title: Culture and menstruation

text: Dismissal of period pain is further implicated by the history of violence against black women, originating with slavery and continuing into its aftermath. Dr. J. Marion Sims, who is heralded as the father of obstetrics and gynecology, performed risky surgeries on enslaved women without anesthesia in order to experiment. A study performed through a series of interviews highlighted that for black and Latina women, all the women in the study reported a normalization of pain by medical professionals. This was not surprising to the author of the study, given that women are proven to be less likely to report their pain when they are shot down in their attempts to seek out help. Women in the study expressed absurd symptoms such as 47-day-long periods, excruciating cramps, unrelenting constipation—and still were dismissed by medical professionals. These women, up to multiple decades later, were diagnosed with severe illnesses like pituitary tumors and polycystic ovary syndrome. The denial of pain for women of color does not stop at delayed diagnoses and daily pain, and rather has larger implications for mental health.


title: Culture and menstruation

text: Negative relations and perceptions of one's uterus and uterine functions potentially may make many hesitant to call on their reproductive system in the future. Especially considering high black maternal mortality rates, the connection between poor relationships with reproductive health and adverse consequences is glaring.


title: Culture and menstruation

text: Fibroids are a particularly important condition to mention when discussing racial disparities in menstrual health. Uterine fibroids are significantly more likely to occur in black women, with 9 out of 10 black women being diagnosed with fibroids before the age of 50. Black women also face higher rates of adverse symptoms, like extreme pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. Impacts on black women are further worsened by the fact that 42 percent of black women wait four years or more before seeking out treatment for fibroids, compared to 29 percent of white women. Fibroids have immense consequences in terms of cancer risk, as black women who have fibroids have shown to be 40 percent more likely to have some form of endometrial cancer. Analogously, it has been demonstrated that black women are equally as likely to have endometriosis, but are significantly less likely to be diagnosed with the disease compared to white women.


title: Culture and menstruation

text: All of the aforementioned health risks result in what physicians and activists alike label as "period trauma". Dr. Charis Chambers, a board certified OB/GYN, explains that "I would define period trauma as any sustained psychological, social, or emotional injury/distress related to or caused by menstruation". Almost half of black school-attending women reported that they are not able to do their best on school work because of their periods. Especially considering the additional systemic burdens faced by black people, missing school and becoming further behind in the system worsens phenomena like the wage gap between white and black women.


title: Culture and menstruation

text: 66 percent of trans men feel uncomfortable or unsafe using their preferred restroom. Correspondingly, 66% of transgender men thought people felt negative or very negative about masculine-presenting people who menstruate. Menstruating on its own is difficult, when accounting for period stigma and period pain, but the added burden of gender dysphoria can be traumatizing for many. Many trans men and trans masculine people feel uncomfortable with vaginal penetration, as penetration in itself is strongly associated with femininity and womanhood. Period poverty disproportionately affects transgender menstruators, because these populations already face poverty, unemployment, incarceration, and underemployment at much higher rates.


title: James Mackay (actor)

text: James Wilson Mackay (born 20 July 1984) is an Australian actor known for The CW television series "Dynasty", as well as roles in films and on stage.


title: James Mackay (actor)

text: Mackay attended Sydney Grammar School in Sydney, Australia, where he first started acting in school plays.


title: James Mackay (actor)

text: Mackay studied at the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in history and English literature, before training as an actor at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth.


title: James Mackay (actor)

text: In 2013 Mackay played Irwin in the Alan Bennett play "The History Boys" at the Sydney Opera House, alongside John Wood, Heather Mitchell and Paul Goddard. In 2012 he performed with the Sydney Theatre Company as Danceny in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", with Hugo Weaving and Pamela Rabe.


title: James Mackay (actor)

text: Mackay was an artistic associate of independent theatre company Cry Havoc. He worked on two shows with the company, William Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar" in 2009 (playing Marc Antony), and Anton Chekhov’s "Three Sisters" in 2010 (playing Andrey), for which he also collaborated on an original music score.


title: James Mackay (actor)

text: Mackay appeared as William Beaumont in the 2015 Australian film "The Dressmaker" with Kate Winslet, Sarah Snook, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth and Hugo Weaving.


title: James Mackay (actor)

text: Other credits include "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark", starring Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce, and "The Lovers", directed by Palme d'Or winner and Oscar nominee Roland Joffé. Mackay also played roles in the 2012 horror-thriller "Redd Inc" (released as "Inhuman Resources" in the US), Matchbox Pictures’ series "The Straits", a crime drama filmed in Cairns and the Torres Straits, and the 2012 television comedy "Micro Nation". He has had guest starring roles on Love Child, The Tomorrow People and The Leftovers.


title: James Mackay (actor)

text: In 2014, he starred in and composed the music for the short film "Manny Gets Censored", narrated by Hugo Weaving.


title: James Mackay (actor)

text: In 2021, he was cast in the film "The Girl at the Window". In 2022, it was announced that he had joined the cast of the mini-series Savage River, co-starring with Katherine Langford. The project reunites him with The Dressmaker director Jocelyn Moorhouse.


title: James Mackay (actor)

text: In June 2013 Mackay was the recipient of the fifth annual Australians in Film Heath Ledger Scholarship.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: The Big Steppers Tour was the fifth solo concert tour, and sixth overall, by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, in support of his fifth studio album "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" (2022). The arena tour began on June 23, 2022, in Milan, and concluded on December 16, 2022, in Auckland, consisting of 76 shows. It was Lamar's first solo concert tour since The DAMN. Tour (2017–18).


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: Described as "a form of 21st century hip hop opera", the tour reflected key themes of "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" by incorporating minimalism and performance art. Its all white stage is split up into three sections connected by a white catwalk, while featuring a white curtain draping over the main stage and a mirrored elevator on the lower stage. Narrated by English actress Helen Mirren, the tour's concept follows the album's titular character, Mr. Morale, as he is guided by his therapist to escape his comfort zone. Light art, props and shadow play are heavily utilized throughout the performance as tools to enhance its storytelling aspects.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: The Big Steppers Tour received rave reviews from critics, who commonly labeled it as Lamar's best and most realized tour to date. His "stoic" performance, concept and "high art" inspired stage production were the subjects of universal praise. It was deemed the greatest hip hop show of all time by "The Guardian", who writes that Lamar "takes the opportunity that his 'Greatest Rapper Alive' status affords to experiment with form, content and stagecraft in ways that the culture has not seen before." The October 22 show at Accor Arena in Paris was recorded and released as a Prime Video original .


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: On November 12, 2021, American rapper Kendrick Lamar headlined Day N Vegas festival, which marked his first live performance in two years and featured a "theatrical exhibition of his musical eras". On February 13, 2022, Lamar co-headlined the Super Bowl LVI halftime show. Three days later, he was announced as a headliner for the Milano Summer Festival. The following month, he was announced as a headliner for Rolling Loud and Glastonbury Festival.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: On May 13, immediately following the release of his fifth studio album "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers", Lamar formally announced the Big Steppers Tour by sharing its promotional poster on Twitter, with Baby Keem and Tanna Leone serving as the opening acts. On May 19, the tour's promoter Live Nation Entertainment and one of its sponsors Cash App held a presale for their "Cash Card" cardholders. Tickets for the general public went on sale the following day. Additional dates were added in Los Angeles and Ontario, California, Melbourne, Sydney, Amsterdam, Paris, London and Dublin following the sales. It was noted in "Sounds From Nowhere"'s review of the European closer at Manchester's AO Arena that Lamar and Baby Keem spent time recording their performance to "take back to L.A" as Lamar put it, potentially for a music video.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: During the North American leg, Lamar wore custom costumes from Louis Vuitton on stage; they were similar to the outfit he wore while co-headlining the Super Bowl LVI halftime show. Each piece was taken from Virgil Abloh's final menswear collection as Louis Vuitton's artistic director before his death in November 2021. Lamar also sported pendants and earrings from Tiffany & Co., sunglasses from Gentle Monster which were designed by Jennie Kim of Blackpink, and a diamond encrusted glove on his right hand. The gloves resembles the one commonly worn by Michael Jackson. For his homecoming performances in Los Angeles, Lamar wore a Taz Arnold designed white suit painted with pink-red graffiti that honored his hometown of Compton. During the European leg, he wore custom costumes designed by Mexican artist Arlette and British-Jamaican designer Martine Rose.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: As the lead creative director, Lamar enlisted his close collaborators Dave Free and Mike Carson as key creatives, Tony Russell as the music director, Charm La'Donna as the lead choreographer, and Christopher Latouche as the story artist. Eleven dancers, seven men and four women, are featured in the performance. The "intense" choreography included two-stepping that resembles "divine nine step shows." The minimalist all white stage design was separated into three sections: a main stage periodically draped with a white curtain, a middle stage, and a lower stage that additionally functions as a mirrored elevator. The three stages are connected by a white catwalk and were intentionally designed to resemble a therapist's office. The tour experiments with light art, shadow play, pyrotechnics and additional props throughout the performance.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: The show begins with the main section of the stage being covered under a white curtain. As the opening lines from "United in Grief" echo throughout the arena, the eleven dancers emerge onto the catwalk. The men, dressed in black, and the women, dressed in white, make their way towards the main section to the instrumental of "Savior (Interlude)". Once the drape raises, the male dancers leave the stage; the female dancers slowly walk to the main section and pose on a bed. Mr. Morale is seen sitting at a piano with a small puppet resembling him resting on top. He performs the first verse of "United in Grief" before he and his puppet walk towards the middle stage. After a small pause, he continues the song by performing the chorus and second verse using ventriloquism.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: After the song ends, Mr. Morale's therapist, voiced by actor Helen Mirren, introduces herself as his guide throughout the performance. She informs him that he's been living in his comfort zone, or box, for over 1,855 days (the period of time between the releases of his fourth and fifth studio albums) and that it was time for him to leave that space. He then performs "N95" with pyrotechnics and "ELEMENT." with his silhouette shown against the lowered curtain. Using the introduction from rapper Kodak Black, Mr. Morale performs the first and second verses of "Worldwide Steppers" with shadow play appearing on the curtain. He immediately performs "Backseat Freestyle" and "Rich Spirit" as the curtain rises once more. After skipping his way towards the main stage to the instrumental of "Rich (Interlude)", Mirren tells Mr. Morale that he's "once again let your ego get the best of you" before asking if she needed to remind him of "how this went before". He plays the melody of "HUMBLE." on the piano before performing the full song and descending the main stage.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: Using the opening dialogue between himself and his longtime partner Whitney Alford, Mr. Morale is raised back onto the main stage sitting in a chair while performing the first and part of the second verses of "Father Time". Mirren shows sympathy for him, acknowledging that she can't blame him for "being a product of your environment," but advises him that it's "up to you to maneuver through it at this point." Mr. Morale then performs "m.A.A.d city" with some of the dancers, flashlights and additional pyrotechnics. The curtain lowers again before showing a silhouette of Mr. Morale arguing with a woman to the chorus of "We Cry Together". Now on the middle stage, he formally welcomes the audience to the show and performs the chorus and first verse of "Purple Hearts". As he's performing, the silhouetted couple works through their argument and embraces at the end.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: After performing "King Kunta", Mr. Morale decides to "check the temperature" of the audience by performing a mashup of "LOYALTY." and "Swimming Pools (Drank)". He deems the audience ready to continue and performs the remix of "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" with a female dancer performing a solo piece behind him. Three more female dancers join him as he performs "Die Hard". They all make their way towards the main stage as the four dancers perform a group piece to "LUST." while Mr. Morale lays in a bed. As he descends the stage, the curtain lowers once more and shows a silhouette that mirrored moving sunlight. Mirren condemns Mr. Morale, telling him that he "did this to himself again." She suggests that he's forgotten who he is and asks if he needed a reminder from her before continuing the performance. Mr. Morale responds by performing "DNA." and is advised by Mirren that in order "to move further, first you have to get past yourself."


