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Should the LSE act to force companies to be more accessible to private investors?
Should the LSE act to force companies to be more accessible to private investors?
"The course of true love never did run smooth" as Shakespeare said. And if ever there was a relationship designed to test patience on both sides of the fence, it's that between listed companies and private investors.
Now as a private investor myself, you may expect me to be less than objective in my views. But I'm not … honest! But to say some companies stretch our loyalty would be putting it mildly.
There are so many examples from stock market history of companies trampling over the interest of the small private investor that it's a wonder any of us persist. From non-participation in discounted fundraisings to sudden de-listings or downright fraud, we get regularly abused. But when they want our capital, well, they want us.
Not all companies are like this. Most are either satisfactory or better. And a few really are great at sharing information with us within the bounds of legality.
Two-way street
It's a two-way street. From the companies' side, you can understand that it's difficult to concentrate on business whilst keeping everyone well informed. And we private investors can be a flighty bunch, with relatively small amounts invested, who will leave at the drop of a hat should another temptress turn our heads.
So when you read of a relationship running really well on both sides, it warms the cockles of your heart. And such was the case when I wrote about the creative communication efforts organised by private investor Paul Rutherford with New World Oil & Gas (LSE: NEW) in December. The company is drilling for oil in Belize and appears to have welcomed Paul's and ishareinfo.tv 's involvement and communication to fellow private investors. Paul has also recently worked with Strategic Natural Resources (LSE: SNRP) to run an investor relations evening.
Previously, Paul had organised a strong and substantial private investor base to engage positively with the management at Xcite Energy (LSE: XEL). He met with the company last year and has established a relationship with the company since.
The North Sea-focussed oil exploration company announced its final results for 2011 last week. And the last 12 months hasn't been a happy one, share price-wise, after a meteoric rise in the second half of 2010. The fall has caused some angst amongst shareholders, who have aired their concerns, causing the company to respond in December, saying:
"We have received a number of messages from our shareholders expressing concern with respect to the current share price and requesting more information from the Company. The Board of Directors and management team recognise your concern and your desire for timely information."
Special Offer: Invest like Buffett, Slater and Greenblatt. Click here for details »
Strange choice of venue
So it's perhaps a little "surprising" that Xcite has announced that its AGM will be held in Brussels on 24 May, at 9am!
Now let's be clear, the company is registered in the British Virgin Islands and this is a perfectly legal AGM location (even if it was domiciled in the UK, in fact). It could hold its AGM in Timbuktu if it chose to.
But it hardly accords well with "recognising your concerns". Xcite is listed in London on AIM and on the Canadian TSX market. But almost all the trading volume and the majority of individual shareholders are UK-based. So Brussels seems a rather odd choice of location.
Paul reckons there are 400 individual private investors currently in the share group, who now hold around 22 million shares between them; not far off 10% of the company. Understandably, he sees a moral obligation on companies registered overseas, but using London as their main listing, to make their AGMs as accessible as possible.
Time for a change
"Companies who are registered overseas should run an investor relations evening once a year which will not be bound by the overseas rule, and which will allow many more shareholders to meet with management," he says. "This would allow maximum access for private investors who need to organise work and travel arrangements etc.
"The question should be raised as to why the London Stock Exchange permits this to happen and doesn't ensure that all AIM-listed companies have at least one investor relations evening each year to engage with shareholders who, to a degree, fund them."
Hear, hear. We'll let you know if we get any response from the LSE or Xcite Energy.
The videos published by ishareinfo.tv have been made for information and leisure purposes only. ishareinfo does not provide investment advice. ishareinfo.tv is a publisher and is not registered with or authorised by the Financial Services Authority.
New World Oil and Gas Plc (NWOG) is an oil and gas investment company. The Company focuses on making investments in the oil and gas sector. The Company's initial focus is in Central America, in particular the Peten Basin and in Eastern Canada. During the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company had not commenced any business. more »
Xcite Energy Limited (XEL) is an oil issuer and disclosures pertaining to oil activities. It is a heavy oil appraisal and development company with interests in six blocks in the United Kingdom North Sea, all of which are held with 100% working interests through its wholly owned subsidiary, Xcite Energy Resources Limited (XER). The Company is engaged in the appraisal and evaluation of oil and gas reserves and the geographical segment, in which it operates is the North Sea. The Company's sole operational focus is the development of the Bentley field. The Company holds a 100% working interest in the Bentley field on Block 9/3b. Its other working interests include 9/3c (Licence P1760) ,9/3d (Licence P1761), and 9/4a, 9/8b and 9/9h. more »
Strategic Natural Resources PLC (SNR) is engaged in the acquisition and development of natural resources assets in South Africa. The Company is focused on the development of the coal resource of Elitheni. It has two operating activities: development of the coal mining assets in South Africa and head office in the United Kingdom. The principal assets of Elitheni are a new order mining right over 92 square kilometers, as well as new order prospecting rights over an additional 180,000 ha for coal, which it holds in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. more »
2 Posts on this Thread show/hide all
emptyend | 26th Mar '12 | 1 of 2 | ||
....mmmmm....... ...from where I sit the answer is "yes and no". On the one hand, you point out that: This is indeed an important point, and one that shareholders would do very well to remember before pestering company managements for news updates that they know perfectly well the company would be unable to respond to without informing everyone via an RNS. I would also add that there are very often circumstances where it is in the interests of shareholders themselves fo there to be no public knowledge or discussion. This includes matters in relation to potential corporate deals but isn't limited to such things. On the other hand, this suggestion seems eminently reasonable: "Companies who are registered overseas should run an investor relations evening once a year which will not be bound by the overseas rule, and which will allow many more shareholders to meet with management," he says. If companies are going to benefit from having a UK listing then there should be a quid pro quo. The Irish company of which I am a director has a policy of alternating the location of its AGM between Dublin and London - and even when the AGM is in Dublin there is usually an investor presentation in London too. ee |
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john powell | 14th Nov '12 | 2 of 2 | ||
When you log on to a company web site,you will see a tab for investor relations.Should you have any problems where they hold their agm's or any other queries you can contact them. Should the answers not be to your liking then you of course,you have the option to invest or not. I always access a company web site as part of my research to see who the directors are what are their holdings who are their largest investors,etc,etc.I have taken many holdings after this research and I have also turned away. |
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Reservations are required with a one night's deposit with credit card. We accept MasterCard, Visa and Discover. Early reservations are recommended for the months of June through September.
Our cancellation policy is as follows:
A $35 fee will be charged for all cancellations. If you cancel within 1 week (2 weeks during high season May through October) and we can rebook, the same fee applies. If we cannot rebook you are responsible for the reservation.
Weekends in Seattle are highest in demand, especially during the summer months and we may require a three night stay but call us! We do our best to fit in shorter stays all the time!
Check-in time is by appointment beginning at 2PM to be sure someone is available to greet you. Check-out time is 11AM.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Celebrate the holidays with environmentally-friendly paper products
So you want to send out greeting cards to your friends, wrap presents in pretty paper and use disposable plates and napkins at your gathering but don't want to harm the environment. What's an environmentally-responsible host to do? Here's one answer-- Try products made from sustainable materials other than trees. Tree-Free greetings makes environmentally friendly paper made from sustainably farmed kenaf, bamboo, sugar cane, hemp, and flax, as well as a high degree of post-consumer recylced paper. They also make gift bags and other party products. Look for their products online or at your favorite retailer.
Nov 21, 2007


text: Fifth-grade students from Ettrick Elementary School visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to see the costume exhibit and to meet local artist, Matt Lively, for a tour of Richmond City mural art. Mr. Lively explained the process of creating art on bricks and his inspirations for his art work. Lively also took the students to a local gallery on Broad Street to view some extraordinary art concepts using technology. It was a wonderful day exploring the Virginia Museum, seeing the "Batman" costume and looking at the ancient Egypt gallery. Students looked for murals and for art decorated buildings as they rode from the museum to Broad Street to meet Mr. Lively. Art teacher, Mrs. Jenn Reagan had been preparing the students in her classes as they looked at murals and art that is outside of paper and canvases. The students engaged in energetic debate as they were deciding if the art they saw was graffiti or if it was commissioned art.


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Welcome to the speed round again, where we recap anything you may have missed either last night or earlier this morning during football's version of March madness.
1. One highly coveted guard will replace another in New Orleans after the Saints signed Ben Grubbs to a five-year deal worth $36 million, with $10 million guaranteed. Grubbs is the ideal replacement for Carl Nicks, who was Drew Brees' main protector until he left for Tampa Bay.
2. The Jaguars were expected to be aggressive in their pursuit of a backup quarterback who could function as much more than just a backup quarterback. The arm they signed needed to push Blaine Gabbert, the wayward rookie who often looked timid in the pocket during his first season. That search resulted in Chad Henne being signed to a two-year deal, and our early guess for his first start in teal is Week 5. New head coach Mike Mularkey will be tasked with saving Gabbert's career, but as we've seen on a near yearly basis, patience is thin with quarterbacks when the job security at the highest coaching positions barely exists.
3. The Giants ran out of healthy tight ends after both Travis Beckum and Jake Ballard tore ACLs in the Super Bowl. The position then became an immediate priority in free agency, which prompted the signing of Martellus Bennett to a one-year contract worth $2.5 million. Tom Coughlin said that Bennett "hasn't even scratched the surface of what he can do" after he played behind Jason Witten in Dallas for the past four years. Bennett had four touchdowns in his rookie season, and hasn't scored since.
4. Tight ends continued to vanish from the free agency pool when Kellen Davis re-signed with the Bears, agreeing to a two-year deal worth $6 million. Davis plays a position which became an afterthought in Chicago following the departure of Greg Olson. There were six games when he didn't record a reception, but he was still a consistent red zone threat, scoring five times.
5. The assumption was that Paul Soliai had played his final game in Miami, and that his price would be too steep for a team still chasing Peyton Manning. That assumption was wrong, as the Dolphins re-signed their nose tackle to a three-year contract worth $16 million, and $6 million guaranteed. GM Jeff Ireland clearly values Soliai's run-stuffing presence, and his ability to be a reliable anchor in Miami's 3-4 front.


