Circumcision in Africa

"The distribution of circumcision and initiation rites throughout Africa, and the frequent resemblance between details of ceremonial procedure in areas thousands of miles apart, indicate that the circumcision ritual has an old tradition behind it and in its present form is the result of a long process of development."
History.
Circumcision is prevalent among 92% of men in North Africa and around 62% in Sub-Saharan Africa. In western and northern parts of Africa it is mainly performed for religious reasons, whereas in southern parts of Africa it rarely performed in neonates, instead being a rite of passage into manhood.
African cultural history is conveniently spoken of in terms of language group. The Niger–Congo speakers of today extend from Senegal to Kenya to South Africa and all points between. In the historic period, the Niger–Congo speaking peoples predominantly have and have had male circumcision which occurred in young warrior initiation schools, the schools of Senegal and Gambia being not so very different from those of the Kenyan Gikuyu and South African Zulu. Their common ancestor was a horticultural group five, perhaps seven, thousand years ago from an area of the Cross River in modern Nigeria. From that area a horticultural frontier moved outward into West Africa and the Congo Basin. Certainly, the warrior schools with male circumcision were a part of the ancestral society's cultural repertoire.
Studies evaluating the complications due to Traditional male circumcision have found rates varying from 35% (Kenya) to 48% (South Africa). Infection, delayed wound healing, glans amputation and injury, bleeding, loss of penile sensitivity, excessive removal of foreskin, and death are the major complications reported.
Circumcision to prevent the spread of human immunodeficiency virus in Africa.
WHO identified 14 countries with high rates of heterosexual human immunodeficiency virus transmission and historically low levels of male circumcision coverage (nationally or sub-nationally), and were priorities for scale-up. They are Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. From 2008 to mid 2014, around 5.8 million men were circumcised as part of an effort to prevent HIV.
PEPFAR (the US President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief) supported over 15 million circumcisions in 14 countries in Southern and Eastern Africa from 2007 to 2017.
There are some who question the effectiveness of circumcision to prevent infection by human immunodeficiency virus in Africa.
Nations.
Algeria.
The male child circumcision rate in Algeria is around 97.9%.
Angola.
The male circumcision rate in Angola is estimated to be 57.5%.
Benin.
The male circumcision rate in Benin is estimated to be 92.9%.
Botswana.
The male circumcision rate in Botswana is estimated to be 15.1%.
Burkina Faso.
The male circumcision rate in Burkina Faso is estimated to be 88.3%.
Burundi.
The male circumcision rate in Burundi is estimated to be 61.7%.
Cameroon.
The male child circumcision rate in Cameroon is around 90%, in common with other countries of West and North Africa, with operations performed in hospitals and clinics.
Central African Republic.
The male circumcision rate in the Central African Republic is estimated to be 63%.
Chad.
The male circumcision rate in Chad is estimated to be 73.5%.
Comoros, The.
The male circumcision rate in the island nation of The Comoros is estimated to be 99.4%.
Congo, Democratic Republic.
The male circumcision rate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is estimated to be 97.2%.
Congo, Republic.
The male circumcision rate in the Republic of the Congo is estimated to be 70%.
Djibouti.
The male circumcision rate in Djibouti is estimated to be 96.5%.
Egypt.
The male child circumcision rate in Egypt is around 94%.
Equatorial Guinea.
The male circumcision rate in Equatorial Guinea is estimated to be 87%.
Eritrea.
The male circumcision rate in Eritrea is estimated to be 97.2%.
Ethiopia.
The male circumcision rate in Ethiopia is estimated to be 92.2%.
Gabon.
The male circumcision rate in Gabon is estimated to be 99.9%.
Gambia, The.
The male circumcision rate in The Gambia is estimated to be 94.5%.
Ghana.
The male child circumcision rate in Ghana is around 95%, with operations performed in hospitals and clinics. However, there are some variations in the country. For example, circumcision is less common in Ghana's Upper West Region, at 68%.
Guinea.
The male circumcision rate in Guinea is estimated to be 84.2%.
Guinea-Bissau.
The male circumcision rate in Guinea-Bissau is estimated to be 93.3%.
Ivory Coast.
The male circumcision rate in Ivory Coast is around 95%, with operations conducted in hospitals and health clinics.
Kenya.
The male circumcision rate in Kenya is around 84%, with operations performed in hospitals and clinics.
In traditional circumcisions, often the same knife is used for many initiates. This is thought to contribute to the spread of HIV.
In addition to traditional circumcision, the men of Africa enjoyed "benefits" such as young men became members of the warrior class, and were free to date and marry. The graduates became a fraternity which served together, and continued to have mutual obligation to each other for life.
In the modern context in East Africa, the physical element of male circumcision remains (in the societies that have historically practiced it) but without most of the other accompanying rites, context, and programs. For many, the operation is now performed in private on one individual, in a hospital or doctor's office. Anesthesia is often used in such settings. There are tribes, however, that do not accept this modernized practice. They insist on circumcision in a group ceremony, and a test of courage at the banks of a river. This more traditional approach is common amongst the Meru and the Kisii tribes of Kenya. One boy in Meru County, Kenya was assaulted by other boys because they wanted him to be circumcised in a traditional ceremony as opposed to in a hospital.
Amongst the Gikuyu (Kikuyu) people of Kenya and the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania, male circumcision has historically been the graduation element of an educational program which taught tribal beliefs, practices, culture, religion and history to youth who were on the verge of becoming full-fledged members of society. The circumcision ceremony was very public, and required a display of courage under the knife in order to maintain the honor and prestige of the young man and his family. The only form of anesthesia was a bath in the cold morning waters of a river, which tended to numb the senses to a minor degree. The youths being circumcised were required to maintain a stoic expression and not to flinch from the pain.
Despite the loss of the rites and ceremonies that accompanied male circumcision in the past, the physical operation remains crucial to personal identity and pride, and acceptance in society. Uncircumcised men in these communities risk being "outed", and subjected to ridicule as "boys". There have been many cases of forced circumcision of men from such communities who are discovered to have escaped the ritual. Those who do not want to be circumcised seek refuge in Kenya's police stations.
Lesotho.
The male circumcision rate in Lesotho is estimated to be 52%.
Liberia.
Almost all men (98 percent) in Liberia are circumcised, with operations carried out in hospitals and health clinics.
Libya.
The male circumcision rate in Libya is estimated to be 96.6%.
Madagascar.
The male circumcision rate in the island nation of Madagascar is estimated to be 94.7%.
Malawi.
The male circumcision rate in Malawi is estimated to be 21.6%.
In the South of Malawi, the Yao and Lomwe tribes practice tribal circumcision. There are fears that there is a heightened risk of spreading human immunodeficiency virus as the surgeons use the same blade and encourage boys to have sex with women after the ceremony.
Mali.
The male circumcision rate in Mali is estimated to be 86%.
Mauritania.
The male circumcision rate in Mauritania is estimated to be 99.2%.
Mauritius.
The male circumcision rate in the island nation of Mauritius is estimated to be 16.6%.
Mozambique.
The male circumcision rate in Mozambique is estimated to be 47.4%.
Morocco.
The male circumcision rate in Morocco is estimated to be 99.9%.
Historically, circumcision in Morocco was performed by barbers, but is now done by medical surgeons. The circumcision of Prince Moulay Hassan, almost two years old at the time, prompted thousands of other young boys to be circumcised. The procedure is considered "purification" (t'hara) by Muslims.
Namibia.
The male circumcision rate in Namibia is estimated to be 25.5%.
Niger.
The male circumcision rate in Niger is estimated to be 95.5%.
Nigeria.
The male circumcision rate in Nigeria is estimated to be 98.9%.
Nigerian culture favours circumcising baby boys when they are aged between eight and forty days. Neonatal (child) circumcision is performed on more than 85% of boys in Nigeria, Western Africa, and the majority of procedures are done by nurses (56%) and doctors (35%), with a small proportion (9%) performed by traditional practitioners (2). The reasons are cultural and religious.
Rwanda.
The male circumcision rate in Rwanda is estimated to be 13.3%.
Rwanda previously had a lower rate of circumcision, similar to South Africa. Both nations have been introduced a "safe" PrePex device which claims to involves no pain nor bleeding. The Government Of Rwanda wishes to fight HIV. However, complications have occurred after a few of the circumcisions, including death. Rwanda Ministry Of Health denies that the deaths occurred from the result of circumcision.
Senegal.
The male circumcision rate in Senegal is estimated to be 93.5%.
Sierra Leone.
The male circumcision rate in Sierra Leone, estimated in 2016, is around 96.1%, with operations carried out in hospitals and health clinics.
Somalia.
The male circumcision rate in Somalia is estimated to be 93.5%.
South Africa.
The male circumcision rate in South Africa is estimated to be 44.7%.
In some South African ethnic groups, circumcision has roots in several belief systems, and is performed most of the time on teenage boys:
The young men in the eastern Cape belong to the Xhosa ethnic group for whom circumcision is considered part of the passage into manhood. ... A law was recently introduced requiring initiation schools to be licensed and only allowing circumcisions to be performed on youths aged 18 and older. But Eastern Cape provincial Health Department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo told Reuters news agency that boys as young as 11 had died. Each year thousands of young men go into the bush alone, without water, to attend initiation schools. Many do not survive the ordeal.
According to one article, as of December 2015, 10 million men have undergone voluntary circumcision in East and Southern Africa. since 2008.
In 2017, celebrities were recruited to launch the "man up" campaign to encourage more men to get circumcised.
South Sudan.
The male circumcision rate in the newly-established nation state of South Sudan is estimated to be 23.6%.
Sudan.
The male circumcision rate in Sudan is estimated to be 39.4%.
Swaziland.
The male circumcision rate in Swaziland is estimated to be 8.2%.
Tanzania.
The male circumcision rate in Tanzania is estimated to be 72%.
In 2015, the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics, a non profit health association affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, completed a voluntary circumcision project, covering three traditionally non-circumcising Tanzanian regions, Iringa, Njombe and Tabora, which circumcised 400,000 men. It was done in collaboration with the National AIDS Control Programme. They offered the services in 500 health facilities across the three regions.
Mobile health clinics have been launched, funded by USAID, to offer circumcision and sexual health advice to adult men.
Efforts are being made to scale up circumcision where there is low prevalence of circumcision; the areas cited are: Iringa, Tabora, Mbeya, Songwe, Rukwa, Katavi, Shinyanga, Simiyu, Mwanza, Geita, Kagera and Musoma. Following this, Singida, Kigoma, Mara and Morogoro will also see efforts to scale up circumcision
Togo.
The male circumcision rate in Togo is estimated to be 95.2%.
Tunisia.
The male child circumcision rate in Tunisia is around 99.8%.
Uganda.
The male circumcision rate in Uganda is estimated to be 26.7%.
In Uganda, circumcision is performed for religious, cultural, and medical reasons. Medical related circumcision is mainly to reduce the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and sexually transmitted illnesses. It is performed by non-physicians, including for infants and neonates.
In Uganda, Sebei, Bagisu, Baamba, and Bakonzo ethnic groups practice TMC. As of 2012, 70% of Ugandan men are not circumcised. Around 10% of Ugandan men belong to groups which practice traditional male circumcision. The age range for eastern Ugandan candidates is relatively older (14–18 years) than that of western Uganda (2–15 years). The cost of TMC varies from UGX 5,000 to 40,000, or approximately US$2.00 to 16.00 (Uganda GDP per capita is US$1,300.00). The candidate's parents are responsible for the payment, although the price is negotiable and depends on the family's financial ability. Those who undertake a hospital circumcision rather than a traditional circumcision are said to be shunned by their community.
Western Sahara.
The male circumcision rate in Western Sahara is estimated to be 99.6%.
Zambia.
The male circumcision rate in Zambia is estimated to be 12.8%.
In Zambia there is a circumcision programme underway because some believe it could reduce the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus.
Zimbabwe.
The male circumcision rate in Zimbabwe is estimated to be 9.2%.
Tribes.
Bukusu.
Traditional circumcision is practiced among the Bukusu people of Kenya. Ceremonies usually take place in August. They involve the use of mud. This is used to prevent excessive bleeding after the cut, to prevent wincing, and to commemorate a traditional legend.
Gisu.
The Gisu people of Uganda are closely related to the Bukusu and also practice circumcision. In Uganda, a circumcision ceremony is called Imbalu.
Massai.
Amongst the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania, male circumcision has historically been the graduation element of an educational program which taught tribal beliefs, practices, culture, religion and history to youth who were on the verge of becoming full-fledged members of society. The circumcision ceremony was very public, and required a display of courage under the knife in order to maintain the honor and prestige of the young man and his family. The only form of anesthesia was a bath in the cold morning waters of a river, which tended to numb the senses to a minor degree. The youths being circumcised were required to maintain a stoic expression and not to flinch from the pain.
Bantu.
Bantu circumcisions have been declining.
Dinka.
Agar Dinka do not circumcise.
Luo.
The Luo do not circumcise.
Turkana.
The Turkana tribe do not perform ritual circumcision.
Other measures.
South Africa refuses infant circumcisions, but with mixed reception. Additionally, they have boycotted "Do-It-Yourself" Circumcision devices, but only the ones made in Israel which was part of an already-existing boycott of Israel.


