Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are located in the middle layer of the vascular wall. Abnormal proliferation and migration of VSMCs induced by local stimulus play an important role in the development of cardiovascular diseases, such as restenosis after coronary artery bypass and stent, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and pulmonary artery hypertension [1, 2]. Unlike terminally differentiated myocardium and nerve cell, VSMCs could alternate phenotype from the differentiated contractile phenotype to dedifferentiated synthetic phenotype stimulated by environmental factors. In physiological conditions, VSMCs has been shown not to proliferate and migrate. However, a significant increase in proliferation and migration could be regulated by injury and growth factors, especially the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). PDGF, which is derived from platelets and vascular cells following injury, has been demonstrated as one of the most important cytokines to promote the proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells. Furthermore, pharmacological and genetic approaches have shown a causal relationship between PDGF signaling and cardiovascular diseases.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of highly conserved, noncoding, single-stranded RNA of ≈22 nucleotides, which perform pivot biological functions via promotion of degradation and translation inhibition of relative target mRNAs [4, 5]. Increasing studies have found that miRNAs are associated with almost all important cell functions, including cell differentiation, proliferation, migration, and apoptosis [6-9]. Meanwhile, miRNAs also play an important role in the regulation of cardiovascular physiological development and cardiovascular diseases [10, 11]. In fact, many miRNAs, including miR-1, miR-21, miR-24, miR-145, miR-221/222, miR-663 were testified to modulate phenotypic switch of VSMCs and neointima formation after vascular injury [12-17]. In response to vascular injury and PDGF stimulation, the expression of miR-1, miR-21, miR-24, miR-221/222 was increased, which resulted in accelerating proliferation and migration of VSMCs. However, miR-145 was one of the highest expressed miRNAs in vascular walls, which was sharply down-regulated in rat models of carotid balloon injury. Furthermore, the restoration of decreased miR-145 could attenuate intimal hyperplasia . miR-320 is closely related to the proliferation, migration, and apoptosis of many kinds of cancer cells, such as oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines, cholangiocarcinoma cells, prostate cancer cells, colorectal cancer cells [18-21]. However, the effects of miR-320 on VSMCs and proliferative vascular diseases are still completely unclear.
In the current study, we demonstrated that miR-320 inhibited the proliferation and migration of human VSMCs by targeting Neuropilin 1 (NRP1) in vitro. Moreover, we found that miR-320 was dramatically decreased in ligated mouse carotid injury and restoration of miR-320 attenuate intimal hyperplasia in vivo, suggesting that miR-320 could be used as a new phenotypic marker and therapeutic target.
HEK293T cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 1% penicillin-streptomycin. Human aortic smooth cells were obtained from ScienCell Research Laboratories (USA, Cat. No.6110) and maintained in Smooth Muscle Cell Medium (SMCM, Cat. No.1101), containing 2%FBS and 1% penicillin-streptomycin. Both cells were incubated in humid conditions at 37℃ at 5% CO2. The cells from 3 passages to 5 passages were used in the experiment. Human PDGF-BB was purchased from R&D Systems. VSMCs were starved for 24 hours with no serum and stimulated with PDGF-BB (20ng/ml). miR-320 mimic (Cat. No. miR20000903) and inhibitor (Cat. No. miR10000903), si-NRP1 (Cat. No. StB0002363) and corresponding negative control were obtained from Ribobio (Guangzhou, China). The final transfection concentrations of miR-320 mimic and inhibitor, si-NRP1 were 50nM, 100nM, and 50nM, respectively, using lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen, USA) by the manufacturer's instructions.
Total RNA from human VSMCs and mice carotid artery tissues was extracted using Trizol reagent (Invitrogen, USA). cDNA was synthesized by the Prime Script RT Master Mix(Takara, Japan) and detected by SYBR Premix EX TaqⅡ(Takara, Japan) by Light Cycler 96 (BIOTECON Diagnostics, Roche, Switzerland). The primer sequences used in the experiment were as follows: miR-320(RT primer: 5'-GTC GTA TCC AGT GCG TGT CGT GGA GTC GGC AAT TGC ACT GGA TAC GAC TCG CCC T-3'; forward primer: 5'-AAA AGC TGG GTT GAG AGG GCG A-3'; reverse primer: 5'-CAG TGC GTG TCG TGG AGT-3'). The abundance of miR-320 relative to U6 was quantified by the 2-ΔΔCt method.
The protein from VSMCs and tissues was isolated by cell lysis buffer (9803s, CST) with protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche, USA) and centrifuged for 15min at 12000rpm at 4°C. Protein lysates were electrophoresed using SDS-PAGE and transferred to PVDF membranes. The membranes were blocked with 5% non-fat milk powder, incubated with primary antibody against PCNA (13110s, 1:1000, rabbit, CST), SMA(ab32575,1:1000, rabbit, Abcam), NRP1 (ab81321, 1:1000, rabbit, Abcam), GFP(GTX113617, 1:3000, rabbit,GeneTex), β-tubulin (2128s, 1:5000, rabbit, CST) overnight at 4℃, followed by binding to horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody. The bands were scanned using Amersham Imager 600 ECL system (GE Healthcare, USA).
Cells were cultured in a 12-well plate, transfected for 48h, starved for 12h, stimulated with or without PDGF-BB (20ng/ml) for 24h. EdU was added for the last 4h of stimulation. Cell proliferation was evaluated based on EdU incorporation, using Click-iT EdU Imaging Kit (Invitrogen, USA) according to manufacturer's protocol. The stained cells were photographed using an Olympus IX83 microscope (OLYMPUS, Japan) and calculated the percentage of positive proliferating cells.
Transfected cells were starved in serum-free medium for 24h. A scratch was made in the center of the 6cm dish using 200ul tips and treated with PDGF-BB (20ng/ml) for 24h. Images of cell migration before and after stimulation were taken and the migration areas were calculated.
HEK293T cells were cultured in 24-well plate, co-transfected with luciferase reporter plasmid and miR-320 mimic or NC mimic. 48h after transfection, luciferase activity was detected by Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay System (Promega).
Male C57BL/6 mice (20-25 g) were anesthetized with an intraperitoneal injection of 3.5% chloral hydrate (0.1ml/10g). The left common carotid artery was ligated with 6-0 silk suture proximal to the bifurcation and the blood flow was completely blocked. As for the control group, the right common carotid artery was subjected to the same procedure except for ligation . The common carotid artery was fully dissociated from surrounding tissues. Ad-miR-320 (Cat. No. H8709) or Ad-GFP (Cat. No. H201) was purchased from OBIO Technology (Shanghai, China), dissolved in Pluronic F127 gel (20% wt/vol, Sigma, USA) and placed around the blood vessel. At 7, 14 or 28d after surgery, carotid artery tissues were harvested after systemic perfusion with PBS, fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde and embedded in paraffin. The tissue sections (5μm) were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histological and morphometric analysis. All the animal experiments were approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital.
After antigen retrieval with sodium citrate buffer (PH 6.0), the tissues sections were blocked with 1% BSA, incubated with primary antibodies to PCNA(2586T, 1:100, mouse, CST), SMA(ab32575,1:100, rabbit, Abcam; sc-53142,1:100, mouse, SCBT), NRP1(ab81321, 1:100, rabbit, Abcam) overnight at 4℃. From this step forward, samples should be protected from light and incubated using secondary antibody (1:200, YEPSEN) for 60min at room temperature. The nuclei were stained with DAPI.
The data were represented as mean ± SD and analyzed with SPSS software (version 20.0). The differences between two groups were determined by independent sample t-test. The comparisons between multiple groups were performed using one-way analysis of variance. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.
This was demonstrated by this study that miR-320, miR-218, and miR-194 were highly expressed in normal rat carotid artery . To confirm these results, human aortic VSMCs were stimulated by PDGF-BB and these miRNAs levels were evaluated by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). We found that the expression of miR-218 and miR-194 did not change after treatment with PDGF-BB (Figure 1A). In contrast, PDGF-BB resulted in dramatic down-regulation of miR-320 expression by qRT-PCR, displaying time and dose dependence (Figure 1B and 1C).
miR-320 is down-regulated in VSMCs by PDGF. (A) VSMCs were starved for 24h in no-serum condition and treated with PDGF-BB (20ng/ml) for 24h. MiR-320 expression was decreased rather than miR-218 and miR-194 by qRT-PCR. (B) MiR-320 expression displayed a time-dependent decrease in VSMCs treated with PDGF-BB (20ng/ml) by qRT-PCR. (C) MiR-320 expression displayed a dose-dependent decrease in VSMCs treated with PDGF-BB for 24h by qRT-PCR. n=3; *P<0.05 vs that without PDGF-BB treatment.
miR-320 inhibits VSMCs proliferation. (A and C) VSMCs were transfected with miR-320 mimic or inhibitor and miR-320 expression was determined by qRT-PCR. (B and D) The EdU incorporation assay detected VSMCs proliferation after transfection with miR-320 mimic or inhibitor with and without PDGF-BB treatment. (E and F) The expression of PCNA was measured by western blot. β-tubulin was used as internal control. n=3; **P<0.01 vs NC (negative control) ,*P<0.05 vs NC without PDGF-BB treatment, #P<0.05 vs NC with PDGF-BB treatment.
To identify the effect of miR-320 on VSMCs proliferation and migration, VSMCs were transfected with miR-320 mimic, miR-320 inhibitor or negative control. MiR-320 expression was significantly increased by 92 folds in the mimic group and sharply decreased by 90% in the inhibitor group (Figure 2A and 2C). After transfection with miR-320 mimic, VSMCs proliferation was inhibited with or without PDGF-BB, compared with negative control (Figure 2B). In contrast, we observed that miR-320 inhibitor induced VSMCs proliferation (Figure 2D). Likewise, to further confirm the role of miR-320 in VSMCs proliferation, we detected the expression of a cell proliferation marker, PCNA. PDGF-BB caused a significant increase in PCNA expression as demonstrated by immunoblotting, which was inhibited in miR-320 mimic transfected cells, while miR-320 inhibitor increased PCNA expression (Figure 2E and 2F).
In addition, we used the wounding-healing assay to measure the effect of miR-320 on VSMCs migration. The overexpression of miR-320 inhibited VSMCs migration with or without PDGF-BB stimulation (Figure 3A). However, VSMCs transfected with miR-320 inhibitor promoted migration (Figure 3B). Together, our results showed that miR-320 is an inhibitor of VSMCs proliferation and migration both basal and PDGF-stimulated conditions.
miR-320 inhibits VSMCs migration. 48h after transfection with miR-320 mimic or inhibitor, VSMCs were starved for 24h and cell migration was evaluated after PDGF-BB treatment for 24h by the wound-healing assay. The images of migrated cells and their respective quantifications were shown (A and B). n=3; *P<0.05 vs NC (negative control) without PDGF-BB treatment, #P<0.05 vs NC with PDGF-BB treatment.
NRP1 is a direct target of miR-320 in VSMCs. (A) Diagram of the miR-320 putative binding site in human NRP1 3′-UTR and alignment of NRP1 wild-type and mutated NRP1 3′ UTR binding site of miR-320. The six mutated nucleotides were underlined. (B) miR-320 mimic or NC mimic was cotransfected with NRP1 WT or NRP1 Mut construct in HEK293T cells. 48h after transfection, luciferase activity was measured. n=3; *P<0.05. (C and D) VSMCs were transfected with miR-320 or NC mimic. The protein level of NRP1 and SMA was measured by western blot. n=3; *P<0.05 vs NC (negative control) without PDGF-BB treatment, #P<0.05 vs NC with PDGF-BB treatment. (E) NRP1 and PCNA expression was measured by western blot in VSMCs transfected with si-NRP1. n=3; *P<0.05 vs si-CTRL. (F) The EdU assay detected VSMCs proliferation after transfection with si-NRP1 or si-CTRL. n=3; *P<0.05 vs si-CTRL without PDGF-BB treatment, #P<0.05 vs si-CTRL with PDGF-BB treatment.
To search the target of miR-320, we demonstrated NRP1 as a potential target gene by previous studies and TargetScan software. The overexpression of miR-320 significantly suppressed the activity of luciferase with WT-3'-UTR of NRP1. In contrast, the mutation of miR-320-binding sites in the 3'-UTR of NRP1 resulted in the restoration of luciferase activity (Figure 4A and 4B). In addition, the expression of NRP1 and SMA was measured by western blot in VSMCs transfected with either miR-320 mimic or NC mimic. As shown in Figure 4C and 4D, the overexpression of miR-320 sharply repressed NRP1 expression with or without PDGF treatment but enhanced the expression of SMA. These results indicated that NRP1 was a direct target of miR-320 in VSMCs. To further explore the function of NRP1 in VSMCs proliferation, we performed the effect of NRP1 knockdown on VSMCs function. VSMCs transfected with si-NRP1 significantly reduced the expression of NRP1 and PCNA (Figure 4E). In addition, NRP1 knockdown resulted in an obvious decrease in VSMCs proliferation under basal and PDGF-stimulated conditions (Figure 4F).
To test whether miR-320 is a phenotypic marker in the vascular wall, we established mouse carotid artery ligation model. The left common carotid arteries of mice were collected at 7, 14, 28 days after ligation. The right common carotid arteries without ligation were used as controls. The ligation resulted in time-dependent neointimal hyperplasia in mice carotid arteries (Figure 5A). To examine the distribution of NRP1 expression in the artery, we applied co-immunofluorescence with both NRP1 and SMA at 14 days after ligation. The results demonstrated that NRP1 was mainly distributed in VSMCs of the media of the vascular wall (Figure 5B).
Identification of miR-320 as a phenotypic marker and NRP1 expression in VSMCs of the vascular wall. (A) Representative hematoxylin and eosin staining in uninjured and injured mice carotid arteries at 7, 14, and 28 days after ligation. (B) Immunofluorescence with SMA (green), NRP1 (red) and merged images in unligated and ligated mice carotid arteries. The Blue was the nucleus stained by DAPI. (C) miR-320 expression in uninjured and injured mice carotid arteries was determined by qRT-PCR. (D and E) Representative Western Blot and densitometric analysis of SMA and NRP1 in the vascular wall. n=5;*P<0.05 vs uninjured group.
miR-320 inhibits neointimal formation in ligated mice carotid arteries. (A) Representative western blot of GFP in arteries after transfection with Ad-miR-320 or Ad-GFP. (B) The relative expression of miR-320 in the arteries treated with Ad-miR-320, Ad-GFP or vehicle at 14 days after ligation. (C and D) The effect of miR-320 on SMA and NRP1 expression in the ligated arteries treated with Ad-miR-320, Ad-GFP or vehicle, and their quantifications were determined by western blot. (E) Representative hematoxylin and eosin staining in mice carotid arteries treated with Ad-miR-320, Ad-GFP or vehicle at 14 days after ligation and intima/media ratio were quantified. (F) Representative Immunofluorescence staining of PCNA (red) and DAPI (blue) in injured carotid arteries treated with Ad-miR-320 or Ad-GFP. The proportion of PCNA-positive cells was calculated. (G) Representative Immunofluorescence staining of NRP1 (red) and DAPI (blue) in injured carotid arteries treated with Ad-miR-320 or Ad-GFP. The corresponding fluorescence intensity of NRP1 was measured. n=5; *P<0.05 vs Ad-GFP group.
In turn, compared with the uninjured group, miR-320 and SMA expression in ligated artery were significantly downregulated as determined by qRT-PCR or western blot, respectively (Figure 5C and 5D). In contrast, NRP1 expression was significantly upregulated after ligation (Figure 5E). These findings suggested that miR-320 played important role in the phenotypic switch and NRP1 was located in media of the vascular wall.
To restore the miR-320 expression in the injured vessel, carotid arteries were treated with Ad-miR-320 (1010 pfu/mL), Ad-GFP or vehicle. At 14 days after transfection, the expression of GFP was detected in Ad-GFP group and Ad-miR-320 group and miR-320 expression in Ad-miR-320 group was significantly increased compared with either vehicle or Ad-GFP group by qRT-PCR (Figure 6A and 6B). Next, the restoration of miR-320 sharply upregulated the SMA expression compared with arteries treated with vehicle or Ad-GFP determined by western blot (Figure 6C). However, as shown in Figure 6D, the expression of NRP1 in mice carotid arteries was down-regulated via Ad-miR-320 treatment.
To confirm the role of miR-320 in neointimal growth, we examined carotid intima-media thickness. Neointimal formation was markedly attenuated in ligated mice carotid arteries transfection with Ad-miR-320. Representative hematoxylin and eosin-stained images of mice carotid arteries from the vehicle, Ad-GFP, and Ad-miR-320 groups were shown (Figure 6E). Immunofluorescence staining of PCNA and NRP1 was applied in Ad-miR-320 or Ad-GFP carotid arteries at 14 days after the injury. The results revealed that the number of PCNA-positive cells decreased in Ad-miR-320 arteries compared with Ad-GFP arteries (Figure 6F). Furthermore, the expression of NRP1 also declined in the arteries treated with Ad-miR-320 (Figure 6G). Collectively, these results suggest that miR-320 suppresses neointima formation by inhibiting NRP1-mediated VSMCs proliferation.
In the current study, we identified miR-320 as a novel modulator involved in VSMCs proliferation and migration and neointimal formation. We demonstrated that miR-320 was dramatically down-regulated in PDGF-treated VSMCs. Downregulation of miR-320 promoted the proliferation and migration of VSMCs, while the restoration of decreased miR-320 could inhibit VSMCs proliferation and migration in vitro. Likewise, miR-320 was also significantly decreased in mice carotid arteries after ligated injury. The gain-of-function studies indicated that miR-320 attenuated neointimal formation in vivo. Moreover, miR-320 inhibited VSMCs proliferation and migration in vitro and vivo by targeting NRP1.
Increasing studies indicate that miR-320 is associated with cell differentiation, proliferation, migration, and apoptosis [20, 24, 25]. It has been reported that miR-320 is a tumor suppression miRNA and inhibits cancer progression and metastasis . Nevertheless, the underlying mechanism of miR-320 in VSMCs biology still remains unclear. In our study, we identified that miR-320 was significantly associated with PDGF-stimulated VSMCs proliferation and migration. The inhibition of miR-320 expression promoted VSMCs proliferation and migration, while miR-320 overexpression performed the opposite effect. Moreover, we revealed that the expression changes of miR-320 were consistent with SMA, a differentiation marker gene of VSMCs. These results demonstrated that miR-320 modulated proliferation and phenotypic switch for VSMCs in vitro.
MiRNAs regulate the biological function of cells by interacting with multiple mRNA targets. Firstly, based on the inhibition of miR-320 on VSMCs proliferation, we assumed that target genes could be positively correlated with cell growth. NRP1 is a kind of membrane-binding co-receptor of tyrosine kinase receptor and plays an important role in angiogenesis and tumor invasion and metastasis. In VSMCs, NRP1 interacted with PDGF-α and was involved in PDGF-stimulated VSMCs migration by p130cas[27, 28]. In addition, PDGF physically interacted with NRP1, while it induced the migration of VSMCs through NRP1 in breast cancer . In mesenchymal stem cells with the function of differentiating into VSMCs, NRP1 promoted PDGF-induced migration and proliferation . In our study, TargetScan predicted the target gene of miR-320, which identified that NRP1 had binding sites for miR-320. Effect of miR-320 on NRP1 was further confirmed in HEK293T by Luciferase assay. The expression of NRP1 performed a pronounced upregulation in VSMCs treated with PDGF, while miR-320 overexpression negatively regulated the expression of NRP1. In addition, we also found that knockdown of NRP1 suppressed VSMCS proliferation, which was consistent with the results that miR-320 inhibited the proliferation of VSMCs.
Multiple miRNAs were found to be involved in the neointimal formation, such as miR-21, miR-145 and miR-221/222, which affected cell apoptosis, differentiation and proliferation [15, 16, 23]. After balloon injury, the expression of miR-221/222 and miR-21 was upregulated. In contrast, miR-145 has the highest abundance in VSMCs of the vascular wall and significantly decreased after vascular injury. The restoration of miR-145 inhibits neointimal formation, which indicated that miR-145 had a potential therapeutic effect . miR-320 is widely expressed in mammals, such as humans, rats and mice and the binding sequences of miR-320 in NRP1 3'-UTR is highly conserved among different species, which has prompted us to verify the function of miR-320 by mouse carotid artery ligation model. We found that NRP1 was expressed in VSMCs of the vascular wall and the protein level was significantly upregulated in injured artery. To determine the distribution of NRP1 in vascular wall, immunofluorescence staining confirmed that NRP1 was located in VSMCs of the carotid arteries. Moreover, the restoration of decreased miR-320 by Ad-miR-320 significantly attenuated the neointimal formation, accompanied with the down-regulated expression of NRP1 and PCNA. Likewise, to investigate the effect of miR-320 on the phenotype of VSMCs, we found that the expression of SMA has been down-regulated after the injury, while overexpressing miR-320 partially restored the expression of SMA. Our results suggest that the miR-320 regulated the proliferation and migration of VSMCs by targeting the NRP1.
In summary, we demonstrated that the expression of miR-320 rapidly decreased in VSMC by PDGF or vascular injury. The downregulation of miR-320 increases the expression of its target gene NRP1, which has promoted VSMCs proliferation and resulted in neointimal formation. The regulation of NRP1 expression by miR-320 has important significance in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, such as in-stent restenosis and atherosclerosis.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81270193) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (18ZR1429700).
Corresponding author: Yidong Wei MD, Ph.D. Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine. 301 Middle Yanchang Road, Jingan District, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Telephone number: +86-18917683409 Fax number: 021-66301771 E-mail address: yweiedu.cn. (Yidong Wei).


Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Angela Bassett, Winston Duke and more were on hand to accept the award, launching out of their seats when presenter Jodie Foster announced the victor.
The SAG Awards recognise outstanding performances in film and prime time television as decided by the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists - basically, it's actors voting for actors. "The second question is, 'Has it changed the industry?"
Star Chadwick Boseman talked about the cultural significance of the film's success and referenced the Nina Simone song, "To be Young, Gifted and Black". Has it actually changed the way the industry works; how it sees us.
His response was met with a round of applause, as he said: "To be young, gifted and black".
Boseman continued, "We know what it's like to be beneath and not above".
Marvel's Black Panther debuted right at the beginning of 2018 and then casually went on to smash the box office and make a bit of history along the way, earning $1.3 billion worldwide en route to becoming the first comic book movie nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. "We knew that we could create a world that exemplified a world we wanted to see". The 71-year-old Close, a seven-time nominee but never an Oscar victor, won best actress for her performance in The Wife. "That will give us empathy and understanding", Close added. "I couldn't be luckier to be a part of this wonderful group of artists".
"I think of all of us sitting in the room and all of you watching on TV, all of you who haven't had the chances that we've had and I salute you with this!" she said.
In Boseman's SAG speech on Sunday, the show tried to cut him off by playing the not-so-subtle get-off-the-stage music, but the actor remained determined to finish his point. "I get some power from him that is about stepping up and living your best life and being exactly who you want to be", Malek said of Mercury.


