"One of the most exciting stocks I’ve brought you so far"
Respiri Limited is an ASX listed (RSH) medical device company that creates technologies to better manage asthma. Alan Kohler believes it’s one of the most exciting stocks The Constant Investor has ever brought to the table. Here's Respiri's Executive Chairman and CEO, Leon L’Huillier to explain why.
- Respiri Limited is an ASX (RSH) listed medical device company
- It creates technologies to better manage asthma, a chronic disease affecting over 330 million people
The last time I spoke to Respiri's Executive Chairman and CEO Leon L’Huillier was 25 years ago when he was Chairman and CEO of the Transport Accident Commission in Victoria. He’s now in his early 70s running a medical company, it’s incredible!
He was a non-executive director of Woolworths for quite a long time, 14 years in fact, and was brought in by Bruce Mathieson to run Respiri.
Mathieson owns about 20% of the company and it went through a terrible time sacking CEOs left, right and centre, the stock went up to 75-odd cents, back down to 3 cents which is where it sits now.
But - and this is the important thing – I reckon it’s one of the most exciting stocks I’ve brought to you so far. This stock is 3 cents now and it’s going to start selling an asthma measurement device in about 6 months’ time and there are 400 million asthmatics around the world.
I think the stock is going to be re-rated fairly quickly and fairly substantially once they start selling these things and move to China where there’s a lot of smog and a lot of chest problems in China. So, a really interesting business, one of the most exciting stocks that I’ve brought to you on The Constant Investor.
Here's Respiri's Executive Chairman and CEO, Leon L’Huillier.
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So, this company, Respiri, has had a bit of a chequered history recently, Leon. Can you take us through what’s been going on? I mean, the stock went up and down again in 2013 and sacked a couple of CEOs before you took over. Take us through what happened?
Okay, well the earliest I can coherently talk about it is back in late 2013 when there was some fairly optimistic forecasts in the market about the company going on the verge of a global launch.
Is that when you became a director?
No, I didn’t become a director until early 2014. So, there was a little bit of a history prior to that. The promises made during that time about entering the US market in 1Q14 weren’t delivered. The approval processes didn’t take place, but most importantly the product was, for want of a better expression, tests launched in Australia. And there’s two pieces to the product, one is the breath sensor which picks up the wheeze, and the second piece is the app which calculates the wheeze rate. Neither of those worked very well, they had a lot of technical issues and basically the product sold very, very few products.
So, but what’s your understanding of the earlier history of the business? I mean, how long ago was the thing invented?
20 years ago, Professor Gabrielle started writing a paper on wheeze and how you can detect wheeze and how you can objectively measure wheeze. So, he started that work 20 years ago. The company sort of came into life around 2016…
And it was called iSonea, right?
No, it was called something else then, KarmelSonix I think, and it was backdoor listed in Western Australia. Most of the work between 2016 and 2013 or 2012 was clinical work. They had a product that basically was, for want of a better expression, wired. The patient was wired up in various parts of their upper respiratory areas and wheeze is detected that way. In around about 2012 – again, this is when I wasn’t there – the management decided to take advantage of the smartphone technology and decided to make a wireless product. So, it moved from being a product that was used in hospitals to a product that had capability of being used in the home.
After that, because the product didn’t sell and the shareholders weren’t happy with the performance, in February 2014 the board was changed, a totally new board came in, I was Chairman and…
No, but prior to that, in 2015 wasn’t the CEO at the time Michael Thomas – he was fired…?
That’s correct, yes. I wasn’t there then.
No, but didn’t he sell his shares at the top of the market or something?
I’m not sure of the exact price. I think he was probably selling as the price was coming down. That happened before I got there, Alan, so I wasn’t 100 per cent sure what happened. But he was certainly terminated during 2013, not 2015. He wasn’t there when we arrived and we arrived in February.
And you arrived with a new CEO, [Gerry Corden], is that right?
I think so. He was there for a very short time, but when we arrived the shareholders had already appointed a chap called Steve Turnell as the CEO. Gerry was only there I think as an interim CEO for a month or so.
That’s not what they said at the time. I mean, he was appointed CEO and then Stewart Washer stood down as Chairman?
That’s right, yeah. That’s when the board changed, February ’14.
So, the whole thing, it was an absolute disaster wouldn’t you say?
No, I wouldn’t. It was successful clinically which is the important piece and we’ve been able to work on the basis of that. So, all the work done in the hospital system was excellent and there was some fantastic research papers published on the ability to measure wheeze. The problem lay in the move from that to into a wireless product, and the breath sensor didn’t work properly as I said, and more importantly the IT, the infrastructure where you put that behind the app, for want of a better expression, was not scalable, it wasn’t robust, it tended to collapse.
So, there was sort of two issues running then when I got in, one was the problem with the sensor itself and secondly it was the problem with the infrastructure. So, we really had to pretty well start from scratch. However, the algorithm we’re still working, in other words, the algorithm which calculates the wheeze, was the centrepiece or the engine of the product effectively, but that was in the cloud at that stage. So, it wasn’t a total disaster.
Have you fixed the things that didn’t work?
Yes, and this is why it’s taken a bit longer than we would’ve liked, but we had to do two things, we had to test the product in a chamber, put the breath sensor on one side and the iPhone on the other and find out what precisely was wrong with each, both the IT and the breath sensor. We worked out what was wrong. There’s a whole bunch of effectively firmware or computer coding issues in the breath sensor. There were design issues about its ergonomics and then we worked out what was wrong about the IT infrastructure. So, we then went about building the IT infrastructure which is the first part because the recording won’t happen if that’s not working.
We brought the algorithm back down from the cloud and put it in the app and then we started to work on the breath sensor. We re-did the firmware, we then got it to a stage where we could test it and trial it. So, we took it to the University of Chicago and did a very successful trial there, that’s about 12 months ago, and then we set about working out what to do. Effectively, our decision was that the product was basically designed in 2012, we’re now 2017, and felt that it wasn’t appropriate to launch a – for want of a better expression – a 2012/2013 product even though it had been revamped in size it was just too old for the market. For example, the battery was a 2012 battery. That’s just a simple example. So, we then decided what we needed to do, we had a good IT infrastructure that we needed to develop a new breath sensor.
So, have you done that?
We’re in the process of doing that now and that’s what we told the market. We made an announcement a few months ago saying that we’ve got the cash to do it and we’re working with a company to build a prototype. We said it would be a minimum six months, we’re hopeful it will be around that period and then we’ll have a prototype, we will test the prototype and then work with a manufacturer to manufacture the product.
So, how much cash have you got?
We’ve got a runway of about 12 months, Alan. We had a number when we announced it last time of about $1.6 in June and we’ll announce our cash later this month. So, we’re pretty tight on our cash flow, we’ve got sort of 100-150 per month outlay. So, it’s not big at the moment and we’re quite confident we can manage that.
Just go back in time a bit, how come you’re running the business now? I mean, last time I saw you you were running the Transport Accident Commission and here you are almost 20 years later you’re running a little device business.
Turned up again, yeah.
Turned up again! I mean, you should be having a nice time down the beach.
I was. I didn’t do much after I left the Woolworths board, basically went touring around with my wife and visiting lots of interesting places, Amazon, safaris, etcetera… And then Bruce Mathieson came to me, I knew Bruce obviously from Woolworths days. So, I worked in all of it, the whole period, 15 years, and asked me to come in as non-executive chairman. And I always had an interest in health, I mean I was the first chairman of the Children’s Hospital in Brisbane when I lived there and subsequent to that I was doing a lot of not for profit work and various health institutions and more recently on prostate cancer. So, I’ve always had an interest in health and this seemed to me on the surface to be a very good opportunity for a whole bunch of reasons, so I took the job as a non-executive chairman. Subsequently a couple of management didn’t work out and then probably the last 18 months or so I just stepped in as sort of an interim CEO.
So, you’re still an interim CEO, are you?
Well, I’m CEO but we would move beyond that.
How much does Bruce Mathieson own of the business?
Bruce has got about 19%, so he’s still a major shareholder.
And he’s the biggest shareholder, is he?
Yes he is, yeah.
And how long has he been in that situation?
He’s been there since probably about 2012 I think, Alan. There was a rights issue then and he picked up a big hunk of the rights issue. So, he’s another long term investor. The top 20 shareholders have about 40% of the business, so at that level it’s reasonably tight and they’re all still there, patiently there.
So, there’s something like 400 million asthma patients around the world, aren’t there? And you’ve got a device…
How much are you going to sell the device for?
Well, firstly, it is a good market, there’s no doubt about that, it’s a very large market and it’s not going backwards, it’s increasing in size. The price we would think would be roughly around – this is the device itself, there’s two components to the revenue model. Firstly, the device piece or the breath sensor as we call it, would probably have a retail of about $150-200. The reasons for that is if you look across the sector you’ll find Fitbits ranging from $200 to $350-400, you’ll find blood pressure monitors ranging from about $130 up to $345. There’s quite a diversity in price there, but in the broad we think that’s the sort of price it might get.
We know the product cost so we think there’s a very significant gross margin. And in addition to that, which is the other important piece, you can actually charge – now there’s examples of it in the medical device segment where you charge for a premium app, for want of a better expression. The original app which gives you the wheeze rate measure is free and then you can put some bells and whistles on top of that which would include in our case for example, smog alerts, temperature, GPS, games for kids, a whole range of things… And companies roughly charge about USD$10 a month for that, which is about $120 obviously per patient.
So, one of the appealing things about this product is it’s got a potential annuity stream coming out of it. If you’re capable of really having a very good app and a fresh app, one that people like using, ones that kids like using, etcetera… So, it’s a double whammy, first up the profit you make or the gross margin you make on the device itself or the hardware, and secondly the annuity stream out of the app. So, that’s why we concentrated a lot originally in the period where we came on board in getting our app and really consumer friendly face, ones that tested a lot in the marketplace so that we know what consumers want. We went with a terrific partner that’s got a global business out of New York but they’re Melbourne based as well. So, that’s where we’ve concentrated on to a large degree and now we’re going to the second phase which is the breath sensor.
So, what is the margin on the product?
Product costs, we think would be around $40-50, we’re just doing the final numbers now. So, a retail price of $150, you’re making $100.
And what is the product that you’re selling for $150-200? I mean, what does it look like?
It’s a small thing, probably the size of a hand, you put it on the trachea, effectively the windpipe…
On the outside of your throat?
Yes, on the outside of your throat, yeah. On the windpipe it picks up the breath sounds, all of the breath sounds end up in there from the lungs and then identifies the breath sounds and transmits that breath sound into the phone and then in the phone we have this algorithm and the algorithm then calculates over a 30 second period, per cent of time you’re wheezing and that can vary from a 4-5 per cent probably for a diagnosed asthmatic, up to very high numbers like 20 or 30 per cent for people who have a significant wheeze problem. So, it’s a unique objective measure.
I mean, it’s like a stethoscope but it’s got an objective measure to it. I often compare it to say, the blood pressure devices that measure blood pressure or thermometers, etcetera. It’s coming up with a number, that number’s particularly useful. And the second part of it, Alan, is the patient has the capability of putting the triggers in and one of the big things in asthma because it’s a very personal disease, is knowing the triggers. So, it might be a dog, a new cat, it could be new carpet, it might be the weather, it might be pollen, etcetera… So, the people using it, especially mums and dads who have got a child with asthma, they start to know what triggers the child’s asthma and then can obviously avoid those or if they know they’re coming up to medicate.
So, it’s correlating that so that there’s a learning process over time which we’ve found out in research that mum and dad want to better understand the elements of society and all that. It could be obviously smog in say for example Asia or China that affect the child, so it’s that correlation. In addition to that, there’s medication adherence probably an issue in there where we can put in the medication and see what happens to the wheeze rate after medication. And normally after medication the wheeze rate would go down to zero or close to zero. So, a patient or mother of a patient or father of a patient are able to see not only the objective measure of wheeze but what happens after they medicate.
What do you do with the information? You’ve got a number then of your wheeze rate, sort of an objective number. Why is that better than just being able to hear someone wheezing and then giving them a puff of Ventolin, I mean what do you do with the information, that number?
Well you hope you can hear the wheezing and that’s often not the case, it can be quite quiet, and we pick up over a whole range of sounds, high and low, so in terms of hertz it’s quite a big bandwidth. What do you do with the information? Well, firstly for example, if you’re playing sport and you come off the field and you can see the child’s a bit distressed, you can see what effect that’s had on the wheeze, immediately medicate. Roughly at the moment probably around up to 70% of people don’t adhere to medication. That’s one of the problems in this market, that medication compliance is very low. So, we’re giving a method of a parent, and we’re concentrating on that market, a much more disciplined approach to managing asthma. And that’s essentially the problem, that asthma’s not well managed, it’s poorly controlled, people aren’t medicating… So, now we’re giving them an objective measure in which they can see what’s happening with their child and then take the medication. So, it’s a complementary product out there and we only intend to sell the product to diagnosed asthmatics, we’re not a diagnostic product, we’re just a management product.
So, that’s the advantage of it. You’ve got a measure, then you can go to the doctor… I mean, patient’s don’t go to the doctor every month, they would have a period of time they can go to the doctor and say, ‘Well, our child had this problem during this period of time.’ The doctor can then have a real time – if you need to, you can send the wheeze rate as it occurs to the doctor. But that depends on the doctor wanting access to the emails. But you can certainly go along to the doctor with a period of time which you can show what’s been happening to both the wheeze rate and triggers and medication usage. So, there’s a much more objective, quantitative measure of a symptom of asthma and wheeze is the major symptom.
There’s no quantitative measure of tightness in the chest or how they feel etcetera and you know yourself when you go to a doctor you’ll sometimes say, ‘I feel crook.’ And, ‘How crook?’ the doctor will say. Well, for a child that’s pretty hard and for a mother that’s even harder because a child can’t express their degree of uncomfortableness. So, it’s a very, very useful tool for that and that’s been shown clinically it’s useful.
Obviously the subscription annuity stream that you’re talking about for the app, potentially $10 a month is a potentially important part of the revenue of the company.
Now, when you talked about it before you were quite vague about what’s going to be in it but you must have a pretty clear idea of that. Because people aren’t going to pay that money unless they’re getting real value out of it are they? What’s going to be in the app?
Well, it will depend on which market you’re in. So, if for example, first of all you have the wheeze rate, then you have your triggers, then you have your medication usage. In addition to that, in a market such as Beijing or Shanghai for example, there’d be clearly a relationship to smog, so we would have a smog alert in there. In a market such as New York or parts of Canada where it’s really cold we’d have weather, temperature, we’d have GPS, very important, which is where you are, what happens to asthma. So, there’s that. We’re going to have games for kids. That’s been one reason why we’ve been working with two bulls which is a colleague at Disney.
So, it’ll be quite a useful product that depending on which market segment you’re in… Australia, clearly we have pollen counts in certain markets, so that’s the usefulness of it. So, you have a standard app and according to the cost of deriving these products and the cost and willingness of people to pay, then you can upgrade it according to whatever. And text alerts is another part of that where people get a text message saying, ‘Have you taken your wheeze rate today?’ I just try other devices on my phone and I get text messages every day from various companies I should be doing ‘x’ and ‘y’. So, it’s quite a proactive way of helping parents work with their kids on their asthma.
Are there any other devices like this on the market?
Not in asthma, no. There’s a device called a Peak Flow Meter which was basically very old, you’d have to expire breath in one second into a Peak Flow Meter. That’s a very old product, it’s not regarded as being terribly useful. You blow into it and you have to expire breath in one second. Generally the clinical review of that is you need a very good technique to be able to blow out for one second. Children find it very hard, they don’t have a great lung capacity and people just don’t like doling it. There’s conditionally in most markets, paper trails you have to fill in. So, you go to your doctor and say, well this is what happened? But it’s generally to a large degree, not terribly clinically useful now because people have been shown not to use it and that’s the only product that’s out there at the moment in this segment which is basically monitoring asthma.
There are asthma medication compliance products out there which basically count when you take the medication and tell you when you’ve taken the medication, but that’s a different thing. What we’re doing is picking up the symptoms.
Isn’t there something called ResApp which was also a disaster?
Well, I wouldn’t use the word also…
[Laughs] I think we’re well-positioned. ResApp is quite a different product, Alan. It was designed to identify via cough, pneumonia, originally and you cough directly into the iPhone or the android and it tries to identify the cough and then the position they’ve taken is that they will be able to diagnose various diseases. But our view is a couple of things really. Obviously they didn’t have a very successful trial, which we’ve been very successful at, we’ve always had clinical trials that have been successful. But more importantly, we’ve felt that just to rely at this stage of our growth, and everybody’s the same in this market – to rely on the cell phone makers for their technology is probably a little bit risky at this stage.
I mean, you know what’s happening at the moment with the iOS 11, everybody’s contacts lists have dropped out. So, to rely on somebody else’s technology which is the microphone in the cell phone we thought is probably not the right way to go straight away. We’re not saying it can’t be done down the track but that certainly will test the FDA and CE approval makers a lot. Imagine walking into the doctors saying, ‘Here you go, I’ve just diagnosed my asthma on my cell phone.’ It’s just not something that is really accepted by the medical profession.’
We’re quite different. We, unashamedly so, we monitor, we don’t diagnose, we’re not trying to take any business away from the doctors. They’re very capable of doing what they’re doing, we’re just there to help patients in the home and help the doctor get a better measure and objective understanding of the child and the youth.
When do you think you’ll have it on the market?
Well, we’re hoping, as I said earlier, to have the prototype pretty close to six months and then we just have to find where we make it. The original one was made in Shenzhen, it’s possible we go back to that same manufacturer, but the real issue in this technology business is to have the designer of the product and the manufacturer working very close together, and that’s what we intend to do this time. Last time I think the plans were just given to the manufacturer. So, sometime between the time of the prototype, which is really the key one to have a working prototype and then a manufacturing process and an assembly process. In effect, in the breath sensor it’s got a microphone, a computer chip, Bluetooth and battery. So, basically it’s an assembly process, they’re all products you can buy, best of class in the marketplace and program the chip. So, I wouldn’t call it a complex manufacturing process, no.
So, what sort of revenue do you think you’re going to make?
Well, to give you an example, 65 million people in the UK, roughly 30% are kids and youths. So, you’ve got 20 million kids and youths, as we would call the market we’re trying out for. 10% is the sort of number of asthmatics, it can vary between 7-10%. So, you’re talking about 2 million asthmatics in the UK. If you sell 100,000 devices in the UK you’ve got 5% of the market. If you add Germany onto that you’ve got 5 million people between Germany and UK, and even at a 2% penetration of 100,000 devices we’re not being overly optimistic, we’re being quite conservative with our estimates of market share. The market’s so big, it’s not like going into a market saying, ‘We’re going to conquer a market or get 10 or 20%.’ We think with relatively low penetration in a few countries you can sell a lot of product.
So, I’m just using a baseline there of 100,000. Clearly, we’d aim to sell more than that. But when you’re in such a global market – there’s probably 100 million people in China with asthma – there’s no doubt it’s a huge global market and it’s the last of the three big chronic diseases. You’ve got cardiology and you’ve got diabetes and asthma’s the third and asthma’s probably the biggest opportunity now. There’s a lot of people in those other two segments. So, that’s why we’re quite optimistic and excited. We know the product works, we’ve had it trialled clinically and we know we can measure wheeze, so we’re quite optimistic about the opportunities.
So, what are you saying, you reckon you can sell 100,000 in Europe?
So, you’re making $100 per product, right?
So, that’s $10 million dollars?
$10 million, yeah.
So, your market cap is $14m?
Yeah, I mean we’ve been influenced a little, as happens in this market, Alan, you get caught up in the biotech area a bit, but yeah, it’s fairly impatient, if I could use the expression. If you go to the states you’ve got a company over there called Dexcom which is a diabetes company, that’s got a market cap of $11 billion. It took them 10 years to develop a product. I mean, these things aren’t fast, you’ve got to be very, very careful with medical technology to make sure it’s right. You have to test it, trial it and get it out there. So, it’s not things you can rush. Generally speaking it’s somewhere between 5 to 10 years between the conception of things and getting things on the market. I think one of the important things we haven’t discussed is the fact that this is an over the counter product.
In other words, it doesn’t need a prescription, you can sell the product direct to consumers. That opens up a whole raft of market segments that are available. Obviously the Alibaba’s and the Amazons of the world. In addition to that you’ve got various channels of distribution which goes back to my Woolworths days I guess. But you’ve got pharmacists, you’ve got electronic retailers, Virgin megastores etcetera in the UK, Best Buy in the States, JB Hi-Fi’s here. There’s a lot of distribution opportunities there in this market as being a consumer product. So, products that are slower to market are products that need a prescription because you have to market the product to the doctor, the doctor has to write a script and then so it’s a very different marketing process and in effect it’s a cheaper marketing exercise than for prescription products. So, the runway you’ve got is much better and that’s I think a key differentiator. We think we’ve got good marketing capabilities and understand consumers pretty well. We’ve done a lot of research. We started off Procter & Gamble in the States many years ago and my personal view is that’s one of the defining characteristics of this product, its ability to get the consumer and test it a market such as, say, the UK, you’ve got segments there whether it be Birmingham or Edinburgh or Cheltenham or Leeds or whatever, you can quite clearly define markets.
That’s very appealing to governments. You’re getting data there that they don’t have and you’re getting data that health insurance don’t have and because you’re seeing different patterns in different market segments. In addition to that obviously you’re able to trial things quite quickly, like a traditional consumer product. So, if you’re agile, quick, understand consumers and have got an overlay of good medical things behind you such as research papers and the doctors who have done this… For example, a huge study recently in England was called Asthma Kills, was undertaken by a chap called Mark Levy – Mark was one of the first researchers who did wheeze for us.
So, he’s just published a massive paper which has transformed what they’re thinking about in the UK at the moment. So, that’s a differential that we think is quite important. You need the doctor’s to be onside, for want of a better expression, but you also can market directly to consumers, so you’ve got a little bit of a push-pull situation in the market place.
I assumed you’d be selling it through pharmacies, but you reckon you could sell it through JB Hi-Fi?
Well, it depends what’s happening, Alan. We have had positive discussions with pharmacies but if you go into the UK for example and go into Boots, Boots is owned by Walgreens and Walgreens is owned by KKR and without being disrespectful I mean you buy more tomatoes in Walgreens than you’ll buy thermometers or blood pressure devices. I mean the nature of pharmacies worldwide have moved into cosmetics. The first floor of Boots in anywhere in the UK is cosmetics and then downstairs you go and then there’s the pharmacy. And you’ve seen what’s happened in Australia here with say Chemist Warehouse. So, that retail channel is certainly stronger in other markets than others, but there are channels. This, in a way, is a bit of a lifestyle product.
In the UK the lifestyle products are grouped together so you can go buy a smart watch or a Fitbit, a baby monitor, all of those in one section in a Virgin megastore. And it’s the same in America now where Best Buys have got it. So, that’s open. I’m not saying any one channel is necessarily more important but we’ve got to be alert to what’s changing in the marketplace. But we have had, in an Australian context, very positive discussions from pharmacists who have been looking at another revenue stream, if I can use that example, and one where they can give advice to patients as opposed to competing in the generic space or the volume space against both the supermarkets and the Chemist Warehouses of the world.
So, that’s the fun part of this, I mean it’s really horses courses in the various markets and at the end of the day there’s no doubt in our mind as long as this is going to be a consumer product, the internet, the mummy blogs, the WeChats, Instagrams, all of that will be quite an important marketing component and that can be very powerful if you’re getting support about a product in these market segments. It’s also a price defining element as well but it gives a much, much broader and faster way to market and faster way to revenue streams if you get it right, and clearly you have to get it right.
Which countries will you be going for first?
We’ve said unashamedly we’ve been looking at two, one’s the UK and Europe. UK, because a lot of our research was done over there, our clinical papers were issued over there and it’s a centralised health system. We’ve had some positive enquiries already from that. We know the researchers over there, we know some of the top people in the hospital systems. Most of our professors who wrote papers were head of the major hospitals over there or in the respiratory section of the hospitals. So, that’s a market, as I said earlier, where you can segment. The government drives it and they are very keen now in addressing – there’s a big paper that’s come out recently on addressing asthma. The Asthma Society in the UK is really very, very enthusiastic about this area they’re calling connected help and how it can transform self-management.
So, all up, we think that’s an ideal target. We would aim to string off that into possibly Germany which is another sort of the Silicon Valley, if I can use that expression, of Europe along with London. It’s really a very high tech area. One of our recent papers was written there in Berlin, we did some trials on kids in hospital. So, we’ve got a good entry point into that market. China, we all know the issues there. We do get a lot of enquiries from China of course because of the smog and whenever I’ve had an opportunity to present over there it’s been very enthusiastic received, but it’s a little bit harder to crack and we’re conscious of that but it’s certainly in the sort of top three categories there.
Do you think you’re a takeover target?
Everybody’s a takeover target.
No, but has anyone approached you at this point?
How much would you and Bruce Mathieson sell the business for?
We won’t say, Alan. That’s clearly Bruce’s issue and mine, we’ll do what’s best for all the shareholders.
It’d be a fair bit more than $14m wouldn’t it?
I’d hope so. [Laughs]
When do you think the stock will be re-rated, before or after you start selling?
It’s starting to be a little bit. It’s starting to be, Alan, we’re getting some new investors come in, which is good. So, there’s a slight change going on in the register. They’re people of significance and people who now see an opportunity to come in, they realise that we’ve sort of de-risked the business as much as we can. Probably the only risk now would be time. We can produce the device, we know it can measure wheeze, so our aim is to get it done as fast as possible, that would be the major risk to commercial and it’s up to the management team to market and sell the product. So, I think that re-rating process will probably come through over this next six-month period where people are having a good look at it and becoming interested at the prices they’re getting for it now.
You’d be in your 70s now wouldn’t you, Leon?
Just over, early 70s, yeah.
Oh well, it’s great to see you so active and engaged, Leon, it’s fantastic, good on you.
Yeah, well one day I’m dealing with a professor of medicine at one of the leading universities, the next day I’m dealing with a 22-year-old who’s a fantastic computer programmer, so it’s certainly kept me alive and interested in all the things that are happening around us and it’s probably the most exciting industry there is so that’s been a lot of fun. I had to cut out a few holidays here and there though unfortunately.
Fair enough. Great to talk to you, Leon, thanks very much.
Okay. Thanks, Alan, bye.
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Suspect escapes police car on I15
A brazen escape from the back of a police car on I15 led to a brief chase overnight Sunday into Monday.
Draper Police were transporting a 21-year-old man to jail, who was suspected of aggravated assault with a firearm.
Police say when they were on I-15 near 3500 South, the suspect broke the window of the police car and jumped out onto the freeway.
Police say he made it off the west side of the freeway about a half mile before officers caught up to him, used a Taser, and took him back into custody.
Today’s Top Stories
- Father of girl who died in Kaysville parade is thankful for those who helped
- GoFundMe started to remember 8-year-old girl who died in Kaysville parade
- Those who practice intermittent fasting less likely to have severe COVID complications,…
- Family of Zane James speaks out after settlement reached with Cottonwood Heights
- 8-year-old girl in critical condition after getting injured at Kaysville parade
- The Great Salt Lake water level reaches a historic low as Utah continues to face extreme drought
- Could a gas strike work? One expert doubts it
- Police: Parade shooting suspect contemplated 2nd shooting
- Anonymous donor offers $50K to help find missing South Salt Lake man
- Dog dies after being left in hot car for more than an hour