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Saab Links
Other Years
Saab 900 For Sale
1997 Saab 900 Trims For Sale
1997 Saab 900 Review Ratings
Average Ratings from 22 reviews
- Performance: 4.1 / 5
- Appearance: 4.2 / 5
- Build Quality: 4.3 / 5
- Overall: 4.5 / 5
Review Highlights Click to filter reviews below
User Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 22 1997 Saab 900 reviews.
1997 Saab 900 2 Dr SE Talladega Turbo Hatchback
ProsTURBO fast, Geat snow car, 30mpg highway without turbo, Unique and bold look and styling. Cheap performance ConsUnknown to most modern mechanics, FWD means you won't get all the torque AWD would be amazing. Not enough aftermarket support to the likes of other brand cars. Very stiff Clutch and low Redline. Manual Tans no reccomended for beginer drivers learning to drive a stick
Saab 900 Se Turbo — Performance: Fantastic car. Best bang for your buck. The stock turbo is intagrated so well with the car that the power is nearly on tap when ever you need it. Keep it in low gear and you can build up your boost to provide ample acceleration. Boast up to 195ft pounds of torque from the turbo which translates to lightning fast acceleration. Very easy to the get the car in low gears with the turbo maxed out. Bad part is, its a front wheel drive car so all of that raw torque is translated to wheel spin so saddly takeoffs are not as near as good as it would be if it was AWD or RWD but for control the Front wheel drive platform is best. The saab will eat through snow since the car is built in rallysport tradition. The Saab uses a very effective 4 cyl 2.0 litter engine and yet the turbocharger spews out massive performance that will even rival that of v8's. Because of this the car is super sporty and can contend with just about anything else on the road. It's built on a lighter chasis and with excellent aero signatures. That being said this is a super fast little car that I have been able to max out at 147mph. Spedometer goes to 155 but I didn't have enough road or balls to try for that. Braking is great also. Power to the front wheels already means great control but the ABS will give you a solid and gradual break. Stock breaks and rotors will give you excellent stopping distance and downshiffiting while light breaking can keep your speed constant around cornering all while charging the turbo in the low gear so you can easily begin instant turbo acceleration when you reach the apex of the turn. Handling is a dream. The car is built on a solid frame and the hatchback design always feel tight. The front wheel drive means the car will carve through any road or track with maximum precision. don't worry about the rwd powersliding or drifting. In terms you can go faster and maintain your control without breaking for longer periods of time because of this. Saab has a rich history of early Rally Racing so it knows how to compete in control. Sway bars built into the front engine bay from strut to strut will help to alleviate body roll but I believe the trunch should implament one as well since the car has a very open rear end. The Saab is a tall vehicle moreso than it is wide. Definantly a difft driving experience. Build Quality: Although its half GM at this point it still retains the SAAB heritage. Designed like a jet plane it still keeps the sold Sweedish design and accents and retains a luxury vehicle feel. I think it still has too much plastic in the interior although wooden or carbon fiber dash kits and accents can clean that all up. The SAAB is built like a tank in all areas. Designed to be ultra safe the car needs to be design to take impact with protection to driver and passenger. The car boast some added items that shows its better build quality for instance saabs decision to use a timing chain rather than a belt since belts are cheap and made to fail. Appearance: SAAB is a love it or hate it brand. It excells in its need to stand out and be different and in that sense its one of a kind. Although GM has eventually downgraded them to look more mainstream the earlier saab generations carved its way in the looks department with bold and innovative designs for instance the center mounted ignition. Instead of putting your key into the steering collumn like all other cars SAAB always puts its ignition on the center between the two seats and behind the shifter knob and next to the e break. I didnt know anything about saab until I bought one and I instantly fell it love with its design and factor. SAAB fan for life and very pround to be a part of a very select car manufacture. I have yet to see another 2 door Talladega out there. Cost of ownership: The downfall of the saab is in its non traditional design. For instance the engine is inserted backwards which throws off most mechanics. I have found the car takes pretty average upkeeps but repairs can get expensive because it is lesser known than a Honda or Toyota but if you can do the work yourself the saab is still reasonable. Avoid dealers at all cost as they rip you off for oem parts and instalation. Where the saab excells is Fuel Economy. Its a 4 cyl car built on a light body so it doesnt guzzle fuel. The only time is sucks gas is while driving aggressivly as would any car. When you milk the turbo it will cost you at the pump but I think the perfomance is a good trade for the gas. If you want outstanding fuel economy just let of the gas and don't use the turbo. The car will Do on average about 29 to 30 highway and 24 to 26 City if you abide by the rules. Fun Factor: I couldnt imagine a more fun bargin. Its the driving fun of a Miata with the performance of a Subaru. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you can get your hands on one and are willing to become a saab fan. Just take good care of the car and it returns ten fold |
1997 Saab 900 4 Dr SE Turbo Hatchback
ProsFun, fast, safe ConsCost of repairs
If You Take Care Of It, It Will Take Care Of You. — Excellent, fun car to drive, good handling. Manual Transmission with a Turbo is worth the extra cost. Great gas mileage, average maintenance. All parts are expensive, but repairs are predictable. Find a good Saab mechanic and stick with them. If you're buying used read the service history first. Primary Use: Commuting to work |
1997 Saab 900 4 Dr SE Talladega Turbo Hatchback
ProsIt feels like floating on a cloud... A fast heated seat cloud ConsExpensive repairs... REALLY EXPENSIVE
Amazing And Really Safe — I loved this car soo much! It was amazing! It was no Ferrari or anything like that but it handled amazingly i loved the air suspension around corners cause you couldn't feel a thing. It had every luxury feature you could think of. I would do anything to un-total this car! It saved my life in a crash and i cam out without a single scratch and only had a minor concussion. Primary Use: Sport/fun (spirited driving, track racing, off-roading, etc.) |
1997 Saab 900 4 Dr S Hatchback
ProsIts fast and well built Consnothing
Saab Rules — My Saab has over 170000 miles and the turbo is still going strong, this car is built to last and to perform the entire time. i love it and i couldn't have asked for more of a car. it goes fast too. Primary Use: Commuting to work |
1997 Saab 900 2 Dr SE Turbo Hatchback
Prosstyle, handling, fun to drive, price Consexpensive to maintain, noise interior
1997 Saab 900 2 Dr S Convertible
ProsNice size good on gas easy to park. and sexy convertible.I truly enjoy this car. and has snow traction button so I did get through the winter with ease. ConsIt needs and ignition which is about $150.00 put in it and the crank shift seal needs to be replaced as well. I don't have the money to fix so looking to sell fast.
Love It!!! No Money To Fix It! — The saab is a reliable car and easy to fall in love with. the convertible was a plus. as well as in the city parking. the sound system was standard and reliable. was easy to maintain. Great in the summer and strong in the winter.. . Primary Use: Commuting to work |
1997 Saab 900 4 Dr S Hatchback
ProsEconomical Consthe broken wiindshield LOL
My Saab — I love my car. I got it at a steal! It has beautiful leather seats that heat up in the winter so I never have to get into a cold car. It is a very fun car to drive and I love the sun moon roof. Primary Use: Family transportation |
1997 Saab 900 4 Dr SE Turbo Hatchback
ProsVery fast from a roll, average off-the line, 28-30mpg highway, easy upgrades ConsSAAB Parts ain't cheap, mushy suspension
Excellent Vehicle, When Saab Still Had Influence Over Their Own Brand Before '02 — Performs well, aside from cornering (due to mushy suspension, although it will take the turn regardless). Built well, the body is GM, so it's only alright, but the engine and transmission is still SAAB, so it lives up to the name. Interior styling is what you'd expect from an executive sedan, lots of little luxury features, although the cabin is fairly small, comparable to an Audi A4 or BMW 3 Series. Exterior looks good for a semi-hatchback, still different looking, but looks more acceptable than the Classic SAAB 900, 3 spoke rims stock. The milage is as good as you'll let it be, it loses a fair amount of fuel to the idle as it sits at 1k rpms, city about 16-19 (depending on your spirit) and highway about 25-30. There is an obvious superb turbo whistle when accelerating and is dominant from speeds of 45+mph. The parts though, are SAAB, so some simple things are cheap, but who would have thought a new door latch would run you $190? Just watch out for the belt squeal, which is indicative of the tensioner, ($400). Primary Use: Sport/fun (spirited driving, track racing, off-roading, etc.) |
1997 Saab 900 4 Dr S Hatchback
Prosgood, reliable car Consexpensive parts when doing repairs
Reliable, Cheap Insurance — mad safety features give it cheap insurance. If your going to get this car, get the turbo model with the 5-speed so you can have some fun. The base model was good for getting around, cargo, but wasn't much fun to drive |
1997 Saab 900 4 Dr S Hatchback
Prosthe sound system i put in Consbreaks too much
Dont Buy Unless Ur Not Gona Beat On It — broke too many times cant handle being beat on.rides a little high and it handles great .the gas milege is alright at like almost 20 miles to gal.you cant try to shift too fast or the gears grind even if the clucts is on the floor Primary Use: Sport/fun (spirited driving, track racing, off-roading, etc.) |
Displaying 1 - 10 of 22 1997 Saab 900 reviews.
Reviews From Other Years
1998 Saab 900 Reviews
It's A Keeper. By bennybob
Fell in love with this car when I first saw it and have taken long trips with it, to North Carolina and Outer Banks having no trouble with it. Enjoy it most in the summer with the top down and the AC ... Read More
You Either Love It Or Hate It! By Janey
Well firstly it's not a convertible, it's a Talladega, this application didn't have my trim on the option list. The handling on this car is fantastic, I would never go with another car for handling. T... Read More
1996 Saab 900 Reviews
The Best Overall Car Ive Owned (have Had 7so Far) By chitownfan420
the car is comfortable quiet and legitimately fast. its very classy and practical with out being smug or boring. its rust resistant i live in Rockford (northern IL where we have to use tons of salt to... Read More
My Favorite Car By jkopf75
I love the looks of this car. It was the first SAAB I ever drove and has been my favorite model ever since! Saab perfected the turbo engine and it's really a blast to drive with the ragtop down in t... Read More
1995 Saab 900 Reviews
Lots Of Style And Reliability For Modest Cost. By Dane
I bought this car off a 3 year lease return with 50k miles. I now have 170k miles and I've run it hard through Minnesota winters. The car stills runs great with only minor maintenance repairs. It even... Read More
Saab Rules By Lars
Not cheap to run but very good value all in all. A true 4-seater with ability to cover long distances in a very relaxed fashion. Cruise contro on, top off and you're ready to travel anywhere in Europe... Read More
1994 Saab 900 Reviews
Gotta Love The Swede! By Will
Handling is exceptional along with braking. Build quality is good on mechanicals but not so much on interior parts. The car is a neat green color and it has the S.E wheels which look nice. Its no s... Read More
Best First Car In Existence...also The Easiest Car To Learn Stick On!! By Zach
from a glance...u wouldn't think much of it...and if you just quickly test drive it, u would think its just a normal car, but to live with it is like having another best friend that you hang out an... Read More
1993 Saab 900 Reviews
Awesome! By czaplowka68
An evolution of the 99 fi rst seen in 1968, the 900, launched in 1979, makes a great classic buy. Offered in saloon, hatch or convertible forms, there's a derivative for every occasion, prices are low... Read More
Cool Cruiser By Steve
Performance and handling make this car a relaxed cruiser. I really enjoy driving this although I wish it had a little bit more power. Fuel consumption is not particularly great. The appearance and ... Read More
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Brush/limb collection is provided for City residents on a weekly basis from April to December. Brush/limb collection will not be provided to apartment complexes, businesses, churches, trailer parks, or on private streets.
- Brush/limbs will be picked up curbside the day after regular trash collection, and must be stacked (not in trash cans or bags.)
- A trash bag or one armful of limbs can go in your brown trash toter
- Brush/limbs must not exceed 6' in length and stacked at curb (no bags please)
- Brush/limbs must be free of all other debris and trash
- Shrubs with roots must be dirt free
- Brush from contractors will not be collected by the City.
Very large piles of brush and tree limbs may be called in at (812) 376-2509 for collection requests.


