内容摘要：" was thought to refer to a person with both male and female physical characteristics (which is what we would now call intersex—more on that later).

" was thought to refer to a person with both male and female physical characteristics (which is what we would now call intersex—more on that later).

"But, ma'am, we're just about there. Arrangements have been made."Cole sees Maddy shift into commander-in-chief mode. Cool. Crisp. Decisive. "You've got a phone," she says. "Make new arrangements."

They're getting out!" Ron grabs my sleeve.Sure enough, I hear the slamming of heavy car doors and see movement at the front of the courthouse steps. The Secret Service is scrambling to clear a path to the podium."That takes some brass ones!" Ron calls to me above the rising noise.

A ring of dark suits surrounds President Wright and her broad-shouldered husband.The president walks up the wide steps and pivots to the podium. The crowd surges forward. Cops push back. Secret Service agents watch the sea of faces. And hands. Especially the hands. Looking for weapons.

President Wright squeezes her husband's arm just before she leans into the microphones. "Ladies and gentlemen, my dear friends, I will make this short and to the point."

I hear her voice echo across the parking lot. She pauses after each phrase to let the words sink in.After not making it to the finale on

went home and developed a new danger act, so they could return to thestage just in time for the show’s landmark 20th season with its new composite of judges:

Their initial Messoudi Brothers act was a balancing act, not knives, and this time around only two of the three brothers competed --“There are still three of us,” Soffien explained, “We left our brother at home. He decided to sit this one out because he has two children at home and he does some time off every now and then. We still work together but we are trying something new that’s quite a lot more dangerous than what we did last time.”