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TruLast Technology is a process called acetylation, which permanently transforms the wood’s cellular structure throughout by using heat, pressure and an organic compound to replace the water-loving (hydrophilic) groups in the wood’s cells with water-hating (hydrophobic) groups, which minimizes water absorption and the associated damaging effects.
The process leaves no toxic substances within the wood. The organic compound, acetic anhydride, is used in manufacturing a wide range of products, from acetaminophen to artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose) to toothbrushes, eyeglass frames, adhesive tape, tool handles, and LCD TV screens. Use of acetic anhydride leaves behind small amounts of acetic acid, which is also found in household vinegar.
It’s a beautiful, humble material that provides unique aesthetic and performance characteristics not currently available for the outdoor market. We were also impressed by the sustainability story and the fact that this wood is grown and produced here in the U.S.A.
TreeHugger readers have seen acetylized wood before, from Britain's Accoya, which was used to build a bridge in the Netherlands. It is only available in a few places in North America, while Perennial Wood is made from southern pine (no mention if it is sustainably harvested or not).
Let's hope that this is the beginning of the end for pressure treated lumber. More at Perennial Wood.
The answer to the problem of pressure treated lumber is vinegar.
Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald reflected on an "outstanding" performance following the Glasgow Jags' 4-0 victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Two goals from Ryan Stevenson, as well as headers by Conrad Balatoni and Gary Fraser, gave Thistle all three points.
"I don't think anyone thought we'd come up here and win 4-0," said Archibald. "We had a game-plan and the boys stuck to it really well.
"We got the rub of the green today. We were more clinical and had more shots on goal than we've had in recent weeks.
"We've got to start looking up the way. We're starting to pull away, so there's a chance to build on that and catch one or two teams ahead of us."
Inverness CT manager John Hughes said: "From the first whistle, Partick Thistle deserved their victory. They were better on the ball, hungrier than us and their shape was better. We were unbeaten at home and we just need to take it on the chin.
"You get knocked off the bike sometimes and you have to pick yourselves up and get back on it.
"If we had scored the Marley Watkins chance and gone 1-0 up it might've put a different edge on the game but it wasn't to be.
"We got lucky last week. This week we gave ourselves too much to do. One on one, all over the pitch, we were second best."
Teesside drifting duo Tony Walker and Darren Rickaby will both have an eye on the future when the British Championship comes screeching and squealing into town this weekend.
Britain’s top exponents of the sport, in which drivers are judged on their speed, showmanship and angle as they negotiate a set of corners, head for Teesside Autodrome tomorrow and on Sunday.
Both Walker, from Billingham , and Rickaby, from Stockton , will be looking for good performances in front of their home crowds.
But each of them is busy building up new cars and will compete before their home crowd in borrowed machinery.
Walker has been burning the midnight oil trying to get his new Series One BMW ready for the event and planned to drive it for the first time tomorrow - but last night he was forced to concede it wouldn’t be ready in time.
“I borrowed a four litre BMW V8 for the first round of the championship (where he finished sixth), but I missed the second round,” explained Walker.
After hitting a couple of problems and running out of time to get it ready for this weekend, he’ll now be at the wheel of the same BMW E30 325i he used in round one.
Meanwhile Rickaby always knew his new car - a similar BMW One Series to the one Walker is putting together - wouldn’t be ready.
He knows he’ll be under power and admitted: “There are a lot better tyres now and a lot of the other drivers have got a lot of power, so it’s going to be very competitive.
“It’s my local round and it’s always a good event so I’m looking forward to it and I didn’t want to miss it.
A third Tees driver, Hartlepool’s Callum Craddy, misses out completely as he too builds a new car.
Both Walker and Rickaby compete in the Pro-am class so they will be in action tomorrow.
The top four finishers then go through to compete with the blue riband Pro class drivers on Sunday.
After two rounds Jack Shanahan leads the Pro class standings with 82 points ahead of Marc Huxley (76pts) and Simon Perry (75 pts).
Boyzone pop star Shane Lynch is again competing in the series.
Scientists abhor anything that smacks of soothsaying, rarely let themselves get caught in a flat prediction. But into the serious studies of many eminently respectable scientists can be read some of the most fascinating long-range forecasting since Noah built the Ark. Such studies are the special province of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles,* which last week celebrated its third anniversary.