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: Experiencing a breakthrough in his journey, Mr. Morale performs "Count Me Out". During the first verse, he's hunched over with his silhouette, whose back is pierced with arrows, appearing on the lowered curtain. He continues the song with all of his dancers before performing its outro by himself. After a small pause, he performs "Money Trees" and "LOVE." on the lower stage. Mr. Morale is then enclosed in a small box with four male dancers, each wearing hazmat suits. He is then instructed by Mirren to take a COVID-19 test, assuring him that it's "for your own good". After performing "Alright", Mirren then asks the audience if they were entertained before informing Mr. Morale that he has been contaminated. Smoke begins to seep into the box: Mirren assures him that it wasn't lethal. Still enclose in the box, Mr. Morale is elevated into the air while performing "Mirror". He breaks free from the box and performs the chorus and first verse of "Silent Hill". As he's lowered back down, Baby Keem appears on the main stage to perform a mashup of "Vent" and "Range Brothers" before performing a portion of "Family Ties". As Mr. Morale heads back to the main stage, Mirren tells him that the audience seems to follow him now and warns him that "with great power comes great responsibility." He performs "Crown" while playing the piano before being joined by Tanna Leone and all of the dancers to perform "Mr. Morale". "Savior" is the concluding song of the show, where Mr. Morale thanks the audience for attending and flashes a smile as he exits the stage and the curtain is lowered for the final time. Mirren congratulates him for making it out of the box before asking if he can stay out.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: The Big Steppers Tour was met with widespread acclaim from critics, who praised Lamar's performance, concept and stage production. Taiyo Coates of "Variety" described the show as "performance art at its pinnacle" and that Lamar proves "yet again that his elevated artistry carves an unobstructed path to hip hop's Mount Rushmore." Chris Kelly of "The Washington Post" called the tour a "theatrical spectacle that rewrote the rules of the rap show in the same way that Lamar has rewritten the rules of rap itself." Bryson "Boom" Paul of "Consequence" lauded the show's "display of militant precision. Lamar was in sequence with the artistically expressive backdrop, while the impeccable timing of the dancers in unison never missed a step." He also described the overall performance as a "two-hour therapy session, redemption odyssey, and play rolled into one. Fans left the show immensely satisfied. It was must-see experience, period."


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: Writing for "Complex", Andre Gee hailed Lamar as a "stoic performer, leaning on the full scope of the live show to keep fans entertained." He elaborates by writing "the genius of [Lamar's] live show is how he maneuvers the stage with no wasted motion. While some MC's continuously run from side to side, jumping around the stage, [Lamar] moves methodically." Gee further writes that Lamar "knew all eyes were on him, and he did exactly what it took to keep it that way, all without over-exerting himself during the marathon set. Even when he was two-stepping, you soon realized he was just stylishly moving to another part of the stage for the next song." Robyn Mowatt of "Okayplayer" wrote that the tour "isn't just a rap show, it's an expansive experience. [Lamar]'s headspace is probed, examined, and pushed to the forefront – alongside this ideal, fans are tasked with thinking for themselves rather than relying on Lamar to make up their minds for them. Reckoning with what you’ve pulled from his latest album should lead you to understand why Lamar is a pioneering hip hop figure."


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: Mikael Wood of the "Los Angeles Times" praised how Lamar blended the "meditative" songs on his recent studio album with the "rowdy old bangers" present in his previous works, which "served to demonstrate the intellectual ambition of even his most radio-friendly songs." He then wrote that the "most gratifying" part of the performance was Lamar's dancing, which he described as a "series of subtle little glide-and-shimmy moves that made him [look like] somebody's cool uncle turning up right on time to the family cookout." Wood suggested that the description was what Lamar ultimately thought of himself during the performance, "not a hero. Not an idol. Just a guy who's learned how best to carry himself."


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: Steve Baltin of "Forbes" noted that the last time he personally saw Lamar perform was at a private party for Kobe Bryant's jersey retirement ceremony, where he performed in front of NBA legends such as Bryant, Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. After watching Lamar's homecoming performance in Los Angeles, Baltin pieced together why he "was the perfect artist to perform for all those NBA greats," because like them, "Lamar is clearly driven by the quest for greatness. From the opening, [he] performed with the fire and intensity of an athlete determined to bring home the championship on this night." Baltin further praised Lamar's stage presence, expressing that it's why he "has risen to the absolute pinnacle of his musical generation. While others are trying for TikTok followers or staying stupid things like, "Doing it for the 'Gram," Lamar is chasing true artistry not for fame or fortune, but for the desire within to see what he can accomplish. Driven by that internal push, the way great athletes are, he showed at Crypto.com he can reach true artistic greatness. He displayed that again and again throughout the two hours, doing it with style and fervor consistently."


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: On October 18, 2022, Lamar and Amazon Studios announced that his second performance at Accor Arena in Paris would be livestreamed through Amazon Music's Twitch channel to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the release of his second studio album "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" (2012). The livestream featured Baby Keem and Leone's respective opening performances, and was directed by Mike Carson, Dave Free and Mark A. Ritchie. A director's cut of Lamar's performance was released as a concert film, titled "Kendrick Lamar Live: The Big Steppers Tour", exclusively to Amazon Prime Video on November 23.


title: The Big Steppers Tour

text: This set list is from the concert on August 13, 2022, in Toronto. It is not intended to represent all shows from the tour.


title: Metal Magic

text: Metal Magic is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on June 10, 1983 by Metal Magic Records. Like the band's next three releases, it is musically oriented toward a glam/heavy metal sound influenced by Kiss and Van Halen, rather than the groove metal style they became famous for playing in the 1990s, starting with the release of "Cowboys from Hell". The album was released on the band's own label (also called Metal Magic) and produced by Jerry Abbott (under the alias "The Eld'n"), a noted country music songwriter and producer, and father of Diamond Darrell and Vinnie Paul, who were 16 and 19 years old, respectively, at the time of release.


