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In this section, I will present the criteria to distinguish between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics. I will include definitions and descriptive statistics of the variables included in the study, and I will also provide the design of the four sets of regressions that I performed.
2.1 Criteria for Distinguishing Type 1 from Type 2 Diabetics
Using a set of approved criteria to distinguish between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes has been very important to my study, as I started getting correlation when I separated the data by the two main diabetes types. The lack of correlation when the groups are combined and the overall correlation when their data is run separately against economic and medical variables confirms that the circumstances of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics are different from each other.
To diagnose patients as diabetic, doctors typically use an A1C test or a combination of two glucose tests (measuring glucose in the plasma and administering an oral test; Seley 2009). A score of 6.5 or more indicates the effects of diabetes. To distinguish between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, doctors have traditionally considered age and BMI (body mass index; Fourlanos et. al 2006 and Utzschneider et. al 2004). However, new research suggests that a diagnosis based on BMI is proving to be an inaccurate diagnosis in some cases. Some patients originally diagnosed as Type 2 are now being recognized as Type 1 and vice versa.
For example, researchers have discovered that some adults originally diagnosed as Type 2 diabetic have characteristics of Type 1 diabetes (Golden et al. 2010), and children can be misdiagnosed as well (Brunk, et al. 2011). Researchers involved in a study of obese teenagers by the American Diabetes Association indicated the importance of performing lab tests to measure autoantibodies and C-peptide levels that will either identify or rule out Type 1 diabetes. The results of such lab tests are not available for patients in the MEPS data set, but I can distinguish between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics with reasonable certainty using the available data.
ICD-9 diagnostic codes were used by doctors in 2009 for medical billing purposes. For example, a code of 250.00 indicates Type 2 or undefined, 250.01 indicates Type 1 diabetes without complication, and 250.02 is Type 2 diabetes without complication – uncontrolled. Other decimals, for example, indicate complications such as ketoacidosis, or renal, ophthalmic or neuropathic manifestations (ICD9Data.com 2017). In the 2009 MEPS Study, ICD-9 codes were provided in HC128, a separate spreadsheet from the main HC129 spreadsheet. The study includes 3-digit codes such as 250, but, unfortunately, specifying decimals attached to the codes were not included for privacy reasons. Instead, I relied on the self-reported as diabetic column to distinguish between diabetics and nondiabetics, but I utilized the 3-digit ICD-9 column as a check. When patient IDs were compared in each, the columns matched up and confirmed themselves.
By utilizing information available in the dataset, I was able to determine with reasonable certainty whether identified diabetic patients were Type 1 or Type 2 diabetic. In addition, I compared my results to national statistics, which estimate that Type 1 diabetics make up 5-10% of all diabetics. My results assigned between 6-7% of diabetics in the dataset as Type 1 diabetic.
Table 2.1 lists the seven criteria that are presented in the order in which they were applied, with the first criteria given higher importance than the last. I have also included a description of each. Figure 2.1 is a flow chart that illustrates the execution of the criteria upon the dataset in the order of importance.
The MEPS survey is self-reported, and often, patients did not fill out all the data fields requested, or the data was otherwise not provided. If patients did not include enough information or the information was conflicting to the point that the data was inconclusive, the patient was removed from my study. The following are a few examples of missing data and how I would classify them using the criteria:
Example 1: A patient has indicated that they are diabetic, they are taking insulin, but they did not indicate what year they were diagnosed. However, their BMI is less than 27.5, so the patient was classified as Type 1 diabetic.
Example 2: A patient has indicated that they are diabetic, but they did not indicate whether they are taking oral medications or insulin. However, they were diagnosed over the age of 55 and their BMI is greater than 27.5. There is a chance that they could be GADA Type 1 diabetic, which often presents similar characteristics to Type 2, but the instance of GADA Type 1 diabetes is rare, so for the purposes of this study I classified them as Type 2 diabetic.
Example 3: A patient self-reports themselves as diabetic, current age of 50, and age of diagnosis as 49, but does not provide any BMI information and does not indicate whether they are taking oral medication or insulin. The patient is likely Type 2, but without sufficient information, the patient is excluded from my study.
A self-reported dataset, the 2009 MEPS study includes more than 36,000 observations (patients; see Table 2.2). Each observation was weighted to represent the United States’ population. About
one-third of the patients could not be included in the study because of a lack of self-reported data that prevented them from being compared accurately with the others, but the slimmed down data set still represented the intended population.
About 29.1 million individuals, or 9.3% of the population, have diabetes in the United States (American Diabetes Association 2016). 9.5% of observations in the self-reported MEPS study, which included individuals 18 and older, indicated that they had diabetes. Among the weighted numbers, only 6.41% identified themselves as diabetic. In the study, no children under the age of 18 identified themselves as diabetic, but we know that there are children in the United States who have diabetes.
To improve overall accuracy, I removed from the dataset all subjects under the age of 18, including nondiabetics (13,387 observations). Doing so adjusted the total percentages among the weighted numbers, and this action explains the discrepancy in how the weighted numbers compare to national averages. For purposes of analysis in the descriptive statistics section, I separated the observations into five age groups, as shown in Table 2.3.
Notice that there are fewer Type 1 diabetics in the Age ≥ 65 category, and this is because many have traditionally died before making it to retirement. This statistic is changing as improved insulins and glucose meters help patients to better monitor their diabetes More patients are able to utilize an insulin
pump and sensor, the latest models of which work together as an artificial pancreas and greatly improve the quality of life of patients.
Demographic Variables. In all four of the regression sets, I ran certain demographic statistics as independent variables in every analysis that was performed. Those variables are listed with their descriptions in Table 2.4. I performed the regression analyses in the statistics software STATA, which requires that nominal data be in binary format – in ones and zeroes – and I formatted the MEPS data accordingly. For example, I separated the race data into separate columns for each of six racial groups, with the seventh, Caucasian, serving as the null value.
Variables included in the MEPS data that are indicators of socioeconomic status (see Table 2.5) were tested in separate computations alongside the demographics listed above. Impoverished individuals may have limited access to healthcare services for a variety of reasons. It may be as simple as a lack of transportation. Others may not be aware of what is required to maintain a healthy A1C level. Some poor dietary habits can be rooted in a lack of education or the inability (or refusal) to consume fruits and vegetables. Others are the result of food deserts, when residential units in the inner-city that are located more than a mile from the nearest grocery store (Levine 2011).
Table 2.6 includes descriptions of variables that indicate a patient’s access to health insurance, and includes insurance type, which is utilized in the fourth regression set of diabetics only (including
private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, and Tricare/ Champ VA). Tricare is insurance for uniformed service members, retirees and their families, and Champ VA is insurance for disabled military veterans. People with Type 1 diabetes are disqualified from entering the military, but if the onset of the condition occurs to an active member of the military they aren’t automatically sent home (Hieronymus and
Rickerson 2012). Medicare covers people over the age of 65 as well as those who are disabled or who have end-stage renal disease. Diabetics who are on dialysis have end-stage renal disease (Mayo Clinic 2017-2) and can be under the age of 65.
The fourth regression set also uses a variable regarding whether diabetics were treated for other priority conditions other than diabetes, such as heart disease, skin conditions, or asthma, which are also expensive to treat and maintain. Additional variables include whether a patient received recommended tests in 2009 which detect the onset of secondary symptoms, including four A1C tests, at least one neuropathy test and at least one retinopathy test. Although other tests are used, the tests mentioned were selected for my study because of the available MEPS data.
2.3 Descriptive Statistics.
The following figures provide a comparison of the descriptive statistics between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics, as well as nondiabetics in each age group for the variables. Actual numbers are provided in Appendix A.
The number of years that a patient has lived with diabetes is more indicative than age of the onset of conditions such as retinopathy or nephropathy. Figure 2.2 compares by age group the mean number of years that individual patients have lived with the disease. This variable was added to the third regression set to compare it with current age. I wanted to demonstrate whether the number of years with the disease or age plays a more significant role in the advancement of diabetes.
In Figure 2.3, women (represented as 1 in the data) were slightly more likely to be Type 1 diabetic than men (represented as 0 in the data), especially those age 50 and younger. In the age 18-24 group, women were a whopping 95 percent of Type 2 diabetics, although the high percentage was likely due to the small sample size, with only nine individuals with Type 1 and seven with Type 2 diabetes. Women were also more likely than men to be diabetic in the age 25-40 group, and men were only slightly more likely to be Type 2 diabetic than women in the 41-50 age range.
Being married has been shown to improve an individuals’ health, particularly among males. The improvement is partly the result of having improved access to quality and affordable health care, since married individuals have access to both their own and their spouses’ health care provider (Gomez, et al. 2016). As illustrated in Figure 2.4 (where single, divorced or widowed is 0 and married is 1 in the data), nondiabetics were more likely to be married than diabetics in most age categories. Type 1 diabetics were the least likely to be married, which affects their socioeconomic status and access to health care.
Not many individuals diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes have traditionally lived to be age 51-64, but newer medicines and lifestyle recommendations have made it possible in recent years for individuals with this disease to live longer, given their access to and ability to afford the needed healthcare and prescriptions. For example, Type 1 diabetics who can afford insulin pumps, glucose monitors can significantly delay the onset of secondary symptoms and thus reduce their overall diabetes-related expenses (Huang, et al. 2010). Pancreas transplants are also performed, usually in conjunction with another organ transplant, and they can effectively cure a patient for up to 10 years.
Race. The 2009 MEPS race data for total nondiabetics (see Figure 2.51) lined up closely with the projected U.S. population for 2010 (2009 U.S. Census; see Table 2.7). However, diabetes does not occur among races proportionally. In fact, in recent years, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in the 2014 National Diabetes Statistics Report that new cases of diabetes are skyrocketing, particularly among U.S. minority populations (see Table 2.8).
Although Caucasians (whites) still make up a majority of total diabetics today, the numbers are changing. According to the CDC (2014), new cases of diabetes in 2000 affected 7.6% of Non-Hispanic whites, 9% of Asian Americans, 12.8% of Hispanics, 13.2 percent of Non-Hispanic blacks, and a staggering 15.9% of the small Native American population (24.1% of which are living in southern Arizona reservations).
The Hispanic population is on the increase in the United States, and the U.S. Census (2017) predicts that it will grow substantially in the next 40 years. By 2050, the group is expected to comprise almost 30% of the U.S. population, nearly double their current ratio. Cases of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes among this population are also on the rise from previous years.
The MEPS variable indicating race originally had values of:
1 – Caucasian (white)
2 – African American
3 – American Indian or Alaska Native
4 – Asian
5 – Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
6 – Multiple races reported
For purposes of conforming to STATA’s requirements, I divided the original race column into five binary columns, with Caucasians holding the null value and African Americans, Native Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Mixed Race each having a column where their respective value was one. Hispanics had separate columns in the raw data, and I added it as a sixth option for race. 394 individuals classified as mixed race, and of those, 52 indicated Hispanic origins, 141 listed as African in origin also identified as
Hispanic. Of the Native Americans, 136 listed some Hispanic ethnicity, 18 Asians included some Hispanic ethnicity, and 12 Pacific Islanders included some Hispanic ethnicity.
Table 2.5.1 displays the races of observations from all age groups combined. All race categories comprised percentages that were proportional to their populations. Native Americans are only proportionally represented among Type 2 diabetics and only have trace representation among Type 1 and nondiabetics.
Neither Type 1 nor Type 2 diabetes is believed to be genetically tied to a specific race. In Bao, et al. (2013), when analyzing multiple studies that sought to identify whether there was a genome-wide association (racial origin) of the risk of diabetes, the results indicated that genome-wide association did not provide additional foresight from traditional lifestyle indicators, such as an elevated BMI, elevated blood pressure, and a family history of diabetes, to identify the likelihood that someone would develop diabetes. Researchers (Charatan 2001) have found that eating a healthy diet and getting regular
exercise can reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by half, despite any genetic predisposition to the disease. Any racial correlations can be explained by cultural traditions and community lifestyles.
In the 18-24 age category (Table 2.5.2), Hispanics comprise 33 percent of Type 1 diabetics and nearly 65 percent of Type 2 diabetics.
In the 25-40 group (Table 2.5.3), the number of Hispanic Type 2 diabetics is still elevated at 24.2%. African Americans also comprise 25.7% of Type 2 diabetics and 19.8% of Type 1 diabetics. It is
unknown what causes Type 1 diabetes, but there does not appear to be a racial component to the disease. In all age groups, cases of Type 1 diabetes appear to match proportions of racial populations.
It is known that instances of Type 1 diabetes are on the increase worldwide, particularly among children. Patterson et al. (2009) reports that the number of diagnoses in Europe among children age 15 years and younger is increasing an average of 3.9% each year, and prevalence is predicted to rise