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The purpose of this report was to go back to the people and the places we know and that we've known for a long time and use them as the touchstone to assess where things are today. For me, that was to go back to the first madrassa on the Pakistan side of the border where I first heard about the Taliban. You saw it in my story; I think it's really interesting that those same refugee camps that lay dormant are now filled up with Swat refugees. If you read the lead story, "Blowback," I'm really in the exact same spot of earth. And then Seamus had this great idea to go back and see this family that he's known for fifteen years and use them to tell the story so I recorded all the audio of him talking about the story on the rooftop, I recorded the sound of the brother telling the narrative of the family, the sounds of the street, the sounds of that rite of passage for his two sons. And, also, we tried to capture through Seamus's photography, but also through the reporting of the story, the resiliency of the Afghan people and I think that is really the most powerful theme of Seamus's piece: resiliency.
AF: When you set out to do this was there anything that came up that made you change your plan for the package?
CS: The Sally Goodrich story unfolded in continuing and unpredictable ways. Again, Sally Goodrich and the girls in that school are people I've grown to know over many years of reporting. When I first did the story on Sally Goodrich two and a half years ago, it was a feel-good story for the Boston Globe Magazine and it ran on Mother's Day and it was called "Educating Sally." [Vermont schoolteacher Sally Goodrich lost her son, Peter, on September 11th, and built a school in his honor in the Logar province in Afghanistan]. It was such a beautiful moment to be there when she gets to see the school in session for the first time, and the joy and hope there on the girls' faces and the way Sally engaged with them, it was really beautiful. It was really touching having covered the war for so many years and so many bad things, to see this good story coming out of the despair of Sept. 11th, to be about people connecting and hope—it was great, right?
But then five months ago, Sally started calling me with news that all these [village elders] who we had known—and we have snapshots of us arm-in-arm and we ate lunch in their home—had, according to the U.S. military, gone with the Taliban. And in shifting to the Taliban, that village represents a microcosm of where things are headed in Afghanistan. But then the story unfolded in even more complex ways on the ground for me. I did a lot of reporting and got the whole dossier of facts from the military, I met with the Ministry of Education, which oversees the school, I talked to the principal through intermediaries and then I finally got to even meet with the village elders who had been accused of going with the Taliban.
And in all of that reporting, what I found out was, this is an incredibly complex story in which, yes, it looks like these village elders did side with the Taliban. But my reporting lead me to connect to the dots to say, they did that to keep the girls' school open. And that's the kind of complexity for ground reporting and narrative reporting that we need in Afghanistan right now because that's how complicated it is. It ends incredibly tragically.
I come back, I have all this information to share with Sally, and I show her some of the video. We had to secret a camera into the school because this was the same area where David Rohde was kidnapped. I was really seriously warned not to go to that school and I took those warnings seriously and I am not a cowboy—I have four sons. I listened to the military, the village elders—everyone said, "Don't come." Even the principal said, "Don't come." I instead found someone who lives in the village, who happened to be a cameraman for Afghan TV, and I sent a handheld camera in his hands with no notice, just surprise, one day just show up and start taping. And he did. And we did capture that the school is indeed still open, but with a trickle of students. Kids were afraid.


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What does Barack Obama think of cities? Does he wish to make our cities for people and less for cars? Does President Obama believe that sustainable city development is priority, given the magnitude of the other tasks that lie in wait for him?
Well, I think the initial signs are good.
Sustainable Greensburg
"I think about Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was completely destroyed by a tornado, but is being rebuilt by its residents as a global example of how clean energy can power an entire community— how it can bring jobs and businesses to a place where piles of bricks and rubble once lay."
"'The tragedy was terrible', said one of the men who helped them rebuild. 'But the folks here know that it also provided an incredible opportunity.'"
Said Mr. Obama during his first statement to a joint session of Congress back in February. The way the whole community of Greensburg came together to envision a better future after the tragic event in May 2007 is very impressive. Take a look at this short video to get an idea of what residents think:
They're especially looking at investing in energy efficient buildings, renewable energy and alternative transport fuels to secure a better future for their children.
The question is, is this the way to succeed?
Greensburg – a City for People?
The stories from Greensburg and Barack Obama's support of the city fill me with much confidence. Like them, I also believe in the benefits that come from community and investing in technology that makes the best use of local resources to create a city for the future.
If I were to give them some advice, it would be to think not just about the technology but also how to make the city better for people by making great use of public space. I've written before about what I think a city should build. As well as green technology, I think parks, cycle paths and pedestrianised streets all contribute to making a city reach its full potential.
Good luck Greensburg. As Barack Obama said so well, you are becoming a global example and can inspire all to make our cities better places for everyone.