Richard Doerflinger

Richard Doerflinger was Associate Director of Pro-Life Activities at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He has been described as the USCCB's "point man on abortion" and "a major player in the health care debate,"
"Mother Jones" has called him "The Man Who Almost Killed Health Care Reform" for his co-authorship of the controversial Stupak Amendment. In 2008, the Gerald Health Foundation called him (one of the) "greatest heroes in the pro-life movement."


Colautti v. Franklin

Colautti v. Franklin, 439 U.S. 379 (1979), was a United States Supreme Court abortion rights case, which held void for vagueness part of Pennsylvania's 1974 Abortion Control Act. The section in question was the following:
(a) Every person who performs or induces an abortion shall prior thereto have made a determination based on his experience, judgment or professional competence that the fetus is not viable, and if the determination is that the fetus is viable or if there is sufficient reason to believe that the fetus may be viable, shall exercise that degree of professional skill, care and diligence to preserve the life and health of the fetus which such person would be required to exercise in order to preserve the life and health of any fetus intended to be born and not aborted and the abortion technique employed shall be that which would provide the best opportunity for the fetus to be aborted alive so long as a different technique would not be necessary in order to preserve the life or health of the mother.
Doctors who failed to adhere to the provisions of this section were liable to civil and criminal prosecution "as would pertain to him had the fetus been a child who was intended to be born and not aborted." Franklin and others sued, arguing that the provision was both vague and overbroad. In a 6-3 decision written by "Roe" author Harry Blackmun, the Supreme Court agreed, finding that requiring a determination "if... the fetus is viable or if there is sufficient reason to believe the fetus may be viable" was insufficient and impermissibly vague guidance for physicians who might face criminal liability if a jury disagrees with their judgment.


Testosterone nicotinate

Testosterone nicotinate (brand names Bolfortan, Linobol) is an androgen and anabolic steroid medication made by esterifying nicotinic acid and testosterone It was formulated as a 50 mg/mL aqueous suspension provided in ampoules. The medication was manufactured and sold by Lannacher Heilmittel GmbH in Austria. It is no longer marketed.
Testosterone nicotinate had a relatively short duration, somewhere between that of testosterone propionate and testosterone enanthate.


Pasquale Cajano

Pasquale Cajano (born Pasquale Cagiano; August 19, 1921 in Italy– October 24, 2000) was an Italian-American New York City Italian AM Radio personality DJ in the 1960s and later career a film actor. After two uncredited cameo appearances in "The Age of Innocence" and "Where Evil Lies", his friend Martin Scorsese cast him in the 1995 crime drama "Casino" as Chicago Outfit boss Remo Gaggi, the film's "de facto" antagonist and inspired by the real-life Joseph Aiuppa.
After "Casino", Cajano went on with small roles in certain films, like "Big Night", "Sleepers", and "The Impostors" (another uncredited role). Cajano was then cast alongside his "Casino" co-star Robert De Niro in the hit comedy "Analyze This". Pasquale Cajano was also a well known Italian radio personality for many years on the Italian Communications Network radio (www.icnradio.com).
On October 24, 2000, Cajano died of prostate cancer at the age of 79.


The Hot Zone (American TV series)

The Hot Zone is an American anthology drama television series, based on the 1994 non-fiction book of the same name by Richard Preston and airing on National Geographic.
The first season, consisting of six episodes aired from May 27 to May 29, 2019, and was intended as a miniseries. Largely set in 1989, it follows U.S. Army scientist Nancy Jaax who is confronted the possibility of a potentially deadly outbreak of Ebola. Jaax, a veterinary pathologist, first identifies the ebolavirus after it appears in monkeys in a Primate Quarantine Facility in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. The season was positively reviewed, and renewed for a second season.
The second season will be titled "The Hot Zone: Anthrax" and will star Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn. It will focus on the 2001 anthrax attacks.
Production.
Development.
On April 18, 2018, it was announced that National Geographic had given a series order to the production. Executive producers were set to include Lynda Obst, Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson, Jeff Vintar, and Ridley Scott. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Fox 21 Television Studios, Scott Free Productions, and Lynda Obst Productions. On August 9, 2018, it was announced that Kelly Souders and Brian Wayne Peterson were joining the series as showrunners, executive producers, and writers. On February 8, 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere on May 27, 2019. In November 2020, National Geographic renewed the series for a second season.
Casting.
On July 25, 2018, it was announced during the Television Critics Association's annual summer press tour that Julianna Margulies had been cast in the first season's lead role. On September 13, 2018, it was reported that Noah Emmerich, Liam Cunningham, Topher Grace, Paul James, Nick Searcy, Robert Wisdom, and Robert Sean Leonard had joined the cast in starring roles and that James D'Arcy would make a guest starring appearance. On December 6, 2018, it was announced that Grace Gummer would appear in a recurring capacity.
In early 2021, following the announcement of a second season with a different story, Tony Goldwyn, Daniel Dae Kim, Harry Hamlin Dylan Baker, Ian Colletti Dawn Olivieri, and Denyce Lawton were announced as cast members.
Filming.
Principal photography for the first season took place from September 13, 2018, to November 16, 2018, in Toronto and was also expected to film in South Africa. Exterior photography of the rear loading docks of the "monkey lab" took place at the now closed Life Savers Factory located at 100 Cumberland Ave, Hamilton, ON L8M 1Z1. Loading docks can be viewed from Burris Street as well as homes in reverse shots. Exterior and interior shots of "Commuter Station" took place at historic Hamilton Canadian National Railway Station, 360 James St N, Hamilton, ON L8L 1H4. Site is currently a wedding venue.
Release.
On December 20, 2018, a "first look" still image from the series was released featuring Julianna Margulies in character as Dr. Nancy Jaax. On February 8, 2019, a trailer for the series was released.
"Going Viral".
"Going Viral" is a 2019 one-hour documentary companion to the miniseries.
On February 8, 2019, it was announced that National Geographic had greenlit a companion documentary film to premiere alongside the series in May 2019. The film was set to be executive produced by Betsy Forhan and feature interviews with subjects including Richard Preston, Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Dr. Pardis Sabeti, and Dr. Ian Crozier. The production company involved with the film was slated to be National Geographic Studios.
Reception.
Rotten Tomatoes gave an approval rating of 85%, based on 20 reviews. Its critical consensus reads: "An anxiety-producing dramatization of real-world events, "The Hot Zone" acts as a sobering reminder of exactly how deadly a disease can be." On Metacritic, the season had a score of 69 out of 100, based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