from 94,000 in 2005 to 160,000 in 2020. This trend may explain why in this study cases of Type 1 diabetes are higher among minority races in the younger age groups.
Figure 2.6 compares patients’ subjectivity to the poverty line based on annual household income, where the poverty line equals 1. The darker colored dots represent the mean, and the corresponding bars represent -1σ to 1σ. When looking at all age groups combined, you can see there was little variability between the Type 1, Type 2 and nondiabetics regarding where patients stood against the poverty line. However, differentiation was more apparent when the data was broken into age groups. In almost every age group, diabetics were poorer than nondiabetics, and Type 2 diabetics were poorer than Type 1 diabetics in many age groups. It is unclear from the data whether diabetic patients were experiencing poverty at the time of diagnosis or if poverty had developed post-diagnosis.
Type 1 diabetics had more education than Type 2 diabetics overall and in most of the age categories. Type 1 diabetics and nondiabetics also had similar levels of education in every age range except ≥ 65 and the total, as illustrated in Figure 2.7. However, if someone’s stated number of years of education was less than zero, they were removed from the data set, as a negative number indicates an answer such as “I refuse to say” or “I don’t know.” A patients’ level of education is important to this study, as education plays a significant role in socioeconomics. As a result, I removed 396 individuals from the population sample.
Over the course of their lifetimes, Type 1 diabetics will spend more out-of-pocket for prescriptions, in particular, but also for all medical expenses, than Type 2 diabetics. It should be noted that the MEPS data only represent patients’ experiences in 2009. In Figure 2.8, patients who were not able to receive financial care were strongly linked to the inability to afford the care. In all age groups combined, Type 1 diabetics had the highest instance of this challenge, especially in the age 25-40 age
group, where they had more than double the percentage (12%) of patients with this problem than any other segment.
In Figure 2.9, only about half of patients who said they were delayed in getting care identified cost as the reason for the delay. The data, when split into age groups, varied, but when all age groups were combined, the data was consistent between Type 1, Type 2 and nondiabetics, with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics only slightly higher than nondiabetics.
Patients who are not able or are delayed in receiving care are less likely to maintain healthy A1C levels and are thus more likely to experience an accelerated onset of secondary symptoms. The appearance of secondary symptoms quickly increases medical expenses for all diabetics, as it often involves a hospital stay and can require expensive procedures.
Patients who balance their carbohydrate and protein intake, eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, and get regular exercise can delay the onset of secondary symptoms such as blindness, foot amputations, heart disease and stroke. These events skyrocket medical expenses that are attributed to the treatment of diabetes and can lead to the inability to work (Secrest et al. 2011).
In Figure 2.10, which discusses patients who self-reported that they were unable to get prescriptions, patients acknowledged that their inability was due to financial reasons. However, more Type 2 diabetics said they were experiencing this challenge than Type 1 or nondiabetics.
In Figure 2.11, Type 1 diabetics were more likely to be delayed in getting prescriptions than
Type 2 diabetics, especially in the 25-40 age group. These are individuals who are able to get prescriptions but are not able to get them in a timely way. Type 1 diabetics acknowledged that financial reasons were the cause for the delay in getting prescriptions for both the 18-24 and 25-40 age groups. In all age groups combined, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics were significantly more likely to be delayed in getting prescriptions than nondiabetics.
The financial reasons unable or delayed variables were assessed at a value of one for each of the following reasons listed in the MEPS:
- Could not afford care
- Insurance company would not approve/cover/pay
- Doctor refused family insurance plan
All other possibilities were given a value of zero. The “unable to get” and “delayed in getting care,” as well as “unable” and “delayed in getting prescriptions” variables were adjusted to values of one for yes and zero for no.
Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics often experience challenges in the workforce because of their medical conditions. Administering insulin to themselves during work hours or needing to take an extended break if they experience a sudden blood sugar low may seem to some as beyond “reasonable accommodations.” But diabetics are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008, which established protections for individuals who have chronic medical conditions (American Diabetes Association 2014). ADAAA applies to all employers with 50 or more employees. Unfortunately, diabetics may find themselves getting passed up for promotions when in competition with fellow employees, but diabetics, even those with secondary symptoms, statistically have not been found to have less productivity in the workplace than nondiabetics (Lavigne et al. 2003). They rely on quality and affordable insurance from their employer.
Figure 2.12 shows the instance of patients on food stamps. In general, Type 2 diabetics were closer in line with nondiabetics than Type 1 diabetics, who were less likely to be on food stamps. Type 1 diabetics’ highest instance of food stamp use was in the age 18-24 group at 17 percent. Type 2 diabetics’ highest instance of food stamp use was in the 25-40 age group, at more than 30 percent. Nondiabetics’ highest instance of food stamp use was at about 12 percent in both the 18-24 and 25-40 age groups.
Figure 2.13 illustrates the monthly monetary value of food stamps and displays both the mean and standard deviation. Although Type 1 diabetics were generally less likely to be on food stamps, they
were issued the greatest value of food stamps in the 18-24, 25-40 and 41-50 age categories, where the means of each were about $400 per month. The standard deviation for Type 1 diabetics was also higher than for the other categories.
Figure 2.14, which compares family size, indicates that diabetics tended to have smaller households than nondiabetics overall. The total number of Type 1 diabetics had larger families than the total number of Type 2 diabetics, but breaking down the statistics by age groups provided additional information. Type 2 diabetics tended to have larger family sizes in the Age 25-40 and ≥ 65 groups, and nondiabetics tended to have larger family sizes in the 41-50 and 51-64 age ranges. The only age category where Type 1 diabetics had significantly larger family sizes was in the Age 18-24 group, when patients may still be living with their parents and siblings.
Figure 2.15 indicates that for the percentage of subjects who are insured, there are many more who are not insured, regardless of whether they have diabetes or not. The “ever had insurance” variable was the combination of three columns from the original data corresponding to the three rounds of the survey. The same was done for “employee insurance” and the three initial “employer offers insurance” variables. Uninsured for all of 2009 was adjusted to one for yes and zero for no.
Because of the exorbitant medical costs that they experience, most diabetics must have access to affordable health insurance to have any chance of sustaining a healthy lifestyle. As a result, they, or a member of their household, traditionally have had to work full time for an employer that provides health insurance, or they have had to receive government sponsored medical insurance such as Medicaid. Figures 2.16.1 through 2.16.4 indicate the percentage of individuals in the data set who were enrolled in various types of insurance in during 2009, including Tricare/Champ VA, Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance. In some cases, patients may have enrolled in multiple types of insurance. For
example, they may receive private insurance through their employer and also qualify for Medicare. In 2009, many self-employed individuals and those who work part-time were not able to qualify for affordable insurance because of pre-existing conditions, but since then, the Affordable Care Act has improved the access to health insurance for many (Shaw et al. 2014).
The MEPS data did not specify between those who were enrolled in Tricare, for active U.S. military and their families, or Champ VA, for disabled U.S. veterans. A column that represented the entire data set of all insurance types, as well as the uninsured, indicated if a patient was presently active in the U.S. military. There were less than 1% in all age groups, and they were all nondiabetic. Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics are disqualified from entering the military, but becoming diabetic during their service is not an automatic cause for dismissal. Another column indicated whether a patient had been honorably discharged from the military, which also represented the whole data set, and there was a proportional representation of Type 1, Type 2 and nondiabetics included.
Diabetics dedicate significantly more of their budget to medical expenses than nondiabetics, which means they typically have less expendable income. In addition to quarterly doctor’s visits and expensive oral or intravenous medications, diabetics may need to pay for needles, syringes, blood glucose meters and test strips. In impoverished situations, patients sometimes choose to pay for the needs of another family member at the expense of paying for part or all of their own medications.
It should be noted that a majority of diabetics in the study were treated for other priority conditions (see Table 2.9) in addition to diabetes. These conditions may be related to diabetes such as high blood pressure or a stroke, or they may be unrelated, such as a chronic skin condition or asthma. Priority conditions include a group of medical conditions that are selected for their prevalence, expense, or relevance to policy, including hypertension, heart disease, high cholesterol, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, asthma, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and stroke (Agency for Healthcare and Research Quality 2017). I have included them as variables in the fourth regression set to acknowledge that patients’ medical expenses could be spent on other conditions besides diabetes. Priority conditions are used by the MEPS for statistical purposes to track the expenses associated with specific chronic medical conditions that merit their attention. Some examples of priority conditions are shown in Table 2.9.
Figure 2.17 indicates the percentage of patients who were treated for priority conditions in 2009, and it’s clear that a majority of diabetic patients are treated for other conditions that are important to maintain and can be expensive over time.
Figure 2.18 provides the percentage of diabetics who received all the required tests in 2009 to detect the onset of secondary symptoms. The tests include four A1C tests, one neuropathy test in the feet and one retinopathy test in the eyes.
2.4 Design of Regression Sets
My thesis project consisted of four sets of regression analyses. The dependent and independent variables used in the first set are listed in Table 2.10. The dependent variables were the population samples for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics as well as nondiabetics, and the independent variables included the demographics and socioeconomic indicators. The demographics were run individually for Type 2 diabetics only, and they were combined and run with each individual socioeconomic indicator variable against all population samples.
Table 2.11 shows the dependent and independent variables for the second regression set. The dependent variables were the appearance of secondary symptoms in the population samples for Type 1, Type 2 and nondiabetics. Additional dependent variables were comparisons between Type 1 & nondiabetics and Type 2 & nondiabetics to determine if having diabetes makes an individual more likely to develop these symptoms. Nephropathy (kidney failure) and retinopathy (blindness), which are unique to diabetics, were run on Type 1 and Type 2 patients only against the independent variables including
the demographics and socioeconomic indicators. For these tests, each socioeconomic indicator was run individually along with the demographic variables combined.
Increased risks of cardiovascular problems and stroke are also associated with diabetes, so those factors were run as dependent variables in the regression tests against all population samples. These other dependent variables were run against the demographic variables combined.
The tests that the American Diabetes Association recommends on an annual basis, which include four A1C tests (one each quarter), a foot test for detecting the presence of neuropathy, a dilated eye test for detecting the presence of retinopathy, a cholesterol test and the flu vaccine were added as independent variables and run together against nephropathy and retinopathy for both Type 1 and Type 2 population samples. The tests were run along with the demographic variables combined, as well as the decimal value of the poverty line or one of the socioeconomic indicators.
The third regression set, shown in Table 2.12, is similar to the second set but adds an additional independent variable, the number of years with the disease. It was run against the Type 1 and Type 2
population samples only. This variable was generated by subtracting the current age of the patient from the reported age of diagnosis. Patients who did not list an age at diagnosis were not included in the set, which comprised approximately 10% of Type 1 diabetics and 5% of Type 2 diabetics. Since this data is self-reported, the age at diagnosis is approximate. Each regression in the set was run with age and without age to see whether age or the number of years with the disease has a stronger influence on the development of secondary symptoms. It was also performed to detect any differences due to the possibility of age and years with diabetes being correlated with each other.
Nephropathy and retinopathy were run against the socioeconomic indicators, in combination with all the demographics. The other secondary symptoms were only compared with the demographic variables combined. The three recommended tests used to detect the onset of secondary symptoms were run against the decimal value of the poverty line, as well as the demographic variables combined. In both the second and third sets, the test results reported for 2010, 2009, 2008 and before 2008 were included.
The independent variables for the fourth regression set, shown in Table 2.13, included whether patients have received the recommended tests, including four A1C tests, one neuropathy test, and one retinopathy test. The three tests are also combined as a fourth binary category. These variables were run against the population samples for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics, as well as Type 1 & 2 combined.
Independent variables included the patients’ insurance type, such as private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, or Tricare/ Champ VA. It is possible that some patients were enrolled in more than one insurance type. Additional independent variables are whether patients were treated for a priority condition, including a diabetes priority condition or other priority condition. The demographic variables were also included as independent variables and were run together along with each of the other independent variables
A fifth regression set included the appearance of secondary symptoms as the dependent variables and used Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics as two separate population samples. The independent variables included the insurance types as well as the demographics. This test was completed to answer the second research question regarding whether there is one insurance type more likely to delay the onset of secondary symptoms.