title: Metal Magic

text: In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Eduardo Rivadavia gave "Metal Magic" a largely negative ranking of 1.5 stars out of a possible 5. He described the album as "exceedingly average hard rock and metal misfires" with only two promising songs in "I'll Be Alright" and "Widowmaker". Furthermore, the album's "strongest asset" even in these early years was Dimebag Darrell's guitar playing.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: Eyelash extensions are cosmetic applications that enhance the length, curl, fullness, and thickness of natural eyelashes. The extensions may be made from various materials including mink, silk, synthetic, human or horsehair. The main method of applying the extensions is by using a cyanoacrylate adhesive to apply the extension(s) to the natural lash 1–2 mm from the base of the natural eyelash, never making contact with the eyelid.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: In 1879, James D. McCabe wrote "The National Encyclopædia of Business and Social Forms," where, in the section "Laws of Etiquette," he stated that eyelashes could be lengthened by cutting the ends with a pair of scissors. Other beauty books, such as "My Lady's Dressing Room" (1892) by Baronne Staffe and "Beauty's Aids or How to be Beautiful" (1901) by Countess C also state that the trimming of eyelashes along with the use of the pomade Trikogene benefit eyelash growth. Countess C also suggested that eyelashes can be given extra length and strength by washing them every evening with a mixture of water and walnut leaves.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: In 1882, Henry Labouchère of "Truth" reported that "Parisians have found out how to make false eyelashes" by having hair sewn into the eyelids. A similar report appeared in the July 6, 1899 edition of "The Dundee Courier" which described the painful method for elongating the lashes. The headline of which read, "Irresistible Eyes May Be Had by Transplanting the Hair." The article explained how the procedure achieved longer lashes by having hair from the head sewn into the eyelids.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: In 1902, German-born hair specialist and noted inventor Charles Nessler (aka Karl Nessler or Charles Nestle) patented "A New or Improved Method of and Means for the Manufacture of Artificial Eyebrows, Eyelashes and the like" in the United Kingdom. By 1903, he began selling artificial eyelashes at his London salon on Great Castle Street. He used the profits from his sales to fund his next invention, the permanent wave machine. A permanent wave machine was commonly called a perm and involves the use of heat and/or chemicals to break and reform the cross-linking bonds of the hair structure. In 1911, a Canadian woman named Anna Taylor patented false eyelashes in the United States. Taylor's false eyelashes were designed using a crescent-shaped strip of fabric. The fabric had tiny pieces of hair placed on them.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: Another noted inventor of eyelash extensions is Maksymilian Faktorowicz, a Polish beauty guru and businessman, who founded the company Max Factor.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: In 1916, while making his film "Intolerance", director D. W. Griffith wanted actress Seena Owen to have lashes "that brushed her cheeks, to make her eyes shine larger than life." The false eyelashes which were made from human hair were specifically woven piece by piece by a local wig maker. The eyelashes were adhered using spirit gum, commonly used for affixing wigs. One day Owen showed up to sit with her eyes swollen nearly shut, her co-star Lillian Gish, wrote in her memoir.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: By the 1930s, false eyelashes were becoming more acceptable for the average woman to wear. This shift in cultural opinion was largely due to the influence of film actresses that were seen wearing them on screen. Featured in "Vogue", false eyelashes had officially become mainstream and given the "Vogue" stamp of approval.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: In the 1960s, false eyelashes became the centerpiece of makeup. During this era, eye makeup that gave women big doll-like eyes was very common. They achieved this look by applying false eyelashes on both the top and bottom eyelashes. Models like Twiggy helped popularize this trend and is often associated with it.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: In 1968 at the feminist Miss America protest, protestors symbolically threw a number of feminine products into a "Freedom Trash Can". These included false eyelashes, which were among items the protestors called "instruments of female torture" and accouterments of what they perceived to be enforced femininity.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: In 2008, Aesthetic Korea Co., Ltd. began to manufacture products as semi-permanent eyelashes, which became popular in Korea.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: Since then, several similar companies have started to set up, which has had a considerable impact on neighboring countries, including China and Japan. However, due to South Korea's annual rise in labor costs, many manufacturers have moved from South Korea to China or Vietnam.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: In 2014, Miami-based Katy Stoka, founder of One Two Cosmetics, invented the magnetic false lash as an alternative to those that utilize glue. Today magnetic eyelashes are becoming more and more common, with many mainstream brands like Ardell and To Glam, offering more affordable options. However, these are false eyelashes and not eyelash extensions.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: False eyelashes and semi-permanent eyelash extensions both enhance the length and volume of eyelashes, although they differ in various ways.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: Classic lashes are a 1:1 ratio of one extension applied to one natural lash. Hybrid lashes are classic lashes and volume fan lashes mixed together. Volume lashes are two to six thin eyelash extensions that make a fan shape to allow for a look of full fluffy lashes. Mega volume lashes are 10 or more super-thin eyelash extensions. Pre-made fans are ready-made volume eyelash extensions. They are arranged on the sticker strip for easy pick-up and quick application.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: Hybrid lashes involve both classic individual eyelash extensions and volume fans mixed together for the ultimate in fluffy, textured lashes. Also referred to as a "mixed set", they offer a thicker, denser look than classic lashes, but without the uniformity and softness of a typical Russian volume set.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: Temporary false lashes are applied with temporary lash glue and are not designed to be worn when showering, sleeping or swimming. The lashes come as individuals, clusters, and most commonly, lash strips. The magnetic lashes work by placing the magnetic false lash between one's eyelashes, thereby sandwiching in natural eyelashes with the magnetic eyelashes. While using magnetic eyelashes always be careful, as it is totally a different mechanism. When using a glue method, the user smears the glue on the false lash, letting it settle in for 30 seconds and then presses it against the top root of their eyelashes until the glue has dried enough.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: There are two basic technologies, bundle and ciliary. With the bundle method, ready-made bundles of eyelashes fastened together are used, while ciliary building is a way of piece building: one or several artificial ones are glued to one natural eyelash.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: Because an average person might have anywhere from one hundred to two hundred lashes per eye, it can take from one to three hours to attach a full, new set. The number of lashes one can put on varies upon the existing natural eyelashes. Because humans lose natural eyelashes every day the eyelash extensions usually last between three and four weeks and during that time period, natural lashes start falling out or thinning. Maintaining a full set of eyelashes requires a refill every two to three weeks or a partial set every four weeks. If done correctly, there should be no damage to the natural lashes. It is important to find a trained professional to preserve lash growth and reduce the chance of eye complications.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: Professionals trained in Lash Artistry go by various titles including "lash technicians," "lash artists," and "lash stylists." There are different companies that provide training and certification for potential Eyelash Extensions Technicians.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: In the United States, each state individually regulates this industry. Some states require either a Cosmetology or Esthetician License and some states have a certificate or license just for Lash Technicians.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: In the UK, the Guild of Professional Beauty Therapists accredited courses for the safe application of semi-permanent individual eyelash extensions. The value of the course content can be judged by the number of CPD (Continued Professional Development) points that the course is awarded.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: Many people will have different kinds of reactions or health concerns from their eyelash extensions. Having an allergic reaction to eyelash extensions is very common for people. When someone has an allergic reaction to eyelash extensions it is called contact dermatitis. The symptoms of the allergic reaction will most likely not appear while the technician is applying the eyelashes, the symptoms will start to appear hours later. The most common symptoms are redness of the eyes, itchy eyes or itchy surrounding skin, and swelling.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: The most common cause for allergic reactions from eyelash extensions, is from the glue used to apply the eyelashes. The symptoms of an allergic reaction from eyelash extensions will typically last from a few hours to a few days. The severity of the allergic reaction may depend on how long the eyelashes remain on the eyes. If someone starts experiencing symptoms from their eyelash extensions, the eyelash extensions should be removed immediately to prevent the reaction from getting worse.


title: Eyelash extensions

text: To prevent having an allergic reaction from eyelash extensions make sure you are seeing a good eyelash technician, make sure the tools are clean, and make sure to keep your eyes closed the entire process, if someone opens their eyes in the middle of the process they will be more likely to have glue leak into their eyes.


title: Evil Con Carne

text: Evil Con Carne is an American animated television series created by Maxwell Atoms for Cartoon Network. The series centers on wealthy crime lord Hector Con Carne, who is reduced to his brain and stomach after an assassination attempt and subsequently implanted onto Boskov, a purple circus bear. Aided by scientist Major Dr. Ghastly and military leader General Skarr, Hector now oversees criminal organization Evil Con Carne, continuing his quest for world domination.


title: Evil Con Carne

text: The series first appeared on Cartoon Network during the show "Grim & Evil", along with sister series "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy". Thirteen more half-hour episodes of "Grim & Evil" were produced in 2003 and 2004; the two series became separate programs later that year. While "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" went on to run for six seasons, "Evil Con Carne" only ran for thirteen full episodes (22 airings) and ended on October 22, 2004. After the show's end, its characters would frequently make cameo appearances in "Billy & Mandy", with General Skarr becoming a recurring character. An official series finale, titled "Company Halt" (which was also a crossover with "Billy & Mandy"), aired on March 16, 2007.


title: Evil Con Carne

text: Hector Con Carne (Phil LaMarr), a wealthy crime lord and evil genius bent on taking over the world and the League of Nations, was caught in an explosion initiated by his nemesis, Cod Commando (Maxwell Atoms), a soldier for the Secret Paramilitary Organized Response Kommand (S.P.O.R.K.). The explosion scattered most of his body across the world. He was rescued by the scientist Major Dr. Ghastly (Grey DeLisle), who placed his living remains into two containment units: one for his brain, and the other for his stomach. These two units were later installed into Boskov (Frank Welker), a purple Russian circus bear, giving Con Carne's brain control over (almost) all the bear's actions and movements.


title: Evil Con Carne

text: Hector, Dr. Ghastly and his military leader, General Skarr (Armin Shimerman), then created a secret laboratory on an island with a bunny-shaped mountain known as "Bunny Island" (a parody of Ernst Stavro Blofeld's lair in the James Bond movies). Gathering an army, Con Carne resumed his quest for world domination and made a new goal: to find his missing body parts. The group's schemes typically end in failure, often due to the behavior and conflicts within the trio: Skarr is tired of being directed by Hector and wishes to overthrow him; Ghastly cares more about her unrequited love for her boss than world domination; while Hector is narcissistic, megalomaniacal, and generally abusive towards his henchmen.