In a display of disregard for public opinion, leaders of the ruling Australian Labor Party (ALP) pushed through legislation in the lower house of parliament that will burden their nation with a whole new form of taxation: a carbon tax. Following the razor thin legislative "victory" — a vote of 74 to 72 — opposition leader Tony Abbott (left) of the Liberal Party (LP) gave a “pledge in blood” that his party would dismantle the new tax as soon as his party regains power.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has vowed to repeal the legislation if he becomes prime minister, though the government has insisted he will not be able to manage that.
The bills were passed with help from crossbench MPs Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Andrew Wilkie, as well as Greens MP Adam Bandt.
But in the minds of politicians, all tax cuts are temporary, while new taxes last forever. Furthermore, given the expansive authority of legislation that covers 60 percent of Australia’s carbon emissions, the ability of the government to extract vast sums of tax revenue while reshaping the lives of nearly 22 million Australians is staggering. Although the direct economic impact on the average family may seem relatively minor at first, the rate of taxation will grow steadily, even as the government will make citizens more dependent on government handouts.
Carbon dioxide emissions will be taxed at a rate of $23 (€16.89) a tonne from July 1st next year, rising by 2.5 per cent a year for three years. In 2015, the package will convert to an emissions trading scheme.
The public will be compensated for resulting price rises through tax cuts and increased social welfare payments. The package is also aimed at encouraging investment in clean and renewable energy and will provide assistance to some affected industries, such as steel.
The ALP’s callous disregard for the opinion of an overwhelming majority of the people it purports to represent is typical of the Statist mentality at work in collectivist political parties; the ALP’s affiliation with the Socialist International signals a manifest contempt for public opinion often at work in redistributionist economics. For the Socialist, the views of "the people" must take a back seat to the schemes and calculations of a political class bent on remaking the whole of society.
The Australian carbon tax will be a very powerful weapon in the hands of environmental radicals and economic redistributionists to further devastate their nation’s economy. Impatient with efforts to convince the majority of the population of the rightness of their schemes, the ALP leadership is now imposing its will on the entire populace and economy of their nation.
The government's first question time since passing the carbon tax legislation in the lower house was almost inaudible at times today.
The public gallery erupted in chanting, with the speaker Harry Jenkins cautioning visitors to behave themselves.
Mr Jenkins said he would not be clearing the gallery, but said: "I will not be endangering those who are employed by the Parliament to keep order in the gallery."
A member of the public in the gallery kept goading Prime Minister Julia Gillard with chants of "Liar."
About 80 protesters chanted "democracy is dead" and "no mandate".
Contrary to the views of Mr. Jenkins, most Australians will agree it is his own party that is endangering representative government in Australia. And the protesters no doubt have it right: The ALP lacks a mandate to fundamentally restructure the Australian economy, and when a single turncoat member of parliament is sufficient to accomplish such a betrayal of the interests of the nation, representative government may prove to be as good as dead.
The Obama administration has issued a uniform list of safeguards that all agencies and online services providers must follow.
Homeland Security CIO Richard Spires said the process "will evaluate IT services offered by vendors on behalf of federal agencies."
The White House is speeding ahead on a program to expedite security clearances for cloud products, having just notified contractors of about 170 specific protections soon to be required.
The security controls , released Friday, are intended to prepare agencies and vendors for the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, that is slated to go live in June.
The publication is a one-size-fits-all checklist for handling risks associated with Web services that would have "low," meaning limited, or "moderate," meaning serious, impact on government operations if disrupted. By following this list, supporters say, the government will be able to inspect a product once, assured that it will meet any agency's security needs. And providers won't have to waste time being approved by every single agency interested in their products.
But the bar has to be set high enough to satisfy picky agencies, to achieve an expected 30 percent to 40 percent savings in testing and procurement costs, some security auditors say. Agencies can't be tempted to customize the list.
The spreadsheet of specifications builds off existing security controls for federal information technology systems in National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53 . Within those items, there are about 70 related, cloud-specific stipulations that cover smartphone access, software upgrades, backups and other vulnerability issues.