domain: medical


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Two things before I launch into my review(s): (1) being an adjunct professor of anything takes all your free time, including reading; (2) it’s easier to take back time reading books than writing reviews. I’m seriously like ten reviews behind, and I actually jotted this one down a few weeks ago, but haven’t actually typed it up. I’m glad it’s only September. I need to catch up and move back into my regular groove!
Okay, onto the good stuff. I first read a short story by Sherman Alexie a few years back. That short story was “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.” It’s a powerful, image-driven story about growing up between worlds and moving beyond lost love. When I found out that it was merely part of an entire collection of short stories, I was delighted. So, I bought the book (back before I made my handy new rule), and have finally gotten around to reading it.
This collection is a perfect introduction to Alexie’s oeuvre. His stories are heartbreaking, alcohol-soaked, and hilarious (no, really). He features several recurring characters and families over the years in all their woes and escapades. While “The Lone Ranger and Tonto…” is my favorite story, there are other terrific tales, including “Junior Polatkin’s Wild West Show.” To say too much would be giving the plot away, but it’s a must-read. If you can, get your hands on the 20th anniversary copy—Alexie adds a few more short stories. Plus (and this is the selling point), the introduction is an email exchange between Alexie and fellow Washington author Jess Walter (author of Beautiful Ruins)—they discuss Alexie’s 1993 reservation mullet, which had me rolling with laughter. It’s truly hilarious.
Sherman Alexie is one of my favorite contemporary authors, and if you’ve ever read him or heard him speak, it’s not hard to see why. He’s a hard-hitting author with a wicked sense of humor. Bonus: give his guest spot on Dan Savage’s podcast, The Savage Lovecast. It’s pretty great.

domain: artistic


Wisdom Marine profit up 36-fold
Wisdom Marine Lines Co’s pretax profit last month soared 36-fold from a year earlier to NT$1.34 billion (US$47.91 billion), as revenue hit a record NT$1.7 billion on the back of higher shipping rates, the company said yesterday.
Third-quarter revenue surged 21-fold from a year earlier to NT$2.68 billion, the nation’s largest dry bulk shipper said in a statement.
Wisdom Marine said it remains upbeat for this quarter, despite power rationing in China.
Amid congestion at seaports, lingering demand and low supply of vessels, the Baltic Dry Index — which reflects the shipping prices of dry goods, such as coal, iron ore or grain, on representative routes — continued advancing last quarter, last month breaking 5,000 points for the first time since 2008.
Wisdom Marine said it expects the bulk shipping business to remain robust this quarter, as it is the peak season for iron ore shipping from Brazil and grain harvest season in North America, and demand for those goods remains strong.
As the US Senate has passed a US$1 trillion infrastructure bill and India is planning to spend US$1.35 trillion on infrastructure, their demand for iron ore would likely increase, Wisdom said.
However, Beijing’s implementation of a power rationing scheme has cast a shadow on the dry bulk shipping sector, as it might slow China’s industrial production and worsen congestion at the country’s seaports, it said.
It remains to be seen if China will increase imports of iron ore from other countries to address the power crisis after it banned imports from Australia earlier this year amid trade tensions, it added.
Meanwhile, Wisdom Marine said it aims to make its fleet wholly eco-friendly and is therefore working on modifying 134 vessels to comply with tighter environmental regulations.
The shipper said that half of its vessels are already fuel-efficient, as well as seven to-be-delivered ships.
Source: Taipei Times


Hatebreed Releases Official Lyric Video For “Put It To The Torch” [VIDEO]
Check out the video for the new Hatebreed track titled "Put It To The Torch" which is taken from the new album from Hatebreed.
"The Divinity Of Purpose" is the title of the new album from Hatebreed and is set for January 29th release date.
Hatebreed gave us one of the best live shows that I have seen in a very long time and you know that Hatebreed will be on tour in support of this new album. I hope that everyone had as much as I did watching Hatebreed do what they do best.
Check out the video and let me know what you think of the new track from Hatebreed.


