Dignity

Under a printed head scarf and the warm sun, Candice Abdal-Rahim served hundreds of strangers food and drink that she could not sample until sundown. She was observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan by fasting and performing an act of charity at the annual Day of Dignity, a national effort organized by Islamic Relief and the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Serving others "makes the day go quicker," said Abdal-Rahim, a city schools administrator. This was the fifth year the Day of Dignity, marked in 22 cities over 10 different weekends, was observed in Baltimore.

Dignity Players caps its 2011 season with Del Shores' 1996 comedy "Sordid Lives," about a dysfunctional Texas family that could compete in sleaze and shock with most reality TV show stars — and beat them all in laughs. In his program statement, Dignity's artistic director, Mickey Lund, reminds us that the company's message of tolerance, love and acceptance is evident here, although "its delivery is much more light-hearted and fun than you may be accustomed to at Dignity Players.

MY WIFE Lydia died last June. She had been fighting cancer off and on for 10 years.During that time, Lydia fought bravely to keep living through various complex treatments and their aftermath. As her condition worsened, her last hope was for a bone marrow transplant. She badgered her doctors to "keep the faith."Finally the doctors told her that there was nothing more they could do. A transplant was no longer possible, and she should expect death soon.Since she was quite uncomfortable, she told her doctors that she was ready to die. She had already lived a full year beyond anyone's expectation.

The Transportation Security Administration could scarcely have bought itself worse publicity than the recent revelation that a 95-year-old wheelchair user, a late-stage cancer patient, received a security pat-down and was ordered to remove her adult diaper by TSA agents in Florida. The thought that this poor woman who is so unlikely to pose a serious threat to anyone would face such indignity is painful just to think about. She was, according to her daughter who filed a complaint with federal authorities last week, simply trying to get from Florida to Michigan in order to spend her final days with relatives.

LAS VEGAS -- The horrible moment lives on, as it will for the rest of his days, in the mind of Evander Holyfield."I thought it must be a nightmare, that if I woke up, it would just go away," he once said of that moment in the summer of 1984, when he was kicked out of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.In a semifinal bout of the light-heavyweight division, Holyfield was administering a beating to New Zealander Kevin Barry when, during an exchange, the Yugoslav referee, Bligorije Novicic, yelled, "Stop!"

I WAS BORN with a muscular-dystrophy-related disease, and your Labor Day telethons have always turned my stomach. I actually appeared on one in the late 1960s, as the Muscular Dystrophy Association poster-child for the New York metropolitan area. t as a child: Despite your undoubtedly honorable intentions, you are sadly misinformed about disabilities. Moreover, you are misleading the able-bodied population while offending the rest of us.You and your organization have done much good, and I myself have benefited from your financial resources.

Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, opening at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis next week, reminds us how social injustice destroyed the most celebrated playwright of his era. Dignity Players, whose mission is to shed light on social issues and promote individual self-worth, confronts homophobia in its production of Moises Kaufman's play. In 2004, Sue Struve, Bryan Barrett and Mickey Handwerger founded the all-volunteer theater component of the church's Arts in the Woods program.

Founded on belief in the inherent dignity of everyone, Dignity Players begins its fifth season at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis continuing its mission of presenting plays that focus on social justice. This season's opening production of Arab-American playwright Yussef El Guidi's Back of the Throat illustrates the effects of the U.S. Patriot Act on Arab-American citizens. In this dark, sometimes comic drama examining post 9/11 attitudes toward Muslims, protagonist Arab-American writer Khaled is visited by two initially friendly but puzzling government officials, who become menacingly probing and later abusive toward an astonished Khaled, who discovers that he is the focus of a government inquiry into his alleged terrorist ties.

MARIETTA, Ga. -- As his colleagues in Washington debated President Clinton's fate, House Speaker Newt Gingrich played host yesterday to a farewell town hall meeting in his district that combined effusive tributes for Gingrich with seething denunciations of Clinton.At both his forum at Walton High School and at a news conference, Gingrich maintained his distance from the details of the impeachment process, which he has bequeathed to his successor, Rep. Bob Livingston, and to Rep. Henry Hyde, chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Bush wouldn't save Social Security or White House's dignity I was disappointed to read of Texas Gov. George W. Bush's announcement of his plan to divert resources from the Social Security system into individual investment accounts ("Bush plan lets workers invest some payroll tax," May 16). The future of Social Security is of overwhelming importance to working families, and the real, but manageable, financing challenges faced by this program deserve serious proposals for action. Unfortunately, Mr. Bush seems to believe it's enough to issue vague pronouncements that promise much, but tell us nothing about the costs and consequences of his dangerous and simplistic ideas.