Stephanie Dabney

Stephanie Dabney (born July 11, 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an African American dancer who performed as a prima ballerina with Dance Theatre of Harlem from 1979 through 1994. Dabney is best known for her performances in John Taras' "The Firebird", which she performed all over the world, as well as at the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Early life.
Born into a military family, Dabney was raised in Youngstown, Ohio where she began her ballet training at Ballet Western Reserve at the age of 4. After seeing the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform on tour, with dancers who looked like her, Dabney decided to become a professional dancer. The following year, Dance Theatre of Harlem conducted a residency in her town, during which Dabney enrolled in a masterclass with the company. Arthur Mitchell, founder and artistic director of DTH, observed her in class and invited her to study at his school in New York. Because she had already been awarded a scholarship to study at The Ailey School, she declined. However after one week at The Ailey School she realized that she preferred ballet to modern dance and decided to transfer to Dance Theatre Harlem's school. Three months later, in 1975, she joined the company as an apprentice under the name Stephanie Baxter.
Career.
Working her way up through the company's repertory, Dabney had her breakthrough when John Taras selected her to premiere in the title roll of his new version of "The Firebird" with costumes and sets by Geoffrey Holder. Dabney received ecstatic reviews from the three leading dance critics at "The New York Times", Anna Kisselgoff, Jennifer Dunning, and Jack Anderson, for her performance. From that point onward, "Stephanie Baxter" was billed as "Stephanie Dabney".
Capitalizing on the success of "Firebird", Arthur Mitchell had the company's Kennedy Center premiere of the work filmed and shown as part of "Kennedy Center Tonight" on WNET-TV at 9. The resulting program, "Stravinsky's 'Firebird' by Dance Theatre of Harlem," featured a documentary on behind-the-scenes aspects of the production, and interviews with the creative team, followed by a live performance. This presentation was directed by Kirk Browning and produced and edited for Pittsburgh station WQED-TV by Beverly Baroff. Two years later, Dabney was invited to perform as the Firebird alongside DTH as part of the opening ceremony of The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Over the course of her career with DTH, Dabney was celebrated for her performances in a wide range of repertory that included: George Balanchine's "Concerto Barocco", "The Four Temperaments", and "Allegro Brilliante", Glenn Tetley's "Voluntaries," Bronislava Nijinska's "Rondo Capriccioso", Arthur Mitchell's "Manifestations", Ruth Page and Bentley Stone's "Frankie and Johnny", Billy Wilson's "Concerto in F", and Frederic Franklin's "Swan Lake" & "Creole Giselle".
Retirement.
In 1990 Dabney was diagnosed with HIV. In 1996, following a year long battle with opportunistic infections, she formally retired from performing. Since retirement she has taught ballet at Spelman College.


Leana Wen

Leana Sheryle Wen (; born Wen Linyan; January 27, 1983) is an American physician, an op-ed columnist with "The Washington Post" and a CNN medical analyst. She is a practicing physician, a former Health Commissioner for the City of Baltimore, and author of the book "When Doctors Don't Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests". Currently, she is a visiting professor of Health Policy and Management at the George Washington University, where she is a Distinguished Fellow in the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity. She is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Wen previously practiced as an emergency physician at the George Washington University, where she also served as a professor in the School of Medicine & Health Sciences and professor in health policy at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. Prior to this, she was an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. She also served as the national president of the American Medical Student Association and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine/Resident and Student Association.
From December 2014 until October 2018, Wen served as the health commissioner for Baltimore City under two mayors. She resigned when she was appointed head of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She was the first physician to serve as the organization's president in nearly 50 years. Wen was asked to step down by Planned Parenthood's board of directors on July 16, 2019.
In May 2020, Wen became a contributing columnist for "The Washington Post", focusing on health policy and public health. She has been a leading voice in the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic appearing frequently on CNN as an on-air medical analyst. In June 2020, she testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on racial disparities and COVID-19.
Wen was named one of "Time" magazine's "100 Most Influential People of 2019".
Early life and education.
Born Wen Linyan () in Shanghai on January 27, 1983, to Ying Sandy Zhang and Xiaolu Wen, Wen moved with her parents to the U.S. when she was eight, by then having the English name Leana Sheryle Wen. Granted political asylum, the Wen family lived in Compton and East Los Angeles in Southern California. In 2003, Wen and her family became U.S. citizens.
Wen's mother, who died of breast cancer in 2010, first worked as a hotel room cleaner and video store clerk before becoming an elementary school teacher. Her father delivered newspapers and was a dishwasher, later serving as technology manager for "The Chinese Daily News" in Los Angeles.
Attending the Early Entrance Program (EEP) at California State University, Los Angeles starting at age 13, Wen graduated "summa cum laude" at age 18 with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry, in 2001. She received a Doctor of Medicine from Washington University School of Medicine and has two master's degrees, one in Economic and Social History and another in Modern Chinese Studies, both from the Merton College, Oxford in England where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She also met her future husband, Sebastian Walker, during her time in England.
In 2005, Wen took a one-year leave of absence from medical school to serve as the national president of the American Medical Student Association, where she led campaigns to increase healthcare access, decrease health disparities, and combat conflicts of interest between physicians and the pharmaceutical companies who notoriously use attractive sales representatives and free gifts to influence doctors, especially young interns and medical residents. Wen became involved in U.S. and international health policy during medical school, serving in Geneva, Switzerland as a fellow for the World Health Organization and in Rwanda as a fellow for the U.S. Department of Defense. In addition, she advised the U.S. Congress on physician workforce and medical education through her appointment on the Council on Graduate Medical Education by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Career.
Following medical school, Wen completed a residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General) and a clinical fellowship at Harvard Medical School in Boston. She is board certified in emergency medicine. She married South Africa native Sebastian Neil Walker in February 2012 and started working in emergency medicine at BWH and Mass General before moving to the ER at the George Washington University (GW) in Washington, DC, where she became a professor in emergency and health policy, and the Director of Patient-Centered Care Research. She served as a consultant to the Brookings Institution and the China Medical Board, and conducted international health systems research including in South Africa, Slovenia, Nigeria, Singapore, and China.
As president of Planned Parenthood, Wen worked to expand non-abortion services like maternal health and mental health services and to rebrand Planned Parenthood from its image as an abortion rights advocate to a comprehensive women's health organization that serves women and families. She spoke out about her own experiences as a cervical cancer survivor who struggled with infertility, and about a miscarriage she suffered while in the role. Wen was named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in 2019 and referred to by Cynthia Nixon in the magazine as a "fierce visionary" for reproductive rights and health care.
In July 2019, she was forced out of her job as president of Planned Parenthood in a dispute over philosophical differences and the direction of the organization amid growing political and legal challenges to abortion. On July 19, 2019, Wen published an opinion editorial in "The New York Times" which set forth the circumstances underlying her departure from Planned Parenthood. She stated her view that "As one of the few national health care organizations with a presence in all 50 states, Planned Parenthood's mandate should be to promote reproductive health care as part of a wide range of policies that affect women's health and public health." On 24 February 2020, Wen stated "I am 8 months pregnant".
Patient advocacy.
In 2013, St. Martin's Press published her book, "When Doctors Don't Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests" with coauthor Joshua Kosowsky. It is about how patients can take control of their health to advocate for better care for themselves.
Wen wrote a blog, The Doctor is Listening. She has been a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and Psychology Today on patient empowerment and healthcare reform. She has been an advisor to the newly established Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and an advisor to the Lown Institute and the Medical Education Futures Study. She was the founder of Who's My Doctor, an international campaign that called for transparency in medicine.
Wen is a frequent keynote speaker on healthcare reform, education, and leadership, and has given several TED Talks. Her TED talk on transparency in medicine has been viewed over 1.9 million times.
Baltimore City health commissioner.
In December 2014, Wen was appointed by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to serve as the health commissioner; in December 2016, she was reappointed by Mayor Catherine Pugh. In this role, she oversaw the Baltimore City Health Department, an agency of 1,100 employees and $130 million annual budget with wide-ranging responsibilities, including management of acute communicable diseases, animal control, chronic disease prevention, emergency preparedness, food service inspections, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, maternal-child health, school health, senior services, and youth violence issues.
She directed the city's public health recovery efforts after the 2015 Baltimore riots, including ensuring prescription medication access to seniors after the closure of 13 pharmacies, and developing the Mental Health/Trauma Recovery Plan, with 24-hour crisis counseling, and healing circles and group counseling in schools, community groups, and churches.
Following the 2015 Baltimore riots, the Baltimore City Health Department team launched numerous campaigns, including a citywide trauma response plan, youth health and wellness strategy, violence prevention programs, B'Healthy in B'More blog, and B'More Health Talks, a biweekly town hall and podcast series on health disparities.<ref name="Baltimore Sun: Mental Health/Trauma Recovery"></ref>
In May 2016, she served as the commencement speaker for the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Notre Dame of Maryland University, where she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. She has also served as commencement speaker at Washington University School of Medicine and at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2017, Wen was named as one of "Modern Healthcare's" 50 Most Influential Physician Executives and Leaders and in 2018 as one of its Top 25 Minority Physician Executives.
In March 2018, on behalf of Wen and the Baltimore City Health Department, the City of Baltimore sued the Trump administration for cutting teen pregnancy prevention funds, which resulted in a federal judge ordering the Trump administration to restore $5 million in grant funding to two Baltimore-based teen pregnancy prevention programs. She wrote an opinion editorial criticizing proposed changes to the Title X program which would affect health clinics in Baltimore providing reproductive health care for low income women. This court decision was later reversed by the 9th Circuit court, enabling the Trump administration to withhold Title X funding for abortion.
Opioid overdose epidemic response.
Wen has led implementation of the Baltimore opioid overdose prevention and response plan, which includes a blanket prescription for the opioid antidote, naloxone; "hotspotting" and street outreach teams to target individuals most at risk; training family/friends on naloxone use; and launching a new public education campaign. Wen testified to the U.S. Senate HELP Committee and U.S. House Oversight Committee on Baltimore's overdose prevention efforts. She led a group of state and city health officials to petition the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on adding black box warnings to opioids and benzodiazepines. In March 2016, she was invited by the White House to join President Barack Obama and CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta on a panel discussion, where she spoke about Baltimore's response. She convened doctors and public health leaders to sign the Baltimore Statement on the Importance of Childhood Vaccinations and to successfully advocate to ban the sale of powdered alcohol in Maryland and synthetic drugs in Baltimore.
Congressman Elijah Cummings cited Wen's efforts to combat the opioid epidemic in Baltimore and sought her help in creating national legislation to change how the United States fights it.
In 2018, the National Association of County and City Health Officials awarded the Baltimore City Health Department the Local Health Department of the Year.