Under the FedRAMP approach, independent auditors are to test each product for compliance. Friday's notice announces that the General Services Administration, which is responsible for managing the program, is to spell out how the auditing routine will work by Feb. 8.
According to the specifications, each provider must establish means of preventing unauthorized users from hacking cloud services on employees' mobile devices. A "joint authorization board" consisting of security experts from the Homeland Security Department, Pentagon and GSA then will vet the proposed safeguards.
Typically, with physical software and systems, every enhancement requires another evaluation to check whether the new feature has introduced more vulnerabilities. But some cloud providers, which may update their software weekly, contend that such retesting would defeat the whole purpose of FedRAMP.
The regulations leave it up to the company and the board to agree on the types of changes that will trigger an additional assessment. Since those substantial modifications would affect multiple agencies, the rules state the contractor must publicize them on a central website, such as a service status page.
The regulations allow the contractor to decide on which elements of the cloud must be backed up and how frequently. Three backups are required, one of which will be available online.
All government information stored on a provider's servers must be encrypted, according to the guidelines. When the data is in transit, providers must use a "hardened or alarmed carrier protective distribution system," which detects intrusions, if not using encryption.
Any cloud service inherently touches many geographic areas and comes into contact with many people, including programmers and hardware developers. The situation makes it difficult to monitor supply chains for malicious activity -- such as the installation of "backdoors" that can remotely knock out systems or steal information. So, providers must develop measures to guard their operations against supply chain threats, the publication states.
In addition, vendors must disclose all the services they outsource and obtain the board's approval to contract out services in the future.
"FedRAMP's unified risk management process will evaluate IT services offered by vendors on behalf of federal agencies, saving agencies from conducting their own risk management programs," DHS Chief Information Officer Richard Spires wrote in a blog post . "This baseline serves all federal agencies and [cloud service providers], to which additional controls may be added by agencies to meet specific requirements."
Some businesses planning to apply for FedRAMP auditing positions have argued that the standards should be stringent enough to prevent agencies from saddling themselves and contractors with additional evaluations.
"As a service provider I would rather have a more rigorous audit that I had to go through once, as opposed to 10 different less rigorous audits," Chris Wysopal, co-founder of computer security firm Veracode, said last week. "That would save everybody time."
Check out activities in Wayne County.
Blues @ The Elks is set for 7-10 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, at the Plymouth Ann Arbor Elks Lodge No. 325, 41700 Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth.
The concert is in partnership with the Detroit Blues Society. There is a $5 donation at the door. Bring your dancing shoes. The Dale Robertson Band returns with their crowd-pleasing rhythm-and-blues, toe tapping, dance-to music. Dale Robertson on harmonica and vocals, the famous Billy Davis on guitar, Robin Briggs on guitar and vocals, Michael Davis on bass, and Jake Segall on percussion and vocals. For more information, call 734-453-1780 or visit www.plymouthannarborelks325.com or email jazzattheelks@gmail.com.
L.J. Griffin Funeral Home presents its 22nd annual Holiday Memorial Service from 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, at the Canton Chapel, 42600 Ford Road, Canton. A keepsake gift will be presented to all who attend. Light refreshments will be served. Call L.J. Griffin Funeral Home at 734-981-1700 to make a reservation. When you call, let the funeral home staff know the name of your loved one to be honored and the names of guests.
The Livonia Public Library presents "Clean Eating: Protect Your Well Being in a Processed World" with Deborah Lieder at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, at the Carl Sandburg Library, 30100 W. Seven Mile, Livonia.Lieder will discuss the modern food industry, how food affects our bodies, popular diets and dieting, and a mind-body-spirit approach to health and well-being.
The Village Theater at Cherry Hill in Canton presents more than 10 years of paintings by artist Durwood Coffey. The exhibit will run now through Nov. 29, in the Gallery@VT, 50400 Cherry Hill Road. Following in the footsteps of childhood heroes such as Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth and Norman Rockwell, Durwood Coffey learned the art of illustration and practiced this visual skill for more than 30 years in the corporate world.
His clients came from across the country representing such firms as Detroit Edison, Anheuser-Busch, General Motors, SeaWorld, Capital Cities and Marvel Comics. Works of this award-winning artist will be on display Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., as well as during public performances at the theater and also by appointment. The Gallery@VT is closed on holidays.
