private static Date cvtToGmt( Date date )
{
   TimeZone tz = TimeZone.getDefault();
   Date ret = new Date( date.getTime() - tz.getRawOffset() );

   // if we are now in DST, back off by the delta.  Note that we are checking the GMT date, this is the KEY.
   if ( tz.inDaylightTime( ret ))
   {
      Date dstDate = new Date( ret.getTime() - tz.getDSTSavings() );

      // check to make sure we have not crossed back into standard time
      // this happens when we are on the cusp of DST (7pm the day before the change for PDT)
      if ( tz.inDaylightTime( dstDate ))
      {
         ret = dstDate;
      }
   }

   return ret;
}

now-gmt: has [t] [
    t: now  
    t: t + negate t/zone  
    t/zone: none  
    t
]