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Central Washington University places a high priority on the safety and well-being of its students, faculty, staff, volunteers and visitors. We work together to establish and maintain a healthy and safe environment for all sanctioned activities and to comply with applicable laws and regulations regarding safety and health of students, faculty, staff, volunteers and visitors. Accidents happen, however.
All accidents, injuries, and occupational illnesses are to be reported immediately, or as soon as possible, to a university official. Accident reports are not used to assign fault, but to fulfill Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) reporting requirements, to help mitigate hazards, and to enhance the health and safety of our entire university community.
For employees:
If you are an employee who has suffered a work-related injury or been in an accident on the job, please contact your supervisor immediately to report the situation. You and your supervisor are expected to complete the Employee Accident Report and forward to Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) by the end of the work shift in which the injury or accident occurs. If the employee is unable to complete the report in that time frame, the supervisor should complete the preliminary report and submit to EHS.
For visitors and students (other than employees):
Please complete and submit the Student/Visitor Accident Report within 8 hours of the incident. EHS staff will distribute information appropriately and may contact you to discuss details of the incident.
It is a regulatory requirement that serious accidents to employees (those resulting in which an employee is admitted as an inpatient at the hospital, for example) must be reported to L&I within eight hours.
Should a serious accident occur during normal working hours, please contact EHS immediately at (509)963-2252.
After hours and weekends, call the 24-hour maintenance/emergency number at (509)963-3000, provide contact information, and request notification of an EHS staff member on the contact list.
The Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB) Program is excited to announce that SmartHealth, the stat
HR Central NewsletterPublication Date: January 2015


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King James Version (KJV) | New International Version (NIV) |
25 It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry . | 25 It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows. |
The King James Version is in the public domain. (The King James Bible Version Online) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


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Stylish wooden mirror purchased in a Turkish store, I have a matching jewelry box for it too with the same painted motif. Looks great over the bed or as a vanity mirror for doing makeup, adding style to any room.
Mirror 26″×20″ —> $65 (originally purchased for $300)
Box H4 1/2"xW8 1/2"xD6" —> $25
Together for $85
Both in great condition!
Apartment Therapy Classifieds has a messaging system for communicating with other members, allowing you to converse freely without exposing your email address or cluttering your inbox. You can respond to a message by replying to an email notification, via our website or iPhone app.
Use our messaging system for all communications. In case of a dispute where you'd like us to intervene, the message thread serves as a transaction record with all relevant details.
Contacting Seller
- If you're interested in a listing, click "Contact Seller" and send a nice note.
- Be clear, honest, kind and prompt throughout the transaction.
- If the seller doesn't respond, let us know at firstname.lastname@example.com.
- Do not share personal information such as your postal address, phone number or email address until an agreeable deal has been made.
- Learn more about trust and safety.
Making Payment
- For in-person pickup or local delivery, pay in-person.
- Seller is required to give a receipt, if the buyer requests it.
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- Learn more about acceptable payment methods.
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Article brought to you by: Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)Captain devastated by oil slick commits suicide
By Greg Goodsell
June 26th, 2010 Catholic Online (www.catholic.org) In a sign of the human toll that the Gulf of Mexico disaster has wrought, a despondent charter boat captain has taken his life. Devastated with the impact that the ongoing oil slick has had on his life and business, Allen Kruse, known to friends and family as "Rookie" committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound this week. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Kruse had been hired by BP to help clean Gulf waterways and render them safe. Kruse killed himself on one of his boats. "Most definitely a suicide," Rod Steade Sr., deputy coroner for Baldwin County, Alabama says. "No question about it." Kruse sent two of his deckhands on an errand before killing himself. No suicide note was left, and none of his friends suspected he would resort to such desperate measures. "He must have had his demons," said Captain Bryan Watts. A charter boat fishing captain for 26 years, Kruse found his life and career threatened by the undersea oil gusher. "The day that oil entered the Gulf, my phone quit ringing," he earlier told reporters in a television interview.Kruse told his family that he believed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill had effectively killed his livelihood as well as the ocean. "He just thought it was over," brother Marc Kruse says. "He said, 'the Gulf's dead.' ... There was no hope that the fishing was ever going to come back ... not in his lifetime." "If he thought they were doing something that was working, that was effective, they were making a difference, yes, but every day there was a different meeting with a different plan," said brother Frank Kruse, referring to BP's program to enlist out-of-work fishermen. Kruse had been hired by BP for their "Vessels of Opportunity" program. He worked for two weeks straight, his family says, but hadn't been paid. His brothers said he told them that cleanup boats were put in the water close to shore, so people would think they were making a difference. "It's just a dog and pony show," Marc Kruse says. "Send them out. Ride around. Let everybody see them. Bring them back in." Article brought to you by: Catholic Online (www.catholic.org) |


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Article ID: 894253 - View products that this article applies to. This article has been archived. It is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated. On This PageSYMPTOMSIn Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004, the BizTalk Server Software Development Kit (SDK) Samples\Admin\Database Maintenance folder contains the Purge_DTADB.sql script. You can run this script to create the dtasp_PruneTrackingdatabase() stored procedure. Then, you can use this stored procedure to clear information from the BizTalk Server Document Tracking and Activity (DTA) database. However, when you run the dtasp_PruneTrackingdatabase() stored procedure to clean up your DTA database, you may experience the following symptom. If your DTA database is large, the dtasp_PruneTrackingdatabase() procedure may take many hours to finish the cleanup operation. For example, the dtasp_PruneTrackingdatabase() procedure might require 20 hours or more to clean up a DTA database that is larger than 10 gigabytes (GB). CAUSEThis problem occurs because of the method that the dtasp_PruneTrackingdatabase() procedure uses to clear information from the DTA database. To clear information from the database, the dtasp_PruneTrackingdatabase() procedure removes the particular row from the database table instead of removing and then re-creating the whole table. Therefore, it might take a long time for the dtasp_PruneTrackingdatabase() procedure to finish purging the DTA database. Note While there is some default information that must be written to some tables in the DTA database, it is generally quicker for a procedure to remove and then re-create the whole table than to remove rows from the particular database table. RESOLUTIONHotfix informationA supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix. Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.
PrerequisitesNo prerequisites are required to install this hotfix.Restart requirementYou do not have to restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.Hotfix replacement informationThis hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.File informationThe English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.Date Time Size File name ------------------------------------------------------------------- 08-Jan-2005 02:25 27,130 Bts_tracking_shrinkexistingdatabase.sql Hotfix installation informationThis hotfix contains a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 script that is optimized for cleaning up the existing BizTalk Server DTA database of all completed instance information. After you run this script, only information about instances that have not yet finished running remains in the DTA database. This cleanup process runs quickly when the number of incomplete instances in the tracking database is low. To run this script, follow these steps:
Important When you use the dtasp_PruneTrackingdatabase() stored procedure to clean up the BizTalk Server DTA database, you can configure the dtasp_PruneTrackingdatabase() stored procedure to clear items that are earlier than a particular date. You cannot configure the Bts_tracking_shrinkexistingdatabase.sql script to perform this same functionality. The Bts_tracking_shrinkexistingdatabase.sql script truncates the tables in the DTA to clear all completed instances from the DTA database. Incomplete instances are not removed. STATUSMicrosoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. MORE INFORMATION
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates
PropertiesArticle ID: 894253 - Last Review: January 17, 2015 - Revision: 4.0 APPLIES TO


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Each year, in the lush fields of the Pacific Northwest, dozens of experimental hop breeds are planted, most only identified by a string of numbers like a shadowy government project. These fledgling varieties are often the result of crossing existing strains in hopes of, say, increasing mildew resistance, amping yields or devising unique flavors. Each year, large craft breweries examine these numbered hop breeds not yet in the marketplace, hoping to answer a single question: Can this hop make a great new beer? Often, the answer is no, but every once in a while, a hop shows serious promise. In this case, the hop is named, it graduates from lab to brew kettle and the experimentation begins. Just in time for warm weather, a handful of new hop varieties have proven their mettle and made their way into a crop of refreshing beers. With notes of earthy citrus, tropical fruit, white wine or floral tea, they're adding distinct complexity to everything from IPAs to ESBs, and they're inspiring brewers to craft a whole new style of summertime brews.
Cummings and his crew found out that Delta is a cross of two well-known varieties: the earthy English Fuggles and floral Cascade—the quintessential flavor of West Coast beers—which is itself a blend of Fuggles and the Russian hop Serebrianker. When the hops arrived at Harpoon, Cummings brewed a test batch of a British-style extra special bitter (ESB), liberally dosing it with the Delta for both aroma and bitterness. His first taste was a revelation. "Fuggles is usually a pretty subtle hop, but this had a stronger, more assertive character—an American punch," he says. The flavor was similarly complex, with citrusy, melon-like notes and an herbal, grassy quality. "We made a very quick decision to brew that ESB as one of our 100 Barrel Series beers," Cummings says, referring to Harpoon's line of experimental beers.
Over in Massachusetts, Jeremy Goldberg was having an issue with his IPA. Namely, it wasn't selling well. So when the 34-year-old head brewer and co-owner at Cape Ann Brewing discovered that his supplier was discontinuing Brewer's Gold—a piney, pungent British bittering hop that flavored his IPA—he took it as a sign to re-jigger the recipe. Some of his employees, who were avid homebrewers, told Goldberg about the unusual Sorachi Ace hop. Japan's Sapporo Breweries originally developed the variety, but the brewery was unable to find a use for the uniquely lemony hop. Goldberg would. To temper Sorachi's citric character, he paired it with the herbal Chinook hop, creating an earthy, piney IPA with a bright, citrusy aroma.
Widmer Brothers is one of America's first brewers to experiment with the Teamaker hop, brewing its first batch of TEAser Pale Ale in 2008. If you were lucky enough to get a pint, you would've found a heady aroma of grassy, floral hops. But sipping the pale-golden TEAser would reveal that the piney aromatics and gentle, iced tea-like flavors didn't correlate with the beer's bitterness—or lack thereof. "You get a wonderful bouquet without the beer being a tongue-scraper," says Widmer. The brewery has used Teamaker to make TEAser Pale Ale twice, though the brewers were unable to resist including a tiny amount of traditional hops. They're planning to brew it again, but there's no confirmed date. "Next time," Widmer says, "I'd be tempted to skip the bittering agents completely."
TAGS: RELATED CONTENT Check out the July/August 2010 issue for tasting notes of beers using the hops talked about this article, as well as a Q&A with hop farmer Jason Perrault, who helped develop the new Citra hop. |