The Laughing Pig Comedy Festival to raise funds for The Art Center in Garden City is set for 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov., 13, at the Moose Lodge, 29137 Ford Road, Garden City. The evening features Ken Evans and Garden City's own Kevin Kramis and Travis Grand. Tickets are $20 per person and may be purchased in advance at the Garden City Downtown Development Authority, Fleming Financial Services or at the door the night of the show. For more information, contact John Fleming at 734-604-0227 or John@FlemingFinancialSvcs.com. Doors open at 4 p.m. Must be 18 years or older.
Livonia's 28th annual Christmas Walk/Home Tour, sponsored by the Friends of Greenmead, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec 3. Tickets are $10 or $9 in advance and are available at Greenmead Historical Park, Livonia City Hall (Community Resources, 5th Floor), all Livonia public libraries, or from any member of the Friends of Greenmead. The tour will feature four private homes, St. Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church, and the Simmons/Hill House and the A.J. Geer store on the Greenmead grounds.(Start your walk at Greenmead.) All proceeds benefit the restoration of Greenmead Historical Park. For more information, call 248-477-7375.
Members and non-members are invited to attend the Redford Chamber of Commerce Good Morning Redford program Tuesday, Nov. 8, at McDonald's, 25830 Plymouth Road. Coffee is at 7:30 a.m., followed by breakfast at 8 a.m. Choices are hotcakes or oatmeal. The cost is $8 for members, $16 for non-members. RSVP to the Redford chamber office at 313-535-0960 or aa@redfordchamber.org.
The city of Livonia will distribute food, through the State of Michigan Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program, from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the vacant district court building, 15140 Farmington Road, just south of Five Mile.
Applesauce, beef stew, shredded wheat cereal, pinto beans dry packed and tomato juice, plus other items provided by Forgotten Harvest will be distributed. This distribution is offered to Livonia residents enrolled in TEFAP with a TEFAP ID card.
Distributions are scheduled for the third Tuesday of each month. Senior housing residents should check with their housing office for TEFAP information. For more information, contact the Community Resource Department, Commodity Food line at 734-466-2673.
Experience music, dance, and drama from around the world when Canton’s International Festival returns from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, at The Village Theater at Cherry Hill, 50400 Cherry Hill Road, Canton. This annual cultural and educational festival celebrates the diversity of Canton and surrounding communities through song and dance on the main stage of The Village Theater. Countries represented this year through dance, music and vocal performances include China, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Polynesia, Tahiti, and the United States.
Numerous cultural exhibits will be featured in The Village Theater’s lobby, and cultural items from around the world will be available for purchase. Enjoy an International Sweets Table where favorite International desserts from Metro Detroit area bakeries will be available for purchase.
Tickets are $2 per person at the door. Audience members can get their hand stamped and come and go as they please throughout the day. Seating for this main stage production is general admission.
Artist Dawn Johnson will exhibit her works of art at the Fine Arts Gallery on the second floor of the Center Library on Five Mile in Livonia. The exhibit, which runs through Nov. 29, is hosted by the Livonia Arts Commission. Johnson loves painting all subject matter but is especially drawn to landscapes and wildlife. She enjoys painting en plein air (in the open air), on location outdoors. Dawn is intrigued by the many colors she sees in nature and enjoys mixing each color as she sees it. She uses her love of photography as an asset to painting and often takes reference photos when her painting has to be completed in the studio. Dawn attended Ringling School of Art and later received her bachelor's degree from Madonna University.
The women of the Garden City Moose Lodge will host their 11th annual grave blankets and wreath sales.
All of the blankets and wreaths are handmade and decorated to fit customer needs. Customers pick colors and decorations. Blankets are 5 feet long and are $48, including two anchors. The wreaths are $22 and also come with a stand for grave sites. The 30-inch crosses are $35 including a 42-inch easel. The women also make the Christmas wreaths to hang on doors for the holidays.
Special themed orders can be made for an additional charge. All orders must be received by no later than Monday Nov. 14. Pick-up dates are Nov. 26 and 27 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Garden City Moose Lodge, 29137 Ford Road. To place an order, call Kim Dowidait at 734-564-5777 or email kdow14@yahoo.com. The items can also be ordered at the Moose Lodge.