title: Evil Con Carne

text: A viewer's poll to decide a new Cartoon Network animated series, titled "Big Pick", was held on the internet from June 16 to August 25, 2000. The three choices for short films to become animated series were "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy", "Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?", and "Longhair and Doubledome". After the event, the "Meet the Reaper" short film won with 57% of the vote. While "Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?" became an animated series in 2002, "Longhair and Doubledome" appeared at another "Big Pick" event, but lost once again. Another original short/pilot titled "Evil Con Carne" had been produced in 2000, shortly after the "Billy & Mandy" short. The two ideas were ultimately combined into a single show, as Cartoon Network desired a show that had a "middle cartoon" as an in-between segment (a format found in the "Dial M For Monkey" and "The Justice Friends" shorts in "Dexter's Laboratory", and the "I Am Weasel" segment on "Cow and Chicken")"."


title: Evil Con Carne

text: The resulting show, "Grim & Evil", premiered on August 24, 2001, and was put on hiatus on October 18, 2002. In 2003, 13 more half-hour episodes of "Grim & Evil" were made, but aired when Cartoon Network separated the two series, and "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" and "Evil Con Carne" earned their own full-length series later that year. After production wrapped on both series' new seasons, the network gave Maxwell Atoms a decision to choose one show to continue, while the other would be dropped from production. Atoms ultimately went with "Billy & Mandy", and the final season of "Evil Con Carne" subsequently aired in 2004. He embraced the network's decision to drop one of the two series, as he considered being in charge of producing both shows difficult.


title: Evil Con Carne

text: After "Evil Con Carne" was cancelled, its characters appeared in "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy". The first cameo was in the episode "Chicken Ball Z" which ended with Mandy purchasing Hector's Bunny Island. General Skarr moved to Billy's neighborhood in the episode "Skarred for Life" after Bunny Island was bought out by an "entertainment corporation that didn't want competition in world domination". Since then, General Skarr went on to become a recurring character in "Billy & Mandy". In the episode "Company Halt", Con Carne and Ghastly appear in Endsville, in order to recruit Skarr and revive Evil Con Carne (the organization, not the show) in another attempt to take over the world; naturally, like most of their other schemes and misadventures, it ends in failure when Skarr turns against Hector once he tries to destroy his garden in an attempt to kill Billy, and crushes him with a giant catapult (which they were to use to destroy the neighborhood), causing Ghastly and the rest of the army run away. According to Tom Warburton, characters from "Evil Con Carne" were originally set to appear in the television special "The Grim Adventures of the KND". Hector, General Skarr, and Dr. Ghastly (strangely, they're "costumed" by Lazlo, Raj, and Clam) did briefly appear in the crossover's end credits in a crossover with "Camp Lazlo" titled "Evil Camp Carne".


title: Evil Con Carne

text: On July 29, 2016, the series aired re-runs for a single day on Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang, in the United States, despite the schedule for Boomerang saying that "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" was airing in its timeslot.


title: Evil Con Carne

text: When the show was running as a segment on "Grim & Evil", the two part episode "The Smell of Vengeance" was subject to censorship in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The episode centered on Hector and his army using an oversized stink gun on New York City, unleashing a stench that sends its citizens into a frenzy. A particular scene featured people jumping off of the World Trade Center prompted the decision. "There are the twin towers, and you see tiny, little people hopping off the roof of the towers into the water", said Linda Simensky, then senior vice president of animation for Cartoon Network. "I mean, two weeks ago, you wouldn't have thought about it. What were the chances of anyone jumping out of the World Trade Center?" In response, Atoms reworked the episode, so it took place in rural Kansas instead; despite these changes, the episode was still suspended from broadcast rotation.