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Honda Links
Related Models For Sale
Other Years
Honda Odyssey For Sale
2006 Honda Odyssey Trims For Sale
2006 Honda Odyssey Review Ratings
Average Ratings from 35 reviews
- Performance: 4.3 / 5
- Appearance: 4.3 / 5
- Build Quality: 4.6 / 5
- Overall: 4.6 / 5
Review Highlights Click to filter reviews below
User Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 35 2006 Honda Odyssey reviews.
2006 Honda Odyssey EX-L
Prosride, handling, comfort, design, reliability Consnone
Honda Odyssey — Does not feel like you're driving a van. Awesome acceleration, almost like a sports car. Never needed anything but routine maintenance, aside from a couple manufacturer recalls, fixed by dealer with no hassle. Exterior in good shape. Interior ergonomically designed, holding up well. Only issue with interior is that it's light colored, and shows every single mark and stain. My fault for choosing tan interior. Good gas mileage for a van. Husband absolutely did not want a van, but even he admits that he likes driving it. A must when you have children. Primary Use: Family transportation
Looking for a Used Odyssey in your area?
CarGurus has 25,227 nationwide Odyssey listings
starting at $1,500.
2006 Honda Odyssey EX-L w/ Nav and DVD
ProsEverything is attractive, functional, safety is a priority, surprising acceleration for entering highways and changing lanes, easy handling, good braking, super convenient controls front and back, a real luxury car with tremendous cargo and passenger space. ConsI really have no complaints, sorry.
Best Of Class For A Minivan For Comfort And Convenience. — The car is fun to drive, I think of it more as a car than as a van when I am driving. When I have to move things around town, furnishings, large loads or just a full car of kids and adults, then is when I appreciate that its a van. In addition, on road trips for camping or long trips, there is nothing like it for getting everything we need into the car or on the roof rack and keeping the kids occupied in the back while we enjoy adult time upfront. Primary Use: Family transportation |
2006 Honda Odyssey Touring
ProsIt's a Vantasy!!! Great for a family ConsIt's a van
This Is The Family Car!!! — This model has EVERYTHING!!! Power/heated seats. power windows and door. You can open the windows with your key remote!!! 6-disc cd changer, DVD entertainment system, XM radio, Navigation system... oh WAIT!!! There's a spoiler!!! and, as the kids say, 3 toyboxes!!! Primary Use: Family transportation |
2006 Honda Odyssey Touring
ProsHauls a lot of stuff and the kids ConsIt's a minivan
Honda Odyssey — Good acceleration and handling... for a minivan. Hauls a lot of stuff, but the run flats kill cornering. Decent build quality and fairly fuel efficient. Couldn't live with out the rear seat entertainment system. Carried the family in comfort for 900 miles to Disney World last week |
2006 Honda Odyssey EX-L
ProsIt's a truly fantastic minivan in all regards, most wanted van in the us, very comfortable A+ Consdont like the eco mode plays too much with the transmission esp on the 06 model
I See Why Its The Most Wanted Van In The Usa, Great For Family Transportation — Great Fun Family Van — love the way it handles and the power is there, great turn radius . Easy to accommodate 8 people for the long weekend trip. Plenty of luggage room for a family trip of a week or longer. Reliability is also pretty good in my 8 years of using. The power and acceleration is very good. my favorite, and what stand out for me is the way it looks and drives, also the sliding doors come in handy and how easy it is to drive is a huge plus. i would so totally recommend this van Primary Use: Family transportation |
2006 Honda Odyssey EX-L w/ Nav and DVD
ProsReliable ConsGas prices
Great Vehicle For The Family. — Reliable family vehicle with the space and power necessary to handle a small or large family wiht ease. I have really enjoyed having this vehicle for my family with of it's reliability and it's comfortable ride and Honda always offers. Primary Use: Family transportation |
2006 Honda Odyssey EX-L w/ Nav and DVD
ProsGood Family Car -- lots of room for long trips - rides well with nice visiblity for driver ConsIt is big - hard to manuever and park in city or shopping malls
A Nice Family Van — Overall satisfied with this vehicle and happy we purchased it with the Nav and DVD system. It has been a very good car for the many long trips that we take as it has lots of room and lots of space for lugage etc. Mechanically it has been a great car - normal wear and tear. It has been "recalled" a bunch however. We have enjoyed this car, but it is hard to drive in tight spaces and park. Primary Use: Family transportation |
2006 Honda Odyssey EX-L w/ DVD
Prosmpg,roomy, handling Conshonda's transmission shudder
Awesome Van — This van is very roomy and handles like a car. Has plenty of get up an go for passing and gets decent mpg. Honda has problems with transmission with several year model Ody's and would say that is the biggest con i have or see with the van |
2006 Honda Odyssey Touring w/ Nav and DVD
ProsExcellent interior space, reliable ConsNothing
Best Car I Have Ever Owned — Reliable, powerful, great family car, lots of cargo space, practical. This is the perfect car if you have a large family and need a car that is comfortable, reliable and secure. Lots of safety features. Will recommend to any family without hesitation. Primary Use: Family transportation |
2006 Honda Odyssey
ProsIt's great for road traips ConsNothing really
It's An All Around Good Car — The Honda Odyssey is a good car. It has a nice smooth ride with great performance. The ride is comfortable and the leather seats are nice. Th best use for it is a road trip. Overall, it's a good car. Primary Use: Family transportation |
Displaying 1 - 10 of 35 2006 Honda Odyssey reviews.
Reviews From Other Years
2014 Honda Odyssey Reviews
Would Buy Another One In A Heartbeat. By Donald
I like everything and dislike nothing. This car has been everything we asked for and more. The DVD player keeps the kids entertained on long trips and the car has given us zero problems as of yet. ... Read More
Great Van With Tons Of Room! By sumitk2
The automatic doors are very nice, and allow for little children to easily handle their operation. The Hatchback is also motorized, but you have the option to manually open or close it. The Lane Dep... Read More
2013 Honda Odyssey Reviews
Overall Satisfied With Honda Odyssey By vilupa
The price is a somewhat higher than other vehicles of the same category. The fact that you can fit 8 people not too crowded is a big plus especially with kids. It has a moonroof which is really not u... Read More
New Family Car By djm637
Just bought this car as my wife and I are expecting our third child. Really excited about owning this vehicle as the it will make things a lot easier for us. Very modern looking and offers great opt... Read More
2012 Honda Odyssey Reviews
Great Family Car And Traveling Vehicle By mflynn2002
nothing to dislike. great car - always come back to honda odyssey. Good reason its the most popular minivan. Comfortable and spacious, never in the shop except for maintenence. Always feel safe and in... Read More
Stylish, Clean, Roomy And Affordable Van By JCodyssey
Overall, I have had an awesome time with this van. We have driven here there and everwhere and our odyssey have been reliable and comfortable. Even with all of the snow, my van have never left stuck... Read More
2011 Honda Odyssey Reviews
2011 Honda Odyssey Touring Family Luxury By vpqmom
it's a great family, traveling, mini-home. haha! I don't know what else to say - it looks pretty good for a mini van. it drives OK, but takes right turns kind of stiffly. the brakes wear out quickl... Read More
Excellent Family Vehicle By Cammac
A genuine "grocery getter". Passenger and cargo space are almost double that of the GMC Yukon we owned previously. The fuel mileage is so great that you begin to wonder if the fuel gauge actually wo... Read More
2010 Honda Odyssey Reviews
Love It. By Lana_BKLN
Very good for family trip. Fits up to 8 people plus luggage. Comfortable ride, especially long ride. Entertainment system kept our one year old occupied for 5 hours. Fuel economy. We own that car almo... Read More
Comfortable And Roomy And Reliable By Buckster77
the top of the line van for comfort room and reliability. Honda makes the finest man on the road, and with the DVD system and other features it is fantastic for road trips and general commuting.a grea... Read More
People researching a 2006 Honda Odyssey contacted a dealer about
60% of the time
Toyota Sienna
18% of the time
Acura MDX
4% of the time
Honda Pilot
4% of the time


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Many people still do not know about the new Regulation 90 (issued under the Australian Consumer Law), and its impact on suppliers' pricing of warranty services, contracts, websites and warranty cards.
It applies to all goods and services, not just ICT goods and services.
Regulation 90 came into force on 1 Jan 2012 and prescribes the form and content of a "warranty against defects". A failure to meet the requirements of Regulation 90 can be either a criminal offence or a civil contravention and can result in fines of up to $50,000 for a corporation and $10,000 for an individual per contravention. In addition, providing incorrect statements about the existence or scope of warranties can result in penalties of up to $1,100,000 for corporations and $220,000 for individuals under other sections in the Australian Consumer Law (also known as the Competition and Consumer Act 2010).
This Regulation applies to all consumer contracts in Australia, which essentially is any contract for the supply of goods or services where the price is less than $40,000, or the goods or services are for domestic, household or personal use, irrespective of whether the buyer is an individual, a company or even a government body.
So what is a "warranty against defects"?
A 'warranty against defects' is any statement given at or about the time of supply of the goods or services to the effect that a person (not necessarily the supplier) will repair or replace the goods or part of them, rectify services or provide them again, or wholly or partly recompense the buyer for defective goods or services.
The statement which comprises the warranty against defects could be oral (in which case it needs to be documented) or could be:
• in your terms and conditions (this includes your standard licence agreement or services contract).
• if the goods/services are purchased on a website, any statement made on the website.
• on any 'warranty card' that is included with your products.
• on product packaging, if you provide a warranty against defects on that packaging.
• at the point of sale, if you provide a statement about warranties at the point of sale.
What is required?
Where a 'warranty against defects' is given, Regulation 90 must be complied with. Importantly, the warranty must be in a complying document which includes the exact text highlighted in bold below.
'Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and for compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure'.
Presumably due to oversight, this text applies EVEN if you are only selling services despite the wording in Regulation 90 only referring to "goods". In addition to providing this text, there are a number of other requirements relating to providing certain pieces of information relating to the identity of the provider of the warranty services, the process of obtaining warranty services, what the service is and what costs are involved.
Based on our experience in amending IT suppliers contracts to comply with Regulation 90, there are usually at least a dozen specific amendments to be made to any 'standard' contract, and in some cases a significant review of business practices and pricing may also be required.
The Regulation 90 requirements also apply to both retailers and manufacturers. So if you resell other peoples' goods and services, and the manufacturer's terms and conditions, warranty card, packaging or similar have not been updated to comply with the regulation, you may be liable, as well as the manufacturer.
Need Help?
We would be pleased to assist you to review your current business practices, amend your contracts and/or provide advice in relation to how to become compliant with Regulation 90 and other aspects of the Australian Consumer Law. For help, please call us on 02 9251 9664.
Author: Mike Pym, Director, Pym's Technology Lawyers. A member of the Panel of Expert Bloggers on commun-iT and an expert on www.aiia.biz
Disclaimer: This is general information only. It is not legal advice, and is not a substitute for legal advice. Specific advice should be sought to take into account your particular circumstances. Pym's Technology Lawyers Pty Ltd is a specialist IT and commercial law firm. It has liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.