domain: law


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Fall Scarecrow Wreath
Colors of the fall season abound in this grapevine wreath design. It's filled with loads of grasses, turning maple leaves, and berries. Autumn colored rich golden pomegranate and deep rusty orange along with seasonal sunflowers.
Loops of textured dried grass, seed pods and pumpkins. The designer ribbon is used in a multi-colored bow with accents of black and white.
The scarecrow face is hand-crafted here in our shop with matching ribbon on the hat. Just the right touch for this fall design.
Measures 34"H X 28"W.
Oversized shipping charges may apply.

domain: design


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Poultry farming is increasing in popularity, and the trend is to use LED technology in agricultural lighting. This article discusses the benefits of installing an LED system for poultry farming.
The benefits of applying agricultural lighting in the pig house
LEDs offer many benefits for poultry farming, including reduced environmental impact, longer life spans for lights, and improved performance. Here are four reasons why LEDs are a key component of sustainable poultry farming:
- Reduced Environmental Impact: LED lights to use less energy than other lighting options, leading to reduced environmental impact. They also last longer, requiring less replacement over time.
- Longer Life Spans: LED lights have a longer lifespan than other types of lighting, meaning they can be used for a longer period without having to be replaced. This can improve efficiency and reduce waste.
- Improved Performance: LEDs emit light at a specific color, which provides better illumination than other types of lighting. This results in better performance and increased yields for poultry farmers.
- Safety: LEDs are safer than other types of lighting, which makes them a preferred option for poultry farming operations.
Cost of LED lights
The cost of LED lights varies depending on the model and the amount of light they produce, but they are typically less expensive than traditional lighting. They last longer, which can save you money over time. LEDs also emit no heat, which is beneficial in poultry farming because it reduces the need for air conditioning.
As the world becomes more and more focused on sustainability, it’s no wonder that agricultural production is becoming an increasingly important focus for lighting manufacturers. LED agriculture lighting is not just a superior technology; it’s also environmentally friendly and helps to conserve resources. If you’re looking to get into agricultural lighting, be sure to check out LED agriculture lighting provider Hontech Wins today.