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Hannah explains how teaching 3rd-6th graders in Houston, Texas, with Writers in the Schools (WITS) made her a better poet.
Hannah, former editor for Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts, is the author of Your Invitation to a Modest Breakfast (2012), selected by Bernadette Mayer for the 2011 National Poetry Series.
Thanks for your inspirational words, Hannah!


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Thank you for helping me through my surgery and radiation and for helping with the bladder, bowel, rectal bleeding, spitting of blood and other vaginal and bleeding issues and thank you for the good vaginal ultrasound and please help the pap to be okay and thank you for helping me through two tests for my throat and stomach and please help me to not have any problems because of all the radiation and thank you for the good echo, stress and blood work and please help my heart to be okay and thank you for helping me through two endoscopy's and for the good biopsy reports and all the reports past and present and please help me to not keep getting these skin cancer issues and thank you for the good mammogram report and please help it to continue I am scared and nervous for my health and when I was told I had cancer it really scared me and I know I say I am scared all the time and I really am. Please help me to be a better person wife mother friend, etc, and change my ways and realize how lucky I am and be healthy and please help me to be the best person I can be and worthy of all you do and all I ask for I know I ask for a lot please help me to be worthy of all you do and all I ask for and please help me to not be selfish and when I ask for something for myself I hope you don't think I am being selfish I am just scared and please guide me to not fail you I know I fail all the time and when I do something that isn't right or nice I am truly sorry. Thank you for all you do have done and hopefully will continue to do for me and my family I am truly grateful. Thank you for the gift of Diane and Ken and Ginni and John and especially Diane and Ken and help us to not do anything to hurt this relationship it is really important to us and thank you for things being easier financially these last few years it has been nice to pay the bills and do some things but the most important thing is the good health, the love of God, being a good person and I know I want it all good health and money to pay the bills but I want my health and the health of my family over everything. Thank you Dear God, Mary, and St. Anthony for listening to me everyday and hearing me and answering my prayers it is so comforting to be able to write and talk to you everyday and know you hear me and I am grateful I found my way to write and talk to you and I know you hear me and God Bless you Dear God, Mary, St. Anthony and all the saints, priests, nuns, the Pope and all who do good and please watch over our service men and women, police men and women and fire men and women and all who serve us. Please help everyone who has lost a loved one and everyone who has, will have and has had to have surgery, radiation and or chemo. Please help all the sick and suffering animals in this world there are so many and they are helpless and they all need your help and all the people who have died and suffered at the hands of these evil violent sick people and please help their family and friends. God Bless my whole family and friends and extended family and the people I know, don't know and have heard about who are sick either mentally or physically there are so many and the list gets bigger everyday and I don't want to forget anyone please help us all to have less sickness and suffering and please help us all to be worthy of all you do and all we ask for. Please help Sue to rest in peace and know she is loved and please help her family and Staci and God Bless Sue. Please help Irene to stay stable with her heart and kidneys and please help Pat, Pam, Kathy, and Will and Pete's Dad and all who are sick and suffering and please help there to be peace in this world and less suffering. Thank you for all you do for me and my family I am truly grateful please watch over our whole family and help us all to stay cancer free and healthy and safe and please help me to be worthy of all you do and all I ask for and guide me to not fail you and please watch over Marc, Jason, Carina, Adam, Sara, Tyler, Christian, Irene, Bob and Maria and please help Maria to be okay and not have anything bad. Please watch over me and help me to stay cancer free and healthy and safe and God Bless everyone and please help everyone to be good and be worthy of all you do. Please help Marc and I to have 10 to 15 healthy years left and I know that is asking for a lot. Thank you for everything. Thank you for us being able to be with our son for Christmas and being with family it is so important. Please help me to handle my stress better and be a good person. Thank you again for everything.


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- January 18, 2022 -
Cuba-USA
Styles / Trends
Cuban Flavors
Nemesia Hijós
Four faces of the France 2019 World Soccer Cup
by Nemesia Hijós
"She dances because she enjoys dancing and she dances what she wants, when she wants and how she wants, and the orchestras are silent before the music that comes from her body." Excerpt from "Isadora" in Memoria del Fuego III. El siglo del viento by Eduardo Galeano Freedom offends The history of soccer has been written and played by males. They have historically been the terms of any comparison. But after this 8th Women's Soccer Cup, nothing will be the same as before. Estefanía Banini, the captain of the Argentine national team that excelled in the match against Japan, says that they are living this World Cup as a prize after having fought and suffered discrimination: "Those who wanted to throw women off the courts, who called them 'tomboys' or 'Carlitos' must be regretting it." That's how the press conference ended after the debut at the Parc des Princes. She, who had to leave the country at age 23 to play in the first division, wants women players to be recognized and called by their own names. She is not "the Messi." Estefanía Banini in the debut game against Japan, passing between two rival players. Photo: NA. But Banini's is...
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John Canton () a fost un fizician englez.
Contribuțiile sale cele mai valoroase au avut ca obiect de studiu magneții artificiali și compresibilitatea lichidelor.

