite memorial honoring Marine air crewmen killed in Osprey crashes at Semper Fidelis Memorial Park in Triangle, Virginia.
His real legacy, though, is his namesake -- daughter Brooke, who's in the Air Force Junior ROTC at her high school and who turned 16 this past summer.
The birthday banner is still up at the home where she and her mother live.
"We say this is the best Sweet 16 gift -- taking back that honor of her father," Connie said.
She refuses to focus on how long it took to exonerate her husband, but instead on how the journey has made her and Brooke better people. In death, her husband taught their daughter the importance of integrity.
"She knows that in this life you stand up for the truth," Connie said. "Even though he's not here to teach her that physically, I think part of this battle, what has been good about it, is the lesson our daughter has learned. Also, about the Marine Corps values -- honor, courage, commitment. I just feel like this journey has demonstrated those values. It's also a demonstration of the true meaning of 'semper fi,' which is 'always faithful.' "


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Product Description
Maton SRS70C Acoustic Guitar
The New Maton Solid Road Series SRS 70. Tasmanian Blackwood Back and Sides, 'A' Grade Sitka Spruce Top, Scalloped Bracing, Queensland Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard and Bridge. The AP5 Pro Pickup System comes as standard, ensuring you have the very best in acoustic guitar pick up technology at your fingertips.
- Top: Grade 'A' Sitka Spruce
- Back and Sides: Tasmanian Blackwood
- Neck: Queensland Maple
- Fingerboard: Ballcut Indian Rosewood
- Nut: Bone
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Machine Heads: Chrome Grover
- Pick up: AP5-pro
- Saddle: Bone


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I recently downloaded two different apps that I have found very useful in my practice. Neither app is perfect but they are both useful.
The first is Zazen Suite – Deluxe Meditation & Mindfulness Timer. It's got a meditation session timer with a countdown to the start of the session, a timer for the duration of the session and an interval alert to assist in tracking time in the session. The app also has a mindfulness bell that can play at specific intervals, specific times or a random number of times per hour. Unfortunately, this app does not yet support the new iOS 4 multitasking features so the mindfulness bell will only work if you keep your iPhone/iPod on that screen so I do not find it very useful.
The second app is one that I downloaded to overcome the mindfulness bell problems with the Zazen Suite app. It is called Zen Reminder – Mindfulness Timer. The mindfulness timer will work in the background and you can set up timers to ring a mindfulness bell at specific intervals, specify a time of day to ring, set up start and end times for the bell to ring and other helpful functions. This app only has one sound but it is easy to hear even when it goes off while my iPod is in my pocket.
Both of these apps are great tools and I am happy with both of them.