domain: agronomy


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$2.49 (save 58%) if you become a Member! (learn more...)
This is a Hal Leonard digital item that includes:
About Darnell - The Thrill Is Gone sheet music for bass (tablature) (bass guitar):Digital sheet music for bass (tablature) (bass guitar)
NOTE: tablature included.
Contributors to this music title:B.B. King
This item includes: PDF
(digital sheet music to download and print)
Skill Level: intermediate

domain: artistic


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Sex crimes are taken very seriously in South Carolina. Those who are accused of such actions could face a number of significant penalties if convicted, including imprisonment, fines and registration on the Sex Offenders Registry — among various others. There are numerous forms of sex crimes. This week, we are going to discuss rape and where you can find information about how a criminal defense attorney may be able to help you if you are accused of this form of sexual assault.
What is rape? Rape, by definition, is sexual penetration without consent. The number of rapes that occur in South Carolina and across the country is thought to be pretty high. However, many such sexual assaults are believed to go unreported.
Fighting a rape charge can be difficult, as it often comes down to the victim’s word versus that of the accused. However, taking the time and pursuing appropriate actions to fight such accusations may be in one’s best interests. To learn more about sex crimes, how they are treated by authorities and how an attorney may be able to assist you, please visit our firm’s website.
A rape charge comes with potentially severe consequences. Those in South Carolina who have been accused and convicted of such crimes often find that their livelihoods are severely affected. If you have been accused of rape, an experienced criminal defense attorney may be able to help you throughout the course of your case — starting with the initial investigation. Seeking counsel immediately is strongly advised, as having representation present during the investigative process can ensure that your rights are not being violated and that your best interests are being fully considered.


Holy sh*t, on the Daily Show tonight they had Jessica Williams doing a “Hunger Games” piece mocking the media for covering the White House Correspondent’s Dinner last weekend instead of the Baltimore situation.
Click the play button above to watch, Williams comes on at the 6:10 min point and the whole segment is awesome.
While Washington’s “best and brightest” were busy wining and dining at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday, thousands of protestors were storming the streets of Baltimore just 40 miles away. If you were tuned into CNN that day, there’s a chance you may have missed the news entirely.
Until last night, I had not seen the press conference Jon and Stephen did following their Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on October 30, 2010.
And as could be expected, most things Jon said were so relevant. Below are some quotes I like from that conference. ____________________________________________________________
Our currency is not this town’s currency. We’re not running for anything. We don’t have a constituency. We do television shows for people who like them […] I understand you guys have… it’s all about who’s winning and who’s losing and the strategy of this and the players and that… but we have TV shows and we wanted to do a really good show for people that took the time to come out and see us. I feel like we accomplished it.
About writing his speech for the rally: I just stayed up late last night. And wrote ‘til I was done. That was about it. Just wanted to speak a little bit from the heart.
The boundaries that we set for ourselves are based on our own sense of human decency. Not based on some preordained category of people who are allowed to speak seriously… people that must only speak in jokes or only speak in rhyme… Our shows are just a reflection of our points of view. I’m not exactly sure why they are lanes.
I don’t think there’s any interview that I’ve ever done that I don’t leave going 'I wish I’d done that better’. […] In the moment, I enjoy conversation. Our interviews are obviously the most erratic portion of our show, because those are the most spontaneous and the least structured. But they can be the most revelatory. […] The joy of it is in the trying.
About being “just” a comedian: By the way, when people say I’m “a comedian”… That’s not “I’m just a comedian”. I’m really proud to be a comedian. I think it’s hard. I think it’shard to distill your most valued thoughts into comedy and let things that you feel strongly about be the subtext for what you create. […] I’ll defend what we do on the show, and if turns out to be something that we’re wrong about, I’ll correct it and say we screwed up… But that’s not a dodge. That’s pride.
I saw this video and was all like “SWEET, Meryl and Ava being badass about feminist filmmaking, with some other lady” and within minutes Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy had stolen the whole show. The moment where she looks right in Jon Stewart’s eyes and says, “I enjoy making men uncomfortable” is MADE OF WIN. Seriously, all of these ladies are BAMFs and I could watch this a million times, but this is Sharmeen’s show and I’m really glad I now know who she is. SERIOUSLY, WATCH THIS VIDEO, HAVE ALL THE FEMINIST ARTIST FEELS AND THEN GO MAKE SOMETHING.
After nearly two months of speculation, Comedy Central has named a new host for “The Daily Show.” The New York Times reports that freshly-minted correspondent Noah Trevor will take over one of the most influential late-night desks on TV when host Jon Stewart leaves the post (the actual hand-off date has yet to be announced).


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Chicago >Terragusto Lincoln Park
“The food was good (I wouldn't say great but I wouldnt say average).”
“The food was also wonderful and we loved the menu options with more flexibility than the usual chef's menu- don't right off this local- it is a gem, sparlking in it's own way when compared to the terragusto mothership on addison.”
“Having been a long time fan at the addison site I was very reassured to see familiar faces, the same great cuisine, especially our fav taglitelle bolognese with the delicate truffle oil aroma filling our hearts and noses as the plate is gently laid on the”
Truly Awful Service. I made a reservation ten days in advanced, left a credit card number as required, had it all set and was excited to go. Found out an hour before that it had been cancelled, leaving me and 8 others without a place to eat for dinner. The hostess was rude and didn't call me back. Its their loss though. There are plenty of better restaurants in Chicago that will honour reservations and treat you politely. I refuse to ever go to this place ever again.
terragusto still a strong contender for the food lover. Having been a long time fan at the addison site I was very reassured to see familiar faces, the same great cuisine, especially our fav taglitelle bolognese with the delicate truffle oil aroma filling our hearts and noses as the plate is gently laid on the table. Cozy in size but still comfortable, we found the staff very accomodating, as we have come to expect in the terragusto style. The food was also wonderful and we loved the menu options with more flexibility than the usual chef's menu- don't right off this local- it is a gem, sparlking in it's own way when compared to the terragusto mothership on addison.
Avoid at Any cost. Had a horrible experience tonight. We had a group dinner of 11 people. Two of us called in with allergy sensitivities for butter, cream or cheese a week or more before the dinner. For most of the night we were the only group in the restaurant. The chef was arrogant and a real jerk when we pointed out that all of the dishes contained cheese or butter. But the waiter pointed out it was only "light butter" This was very similar to the review by pumpkinil. There are too many restaurants in Chicago to spend your hard earned money on rather than be treated in this way. They deserve to go out of business with this attitude.
they forgot we told them we had a nut allergy.
Last night my fiance and I went to terragusto based on a very strong recommendation from a friend. When we entered the small space we were overcome by the sauna like conditions. We were sat by a loud hostess who told us way too much information about other guests, like the couple who were supposed to arrive before us that were very late, etc... she all around wasnt pulled together.
We were told to do the chef's tasting by a friend so when our waiter arrives we explain to him that there is a nut allergy at the table. He was very thorough asking what kinds of nuts (all) and if we have an epi pen (no). Course 1 was fine, food was good. Course 2 a pasta boulognese and a squash ravioli with crumbled amaretti cookies on top, realizing that amaretti cookies are almond flavored I tasted them first and quickly told my fiance not to eat them. Course 3 was fine. Course 4 dessert, they brought us 3, a flourless chocolate cake thingy with HAZELNUT sauce, pane cotta with PINENUTS, and mascarpone cheese that didnt contain nuts. 2 of the 3 contained nuts??????
Our bill comes and with the waiter and hostess there I said, I'd like to point out that we said we had a nut allergy and were served 3 dishes with nuts in them, to which I was informed that the amaretti cookies didnt contain nuts... I am in the culinary industry and regardless if your almond flavor cookie contains nuts why would you serve a nut flavor cookie to someone with a nut allergy or aversion?
The hostess wouldnt give up on the fact that 1 of the 3 dishes that contained nuts didnt have nuts to which I said, it doesnt matter because you served us 2 other dishes with nuts and are lucky that we caught it before he ate them... and what did she do?? SHE ROLLED HER EYES AT ME and walked away.
The tasting was $47 a person and my fiance was unable to eat 3 of the dishes that were given to us... I dont think he should have been charged the entire $47 especially since they could have made him very sick, but they did nothing about the fact that they could have killed him.
The food was good (I wouldn't say great but I wouldnt say average). But given the overall experience I will NEVER be going back to Terragusto. IF you take away the nut thing I still wouldnt go back, the space is small, we were literally sitting on top of each other it was 100 degrees in there and the waiter and waitress were disheveled.
Pasta connoisseurs brave long waits and cramped Lincoln Park quarters for handmade creations accented by seasonal ingredients.. On the second story of a walk-up brownstone, a handful of tables, a couple of waiters and a harried kitchen make diners who appreciate authentic Italian food very happy. Local, seasonal ingredients find their way into nearly every dish. Creamy sformato gets its green from fresh spinach, and rich wagyu carpaccio is accented with peppery arugula. Like the North Center original, fresh, handmade pasta is pushed as the star of the menu, but entrees like braised pork shank and whole roasted sea bream shouldn't be ignored. Exposed brick and neutral paint don't scream rustic coziness, but patrons, heads buried, don't seem to mind.
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domain: food


