Welcome all Dagger readers, as well as you who have stumbled here through a search engine or by accident. The Twist is a new feature of The Dagger. Here you will find stories that may not be covered on our main site and are written in more of a blog format. Some posts may be a few words about something cool we found on the web or in the paper. Another post may just be a collection of cool links to check out. You also may hear about our pets, who knows?
Feel free to send us links and stories at tellus@daggerpress.com, and if we share your tip, we’ll be sure to give you credit.
Does anybody out there need a kidney? Sure, it’s not a question you hear everyday, but apparently Iran has a few we could order up if you answered “yes” . What do you say?
Iran is not usually a country we look to in order to draw ideas from, especially fiscally driven ones. But it seems that they have an incredibly successful organ vendor program.
Transplant nephrologist Benjamin E. Hippen out of North Carolina recently published a paper called “Organ Sales and Moral Travails: Lessons From the Living Kidney Vendor Program in Iran.”
If you are shaking your head at this point asking if I am serious, indeed I am. Here are some excerpts from Dr. Hippen’s paper…
A long-awaited independent review of the high school reform plan known as CSSRP was provided to the Board of Education by Leadership Capacity, Inc. at the board’s work session Monday, April 21st in Bel Air. The board received a 300-page report reiterating many of the issues brought to the board’s attention by teachers, parents, students and administrators as far back as 2005.
Particular interest was sparked by focus group reports indicating a low level of support among teachers for many aspects of CSSRP ranging from the block schedule to the mandatory class “Living in a Contemporary World”.
Board president Tom Fidler wasted no time concluding that this reflected of a “failure of leadership” on the part of Superintendent Jackie Haas and senior staff members Dave Volrath and Gerry Scarborough.
This article marks the first of many to come. Prepare yourself, because my long dreamed about fantasy has become a reality: writing wine reviews. With the assistance of Wine World in Abingdon, I will be bringing you my opinions on wines from around the world. And as every first article needs a starting point, I have mine: Bodegas Alma Negra, which is a red blend of malbec and bonarda from the Mendoza region in Argentina.
At first smell, the wine gives off an oaky and deep cherry aroma. Being a person who seldom enjoys heavy oaks in my wine, I became a bit skeptical. But once the first sip entered my mouth and danced around my taste buds, my eyebrows perked up and a smile quickly took shape. This is an exceptional wine. The oaky and heavy cherry aromas trick you into thinking this will be a strong drink ...Continue Reading
Unless you were born and raised in the area, spent some time in the Boy Scouts or like to burn away your weekends cruising the twisting back roads of Harford County, chances are you’ve never heard of Tabernacle Road. It’s really not much of a road – just a winding gravely path through the woods near the Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation – but if you’ve ever tried to traverse it you’re not likely to forget the experience.
Tabernacle Road holds the last public ford in Harford County. That is to say, in order to travel across the county roadway from one end to the other requires crossing a body of open water. Rather than channel the bubbling creek under the roadway or building a bridge over the small waterway, the county has instead allowed Tabernacle Road to plunge right through the meandering flow.
“Cancer Fears Me.” These three words strung together have the audacity to put the “C” word in its place. It’s original and pretty simple really: Cancer Fears Me.
Powerful words for a mother of three to come up with as she shuffles her children to and from various activities. This is not just any mother though. This is Sharon Perfetti, Executive Director and co-founder of the Cool Kids Campaign. Her mission and that of the Cool Kids Campaign is about helping and giving. It’s about working with kids who’ve been given a diagnosis of cancer. It’s about always thinking and doing, even if and when that light bulb moment hits her in the car.
“It just came to me. I spend so much time seeing these families and fear is an over-riding emotion,” Perfetti said, lamenting the many concerns and issues that are suddenly thrust upon the families she deals with day ...Continue Reading
The Roundtable segment, which features former Baltimore City top cop, Maryland State Police Commissioner and convicted felon Ed Norris and super-producer Maynard rehashing the hottest stories of the week with Cindy and Mark of The Dagger, will air from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the show’s new afternoon drive-time radio slot.
When I was a kid I remember going to church. I think Christians, despite their current commitment or denomination, remember how impossible it was to sit still in church. It got easier through repetition and maturity. Once you got to be about eight or nine, we all started to pay attention and things got easier. After all, the whole mass was a story with a moral. Say what you will, interpreted correctly the Bible (or Torah, Koran or any other theocratic tome) truly is a great tool to learn from and apply to your life. It teaches lessons.
But as the world has taken leaps and bounds from the “god-fearing” people we once were the whole concept of church can seem a little archaic. That, however, is not an issue to be tackled now. Do I sound like a lapsed Catholic? Well, I guess I could be termed that way. I ...Continue Reading
Standing in line in the Rosenberg Gallery, (the Gallery makes up the lobby for the Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College) I was waiting for a friend. A friend I had made just two weeks earlier at the same venue, while listening to former General Counsel of the U.S. Navy, Alberto Mora.
I was one person of approximately 1,000 people, made up of Goucher Students, young professionals, older couples and blue collar workers of all ages. I saw Jews and Gentiles alike. Young married couples with kids in tow and a few individuals that I guessed to be of Middle Eastern descent. We were all waiting for the same thing. The doors to open to Kraushaar Auditorium so we could begin filing in to hear the speaker.
That person being the Republican Congressman from Texas running for President of the United States, Dr. Ron Paul. The free Ron Paul event at Goucher College ...Continue Reading
“Has hell finally frozen over?” That was my first thought when visiting the City of Aberdeen’s new web site. Of course that may be due to being presented with a header graphic depicting a snow-covered evergreen with Aberdeen’s new slogan, “The Future of Harford”, perhaps a final bit a legacy from the city’s previous mayor.
As promised by the current administration in its transition report, Aberdeen has a fancy new home page. It certainly is a departure from the city’s previous attempts at entering this brave new world. Before we get to the highlights and lowlights of the new site, let’s take a trip down memory lane…