I am thankful that Sen. John McCain has remained steadfast in his belief that torture is wrong, as reported in the Leonard Pitts' column ("Benefits of torture come at too high a price," May 22). I appreciate also that Mr. Pitts highlighted Senator McCain's emphasis that a discussion on the use of torture hinges on whether the end justifies the means, misses the point entirely. Though the senator indicated that the abuse of prisoners sometimes produces good intelligence but that the information provided to stop torture is often misleading, he also said the following: "All of these arguments have the force of right, but they are beside the most important point.

Dignity Players starts 2011 in its tradition of producing minimalist-style plays that contain a strong spiritual and social message. The theme of Dignity's sixth season is "Masked," to indicate the exploration of the many layers of human experience hidden beneath the masks we all wear. The opener of Donald Margulies' 1992 play "Sight Unseen" sets the stage well with its evolving characters looking inward, struggling with their identities and relationships against a subtext of modern art. Margulies' characters are not particularly likable, but they are enigmatic and honest enough to hold our interest.

Today is the 25th anniversary of the nation's commemoration of Rev. Martin Luther King's birthday as a national holiday. At a time when an act of violence has focused the nation's attention on the rancorous nature of political discourse, we remember the most famous oration of a man who brought change through peace. This is the text of the "I have a dream" speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Favre's toughness Dom Amore Hartford Courant This is one debate in which there is no shame in finishing second. But we have to pick one, and for sheer toughness I have to go with the NFL quarterback. To play 162 baseball games over roughly 180 days is very difficult, and few players do it today, even for one season. It's grueling, and even if one is lucky enough to avoid injuries, the fatigue is a formidable obstacle. It's also unnecessary for a baseball player to play every game, the primary reason it's not done much these days.

In 2007, when police busted Rep. Barney Frank's partner for illegally growing pot, Mr. Frank waved away the controversy by saying he hadn't noticed since he's "not a great outdoorsman" and has trouble recognizing any plants. Twenty years earlier, Mr. Frank endured another controversy when his one-time partner, personal aide and roommate was revealed to be running a prostitution service out of Mr. Frank's home. The Massachusetts congressmen insisted he hadn't noticed anything amiss until informed by his landlord.

Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," which is based on events of the 1692 Salem witch trials, will close Dignity Players' sixth season. Director Mickey Lund is leading the troupe's largest cast ever assembled in the play, which is often ranked among the top 20 American plays. The production will close DP's 2010 theme of "Crisis of Faith. " At a recent rehearsal, Lund was coping with the logistics of a large ensemble, and working to make Miller's drama "more accessible. " He planned to modernize the dialogue and eliminate accents to bring the work alive.

Christmas in April adds to its board of directorsShe will be co-chairwoman of the public relations committee and serve on the in-kind committee.Christmas in April gives assistance to the needy, elderly and handicapped in the community by refurbishing their homes to keep them safe and warm and help maintain their independence with dignity.Pub Date: 10/25/98

I am thankful that Sen. John McCain has remained steadfast in his belief that torture is wrong, as reported in the Leonard Pitts' column ("Benefits of torture come at too high a price," May 22). I appreciate also that Mr. Pitts highlighted Senator McCain's emphasis that a discussion on the use of torture hinges on whether the end justifies the means, misses the point entirely. Though the senator indicated that the abuse of prisoners sometimes produces good intelligence but that the information provided to stop torture is often misleading, he also said the following: "All of these arguments have the force of right, but they are beside the most important point.

Under a printed head scarf and the warm sun, Candice Abdal-Rahim served hundreds of strangers food and drink that she could not sample until sundown. She was observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan by fasting and performing an act of charity at the annual Day of Dignity, a national effort organized by Islamic Relief and the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Serving others "makes the day go quicker," said Abdal-Rahim, a city schools administrator. This was the fifth year the Day of Dignity, marked in 22 cities over 10 different weekends, was observed in Baltimore.

Dignity Players has lined up a sumptuous summer theater feast, with the new play "Bloodlines," by local playwright Dan Baum, staged earlier this month, and the coming Stephen Adly Gurgis 2005 play, "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot," now in rehearsal. In "Bloodlines," Baum sets his story during the Passover Seder. Widowed mother Lila (Lisa Gilbert) invites her dead husband's parents, Miriam (Carol Cohen) and Herb (Edd Miller), to help her college student daughter, Sarah (Hallie Garrison)