Are you look for volunteer opportunities in Livonia? If so, consider volunteering with Blessings in a Backpack-Livonia, a volunteer nonprofit group that provides weekend food to at-risk children in the Livonia Public School System. The group packs more than 220 bags of food each week and is in need of help packing the bags each Tuesday night.
Visit the SignUp Genius page at www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c4da5a62aa0f94-filling. To learn more, visit www.biablivonia.org.
St. Michael the Archangel Church of Livonia will host its annual Veterans Day Mass to thank all veterans, reservists, active military and their families for their service. The mass will be Sunday, Nov. 6, at the church, 11441 Hubbard Road, just south of Plymouth Road, in Livonia. There will be a color guard and flag-raising ceremony at the flag pole in front of the church at 9:45 a.m., followed by the Mass at 10 a,m. An informal reception for all will follow, a highlight of which is always the letters of thanks and military tribute made by the St. Michael School students. For more information, call the parish office at 734-261-1455, ext. 200, or visit www.livoniastmichael.org.
Livonia Neighbors and Friends, a Women’s Club in Livonia, will host a fashion show, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8. Fashions from The Dress Barn will be modeled by members. The event will be at at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 34567 Seven Mile Road, in Livonia.
Livonia Neighbors and Friends is open to women who live/work in Livonia and its surrounding communities. General meetings are held at 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, September through May. Special activity groups continue to meet year round. For more information, visit http://livonianeighborsandfriends.tripod.com.
Tail Wagger's 1990, a local nonprofit organization, is inviting the community to its 27th annual Tail Wagger’s Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 12, at Woodland Lanes in Livonia. Squads are being held at 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. and cost $25 per adult and $15 per child. The entry fee includes three games of bowling, lunch or dinner with dessert, commemorative gift and entry into mystery game to win donated prizes from local business. Grand prizes are awarded to those who raise the most money in each squad. Strolling raffle with a chance to win prizes from the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings, Michigan State, dining establishments and hotels will add to the excitement, along with 50/50 drawings at all three squads.
For more information, visit www.tailwaggers1990.org or contact Laura Zain at 734-855-4077 or email tailwaggers.1990@yahoo.com.
The Livonia Towne Club is a nonprofit women’s organization bringing together women for social interaction.
The club meets the fourth Thursday of each month from September through May (except in November and December, when it’s held the second Thursday). The club meets for lunch and a program at different restaurants in Livonia and surrounding areas.
Call Vicki at 734-591-3254 regarding the Nov. 10 luncheon and join for some fun while playing bingo.
The Friends of Livonia Civic Center Library, 32777 Five Mile Road. will present a free program with Judith Coebly about The Story of the Unknown Child on the Titanic at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, at the Livonia Civic Center Library. Coebly is a retired educator from Dearborn who was a social studies teacher, counselor and high school principal.
From studying the history of the Titanic, she will relate how the social class structure was evident in the survival of the passengers. Using PowerPoint, she will focus on one particular passenger “The Unknown Child.” Her presentation is based on research while she was on the 2012 memorial cruise of the Titanic. Coebly’s interests in history still continues in organizations such as the Questers, George W. Lee Civil War Roundtable and Brighton Historical Society. For more information, call 734-466-2495.
The Family Resource Center will host its annual fundraiser, a Thanksgiving lunch provided and hosted by Chef Tony and his culinary arts students at the William D. Ford Career Technical Center. The event is set for 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 16, at the William D. Ford Career-Technical Center, 36455 Marquette, Westland. Proceeds are used to help Wayne-Westland families in need through the Family Resource Center. The cost is $10 per person.
Nov. 16 — Tom Gjelton, a national security correspondent, who will discuss the foreign policy challenges of the United States.
Jan. 18 — Writer Doug Stanton, who will relate his writing on travel adventures and political pieces from national publications.
Tickets are $150 for the season, which includes lunch and lecture, or $180 for priority seating. Programs are held at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Cultural Center, 18100 Merriman, in Livonia. Call 734-751-1898 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to purchase tickets.
Carrera-Morales is the last of the escaped inmates to be sentenced in the case.

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