Pentru activitatea sa, în 1751 i se decernează Medalia Copley.

Note

Nașteri în 1718
Decese în 1772
Fizicieni englezi
Laureați ai Medaliei Copley
Fellows of the Royal Society

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text:
Michael Cull, PhD
Meet Dr. Michael Cull:
Michael Cull, PhD, is an Associate Director at the Center for Innovation in Population Health and Associate Professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Kentucky. His work focuses on quality improvement and system reform efforts in child welfare jurisdictions.
Dr. Cull has specific expertise in applying safety science to improve safety, reliability, and effectiveness in organizations. His approach leverages tools like organizational assessment and systems analysis of critical incidents, including deaths and near deaths, to build team culture and help systems learn and get better. Dr. Cull is a co-author of the Safe Systems Improvement Tool (SSIT) and the TeamFirst Field Guide for Safe, Reliable, and Effective Child Welfare Teams. Cull also has 10+ years' experience working with the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) and works across the country with leaders of the TCOM framework.
Before joining the TCOM team, Cull served as deputy commissioner overseeing the Office of Child Health for Tennessee's Department of Children's Services. Prior to this appointment, he was an assistant professor in Health System Management at Vanderbilt University's School of Nursing and the director of education and dissemination in the Office of Quality and Patient Safety for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In addition to clinical practice as a faculty member in Child Psychiatry, he also previously served as executive director of the Community Mental Health Center, administrative director of the Department of Psychiatry Patient Care Center, and director of the Center of Excellence for Children in State Custody. He has a strong clinical background working with vulnerable populations and extensive experience with organizational evaluation and improvement in healthcare and the human services.
He holds a Master of Science in Nursing degree from Vanderbilt University and received his PhD from the Institute of Government at Tennessee State University.
If you'd like to get in touch with Dr. Cull, you can contact him at michael.cull@uky.edu.
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We loved you and you betrayed us, Apple. In a Justice Department–led trail investigating claims that Apple Inc. conspired with publishers to hike up prices on e-books, a U.S. government lawyer said the tech giant cost customers "hundreds of millions of dollars." The government filed suit against Apple, accusing the company of working with five of the largest U.S. publishing houses to unseat Amazon by illegally raising e-book costs. The publishers got out of going to trial by agreeing to stop the ban on wholesale discounts and pay back $164 million to help out consumers. Apple faces an order to block similar conduct, but it could also be tried for damages in 33 states.


Panasonic SL-DZ1200 Operating Instruction, PDF file in English, Spanish, Length: 28 pages, Size: 3.4Mb. Instant download by payment and review.
The manual is applied to the following one product model as follows: SL-DZ1200. The manual was created in Portable Document Format, called as PDF manual. The PDF document file with the name of sldz1200.pdf has 28 pages with the file size of 3.4Mb. The digital document is original with no watermarks.