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Schedule TBA
VCS is a multi-use facility that was resurrected by Middlefork Motorsports Promotions, LLC. from July of 2012 until September of 2014. MMP LLC. focused on bringing motorsports events to VCS with an emphasis on creating an entertaining atmosphere for the entire family. The speedway was a 3/8 mile banked oval, and is located just West of Danville, IL. ADDRESS: 17520 N 1180 E RD, OAKWOOD, IL 61858 GPS Coordinates: 40.122998, -87.725134
MyRacePassTM is your ticket to the online motorsports world. Tired of having to remember your username and password for countless different racing websites? MRP is a globally recognized login across a vast network of motorsports websites (including this site). Having your "MyRacePass" account will handle your username, password, profile picture, and all account information for any website on the network. You will be notified of updates to the network as it continues to grow. We thank you for being a part of this ground-breaking motorsports online experience.


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Hi all. Need help!
We've decided to have a wedding but it's going to be small & intimate. 35 guests max. I've found a local park that we can rent for the day. We'll have an outdoor ceremony & indoor reception.
I don't have a clue where to start for cheap decorations, chairs, etc.
I would appreciate any & all help.
The only thing I've settled on are my colors, my dress, & the wedding cupcakes.
My Fiancé found 2 friends to do the pictures & food.
Very pretty! Also check out the DIY section on www.weddingbee.com Lots of do it yourself wedding ideas there.I had to share. Found this on Ebay. I'm doing vases as my centerpiece & floating pearls will match my colors. Everything all together totals under $60. I'll have 12 vases & I'll place labels on them for immediate family & Bridal party to take home
Posted by Neicey122


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My Profile
San Diego, California
Member since Jul 2007
Flag This ProfileFlag as Inappropriate
Reviewed paula's perfect pie crust
Jan 26, 2014 on FoodNetwork.com
"Ok, this is the pie crust recipe I have been waiting for. I mixed together the dry ingredients, added the shortening and cut-up butter, and made sure the butter and shortening were covered with the flour mixture. Then I dumped it all into my food processor and slowly added water, stopping as soon as the dough came together. It took just a few seconds..."
Reviewed Rene's Coleslaw
Dec 1, 2012 in Food Network Community Toolbox on FoodNetwork.com
"I made this recipe for a casual buffet lunch with friends, and I liked it. But I was amazed at how much my friends LOVED it! I know there are lots of enthusiastic reviews for this dish, but the last reviewer didn't have such a good experience, so I was prepared for it to just be OK. The only changes were red bell pepper for green (cuz I never buy""