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‘ The most 10111 calls in the province come from Bethelsdorp. It is time for an all-out war on gangs’
A PACKED Jarman Hall in Schauderville, Port Elizabeth, hung on every word the DA said when residents from Ward 11 had the chance to meet leaders from the party.
DA MPL and spokesman for safety and security Bobby Stevenson attended the fifth in a series of public meetings the DA is hosting across the city.
Stevenson and fellow MPL and spokesman for education Edmund van Vuuren addressed the crowd about gang violence, drug abuse and the state of schools in the northern areas.
“Drugs and gangsterism destroy hope, dignity and opportunity. The most 10111 calls in the province come from Bethelsdorp. It is time for an all-out war on gangs. Stamping out these gangsters and drug dealers must be a national priority,” Stevenson said.
He said the community, especially churches, played a key role in the fight against crime, and that intergovernment cooperation, between groups like the police, Social Development and Correctional Services was very important.
“On March 21, we had a big march against drugs and gangsterism in the northern areas.
“The good news is since that march there has been an increase in police presence throughout the area, and a number of arrests have been made. The national police minister has visited the area, and we’ve seen helicopters flying over the northern areas. We sent the government a message, and they have heard us,” he said.
A passionate Van Vuuren, speaking after Stevenson, brought up key issues regarding the state of education in the Eastern Cape.
“We have seen 38 000 pupils leave the Eastern Cape to attend schools in the Western Cape. A total of 1 049 schools are without proper sanitation, and 2 930 schools do not have enough desks. And the MEC for education still says there is nothing wrong with education in the Eastern Cape.”
The crowd cheered loudly, with people shouting anti-ANC slogans: “DA in! ANC out!”
“We are tired of empty promises. The ANC abuses our people’s desperation, by promising them jobs and houses in exchange for votes. But we have had enough! Viva DA!” a man in the crowd said.
DA MP Donald Lee was the last to address the gathering before people started leaving.
“Look at the so-called security upgrades at Nkandla.
“There the people are safe. Even the cattle and chickens are safe now.
“Now where are the northern areas’ security upgrades? When will our people be safe at their homes?”
He mentioned that he planned to retire, but would stay in politics until 2016, “because that is the year the DA wins the metro”, for which he received a standing ovation.

domain: news


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Information about Five Graphic Music Analyses (Schenker)
Heinrich Schenkers's comprehensive study of the musical architecture of five compositions by J.S. Bach, Haydn and Chopin. He includes highly developed examples of a graphic system of notation expressing his analytical ideas. This updated edition also includes a new introduction by Felix Salzer.
More Product Details


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This item is being sold by an Individual Seller and will not ship from the Online Bookstore's warehouse. The Seller must confirm the order within two business days. If the Seller refuses to sell or fails to confirm within this time frame, then the order is cancelled.
Please be sure to read the Description offered by the Seller.
With comprehensive coverage of maternal, newborn, and women's health nursing, Maternity & Women's Health Care, 10th Edition provides evidence-based coverage of everything you need to know about caring for women of childbearing age. It's the #1 maternity book in the market -- and now respected authors Dr. Deitra Leonard Lowdermilk, Dr, Shannon E. Perry, Kitty Cashion, and Kathryn R. Alden have improved readability and provided a more focused approach!
Not only does this textbook emphasize childbearing issues and concerns, including care of the newborn, it addresses wellness promotion and management of common women's health problems. In describing the continuum of care, it integrates the importance of understanding family, culture, and community-based care.
New to this edition is the most current information on care of the late preterm infant and the 2008 updated fetal monitoring standards from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
-A logical organization builds understanding by presenting wellness content first, then complications.
-Critical Reasoning exercises offer real-life situations in which you can develop analytical skills and apply their knowledge.
-Teaching for Self-Management boxes offer a guide to communicating follow-up care to patients and their families.
-Signs of Potential Complications boxes help you recognize the signs and symptoms of complications and provide immediate interventions.
-Procedure boxes offer easy-to-use, step-by-step instructions for maternity skills and procedures.
-Emergency boxes may be used for quick reference in critical situations.
-Medication Guide boxes provide an important reference for common drugs and their interactions.
-Cultural Considerations boxes stress the importance of considering the beliefs and health practices of patients from various cultures when providing care.
-Family content emphasizes the importance of including family in the continuum of care.
-Nursing Care Plans include specific guidelines and rationales for interventions for delivering effective nursing care.
-Community Activity exercises introduce activities and nursing care in a variety of local settings.
-Student resources on the companion Evolve website include assessment and childbirth videos, animations, case studies, critical thinking exercises with answers, nursing skills, anatomy reviews, a care plan constructor, review questions, an audio glossary, and more.
-Content updates provide the most current practice guidelines, including expanded information on the late preterm infant and fetal heart rate pattern identification.
-New content on obesity provides the latest information on this increasingly common condition.
-Safety Alerts help in developing competencies related to safe nursing practice in conjunction with the QSEN initiative on quality and safety in nursing care.
-Updated Evidence-Based Practice boxes highlight current research to improve patient outcomes.
-Updated NICHD fetal monitoring standards provide guidelines reflecting current practice, as recommended by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
-Video clips on the companion Evolve website reinforce key skills performed in the maternity setting.
-Audio Key Points on Evolve make it easy to review core content while on the go.
-Streamlined nursing process information is summarized in boxes, making it easier to identify information on major diseases and conditions.
An electronic version of this book is available through VitalSource.
This book is viewable on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and most smartphones.
By purchasing, you will be able to view this book online, as well as download it, for the chosen number of days.
A downloadable version of this book is available through the eCampus Reader or compatible Adobe readers.
Applications are available on iOS, Android, PC, Mac, and Windows Mobile platforms.
Please view the compatibility matrix prior to purchase.

domain: library


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Pragmatic Application of Logic and the Scientific Method to Clinical Reasoning Exposes Some Avoidable Traps for Young and Old Players
MetadataShow full item record
PURPOSE: To explore the rationale and underlying reasoning associated with some clinical decision making. RELEVANCE: Common clinical reasoning practices can lead to unsubstantiated conclusions through flaws in logic or the application of evidence. Clinical examples will be presented and methods discussed that can be incorporated in everyday practice to improve the integrity of the reasoning process. DESCRIPTION: Examples of reasoning processes used in clinical decision making will be used as illustrations of the underlying processes. (1) A patient with neck pain has improvement in the most limited range of motion following mobilization to C6; therefore, mobilization to C6 should be continued. (2) Patients with chronic back pain have altered patterns of muscular activity; therefore, treatment should target improving patterns of muscular activity. (3) Patients with neck pain improve with thoracic spine manipulation and there are minimal risks associated with thoracic manipulation; therefore, patients with neck pain should receive thoracic manipulation. (4) Patients with back pain get greater improvement with exercise and manual therapy combined than when receiving either individually; therefore, patients with back pain should receive both treatments. EVALUATION: The above propositions will be evaluated by the application of logic, the scientific method, statistical inference, and principles of evidence- informed practice. Methods of overcoming questionable reasoning processes will be presented, including (1) rigorous interpretation of evidence from the literature; (2) application of all 3 pillars of evidenceinformed practice, including clinical expertise and patient values/preferences; and (3) structuring assessment and reassessment to reduce the risk of bias. CONCLUSIONS: Many common clinical reasoning practices are potentially unreliable. Flawed or incomplete reasoning does not necessarily mean that interpretations are wrong, rather that the interpretations are not necessarily right. IMPLICATIONS: Robust clinical reasoning processes combined with small changes in clinical practice could improve our ability to be confident in the accuracy of clinical judgments.
IFOMPT 2012 Rendez-vous of hands and Minds
© 2012 Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy. Reproduced with permission of the Orthopaedic Section and the Sports Physical Therapy Section of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.


The Original Musical the Past Ballad Starts 2023 Tour On and Off Campus
Beijing Normal University has polished and rearranged the original musical the Past Ballad, striving to make the play an excellent work with "organic unity of thought, artistry, and appreciation", and has launched an on and off campus tour in early 2023.
The musical the Past Ballad is based on the story of famous musician Wang Luobin who devoted himself to the western region and music art to fight for the country. It uses music, dance, musical instrument performance, performance and other art forms as its interpretation methods to absorb the essence of national culture and inherit innovative traditions. The play is another brand-new art practice platform of Beijing Normal University after the Beijing College Student Film Festival, a creative achievement of Beijing Normal University's public art and aesthetic education, and also a vivid "aesthetic education class".
After several rounds of on-campus show in 2019, the musical the Past Ballad has been well appreciated, affirmed and guided by the teachers and students in the school and the art circle. It has caused extensive social influence and won several national project funds with honor.
In 2022, the play regrouped the superior creative forces inside and outside the school. Under the background of the whole art disciplines of the Faculty of Art and Communication, teachers and students of all majors worked together to create this masterpiece with profound thinking, exquisite art and excellent production. Xiao Xiangrong, the chief director of the play, has undertaken the task of creating national celebrations many times and won many awards. Besides, the play also brings together the famous screenwriter Qian Xiaotian, the famous composer, director and professor of the Music Department of Beijing Normal University Zhu Jie, the outstanding young musical director Li Fei, the stage art designer of the National Center for the Performing Arts Zhao Xiaoyu, the national first-class stage designer, Famous fashion designer Han Chunqi, lighting designer Wang Lei and sound designer Yang Guang of the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, and a group of outstanding artistic talents inside and outside the school. The main creative team has joined forces to ensure the high-quality creative level of the play.
2022 is the 120th anniversary of the founding of Beijing Normal University and the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Arts and Communication. Over the past 120 years, BNUers have always walked with the nation and advanced with the times. Relying on the patriotic musician Mr. Wang Luobin and several of his popular music masterpieces, and the solid artistic foundation and unique imagination of the teachers and students of the Faculty of Arts and Communication, the play shows the country's artistic creation in the new era, the modernization of traditional culture, and the unique artistic creativity of Beijing Normal University.
The performance team of the play includes not only professional teachers and students from the Faculty of Arts and Communication, but also art lovers from the whole school. Through the play, they not only tempered their professional ability, but also improved their aesthetic ability. Together with the main creative team, this group of aesthetic educators from Normal University in the new era has learned from past experience, innovated with determination, strived for perfection, and sang the past ballad with sincere emotion, strength, and the art form they are good at to make the Past Ballad shine new brilliance at a new ear.
In March, after 10 performances in Beijing Normal University, the play will go out of the campus. On the evening of April 15th and April 16th, it will be performed to the public at Beijing Tianqiao Art Center.