title: Evil Con Carne

text: Five episodes are included as bonus features in the Season 1 DVD set for "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy". On August 16, 2018, the entire series was added to the iTunes Store under a single volume.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) insurgent group since 1987. Currently, there is low-level LRA activity in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. The movement is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the "spokesperson" of God and a spirit medium. It aims to overthrow Yoweri Museveni's Ugandan government and establish a theocratic state based on a version of the Ten Commandments and Acholi tradition.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The conflict, one of Africa's longest running, has resulted in a humanitarian crisis. The LRA has been accused by the International Criminal Court of widespread human rights violations, including mutilation, torture, slavery, rape, the abduction of civilians, the use of child soldiers, and a number of massacres. By 2012, the LRA had abducted more than 20,000 children, 1.5 million civilians had been displaced and an estimated 100,000 civilians were killed.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The January 1986 overthrow of President Tito Okello, an ethnic Acholi, by the National Resistance Army (NRA) of south-west Uganda-born Yoweri Museveni marked a period of intense turmoil. The NRA, in their efforts to liberate the entire country, meted out a lot of atrocities on the people of Acholi. This act spurred some Acholis to resist. The Acholi are sometimes said to have feared the loss of their traditional dominance of the national military and were also concerned that the NRA would seek retribution for the brutal counterinsurgency, particularly the actions of the army in the Luwero triangle. By August of that year, a full-blown popular insurgency had developed in northern regions that were occupied by the new government forces.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: In January 1987, Joseph Kony made his first appearance as a spirit medium, one of many who emerged after the initial success of the Holy Spirit Movement of Alice Auma. Former Uganda People's Democratic Army commander Odong Latek convinced Kony to adopt conventional guerrilla warfare tactics, primarily surprise attacks on civilian targets, such as villages. The LRA also occasionally carried out large-scale attacks to underline the inability of the government to protect the populace. Until 1991 the LRA raided the populace for supplies, which were carried away by villagers who were abducted for short periods of time. The fact that some NRA units were known for their brutal actions ensured that the LRA were given at least passive support by segments of the Acholi population.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: March 1991 saw the start of "Operation North", which combined efforts to destroy the LRA while cutting away its roots of support among the population through heavy-handed tactics. As part of Operation North, Acholi Betty Oyella Bigombe, the Minister charged with ending the insurgency, created "Arrow Groups" mostly armed with bows and arrows, as a form of local defence. As the LRA was armed with modern weaponry, the bow-and-arrow groups were underpowered.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The creation of the Arrow Groups angered Kony, who began to feel that he no longer had the support of the population. In response, the LRA mutilated numerous Acholi whom they believed to be government supporters. While the government efforts were a failure, the LRA reaction caused many Acholi to finally turn against the insurgency. However, this was tempered by the deep-seated antagonism towards the occupying government forces.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: Following Operation North, Bigombe initiated the first face-to-face meeting between representatives of the LRA and the government. The LRA asked for a general amnesty for their combatants and stated that they would not surrender, but were willing to "return home." However, the government's stance was hampered by disagreement over the credibility of the LRA negotiators and political infighting. In particular, the military had learned that Kony was negotiating with the Sudanese government for support while talking to Bigombe, and felt that Kony was simply trying to buy time.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: At a second meeting on 10 January 1994, Kony asked for six months to regroup his troops. By early February the tone of the negotiations was growing increasingly acrimonious, and following a meeting on 2 February, the LRA broke off negotiations stating that they felt that the NRA was trying to entrap them. Four days later, President Yoweri Museveni announced a seven-day deadline for the LRA to surrender. This ultimatum ended the Bigombe Initiative.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: Two weeks after Museveni delivered his ultimatum of 6 February 1994, it was reported that LRA fighters had crossed the northern border and established bases in southern Sudan with the approval of the Khartoum government. Sudanese aid was a response to Ugandan support for the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) fighting in the civil war in the south of the country. Also, convinced that the Acholi were now collaborating with the Museveni government, Kony began to target civilians with his increased military strength. Mutilations became commonplace (especially cutting off ears, lips, and nose), and 1994 saw the first mass abduction of children and youth.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The most infamous of these was the Aboke abductions of 139 female students in October 1996. As most of the LRA combatants are abducted children, a military offensive against the LRA is widely perceived by the Acholi as a massacre of victims. Government attempts to destroy the rebels are thus viewed as another cause for grievance by the Acholi. The moral ambiguity of this situation, in which abducted young rebels are both the victims and perpetrators of brutal acts, is central to the conflicted attitudes of many Acholi towards the rebels.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The government's response was a scorched-earth policy ordering all Acholis to leave their homes in 48 hours and move to "protected villages" beginning in 1996, later called Internally Displaced People's Camps. This further deepened the antagonistic attitude that many Acholi had toward the government, especially as the population continued to be attacked by the LRA even within the "protected camps." The camps were crowded, unsanitary, miserable places to live and have been described as death camps. World Health Organisation data indicated that these camps caused the death of ten times as many people as the LRA.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: Meanwhile, in 1997 the Sudanese government of the National Islamic Front began to recede from its previous hard-line stance. Following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, the relationship between Sudan and Uganda abruptly changed. Cross-border tensions eased as support to proxy forces fell. Some of the hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by the war began to return home. The number of people displaced by the conflict declined to about half a million, and people began to talk openly about the day when the "protected camps" would be disbanded.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: In March 2002, the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) launched a massive military offensive, named "Operation Iron Fist", against the LRA bases in southern Sudan, with agreement from the National Islamic Front. This agreement, coupled with the return of Ugandan forces that were deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo upon the official end of the Second Congo War, created what the Ugandan government felt was an ideal situation in which to end a conflict that had become both an embarrassment and political liability. After several months of uncertainty, LRA forces began crossing back into Uganda and carrying out attacks on a scale of brutality not seen since 1995 to 1996, resulting in widespread displacement and suffering in regions, such as Soroti, that had never previously been touched by the insurgency.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: A series of local initiatives spearheaded by traditional and religious leaders as well as diplomatic initiatives during these years failed, especially since Kony's negotiating position remained uncertain, but the conflict gained unprecedented international coverage. During a November 2003 field visit to Uganda, United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland stated, "I cannot find any other part of the world that is having an emergency on the scale of Uganda, that is getting such little international attention." In December 2003, Ugandan President Museveni referred the LRA to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to determine if the LRA is guilty of international war crimes.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: From the middle of 2004 on, rebel activity dropped markedly under intense military pressure. The government was also the target of increasingly pointed criticism from the international community for its failure to end the conflict. International aid agencies questioned the Ugandan government's reliance on military force and its commitment to a peaceful resolution. The army also admitted that it had recruited child soldiers who escaped the LRA into the military.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: In mid-September 2005, a band of LRA fighters, led by Vincent Otti, crossed into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for the first time. President Museveni declared that, if Congolese authorities did not disarm the LRA combatants, the UPDF would be sent across the border in pursuit. This sparked a diplomatic row between the governments of the DRC and Uganda, with both militaries making a show of force along their border, while the Congolese ambassador to the United Nations sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General demanding that an economic embargo be placed on Uganda in retaliation.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: A series of meetings were held in Juba starting in July 2006 between the government of Uganda and the LRA. The talks were mediated by Riek Machar, the Vice President of Southern Sudan, and by the Community of Sant'Egidio. The talks, which resulted in a ceasefire by September 2006, were described as the best chance for a negotiated settlement since the peace initiative of Betty Bigombe in 1994.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: These talks were agreed to after Joseph Kony released a video in May in which he denied committing atrocities and seemed to call for an end to hostilities, in response to an announcement by Museveni that he would guarantee the safety of Kony if peace was agreed to by July. In late June 2006, the Government of Southern Sudan formally invited Uganda to attend peace talks, and on 14 July 2006 talks began in Juba. On 4 August 2006, Vincent Otti declared a unilateral ceasefire and asked the Ugandan government to reciprocate. ICC indictee Raska Lukwiya was killed in battle on 12 August 2006.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The government and the LRA signed a truce on 26 August 2006. Under the terms of the agreement, LRA forces will leave Uganda and gather in two assembly areas protected by the government of Sudan. The Ugandan government agreed not to attack those areas. LRA rebels had begun gathering in the assembly areas by mid-September. Talks continued to be hindered by demands and counter-demands. Meanwhile, the government began a process of creating "satellite camps" to decongest the main IDP camps.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: In a broader context, the government of Southern Sudan viewed the talks as a means of ridding itself of a foreign army that was complicating its delicate relationship with the Khartoum government. The request by the Ugandan Government for ICC to suspend war crimes indictments against leaders of the LRA was condemned by international human rights groups but largely supported by leaders and civilians within northern Uganda.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: By mid-2007, thousands of IDPs had moved into the decongestion camps. However, the populace remained cautious about the prospect of a peace deal, with many refusing to return to their ancestral homes before a definitive end to the insurgency.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: Following a period in which the peace talks were suspended, the Juba Initiative Project enabled the resumption of the talks in May 2007, thanks to the efforts of the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for LRA-affected areas, Joaquim Chissano. The talks were again mediated by the Government of Southern Sudan, but with the support of the United Nations and logistic facilitation from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 20 August 2007, Uganda declared that it was seeking legal advice on setting up a war crimes court. In November 2007, an LRA delegation led by Martin Ojul journeyed to Kampala to restate its commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Ojul later led the delegation on a tour of northern Uganda to meet victims of the insurgency and ask their forgiveness. However, reports surfaced that LRA deputy commander Otti had been executed on or around 8 October 2007 over an internal power struggle with Kony.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: In June 2008, diplomats reported that the Lord's Resistance Army had bought new weapons and was recruiting new soldiers, adding 1,000 recruits to the 600 soldiers it already had. At about the same time, Uganda, South Sudan, and Congo-Kinshasa agreed to a plan to crush the movement together; the South Sudanese claimed that the rebels killed 14 of their soldiers on 7 June 2008.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The LRA was alleged to have killed at least 400 people in attacks on a number of villages in the DR Congo on and after Christmas Day, 2008. Throughout 2009, the LRA was blamed for several attacks in Southern Sudan, DR Congo, and Central African Republic. In March 2010, news emerged about a December 2009 massacre in DR Congo perpetrated by the LRA.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: In May 2010, US President Barack Obama signed the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act into law. In October 2011, Obama announced the deployment of 100 US troops to aid other anti-LRA forces in subduing LRA leader Joseph Kony, citing the aforementioned act in a letter to the heads of both houses of Congress.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 23 March 2012, the African Union announced its intentions to send an international brigade of 5,000 military troops "from Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic, and Congo, countries where Kony's reign of terror has been felt over the years ... to join the hunt for rebel leader Joseph Kony and to "neutralize" him. According to the statement, "the mission would commence on 24 March 2012 and the search would last until Kony was caught", after which the task force would be disbanded. The effort is Ugandan-led and backed by the US with the 100 advisers already there, who are offering advice, intelligence and training, along with equipment. The brigade established its headquarters in Yambio, South Sudan, close to the border with the DRC, and is commanded by a Ugandan officer; while, a Congolese officer has oversight of intelligence operations.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 12 May 2012, Ugandan soldiers with the African Union brigade captured a senior LRA leader in the Central African Republic (CAR), Caesar Achellam, a veteran rebel commander with the rank of Major General. Because he was a leading military strategist for the LRA, Achellam's arrest signified a considerable setback for Joseph Kony's fight to evade capture.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 6 June, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, released an initial report covering the activities of the LRA from 2009 to 2012. The report itself stated that "at least 45 children have been killed and maimed" during this time period and at least "591 children, including 268 girls have been abducted". Though it was noted by Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN special representative on children and conflict, that the "actual numbers of abductions is much higher, these are just the ones we are aware of". The report also stated that the LRA is currently made up of between 300 and 500 fighters, with around half of them being children.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The LRA was reported to be in the East CAR town of Djema in 2012 but forces pursuing the LRA withdrew in April 2013 after the government of the CAR was overthrown by the Séléka Coalition rebels. In November 2013, Kony was reported to be in poor health in the East CAR town of Nzoka and Michel Djotodia, president of the CAR, claimed he was negotiating with Kony to surrender. US officials doubted that Kony genuinely wanted to surrender.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: In early November 2013, suspected LRA militants attacked five villages in the Western Equatoria region of South Sudan. Three people were killed and one wounded, aside from looting the rebels also set fire to several houses.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 4 December 2013, 13 LRA militants including senior commander Samuel Kangu were killed in the aftermath of a UPDF ambush in CAR. The rebels were reportedly tracked with the aid of US provided intelligence.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: According to UN estimates, at least 65 LRA attacks took place in CAR and DRC during the first quarter of 2014 during which 93 people were reportedly abducted and two killed.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 7 May 2014, United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki Moon stated that senior LRA commanders were stationed in South Sudan's border areas with Sudan and the Central African Republic.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 20 May 2014, delegates from Uganda, DRC, South Sudan and CAR held a three-day conference in South Sudan regarding the LRA insurgency.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 13 August 2014, LRA insurgents launched attacks on villages in the vicinity of Billi, DRC, killing 4 people and injuring 2. FARDC troops clashed with the militants, before the latter retreated.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 23 August 2014, 13 LRA hostages escaped from captivity, six days later 12 more hostages followed suit. The escapees were abducted between 2004 and August 2014, managed to reach Digba and Ango, DRC, respectively, following a FARDC offensive.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: Between 28 and 31 December 2014, LRA perpetrated three attacks in the area of Dungu, DRC. Two people were wounded in the aftermath of an attack on Faradje, the village of Mangasaba was looted, a merchant from Kiliwa was also robbed by the guerrillas.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 15 January 2015, LRA rebels conducted a number of kidnappings in the villages of Bulumasi and Pangali, Bondo territory, DRC. A total of 10 people were taken hostage during the incident.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 21 January 2015, LRA militants killed three FARDC soldiers in the aftermath of an ambush conducted at the town of Nangume in the vicinity of Wando, DRC. Dozens of civilians were wounded, three were abducted and two hundred families were also displaced from the area following raids LRA militants.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 5 February 2015, a band of twenty suspected LRA guerrillas abducted eight people and engaged in looting in the villages of Dizaga and Digba, DRC.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 16 February 2015, LRA guerrillas killed three people and injured four others, on Road IV, located in the Dungu territory, DRC.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 12 April 2015, a total of 8 FARDC soldiers went missing in action, following a LRA ambush outside the Mangbangu village, DRC. An unidentified corpse was found in the area, a day after the incident.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 30 March 2017, the United States Military announced it was ending its anti-LRA campaign, Operation Observant Compass.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On an unspecified date in April 2017, a United States special forces soldier shot and killed an LRA fighter who drew a weapon on the American. The American had been escorting an African Union peacekeeper when the incident occurred.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 19 April 2017, Uganda announced that it would begin withdrawing forces from the Central African Republic where it has been trying to hunt down Joseph Kony in the country for 9 years.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 6 May 2021, LRA commander Dominic Ongwen sentenced to 25 years in Ugandan prison over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Uganda