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About FAIR
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Administration Publishes Massive Changes to H-1B Selection
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Virginia Passes Bill to Regulate Immigration Detention Facilities
David Jaroslav
State & Local Legislative Manager
FAIR Take | October 2020
Virginia's state legislature is now the latest to cave to open-borders groups and pass a bill attempting to regulate the detention of illegal aliens while they await deportation, a matter exclusively for the federal government under the Constitution. Some states, like California and Illinois, have passed legislation that aims to ban both private facilities and those run by state or local governments from housing these immigration detainees under contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and have been sued in response. Other states, like Colorado and now Virginia, have not banned them outright but could have a chilling effect on current or future contracts by imposing significant new regulatory burdens.
Senate Bill (SB) 5017, sponsored by Senator Jennifer Boysko (D-Fairfax), would redefine "local correctional facility" to include "any facility owned, maintained, or operated by any political subdivision or combination of political subdivisions of the Commonwealth that is used for the detention or incarceration of people pursuant to a [ contract or ] third-party contract with the federal government or any agency [ or contractor ] thereof." This would cover the two immigration detention facilities in Virginia: Caroline County Detention Center and Immigration Centers of America (ICA)-Farmville. This will place both of them under the authority of the State Board of Local and Regional Jails.
The board could then:
set sanitation standards;
order unannounced inspections;
prohibit confinement or require the transfer of prisoners in facilities it deemed substandard;
review in-custody deaths; and
require access to the facility for members of local governing bodies.
The bill was introduced on August 9, at the beginning of a special session called by Governor Ralph Northam (D). It passed two Senate committees in August, the Senate floor on September 15, and then the House of Delegates on October 2nd, along mostly party-lines votes except for a small number of abstentions.
The sponsor, Sen. Boysko, called it "a human rights and safety issue," but in the debate on the bill, Sen. Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg) responded that "this is a national level issue and should be left up to Congress," adding that he was "concerned that by trying to control ICE at a state level, interfering with a federal preemption law, we could risk losing all those jobs in Farmville." ICA-Farmville is in Sen. Peake's district and currently employs 240 people.
Tom Homan, former Acting ICE Director and now Senior Fellow at the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has repeatedly defended contract Immigration detention facilities, saying, "nearly all of ICE's large contractor-run detention facilities have twice the number of health care staff as compared to other federal, state and local facilities. … Of course, no one can guarantee that any one person will not be infected with the coronavirus, even in detention. But many detainees will be safer in ICE facilities where the population is controlled and there is ready access to doctors and medical care."
The bill now goes to Gov. Northam, who is expected to sign it into law.
E-Verify Takes Effect in Florida
Aurora City Council Defeats Sanctuary and Legal Defense Fund Bills
January 20, 2021 | 11:00PM
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Privacy and Injunctions - Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions Contents
CHAPTER 6: Parliamentary Privilege and Injunctions
210. One of the issues that led to our inquiry was the revelation of information protected by anonymised injunctions during parliamentary proceedings. The day after Ryan Giggs was named as the claimant in CTB v Imogen Thomas and News Group Newspapers by the Sunday Herald in Scotland, and amidst much media reporting of the widespread availability of his name on Twitter and other internet sites, John Hemming MP revealed his name in the House of Commons.[208] The revelation was widely covered in the media.
211. In recent years there have been other examples of information subject to anonymised injunctions being revealed in Parliament. In October 2009 Paul Farrelly MP tabled a written parliamentary question which concerned a super-injunction obtained by Trafigura. Trafigura's solicitors informed the Guardian that it would breach the injunction if it reported the question. The Guardian then reported that it was unable to report a parliamentary question.[209] In March 2011 John Hemming MP revealed that Fred Goodwin had obtained a super-injunction.[210] In April 2011 Mr Hemming named Vicky Haigh as the subject of an injunction which had been granted by the Family Division of the High Court and which prevented the names of the parties being identified.[211] In May 2011 further details about Fred Goodwin's injunction were revealed in the House of Lords by Lord Stoneham of Droxford.[212]
212. The revelation of material subject to an injunction is not a daily occurrence in Parliament; it is in fact quite rare.[213] There is however a possibility that it may happen more often in future, especially if the media orchestrates action against injunctions.[214]
Freedom of speech in Parliament and injunctions
213. Article IX of the Bill of Rights 1688 states "That the Freedom of Speech and Debates or Proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any Court or Place out of Parliament." Article IX is fundamental to our constitution and to the workings of Parliament. It allows members to debate what they wish without fear of redress by the courts, the executive or anyone else. It is jealously guarded.
214. Article IX means that it would not be constitutionally possible for a court order, including an injunction, to apply to Parliament.[215] It follows that it is not a contempt of court for a parliamentarian to reveal in parliamentary proceedings information subject to an injunction.
215. Whilst it may be legal for parliamentarians to reveal information in this way, some witnesses suggested it was not appropriate to do so.[216] Injunctions are granted by a judge after hearing evidence and representations from both sides. A parliamentarian who does not conform to the injunction can be seen as in effect placing him- or herself in the shoes of the judge, and overruling the decision to grant anonymity.[217] Once the name has been revealed in Parliament, and subsequently reported in the media, anonymity cannot be regained: the effect of the anonymity order is set at nought. Moreover, there is no redress for the individual whose identity or private information has been revealed; Article IX prevents them taking proceedings against the member.
COMITY BETWEEN PARLIAMENT AND THE COURTS
216. The long-standing constitutional principle of comity between Parliament and the courts means that each takes care not to intrude on the other's territory, or to undermine the other. A key means through which that principle is exercised on Parliament's side is through each House's sub judice resolutions. These prevent references to cases before the courts in questions, motions or debates. They contain exemptions for when the Houses are considering legislation; and allow for the Speakers to waive the application of the sub judice rule.[218] In addition to preserving the principle of comity the sub judice rule prevents parliamentarians influencing, or appearing to influence, courts. In return, the courts do not question the proceedings of Parliament or routinely criticise parliamentarians.
217. As evidenced by the Speakers' powers to waive the sub judice rule, the principle of comity is not absolute. There may be occasions when it is appropriate for reference to be made to active court proceedings in Parliament. Similarly, there may be occasions when it is appropriate to reveal in Parliament information subject to an injunction. Most would accept that it should only be done when in the public interest.[219] However, determining what is in the public interest leaves room for individual judgment, and there may be disagreement on the outcome.
218. As things stand, it is a matter for each parliamentarian to decide, if they come across information that is subject to an injunction, whether to reveal that information in parliamentary proceedings. There is an obvious tension here. Parliamentary privilege belongs to each House as a whole, and not to the individual member.[220] If the privilege is abused it follows that Parliament as a whole may be affected by that abuse.
219. The absolute privilege for freedom of speech granted by Article IX of the Bill or Rights 1688 is part of the very foundation of our parliamentary democracy. This privilege places a significant responsibility on parliamentarians to exercise it in the public interest. The presumption should be that court orders are respected in Parliament; and that when a member does not comply with one he or she can demonstrate that is in the public interest or enables the parliamentarian to discharge his or her parliamentary duties (such as representing constituents).
Compliance with injunctions in Parliament
220. Given our concern about the scope for parliamentarians to set court orders at nought, with no redress or right of appeal possible, we have considered whether either or both Houses should make arrangements themselves for preventing reference to material subject to injunctions.
221. Previous parliamentary inquiries have considered this matter. In 1996 the Procedure Committee of the House of Commons thought that if breaches of court orders represented a serious challenge to the due process of law there should be a further limitation on the rights of free speech enjoyed by members, whatever the practical difficulties. However, it was not necessary to take action as a result of one specific case, given the importance the House attaches to protecting the right of Parliament to freedom of speech.[221] The committee said that if there were a number of instances of such breaches the House would be advised to adopt a resolution prohibiting it.[222] The Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege in 1999 took a similar view.[223]
222. The question of whether to institute a new parliamentary rule arose during our inquiry. It would be possible for each House to pass a self-denying ordinance, on the pattern of the resolutions on matters sub judice. The rule could subsequently be modified in the light of experience or waived on occasion, though only where the Speaker judged it necessary. It would be for each House through its own self-regulating processes to take any necessary disciplinary action where a member chose deliberately to break the rule.[224]
223. The advantage of a new resolution, or an adaptation of the sub judice rule such that it covers material subject to injunctions, is that it would be in keeping with Parliament's approach to other matters within the domain of the courts. It would allow for exemptions, and the power of waiver would not impede members' ability to raise issues when it is genuinely in the public interest to do so.[225]
224. Some witnesses cautioned against any new resolution going wider than cases involving the misuse of private information, citing examples of when Parliament has taken an interest in confidentiality clauses drawn up when an employee leaves an organisation. It was also suggested that a new resolution should only seek to protect interim injunctions, as a resolution of wider scope would be seen as protecting the outcome of court proceedings, not as safeguarding the judicial process.[226]
225. In addition, if the Speakers were granted a power of waiver (as they are in the sub judice resolutions), they would potentially be put in an invidious position when approached with an application to exercise that power. Presumably in most instances the application would advance reasons why it would be in the public interest to allow the waiver. However, the public interest in allowing freedom of expression to be exercised in relation to the injuncted material would have been considered by the judge; and in order for the judge to have granted the injunction he or she would have determined that the right to privacy in that case outweighed the public interest in revealing the information. The Speaker, therefore, would in effect be substituting his or her interpretation of the public interest for that of the judge—in most cases with fewer facts to hand than the judge and no ability to test the evidence.
226. That said, at present the individual member in revealing injuncted information in effect substitutes his or her interpretation of the public interest for that of the judge. Giving that task to the Speaker allows for a more objective view; more so if the suggestion that the Speaker consult two or so senior members before reaching his or her decision is followed.[227] In addition, the Speaker of the House of Commons in particular is used to exercising judgment in sensitive situations. The Speakers' powers of waiver in the sub judice resolutions do not appear to have caused difficulties with the courts.
227. The practicality of enforcing any new rule would be an issue. It would only take a moment for a member to reveal a name and so negate the order; often the Speaker would not be able to anticipate it.[228] There could also be particular difficulties in implementing any new resolution in the self-regulating House of Lords, where the Lord Speaker has no power to rule on matters of order.[229] However, it would not be necessary for the two Houses to have equivalent procedures on this matter.[230]
228. For any new resolution to work, it is important that the parliamentary authorities are aware of injunctions. One of the issues with the Trafigura injunction was that the House of Commons Table Office was unable to ascertain whether the case was sub judice because no details were held on it either by the Table Office or by Her Majesty's Court Service (as it then was), whose internal database simply recorded the applicants as RJW and SJW. The Master of the Rolls' committee therefore discussed the creation of a secure database maintained by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) which would contain details of all relevant anonymised injunctions and super-injunctions, and which would be searchable by party name. The parliamentary authorities could approach HMCTS to enquire about a case. Discussions are under way about creating such a system.[231]
229. Regardless of whether there is a new rule thought should be given to alternative ways that members can raise concerns about open justice and injunctions without having to discuss them on the floor of the House. At present the only way members can be certain that they will not be pursued for contempt of court if they discuss information subject to an injunction is to raise it during parliamentary proceedings, which are almost always held in public and recorded. An alternative approach would be for the member to raise it with a select committee, sitting in private.[232]
230. We regard freedom of speech in Parliament as a fundamental constitutional principle. Over the last couple of years a few members have revealed in Parliament information covered by injunctions. We have considered carefully proposals for each House to instigate procedures to prevent members from revealing information subject to privacy injunctions. The threshold for restricting what members can say during parliamentary proceedings should be high. We do not believe that the threshold has yet been crossed.
231. If the revelation of injuncted information becomes more commonplace, if injunctions are being breached gratuitously, or if there is evidence that parliamentarians are routinely being "fed" injuncted material with the intention of it being revealed in Parliament, then we recommend that the Procedure Committees in each House should examine the proposals made to us for new restrictions with a view to implementing them.
Media reporting of parliamentary proceedings
232. The freedom of the press to report what is said in Parliament is an essential link in the chain between those who make law and those affected by it.[233] Parliamentary freedom of speech would be of little value if what is said in Parliament could not be freely communicated outside Parliament. However, the freedom of the media to report parliamentary proceedings is not part of the privilege of Parliament, but derives from the common law and statute.
233. The Parliamentary Papers Act 1840 gives absolute privilege to Hansard and any document ordered to be printed by either House of Parliament. It gives qualified privilege to extracts or abstracts from Hansard or other parliamentary papers. Such extracts or abstracts will be protected if they are published bona fide and without malice. The Master of the Rolls' committee concluded—
"Qualified privilege arises where such a summary is published in good faith and without malice. There is no judicial decision as to whether a summary of material published in Hansard which intentionally had the effect of frustrating a court order would be in good faith and without malice.
Where media reporting of Parliamentary proceedings does not simply reprint copies of Hansard or amount to summaries of Hansard or parliamentary proceedings they may well not attract qualified privilege.
Where media reporting of Parliamentary proceedings does not attract qualified privilege, it is unclear whether it would be protected at common law from contempt proceedings if it breached a court order. There is such protection in defamation proceedings for honest, fair and accurate reporting of Parliamentary proceedings. There is no reported case which decides whether the common law protection from contempt applies. There is an argument that the common law should adopt the same position in respect of reports of Parliamentary proceedings as it does in respect of reports of court proceedings."[234]
234. Perhaps in view of these uncertainties the Government in their announcement about the draft parliamentary privilege bill and green paper said that the green paper will discuss "whether there should be changes to the law on reporting of parliamentary proceedings in the media."[235]
235. There is qualified privilege in defamation for a "fair and accurate report" of parliamentary proceedings.[236] There is no requirement to demonstrate that the report is bona fide. The Attorney General has stated that it is "an open question as to whether something said in Parliament in breach of a court order may be repeated in the press."[237] The question becomes particularly pertinent if the media report parliamentary proceedings knowing them to breach a court order.[238]
236. This can mean uncertainty for the media in what they may report. Broadcasters had to think carefully before broadcasting John Hemming MP's naming of Ryan Giggs in May 2011.[239] There was also uncertainty at the time about whether the Guardian would be in contempt of court for revealing the existence of the Trafigura super-injunction. There was support for the law being clarified.[240]
237. We received evidence cautioning against granting absolute immunity for all reports of parliamentary proceedings that are fair and accurate.[241] In particular, there is the possibility of the media passing private information covered by a court injunction to members, encouraging them to use the information in parliamentary proceedings, and then reporting on those proceedings in the knowledge that no legal consequences can follow. Anecdote suggests that may already have happened;[242] the temptation for it to become more common would surely be greater if the requirement to act in good faith was absent.
238. The 1840 Act was drafted so as to apply to reporting of parliamentary proceedings as they existed at that time.[243] That often consisted of (lengthy) abstracts from Hansard. It does not expressly apply to the more modern approach of reporting what occurs in Parliament rather than quoting from it.
239. Unless they are publishing an extract or abstract of Hansard, the media in reporting the revelation of injuncted information would have to rely on the protection of the common law. There is limited common law protection for the media in defamation proceedings,[244] but there is no authority as to whether there is common law protection against proceedings for contempt of court in respect of a fair and accurate report of parliamentary proceedings.[245]
240. This situation might be considered unsatisfactory in light of the fact that within three hours of the making of a speech on the floor of the House of Commons the Hansard text is available on line and there is live coverage on line of floor and committee proceedings. The law does not reflect the reality of modern communications.[246]
241. The free and fair reporting of proceedings in Parliament is a cornerstone of our democracy. The publication of fair extracts of reports of proceedings in Parliament made without malice is protected by the Parliamentary Papers Act 1840. This cannot be fettered by court order. However, there has been a degree of confusion that causes us the very gravest concern that this freedom is being undermined. The media must know whether or not they are liable to proceedings for contempt in reporting parliamentary proceedings. We therefore recommend that qualified privilege should apply to media reports of parliamentary proceedings in the same way as to abstracts and extracts from Hansard. If legislation is introduced the opportunity should be taken to update the 1840 Act in a clear and comprehensible way.
208 HC Deb, 23 May 2011, col 638. Back
209 For more details see Culture, Media and Sport Committee, 2nd Report (2009-10): Press standards, privacy and libel (HC 362-I), paras 94 to 102. Back
210 HC Deb, 10 March 2011, col 1069. Using the terminology of the Master of the Rolls' committee's report, it was an anonymised injunction rather than a super-injunction. Back
211 HC Deb, 26 April 2011, col 58. Back
212 HL Deb, 19 May 2011, col 1490. Back
213 Q 997. Back
215 Clerk of the House of Commons written evidence; Master of the Rolls, Report of the Committee on Super-Injunctions: Super-Injunctions, Anonymised Injunctions and Open Justice, p vii; Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege, Report (1998-99, HL Paper 43-I, HC 214-I), para 204; Judiciary of England and Wales, Statement of the Lord Chief Justice, 20 October 2009. Back
216 Q 19. Grabiner and Hughes, Mosley and the Law Society referred to the effect on the rule of law if those who are legislators disregard the law as it applies outside Parliament. Back
217 Grabiner and Hughes; Mosley; Schillings; Berrymans Lace Mawer LLP. Back
218 To assist each House's authorities (principally the Table Offices) in easily identifying cases which are sub judice a list of cases which may be referred to in parliamentary proceedings is drawn up. Back
219 See, for example, the evidence of the Clerk of the House of Commons and the Clerk of the Parliaments (Q 988), and Tomlinson. Back
221 Select Committee on Procedure, 2nd Report (1995-96, HC 252), para 16. Back
222 Ibid. A draft resolution was in the annex to the committee's report. Back
223 Op. cit., para 210. Back
224 Clerk of the House of Commons. Sir William McKay, a former Clerk of the Commons, suggested a similar approach, as did Tomlinson, Lawyers for Media Standards and Professor Anthony Bradley QC. Back
225 As an analogy, the sub judice rules in each House do not apply to proceedings on bills, Church of England measures or delegated legislation; and the Speaker in each House exercises a general power of waiver and a power of waiver in cases where, in the opinion of the Speaker, "a case concerns issues of national importance such as the economy, public order or the essential services". Back
226 Howarth. The sub judice rule is intended to protect the process of cases, not their outcomes. Back
227 QQ 959 and 1018. Sir William McKay referred to the Parliament Act 1911, which requires the Speaker to consult two members of the Chairman's Panel, if appropriate, before designating a bill as a money bill. Back
228 Q 1000; Howarth. Back
229 Clerk of the Parliaments. Back
230 QQ 1003 and 1004. Back
232 As an analogy, the Intelligence and Security Committee examines the policy, administration and expenditure of the Security Service (MI 5), the Secret Intelligence Service (MI 6), and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). It has access to highly classified material and normally meets in private. It is composed of parliamentarians but is not a committee of either House. Back
233 McKay, para 3. Back
234 Op. cit., page vii. Back
235 HC Deb, 19 December 2011, 144-5WS. Back
236 Paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Defamation Act 1996. Back
237 Speech to City University school of journalism, 1 December 2011. Back
238 Legal advice given to the House of Commons Committee of Privileges in 1978 by Mr Harry Woolf (now Lord Woolf) suggested that "it was probable that a court would come to the conclusion that if an extract from Hansard were to be used with the deliberate intention of frustrating the arrangements which the court had made to preserve a person's anonymity this was not a publication which was bona fide and without malice, for the purposes of section 3 of the Parliamentary Papers Act 1840." (HC 667 of session 1977-78, page xi.) Back
239 Q 294; BSkyB. Back
240 Guardian News Media Ltd; Newspaper Society. Back
241 Q 1008. Back
242 Clerk of the Parliaments para 8. Back
243 Though section 3 has since been widened so as to allow equivalent protection for radio and television broadcasts. Back
244 Established in Wason v Walter (1868) 4 QB 73. Back
245 Master of the Rolls' committee's report, op. cit., para 6.28. The Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege thought it was "doubtful" such protection existed (op. cit., para 364); Mr Harry Woolf in his 1978 advice to the Commons Procedure Committee thought there was no reason that the common law protection would not extend to contempt proceedings; Lord Denning when Master of the Rolls concluded the same, though by way of obiter. Back
246 McKay. Back
Prepared 27 March 2012