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Deco Lamp. Tuesday , January 30th , 2018 - 18:43:39 PM
For example, there are plenty of people who are very keen on the antique lights that will give a unique touch to the décor of the house. On the other hand, there are people who prefer the sleek and modern designs that highlight the simplicity and preciseness of the house. However, when it comes to the elegance and prestige of the house, the antique lights have their own impression. In fact, if chose rightly, these antique lamps can create an atmosphere that is special and extremely beautiful. So, if you are looking to make your living place different from others, the antique lightings can be one of the best options that you have.
Since they are available in accordance of different time periods, each of the lighting pieces will perfectly give a true periodic look that one can aim for. The only thing of difficulty is to make proper distinction between the original and the duplicate lighting pieces.
Lighting is instrumental in opening up space. The soft glow of recessed spot lighting with a monochromatic color scheme will give the illusion of peace and serenity. A tochiere light or elegant wall sconce can bounce light off the ceiling, cutting down on ghostly glare. An easily installed skylight will envelop the bathroom with a creative alternative to light, and the effects of solar tube lighting will illuminate even the most tired face and naturally infuse necessary Vitamin D.
Label :Possini Lighting‚ Lighting Universe‚ Artemide Lighting along with Children's Lighting‚ Country Lighting‚ Office Lighting or Wholesale Lighting‚ Recessed Lighting‚
Any content, trademark/s, or other material that might be found on this site that is not this site property remains the copyright of its respective owner/s. In no way does The Deal Sand More claim ownership or responsibility for such items a and you should seek legal consent for any use of such materials from its owner.


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Street to stage: Rhapsody's mission.
Now 28, James was born in Brooklyn and raised in the Bronx. She taught herself to dance by studying Tina Landon's choreography in Janet Jackson videos and started choreographing when she was 16. Ambitious and focused, she appeared regularly in MTV's "The Grind," VH-1's "80's Dance Party," and "Lip Service." In 1997 she was hired to choreograph for the New Jersey Nets dance team. "Getting jobs is all about putting yourself out there," she says. "Take classes, meet people, and make an impression."
James started her company, a hybrid of hip hop, modern, and jazz, in 1998. The choreography is alternately--or simultaneously--lyrical, sharp, grungy, and sensual. Based at the Broadway Dance Center, the company has fourteen dancers whose training ranges from classical ballet to hip hop. "I'll be the first to admit when I can't do a quadruple pirouette," she says. "But if one of my dancers can, I'll use it in my choreography."
When a sequence calls for fluidity, James tells her dancers to "ride through the counts." If she needs a fierce attack, she tells them to "beast it." When a segment needs a little sensual spice, she says "add some Grey Poupon--like the mustard."
While James may focus on hip hop as a concert form, she has found inspiration from modern choreographers like Alvin Ailey and Donald Byrd. "Those guys were pioneers, and what they did was beautiful and important," she says. "But we've got something to say too."
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|Title Annotation:||Kick it: hip hop special; choreographer Rhapsody James aims to legitimacize hip hop|
|Article Type:||Brief Article|
|Date:||Jul 1, 2004|
|Previous Article:||Getting krumped: the changing race of hip hop.|
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domain: entertainment


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Music Is Victory Over Time: Kool-Aid Sunflare Vinyl LPTIM185LPC1
Label: Trouble In Mind
Release Date: 10th November
Sunwatchers are always a rush with their heavy mix of jazz fusion that always leads further to the rock, less into the funk and picks up moments of noise rock, punk and krautrock. As usual there's a great anarchist spirit to their work where more is said with the fire of instrumentals than words.
In the decade or so that hard-working New York quartet Sunwatchers have operated, the group has steadily & subtly refined their sound - a brain-blasting mixture of jazz, psychedelia, krautrock, punk, noise, & Saharan blues - into something that is avant-leaning enough to appeal to the discerning jazz & experimental music fan & weird & wooly enough to get the true heads’ toes tapping. “Music Is Victory Over Time” is the band’s 5th album, and fourth for Chicago-based Trouble In Mind Records, seeing the long-running lineup of Peter Kerlin (bass guitar), Jim McHugh (guitars), Jason Robira (drums), and Jeff Tobias (alto saxophone and keyboards) in prime form.
Album opener “World People” is a classic Sunwatchers number whose title expresses their Anarcho-Internationalist ideology (and the atypically multi-culti make up of their crowds), with an underlying melodic resonance to New Orleans funeral marches à la Albert Ayler — a triumphant call to arms to all peoples. Live fave “Too Gary”’s gang vocal shout punctuates a motorik rager named for a phrase often uttered by a badass eight year old skateboarder McHugh knew with a speech impediment (it means “that’s too scary”). “T.A.S.C.” (or “Theme For Anarchist Sports Center”) is inspired by Sonny Sharrock’s maligned 80’s output & sounds exactly like a wrathful, mutant version of a prime-time athletic show theme, replete with the requisite “sitcom ending.” The sun- scorched “Foams” - a longform piece intended to depict natural stuff like tides, nightfall, and time slowly passing, ancient, peaceful and slightly gross all at once - practically jumps out of the speakers, its palpable intensity crackling in your eardrums. The title of “Tumulus” might reference an ancient burial mound, but the music itself might be the group’s most high-tech song to date, complimented by an arpeggiating
sequencer, three different forms of tape delay and an electric saxophone; ecstatic, fiery & deeply spiritual. “There Goes Ol’ Ooze” is a smoky creeper that lets Tobias & Kerlin take a walk for a while, with respectful nods to the Stones and Steve Reich. “Song For The Gone” closes out the album, showcasing a sincerely tender moment for the gang, as an expression of love and resolve for dear friends who had recently, tragically died. Its cascading, bluesy melody attuning itself to our own collective unconscious grief.
Having the distinct pleasure of being the first band to record in John Dwyer’s new LA-based recording studio Discount Mirrors, “Music Is Victory Over Time” boasts a beefed up sound. The band worked closely with in-house engineer Eric Bauer - facilitator, troubleshooter, sonic obsessive, a legendary freak and a DIY lifer. The band also had full access to the studio’s epic armory of gear: amps, axes (it’s Dwyer’s Eddie Harris model electric sax), synths, a bass guitar once belonging to Klaus Flouride of the Dead Kennedys. Crucial for the sounds and the vibe.
The album art was created by Josh MacPhee, the activist artist, author, archivist and founding member of both the radical artist collective Just Seeds and Interference Archive, a public collection of materials from social movements based in Brooklyn. MacPhee's participation in the project works as a statement of Sunwatchers' progressive utopian intentionality, and organically underscores their involvement in revolutionary projects within and without of their hometown. Listening to “Music Is Victory Over Time”, Sunwatcher’s rebellious spirit & unbridled enthusiasm remain fully intact, but the secret sauce is their infectious irreverence in the face of the horrors of this world. Much of our best cultural commentary is Trojan-horsed to the general public via humor & satire & the band has a knack for lacing the ridiculous with the radical. It’s good to have them back.
1. World People
2. Too Gary
6. There Goes Ol’ Ooze
7. Song For The Gone


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Citibank Taiwan Ltd (台灣花旗) on Thursday held a grand opening ceremony for a smart banking branch in Changhua City that was upgraded from a regular one.
After building its presence in Taiwan over the past 55 years, the upgraded branch is Citibank’s latest effort to provide services and products catering to the needs of local clients after introducing its Citibank Global Wallet and premium Citi Prestige Card.
Citibank country business manager Dennis Hussey said that upgrading the Changhua branch demonstrates the bank’s commitment to furthering its investments in Taiwan and offering localized services.
Photo courtesy of Citibank Taiwan Ltd
About 80 percent of Citibank’s branches in Taiwan have been upgraded, and it will continue to renew facilities at local branches and enhance the professional skills of its staff, with an aim to create a homely environment.
As Citibank has long been dedicated to providing global and innovative services, it plans to introduce a new product, portfolio finance, in the middle of next month to help clients rejuvenate assets and to offer an agile approach to utilize capital.
The upgraded branch, which is on Xiaoyang Road adjacent to the bustling business circle of Changhua City, provides a comfortable space for clients to access real-time market information, product offerings and Web banking services.
One-on-one servicea are available at its Wealth Management Consultancy Area.
The branch has been in operation for more than 28 years, with 46 percent of its clients having used it for at least 15 years. To provide more comprehensive services, Citibank moved the branch to a new building to facilitate the upgrade. Local craftsmen from 50-year-old Cheng Li Wood Co Ltd (正利木器) were hired to give the interior a unique touch. The craftsmen created special wood patterns, signifying blessings, to adorn the windows.
With the decorative windows, Citibank aims to show the connection between the bank and local culture, and also reintroduce Lukang’s long-forgotten wooden crafts to young people, as the carpentry industry was once a source of local pride.
MORE THAN BUZZ: The chip designer said it has received numerous orders from automakers to supply 5G modem chips, as it works to expand beyond smartphones MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it would ship the first 5G chips for vehicles to customers in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of the year, as it moves to expand the reach of its 5G chips beyond smartphones. The Hsinchu-based chip designer said it has been developing 5G chips for connected vehicles over the past few years, targeting applications such as telematics and in-vehicle information systems. “We are seeing demand for 5G technology from numerous makers of connected cars, including electric vehicle makers. We have obtained numerous orders from automakers to supply 5G modem chips with highly integrated features,” J.C. Hsu
INVENTORY DOUBLED: Key parts have backed up in warehouses, halting notebook production, as Acer’s CEO said that a gradual reopening would not solve the problem PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said that lockdowns in China to control COVID-19 upended key component supply and disrupted PC production, although chip shortages have been improving. While chip supply constraints largely eased in the first quarter, the company faces uneven supplies of key components due to COVID-19 restrictions in China, Acer chairman and CEO Jason Chen (陳俊聖) told an online news conference. “Semiconductor shortage was the biggest problem in the first half of last year,” Chen said. “Now, we are beset by a supply chain issue caused by China's lockdowns.” With key components unable to be delivered and backing up in
E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技) yesterday said it would further expand capacity to cope with robust demand for e-paper displays used in e-readers, e-notes and electronic shelf labels, as the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation have not dampened consumer demand. Although rising inflation is weakening companies’ purchasing power, E Ink said that its customers have not scaled down orders for e-paper displays used in e-readers. “Reading is still the most affordable leisure activity that people have,” E Ink CEO Johnson Lee (李政昊) told an online investors’ conference in Taipei. As e-books are less expensive than paper books, “we have so far not seen
Covestro Taiwan Ltd (台灣科思創) yesterday launched a new research and development center that is to specialize in resin synthesis and fiberoptic coating after its parent company, Covestro AG, acquired a resins business from Royal DSM, it said. The German company in September 2020 agreed to buy the resins and functional materials business from Royal DSM for about 1.61 billion euros (US$1.69 billion), corporate data showed. The Dutch company’s local units, such as Covestro Resins (ROA) Ltd (帝昇) and Covestro Resins (Taiwan) Ltd (新力美), are next month to be integrated into Covestro Taiwan Ltd, with their employees continuing resins development, Covestro Taiwan said. The