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The insurgency was historically confined to the region known as Acholiland, consisting of the districts of Kitgum, Gulu, and Pader, though since 2002 violence has overflowed into other Ugandan districts. The LRA also operated across the porous border region with Southern Sudan and most recently into the north-eastern Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The plight of the affected people has received little media coverage in the developed world. Not until April 2004 did the UN Security Council issue a formal condemnation. A 2005 poll of humanitarian professionals, media personalities, academics and activists identified the conflict in the north of Uganda as the second-worst "forgotten" humanitarian emergency in the world, after the conflicts of the neighbouring DRC.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The US government estimates that up to 12,000 people have been killed in the violence, with many more dying from disease and malnutrition as a direct result of the conflict. Nearly two million civilians have been forced to flee their homes, living in internally displaced person (IDP) camps and within the safety of larger settlements, sleeping on street corners and in other public spaces. The problems of the camps have been expatiated by the government ordering villagers into the camps on pain of being classified as rebels and on occasion shelling those villages who refused to relocate.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: While many abductees are taken to carry items looted from raided villages, some are also used as soldiers and sex slaves. The group performs abductions primarily from the Acholi people, who have borne the brunt of the 18-year LRA campaign. The United Nations estimated in the mid-2000s that around 25,000 children have been kidnapped by the LRA since 1987. However, several pieces of research have concluded that the figure was significantly higher. In June 2007, UC Berkeley's Human Rights Center researchers worked with reception centers in northern Uganda to compile a database of 25,000 former abductees that went through reception centers.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: By triangulating data from different sources on the number of former abductees, the research conservatively estimate that the LRA has abducted 24,000 to 38,000 children and 28,000 to 37,000 adults as of April 2006. The research further found that while women represented only about a third of all the abductees, they tended to stay longer with the LRA compared to men. Women are forced to serve as sexual and domestic servants. According to a survey of 750 youth in Kitgum and Pader, at least 66,000 youth between the ages of 13 and 30 have been abducted. One-third of all boys and one-sixth of all girls had been taken for at least one day.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: Of these, 66% of males were taken for longer than two weeks, while the equivalent number for females was 46%. If a female was gone for more than two weeks, there was a one in four chance that she had not returned. Males were again found to be taken for longer periods of time on average, with two in five males that were abducted for more than two weeks not having returned. The number of abductions was greatest in 2002 and 2003, perhaps in retaliation for Operation Iron Fist. However, the average age of abductees has risen from about 13 in 1994 to nearly 18 in 2004, coinciding with the rise in number, and fall in length, of abductions.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: While the LRA now appears to consist of less than two thousand combatants that are under intense pressure from the Ugandan military, the government has been unable to end the insurgency to date. Ongoing peace negotiations are complicated by an investigation and trial preparation by the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, military operation is going on. The conflict continues to slow down Uganda's development efforts, costing the poor country's economy a cumulative total of at least $1.33 billion, which is equivalent to 3% of GDP, or $100 million annually.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: At the height of the conflict, each night, children between the ages of 8 and 14, referred to as "night commuters" or "night dwellers," would walk up to from IDP camps to larger towns, especially Gulu, in search of safety. To avoid abduction by the LRA, every night as many as 40,000 children fled their homes in the countryside to sleep in the relative safety of towns. Known as "night commuters", they seek refuge overnight at churches, hospitals, bus stations and temporary shelters before returning home again each morning.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: Because of this phenomenon, united under the banner of peace, religious leaders from different denominations staged a one-week solidarity demonstration by sleeping in the streets with the children. This singular act created massive awareness of the conflict to the world.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: Initiatives to raise international awareness for these children included the "GuluWalk" and the work of the Resolve Uganda. Night commuters are also the subject of documentaries such as "Stolen Children", "War/Dance", and "Invisible Children".


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: The "Invisible Children" documentary sponsored the Global Night Commute, an event similar to GuluWalk. On 29 April 2006, over 80,000 youths from around the world converged on urban centers in 130 major cities around the world in solidarity with displaced Ugandan children. The Invisible Children organization also raised awareness for those in the Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs) through its "Displace Me" event held in 15 cities across the US on 28 April 2007. Over 68,000 people participated in the event which required participants to sleep outside in "homes" made out of cardboard, similar to those in the IDPs.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: Another program, The Name Campaign, asks people to wear nameplate necklaces imprinted with the first name of one of the thousands of abducted children as a means of raising public awareness.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: Danny Glover and Don Cheadle have both been vocal advocates on behalf of the children of Northern Uganda.


title: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

text: On 5 March 2012, the Invisible Children organization posted the "Kony 2012" video on YouTube which was widely seen. , the film had over 91 million views on video-sharing website YouTube.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Viet Thanh Nguyen (Vietnamese: Nguyễn Thanh Việt; born March 13, 1971) is a Vietnamese-American professor and novelist. He is the Aerol Arnold Chair of English and Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen's debut novel, "The Sympathizer", won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and many other accolades. He was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017. Nguyen is a regular contributor, op-ed columnist for "The New York Times", covering immigration, refugees, politics, culture and South East Asia. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen was born in Ban Mê Thuột, Vietnam in 1971, the son of refugees from North Vietnam who moved south in 1954. After the fall of Saigon, in 1975, his family fled to the United States. Nguyen's family first settled in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, which was one of four American camps that accommodated refugees from Vietnam. Nguyen's family then moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania until 1978.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: His family later moved to San Jose, California, where they opened up a Vietnamese grocery store, one of the first of its kind in the area. He often enjoyed reading literature about the Vietnam War, preferably those from the Vietnamese perspectives, which were rather rare at the time in comparison with the overwhelming amount of the American narratives. While growing up in San Jose, Nguyen attended St. Patrick School, a Catholic elementary school, and went on to Bellarmine College Preparatory.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen then briefly attended the University of California campuses at Riverside and Los Angeles before finally deciding to finish his studies at Berkeley, from where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in May 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in English and Ethnic Studies. He went on to receive his Ph.D. in English from Berkeley in May 1997. That year, he moved to Los Angeles for a teaching position as an assistant professor at the University of Southern California in both the English Department, and in the American Studies and Ethnicity Department. In 2003, he became an associate professor in the two departments.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: In addition to teaching and writing, Nguyen also serves as cultural critic-at-large for "The Los Angeles Times" and is an editor of diaCRITICS, a blog for the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen also uses the platform he has gained from his writing accolades to step up on social platforms, using his markers of traditional success to be a leading voice of the Vietnamese American community. He gives non-Vietnamese US-Americans context for the story of Vietnamese in the United States today, as well as being a leader for Asian US-American youth as he talks about what the term "Asian-American" means to him. He also wants to educate Asians to solidarity with other groups. As attention to the Black Lives Matter movement surged in 2020, so did the anti-Blackness present in the Asian and Vietnamese communities and Nguyen has said that "immigrants and refugees who come into this country...may have to start off near the bottom in American society... But they know, very rapidly... that the bottom in this country is occupied by black people. And so if they can participate in anti-black racism, it brings them one step closer to assimilation." In this way, "being anti-black or not being black as a way of getting ahead in this country. So even if we share some similarities, an experience with African Americans, we have a way out if we want to take it, that involves allying ourselves with whiteness, that is a lot harder for most black people to do.” As he grows Asians' understanding of differences and struggles of other groups, and the reality of Asians to others, he powerfully grows solidarity and empathy through education.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen's debut novel, "The Sympathizer" was published in 2015 by the Grove Press/Atlantic. "The Sympathizer" won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. "The Sympathizer" further won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction from the American Library Association, and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in Fiction from the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association. The book additionally won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from an American Author from the Mystery Writers of America, and was a finalist in the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction. The novel has also won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. "The New York Times" included "The Sympathizer" among the "Book Review"'s "Editors' Choice" selection of new books when the book debuted, and in its list of "Notable Books of 2015". The novel also made it onto numerous other "Books of the Year" lists, including those of "The Guardian", "The Wall Street Journal", "Slate.com", "Amazon.com" and "The Washington Post". Nguyen's second novel, "The Committed", which continues the story of "The Sympathizer", was published in 2021.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen's short fiction has been published in "Best New American Voices" 2007 ("A Correct Life: Một Cuộc Sống Đứng Đắn"), "Manoa" ("Better Homes and Gardens"), "Narrative Magazine" ("Someone Else Besides You", "Arthur Arellano" and "Fatherland", which was a prize winner in the 2011 Winter Fiction Contest), "TriQuarterly" ("The War Years" - Issue 135/136), "The Good Men Project" ("Look At Me") the "Chicago Tribune" ("The Americans", also a 2010 Nelson Algren Short Story Awards finalist), and "Gulf Coast", where his story won the 2007 Fiction Prize.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen is one of the contributing authors of "A Stranger Among Us: Stories of Cross-Cultural Collision and Connection" published by OV Books, Other Voices, Inc. in May 2008.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen released a book of short stories, published by Grove Press in February 2017 entitled "The Refugees".