Things have been a little bit crazy over here in my Vodka Calling household. Late Thursday night-early Friday morning Sofia wakes up in excruciating pain and a very high fever. Immediately I have flashbacks from last February when Gracie had her first seizure in the early morning hours.
While Joe and I were trying to take care of Sofia, taking her temperature, asking her questions, "What's wrong?" "Where does it hurt?" "Tell me everything that happened!" It is then that my little Minnie-Me decided to tell us that she hit her head on the playground at school….. and did not tell anyone.
Immediately Joe and I somehow worked together in a moment of weakness. I wake up the boys, Joe get's Sofia her shoes, I call my sister because that is just what I do. "Vinnie, we have to take Sofia to the ER, something is wrong, watch Gracie!" Everyone fell into their specific job duty and off Joe, Sofia, and I went to St Francis hospital, which is literally three minutes up the road.
Long story short, Sofia has a concussion. I have no idea why she did not feel the need to tell anyone at the school. I mean if you consider the fact that I myself am at the school every-single-day, I am completely lost on why she did not say a word. Not a word to her teacher, not a word to "a safe adult" not a word to anyone, including me. However, knowing Sofia the way I do, I will put money on the fact that she was afraid she would get in trouble.
Almost 36 hours later, Sofia still has some pretty bad pain, so off we go first thing in the morning to the Doctor.
Today was Vinnie's birthday. Seventeen years old. I have no idea where the time goes.
I was alone in the hospital when I had him. I had two friends from work who came shortly after I had him, but for the birth, it was just me, my good ole Doctor, the same Doctor who four years later would literally save Gracie's life, and my labor and delivery nurse.
It's funny how memories work. I could have sworn my beloved NY GIANTS were in a playoff game against the Vikings the day I had him. Maybe it was the drugs, but I was way off. Apparently, my beloved NY GIANTS were in the freakin Superbowl against the Ravens.
Well, that did not happen. 34-7 Ravens.
Vinnie had a rough start in life due to some pretty bad choices on my part. I missed about four months of his life because his psycho sperm donor kidnapped him. I swear to God if I could dance on the Bastards grave, I would.
Vinnie was a pretty good baby. When he was finally returned to me, he was skin and bones, dehydrated. We fixed that real quick. Before I knew it I had a little chubby toddler with a head full of curly hair walking around getting into whatever mischief he could.
In elementary school, he was always the class clown. I cannot tell you how many times I got calls from his teachers. I was now on a first name basis with the principal.
When middle school came around, he was all about football. Vinnie is one of those people who does not have a favorite team, he just loves the game and the logistics behind it. He came name you any player, their stats and when they were picked up.
Out of all of my five children (One in heaven, most likely counting her blessings that she dodged this bullet), Vinnie is so much like me. Both Vinnie and I have to have the last word and we will fight tooth and nail to have it. The difference is, Vinnie knows how to apologize. He knows when to say "Mom, Dad, I was wrong and I am sorry." Me, I am still working on that one.
Vinnie has an incredible love for animals. Half of our cats came from Vinnie rescuing them all, and between you and I, I would not have it any other way. Over the years we have lost too many cats, and you know something, Vinnie was there all the way. While Joe and I were a complete mess, it was Vinnie who was down on the floor, wrapping his arms around our cats, wanting to make sure when they left this life, they did not leave it alone.
I volunteer in a 3rd-grade classroom. In this class, there is one very challenging little boy. He made the comment to me the other day "I love my mom, I would die for her if I had to." The teacher, not missing a beat, said to this little boy "Have you ever told your mom that?" The little boy looks a bit embarrassed, puts his head down and tells the teacher "No, I have not told her that." The teacher then tells the little boy "Well, I know your mom would never want you to die for her, but I am sure she would love to hear that." There was something about that conversation exchange that struck a chord with me. I sat there, listened while making sure I did not cry. Apparently, I am a crier now, these 3rd graders know how to bring out all the feels in me. In a different time, that challenging little boy could have been Vinnie.
We all know I have made a lot of mistakes in this whole parenting thing. Yet, somehow, my kids, all of them, they have each taught me a thing or two over the years.
My hope is seventeen years from now, when Vinnie is thirty-four years old, hopefully working with our at-risk youth kids, he will come across this blog and realize, just like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, he had the power all along.


Welcome to Strategic Data Analysis: Decision Making - a business workshop focused on data-driven management decisions.
Every object, every interaction, everything the businesses come into contact with is converted into data. Once business managers and entrepreneurs decode the world around them and start seeing it through the lens of data, they will increasingly focus on 'manipulating' the data to achieve desired outcomes. The collection of enormous quantities of business data enables modeling of various systems at extreme scales, both micro and macro, helping uncover new patterns and relationships that were previously invisible for business opportunities and/or threats.
As a result, whether it is running a business or managing a team, our work (and even personal lives) will increasingly demand abilities to interact with business data, see patterns in data, make data-based decisions, and use data to design for desired outcomes.
In this workshop you'll get an introduction to Strategic Data Analysis and its role in business decisions.
This workshop is particularly valuable for everyone in the marketing, branding, product development and sales domains. You'll learn how to better define, understand, position and engage with your most valuable and potential customer segments. The course provides hands-on knowledge in marketing and business strategy.
Upon completion, you will receive a certificate by The Business Institute.
Created by Professor Tom Davenport, renowned thought leader on big data, this simulation teaches participants the power of analytics in decision-making.
Acting as the brand manager for a laundry detergent, participants are tasked with turning around the brand's performance by using sophisticated analytic techniques to understand current issues and determine the best strategy for improving performance.
Participants will be asked to predict market demand, set the channel price, make formulation decisions, determine promotional spending strategy, and communicate their strategy effectively to their managers. The simulation makes use of actual consumer data informed by a multinational consumer goods company.


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The Mississippi Blues Trail – Part 2
Click here to read Part 1 of the trip (Chicago to New Orleans).
New Orleans – Louisiana:
New Orleans was our final stop on Route 61 and one of the most important stops as a lot of jazz origins came to life in Louisiana. The French claimed Louisiana as a colony in the late 17th century and founded New Orleans in 1718. Streets were named after French royal houses. However, a few years later the city was given to the Spanish, which is one of the reasons why nowadays the French Quarter (le vieux carré) displays more Spanish than French influence. This cultural heritage can be seen in New Orleans' architecture, cuisine (Spanish, Creole, American) and traditions. Bourbon Street, the center of the French Quarter, developed into an entertainment street with clubs and brothels in the 19th century when mainly Creole people traveled to the city on business. That is also the time when Jazz is said to have developed. By the 1940s, over 50 different night clubs and burlesque shows lined Bourbon Street.
On our first day we walked to the French Quarter. It was Saturday, so there were many people in and around Bourbon Street. Bars and clubs on Bourbon Street are open almost 24/7 and provide live music throughout the whole day. The entire atmosphere on the streets was incredible and we were immediately drawn to some spots with live performances. One of New Orleans' most famous drinks is the so-called "Hand Grenade", which is a 0,5l cocktail made of Vodka, Rum, Gin and melon liqueur. It is also said to be New Orleans' most powerful drink. For some reason we had the idea to try one each at 1pm… By 2pm we were lying in the grass of Louis Armstrong Park, a few blocks away from Bourbon Street, and stayed there for about two hours. It really is a pretty strong combination, which should not be consumed before, let´s say 6pm, as it will knock you out and you will be, excuse me, pissed for the rest of the day. We went to bed pretty early that night.
On our second day in New Orleans, we decided to go to Bourbon Street in the evening and not drink alcohol during the day. Instead we took the ferry to New Orleans' peninsula to walk the Jazz Walk of Fame. Unfortunately, it turned out to be pretty lame, so we took the ferry back to the center and did some more sightseeing there. We went shopping, spontaneously saw a Gospel performance in the Louisiana State Museum and strolled around the French Market. In the late afternoon we made our way back to Bourbon Street and happened to find a guitar store in one of the side roads. I spent some time jamming on some of their amazing Blues guitars until it was dark and we moved on to see Bourbon Street by night. That night we saw about six different live bands in six different clubs with six averagely good tasting pints of Budweiser. It was good fun, though. I really enjoyed the special atmosphere in Bourbon Street. Everyone around seemed to be as intrigued by the music as we were. It was one of those nights when you notice how music can unite all kinds of different people.
Houston, Austin, Dallas – Texas:
We took an overnight bus from New Orleans to Texas and arrived in Houston at 6am on Tuesday. It was raining cats and dogs and the coach dropped us in a parking lot without roof, so we grabbed all our stuff and ran towards a McDonald`s on the other side of the street. The McDonald´s was full of black, middle-aged, kind of miserable-looking people, who made some really weird remarks when we entered. It seemed as if that McDonald´s was their meeting place every morning at 6am. After just one cup of coffee, we rushed out again and made our way to the hostel while it was still pouring down. Obviously we weren´t allowed to check in at 7am. After some planning and checking out transport options in and around Houston, we decided that we can make most of the rainy day by visiting the NASA Johnson Space Center right outside of Houston. It took us about 90 minutes to get there, but it was worth the effort. In the hostel we had been given a $5 discount voucher each, so we could get into the Space Center for less than $20. The museum itself is perfectly arranged. There are galleries, space-related artifacts and interactive performances to get to know daily life on the ISS. Moreover, we did a tram tour, which goes to several official NASA buildings, including the astronaut training center and the mission control center from where most of the Apollo missions had been controlled. Apart from that, we got to see a restored Saturn V Rocket. What impressed me the most was the Space Shuttle mounted on top of the NASA Boeing 747-800, which had once been used as a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
On the next day we had typical Texan weather – clear skies and warm temperatures. We did a walking tour around Houston Downtown, the beautiful Buffalo Bayou Park, went up to the observation deck on JP Morgan Chase Tower and enjoyed the view over Texas' largest city. This walk also made me realize that Houston is so much more than what we had experienced in McDonald's the day before. In fact, it is the opposite of what we had seen. The city is actually very cosmopolitan and artistic. There is a lot of green space, parks and architecture, which give the city a very intellectual vibe. In the afternoon, we took a bus to Austin, Texas' capital, where we stayed for two nights. The weather was as good as in Houston when we did our four-hour walking tour around Downtown the next day. I noticed that the city is pretty energetic and liberal compared to many other cities on our trip, which creates a certain vibe. Its culture is laid-back and sophisticated at the same time. There are lots of students in town, which might be one of the reasons why Austin has so many different cultural elements. Apart from that, the local music scene plays an important role, and there are bands playing in bars and pubs around 6th street every day. On top of that, Austin is a culinary haven: there is a high number of restaurants, bars and farmers markets as well as different food trucks serving eclectic cuisine from barbecue to health food, Tex-Mex, Texan fried steak, Pecan pralines and locally-brewed beer. Unfortunately, we didn´t have the time and money to try out everything. However, I did have a tasty medium-rare 8oz Texan Sirloin steak when I met up with a friend of mine, who used to go to school with me and now lives in Texas. In the evening we enjoyed the atmosphere on 6th and a nice evening walk along the river back to our hostel.
On Friday, we made our way to Dallas, from where we were supposed to take a plane to New York the next day. Unfortunately, we didn´t have a lot of time to see much of Dallas. What I did notice during our short stay is that it is a major city in Texas. I read in one of my travel guides that the city had developed as a strong economic center and had recently surpassed other cities to become the fifth largest one in the US. It also has one of the busiest airports in the world being the official hub and headquarters of American Airlines. That night we stayed in a motel close to the airport, had instant noodles from a gas station nearby and went to bed early. Those last days in Texas had been filled with impressions we hadn't really had time to process yet.
New York City – New York:
Back in Big Apple! We spent our first day walking through lower Manhattan. Having been on Top Of The Rocks back in 2014, I wanted to visit another observatory with a different view. We decided to check out the fairly new One World Observatory in One World Trade Center, which is a three-story observation deck located on floors 100-102. Its slogan "See Forever" is perfectly explained in a two-minute video, which everyone has to watch just before entering the observation deck. The video shows aerial views of the city while there is epic instrumental music in the background. It finishes with the shutters going up and exposing you to an incredible view over lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge. Whoever came up with this show did an amazing job. Really fascinating! However, the thing I liked most about One World Observatory was the 60-second elevator ride up. Very modern, floor-to-ceiling LED technology makes it possible to see a virtual time-lapse that recreates the development of New York´s city from past to present day. All in all this was a very amazing attraction to visit. One World Trade Center is America´s tallest building and is located next to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum including the Reflection Pools. Afterwards we did some shopping in Chinatown and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. In the evening we had some ice cream at Ben & Jerry`s at Rockefeller Center and went to Time Square, which is still one of the world´s most visited tourist attractions, as could be read on one of the billboards nearby. It was raining all morning the next day, so we took it slowly and went on the Staten Island Ferry to get a good view over the Manhattan bay, the Statue of Liberty and the skyline. (Thanks again Philip, my former USA travel buddy, for this awesome tip!!). What I learned about the Staten Island Ferry is that it is actually free. There is NO fare, but an amazing view. Since we had already spent the afternoon so close to the Brooklyn Bridge, we decided to see the sun go down behind the skyscrapers at Brooklyn Heights. During our stay in New York, we did another great walking tour, which we started at 110th Street, at the northern end of Central Park. Then we walked through the entire park (~ approx. 1.5hrs), which was a very lovely stroll that I would recommend every tourist, who is overwhelmed by New York´s size, noise and population. From the southern end of Central Park we continued on 7th Avenue until we reached Time Square, the Hard Rock Café, where we had to buy some items as souvenirs for friends and family, and the Flatiron District, which is pretty close to one of my favorite burger places in New York.
This was the first city on our trip that I´d been to before. Back in 2014, the city had overwhelmed me and I had been shocked by the size, buildings and population. This time it was New York´s diversity that impressed me the most. I noticed and appreciated the different ethnic cultures much more than last time – Chinatown, Little Italy, Little India, and Koreatown. I also tried to pay more attention to the characteristics of a typical New Yorker. And I came to almost the same conclusion as last time. It still seems to me they are extremely proud of their own city, of its uniqueness, which sometimes comes off to me as arrogance. One or two stays in New York are just not enough to see everything and to really experience the New York vibe. Then again I guess you´d only understand that vibe by living there for some time. By becoming a New Yorker for a few months. By living right in the middle of this melting pot. However, after my second trip to this overwhelming city, one thing is pretty obvious to me: no matter if you stay there for months, years or just a couple of days, no matter if you love it or hate it, New York is a place that can never leave you indifferent.
Lena is a content creator and divemaster with a degree in tourism management and a passion for island adventures and scuba diving. Driven by her desire to explore the world in an affordable way, she's been inspiring like-minded travelers while working as a professional travel writer and freelance content creator for the past years.
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Hi there, I'm Lena! I love being on the move around the world - travelling, diving or taking pictures. I've recently started dealing with and writing about ways to make diving more affordable. I enjoy sharing my experiences and tips with y'all, fellow budget backpackers and budget divers! Read more
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The Apex DP (Dual-Pin) BASE Jumping Harness and Container system represents the first collaborative design and production effort between Todd Shoebotham, Jimmy Pouchert, & Marta Empinotti when Basic Research and Vertigo merged to become Apex BASE. In 2005, Apex took 50 years of cumulative BASE equipment manufacturing experience to produce one of the most sustainable rig designs on the market today.
Apex combined the best features of the two most popular 2-pin BASE containers on the market at the time, the Warlock and the Vertex 2, to create a refined and streamlined aerodynamic container featuring a tucking pin cover flap, more stable riser tuck tabs, shaped bottom corners, bottomless corner options, increased comfort over the shoulders, a stash bag pouch on the back pad, wider leg webbing to increase comfort, and many smaller design changes that add to the overall comfort and safety of the container.
When sizing your DP, we recommend a bit of a loose fit because it is easier to pack and more comfortable to wear. This allows you to upsize your canopy without having to change containers. This sizing is based on a non-vented canopy. If your canopy has vents, please indicate this on your order form. If you would prefer a tight fit/firm container, you can request this on your order form and we will build your container 1 size tighter.
Cordura Colors: Black, Navy, Royal, Burgundy, Silver, Charcoal, Forest Green, Kelly Green, Red, Purple, Brown, Yellow, Gold, Teal, Neon Orange, Orange, White.
Patterned Codura: Desert Camo, Universal Camo (pixellated), Woodland Camo.


Roam the urban jungle in the most economical, most compact, and most luxurious Japanese car ever. The new CT 200h from Lexus will surely give you a step up in fame. It gets a new front bumper that works well with the new design language of the brand and a revised LED daytime running lights to show its distinction in the road. With Lexus tagline of "In pursuit of perfection", the CT 200h is no exception when it comes to a touch of comfort and convenience, it gives passengers the freshest of air with a new cabin air filter that promotes health, something that will put you away from the pollution of the city. Equipment goes to the roof with dual-zone climate control, Bluetooth hands-free and audio streaming, and Smart Access with push button start/stop.
Mechanicals remain top notch, a hybrid offering a 1.8-liter gasoline engine paired to an electric motor which gives out a punchy but healthy 134 horsepower mated to a CVT box. The steering wheel and suspension has also been redesigned for better road handling and comfort. If you need more character, the F Sport gives it an edge in sportiness.


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Dad describes horrifying moment modified firework blows up in daughter's face
A two-year-old girl was injured when a firework exploded in her back garden in Newry
Connor Lynch
Two fireworks that were taped together blew up in the face of a two-year-old girl on Halloween night
A dad has described the horrifying moment that a "modified firework" exploded in his daughters face after being thrown into their garden.
The two-year-old girl suffered burns to her face, with the firework also setting fire to the curtains and part of her coat.
Speaking to Belfast Live, the father said that he was "Horrified" about what had happened to his daughter, and was very concerned that the firework was actually two fireworks duck-taped together, which produced an even larger explosion.
He said: "We were all out in the back garden when we decided that we would let my daughter hold a sparkler. I went inside to get a carrot to use a safe holder for it and had just stepped inside the house when I heard this enormous bang that left our ears ringing.
"My daughter started squealing with pain and we noticed that the curtains were smoldering due to the firework.
The 'modified firework' that landed in the families garden
"My partner took her quickly to A&E for her to get treatment and I was clearing up in the house, I was shocked by what I saw. The firework that had exploded in the garden had been modified, with another firework stuck onto it, which would have made the blast even bigger.
"I am not sure whether the firework was thrown into the garden by someone or what, but I cannot imagine who would do something like this.
"We are just thankful that the explosion didn't go into her eyes and do even further damage."
The father said that the police had been very helpful following the incident and they have now launched an investigation.
NI news: Two-year-old girl suffers large burn after firework thrown into garden
Northern Ireland Fire Service attacked with fireworks in two separate incidents on Halloween night
A PSNI spokesperson said: "Police are appealing for witnesses after a two year old child was injured by a firework thrown into the garden of her home in Rockfield Heights, Newry yesterday evening, Saturday 31 October.
"The little girl was standing on the back doorstep with her parents at around 8.15pm when the firework was thrown over the fence and struck her on her face causing a large burn. The firework then exploded and set alight the curtains on the patio doors, which were open. The child's coat was also burned.
"Police are asking for help in identifying those responsible. Please call police in Ardmore on 101, quoting reference 2463 31/10/20."
The burn that the two-year-old suffered
Meanwhile, the fire service has reported a 22% increase on emergency calls and responses in 2020 on Halloween night - despite Northern Ireland's ongoing circuit breaker.
In two incidents, the fire service encountered "hostile" members of the public who threw missiles including fireworks.
Between 6am on October 31 and 1am on November 1, there were 83 emergency calls and crews responded to 62 operational incidents.
They said that 18 were bonfire or 'Halloween related'.
A Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) spokesperson said: "Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service has been responding to calls associated with Halloween night celebrations with the situation remaining relatively quiet.
"Between 6pm on the 31st October and 1am on 1st November, NIFRS Regional Control Centre received 83 emergency calls and Fire Crews have responded to 62 operational incidents. This equates to a 22% increase for the same period in 2019. 18 of these incidents were bonfire/ Halloween related.
"Crews attended two separate incidents where they encountered hostile members of the public throwing missiles, including fireworks. There were no injuries to crews, however at one of these incidents crews withdrew for safety reasons."
Health Minister Robin Swann condemned the overnight attacks on the NIFRS.
He said: "It quite frankly beggars belief that anyone would consider this acceptable behaviour.
"Thankfully, no injuries have been reported but it could have turned out very differently.
"NIFRS crews have a challenging enough job without having to contend with idiotic missile throwing.
"If we learn anything from 2020, it should be that we all have to treasure our frontline workers and let them know how much we as a society value them."


I'm officially starting work today after a restful Chinese New Year. And it was a very gesture from one of my clients who gave me a red packet (ang pow) wishing me good luck for the year ahead.
In this predominantly people-oriented business of mine, it's more than just the results you see. It's also the quintessence of that personal touch that goes a long, long way. We are who we are because of our different backgrounds, identities and experiences. And that's what makes life enriching.
On the way to coach a teenager, I reflected on my own life journey till date. I cannot find a single adjective to describe it as it's always changing. Just like the people in our lives. Some come and make a huge difference while others are but mere passer-bys.
When I first got the email from the teenager's mum, she asked if I could spend some time talking to her son (let's call him Z). As someone who used to be a face in the crowd too, I understood where she was coming from.
If you ask me, it's not growing up pains. It's not an identity crisis. Rather, it's about accepting who you are, what you are good at and showing others you can and do make a difference.
Being strangers meeting for the first time, it does take some effort to break the ice and build rapport. If one goes straight for the onslaught, one might not gain total victory. So, it's really about starting out firm, establishing common ground and getting the conversation going.
From the thousands of people I've trained, it boils down to just this one simple principle – getting others to talk. People like to talk about themselves. I do. And I believe so do you.
When we talk about ourselves, our eyes naturally light up, our body language becomes more relaxed and our mood brightens. It's as if the whole world is revolving around us.
When we talk about ourselves, you can even sense that beautiful smile on your face, which was in the case of Z.
Taking a cue from Rihanna's latest hit, building self-confidence is therefore all about "talk that talk".
Perhaps as Asians, we have been brought up in a society and culture that advocates humility. Humble as we may be, forget not it is our birth right to also be man or woman enough to extol our own rights.
It's a very thin line between confidence and arrogance. While the latter harps on being boastful, the former instead focuses on the unique qualities we possess that make us an invaluable asset to friends, family, school and society at large.
No one knows you better than yourself. As I've often shared, you are your best friend.
There is no magical formula for building self-confidence. It all begins with you and whether you are willing to take that first step. The world is your stage and when you step onto that stage, what do you say in that introduction? It could be anything. Anything that gets you smiling, makes you happy and relaxed. Because as long as you share from the heart, what you share will always be valuable to your listeners.