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Springville-GI community education offers a variety of courses for the community
BY: Dave DeLuca | December 14, 2012
SPRINGVILLE — With the new year right around the corner, the Springville Griffith Institute Community Education Program is up and running.
This program will offer a variety of courses or classes for area residents to utilize. It offers adult education programs in various sports, hobbies and other areas and is coordinated by Springville High School technology and pre-engineering teacher Dave Hawkes, who also coaches the S-GI golf team.
"It's an extension of the regular education process," Hawkes said. "You can start to now bring in some adults, to the high school facilities. You got a pool, you have gyms and you have classrooms. You want to have these being used, you know, more than just during the school day, with the kids. It's education that goes beyond the high school realm."
During the winter and spring program, courses will be offered in creative arts, finance, health and safety education, driver safety and fitness. The programs are not all set in stone, according to Hawkes. The course offerings are dependent on local residents' interests.
"It's kind of an evolution, over time," Hawkes said. "We kind of have found things that have worked and people continue to come back. Like our physical education or athletics, if you will. That program is kind of ongoing and brought up, by demand. People want to use the pool, people want to do aerobics and yoga and those kinds of things," he continued.
"Some of it is brought up on interest. I get phone calls, 'Would you maybe offer a course in computers?' or, right now, we're offering a course in financing that was brought on, by need," he said. "Sometimes, it's a person stepping up and saying, 'Hey, I'd like to teach a course.' Mr. [John] Sopko is an excellent example of that. He wanted to offer a course in psychology for adults. So, he brought the course to the program, and we liked his proposal and we offered it."
The most popular course in the program, according to Hawkes, is the driving course. While some of the other classes are offered in a single semester or season, driving courses are offered, throughout the calendar year. These courses include driver education, defensive driving and pre-licensing courses.
"Certain programs are fully enrolled," Hawkes said. "Our driving program is fully enrolled. We could handle a few more, but we don't need more. There have been some programs where we throw them out there and, if we don't get the attendance by the registration due date, then we have to cancel the class and try to bring it up again, the next semester."
While he said that Springville is a smaller market, compared to districts like Orchard Park and Hamburg, the interest of the residents drives the program.
"There's a lot of community ed programs around here. Of course, you can look at some of the bigger districts, where they can offer more, because there have more people to draw from," Hawkes explained. "We look at other programs, as well, for courses. The biggest thing is the need factor. If you can identify a need, meaning if people come to us with something, then we try to offer it."
The variety of courses will be held at various buildings, throughout the district, including Springville Elementary, Springville Middle School and the high school, during the evening hours.
"We have to cover the cost of the instructors," Hawkes said, about the course fees. "If there are materials, [those have to be covered]. For instance, we're offering a leather working and wood-turning course; there's going to be materials for that. So, there will have small fees, for that. By education law, our program can't make money. We're not a profit-driven organization, but what we try to do is break even, if you will."
Most classes will start in early February and have minimum and maximum enrollment numbers. Interested parties can access the schedule of class offerings and registration forms on the S-GI District website, www.springvillegi.org. Hard copies are available at the district office, during regular business hours, and will be including in the upcoming school bulletin.
"I encourage people to look at our course offerings and let interest be their guide," Hawkes said. "I'm trying to encourage participation."
Hawkes can be reached at email@example.com or at 592-3200 ext. 1141.
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TITLE: FOREIGN POLICY SIMULATION AUTHOR: Michael Sherwin, Crescent Valley HS Corvallis, OR GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: 9-12 / American Government OVERVIEW: This activity is a simulation in which students role play to solve various foreign policy problems. PURPOSE: This activity is intended to help students understand how various elements of the US foreign policy system operate and to give them practice in conflict resolution. OBJECTIVES: To provide an alternative to traditional teacher-centered or book-centered learning. To help students understand how complex foreign policy issues are. To help students test techniques of conflict resolution. To allow students to put what they have learned into practice. RESOURCES/MATERIALS: Reading guide and foreign policy scenarios. See Appendices 1 and 5. ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES: Prior to beginning the simulation, we take five weeks to study the presidency, Congress, the press, and the Soviet Union to give students some background that will help them with this task. We also discuss current events, including foreign policy, on a regular basis. To begin this exercise, I hand out a reading guide for the chapter in the text on foreign policy. (Appendix 1) I ask the students to write down enough information so that the reading guide will be a useful tool to help them review the material for this exercise and for the final exam at the end of the semester. Students have time in class on Monday to work on the reading guide. On Wednesday, we begin the simulation. There are nine different roles (see Appendix 2) for students to play and I assign two or three students to each role, depending on the size of the class. It is essential that the students who take the role fo the press be gregarious and somewhat bold since they have to ferret out information that others don't particularly want to give them. I tend to put the sneakiest students in the CIA and the most creative students in the UN or Allies. The presidents need not be brilliant; the advisors will tell them what to do. Start announcing the roles students are to play and then ask them to take five minutes to review the text pages which explain their role to international relations. (Appendix 3). Next ask them to seat themselves around the room according to a chart on the board so that others can find them during the simulation. The teachers desk is the Kremlin. (Appendix 4) Hand out a set of three interrelated foreign policy scenarios. (Appendix 5) These vary from year to year depending on what is realistic, though extreme, foreign policy problems. In the past, problems have concerned the downfall of the Marcos regime, trouble in the Canal Zone, unrest in Eastern Europe, and communists in Nicaragua. I try to have the three problems somehow interrelated and connected to the Soviet Union. I play the Soviet Union so that I can, to some extent, control the pace of the simulation - they can't solve all the problems in a quick and simplistic manner because I throw enough realistic obstacles in their way to keep them thinking. Have students read the scenarios, assume that this is what is in the morning's newspaper, and figure out what they can do to solve these problems. Encourage them to discuss the problems first in their small groups and then to confer with others. While this is happening, talk with the press and explain to them that their role is to gather information for a news broadcast to take place the last five minutes of the period. The press may include editorial commentary in the broadcast as well as reports on the efforts to solve the foreign policy crises. While students are getting started, circulate around the room, making suggestions where needed, reminding Congress that the president must confer with them if we are going to spend any money or introduce troops into a war zone, reminding the allies that they have their own interests at stake and that they are not simply pawns of the US. After a while, several groups will develop plans of action and may wish to negotiate with the Soviet Union. At that point, I retreat to my desk, put on my Soviet Union hat, and meet with either the UN, the allies, or the American president. I refuse to meet with other groups ans am especially wary of the press and the CIA. Usually, I am a tough negotiator because I want them to have to think carefully about their policies. (See Appendix 6 for sample responses to typical student negotiating overtures.) In some classes, students have been unrealistic about what the other side will accept. At the end of the first period, we have a five minute news report on the day's events. This usually demonstrates clearly the communications problems that plague complicated negotiations. At the beginning of the second class, remind students that they have not yet solved all the problems and that they have half an hour to finish. Then students resume the task of solving the problems. With about fifteen minutes left in the second period, stop and have a second news report. TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: Following the second news report, take the last ten minutes to try to draw some conclusions about what went well and what didn't. Also attempt to draw some conclusions about foreign policy and conflict resolution. Students generally have insights about the importance of talking to all parties and communicating clearly. APPENDIX 1 Reading Guide, Chapter 13 (from Richard Remy, Government in the United States, 1st edition) US Foreign Policy Goals 1. 2. 3. President and Foreign Policy 1. Constitutional Powers a. b. c. 2. Head of State 3. Advisors a. b. c. Congress and Foreign Policy 1. Constitutional Powers a. b. c. d. 2. Congress Weaker Than President a. b. c. d. Give one example which illustrates the influence of public on foreign policy. State Department - Functions 1. 2. 3. 4. Defense Department 1. Civilian Control of the Military 2. JCS Means to Achieve Foreign Policy Goals 1. Alliances and Pacts 2. Foreign Aid 3. Economic Sanctions 4. Military Force 5. United Nations Definitions 1. isolationism 2. Monroe Doctrine 3. Cold War 4. containment 5. collective security 6. deterrence 7. detente APPENDIX 2 ROLES FOR FOREIGN POLICY SIMULATION President Presidential Advisors CIA Defense Department and JCS State Department Congress United Nations US Allies (Western Europe and Japan) The Press The Soviet Union (played by the instructor) APPENDIX 3 Foreign Policy Readings (from Richard Remy, Government in the United States, 1st edition) Review the following pages in the text to help you determine what actions your group might take. President 204 - 206, 313 - 316 Presidential Advisors 224 - 225, 315 CIA 241, 315 Dept. of Defense, JCS 321 - 324, 328 Dept. of State 319 - 321, 328 Congress 139, 316 - 318 American Allies 324 - 327 Mass Media 576 - 579 United Nations 328 - 331 APPENDIX 4 SEATING FOR SIMULATION SOVIET UNION PRESIDENT* DEPT. OF DEFENSE PRESS PRESIDENTIAL DEPT. OF STATE AMERICAN ADVISORS ALLIES* CIA CONGRESS UNITED NATIONS* * Can meet directly with the Soviet Union APPENDIX 5 HYPOTHETICAL FOREIGN POLICY CASES THE SOVIET UNION - Mikhail Gorbachev has been removed from office after a coup by Kremlin hardliners. The new president and Communist party general Yegor Ligachev has ordered Soviet troops to crack down on Lithuania, Georgia, and other breakaway republics. In violence reminiscent of that in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Hungary in 1956 Soviet troops massacre thousands of people who demonstrate for freedom. Lithuanian president Landsbergis escapes to the American embassy where he applies for political asylum. The Soviets threaten further reprisals against Lithuania if Landsbergis is not turned over to them, charging that he has committed crimes against the state by heading an illegal independence movement. WESTERN EUROPE - Following the coup to remove Gorbachev from office, Ligachev has ordered Soviet arms control negotiators to take a hardline position in talks with Americans. Despite the fact that some Soviet troops have been removed from Eastern Europe, the CIA reports suspicious troops movements in the former Warsaw Pact countries. And, in what the Soviets refer to as "normal naval exercises" large numbers of ships and submarines are detected on the coasts off NATO countries. Meanwhile, the Soviets complain that the US has not followed its pledge to halt production of chemical and biological weapons and is continuing to produce chemical weapons at what the US refers to as a "fertilizer plant" in Dubuque. MIDDLE EAST - Following the collapse of the Middle East peace conference, Israel decides not to allow a Palestinian state on the West Bank and, with the approval of the US, uses harsher measures (rumored to include chemical and biological weapons) to break down the Palestinian uprising. In response, Arab states threaten an oil boycott of the US (which is already suffering since a second tanker accident completely blocked the flow of oil from Alaska). The Soviet Union is aiding the boycott by purchasing oil from the Arabs. It is reported that, in return for this help, the United Arab Emirates will allow the Soviet Union to construct a major naval base on the Straits of Hormuz, giving the Soviets control of the Persian Gulf, the source of much of the world's oil. APPENDIX 6 SAMPLE RESPONSES BY THE SOVIET UNION UN: We'd like to talk to you about the unrest in the Baltics. USSR: You know that we are a peace-loving nation. We seek freedom, prosperity, and happiness for all peoples of the world. UN: But you are killing people in the Baltics. USSR: That is an internal affair of the Soviet Union. Do I go to the United States and tell them that they are wrong to allow homeless people on the street or to discriminate against blacks? No! So how dare you tell me what to do in my own country? UN: But you say you are for freedom and the Lithuanians want to be free. USSR: Wouldn't you agree that Abraham Lincoln was a great man? And what was he trying to do? Simply preserve the Union. I regret that there has been some minor loss of life in Lithuania, but I, too, like Abraham Lincoln, am simply trying to keep our union together. Those radicals in the Baltics are trying to break our country apart. *********************** Allies: We are very concerned about the ships and submarines massing off our coasts. USSR: Why? They are doing nothing. Allies: But this seems to be a threatening move. Get them out of there! USSR: Listen. You know that international waters start twelve miles off shore. My ships are staying in international waters. They have a right to be there. Don't tell me what to do. Allies: But couldn't they be somewhere else? USSR: Do I demand that the American submarines which ring my country be removed from international waters? No! I simply request the same treatment and consideration which other countries receive.
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My abuse was usually a reaction to an action of hers, but that was no excuse, and it was almost always a huge overreaction on my part. - From When Jonathan Cried for Me, by Carter Lee.
HOUSTON, February 14, 2012 - Last Thursday, a video went viral of a man, Tommy Jordan, lecturing his daughter, Hannah, online. He actually posted it on her Facebook for all of her friends to see.
This at first appeared to be just a dose of her own medicine since the fifteen-year-old complained about her parents on her Facebook; this was typical fifteen-year-old diatribe.
At the beginning of the video, this man states how she was grounded for three months for doing something similar in the past and failing to learn her lesson. This in and of itself is reaching an extreme level of discipline, teasing with humiliation.
Many professionals teach parents not to ground a teenager any longer than just a couple of days. If there is too much time between the behavior and penalty, the message delivered through the punishment actually becomes less clear, inhibiting the child from actually learning from her mistakes. The longer a child is grounded, the larger the risk becomes that the teen will inevitably yearn to rebel throughout the rest of the teenage years.
As if this weren't bad enough, Tommy Jordan found a way to outdo himself.
At first, the video isn't so terrible. He is simply verbally correcting her, and it may have acted as just a teachable moment, had he left it at that. As the video progresses, however, this father shares that the last time she did this, when she was grounded for way too long, he was close to putting a bullet in her laptop.
By the end of the video, he takes a gun out, brags about the model of the gun, and shoots her laptop six times stating, "…these are exploding hollow point rounds, and you have to pay me back for these too because these are about a dollar a piece."
Make no mistake about it: this is an act of violence.
In my book, I discuss how I was violent and abusive prior to my transformation to inner peace. What's the difference between me, then, losing my temper and punching holes in my wall and what this man did to his daughter's laptop? Is it supposed to be okay because he was calm?
If I had calmly punched holes in my wall and broken valuables, would that have meant that it was okay?
Instead of this ridiculously cruel act, he could have made her give her laptop, which I assume he paid for, to the poor and said: "Someone more needy and appreciative can have this; someone who will not use it to talk trash about her own parents. When you can afford to buy a laptop, then you can have one."
Instead, he decided to send a violent message and also teach her that it's okay to destroy something valuable as though it's no big deal.
Many parents support this man's actions; many have also spoken against it. Some have gone so far to say that because of this aggressive video, his daughter will probably end up becoming a stripper.
I think the latter is a ridiculous statement, but it definitely helps validate his daughter's stance of him acting as an enemy.
Teenagers are bound to rebel. They complain that they feel like slaves and that their parents don't "get them." This is nothing new. As parents, we are supposed to be more mature than the teenager we are raising; we are supposed to have behavior that rises above their immaturity, not stoop to their level.
It's easy to get frustrated at teenagers in this day and age when they can use technology to ignore the family, complain about them, and rebel. It's one thing for a parent to feel like shooting a laptop, but to do it is a sign of having no control, which a parent should be in possession of at all times.
Jordan recently stated that if he knew this video would have gone viral, almost twenty- three million views now, that he still would have done it again, but, "I'd have worn my Silverbelly Stetson, not my Tilley hat, if I'd known that image was going to follow me the rest of my life; and I'd probably have cleaned my boots. That's it."
He also has found a way to make money off of this video and profit from it. Bad parenting, unfortunately, is nothing new. But the support this man has received is what has really astonished me. If this man is a hero to so many parents, what does that say about us as a country and as parents?
Apparently, Hannah and her father have come to some sort of "semi-truce," but only time can tell how well that will uphold. There are many ways to discipline a child, but studies have shown the prolonged grounding and violence is ultimately ineffective. A real man doesn't have to destroy belongings or yell to get his point across.
Jordan also said, "She's seen first meaningful hand, through this video, the worst possible scenario that can happen. One post, made by her Dad, will probably follow him the rest of his life; just like those mean things she said on Facebook will stick with the people her words hurt for a long time to come. Once you put it out there, you can't take it back, so think carefully before you use the internet to broadcast your thoughts and feelings."
As immature and wrong as Hannah was, she didn't make a video; she wrote a letter on her Facebook wall that only her friends could see. Jordan made a video that not only could be seen on her Facebook, but by anyone on Youtube. She may have hurt the feelings of a couple hundred friends versus the millions offended by her father's video. In return, she is now known as the daughter of this ridiculous man.
In the space around him, Tommy Jordan has decided to return fire on his daughter's behavior by acting equally immature.
She's fifteen, so what was his excuse?
Carter Lee is the author of, When Jonathan Cried for Me, President of Innovative Social Dynamics LLC., and is a professional speaker. To learn more about his book visit http://www.whenjonathancriedforme.com . For a personal appearance or speaking engagement visit http://www.innovativesocialdynamics.com
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.