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Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has warned that the SNP's plans are a recipe for instability and division as he set out the choice facing voters on a visit to Edinburgh today.
Speaking ahead of the final Scottish TV Leaders Debate before polling day, Mr Rennie was joined at Mike Crockart’s Edinburgh West Liberal Democrat office by former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell as they highlighted the risks of the SNP’s dangerous borrowing plans using a cheque setting out the £3.1bn debt repayments their economic policy would require.
Mr Rennie said:
"The SNP's offer to voters is a recipe for instability and division.
"With days until the polls, voters have a choice between a government anchored in the centre ground with the Liberal Democrats or a government of instability with the SNP who would leave Scotland and the UK facing massive debt repayments and open the door to a second referendum.
"The SNP's reckless borrowing plans would result in us paying £3.1bn each year to rich bankers, heaping debt onto future generations.
"Nicola Sturgeon's continued refusal to rule out a second referendum threatens a return to the divisions in communities, the economic uncertainty and the Scottish government taking its eye off the ball that we experienced only eight months ago.
"In each of our eleven held Liberal Democrat seats, voters have a choice between stability, unity and decency in government with the Liberal Democrats or instability and division with the SNP.
"Only the Liberal Democrats have a responsible, decent plan to balance the books by 2018 and deliver an £800million boost to the Scottish NHS. Our positive plans will build a stronger economy and a fairer society, creating opportunity for all."

domain: news


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Ignite your imagination
Outdoor play is important for kids. This is why Wanderwatch has designed a smartwatch for outdoor play. It is not just staring at yet another screen, but outdoors this time. Wanderwatch features some truly unique outdoor games, which put the child at the center of gameplay. Let them ignite their imagination and with a few simple games, we have seen kids playing and running outdoors all day long.
Balance the ball
Keep the ball from touching the outer ring. When you start the game, you will hear a countdown of 5 seconds, followed by a whistle. Once the whistle sounds, the ball is free.
Keep it in the middle as good as you can. It might be easy when you sit at the table, but can you also do it running or climbing an obstacle? Raise your challenge and you will have a lot of fun!
The sound effects app adds a lot to your play. How about a siren that turns your bike into a police car? Or sword sounds that turn a stick into a sword?
Click on the image of the "Sound Effects" link to explore the sound effects app in detail
The Wanderwatch starter kit comes with a Magic Beacon. They will add a lot of fun to Wanderwatch.
How about a hot or cold game? Use your imagination to hide the Magic Beacon. Is it a treasure? You decide!

domain: hobby


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Holidays. 5 Most Cleanest Rivers Of India. The latest report of Pollution Board say’s Narmada River and Chamabal are the cleanest rivers of India and amongst India’s 10 major rivers, water of Narmada and Chamabal are cleanest and even fit for drinking.
What are the 7 holy rivers?
I recently read Kamandalu – The Seven Sacred Rivers of Hinduism and as the title suggests it is about the seven sacred rivers of India, namely Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Sindhu/Indus, Narmada, Godavari and Kaveri.
Which is India’s least polluted river?
The Chambal River is the cleanest river of India, considered pollution free and host amazing species of mugger and gharial, freshwater turtles,gangetic river dolphins and Indian skimmers.
Can you swim in the Ganges river?
Yes , it is 100% safe to swim in River Ganges but only if you are a good swimmer because you will find more deep when you will start moving towards the mid.
Is Ganga cleaner than before?
The government claims that the Ganga river has become cleaner. This is all a lie. The river cannot become cleaner till the sewage falling into the river stops completely,” Mishra, who is also the head of the Sankat Mochan Foundation, an NGO to clean and protect the Ganga, told Mongabay-India.

domain: geography


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Nuclear power plants in ‘culture of denial’ over hacking risk, Ft.com, 6 Oct 15, Nuclear power plants around the world are harbouring a “culture of denial” about the risks of cyber hacking, with many failing to protect themselves against digital attacks, a review of the industry has warned.
A focus on safety and high physical security means that many nuclear facilities are blind to the risks of cyber attacks, according to the report by think-tank Chatham House, citing 50 incidents globally of which only a handful have been made public.
“Cyber security is still new to many in the nuclear industry,” said Caroline Baylon, the report’s author…….
Ms Baylon said there was a “culture of denial” at many nuclear plants, with a standard response from engineers and officials being that because their systems were not connected to the internet, it would be very hard to compromise them.
“Many people said it was simply not possible to cause a major incident like a release of ionising radiation with a cyber attack . . . but that’s not necessarily true.”
Ms Baylon described how systems and back-ups powering reactor cooling systems could be compromised, for example, to trigger an incident similar to that seen at Fukushima Daichi in Japan in 2011, the worst nuclear failure since Chernobyl.
Dozens of nuclear power stations have control systems accessible through the internet even though many plant operators believe a persistent “myth” that their facilities are “air gapped” with physically separated computer networks, the report says.
It points to a 2003 incident at the Davis-Besse plant in Ohio, when an engineer accessed the plant from his home laptop through an encrypted VPN connection. His home computer had become infected with the nuisance self-replicating “slammer” worm. The trojan infected the nuclear plant’s computer system, causing a key safety control system to be overwhelmed with traffic from the worm and trip out.
A more serious 2006 incident occurred at Browns Ferry in Alabama when a key safety system was similarly overwhelmed with network traffic and nearly led to a meltdown.
The report points to a 2008 incident at the Hatch plant in Georgia to illustrate how vulnerable plants could be to deliberate digital disruption: though not an attack, when a contractor issued a routine patch to a business network system, it triggered a shutdown…….
Companies that own plants are also increasing the number of digital “backdoors” into facilities by putting in more monitoring systems to gather data and try to become more efficient businesses.
Engineers and contractors at facilities around the globe also routinely bring their own computers into nuclear plants to perform their jobs, officials told Chatham House. One described the control room at his nuclear plant as routinely having external laptops plugged in to its systems — sometimes left there overnight.
“It would be extremely difficult to cause a meltdown at a plant or compromise one but it would be possible for a state actor to do, certainly,” said Ms Baylon “The point is that risk is probability times consequence. And even though the probability might be low, the consequence of a cyber incident at a nuclear plant is extremely high.” http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b5f0df54-6aa1-11e5-aca9-d87542bf8673.html#axzz3np7mwxsz
Trans-Pacific Partnership – just what do the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (or I.S.D.S.) provisions mean?
Germany is in the midst of a $4.7-billion lawsuit occasioned by its decision to phase out nuclear power.
There’s nothing wrong with domestic courts reviewing government regulations, but outsourcing the responsibility to international tribunals is troubling
The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Good? or bad?, leisure guy, 6 Oct 15 “……James Surowiecki in a brief New Yorker column describes some drawbacks:……….The case has yet to be decided, but the concerns it raises help explain President Obama’s embarrassing setback last week, when the House failed to give him fast-track authority over one of two big trade agreements that had been envisaged as a key part of his legacy. Both agreements—the Trans-Pacific Partnership, with eleven Asian and Pacific countries, and an agreement with Europe called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership—include provisions very like the ones at the heart of Australia’s fight with Big Tobacco. Known as Investor-State Dispute Settlement (or I.S.D.S.) provisions, they typically allow foreign investors to sue governments when they feel they have not received “fair or equitable treatment,” and to have their cases heard not by a domestic court but by an international arbitration tribunal made up of three lawyers.
These provisions have been opposed by an unusual coalition of progressives and conservatives, who contend that they will let multinationals override government policy, and, as Senator Elizabeth Warren put it, “undermine U.S. sovereignty.” On the other side, the Obama Administration and business groups insist that this is just fear-mongering. ………
This mission creep has been abetted by the fact that the language of I.S.D.S. provisions is often vague. Jason Yackee, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin who specializes in international-investment law, told me, “The rights given to investors are so open-ended and ambiguous that they allow for a lot of creative lawyering.” Canada lost a case where it had rejected, after an environmental study, a proposed mining and marine-terminal project. The country was also sued when Quebec imposed a moratorium on fracking. Germany is in the midst of a $4.7-billion lawsuit occasioned by its decision to phase out nuclear power. Uruguay is facing a lawsuit from Philip Morris International, much like the one brought against Australia.
There’s nothing wrong with domestic courts reviewing government regulations, but outsourcing the responsibility to international tribunals is troubling. …………
FROM The Financial Page JUNE 22, 2015 ISSUE Trade-Agreement Troubles BY JAMES SUROWIECKI. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/22/trade-agreement-troubles
STATE UTILITY REGULATOR RE-EXAMINES SECRET MEETINGS Don’t expect big changes yet By Don Bauder, San Diego Reader, Sept. 30, 2015 By now, savvy folks know that the California Public Utilities Commission has to clean up its act — thoroughly. Commissioners and staff members used illegal, back-channel communications with Southern California Edison to fleece ratepayers over costs of closing the San Onofre nuclear plant. Similarly, commission members were secretly helping Pacific Gas and Electric in its attempt to get a light penalty for its negligence leading to the 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and incinerated a neighborhood.
But the commission is not giving itself a thorough bath. It’s taking a cowboy bath at best.
Example: at the same time that the utility regulator was not turning over documents requested in a search warrant from the state’s attorney general, it was gathering legal opinions on how it could restore public confidence. Hmmm…
The utilities commission paid the law firm of Strumwasser & Woocher to make recommendations on the ex parte (one-sided) meetings between regulatory officials and utilities that led to the anticonsumer actions over San Onofre and San Bruno. It also had a staff lawyer, Ed O’Neill, prepare a report on both the secrecy and necessity of bringing efficiency to the decision-making process. O’Neill, who had worked for the commission before representing energy and telecom firms, was hired to “modernize” the commission’s decision-making process.
This “modernizing” involved suggested changes in the California Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, even though the original purpose of that act was to sacrifice efficiency in favor of the public’s knowledge of and participation in commission decisions.
Generally speaking, the Strumwasser recommendations are considered sound. …….. http://m.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/sep/30/citylights-california-utility-drop-secret-meetings/
Nuclear safety activists in Kiev are facing defamation charges in court, for doing nothing more than telling the truth about Ukraine’s nuclear reactors.
If you live in a neighbouring country like Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, etc. you have a legal right to have your say about Ukraine’s nuclear plans. But the government in Kiev wants to ignore you, just like it doesn’t want to listen to activists at home.
Ukraine’s government is planning to extend the operations of its ageing and unsafe nuclear reactors. The lawsuit against Bankwatch’s member group National Ecological Centre of Ukraine (NECU) is an attempt to silence criticism and avoid public scrutiny.
UKRAINE’S NEIGHBOURS HAVE A RIGHT TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS DECISION.
Ukraine is obliged through international conventions to inform and consult its neighbouring countries about its plans. This hasn’t happened so far.
BUT WE WON’T BE SILENCED OR IGNORED!
Organisations in five EU countries have joined the campaign to demand that citizens in Ukraine’s neighbourhood are fully informed about these risky nuclear plans and have a say in the process.
SIGN UP TO BE PART OF OUR CAMPAIGN.
HELP CONVINCE UKRAINE TO RESPECT ITS CITIZENS AND ITS NEIGHBOURS.”
http://bankwatch.org/nucleartruth#more (CC-BY-SA-3.0, Bankwatch.org; Emphasis our own.) Sign for updates-more at link
The Chernobyl disaster taught that most of Europe is a “neighbouring country” in the event of an Ukrainian nuclear accident. In the UK and Norway, far, far away from the Ukraine, livestock-reindeer remain dangerously contaminated with both intermediate (Caesium 137) and long-lived radionuclides. http://www.environment.no/Goals-and-indicators/Goals-and-indicators/Radioactive-pollution/Limit-radiation/Geographical-distribution-of-caesium-137-in-soils-in-Norway-/Caesium-137-in-wild-reindeer-/ Impacts in Europe were splotchy in nature. Radioactive fallout impact from nuclear accidents depends on factors such as wind-direction, rain, and geography (e.g. mountains).
Under the Espoo-Aarhus Conventions there is to be meaningful participation within the Ukraine, and in potentially impacted (transboundary) countries, for environmental impacts.
Maybe we should start speaking of death-extensions of ageing nuclear reactors, rather than life-extensions?
NBC: Radioactive debris on beach at California nuclear plant — Magazine: Bombshell report reveals radiation cover-up — Experts: “Unbelievable what they’re doing there”… “We still don’t know how high those levels were” (VIDEO)http://enenews.com/nbc-radioactive-debris-beach-california-nuclear-plant-magazine-bombshell-report-reveals-radiation-cover-experts-unbelievable-theyre-doing-dont-high-levels-video?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
East County Magazine, Sep 26, 2015 (emphasis added): NBC TV Investigation Finds Evidence Of Radioactive Debris On Beach At San Onofre — An investigation by KNSD-TV Channel 7 , the NBC affiliate in San Diego, has dropped a bombshell regarding efforts to cover-up lax handling of nuclear waste and radiation leaks at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Stations… NBC’s investigation found high radiation levels endangered Southern California employees in trailers, including radiation levels so alarming that Nuclear Regulatory inspectors at times refused to perform routine radiation surveys… Hundreds of pieces of contaminated radioactive equipment were stored on both sides of Interstate 5, which bisects the San Onofre nuclear waste dump now under construction… Nuclear power expert Joe Hopenfeld told NBC 7 that San Onofre was “very, very sloppy, very very careless in handling radioactive material.”… Some have reportedly been pressured to sign non-disclosure agreements to prevent negative information from being made public… NBC reported that SDG&E did not respond to its requests for comments, nor did the Marines… Due to secrecy shrouding the San Onofre high nuclear readings… [Charles Langley is a former public advocate at the Utility Consumers’ Action Network who was terminated for being a whistleblower] observes, “We still don’t know how high those radiation levels were. And if Edison gets its way, we will never know… The answer is probably worse than we think.”
NBC San Diego, Sep 23, 2015: Documents Detail How Nuclear Material Was Handled at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station… The documents were released to individuals involved with the secret negotiations about the current condition and future handling of the 25-acre property… According to the source, the team representing the utilities has told all involved they want nondisclosure agreements signed so no one can go public with any information disclosed during the negotiations [and] the utilities are reluctant to provide full disclosure on what has occurred on the property since they took possession of it… Joe Hopenfeld, an expert on the nuclear power industry, said, “It was unbelievable what they were doing there“… The report says it was determined the cubicle was “responsible for most of the radiation measured on the beach.”… The other document NBC 7 Investigates received is dated April 10, 2014… This document was provided by the utilities to “identify those locations at the Mesa that were affected by the inappropriate presence of radioactive materials.”… After reading in the report about a steam generator system pipe that was “hot,” Hopenfeld said, “You have hot spots, you don’t know what they are.”… “This is an indication of the mentality and the culture at the time at SONGS,” he said. [Former San Onofre Safety Officer Vinrod Arora ] said the plant grounds should be thoroughly inspected by an independent third party and not by SCE or SDGE or any of their subcontractors. “Be very careful of the goods they accept from Edison with the blessings of the NRC,” Arora warned. The concern, he said, is not just for the land but for those that might someday use it.
“The radiation in that building got so high, it went clear off the scale,” Pace recalled to NBC4. “They were not able to contain the radiation that was leaking from the reactor.”
As NBC4 documents, “Pace says that dangerous radiation was released for weeks and went whichever direction the wind was blowing. Pace says the large door in the reactor was opened so they could vent the radiation from inside the building. He also remembers that the exhaust stack of the reactor was opened so that radiation could be released from inside the damaged reactor straight into the atmosphere.”
“Each time they started and stopped the reactor . . . radiation from the reactor was released,
Pace said he and all of the other workers were “sworn to secrecy” and his boss “[got] right in his face” to make it clear. He says he and his coworkers were “just following orders.” “Nobody knows the truth of what actually happened,”
The Atomic Energy Commission reported to the public six weeks after the incident that a “fuel element failure” — a minor accident — had occurred but that no radiation had leaked to surrounding communities
The Worst Nuclear Disaster in US History That You’ve Never Heard About http://theantimedia.org/the-worst-nuclear-disaster-in-us-history-that-youve-never-heard-about/ Carey Wedler September 28, 2015 (ANTIMEDIA) Los Angeles, CA — The United States government deliberately hid “the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history,” according to experts and an in-depth investigationby NBC4 Southern California. Whistleblowers have also come forward to expose the little-known catastrophe, which occurred north of Los Angeles in 1959 and leaked over 300 times the allowable amount of radiation into surrounding neighborhoods. That contamination is now linked to up to a 60% increase in cancer in the area, but the government still refuses to acknowledge its colossal mistake.
The ongoing tragedy was driven by America’s darkest demons, from dogmatic militarism to aggressive corporatism, and ongoing government and corporate efforts to cover-up the disaster are nothing short of staggering. Continue reading
America’s worst nuclear disaster happened in 1959, two years before President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of an emerging military-industrial complex that would entangle the nation in endless war. While he was still president, corporations were laying a foundation of corporatocracy and militarism that would allow Boeing to amass monumental power throughout the 20th century. It is that power and influence, fueled by war and the profits it yields, that has made a full cleanup impossible.
After countless lies, cover ups, and overwhelming collusion, however, instead of taking responsibility for the cleanup, Boeing has added insult to injury by moving to construct a recreational park near SFFL
NRC Restores Public Access to Information Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project http://allthingsnuclear.org/nrc-restores-public-access-to-information/ September 22, 2015
In July 2014, UCS learned that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had for nearly a decade been blanket withholding all documents it received from nuclear plant owners about fire protection and emergency planning.
In November 2014, I wrote the NRC Chairman on behalf of UCS, Beyond Nuclear,Greenpeace, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and Enformable.com requesting that the Commission revisit this policy and revise it to restore the public’s access to non-sensitive information.
The blanket withholding policy had been adopted in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy as one of the measures intended to protect against the successful sabotage of U.S. nuclear power plants. The fire protection and emergency planning documents might contain information useful to potential saboteurs. The documents probably lacked such information, but the NRC opted to err on the side of caution.
Our group letter pointed that that during the intervening years, the NRC and the nuclear industry had made considerable progress identifying the kinds of information that should not be publicly available. Additionally, the NRC had established a process for plant owners to use when submitting documents to the NRC that contained this sensitive information.
We requested that the NRC discontinue the blanket withholding policy and instead rely on the common understanding the agency had reached with nuclear plant owners about sensitive information and the process developed by the NRC for handling such information.
The NRC staff revisited the issue, but did so from the wider perspective of information withholding practices in general. Whereas we had narrowly asked that the policy as applied to fire protection and emergency planning documents for operating nuclear power reactors be revised, the NRC staff reassessed its document withholding policies more broadly. Following this reassessment, the NRC staff in March 2015 asked its Commission for approval to restore public access to many documents but restrict access to documents containing sensitive information. The Commission voted unanimously in June 2015 to approve the NRC staff’s request.
UCS appreciates the NRC granting our request and restoring public access to fire protection and emergency planning documents submitted to it by nuclear plant owners.
UCS is even more appreciative of the NRC reassessing its document withholding policies holistically and revising them globally. As a result, not only will the public regain access to fire protection and emergency planning documents, but also to appropriate documents spanning the NRC’s wide range of responsibilities.
The NRC’s decision continues to protect against radiological sabotage while restoring public access to many records. In late 2004 when the blanket withholding policy was adopted, “sensitive information” was like beauty in that it was subjectively in the eyes of the beholder. And even had “sensitive information” been objectively discernible to all parties, the NRC lacked a process for plant owners to use when submitting documents containing this information. With both of these issues long since resolved, the NRC can restore public access to the majority of documents lacking “sensitive information” while withholding from ne’er do wells the few documents containing “sensitive information.”
The UCS Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit (NEAT) is a series of post intended to help citizens understand nuclear technology and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s processes for overseeing nuclear plant safety.
Treasury’s work on nuclear energy being kept secret – David Maynier Politics Web | 27 September 2015DA MP says dept has clearly done work on the feasibility, financing and assessment of alternative energy options The Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene, has not disclosed the fact that the National Treasury conducted and completed extensive work on the proposed nuclear build programme in the 2014/15 Financial Year.
Up until now the Minister has claimed the National Treasury had only recently been invited into the process of decision-making on the financing of the nuclear build programme; and that, although work was being done on the nuclear build programme, the work had not been completed.
However, a careful reading of the National Treasury’s 2014/15 annual report tells a very different story. The National Treasury in fact:
– conducted and completed extensive work on nuclear energy during the 2014/15 Financial Year;
– some of the work was included in the decision-making process and submitted to the Department of Energy during the 2014/15 Financial Year; and
– an official, or officials, from the National Treasury, received training, at an estimated cost of R500 000, in nuclear finance, which was sponsored by South Korea……… We cannot sit back and allow the nuclear build programme to go ahead in secret given the massive financial implications for South Africa. http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politics/treasurys-work-on-nuclear-energy-being-kept-secret
“When the Chernobyl accident happened some of the iodine went around the world several times. In fact, you, I, everyone – we all have a piece of Chernobyl in our body…” ~ Theoretical physicist and author Michio Kaku
Disinformation is a component of any propaganda. The highly paid technocrats and advocates of “peaceful uses of the atom” increasingly use disinformation to repress and control public protest against nuclear pollution and environmental injustice.
As a former employee of two US national nuclear labs, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and after having seen what I have seen, NO, I am NOT an advocate of nuclear power. Unfortunately, most so-called experts on these issues talk in front of a blackboard, but that is not what nuclear materials are; they are not theory and calculations on paper, as most academics around the world seem to think, but destructive beasts that kill people without any discrimination. Let them go and get dressed like astronauts with breathing masks, and experience nuclear accidents, and be contaminated first hand, and see after that if they will still favor nuclear energy.
I was trained as a handler of nuclear materials, and I experienced how easy it is for contamination to occur and how difficult it is to clean up. I experienced the brainwashing and deception by the nuclear system advocates. During training, we were told that nuclear radiation is just like the light from sun, but when a “little accident” did occur, my co-workers were brought to the hospital immediately for treatment and then fired from the job within one month. Technical equipment of hundreds of thousands of dollars had to be trashed due to contamination. I witnessed explosions, and virtually all instances were due to human error. I worked side by side with the designers of storage cans for nuclear waste, I did research on the behavior of nuclear waste, and I have published a number of technical reports on MOX (mixed oxide), Uranium and Plutonium. I have worked for hundreds of hours in two nuclear labs and my eyes have seen a lot.
When I realized that within the Lab, environmental or nonproliferation work was but an illusion, I decided to resign. My conscience simply does not allow me to work for the development or maintenance of nuclear weapons, particularly in such a dangerous environment.
A few months after I resigned, I received a letter from LLNL with the title: “Beryllium Medical Surveillance Testing for Former LLNL Employees”. In that letter, I was asked to participate in voluntary blood screening for possible Chronic Beryllium Disease, a disease that causes scarring of the lung tissue after a person inhales dust or fumes of beryllium, a toxic and relatively rare element that is created through nuclear fusion reactions. I was shocked to read that the same letter was sent to 28,000 other former LLNL workers. The reason I was shocked is that one of my friends was trying to win his legal case against the lab for beryllium exposure, but the Department of Energy (which oversees the national laboratories) had refused to accept his medical results, which were positive.
What happened as a result? A court decision was finally made. But that is the overarching ethos of the nuclear industry: contaminate people because of profit, refuse to admit it, and then contest it in court until there is no other choice but to finally admit it.
What Are The Financial Costs of Nuclear Energy? ……….http://wakeup-world.com/2015/09/27/cancer-coverups-and-contamination-the-real-cost-of-nuclear-energy/
Fukushima Disaster Aftermath: Japanese Government Has Something to Hide. Sputnik News 24 Sept 15 Commenting on the aftermath of Fukushima disaster, US climate journalist Robert Hunziker suggests that the Japanese government has something to hide; “it must be really big,” the journalist notes, referring to the hard-hitting new secrecy law Tokyo has adopted.
What does all this add up to? The government, its Treasury department, its Chancellor George Osborne and its energy department, DECC, are grossly and presumably knowingly misrepresenting the relative costs of renewable energy and nuclear power.
And it’s all part of plan to force upon us a new generation of hyper-expensive nuclear power plants that will cost energy users through the nose until 2060 and beyond, putting the country on a ‘back to the future’ path to the 1950s, while wiser nations reap the benefits of cheap, clean renewable energy.
They must be stopped. And shame upon them!
Nuclear Lies About Renewable Energy http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/24/nuclear-lies-about-renewable-energy/ by OLIVER TICKELL There’s no doubt about it. The British Government is spreading untruths about the price of renewable energy.
Is it deliberate? One can only assume so owing to the consistency of the pattern and the equally consistent refusal to explain or correct its misleading statements.
The context is also significant: it’s always in the context of supporting nuclear power over renewable energy sources. Continue reading
Commenting on the aftermath of Fukushima disaster, US climate journalist Robert Hunziker suggests that the Japanese government has something to hide; “it must be really big,” the journalist notes, referring to the hard-hitting new secrecy law Tokyo has adopted.
There is something sinister about the Japanese government’s optimistic claims that the notorious Fukushima Prefecture is largely safe for habitation, Los-Angeles based climate journalist Robert Hunziker notes, warning that scientific data published by third-party NGOs shows otherwise.
“The immediate direct exposure of radiation over population centers at Chernobyl was significantly more than Fukushima, where 80% drifted out into the Pacific Ocean. However, that may be slight solace because, horrifyingly, nobody knows where the Fukushima melted cores are located; it’s absolutely true, nobody knows whether the molten cores are within the containment vessels, outside of the vessels, deep in the ground, or cataclysmically traversing towards the water table,” Hunziker elaborated in his article for CounterPunch.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Prime Minister Abe’s government is encouraging people to move back into former restricted zones, claiming that “a whole lot of the mess outside of the immediate meltdown” has already been cleaned up.
Alas, it’s nearly impossible to give such an optimistic signal, since the Fukushima contamination still remains out of control, the journalist emphasized.
Citing nuclear expert Eben Harrell, the journalist underscored that some of the isotopes released during a nuclear catastrophe remain radioactive for tens of thousands of years. Remarkably, when asked in 2011 when the Chernobyl site would be inhabitable again, Igor Gramotkin, General Director of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, answered laconically: “At least 20,000 years.”
“One of the issues in trying to assess the dangers, as well as timing of recovery, for Fukushima is believability. Who can be trusted? In that regard, the Abe government’s enactment of strict extraordinarily broad secrecy laws, similar to WWII, with the threat of prison sentences up to 10 years for any violators of indeterminately wide-open secrecy laws undermines confidence in believability of the Japanese government, by definition,” Hunziker pointed out.
The journalist called attention to the latest radiation survey carried out by Greenpeace Japan, that has indicated that the Japanese government plans to move people to the areas where they could receive radiation doses of up to 20mSV annually for many years to come.According to international radiation protection standards, the recommended public exposure limit should not exceed 1mSv/year or less in non-post accidental situations.
“The radiation limit that excluded people from living in the 30km zone around the Chernobyl nuclear plant exclusion zone was set at 5mSV/year, five years after the nuclear accident. Over 100,000 people were evacuated from within the zone and will never return,” Greenpeace Japan’s report read.
The question arises why the Japanese government turns a blind eye to the fact that Fukushima residents would be exposed to 20mSV/year of radiation regardless of international norms and practices.
“Continued exposure to low-level radiation, entering the human body on a daily basis through food intake, is of particular consequence,” The Green Cross International 2015 Fukushima Report warned, as quoted by the journalist.
But that is not all, Hunziker stressed, referring to a worrisome report released by the National Institute of Radiological Science/Japan. The scientists are beating the environmental drum over the “strange growth patterns” of fir trees observed in Fukushima.About 98 percent of inspected fir trees within a 3.5 km zone surrounding Fukushima’s damaged nuclear power stations “have severe defects,” the journalist highlighted.
Furthermore, two hundred US sailors of the USS Reagan which participated in Operation Tomodachi (“Friends”), providing assistance to the infamous prefecture when it was struck by the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, have filed a lawsuit against TEPCO, General Electric, EBASCO, Toshiba and Hitachi.
“The lawsuit includes claims for illnesses such as leukemia, ulcers, gall bladder removals, brain cancer, brain tumors, testicular cancer, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, thyroid illnesses, stomach ailments and a host of other complaints unusual in such young adults,” Hunziker underscored, elaborating that the sailors were most likely affected by radiation.
Inexplicably though, the Fukushima disaster still remains shrouded in secrecy. Moreover, the Abe government’s draconian new secrets law allows Japanese bureaucrats to conceal information from public and imprison journalists for “soliciting information that is classified a secret.”
It is obvious that Tokyo has something to hide and it must be really big, the journalist stressed, asking rhetorically: “Why else adopt a hard-hitting secrecy law on the heels of the worst disaster to hit Japan since America dropped A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945?”
Six weeks after the meltdown, the Atomic Energy Commission issued a press release saying that there had been a minor “fuel element failure” at Area Four’s largest reactor in July. But they said there had been “no release of radioactive materials” to the environment………
In 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency completed a $40 million soil test of the site and found 423 hot spots — places contaminated with high levels of man-made radiation.
LA’s Nuclear Secret: Part 1 Tucked away in the hills above the San Fernando and Simi valleys was a 2,800-acre laboratory with a mission that was a mystery to the thousands of people who lived in its shadow 4 Southern California By Joel Grover and Matthew Glasser, 22 Sep 15 The U.S. government secretly allowed radiation from a damaged reactor to be released into air over the San Fernando and Simi valleys in the wake of a major nuclear meltdown in Southern California more than 50 years ago — fallout that nearby residents contend continues to cause serious health consequences and, in some cases, death.
LA’s Nuclear Secret: Timelines, Documents, FAQ
Those are the findings of a yearlong NBC4 I-Team investigation into “Area Four,” which is part of the once-secret Santa Susana Field Lab. Founded in 1947 to test experimental nuclear reactors and rocket systems, the research facility was built in the hills above the two valleys. In 1959, Area Four was the site of one of the worst nuclear accidents in U.S. history. But the federal government still hasn’t told the public that radiation was released into the atmosphere as a result of the partial nuclear meltdown.
Now, whistleblowers interviewed on camera by NBC4 have recounted how during and after that accident they were ordered to release dangerous radioactive gases into the air above Los Angeles and Ventura counties, often under cover of night, and how their bosses swore them to secrecy.
In addition, the I-Team reviewed over 15,000 pages of studies and government documents, and interviewed other insiders, uncovering that for years starting in 1959, workers at Area Four were routinely instructed to release radioactive materials into the air above neighboring communities , through the exhaust stacks of nuclear reactors , open doors, and by burning radioactive waste.
How It Began Continue reading
LA’s Nuclear Secret: Part 1 Tucked away in the hills above the San Fernando and Simi valleys was a 2,800-acre laboratory with a mission that was a mystery to the thousands of people who lived in its shadow 4 Southern California By Joel Grover and Matthew Glasser, 22 Sep 15
“………..Researchers inside and out of government have contended that the radiation and toxic chemicals from Santa Susana might have caused many cancer cases. “The radiation that was released in 1959 and thereafter from Santa Susana is still a danger today,” Dr.Dodge said. “There is absolutely a link between radiation and cancer.”
The I-Team tracked down dozens of people diagnosed with cancer and other illnesses who grew up in the shadow of Santa Susana — in Canoga Park, West Hills, Chatsworth, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley. Many of them believeh their cancers were caused by radiation and chemicals from the field lab.
Kathryn Seltzer Carlson, 56, and her sisters, Judy and Jennifer, all grew up in Canoga Park around the time of the nuclear meltdown and for years after, and all have battled cancer. “I played in the water, I swam in the water, I drank the water” that ran off the Santa Susana Field Lab, said Carlson, who finished treatment for ovarian cancer earlier this year and is now undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma. “I’ve had, I don’t know how many cancers.”
Bonnie Klea, a former Santa Susana employee who has lived in West Hills since the 60s, also battled bladder cancer, which is frequently linked to radiation exposure. “Every single house on my street had cancer,” Klea said. A 2007 Centers for Disease Control study found that people living within two miles of the Santa Susana site had a 60 percent higher rate of some cancers.
“There’s some provocative evidence,” said Dr. Hal Morgenstern, an epidemiologist who oversaw the study. “It’s like circumstantial evidence, suggesting there’s a link” between the contamination from Santa Susana and the higher cancer rates.
Silence From the Government
For more than two months, the I-Team asked to speak with someone from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the federal agency that’s responsible for all nuclear testing, to ask why workers were ordered to release dangerous radiation over Los Angeles, why the DOE has never publicly admitted this happened, and what it plans to do to help get the site cleaned up.
The DOE emailed the I-Team, “We will not have anyone available for this segment.”
So the I-Team showed up at a public meeting this month about Santa Susana and asked the DOE’s project manager for the site, Jon Jones, to speak with us. He walked away and wouldn’t speak.
Will the Contamination Ever Be Cleaned Up?
Community residents, many stricken with cancer and other radiation-related illnesses, have been fighting for years to get the government and the private owners of the Santa Susana Field Lab to clean up the contamination that remains on the site.
But efforts in the state legislature and state agencies that oversee toxic sites have, so far, stalled. But residents, with the support of some lawmakers, continue to fight for a full cleanup. “People are continuing to breathe that (radiation) in and to die,” Chatsworth resident Arline Mathews said.”See that this is done immediately, before more lives are lost.” http://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/LA-Nuclear-Secret-327896591.html
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New contract assignment from Central Macedonia Region / Serres Region. “Structural adequacy checks of structures and bridges along the provincial and national road network of Serres Region”.
September 6, 2022
New contract assignment from Peloponnese Region. “Coast Line Connection of Kalamata and Messini municipalities and design of a new bridge at Pamisos River”.Read more