domain: economics


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Cost of living in Bern, Switzerland compared to Aarau, Switzerland
|Personal Care||+ 10%|
WARNING! This comparison is based on only a few data points. At this point it is only a guess. It is based on 179 prices entered by 39 different people.
These prices were last updated on March 24, 2018.
Do you live in Aarau? We need your help!
Cost of living in Bern (Switzerland) is about the same as in Aarau (Switzerland)
Recent Prices Added
- Monthly rent - 85 m2 furnished accommodation in expensive area in Bogotá costs COL$1,800,000 (34 minutes ago)
- Basic lunchtime menu (including a drink) in the business district in Sousse costs 15 Dinar (about 1 hour ago)
- Public transport in Calgary costs C$103 (about 1 hour ago)
- 10 eggs, large in Yangon costs 1,800 Kyat (about 1 hour ago)
- Internet connection 300 mbps, 1 month in Budapest costs 6,000 Ft (about 1 hour ago)
- Volkswagen golf 1.4 tsi 150 cv (or equivalent), with no extras, new in São Paulo costs R$ 30,000 (about 1 hour ago)

domain: travel


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Michigan No-fault Insurance Law: Intro
Welcome to the current awareness companion to the Michigan No-fault Insurance Law course. The purpose of this guide is to help you to discover specific tools and develop the habits you will need to keep up with legal developments once you are practicing law.
Please be aware that most of this information was created by organizations and professionals for their own purposes. These purposes may not align perfectly with the interests of you or your client. Please take advantage of this opportunity to evaluate the sources and practice controlling for any biases that you find.


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A Wells Fargo Error Led to 545 Mistaken Home Foreclosures
A “calculation error” in Wells Fargo’s underwriting tool led to 545 mistaken home foreclosures over the past eight years, the bank announced Tuesday. The latest government filing adds well over 100 homes to a previous report on the apparent computer glitch, which estimated 400 unnecessary foreclosures.
According to the filing, the error overestimated the attorney’s fees for homeowners in the foreclosure process between March 15, 2010, and April 30, 2018, when new controls were implemented. The error led the bank to reject customers’ requests for a mortgage loan modification or repayment plan in 870 cases where the homeowner should have been qualified. Of the 870, approximately 545 were eventually foreclosed upon.
“We’re very sorry that the errors occurred and have assigned a single, dedicated point of contact to ensure that each customer is engaged with and assisted individually,” Tom Goyda, a spokesman for the company, told Reuters.
Wells Fargo said it has already contacted the majority of the affected customers to provide remediation and offer no-cost, independent mediation, and will reach out to the others. The bank set aside $8 million to compensate customers when the error was originally discovered in August.
While the review of its mortgage loan modification tools is ongoing, Wells Fargo continues to handle the PR aftermath of previous mistakes. Over the past two years, the bank has be exposed for opening unauthorized deposit and credit-card accounts, altering corporate customers’ information, charging customers for unwanted car insurance, and overcharging customers to inflate bonuses.


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Representative Bill Richardson (1947 - )In Congress 1983 - 1998
Image, Congressional Pictorial Directory, 105th.
|New Mexico||3||House: 98th-105th (1983-1998)|
Legislation Sponsored or Cosponsored by Bill Richardson
1-1 of 1
H.R.732 — 105th Congress (1997-1998)
To authorize an appropriation for the construction of a public museum located in, and relating to the history of, the State of New Mexico.
Sponsor: Rep. Richardson, Bill [D-NM-3] (Introduced 02/12/1997) Cosponsors: 0 Latest Action: 02/21/1997 Executive Comment Requested from Interior. Tracker:
This bill has the status Introduced
Here are the steps for Status of Legislation:

domain: politics


text:
Here is the main category for crochet bags, totes & purses. These are perfect for market and the beach in the summer time. Or, line them with a sturdy material and insert a zipper for an everyday bag or purse that you can take with you where ever you go. Here is a tutorial on how to line a bag with or without a zipper.
Another beauty of crocheted bags is that you can choose how you want your handles. One of the easiest ways is to crochet them in one piece along with the bag. That way there is no fastening off and no sewing! Here is a tutorial that shows you how to make bag handles for any sized bag.
Make these crochet bag patterns for yourself or give them as gifts to your friends and family. Not only do they make for great gifts, but you can actually use them as gift bags as well!


SARAWAK’S first Biogas Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project
using the closed continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) anaerobic system
is 60% completed and expected to be operational within three months.
The CDM project was successfully registered with the United Nations
Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) in February last year.
Construction began in November last year and was targeted for
completion in eight months.
“The facility’s main objective is to
trap and destroy methane gas by flaring before it is emitted into the
air. Methane is 21 times more harmful than carbon dioxide (CO2),” said
Konzen Clean Energy Sdn Bhd (KCE) chief executive officer Mike Teo Su
Kiam in Mukah recently.
The Shah Alam-based KCE has partnered
Rinwood Pelita (Mukah) Plantation Sdn Bhd (RPP) in developing the
RM7.5mil CDM project near its mill about 30km from Mukah town.
Teo said that RPP was chosen for this pioneering project after
taking into consideration that it was strategically located in the
Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy and had met all the risk mitigation
One of the most important criteria was the commitment
of oil palm plantation owners to reduce the emission of harmful gases
from the mills.
“At the very first meeting, Datuk Hii Yii Peng,
the managing director of RPP, and his son King Chiong, agreed to
implement the CDM project. They were serious in protecting and improving
the environment,” Teo added.
With total area of 24,000ha
producing 500,000 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per year, RPP’s
production will support operations at the CDM project for many decades.
Teo said that research and development on the CDM project begun more
than three years ago by KCE’s in-house engineers.
and design met the strict registration criteria of UNFCCC.
the project, a developing country like Malaysia can generate certified
emission reductions (CERs) by implementing emission reduction projects.
These CERs can be traded and sold to industrialised countries to meet or
offset their emission reduction targets.
The estimated CERs from
the RPP project is 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. At the
current price of 12 euro (RM51) per tonne, the company stands to earn
more than RM2mil annually.
Teo said that palm oil mill effluents
discharged from mills in Sarawak were dumped into a series of open
lagoons for treatment.
“This open lagoon anaerobic process emits
offensive odours and harmful methane gas into the atmosphere and has an
adverse effect on the climate,” he added.
Kuching-born Teo is a
chemical engineer by training.
His career in the treatment of
industrial waste water has taken him to major countries across Asia in
the past 15 years.
He said that KCE and RPP were planning the
RM6mil CDM project second phase which would commercially produce
electricity using biogas.
“We are in talks with Sarawak Energy
Bhd (SEB) to look into the possibility of supplying them with 2.5MW of
electricity,” he said.
He said that eight other palm oil mill
owners in Sarawak had signed a letter of intent with KCE to build the
CDM projects in the next three years.