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen is the editor of "The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives," which includes essays by 17 fellow refugee writers from Mexico, Bosnia, Iran, Afghanistan, Soviet Ukraine, Hungary, Chile, and Ethiopia, among other countries.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen has also released a non-fiction book published by the Harvard University Press in March 2016 entitled "Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War" described on his website as "the critical bookend to a creative project whose fictional bookend was "The Sympathizer"". According to Nguyen's website, the book "Nothing Ever Dies" "examines how the so-called Vietnam War has been remembered by many countries and people, from the US to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and South Korea." Kirkus Reviews has also called the book "a powerful reflection on how we choose to remember and forget." The book is a National Book Award finalist.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: In 2002, Nguyen published a treatise entitled "Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America" (Oxford University Press). Nguyen has also co-edited a treatise entitled "Transpacific Studies: Framing an Emerging Field" (University of Hawaii Press, 2014) along with Janet Hoskins.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen's non-fiction articles and essays have appeared in journals and books, including "PMLA", "American Literary History", "Western American Literature", "positions: east asia cultures critique", "The New Centennial Review", "Postmodern Culture", "The Japanese Journal of American Studies", and "Asian American Studies After Critical Mass". In an opinion column in the "New York Times", Nguyen discussed having been a refugee and characterized refugees as heroic.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen and illustrator Thi Bui, along with their respective children, collaborated on a children's book titled "Chicken of the Sea".


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: Nguyen has also been a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (2011–2012), the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard (2008–2009) and the Fine Arts Work Center (2004–2005). He has also received residencies, fellowships, and grants from the Luce Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Asian Cultural Council, the James Irvine Foundation, the Huntington Library, the Djerassi Artists Residency, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Creative Capital and the Warhol Foundation.


title: Viet Thanh Nguyen

text: His teaching and service awards include the Mellon Mentoring Award for Faculty Mentoring Graduate Students, the Albert S. Raubenheimer Distinguished Junior Faculty Award for outstanding research, teaching and service, the General Education Teaching Award, and the Resident Faculty of the Year Award. Multimedia has also been a key part of his teaching: In a recent course on the American War in Viet Nam, he and his students created "An Other War Memorial", which won a grant from the Fund for Innovative Undergraduate Teaching and the USC Provost's Prize for Teaching with Technology.


title: Crooklyn

text: Crooklyn is a 1994 American semi-autobiographical film produced and directed by Spike Lee and co-written with his sister Joie and brother Cinqué. Occurring in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, during the summer of 1973, the film primarily focuses on a young girl named Troy Carmichael (played by Zelda Harris), and her family. Throughout the film, Troy learns life lessons through her rowdy brothers Clinton, Wendell, Nate, and Joseph; her loving but strict mother Carolyn (Alfre Woodard), and her naive, struggling father Woody (Delroy Lindo).


title: Crooklyn

text: A distinctive characteristic of "Crooklyn" is its soundtrack, composed completely of music from the 1960s and 70s, except the hit single "Crooklyn" by the Crooklyn Dodgers, a rap crew composed of Buckshot, Masta Ace, and Special Ed. A two-volume release of the soundtrack became available on CD along with the release of the film.


title: Crooklyn

text: Similarly to his past films such as "School Daze", "Do the Right Thing", and "She's Gotta Have It", Spike Lee appears in "Crooklyn", playing a young glue huffer named Snuffy, who likes to bully the local children.


title: Crooklyn

text: "Crooklyn" is the second of only two films directed by Spike Lee to earn a PG-13 rating in the US, along with "Malcolm X".


title: Crooklyn

text: New Yorkers selected the film for simultaneous screenings across New York City as part of the 2017 One Film, One New York contest.


title: Crooklyn

text: In 1973, nine-year-old Troy Carmichael and her brothers Clinton, Wendell, Nate, and Joseph live in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn with their parents Woody, a struggling musician, and Carolyn, a schoolteacher. The neighborhood is filled with colorful characters, such as the Carmichaels' next-door neighbor Tony Eyes, whose house emits the foul smell of dog feces; Tommy La-La, who continuously sings and plays his electric keyboard; glue sniffers Snuffy and Right Hand Man; and war veteran Vic Powell, who lives upstairs and rents from the Carmichaels.


title: Crooklyn

text: One day, the Carmichael children get into an argument with Tony after he witnesses Wendell throwing trash into his area, which escalates when Carolyn and several neighborhood children get involved and is defused when Vic comes downstairs and then punches Tony in the face. Troy, who has sneaked out to the corner store, sees Vic getting arrested as she leaves the store.


title: Crooklyn

text: One night, Woody and Carolyn argue about money; Carolyn resents Woody for not appreciating their financial situation and using their money carelessly to fund his solo career. The argument escalates as Carolyn yells for the children to turn off the television, before later turning it off herself.


title: Crooklyn

text: Clinton turns his back on Carolyn and she grabs him for disobeying. Woody then grabs her and carries her out of the room. Woody carries Carolyn out of the room and down the stairs and Nate jumps on Woody's back. The other children hold Carolyn and Carolyn hurts her ankle in the struggle.


title: Crooklyn

text: Carolyn kicks Woody out of the house, but Woody later brings flowers to Carolyn and the two reconcile. The family then decides to go on a trip, but as they are leaving, a worker from Con Ed arrives to shut off the electricity due to an unpaid bill, postponing the trip and forcing the family to use candles for light.


title: Crooklyn

text: A few days later, the family travels to the South to stay with affluent relatives. Troy stays with her cousin, Viola, who was adopted by Uncle Clem and Aunt Song. Troy has fun with Viola despite disliking her snobby Aunt Song and her dog, Queenie. On Troy's tenth birthday, she gets a letter from Carolyn. After reading the letter and dealing with constant bickering between Viola and Aunt Song, Troy decides she wants to go home.


title: Crooklyn

text: When Troy returns to New York, her Aunt Maxine and Uncle Brown pick her up at the airport. Troy later learns her mother is in the hospital and is taken to see her.


title: Crooklyn

text: Later that evening, Woody tells the kids that their mother has cancer and must stay in the hospital. The boys cry, but Troy remains stoic. Troy then begins filling in the mother role, while Carolyn remains in the hospital but later dies.


title: Crooklyn

text: Aftwards, one of Troy's brothers wonders if they have to dress up for their mother's funeral. On the day of the funeral, Troy's Aunt Maxine coaxes her into trying on the new clothes she's brought, telling her it would make Carolyn proud. Troy calmly explains that her mother hates polyester and would never let her wear it then announces to Woody that she is not going to the funeral. After Woody explains that Carolyn would want them all together at church, Troy acquiesces.


title: Crooklyn

text: At the house gathering after the funeral, Troy is withdrawn. Joseph comes inside crying, saying that Snuffy and Right Hand Man robbed him. Following her mother's wishes to protect her younger brother, Troy goes outside with a baseball bat and hits Snuffy, telling him to go sniff glue on his own block.


title: Crooklyn

text: Early the next morning, Troy dreams she's hearing her mother's voice. She goes downstairs to see her father trying to kill a rat in the kitchen. Woody then tells her that it is all right to cry, saying that even Clinton has cried. Troy concludes that it is good that her mother's suffering has ended.


title: Crooklyn

text: As the summer ends, the Carmichael family and their friends resume their lives. Troy assumes the matriarch role that Carolyn left behind. Carolyn's spirit continues to visit Troy, praising her for taking on such responsibilities.


title: Crooklyn

text: In addition, RuPaul makes his feature film debut playing Connie, a woman customer dancing with another customer at the bodega. While co-screenwriter and actor Joie Susannah Lee is shown in the opening credits as one of the actors, she does not appear in the cast closing credits scroll, though she does appear in the filmmakers closing credits scroll.


title: Crooklyn

text: The concept and story for "Crooklyn" were created by Joie Lee, her first screenplay. She then sold it to her older brother, Spike Lee, to direct and film. There was said to be creative and financial conflict between the siblings (Spike Lee, Joie Lee, and Cinqué Lee), who all were credited as co-writers. Joie Lee had major creative direction in the movie's production through casting and advising actors according to her accounts of her childhood, and even playing the role of Aunt Maxine in the movie.


title: Crooklyn

text: Spike Lee was signed to a multiyear deal with Universal Studios, giving them the first look at buying any of his films, and in March 1993 they approved production for "Crooklyn", which would be the first one made under this deal. Lee co-wrote the script with two of his siblings, basing the story of the mother's illness on their own life experience. Zelda Harris was cast for the role of Troy through an open audition process. For the music in the film, Lee picked all the songs himself, choosing ones from his childhood. The filming took place on location in New York, including Fort Greene Park.


title: Crooklyn

text: During the scenes of the film that take place in the South, the shots were filmed with an anamorphic lens in such a way to give a squeezed appearance, illustrating the alienated feelings Troy was having in a place very strange to her. During the original run of the film, audience members were confused by these squeezed images, assuming there was some kind of technical error, so the studio put up signs in the theaters to explain the effect was intentional.


title: Crooklyn

text: "Crooklyn" depicts themes of black girlhood and coming of age through the narrative of Director, Spike Lee's sister, Joie Lee, and her own story of growing up with brothers in Brooklyn. The story of "Crooklyn" also focuses on themes of loss, family, nostalgia, memory, youth, and the black experience.


title: Crooklyn

text: Lee uses elements of docufiction and a character-driven plot to showcase the everyday life of a family in New York. He considers the movie to be more of a reflection and break-down of what was experienced to the extent of Joie, Cinque, and his own understanding as children. The film focuses on the emotional and literal details of family life through depictions of various nuances from Troy's perspective. Film critics further mention how "Crookyln" depicts themes of change and connection, that can come with the death of someone close, as exhibited in the film when Carolyn dies and relationships and  dynamics shift in the Carmichael household and beyond.


title: Crooklyn

text: "Crooklyn" premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival on May 12, 1994. It was released to theaters in May 1994, and debuted at number three at the box office.