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House Republican freshmen will soon have their first opportunity to vote on repealing President Barack Obama s 2010 signature health care law, as Majority Leader Eric Cantor said on Friday that such a measure will come to the floor in the near future.
Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., may be planning to run for president in 2016, but he doesn’t believe those plans will distract voters when it comes to his run for re-election.
On Friday, President Barack Obama’s Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Alan B. Krueger took a victory lap of sorts after the Labor Department’s jobs report showed the U.S. added 165,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in April. “Today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover,” said Krueger. But behind […]
New Sears CEO Edward Lampert told Horace Cooper of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a Washington, D.C. based free market think tank, on Wednesday at the annual meeting of Sears shareholders that he believes the country is “over-regulated.” Cooper initially said to Lampert, “The Sears website gives us reason for concern that Sears is in favor […]
CNN’s Erin Burnett interviewed MIT Aviation Expert John Hansman about the tragic 747 crash in Bagram, Afghanistan. As she shows video of the jumbo jet ascending from the runway, stalling and then beginning its fatal plunge to the earth she asks the MIT professor, “Did something go wrong here, or not?” This exchange raises a […]
To say that Dave Perry, the editor of the Aurora Sentinel doesn’t like the NRA would be a colossal understatement. He wrote in a recent oped that they are the real terrorists in America, and the “guilty monsters” should be rounded up and shipped to GITMO. He didn’t seem to be kidding, either. Via The […]

domain: politics


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Ever wondered where lost things go?
Before embarking on her writing career, Cecelia completed a degree in journalism and media studies. She is also the author of PS, I Love You, Where Rainbows End and If You Could See Me Now. A film adaptation of PS, I Love You starring Hilary Swank is currently in production with Warner Brothers and If You Could See Me Now is being made into a musical by Disney. Cecelia lives in County Dublin.
Praise for If You Could See Me Now: 'Enchanting and unexpected.' You 'There's more than a touch of fairytale about Cecelia Ahern's novels... thanks to a liberal sprinking of magic.' Glamour 'A beautifully written love story.' Closer 'A contemporary fairytale.' Irish Times 'An enchanting blend of magic and whimsy.' Daily Mail Praise for A Place Called Here: 'An enchanting, unexpected love story.' You 'We bet our bottom dollar it will be bestseller number four.' Heat 'Dreamers and fantasy fans will love it.' Marie Claire 'The end result is always warm and cosy.' Daily Mirror 'Brilliant...beautifully bittersweet.' Heat 'heartbreaking and uplifting, this will tug at all of your emotions, so keep those tissues at the ready!' Tesco More praise for Cecelia Ahern: 'A wonderfully life-affirming, witty debut.' Company 'Like an Irish Sleepless in Seattle and almost certainly the chick-lit bestseller of the year.' In Style 'Heartwarmingly good.' Heat 'A wonderfully warm and witty debut from a terrific new writer...This exceptional novel about bereavement, friendship and lost love is both heartbreaking and uplifting.' Express 'A heartwarming, completely absorbing tale of love and friendship.' Company 'A sensational debut novel that proves true love never dies.' Cosmopolitan


Deadlock broken on port project
2015-03-27 09:53:23Source:China DailyAuthor:
China and Sri Lanka agree to put suspended $1.4b Colombo infrastructure plan back on track
China and Sri Lanka have ended a stalemate over a $1.4 billion port project in the island nation's capital of Colombo — the biggest Chinese investment project in the country.
The development sees Beijing recovering their ties amid Colombo's policy shift after a leadership reshuffle.
During meetings with Chinese leaders in Beijing on Thursday, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena promised to continue the infrastructure project, which was suspended by the country's new administration.
President Xi Jinping said China has always seen Sri Lanka as holding an "important diplomatic position in the region", while Premier Li Keqiang called for "consistency and stability of policies" in Sri Lanka.
Sirisena, who visited India soon after taking office in January, is making his first trip to China.
He said Sri Lanka appreciates China's continued support for the Colombo port project as well as other Chinese investment, adding that his government will take more effective measures to promote cooperation with China.
Problems surrounding construction of the port project are "temporary and do not lie with the Chinese side", he said.
China, which is sinking millions of dollars into Sri Lanka's infrastructure, is the island's biggest investor.
The new Sri Lankan government has ordered a review of the Colombo port project following allegations of wrongdoing that arose since Sirisena took office in January.
The suspension triggered concerns from China, which said the project was in line with local laws. Media reports said the commercial losses caused by the suspension could be as high as $380,000 a day.
During Thursday's talks, Xi pledged to expand bilateral trade and industrial cooperation with easier funding from the Beijing-led Silk Road Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The two financial institutions are committed to funding economic development in countries along the New Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
Xi also promised to speed up talks on a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka to lower tariffs, and to deepen economic exchanges, especially on health, agriculture, science and technology, tourism and talent training.
Liu Xiaoxue, a researcher of South Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Sri Lanka is an important partner in building Beijing's initiative for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
It is located at a key section on the route linking the resource-rich Gulf of Aden with China's booming coastal cities. Hower, Sri Lanka needs support to rebuild its infrastructure after its civil war, Liu said.
"The port project, like many other Chinese investments in the country, is a commercial deal, which means conflicts over the project should be solved through talks," she said.
Meanwhile, China and Indonesia issued a joint declaration on deepening ties and signed eight agreements in Beijing on Thursday.
They signed one memorandum of understanding on greater cooperation in infrastructure and industry, and another on building a high-speed railway linking the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and Bandung, about 180 km southeast of Jakarta. Others cover wide-ranging areas, including maritime searches, taxation, airspace and cooperation between Chinese and Indonesian enterprises.
Xi told his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo before they witnessed the signings that China is willing to use the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Silk Road Fund to take part in Indonesia's development of ports, high-speed railways, airports, shipbuilding and special economic zones in coastal areas.
Widodo, making his first state visit to China since taking office in October, said Indonesia welcomes Chinese State-owned and private enterprises to its infrastructure sector and in constructing special economic zones.