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Sumioni: Demon Arts|
I've always been a fan of artistic gaming presentations like the stark depressing mood of Limbo and the colorful Japanese sumi-e styling of Okami. It's the sumi-e art style that heavily inspired Aquire's newest side-scrolling release, Sumioni: Demon Arts, for the Vita. This is easily one of the most gorgeous titles to grace the Vita's OLED screen that I've seen so far.
The story takes place in Ancient Japan which has been plunged into chaos due to the wicked inclinations of a few men. Tengan, under the command of his virtuous master, attempts to quell their ways. Unfortunately the inkmaster wasn't able to stop them and evil prevailed leading to Tengan's banishment to a penal colony. It was only a short time before betrayal set in amongst the wicked and in retaliation Seimei used the hate that spurred inside him to call forth darkness into the world which changed him. Tengan, in his old age, decided to try and stop Seimei the only way he knew how by summoning an inkdemon named Agura no Sumioni, who reluctantly isn't at all interested in saving the world. With the proper motivation by the two Inkgods, Shidou(lion) and Yomihi(bird), Agura must race against time to stop Japan from being consumed in darkness.
Sumioni first appears to be a standard hack n' slash action game using the buttons. That quickly changes when you tap into your skills as an inkdemon using the Vita's front and back touch capabilities. By swiping on the touchscreen you use ink to create platforms to get over obstacles and reach items while dispatching enemies with the buttons. This is an awesome gameplay mechanic that fits perfectly into the artistic design as well as adding some really cool attack elements into the game.
For starters, standing on your created platforms will make you stronger allowing you to dish out some serious damage. The effect however wears off if you fall to the ground which can happen if your not careful as the platforms fade over time. However if you draw a thicker platform it will take longer to dissolve which I found crucial during a boss stage or two. Besides creating platforms you can use ink to attack enemies in a number of ways such as pressing the LB button and drawing simple patterns over your targets and hitting LB to activate fire attacks. You can even tap and hold on a spot to create a ink cloud to send down lightning on your foes.
The most important ink based power is summoning one of the two Inkgods to your side for a limited time. They are extremely useful during boss fights or levels that involve taking out towers to finish the level. To summon them you have to tap their respected symbol and then recreate the same pattern in a one round bout of Simon-says with ink. The lion god features ground based attacks and a devastating vertical energy attack while the bird swoops in and attacks and used energy discs.
Using ink to help you defeat those in your way is not without its limits as you have a limited ink supply. You can resupply it by picking up ink jars or you can use the back touchpad to refill your ink when Agura is standing still. By rubbing back and forth quickly on the back panel you will regain ink, you just have to be careful when you do it. There is also another tool at you disposal that is extremely useful against certain energy attacks by both common and boss enemies. By tapping the orb in the bottom right corner of the touchscreen or the easier Circle button you can switch to a water mode that you can use to literally wash most energy attacks off the screen.
The presentation of Sumioni: Demon Arts is by far the best part of this Japanese adventure. The backdrops are vibrant while featuring locales drawn in the signature Japanese sumi-e art style seen in real world Japan. Everything from the gigantic bosses to the smallest enemies comes to life with well created ink art. The art of ink brushing is also beautifully captured in Sumioni as well. Depending on how hard or light you press on the screen when you make your platforms you will be treated to realistic looking brush strokes. Depending on how long your ink gauge is you can create more elaborate or a greater number of brush strokes at one time.
The main character of Agura, the Inkgods Shidou and Yomihi and of course the bosses are the most detailed and vibrant parts of Sumioni: Demon Arts. Agura and his Inkgod duo pop of the screen making them really easy to see. The bosses themselves are usually colored in the tones of the backdrop but thanks to the sharp outer lines they stand apart from it and are more in the foreground. The story for Sumioni: Demon Arts is told through moving slides that are just as vibrant as the gameplay itself. Sadly there is no vocal narration to the story or characters, which would have made this experience even cooler. The sound department does feature some really good background music and attack sound effects as well as realistic ink and water sound for the touch functions.
For all Sumioni's solid visuals and gameplay mechanics, it does suffer from a lack of cohesive functionality. There are several different types of levels to go through such as running from a giant adversary or defeating a bunch of enemies and a tower at the end. Unfortunately there is little variance in the enemies and the same tactics work on almost all of them. Only the bosses require real tactics to beat so the difficulty is uneven.
The real cool and equally annoying part is that there are 6 different paths and endings to Sumioni: Demon Arts. While this is fundamentally cool and it challenges you to get better scores on each level they don't really explain this at all in game. I only found this out by reading a footnote in the included digital manual after finally beating the first tier. To get to the lower tiers you have to 3 star the required level to move down the ladder. However there is no autosave and if you save after every level you have to basically start the game over again to try and get it right. The upside to making it to the lower levels is that the enemies and obstacles get tougher and requires the player to refine their tactics to get through alive. There is also no level select so the whole experience plays out like a slightly easier ode to old school side-scrolling platformers.
I have to say that Sumioni: Demon Arts is easily one of my favorites on the Vita despite its less than stellar inner workings. The combat while limited is greatly more enjoyable thanks to the ink based attacks and platforming. It adds a new level of interacting with the game and achieving your goals. The need to get proficiently better through trial and error halts the storytelling a bit but once you get it down and figure out how to progress to the lower tiers it isn't all bad especially for the $20 dollar price tag. If you’re looking for a challenging platformer with a lot of style then I definitely recommend downloading Sumioni: Demon Arts for the Vita.

domain: game


Even Conservatives Dislike GOP Pledge, Call It A “Sellout”
What the GOP doesn’t want you to know is how much dissension there has been around their just-released “Pledge to America.”
…interviews with Republican aides reveal that many in the GOP caucus are unhappy that there was no earmark ban and no promise to pass a balanced budget amendment in the proposal, which was unveiled Thursday by House Minority Leader John Boehner. The inclusion of a health insurance provision considered to be mandate angered many conservative lawmakers.
“We’re going to repeal Obamacare and then bring a large chunk of it back. It’s kind of crazy,” said a senior Republican official.
And social conservative leaders said that a commitment to upholding the Defense of Marriage Act was dropped at the last moment.
“They kept talking about realism. They wanted it to be realistic, something we could do, not pipe dreams,” said one House aide who said that while leadership sought extensive input, they threw many of the ideas they received “in the trash heap.”
One Republican aide seems to have little faith in his/her party:
“Leadership doesn’t do anything unless they’re boxed in. So they’ll do small stuff. They’ll repeal stimulus. They’ll do these YouCut votes. But in terms of dealing with entitlement reform, challenging the president to deal with the long term fiscal imbalances, they aren’t willing to at least articulate it in their document. I do not see them willing to legislate and govern in that area,” the aide said.Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2010 Liberaland


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This volume grew out of a remarkable Contemplative Seminar on Practices of Compassion held in Hyderabad at the end of January 2016. The event was initiated by Lama Doboom Tulku, organized by World Buddhist Culture Trust and conducted by Professor M. Darrol Bryant. Unlike typical conferences, this event incorporated practices of compassion led by participants from their own spiritual practices. Each day began and ended in silence, the participants sat in silence, danced together, shared spiritual practices and learned from one another. Papers were written and circulated in advance. There was no reading of papers, but only discussion. It proved to be a deeply moving experience of practices of compassion for all the participants.
At the end of the seminar, there was a spontaneous conviction that this experience and exploration of compassion should be shared with a wider audience. There were contributions from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Sikh, Jewish, and other spiritual streams. Later some additional contributions were invited as well.
The volume is a many-leafed flower exhibiting the rich diversity of practices of compassion found in the human family. It is also a testimony to the centrality of silence as the way to compassion. It is the journey within that manifests in actions without. It is not a conceptual journey but a journey of the heart.
M. Darrol Bryant is the founding Director of the Centre for Dialogue & Spirituality in the World's Religions at Renison University College/University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. From 1973 until 2007 he taught at Renison University College and retired as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus.
From 1972 until March 2011 Lama Doboom Tulku worked in various academic, cultural and administrative institutions of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is currently engaged in inter-religious and cross-cultural activities through art and culture, as the Founder Managing Trustee of World Buddhist Culture Trust
Yanni Maniates (www.insideout journeys.com), MS, is Director of Eco-Ministry, Forum 21; Event coordinator, The Interspiritual Network; Co-editor, The Eco-Activist Newsletter, Editor, 'Steering Toward the Omega Point: Roundtables 2, 3 and 4'; and Curator, Self-Care to Earth-Care.
IN LATE JANUARY 2.o16, sixteen participants gathered in Hyderabad in Telangana, south India. We had come to participate in a Contemplative Seminar on Practices of Compassion. Our host was the Venerable Doboom Tulku, the long-time head of Tibet House in New Delhi, but now the Managing Trustee of the World Buddhist Cultural Trust. We were meeting in the facilities of the Henry Martyn Institute, a centre established in Lahore in the 1940s to engage in dialogue with the Muslim world. The Institute had finally come to settle in Hyderabad following partition. We were a group of scholars, practitioners, and lay persons from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Sikh and other spiritual traditions. Another ten people had sent written contributions but were unable to join us in India.
Hyderabad was long at the heart of the Muslim community in southern India - and it remains so today. It is home to the iconic Charminar, a remarkable masjid from the sixteenth century, and to the nearby Golkonda citadel/fort/palace that was the centre of a vibrant fifteenth century Muslim state. But even earlier there was an important Buddhist centre nearby. Nagarjuna, a second century Buddhist, had established Nagarjunakonda, that became the location of several Buddhist monasteries and universities. It is there that the Venerable Doboom Tulku hopes to establish a Centre. Echoes of this multi-faith history and the centuries' old exchange between Muslims and Hindus permeated our gathering.
We called it a 'contemplative seminar' because we did not want it to be a conventional conference. We felt it was imperative to meet in silence and meditation before we turned to the exchange of words. So each day we began with a half-hour of a spiritual exercise led by the members of our gathering. They decided if we would meet in silent meditation or prayer or movement. We also closed each day with another half-hour of silence and/or a spiritual practice. This proved to have a significant impact on our seminar.
Then, over the five days of our gathering, we turned to discuss the papers that had been written on practices of compassion - not theories, but practices. Notice that we gathered to discuss the papers, not hear them read. We had circulated all the papers to the participants in the months leading up to our gathering in Hyderabad. They were sent out with the reminder that we would not be reading papers, but only discussing papers, sharing our questions and our responses. Prof. Bryant, who had worked with Lama Doboom Tulku and Prof. Anne Klein in shaping this seminar, had insisted on this format. His argument was that endless reading of papers undercut the purpose of our gathering: to engage and learn from one another. While it took some getting used to, we found it to be a useful strategy. It enhanced the vitality and tone of our exchange and dialogue.
Now when we move from the immediacy of the living encounter that is a contemplative seminar to a volume containing the written contributions, we lose all the moments of insight, the immediate yeas and nays of discussion, the dynamics of dialogue, and the wonder of shared silence. We simply have to ask the reader to imagine everything that is happening in the give and take of discussion.
In the volume you now hold in your hands, we have put the papers into categories, largely by tradition. But here we will introduce you to what you will read by introducing the papers in the order in which they were discussed in Hyderabad. And we will also mention the periods of silence and meditation that framed each day. This may give the reader a more lively portrayal of how things unfolded for the participants in Hyderabad.
We began in the late afternoon of 27 January 2016 with `Mangalacharan' or 'Verses of Auspiciousness' by Swami Chidananda, Ven. Olande Ananda Thera, and Mohammed Fayyazuddin. We were then welcomed by the Venerable Doboom Tulku and Rev. Packiam Samuel, the Director of the Henry Martyn Institute. Professor M. Darrol Bryant outlined the schedule of papers to be discussed and the meditative sessions for the coming days.
Yanni Maniates then led us in our first contemplative/meditative session. It was deeply moving and a different way to begin our encounter with one another.
The following morning, we met in our second contemplative session. It was led by Swami Chidananda and drew upon Hindu spiritual practices.
We began our discussion by turning to a fascinating paper by Yanni Maniates entitled 'May You Be Free from Suffering, May You Be At Peace. . . ,' Director of Eco-Ministry and Event Coordinator for the Interspiritual Network, he has been a spiritual teacher for more than thirty years. Here, Maniates shares with the reader his experience of what he calls 'the Embrace'. It is, he continues, this 'unitive experience' that awakens us to compassion for ourselves, others, and the earth. It also grounds our quest to free ourselves and others from suffering and the quest for peace. Its emphasis on transformative experience rather than theory struck an important first note for our discussion.
It was followed by two papers by Shiv Talwar, an engineer who is also the founder of the Spiritual Heritage Education Network (SHEN) in Canada, entitled 'Breathe Deeply for Health, Wellness, and Compassion: A Summary' and 'Breathe Deeply for Health, Wellness and Compassion'. Darrol Bryant has known Shiv for decades and has seen the growth of SHEN. It hosts an annual conference that brings together a global cast of spiritual teachers from diverse traditions, sciences, and professions. Here, Shiv explores the physiology of meditation, arguing that it is 'deep breathing' that 'opens our minds to higher emotions of selfless love and compassion'. It was another angle of vision on the meditative experience.
We also drew some links between Talwar's contributions and a contribution by Brenden Ozawa-de Silva entitled 'Compassion at the Core.' Brendan is a Professor of Psychology at Life University in Georgia in the USA. He has been involved in a decade-long programme that has developed a science based Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT). This is a programme that draws on Tibetan Buddhist traditions but employs them in a non-religious way. It has been successfully tested with different groups. Brenden says that he has learned that 'self-centeredness is the single source of all our woe...' and that this programmed 'shifts our understanding of who we are as human beings'. It also includes some material on recent scientific research on meditation.
In our second session that morning, we considered the contribution of Zuleikha on 'Awareness, Art and Service'. Zuleikha is an international performer and educator who explores 'ancient spiritual and movement technologies of the sacred'. Some of us would call her a dancer, but she quickly allowed us to see how she combines movement and spirituality in ways that both educate and heal. Rather than taking about her contribution, she performed it. It was very moving, and she also shared with use some of her practices for making a more compassionate world.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
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- Dean departure
- Sleeping Giant State Park set to reopen in spring
- Spring spotlight
- Semester of self-care
- Shut down, but not sleeping
- Bill Kohlhepp steps down from his position as Dean of the College of Health Sciences
- Scammers strike again
- Land of the unfree
- If a movie could talk…
- The story of how ‘Icarus Falls’
Social spot planned for next year
There are plans for a new spot for students to hang out on the Mount Carmel campus.
Joseph Rubertone, associate vice president for facilities, said that there will be a patio on top of the newly planned bridge by Irmagarde Tator Hall with lights for people to gather.
“I like the idea of it,” freshman Rob Jeffway said. “People in Ledges have that gazebo to hang out in, so this should be a similar kind of thing for kids living in Irma.”
Ned Emerson, who lives in Dana English Hall, had a different opinion.
“I think it’s annoying how kids in Irma are getting a new spot to hang out in,” Emerson said. “Kids like me in Dana don’t really have a spot outside to chill at.”
The patio, along with the widening of Dorm Road, is expected to be completed by August.
The Bobcat Way project also includes widening Dorm Road, relocating the pipes in front of Irmagarde Tator Hall and replacing the culvert.
The first step in the project was the underground work–the pipes. The Regional Water Authority was brought in solely to relocate the pipes and began working immediately after students left Quinnipiac before Spring break on March 6. The pipes needed to be moved away from the culvert so it can be replaced. This part of the project was completed in just 13 days.
These pipes will eventually connect to the new ones in the new cafeteria addition. But first, Quinnipiac will be replacing its culvert beneath Dorm Road, which carries water into “hep creek.” The culvert is 45 years old and its replacement is the next step in the Bobcat Way project. Rubertone has been the associate vice president for facilities administration for 35 years and is in charge of the project.
“It is sinking, so when we put the new culvert in, it’s going to be concrete,” Rubertone said. “We’re going to make it more like a bridge.”
“The Bobcat Way project is going to widen Dorm Road a smidge so we can park a car in certain areas so we can have two-way traffic,” Rubertone said. “Hopefully with all of the speed bumps and crosswalks we’re going to put in, it is going to be friendlier to pedestrians than to vehicles.”


Boris Johnson has clashed with his Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab over the Partygate scandal, by refusing to endorse the Attorney General’s admission that laws were broken in No. 10.
Mr Raab’s comment came after 24 hours in which Downing Street had refused to accept that the Metropolitan Police’s fines for 20 lockdown violations were evidence of breaking the law.
But Mr Johnson stuck to the official line when he was roasted by a parliamentary committee on the matter, insisting that he would not comment on Partygate until the Met investigation is completed and Whitehall Mandarin Sue Gray’s report is published. .
The prime minister faced calls to resign over what Labor said was clear evidence of “crime” under his watch in Downing Street – with one MP telling him straight to his face: “You’re toast.”
The prime minister’s silence has sparked speculation that he fears that anything said now could backfire later if he himself faces a fixed fine.
The issue could prove vital for Mr Johnson’s future as it will be more difficult for him to hold on to office if he is shown to have broken the law or misled parliament.
Mr Raab may have denied the prime minister a possible line of defense against allegations of law-breaking with his comments in a round of broadcast interviews Wednesday morning, in which he said it was “inevitable” that FPNs were only issued to “those who broke the rules.” .
The minister also accepted that Mr Johnson may have said things “that turned out to be untrue” when he assured MPs in the House of Commons that no rules had been broken in No 10.
But he insisted there was no “intent to mislead” as the prime minister “had updated parliament to the best of his knowledge and understanding”.
Under lingering questions during a 90-minute session of the House of Commons Liaison Committee, Johnson repeatedly insisted that he would not provide “ongoing comment” on the Partygate investigation or speak about it publicly until the trial was over. rounded.
After refusing to say whether he had received an FPN himself, Pete Wishart, an SNP MP, told him: “Prime Minister, we don’t expect you to provide a running comment, that’s clear. But if you… you’re quite the toast, aren’t you?’
But Mr Johnson told Mr Wishart: “I have been, I hope, very frank with the House about where I think we went wrong and about the things I regret, for which I apologise.
“But there is an ongoing investigation… I’m going to camp pretty firmly in my position. I will not comment on an ongoing investigation.”
Previously, the prime minister faced calls for “resignation” when he fended questions about Partygate in the House of Commons.
Sir Keir Starmer told the Prime Minister’s questions that the Met’s decision to impose fines indicated there was “widespread crime” in Mr Johnson’s Downing Street.
“The ministerial code says that ministers who knowingly mislead the House must resign,” the Labor leader said. “Why is he still here?”
Mr Johnson replied, “Of course the Met, the researchers, should continue with their work, but in the meantime, we will continue with our work.”
Sir Keir replied that the Prime Minister was either “breaking up the ministerial code, or he claims that he has been repeatedly lied to by his own advisers that he did not know what was going on in his own home and office”.
Sir Keir accused Mr Johnson of believing he can “pass crime in his office and ask others to follow the law”, Sir Keir asked: “When is he going to stop taking the British public for fools?”
A Labor spokesman later said it was “totally untenable” for Downing Street to “refuse to recognize what is a factual and legal statement – which is that issuing 20 fixed fines proves that there has been crime in the Downing program.” of Boris Johnson. Street”.
Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain, a former police officer, said: †It’s completely absurd that Boris Johnson still won’t accept that the lockdown parties in Downing Street have broken the law.
“This stubborn denial goes against the evidence. It shows that Johnson has learned no lessons from this scandal and is still fooling the British people.
“As a former police officer, I know what people do to answer questions. These excuses wouldn’t cut it then and they won’t cut it with the public now.”


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Congratulations! You have chosen your wedding date, the next step is selecting a venue for your ceremony and reception. This is truly the bones of your wedding, it will determine how many guests you are having, what theme suits you best, and the overall style. After you decide what suits you best, everything else will fall into place.
For all our unique brides out there looking a for chic, up scale, stylish and sophisticated wedding who want to look outside the box; try expanding your search to intimate art galleries, historic mansions or luxury museums.
Luxury Tip: Once you choose a venue, try and enhance its best qualities and use them as focal points for your overall theme. For example, if you choose an art gallery, embrace the art on the wall and use it as a color palette guideline for your linins and centrepieces. It will surly keep your guests interested in the fabulous art and your wonderful decor.
Our top 3 luxury venues this month:
The Art Gallery of Calgary
The AGC is a smart, high profile venue for couples who are looking for an upscale wedding with cutting edge art, high ceilings and an unique floor plan.
This is truly a rare find in the heart of calgary, a historic mansion on park grounds. The Lougheed house not only has character and charm, is just oozes with vintage class. For couples looking for some royal treatment this might be your perfect match!
Aero Space Museum of Calgary:
This amazing venue offers unlimited amount of space that accommodates larger weddings. It’s old hollywood charm and vintage feel is just perfect anyone who wants a movie star wedding.
Photo 1. http://www.artgallerycalgary.org/


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