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Directed by Len Wiseman. Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q, Cliff Curtis, Kevin Smith. 20th Century Fox.
Decent Films Ratings
Overall Recommendability |
Artistic/ Entertainment Value |
? |
Moral/Spiritual Value (+4/-4) |
? -1 |
Age Appropriateness |
?Teens & Up* |
External Ratings
Content advisory: Much graphic and deadly violence and gunplay; brief sensuality (no nudity); recurring profanity and crass language, including a somewhat muffled instance of McClane's trademark four-syllable obscenity.
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Live Free or Die Hard (DVD)
A Christianity Today review
By Steven D. Greydanus
Although Live Free or Die Hard is known internationally as Die Hard 4.0, the truth is that Die Hard was never really a bona fide series. As with Raiders of the Lost Ark, there was just one really great movie, followed by a host of imitators, a couple of which happened to involve some of the same characters and filmmakers. Temple of Doom and Last Crusade were just Indiana Jones flicks; there's only one Raiders. (Sorry, Mr. Spielberg, but revisionist DVD packaging notwithstanding, there is no such movie as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.)
In a similar way, call them whatever you want, the further adventures of John McClane pale beside the original no less than the Try-Hard and Fly-Hard adventures of Steven Seagal, Wesley Snipes and Keanu Reeves. (Well, okay, Speed actually holds up pretty well.)
What made the original Die Hard such a unique film wasn't one thing, but a perfect storm of factors. The insidious, disciplined invading force; the claustrophobic confinement; the emotional as well as physical punishment suffered by the panicky, hesitating, self-reproaching hero, so different from the impassive he-man heroes of earlier eras. The wounded emotional distance and dangerous secret solidarity between McClane and his estranged wife. The clever conceits of McClane's increasingly desperate gambits for survival. And, of course, the electrifying anonymous confrontation via walkie-talkie between McClane and his opponent, a battle of wits and nerves.
A few of these traits were echoed in Die Hard 2 (Die Harder), and in some of Die Hard's other imitators, though not enough to recapture the original magic. By Die Hard 3 (With a Vengeance), the formula was exhausted, yielding an in-name-only sequel that could just as easily have been a stand-alone film about other characters (and was probably originally developed that way).
Along with a host of other recent and coming sequels to 70s– and 80s–era franchises coming anywhere from a dozen to nearly twenty years after their most recent predecessors — including Terminator 3, Rocky Balboa, an in-production Indiana Jones sequel, and of course the Star Wars prequels — Live Free or Die Hard feels not so much like the continuation of a franchise as a revisiting of a historic institution, more like the Star Trek movies in relation to the original TV series than a continuation of the series.
In the case of Live Free or Die Hard, directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld), that's probably a good thing. Like Captain Kirk putting on his spectacles in The Wrath of Khan, John McClane (Bruce Willis) can no longer pretend to be the same man he was twenty years ago, and in that distance is at least the possibility of finding new reasons for revisiting this character. The world, too, has changed, of course, not so much in terms of 9/11 — the Die Hard films were never really interested in real terrorism, only high-tech opportunism — as in the exploding significance of cyberspace as a crucial front in all possible wars on terror.
Bonnie Bedelia's Holly, last seen in Die Hard 2, is still out of the picture; sadly, though not alas implausibly, she and McClane are divorced. Yet Live Free at least partly recoups her absence by reintroducing a character who had about a minute of screen time in the original film: Lucy McClane, John and Holly's daughter, then about six or seven. Now in her twenties, she's played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Final Destination 3) with a spunk and toughness befitting both her parents. Predictably, Lucy's relationship with her father is as rocky as her mother's was, and she also goes back and forth on whether she wants to be a McClane or a Gennero.
Wisely, Live Free doesn't try to replicate the paranoia or intimidation of the first film. Twenty years later, battered by life, McClane can no longer be that panicky, brash cop, and Live Free shrewdly uses his history to advantage, establishing him as a dogged, world-weary old warrior who may still get mad and even desperate, but can't really get all that frightened any more.
McClane knows that his opponent (Timothy Olyphant, The Girl Next Door) — an arrogant, ruthless computer security expert twenty years his junior — is smarter than McClane, and has the advantage of meticulous planning and surprise. But McClane has experience on his side; he's played underdog before, and when he rattles his opponent's chain, it isn't blustering bravado, but seasoned tactical provocation. This time it's his unflappable calm that intimidates his brash young opponent, not the other way around.
Somebody needs to be frightened, though, or the audience loses the sense of emotional urgency. So Live Free gives McClane a sidekick: Matt Farrell (Justin Long, Accepted), a young hacker who, in addition to providing technical support to the digitally challenged McClane, freaks out a lot — with good reason. He's not as engaging or sympathetic as Sandra Bullock in Speed, say, but he gets the job done.
McClane needs him, too. Professedly based on a Wired article by John Carlin called "A Farewell to Arms," which speculates on the possibility of a coming "I‑war" or information war, Live Free drops McClane into a Crichtonesque techno-thriller about virtual terrorism, a hacker takedown of the infrastructure. In this cyber-battle the two-fisted McClane is something of an anachronism — an "analog cop in a digital universe," the villain sneers.
That doesn't mean there isn't still lots of old-fashioned analog shooting, explosions, vehicular chases, punishing fight scenes, and general havoc. This may be a cyberthriller, but there's still enough meatspace mayhem to leave McClane battered to a bloody pulp, as usual.
Even the mayhem has been upgraded, as McClane — like James Bond in the new Casino Royale — faces opponents who make flamboyant use of parkour, an athletic, free-form mode of locomotion that involves daring and efficient traversing of obstacles in emergency fashion. There's also a kick-boxing Asian beauty (Maggie Q, Mission: Impossible III), as well as a bruising battery of large-scale set pieces: helicopter versus patrol car, SUV versus Maggie Q in an elevator shaft, even Harrier jet versus semi rig on an elevated highway.
Some of the violence is good old white-knuckle escapist action, thrillingly well-staged and wincingly visceral; other times, as with McClane's previous adventures, it seems unnecessarily sadistic. And then there are sequences that go over the top into self-parody cartoon mode, like the most preposterous James Bond stuntwork, or like Arnold Schwarzeneggar's Last Action Hero and True Lies. The Harrier/semi duel, in particular, simultaneously recalls Schwarzeneggar's Terminator 3 and True Lies.
Ironically, Live Free is much more effective and exciting when it keeps the action on a smaller and more believable scale. In my review of the original Die Hard I compared one of the film's pleasures to reading those Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbooks; even if you never actually plan to leap from a burning building, say, or take on a high-rise full of gun-wielding terrorists, there's something empowering about feeling that the thing could conceivably be done, if not necessarily by you, at least by someone with sufficient nerve, skill and luck.
Some suspension of disbelief is warranted, certainly, but it's crucial that we feel we're watching a flesh-and-blood human being, not the Terminator, a semi-indestructible machine slogging through a gauntlet of punishment that would clearly rip an ordinary mortal to pieces. That can be cool too, but it's a different kind of cool. We need to feel, at least theoretically, that McClane could conceivably be killed, that he's at least capable of being killed. Live Free ventures too flagrantly across that line a few times.
Despite its drawbacks, Live Free is possibly the freshest and most enjoyable of McClane's outings since the original. The cyber-terrorism angle, though filtered through a Hollywood lens, is sufficiently grounded in reality to be genuinely unnerving, and there's real adrenaline-pumping excitement, not just expert production values, in much of the action.
For almost twenty years, the original Die Hard has been the standard by which modern action films are measured. Live Free or Die Hard doesn't rival its predecessor, but it honors the tradition.