Jerry Belson

Jerry Belson (July 8, 1938 – October 10, 2006) was a writer, director, and producer of Hollywood films for over forty years.
Career.
Belson's writing credits include the Steven Spielberg films "Always" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", several episodes of "The Dick Van Dyke Show"; "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.", and "I Spy". During the early 1960s, concurrent with contributing scripts for TV sitcoms with then writing partner Garry Marshall, Belson contributed stories for Gold Key Comics. He also helped produce "The Drew Carey Show", "The Norm Show", and "The Tracey Ullman Show".
In the TV Land 2006 documentary "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catchphrases", Lowell Ganz credits Belson with including in the script of the season 3 "Odd Couple" episode "My Strife in Court" (originally aired Friday, February 16, 1973) the catchphrase "Never ASSUME, because when you ASSUME, you make an ASS of U and ME." Ganz noted that Belson had heard it used years ago by a teacher in a typewriter repair class.
He won three Emmy Awards: two for "The Tracey Ullman Show" in 1989 and 1990, and one for "Tracey Takes On..." in 1997.
Death.
Belson died of cancer on October 10, 2006 at his Los Angeles home.
His sister, screenwriter Monica Johnson, died on November 1, 2010.


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List of drag groups

This is a list of drag groups, which are groups of drag performers. A drag performer is a person who dresses in clothes associated with the sex or gender they do not identify with for special occasions to perform and entertain or engage in social activism. Many, but not all, drag performers are members of the LGBTQ+ community.


David Leach (activist)

David Francis Leach is an American anti-abortion activist from Des Moines, Iowa. He publishes the "Prayer & Action News" quarterly newsletter (1989–present), and edits the website "The Partnership Machine" (1998–present) which covers social issues including abortion, politics, religion, immigration, divorce, sodomy, and education.
Biography.
Leach runs a Des Moines, Iowa music store, the Family Music Center. Leach and his wife Dorothy have music degrees and have taught since 1974 on several instruments.
He has run for the Iowa General Assembly six times and lost, in his first attempt (1986) as a Democrat and in the rest (1988, 1990, 2000, 2002, 2010) as a Republican. He was a candidate for the Iowa legislature again in 2012 but lost in the Republican primary election. Since 1995 Leach has operated a public-access television show on cable called "The Uncle Ed Show" and he also worked as a journalist for the central Iowa newspaper "Ankeny Today.". In 2011, Leach authored and self-published the book entitled "Eternal Hell: Heaven's Loving Purpose" ().
Activism.
Leach's publications argue in favor of the doctrine of justifiable homicide in the case of abortion doctors. Leach wrote in a 2002 newsletter that violent acts against abortion clinic property in the defense of unborn children is justifiable, since the person reasonably believes the violence is absolutely necessary in order to prevent serious harm or death to innocents, and the violence should not considered a criminal offense if it can be proven that the person acted in the defense of others. He has also written a number of legal arguments including appellate and pro se trial briefs in support of what he calls the "Necessity Defense", in which necessity may be either a possible justification or an exculpation for breaking the law. "Prayer & Action News" also featured occasional contributions from Scott Roeder, the convicted killer in the assassination of George Tiller, a doctor in Wichita, Kansas who performed late term abortions. Leach, who described Roeder as "anti-government," said he stopped to see Roeder in Kansas prior to 2009, after visiting Shelley Shannon in prison. (Shannon was convicted in 1993 of shooting Tiller in both arms outside his clinic.) Leach also conducted a telephone interview with Roeder in April, 2013. During this interview, Roeder issued further threats of violence, for which he was held in solitary confinement for 45 days.
In an interview with the "Iowa Independent", Leach said that to call "...killing a killer a crime is too simplistic.
Leach said when human law conflicts with God's Laws, "we ought to obey God rather than man", and that he will not "advocate" that anyone go out and kill someone who performs abortions, but his "mind remains open on the question."
Leach was fired in 1996 from his reporter job at "Ankeny Today", after he reprinted 40 pages of the "Army of God Manual" in the January 1996 issue of his "Prayer & Action News", which gave step-by-step instructions for making plastic explosives and fertilizer bombs. The publication also discussed strategies for disabling or destroying abortion clinics. At the time, he said he published the material because he feared it was about to be suppressed by a court. In 1994, United States Marshals were sent to guard the Des Moines office of Planned Parenthood. Officials said the step was taken partly because of concerns about Leach, after he had signed statements saying that Paul Jennings Hill and Michael F. Griffin could have been justified in killing abortion-providing doctors in Florida.
The manual begins with a "declaration of war" on abortion clinics and states, "The Editors of this manual hope and pray that the information contained herein will be useful to those who are committed to pro-life activism, and may perhaps provide the catalyst to inspire others to such a commitment." Under the heading "99 Covert Ways to Stop Abortion" the document details clandestine tactics activists can use to shut down abortion clinics. The "Revised and Expanded" third edition Epilogue contains a Declaration which concludes with a paragraph that supports murdering abortion providers, calling such murders justifiable homicide.
The manual had previously been published only anonymously, and mailed anonymously to pro-life leaders and news reporters. Leach's reprint of it was the first printing that was not anonymous. The introduction explained that Janet Reno's Virginia Grand Jury had, for a year, subpoenaed pro-lifers and "commanded" them to bring any copies they had of the Army of God Manual, which were then taken, which Leach alleged was treating the possession of the book as a crime. Leach wrote of the reprinting: "If owning a book is a crime, here I am; prosecute me." Within days after reprints went in the mail, the Virginia Grand Jury was disbanded.
In 1998 the fictional series "Rescue Platoon", a story of a future, final war against abortion, was serialized on Leach's website. The story ends with the Army of God, following a violent battle, gaining the final victory. The story includes a depiction of the Army of God bombing a Florida abortion clinic.
In 2002 Mediacom, owner of the cable television station hosting Leach's program "The Uncle Ed. Show." said that Leach would not be allowed to broadcast film of women entering a Planned Parenthood clinic here unless their faces were covered.
In April 2013, Leach posted a video to YouTube which included a recorded telephone conversation with Roeder, discussing the fact that Tiller's abortion clinic had been re-opened by another agency. Leach said:
During this telephone interview, Roeder issued further threats of anti-abortion violence, for which he was placed in solitary confinement for 45 days. His privileges were also reduced for an additional 60 days.
Media appearances.
Leach appeared in the HBO documentary film "Soldiers in the Army of God", and was a guest on "The Alan Colmes Show" discussing his views on abortion. He is listed in Marquis Who's Who publications, including "Who's Who in America".


Press for Change

Press for Change (PFC) is a UK-based campaign group focusing on the rights and treatment of trans people. Its stated aim is "seeking respect and equality for all trans people in the UK". The group led the campaign for full legal recognition for transgender people living in Britain including the right to marry.
The organisation began on 27 February 1992 and its founders included Mark Rees and Stephen Whittle.
Notable figures in the group.
Burns and Whittle were given their honours, "for services to gender issues," in relation to their work for Press for Change.


Stephen Broden

Stephen Edward Broden (born April 11, 1952) is a former Republican political candidate from the state of Texas in the for the United States House of Representatives. He was defeated by Democratic incumbent Eddie Bernice Johnson. Broden is a businessman, political commentator, former professor, and an activist for anti-abortion causes.
Education.
Broden graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor and then a Master of Arts degree in Communication, and he later studied at the Dallas Theological Seminary where he received a Master of Arts in Bible Studies.
He served as an Adjunct Professor at Dallas Baptist University from 1990 to 1992 and spent 10 years in the private sector at Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) in Human Resources. He has been a business owner of several self-serve car wash facilities, and has also worked as a newscaster, disc jockey, and radio broadcaster. Currently he is a co-host on the radio program "Life and Liberty" for KSKY, 660 AM and is also a radio broadcaster of One-Minute "thought of the day" commentaries on this station.
Career.
Broden founded the Fair Park Bible Fellowship Church in 1987 and serves as its Senior Pastor. He has served as President of the Fair Park Friendship Center for over 18 years and as its Executive Director for over 11 years. The center provides assistance to the community's "inner-city" families, including a clothing store and back-to-school rally where children from neighborhood families are provided with donated school supplies and family counseling.
Fair Park Bible Fellowship Church is not a 501(c)3 federal nonprofit entity. Fair Park Friendship Center is a 501(c)3 entity. Its tax ruling dates back to 1988. Fair Park Friendship Center has annual revenues under $50,000.
Broden advocates in the Fair Park and South Dallas areas for economic opportunity, improved access to education, and against abortion. He is a spokesman for the black anti-abortion movement in Dallas and a contributor to blackprolifemovement.blogspot.com. He is a founder of Ebony Berean, an organization whose mission includes informing African-American Pastors of the "Culture War".
He is a speaker for the Tea Party movement.
Broden has been a recurring political commentator on Fox News Channel, including appearances on the Glenn Beck show.
He was awarded "Champion of the Republican Party" by the NRCC Business Advisory Council Texas and has also received the Ronald Reagan Gold Medal Award. From 1999 to 2002 he served as Republican Precinct Chairman in DeSoto, Texas.
2010 election.
On March 2, 2010, Broden won the plurality of votes, in a three-way Republican primary election for the U.S. House in Texas's 30th congressional district, with 46.6%. On April 13, 2010 he won the Republican Primary runoff election, with 67.5% of the votes, and became the 2010 Republican candidate for the November general election.
In October 2010 Broden was accused of saying that the current federal government was "tyrannical" and suggested violent overthrow could not be ruled out if there was not a "change in leadership" resulting from the November elections during an interview with a local Dallas Television Station.
Johnson ended up defeating Broden by a margin of over 54%. Johnson had the largest margin of victory of any Democrat running for the U.S. House in Texas in 2010.
Marlise Muñoz.
Broden argued for continuation of artificial life support for the body of Marlise Muñoz and led a vigil outside the Texas hospital where her body was kept on artificial life support. She was 14 weeks pregnant when her husband found her unconscious in November, possibly from a blood clot and subsequently died from brain death. Prior to her death she had indicated that she would not like to be kept artificially alive if brain dead. The fetus had suffered from oxygen deprivation and was suspected to be non-viable. The fetus' lower extremities were deformed to the extent that the gender couldn't be determined. The unborn child also had fluid building up inside the skull (Hydrocephalus) and possibly had a heart problem. A 2002 study estimated the cost for an ICU bed in an average U.S. hospital is $2,000 to $3,000 per day. An attorney who had helped rewrite the Texas state law being used to keep her body on life support at John Peter Smith Hospital said that there was a problem with the application of the law to a patient that was no longer alive. Her husband Erick, with the support of her family, successfully petitioned a court to order termination of life support.
Personal life.
Broden has lived in the Dallas, Texas area for more than 30 years and is married to Donna W. Broden. They have three children.


Trimix (drug)

Trimix is an injectable three-drug prescribed medication used to treat erectile dysfunction. The active ingredients in the mixture are usually alprostadil, papaverine, and phentolamine. The injection must be compounded by a pharmacy and administered via intracavernosal injection (an injection at either side, not the base, of the penis). Trimix is typically compounded by a pharmacy in a sterile environment and then frozen. The compound is stable for up to six months while stored frozen and for one month if stored refrigerated beginning at the time of manufacture.


Tina Chow

Tina Chow (born Bettina Louise Lutz, April 18, 1950 – January 24, 1992) was an American model and jewelry designer who was considered an influential fashion icon of the 1970s and 1980s. She was the second wife of restaurateur Michael Chow, the founder and owner of the Mr. Chow restaurant chain.
Early life.
Chow was born Bettina Louise Lutz in Lakeview, Ohio. Her mother, Mona Furuki, was Japanese, while her father, Walter Edmund Lutz (1910–2003), was an American of German descent. Walter Lutz met Mona Furuki on Christmas Day 1945, while serving with the United States Army in occupied Japan. Chow's sister is artist, designer and actress Adelle Lutz.
Career.
Modeling.
In the mid-1960s, the family moved from Ohio to Japan, where Chow attended Sophia University. Both sisters were later discovered by a modeling agent and became the faces of Japanese cosmetic line Shiseido and featured prominently in their ad campaigns from the early 1970s. During her modeling career she was photographed by Helmut Newton, Cecil Beaton and Arthur Elgort, among others. She was drawn by illustrator Antonio Lopez and painted by Andy Warhol. She was also the muse of designers Yves St. Laurent and Issey Miyake.
Chow was cited by fashion magazines for her unique style and her collection of Mariano Fortuny dresses. She routinely paired inexpensive items with high fashion pieces and mixed feminine and masculine styles simultaneously. Chow was also noted for her androgynous Eton crop hairstyle which she had cut at a New York barbershop and styled with Dippity Do. In 1985, she was named on the International Best Dressed List.
Jewellery designing.
During the late 1980s, Tina Chow designed and produced several collections of jewelry. Using rock crystal, gold, silver, wood, bamboo, and silk cording. In 1987, the first collection was sold at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, Maxfield's in Los Angeles, at Ultimo in Chicago, and later (from 1988) at Gallerie Naila Monbrison in Paris. Perhaps one of the best known pieces in the collection is the "Kyoto Bracelet," which is a woven bamboo bangle which encases seven rough rock crystals or rose quartz in their natural form. The crystals, left loose inside the bamboo casing, rattle around as the wearer moves about. For the bamboo wrapping and basketry work in the collection Chow enlisted Kosuge Shochikudo, one of Japan's master craftsmen in the art of bamboo. In April 1988, designer Calvin Klein accessorized the showing of his Fall/Winter 1988/89 collection with Chow's jewelry.
Personal life.
In 1972, Tina married Michael Chow, who owns the Mr. Chow restaurant chain. The Chows had two children, a daughter China (born 1974) and a son Maximillian (born 1978). China is a model and an actress. The couple divorced in November 1989.
Later years and death.
After her marriage to Michael Chow ended, Tina Chow began to drift away from the party lifestyle for which the couple had become known. She became an AIDS activist after having lost many friends to the disease.
In June 1989, Chow was diagnosed with AIDS. She had contracted HIV in late 1985 after having an affair with bisexual French aristocrat Kim d'Estainville who died of AIDS in January 1990. She made her diagnosis public in an effort to educate others and continued working as an AIDS activist and with AIDS charities, including Project Angel Food. Chow continued designing jewelry.
Chow moved to California, where she chose to treat her illness with meditation and a macrobiotic diet. On January 24, 1992, she died from complications from AIDS at her home in Pacific Palisades at the age of 41.


Wrens of the Curragh

The Wrens of the Curragh were a community of women in nineteenth-century Ireland who lived outside society on the plains of Kildare, many of whom were sex workers at Curragh Camp. Records date back to the 1840s of women living on the Curragh nearby the army camp. Many of the women were orphans because of the Great Famine, resulting in them using prostitution to provide for themselves. The women developed a lifestyle in which money, homes, belongings, food, and childcare were shared. The community of women was originally covered by Charles Dickens in his journal, later being covered in novels, a poem, music, a podcast, and art.
Etymology.
The Wrens of Curragh were a community who lived on the Curragh (plains) of Kildare. The women were called "wrens" because they slept in hollows in the ground which were half in banks or ditches, covered in furze bushes, like the nests that birds in the wren family make.
History.
Records of women living on the Curragh, close to the army camp, date back to the 1840s. The Curragh Camp became permanent in 1856, which meant that the women's presence became continuous. The last records of their presence extend to the 1880s. Many of these women were orphaned during the Great Famine and used prostitution as a means to provide for themselves. Some of the women lived on the plains seasonally, with up to 60 women there in the summer months. Outside of harvest-time, unemployed agricultural workers may have raised the number.
Lifestyle.
The women developed a lifestyle in which money, homes, belongings, food, and childcare were shared. There was no formal leader. Whilst the women were ostracised from the community in town, they also avoided contact where possible, for example, in terms of medical care the women administered remedies they made or bought. Whilst the women were mainly dependent on the soldiers for money, they also knitted garments which they sold at markets to gain some financial independence. Still, it was the Army which supplied them with fresh water and allowed them to buy goods at the camp market two to three times a week. This network of mutual aid may have been even stronger in some ways than the more traditional support networks in the surrounding areas.
The women were unpopular locally and in 1855 one rate-payer complained that not only did the women cause moral corruption, they were paid for by rate-payer's taxes. In 1857 the Presbyterian chaplain of the camp wrote to "The Times" complaining about their presence around the camp. Charles Dickens also wrote about the women in his journal, "All the Year Round", in 1864.
Journalistic attention.
In 1867 the journalist James Greenwood of the "Pall Mall Gazette" visited the Wrens and recorded their lifestyle. Prior to his visit, in the same year, the situation of the "Wrens" and the soldiers was discussed in the "British Medical Journal"; in the article, some of the women are portrayed as thieves.
Greenwood noted their poverty and the prostitution which funded their lives. In a later pamphlet, Greenwood stated that not all of the women were prostitutes. Some of the women were in common-law marriages with soldiers at the camp, but due to army regulations could not live with the men.
Impact of public attention.
The "Medical Times & Gazette" featured a response to Greenwood's article, who focused on the moral debasement of the wrens, as well as discussing the lack of sanitation and the effects on public health.
The impact of Greenwood's visit and the publication of his articles led to public discussion and the introduction of the Curragh of Kildare Act (1868). This introduced a "lock hospital" to treat the women for sexually transmitted diseases. Treatment was poor and they were often blamed for incidents of sexually transmitted diseases amongst the soldiers.
Popular culture.
The lives of the "Wrens of the Curragh" have inspired a range of creative responses:
Novels.
In 1873, they are mentioned in a short story, "The Humby Election", by George Fraser. In 2010, author Martin Mallone wrote the novel "The Only Glow of the Day" about life on the Curragh. Likewise, Rose Doyle wrote the novel "Friends Indeed" in 2011. In 2018, novelist Orla McAlinden published "The Flight of the Wren", which re-imagined the lives of the women.
Poetry.
In 2007, the poet Mebh McGuckian featured the Wrens in her volume "The Currach Requires No Harbour".
Music.
The singer Jane McNamee composed a song, "The Curragh Wrens". Likewise, Ollie Kennedy wrote the song "The Curragh Wrens" from the perspective of a soldier at the camp; despite the title, the lyrics of the song do not directly refer to the women at all. Lankum's song "Hunting the Wren" alludes to the Wrens of the Curragh.
Podcasts.
In 2019, the first episode of the podcast "Historical Whores" discussed the Curragh Wrens.
Visual arts.
In 2020, the artist Amanda Coogan continued her work on a project about the women.


Vicki Saporta

Vicki A. Saporta has been the president of the National Abortion Federation since 1995. In 2013, she received the Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty from the ACLU.
Biography.
Saporta was born and raised in Rochester, New York, and graduated from Cornell University in 1974. She went on to study at the London School of Economics, and later served as director of organizing for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters beginning in 1983. For over 20 years, Vicki was the president of the National Abortion Federation until she resigned after being accused of not taking action when an employee was guilty of sexual harassment.


International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics Association

The International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics Association (known as IGLA) is the international governing body for gay and lesbian aquatics clubs, representing the sports of swimming, diving, synchronised swimming, water polo, and open water swimming. Member clubs are from 16 countries, with the majority of clubs in the United States and Canada. Past presidents of the association have included Scott Kohanowski (of Team New York Aquatics) and Gareth Johnson (of Out to Swim London).
IGLA is one of the key organisations involved in the running of the Gay Games, which are held every four years. In years in which the Gay Games are not held, IGLA holds an international competition open to its member clubs. The organization is a part of the larger movement of a niche travel industry, LGBTQ sports tourism.
History.
The IGLA name was chosen in 1987 to keep the community spirit of competition going from the recently held Gay Olympics that was started in San Francisco by Tom Waddell. The Gay Olympics was later forced to change its name to Gay Games but the event itself was successful in allowing LGBT athletes from around the world to compete in Olympic, exhibition and art events. To carry on the international aspect for the LGBT aquatics community the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics was named to hold a yearly international championship event. By Gay Games III, IGLA was officially a part of the Games organizing.
Championships.
The host cities for the championships have been:


Capone (2020 film)

Capone is a 2020 American biographical drama film written, directed and edited by Josh Trank, with Tom Hardy starring as the eponymous gangster Al Capone. The film centers on Capone after his 11-year sentence at Atlanta Penitentiary, as he suffers from neurosyphilis and dementia while living in Florida. Linda Cardellini, Jack Lowden, Noel Fisher, Kyle MacLachlan, and Matt Dillon also star in supporting roles. First announced in October 2016, production on the film did not begin until March 2018, lasting through May in Louisiana.
Originally intended to have a theatrical release, it was released through Premium VOD by Redbox Entertainment and Vertical Entertainment on May 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with Hardy's performance being praised but Trank's script being criticized.
Plot.
Once the most feared bootlegger in Chicago, mobster Al Capone is brought down when he is convicted of tax evasion. At the age of 40, following nearly a decade of imprisonment, he is released after the government deems him to no longer be a threat as his mind is slowly rotting from untreated neurosyphilis.
Retired and living with his family in Palm Island, Florida, Capone remains under surveillance by FBI agents, as they think he may be faking his insanity. Forced to sell many of his remaining belongings to pay old debts and support himself, Capone begins to have hallucinations and loses control of his motor functions as his disease progresses. He acknowledges that he hid $10 million before he was convicted, although he cannot remember where it is.
After Capone, whose memory is nearly gone, has a physical confrontation with his wife Mae, she instructs her husband's bodyguards to keep everyone away from him. Meanwhile, Capone has increasingly debilitating visions of the men he killed and many of the violent acts he committed. His mental capacity continues to deteriorate, until a psychiatrist hired to evaluate him declares that his IQ is no more than that of a child. Wracked with guilt, and having alienated all around him, Capone eventually dies of complications from his syphilis in January 1947 at the age of 48. His surviving family changes their name from Capone, and the money he allegedly hid away has never been recovered.
Production.
It was announced in October 2016 that Tom Hardy would star as Al Capone in the film, then known as "Fonzo", which would be directed, written and edited by Josh Trank. Filming was initially eyed to begin in the summer of 2017, with Hardy stating it would be released sometime in 2018. Hardy instead ended up filming "Venom" in 2017, and in March 2018 announced "Fonzo" as his next project. Later that month, Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon, Kyle MacLachlan, Kathrine Narducci, Jack Lowden, Noel Fisher and Tilda Del Toro joined the cast.
Filming began on March 19, 2018 in New Orleans, and lasted through May 15.
On April 15, 2020, the trailer was released with its new title, "Capone".
Rapper and producer El-P composed the score for the film, which was released by Milan Records.
Release.
On May 12, 2020 Vertical Entertainment released the film digitally in the United States and Canada through Premium video on demand. The film was originally set to have a theatrical release, but these plans changed due to movie theater closures that started in mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The film received a theatrical release in several regions such as Iceland, Lithuania and Portugal, where it has grossed a combined $112,116.
Reception.
VOD sales.
In its first few days of release, "Capone" was the number-two rented film on iTunes. Over its first weekend, it ranked third on iTunes and fourth on both FandangoNow and Google Play. Over its first ten days the film made $2.5 million from digital sales, a record for Vertical Entertainment. "IndieWire" called the results "quite good" but "far from being a money-[maker]", saying that Vertical would see about 75% of the initial gross ($1.5 million), and that the film could leg out to $4–5 million in sales. In its second weekend of release the film fell to 11th on iTunes and seventh on Fandango. The weekend of August 7, upon lowering the price to $0.99, the film was the second-most rented on the iTunes Store and Apple TV.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 40% based on 138 reviews, with an average rating of 4.80/10. The website's consensus reads: "Tom Hardy makes the most of his opportunity to tackle a challenging role, but "Capone" is too haphazardly constructed to support his fascinating performance." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."
Writing for "TheWrap", Steve Pond said: "It's nuts, it's a mess and it's pretty damn entertaining if you don't mind characters pooping the bed and getting stabbed in the neck", saying that "Tom Hardy laughs in the face of conventional notions of good v. bad acting." Scout Tafoya writing for "Consequence of Sound" gave the film an A- grade and noted that "Somehow, Trank had energy left over, despite wrangling one of the most eccentric performers working, to make a satisfying haunted house film as well" and called it "one of the most bravely singular and uncommon films you'll see this year."
Owen Gleiberman of "Variety" called the film "the last half hour of "The Irishman" crossed with the doddering-legend parts of "Citizen Kane"" and said that Hardy gives "a mumbly Method showboat performance that's authentic on the surface, but there isn't enough beneath the mob mannerisms." David Ehrlich of "IndieWire" gave the film a "C-" grade and wrote: "Nevertheless, the director and his subject are ultimately buried together in the same boat: We're made to understand their suffering, but given no reason to root for their salvation."


Broderip Ward

The Broderip Ward was a ward at the Middlesex Hospital in Fitzrovia, London. It was the first ward dedicated to the care and treatment of people affected by HIV/AIDS in the United Kingdom.
The old Broderip Ward.
Under the deanship of William Cayley, two Broderip scholarships were founded in 1872 by the Middlesex governors after the death of Francis Broderip, a large benefactor to the hospital. The Clayton Ward was also replaced by the Broderip Ward. When a move occurred to the west wing of the hospital, the name 'Broderip Ward' remained.
In the late nineteenth century, 25% of attendances to the Middlesex were due to trauma. Admissions to the Broderick Ward at the Middlesex hospital appeared in medical journals in 1874, when a 20-year-old presented with a bullet wound, in 1875 when a 52-year old grocer fell and fractured his skull, and in 1879 when a 39-year old was treated for suspected rupture of bladder, all under the care of Sir Henry Morris. A four-year-old child who swallowed a pin was admitted to the ward in 1913.
A further small donation towards the beds on the ward was received in 1922.
Broderip Ward 1987.
The Broderip Ward took its first patients in January 1987, and was officially opened by Diana, Princess of Wales, on 9 April 1987. None of the patients agreed to be photographed with Diana at the opening of the ward due to fears of being publicly identified. Diana notably shook the hand of patients without wearing gloves on the ward. Diana subsequently visited the ward with the First Lady of the United States, Barbara Bush, in July 1991.
The construction of the ward cost £350,000 (). It was created from a disused surgical ward at the hospital. The creation of the ward was part of a set of improvements to the hospital costing £1 million that had been planned since 1985. The Charles Bell ward also served HIV/AIDS patients at the Middlesex Hospital. The doctor in charge of the ward was Professor Michael Adler. The respiratory physician Steve Semple led a team of doctors at the Broderip Ward. Staff at the ward also collaborated with staff from James Pringle House, a dedicated London sexual health clinic. The first sister of the ward, Jacqui Elliott, oversaw a staff of 14 nurses at its opening; more than twice the number of expected applicants applied to work on the ward. In a January 1987 interview with Sally Brompton in "The Times", Elliot said that in choosing nurses to work on the ward she "obviously [had] to look for people who want to do it for the right reasons. It's no good them having the attitude of 'Aids is the in-thing, I've never looked after an Aids patient before, so let's do it now'. I wanted people who are caring without being hysterical". Brompton, wrote of the "built-in despondency element of nursing no-hopers", with Elliot countering that though there was no cure for AIDS "...there may be tomorrow. I have implicit faith in my medical colleagues to come up with something in the near future. You just have to treat the symptoms as they come along, keep a positive attitude and provide the best, possible nursing care for the patients. And it isn't limited to giving out bedpans — you have to treat them as a whole, mentally and physically, as well as all the people around them — family, colleagues and friends". The majority of patients at the wards opening were homosexual men. Repeatedly returning patients would become familiar with each other giving the ward a sense of "comraderie".
Patients on the ward participated in the early trials of zidovudine, and new antiretroviral medicines.
Peter Godfrey-Faussett worked on the ward as a newly qualified doctor. He subsequently served as a UNAIDS Senior Adviser on Science. In a 2019 interview Godfrey-Faussett recalled that "...here on the Broderip Ward were people of my own age, reading the same books, going to the same operas and plays. It was often hard to remain clinically detached. I can remember so many of them so clearly. And so many of their loved ones and families". He described Elliot as a "wonderful woman [who] encouraged us all to break the mould and provide care in a very different way. Back then, hospitals were quite old fashioned and regimented". The ward represented a new collaborative approach to patient care in contrast to the hierarchical structures of the past. Patients were encouraged to wear their own clothes and to leave and return to the ward as they wished. The ward used make-up artists to disguise the signs of Kaposi's sarcoma.
"The Ward", an exhibition of photographs by Gideon Mendel that showed the lives of four young men on the Broderip and Charles Bell wards at the Middlesex Hospital in 1993, was shown at the hospital's former Fitzrovia Chapel in 2017. The exhibition coincided with World AIDS Day.


Tileston v. Ullman

Tileston v. Ullman, 318 U.S. 44 (1943), was a United States Supreme Court case.
Procedural history.
The Supreme Court of Errors Connecticut held that §§ 6246 and 6562 of the Connecticut General Statutes of 1930 which prohibited the use of drugs or instruments to prevent conception and the giving of assistance or counsel in their use were constitutional. The Supreme Court of the United States assumed without first determining if the case was an appropriate one for a declaratory judgment, ruled that the statutes "prohibit the action proposed to be done" by appellant and "are constitutional."
Facts.
Appellee claims that appellant, a physician, committed such an offense for giving professional advice concerning the use of contraceptives to three patients whose condition of health was such that their lives would be endangered by child-bearing. The appellant contended that because of the nature of his patients' exceptional condition in light of the danger child-bearing could pose for them that this was a just reason for the advice to be authorized and necessary. However, his complaint contained no allegations asserting any claim under the Fourteenth Amendment of infringement of appellant's liberty or his property rights. The relief prayed was a declaratory judgment as to whether the statutes are applicable to appellant and, if so, whether they constitute a valid exercise of constitutional power "within the meaning and intent of Amendment XIV of the Constitution of the United States prohibiting a state from depriving any person of life without due process of law."
Significance.
The sole constitutional attack upon the statutes in question are under the Fourteenth Amendment and confined the physician's contention for depravity of life—not appellant's but his patients'. Thus, the life of the appellant himself is not in danger. No genuine case or controversy essential to the exercise of the jurisdiction of the Court for this subject-matter existed until "Griswold v. Connecticut".
Holding.
The Supreme Court held that the proceedings in the state courts presented no constitutional question which appellant has standing to assert. No question is raised as to the applicability and constitutionality of the statutes in their application to the physician in respect to deprivation of liberty or property in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, the court does not speak to whether it has jurisdiction to enforce a law that prevents the use of contraceptives for the state of Connecticut.


Mark Harrington (anti-abortion activist)

Mark Harrington is an American pro-life activist. From 1999–2011, he was the Executive Director of the Midwest office of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform and President of the Pro-Life Institute. In 2011, Harrington became the founder and Executive Director of Created Equal.
Early life and education.
Harrington grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. in Marketing and Economics. He began full-time pro-life work in 1998.
Harrington traveled to universities debating students on bio-ethical issues such as abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and cloning. As part of the Genocide Awareness Project, Harrington spoke on some of the nation's largest university campuses, reaching thousands of college students and faculty each year.
The Mark Harrington Show.
Harrington hosts Activist Radio: The Mark Harrington Show. Harrington has appeared in several national newspapers including "USA Today", and on national television programs such as CBS' "Good Morning".
Use of graphic images.
Harrington is among anti-abortion activists who use images of aborted fetuses in training efforts and public outreach. This has raised controversy among groups finding the display too graphic. Oftentimes, Created Equal representatives will argue that their use of graphic imagery to raise public awareness about abortion is similar to the use of photographs of Holocaust victims. A counter-demonstration held during a Genocide Awareness Project at Ohio State University included twenty protesters and others who claimed that GAP's tactics were "aggressive, unsettling and intimidating." The anti GAP protesters had banners saying "Keep GAP off campus" and "Stop exploiting the Holocaust."
Harrington's response to criticism of the graphic images includes the following:


Christopher Tietze

Christopher Tietze (1908 – April 4, 1984) was a United States physician best known for his stance in the United States pro-choice movement to permit abortion in the United States.
Biography.
Christopher Tietze was born in Vienna. He graduated from the medical school at the University of Vienna. In 1938 he came to the United States.
In 1967 he joined the biomedical division of the Population Council. He was a member of seven organizations in the World Health Organization which recommended policy on human reproduction. He criticized attempts to limit access to abortion.
He died on April 4, 1984 at age 75.
Recognition.
In 1973 he and his wife Sarat Lewit Tietze won the Margaret Sanger Award of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In 1977 he won the American Public Health Association's Carl Schultz Award.
The National Abortion Federation grants the Christopher Tietze Humanitarian Award annually to the person or organization which it recognizes as having advanced its organizational mission.


Jessica Drake

Jessica Drake is an American pornographic actress and sex educator.
Career.
Drake grew up in Texas. She began her adult entertainment career by posing for magazines and appearing on Playboy TV. In 1999, she made the decision to become an adult film actress and shot her first movie. She spent two years as a contract performer for the studio Sin City until May 31, 2002 when her contract expired. She gained her first AVN Award in 2001, winning "Best Tease Performance" for her role in VCA Pictures' "Shayla's Web". In 2003, she signed an exclusive contract with Wicked Pictures, after turning down offers from other companies.
In 2004, during an HIV outbreak in the industry, she stated that she had only performed with men who wore condoms, although she added that "working without condoms in the industry is less dangerous than going home with someone who you just met randomly in a bar."
Her performance in "Fluff and Fold", a romantic comedy set around a laundromat, earned her the 2005 AVN Award for Best Actress, Video and the 2005 XRCO Award for Single Performance, Actress. Along with comedian Jim Norton, Drake was chosen to co-host the 2007 AVN Awards, and stated "this is probably the greatest thing that ever happened to me." At the awards, she won Best Actress, Film for her role in "Manhunters", for which Drake trained as a bounty hunter during pre-production. Her directorial debut came in the 2008 film "What Girls Like", having gained previous experience working as Brad Armstrong’s assistant director on titles such as 2007's "Coming Home".
She began writing screenplays during her tenure with Sin City, and has since penned films including "Dating 101", "Love Always" and "Just Between Us". In January 2009, she won her third Best Actress AVN Award, this time for her performance in "Fallen", which she has described as "the best movie I have ever been in." In the film, she plays an angel trapped on Earth after the death of a woman she was sent to protect. Around the time of the awards, she suffered a stress fracture to her left foot.
With porn actress Kayden Kross, Drake co-hosted the 2009 XRCO Awards, at which her role in "Fallen" won the award for "Single Performance, Actress." She and Sunny Leone co-hosted the F.A.M.E. Awards in July 2010. Drake was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2010 and the XRCO Hall of Fame in 2011. "Jessica Drake's Guide to Wicked Sex: Anal Edition" (Wicked Pictures) was named "Specialty Release of the Year" at the 2012 XBIZ Awards.
On October 21, 2016 Drake opened an online store selling adult videos and sexual paraphernalia.
Appearances.
In November 2007, Drake was among several porn actors to be guests on "The Tyra Banks Show" episode, "A Day in the Life of a Porn Star." In 2008, Drake, Kaylani Lei, and Mikayla Mendez shot a scene for the mainstream comedy movie, "Barry Munday", in which they played themselves as judges in an air-guitar contest. Drake appears in the music video for the 2010 single "Telephone" by Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé.
In 2014, Drake was on CNBC's list of "The Dirty Dozen: Porn's Most Popular Stars". Later in the year a documentary series began airing on The Movie Network and Movie Central titled "Love, Jessica", directed by Kai Soremekun.
Drake, along with her husband actor Brad Armstrong, were interviewed for a 2014 story in "Cosmopolitan" magazine about costume design in adult films. In April 2014, Drake was part of discussion panel at the USC School of Cinematic Arts titled "The Piracy of Sex." The event featured Drake and copyright enforcement activist Nate Glass and was hosted by David Lerner, Ph.D.
Charity.
Drake is affiliated with an organization that focuses on building homes and providing clean water to people in poverty-stricken and remote areas. She has performed charity work in Cambodia, Kenya and Tanzania. In 2012, Drake formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit to assist in domestic efforts. This is separate from her role in the adult industry and the "jessica drake" brand, since she does not want anyone to believe that she volunteers her time as part of a public relations campaign. Her charity work is done anonymously.
Sex educator.
Noting a demand for modern sex education, Drake and Wicked Pictures launched "Jessica Drake’s Guide to Wicked Sex", a series of erotic educational films. The first DVD in the line, "Jessica Drake’s Guide to Wicked Sex: Fellatio", was honored with the 2012 award for Best Educational Release by AVN Media. In 2014 Drake added a video to the series that addressed a segment that she said was under represented, plus size. In collaboration with plus-size performer Kelly Shibari, they released "Jessica Drake’s Guide to Wicked Sex: Plus Size". "Guide to Wicked Sex" was also a weekly segment on Jessica's popular Playboy Radio show, "IN BED with jessica drake."
Drake teaches sex education seminars and workshops around the world, including addressing a class of licensed therapists at UCLA on May 3, 2012 and speaking on a panel at CatalystCon West sexuality conference. In February 2014, Drake spoke on a panel with fellow actress Tasha Reign during the University of Chicago's "Sex Week" where they were featured on a panel entitled "Jessica Drake: From Porn to Sex Ed".
Again in February, Drake along with fellow actress Tasha Reign spoke on a panel titled "Porn, Prostitution, and Censorship: The Politics of Empowerment" at Moore Hall at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), along with UCLA Distinguished Lecturer Dr. Christopher Mott. The annual panel is sponsored by the Social Awareness Network for Activism through Art (SANAA) in honor of Eve Ensler’s V-Day Organization. Ensler’s "The Vagina Monologues" is an annual presentation on women’s issues.
Sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump.
Seventeen days before the 2016 United States presidential election, Drake became the 11th woman to accuse Donald Trump, the 2016 Republican nominee, of sexual misconduct. On October 22, 2016, Drake and feminist civil rights attorney Gloria Allred held a news conference in which Drake accused Trump of having sexually assaulted her and two acquaintances nearly ten years prior. Drake said that she met Trump at the Wicked Pictures' (her employers') booth in a gifting suite during the "American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament", a charity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course Lake Tahoe in 2006. Drake claims that she was invited to meet with Trump, at his hotel suite and since she was "uncomfortable going alone" she brought along two women friends. Describing the meeting with Trump, Drake recounted that "He grabbed each of us tightly, in a hug and kissed each one of us without asking permission." Drake stated that she and her friends left the suite after 30–45 minutes. Shortly thereafter, Drake received multiple phone calls from Trump or his associate, requesting that she join him in his suite for $10,000, and offering to fly her on his jet plane back to Los Angeles. She said she declined his offers. At the press conference, Drake displayed a photo of herself and Trump together on the Lake Tahoe golf course.
During the news conference, Drake said, "I am not looking for monetary compensation. I do not need additional fame… I understand that I may be called a liar or an opportunist but I will risk that in order to stand in solidarity with women who share similar accounts." In response to Drake's allegations, the Trump campaign stated that her story is "false and ridiculous", that "[t]he picture is one of thousands taken out of respect for people asking to have their picture taken with Mr. Trump" but Trump did not know Drake and "would have no interest in ever knowing her," and that the story was "just another attempt by the Clinton campaign to defame a candidate".
In January 2018, Drake's publicist, Josh Ortiz, commented that Drake had signed a non-disclosure agreement regarding “any and every mention of Trump”. On the following day, Ortiz however retracted his words by reading a statement supplied by Drake's lawyer, which stated that Ortiz had no knowledge of any non-disclosure agreement signed by Drake.
Personal life.
In 2002, Drake married fellow porn actor Evan Stone; they divorced in 2004. As of 2009, she was living with Wicked director and performer Brad Armstrong, her partner for six years. She has stated that she wishes to keep her personal relationships out of the spotlight. Her brother and father were more supportive of her career choice than her mother.


John R. Hunting

John R. Hunting (born November 7, 1931) is a philanthropist who is the son of David D. Hunting, founder of Steelcase, an office furniture manufacture based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2006 he was noted as a major contributor to liberal or progressive 527 organizations. He was also the President of the Beldon Fund, which was an environmental fund that cease to exist. He is particularly active on environmental causes, and also funds other progressive causes including EMILY's List.
Biography.
John R. Hunting was born to an Episcopalian family on November 7, 1931, at Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Mary (née Ives) and David Dyer Hunting Sr. His father was a co-founder of Steelcase. He went to school in East Grand Rapids, Michigan and later at the Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan but was drafted and spent two years in the United States Army. After his service, he graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in guidance counseling and accepted a job at the Cranbrook academy as a teacher.
Hunting along with George Soros and other Democracy Alliance members Gail Furman; Paul Rudd (co-founder of Adaptive Analytics); Pat Stryker; Nicholas Hanauer; ex-Clinton administration official Rob Stein; Drummond Pike; real estate developer Robert Bowditch; Pioneer Hybrid International-heir and congressional candidate Scott Wallace; Susie Tompkins Buell; real estate developer Albert Dwoskin; and Taco Bell-heir Rob McKay, funded the Secretary of State Project, an American non-profit, 527 political action committee focused on electing reform-minded progressive Secretaries of State in battleground states, who typically oversee the election process. The Alliance was critical in getting California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie re-elected.


Katherine Hancock Ragsdale

Katherine Hancock Ragsdale (born c. 1959) is an American Episcopal priest based in Massachusetts and former president and dean of Episcopal Divinity School. Before becoming dean she was director of Political Research Associates from May 2005 through June 2009. Since September 2018, she has been Interim President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation.
Biography.
She is an American progressive, and was a priest at St. David's Episcopal Church in Pepperell, part of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Ragsdale has served for 17 years on the national board of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. She is also on the board of NARAL Pro-Choice America, The White House Project, the Progressive Religious Partnership, as well as the bi-national advisory board of the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence. She presented to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in 2004.
She was named president and dean of Episcopal Divinity School on July 1, 2009. Her appointment was criticized by religious conservatives, including Anglicans, who have been particularly critical of her endorsement of the "blessing" of abortion.
She is the editor of "Boundary Wars: Intimacy and Distance in Healing Relationships" and the author of numerous articles, including "The Role of Religious Institutions in Responding to the Domestic Violence Crisis" and "Hannah", a short story. She contributed an essay titled "Not by Outrage Alone" to the 2008 anthology "Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America"
She is openly lesbian. On January 1, 2011, she married the Rev. Mally Lloyd at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. Bishop M. Thomas Shaw performed the ceremony.


Adosopine

Adosopine is a dibenzoazepine drug that has been studied for the treatment of urinary incontinence.


Dallas Black Pride

Dallas Black Pride (also known as Dallas Southern Pride) is an annual five-day event to celebrate the emerging black LGBT community in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The event has been in existence since 1996. It is held in conjunction with the State Fair of Texas and State Fair Classic in Dallas every fall (late September/early October). Dallas Her Pride is the official women's host of Dallas Black Pride. Annually, about 15,000 people participate in the planned pride events, making it the largest black gay pride event in Texas and one of the largest in the nation.
Juneteenth Weekend.
Juneteenth Weekend is traditionally the first black gay pride event of the year in Dallas. As with the black pride event in the fall, there are many locals and visitors participating in the special events and celebrations empowering the black LGBT community in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.


Marcos Pereira (politician)

Marcos Antônio Pereira (born 4 April 1972 in Linhares) is a Brazilian lawyer and discharged bishop of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and politician. Is the current president of the Republicans, and former minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, appointed by president Michel Temer. Resigned from the office as minister in 3 January 2018 to deal with "personal and partisan affairs".


Hume Cronyn

Hume Blake Cronyn Jr., OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian actor of stage and screen, who enjoyed a long career, often appearing professionally alongside Jessica Tandy, his wife of over fifty years.
Early life.
Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and a Member of Parliament for London (after whom the Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory at the University of Western Ontario and asteroid (12050) "Humecronyn" are named). His mother, Frances Amelia (née Labatt), was an heiress of the brewing company of the same name; as the daughter of John Labatt and the granddaughter of John Kinder Labatt. Cronyn's paternal great-grandfather, Right Reverend Benjamin Cronyn, an Anglican cleric of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy, served as the first bishop of the Anglican diocese of Huron and founded Huron College, from which grew the University of Western Ontario.
His great-uncle, Benjamin, Jr., was both a prominent citizen and early mayor of London, Ontario, but was later indicted for fraud and fled to Vermont; during his tenure in London he built a mansion called Oakwood, which currently serves as the head office of the "Info-Tech Research Group". Cronyn was also a cousin of Canadian-born theater producer, Robert Whitehead, and a first cousin of the Canadian-British artist Hugh Verschoyle Cronyn GM (1905–1996).
Cronyn was the first Elmwood School boarder in Ottawa (at the time Elmwood was called Rockliffe Preparatory School) and boarded at Elmwood between 1917 and 1921. After leaving Elmwood, Cronyn went to Ridley College in St. Catharines, and McGill University in Montreal, where he became a member of The Kappa Alpha Society. Early in life, Cronyn was an amateur featherweight boxer, having the skills to be nominated for Canada's 1932 Olympic Boxing team.
Career.
Subsequent to graduating from Ridley College, Cronyn switched majors, from pre-law to drama, while attending McGill University, and continued his acting studies thereafter, under Max Reinhardt and at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 1934, the same year he joined The Lambs, he made his Broadway debut as a janitor in "Hipper's Holiday" and became known for his versatility, playing a number of different roles on stage. He won a Drama Desk Special Award in 1986. In 1990, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
His first Hollywood film was Alfred Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943). He later appeared in Hitchcock's "Lifeboat" (1944) and worked on the screenplays of "Rope" (1948) and "Under Capricorn" (1949). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "The Seventh Cross" (1944) and won a Tony Award for his performance as Polonius opposite Richard Burton's "Hamlet" (1964). Cronyn bought the screenplay "What Nancy Wanted" from Norma Barzman, who was later blacklisted with her husband Ben Barzman, with the idea of producing the film and starring Tandy. However, he sold the screenplay to RKO which later filmed it as "The Locket" (1946). Cronyn also made appearances in television, "The Barbara Stanwyck Show", the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episode "Kill With Kindness" (1956) and "Hawaii Five-O" episodes "Over Fifty? Steal" (1970) and "Odd Man In" (1971).
Cronyn had an association with the Stratford Festival as a member of both the acting company and its board of governors. He played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 1976, and debuted his play Foxfire in 1980. The play would later move to Broadway (and won Tandy a Best Actress Tony award), and a film version was made in 1987.
In 1990 he won an Emmy award for his role in the TV Movie "Age Old Friends".
Marriages and family.
Cronyn's first marriage was to the philanthropist Emily Woodruff in late 1934 or early 1935. They shared a "lavender marriage," and never lived together. Woodruff insisted that the marriage remain a secret because of her lesbian relationships. They quietly divorced in 1936.
Cronyn married the actress Jessica Tandy in 1942, and appeared with her in many of their more memorable dramatic stage, film and television outings, including "The Green Years" (1946), "The Seventh Cross" (1944), "The Gin Game" (1977), "Foxfire" (1982), "Cocoon" (1985), "*batteries not included" (1987), "" (1988), "To Dance with the White Dog (1993)" and "Camilla" (1994).
The couple starred in a short-lived (1953–1954) radio series, "The Marriage" (based on their earlier Broadway play, "The Fourposter"), playing New York attorney Ben Marriott and his wife, former fashion buyer Liz, struggling with her switch to domestic life and their raising an awkward teenage daughter (future soap opera star Denise Alexander). The show was scheduled to move from radio to television, with Cronyn producing as well as acting in the show. However, Tandy suffered a miscarriage and the show's debut was delayed a week. The series premiered in July 1954 to "warm and enthusiastic reviews"; eight episodes were aired.
The couple had a daughter, Tandy, and a son, Christopher. Cronyn and Tandy lived in the Bahamas, then at a lakeside estate in Pound Ridge, New York, and, finally, in Easton, Connecticut. Jessica Tandy died in 1994, aged 85, from ovarian cancer.
After he was widowed, Cronyn married author/playwright Susan Cooper (with whom he had co-written Foxfire) in July 1996. His 1991 autobiography, which covered his life and career up to the mid-1960s, was titled "A Terrible Liar" (). His intention to write a second volume never materialized. Cronyn died on June 15, 2003 from prostate cancer, one month before his 92nd birthday.
Honors.
In 1979, Cronyn was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. On July 11, 1988 he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada, giving him the post nominal letters "OC" for Life.
Cronyn was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 1999. He also received the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in 1992 and the Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) by the University of Western Ontario on October 26, 1974. His wife, Jessica Tandy, was given the same degree on the same day.