For Sale: One Kidney, Used But Not Abused

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… Continue reading For Sale: One Kidney, Used But Not Abused

Super Bowl Sunday: Music, Food, Celebrities and, yes, even a little Football

Not a fan of the Patriots? Not a fan of the New York football Giants? Maybe football is just not your thing? Surely you know by now that there are other reasons that people tune in to the ‘big game,’ which airs Sunday on Fox at precisely 6:17 pm. Here is a sampling of some of my faves:

- First and foremost, I have to tell you about one of the greatest days that my husband, Neil, and I shared together. We were fortunate enough to be at the dance when the Baltimore Ravens beat the New York Giants in Tampa at Super Bowl XXXV. Let me tell you something: watching the half-time show was impressive. The performances were good, yes, but what I am really referring to is the construction and deconstruction of the stage on the field and how quickly they got it done.

That year MTV was responsible. After the first half convened and the players went to their locker rooms, the mammoth stadium screens came on and Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler and Chris Rock did pre-recorded skits with some of the musicians featured in the show. This bought time for the stage to get set. The field was dark. We could see all kinds of goings-on (when we weren’t watching the skits). It was amazing because once the show started: lights, camera, action! It was a full-scale production going on. Those girls and guys who worked diligently behind the scenes deserve major props. Continue reading Super Bowl Sunday: Music, Food, Celebrities and, yes, even a little Football

Up in Smoke: A Cigarette-Lover Supports the Maryland Smoking Ban

We’re taught early in our school years that tobacco was first discovered upon European’s adventures to North American Indian territory. Cheek and jowl with its addictive quality, tobacco use quickly went ‘Internationale,’ pretentiously inhaled among the upper classes.

It wasn’t until the late 18th century that smoking was perceived as vulgar by, “the arbiter of high fashion in high society in London, Tunbridge Wells and Bath, George Brummell. Beau Brummell, succeeded in making it unacceptable for nearly 80 years. Then in the 1860’s smoking reemerged, influenced by royalty and the aristocracy.”

Now, nearly a century and a half later, smoking is once again under siege, for reasons unbeknownst to the earlier pretenders of fashion and spiritualistic tradition. Scientific advances, health research and taxations are culminating to produce mixed signals regarding the use of tobacco products. Continue reading Up in Smoke: A Cigarette-Lover Supports the Maryland Smoking Ban

Housing Market of Horrors: A 20-Something’s Guide to Buying a Home

Since the housing market began its dramatic landslide last year, I’ve been pushing my fiancé to buy a house under the impression that this may be the most affordable time for first-time buyers. There’s a lot of real estate out there for sale, most of which has been sitting stagnant for several months. The lenders and agents continue to harp that this is a buyer’s market. And they’re right—it’s the best time to be a buyer if you’re not trying to sell a house first and have 20 percent to put down.

Being 20-Something Today

I’ve learned a lot since I started looking at homes, and one of those lessons is that unless you can put 20 percent down on a house, you’re monthly mortgage is going to be painful. There isn’t a lot of incentive for young people just getting started to do anything other than rent, because renting is still much cheaper here in Maryland. Everyone tells me that I’m throwing my money away on the apartment I live in, and I know in the long run it’s true. What those people don’t realize is how hard it is for a young couple to afford a mortgage these days.

More and more kids are attending college, and not all of those kids have rich parents to pay off the debt that builds while in school. I’m pretty lucky, but not lucky enough. I had a $10,000 scholarship, and the rest of my debt was split between my parents and me. I worked part-time between classes, and after I got a decent job with my B.A., I started making payments on the other half of my debt. Five years later and I’m still hurting enough that when I looked at the mortgage estimate the broker gave me, I cringed. Continue reading Housing Market of Horrors: A 20-Something’s Guide to Buying a Home

The Liberal Press: More myth than fact

The MoBseen: Observations as seen through the eyes of Mark

The Liberal Press.  A moniker used to describe America’s media.  Media of all sorts; radio, print media, and TV and the Internet.  For years I’ve wondered how this term came to describe the media and reporting in the United States.

In my mind, it flew in the face of what I saw and heard and read on a daily basis.  The likes of Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter, Imus, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Martha Zoller, Pat Buchanan, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck and a laundry list of other talk show hosts are widely syndicated, very popular and all very conservative.

Many, such as Limbaugh, Imus and Coulter, to name a few,  have become media icons. Very recognizable, syndicated in dozens of cities and consequently very rich.  Many of these conservative talk show hosts also write columns in major market newspapers, are guests on TV news shows, are active in the world of blogging and all have their own web sites devoted to their point of view. They all have access to worldwide media that allows them to state their point of view. Continue reading The Liberal Press: More myth than fact

Horse Racing in Maryland, a $2 Billion Industry? Wanna bet?

The MoBseen: Life’s observations as seen through the eyes of Mark.

We, the voters of the Free State, will have the chance to vote on slots coming to Maryland.

Current polling by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies and the Washington Post Polling suggest that Maryland residents are in favor of Maryland slots and those favoring slots continue to outnumber those opposing slots. The question remains of course, where to put the parlors and who will be the beneficiary of the millions generated by this new gambling.

I should point out to those opposed to Maryland slots that we already have gambling in Maryland and on a very broad scale; We have The Lottery, Lotto, The Daily Pick 3, The Daily Pick 4, (twice a day!) Bonus Match 5, Mega Millions, Multi Match, Racetrax, Maryland Hold’em, Keno, Scratch-Offs, and of course horse racing. We also have Off Track Betting (OTB) and XpressBet.

The fact is, we have no shortage of vehicles to separate money from man and woman here in the Free State! These, of course, are all state-ordained gambling games. This in addition to all of the illegal numbers that are run everyday and the illegal slot machines in bars throughout the state, bingo nights at churches, VFWs and fire halls (these licensed by the State) and of course the office pools during March Madness.

The politicians, led by the both Governors Ehrlich and O’Malley, have and are supporting slots. This in itself is not what puzzles me, it’s the justification that is used to “sell” the slots to the constituents. Continue reading Horse Racing in Maryland, a $2 Billion Industry? Wanna bet?

From Blitzkrieg to Voltron; Local CEO Plans European Domination

Sitting through a State of the Company address when you work for a successful corporation can be interesting and off-putting at the same time. Just recently I was privy to one of these gatherings. And over the span of four hours, my demeanor gradually transitioned from bored to appalled.

As most CEOs like to start out, this particular head honcho decided to crack a few jokes. None were interesting enough to remember, but all of his cronies laughed, as I am sure they were instructed to. Finances, product changes, future plans and the history of the company were all covered in great length, hence the four hours. But my eyes were prompted to grow wide in shock when a few points were hit:

Shock Point #1: One of the CEO’s right-hand men proclaimed that the company is planning on changing the cultural landscape of Europe and steamrolling across the continent. This comment struck a chord in my brain and I was reminded of a German-style military tactic called the Blitzkrieg. I turned to a co-worker on my right and inquired, “what is this the Third Reich?” He looked back at me with the same wide-eyed expression I adorned and said, “I was just about to say the same thing.” Continue reading From Blitzkrieg to Voltron; Local CEO Plans European Domination