title: Crooklyn

text: When the film was released, Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" wrote, "Messy as the semiautobiographical "Crooklyn" often is, it succeeds in becoming a touching and generous family portrait, a film that exposes welcome new aspects of this director's talent." "Variety's" Todd McCarthy called the film "both annoying and vibrant, casually plotted and deeply personal," adding that it "ends up being as compelling as it is messy". Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars, stating, "Lee's wonderful opening title sequence shows the children's street games that flourished in Brooklyn in the 1970s. Today, he says, those games have died, and he had to teach them to the actors who played the children. They have died because the kids in comparable neighborhoods today are afraid to go outside and play in the streets. "Crooklyn" is not in any way an angry film. But thinking about the difference between its world and ours can make you angry, and I think that was one of Lee's purposes here."


title: Crooklyn

text: In a 2018 "Variety" article looking back on Lee's filmography, Joe Leydon ranked "Crooklyn" at ninth place: "At once street smart and sweetly sentimental, this warmly nostalgic coming-of-age drama could be described as a Spike Lee movie for people who normally dislike Spike Lee movies." As of April 2022, "Crooklyn" holds a rating of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 32 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "A personal project that warmly reflects on Spike Lee's childhood, "Crooklyn" is an episodic celebration of family and the inedible facets of one's hometown".


title: Crooklyn

text: In the 2017 "One Film, One New York" contest, New Yorkers selected the film for free, simultaneous screenings across all five New York City boroughs.


title: Billie Jean Horton

text: Billie Jean Horton (née Jones; born June 6, 1933) is an American country-music singer-songwriter and former music promoter who is best known for her high profile marriages, first to iconic country musician and singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1952 until 1953 and subsequently to singer Johnny Horton from 1953 until 1960.


title: Billie Jean Horton

text: Horton was the daughter of a police chief from Bossier City, Louisiana. She divorced her first husband Harrison Eshleman when she was introduced to Hank Williams by her then-boyfriend, country singer Faron Young. They married in a private ceremony in Minden, Louisiana on October 18, 1952, then repeated their vows before sold-out audiences at two Williams concerts at the Baton Rouge High School gymnasium and the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was 19 years old at the time of her marriage with Williams.


title: Billie Jean Horton

text: Williams died from heart failure on New Year's Day, 1953, five days before his daughter Jett Williams with Bobbie Jett was born. That September, she married country singer Johnny Horton and became important in promoting his career. They had two daughters, Yanina and Melody, and Horton adopted her daughter Jeri Lynn. Horton died on 5 November 1960, in a traffic collision with a truck, widowing Billie Jean a second time. She then worked as a recording artist; her record "Ocean of Tears" hit the country top 40 in 1961. She had a relationship with Johnny Cash (while he was still married to his first wife, Vivian Liberto). Later she married insurance executive Kent Berlin, whom she subsequently divorced.


title: Billie Jean Horton

text: In 1971, a judge ruled that despite her divorce from Eshleman not being finalized before her wedding with Williams, she entered the marriage in good faith and thus their union was entitled to a presumption of validity.


title: Billie Jean Horton

text: Horton became known for her energetic efforts on behalf of the reputations and estates of both of her famous husbands. As of 2016, she resides in an assisted-living facility and her three daughters live in Shreveport.


title: Billie Jean Horton

text: Horton is portrayed by actress Maddie Hasson in the 2015 biopic film about Hank Williams' life titled "I Saw the Light", based on "Hank Williams: The Biography".


title: Baltic Way

text: The Baltic Way (, , ) or Baltic Chain (also "Chain of Freedom") was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning across the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which at the time were occupied and annexed by the USSR. The central government in Moscow considered the three Baltic countries constituent republics of the Soviet Union.


title: Baltic Way

text: The demonstration originated in "Black Ribbon Day" protests held in the western cities in the 1980s. It marked the 50th anniversary of the 23 August 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, in which Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania were (as "spheres of influence") divided between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The Soviet-Nazi pact led to the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 and the Soviet invasion and occupation of the Baltic countries in June 1940.


title: Baltic Way

text: The 1989 event was organised by the Baltic pro-independence movements: "Rahvarinne" of Estonia, the "Tautas fronte" of Latvia, and "Sąjūdis" of Lithuania, to draw global attention by demonstrating a popular desire for independence and showcasing solidarity among the three nations. It has been described as an effective publicity campaign, and an emotionally captivating and visually stunning scene.


title: Baltic Way

text: The event presented an opportunity for the Baltic activists to publicise the Soviet rule and position the question of Baltic independence not only as a political matter, but also as a moral issue. The Soviet authorities responded to the event with intense rhetoric, but failed to take any constructive actions that could bridge the widening gap between the Baltic republics and the rest of the Soviet Union. Seven months after the protest Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare independence.


title: Baltic Way

text: After the Revolutions of 1989, 23 August has become an official remembrance day both in the Baltic countries, in the European Union and in other countries, known as the Black Ribbon Day or as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.


title: Baltic Way

text: The Soviet Union denied the existence of the secret protocols to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, even though they were widely published by western scholars after surfacing during the Nuremberg Trials. Soviet propaganda also maintained that there was no occupation and that all three Baltic states voluntarily joined the Union – the People's Parliaments expressed people's will when they petitioned the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union to be admitted into the Union. The Baltic states claimed that they were forcefully and illegally incorporated into the Soviet Union. Popular opinion was that the secret protocols proved that the occupation was illegal.


title: Baltic Way

text: Such an interpretation of the Pact had major implications in the Baltic public policy. If Baltic diplomats could link the Pact and the occupation, they could claim that the Soviet rule in the republics had no legal basis and therefore all Soviet laws were null and void since 1940. Such a position would automatically terminate the debate over reforming Baltic sovereignty or establishing autonomy within the Soviet Union – the states never "de jure" belonged to the union in the first place. This would open the possibility of restoring legal continuity of the independent states that existed in the interwar period. Claiming all Soviet laws had no legal power in the Baltics would also cancel the need to follow the Constitution of the Soviet Union and other formal secession procedures.


title: Baltic Way

text: In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, tensions were rising between the Baltics and Moscow. Lithuanian Romualdas Ozolas initiated a collection of 2 million signatures demanding withdrawal of the Red Army from Lithuania. The Communist Party of Lithuania was deliberating the possibility of splitting off from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. On 8 August 1989, Estonians attempted to amend election laws to limit voting rights of new immigrants (mostly Russian workers). This provoked mass strikes and protests of Russian workers. Moscow gained an opportunity to present the events as an "inter-ethnic conflict" – it could then position itself as "peacemaker" restoring order in a troubled republic.


title: Baltic Way

text: The rising tensions in anticipation of the protest spurred hopes that Moscow would react by announcing constructive reforms to address the demands of the Baltic people. At the same time fears grew of violent clampdown. Erich Honecker from East Germany and Nicolae Ceaușescu from Romania offered the Soviet Union military assistance in case it decided to use force and break up the demonstration.


title: Baltic Way

text: On 15 August 1989, official daily newspaper "Pravda", in response to worker strikes in Estonia, published sharp criticism of "hysteria" driven by "extremist elements" pursuing selfish "narrow nationalist positions" against the greater benefit of the entire Soviet Union. On 17 August, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union published a project of new policy regarding the union republics in "Pravda". However, this project offered few new ideas: it preserved Moscow's leadership not only in foreign policy and defense, but also in economy, science, and culture. The project made few cautious concessions: it proposed the republics the right to challenge national laws in a court (at the time all three Baltic states had amended their constitutions giving their Supreme Soviets the right to veto national laws) and the right to promote their national languages to the level of the official state language (at the same time the project emphasised the leading role of the Russian language). The project also included law banning "nationalist and chauvinist organisations," which could be used to persecute pro-independence groups in the Baltics, and a proposal to replace the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR of 1922 with a new unifying agreement, which would be part of the Soviet constitution.


title: Baltic Way

text: On 18 August, "Pravda" published an extensive interview with Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev, chairman of a 26-member commission set up by the Congress of People's Deputies to investigate the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and its secret protocols. During the interview, Yakovlev admitted that the secret protocols were genuine. He condemned the protocols, but maintained that they had no impact on the incorporation of the Baltic states. Thus Moscow reversed its long-standing position that the secret protocols did not exist or were forgeries, but did not concede that events of 1940 constituted an occupation. It was clearly not enough to satisfy the Baltics and on 22 August, a commission of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR announced that the occupation in 1940 was a direct result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and therefore illegal. It was the first time that an official Soviet body challenged the legitimacy of the Soviet rule.


title: Baltic Way

text: In the light of "glasnost" and "perestroika", street demonstrations had been increasingly growing in popularity and support. On 23 August 1986, Black Ribbon Day demonstrations were held in 21 western cities including New York, Ottawa, London, Stockholm, Seattle, Los Angeles, Perth, and Washington, DC to bring worldwide attention to human rights violations by the Soviet Union. In 1987, Black Ribbon Day protests were held in 36 cities including Vilnius, Lithuania. Protests against the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact were also held in Tallinn and Riga in 1987. In 1988, for the first time, such protests were sanctioned by the Soviet authorities and did not end in arrests. The activists planned an especially large protest for the 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1989. It is unclear when and by whom the idea of a human chain was advanced. It appears that the idea was proposed during a trilateral meeting in Pärnu on 15 July. An official agreement between the Baltic activists was signed in Cēsis on 12 August. Local Communist Party authorities approved the protest. At the same time several different petitions, denouncing Soviet occupation, were gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures.