Cancer Fears Me: Putting A Positive Spin On A Negative Diagnosis
April 21, 2008
“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 in and day out. “What’s going to happen, how quickly is it going to spread?” It’s hard to even imagine, let alone happen to a child. Continue reading Cancer Fears Me: Putting A Positive Spin On A Negative Diagnosis
Cops and Bloggers Part II: The Dagger Double-Teams Ed Norris on WHFS
April 18, 2008
UPDATE: Did you listen in? Tell us what you thought about Cindy and Mark’s appearance on The Ed Norris Show!
Back by popular demand, The Dagger will venture into the WHFS 105.7 FreeFM studios Friday, April 18 for its second appearance on the Ed Norris Show.
This time around, exactly three months from our last appearance on the the Ed Norris Show, it will be Cindy and Mark representing The Dagger as part of the panel for the popular Friday news Roundtable discussion.
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. Continue reading Cops and Bloggers Part II: The Dagger Double-Teams Ed Norris on WHFS
A Guilty Catholic’s Hope For How The Pope Can Change The World
April 18, 2008
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 believe in God. I believe in the teachings in the Bible. Do I follow them to the letter? No, because to err is human and I am very human.
The Catholic Church is not what it used to be. The good intentions are there and there are a lot of good priests and parishioners left, but the scandals and politics get in the way. It has been like that for too long. The messages and teachings in the Bible are weighed down and drowned out by the structure and unadapted rules of the church. That is what causes people like me to drift away from attending mass every Sunday (heck, even every day… that is how it used to be). Continue reading A Guilty Catholic’s Hope For How The Pope Can Change The World
There’s a Doctor in the House: Ron Paul Visits Goucher College
April 17, 2008
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 Monday night, was as hot a commodity as any concert ticket could have been. There was a line formed next to will-call for those not having a ticket but hoping that all of the tickets may not have been spoken for. Continue reading There’s a Doctor in the House: Ron Paul Visits Goucher College
I Have Seen The Future Of Harford, And It’s Going To Snow! A Recent History Of The City of Aberdeen’s Internet Presence
April 16, 2008
“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… Continue reading I Have Seen The Future Of Harford, And It’s Going To Snow! A Recent History Of The City of Aberdeen’s Internet Presence
“Take Your Child To Work Day” gets a no go from Superintendent Haas
April 15, 2008
“Take Your child To Work Day”… seems like an easy concept. I can remember as a child I looked forward to the fact that my mom, a speech pathologist in the school system, would take my sisters and I to work on that special day.
The whole day was so cool right down to eating lunch in the classroom and using the faculty restroom. Wow, we were easily pleased. We saw all that the ‘big bad’ world had to offer and that our mother was something other then ‘mommy.’ She was someone that taught and was important to others as well. I can remember marveling at the teachers and then returning home to play school.
Now, that very same “Take Your child To Work Day” is considered an UNLAWFUL ABSENCE. I have a real problem with that.
Our eldest daughter has been asking about this day for years and now that she’s old enough to understand the concept and follow directions safely, she will not be able to attend work with her father on Thursday, April 24th. Continue reading “Take Your Child To Work Day” gets a no go from Superintendent Haas
Spreading Ink: The Rise of the Suburban Tattoo Parlor in Maryland
April 15, 2008
Growing up in 1980s Harford County, I knew of only two kinds of people who had tattoos - members of the military and members of rebel motorcycle gangs.
Back then, the faded blue and gray images were largely unrecognizable in shape or design. Any lettering had long since bled into an amorphous set of unreadable characters. Tattoos weren’t considered artwork as much as they were branding - an anchor on the arm, an eagle on the back, the initials of a long lost love on the shoulder. It wasn’t pretty, but it was still rare enough that neighborhood children gathered around to gawk when the local biker rolled up his sleeves to work on his hog. It was still ink injected into skin. It was a tattoo.
Today, ink is everywhere. It is becoming rarer, at least in my circles, to meet someone who has a body completely untouched by ink. It’s virtually a requirement for a musician or actor to have some sort of body art done before they reach stardom. There are magazines, reality television shows and web sites devoted entirely to tattoos, the artists who create them and the bodies who serve as the canvas.
Long gone are the days when inked arms were reserved for hardened criminals and punk rockers. Let’s face it, tattoos have gone mainstream and they’re spreading like wildfire through suburbia. Continue reading Spreading Ink: The Rise of the Suburban Tattoo Parlor in Maryland
Packing Heat and Painting Keisters: The Paintballer’s Guide to Vengeance
April 10, 2008
Picture your “favorite” politician in his bulging green Under Armour, protecting his house. Or a boss that just doesn’t seem to listen, let alone care. Picture the ignorant speedster who just cut you off on I-95 south, cell phone permanently affixed to their ear. Picture for just a moment, anyone who has wronged you or plucks your nerves.
Now picture yourself in an open field, you’ve got an automatic weapon in your hand, loaded, target at the ready. Focus. Steady. Aim. Fire. Splat…a rainbow of bright color bursts upon impact. Got em! Finally, ah-yes, picture that person’s keister, painted in neon. Damn, that feels good.
That’s why I play paintball. I’m not a gun-lover or a member of the NRA. In fact, when I was 8 or 9 years old my brother Jimmy accidentally shot me in the eye at close range with his BB gun. He got the belt and I got a Dairy Queen buster-bar. I don’t like guns. They scare me. What I do like is paint-ball. And I own a paintball gun. It’s done wonders for the gamer in me, as well as that part of my soul that exacts such cold and calculated revenge. Continue reading Packing Heat and Painting Keisters: The Paintballer’s Guide to Vengeance
The Iraq Conflict by the Numbers
April 9, 2008
4,023: The number of dead U.S. G.I.s and Marines as of 04.07.08 http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/
296,281: The number of U.S. wounded as of 04.07.08 http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/
1,194,935: Iraqi deaths due to U.S Invasion http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
3,884: The number of dead U.S. G.I.s and Marines since “Mission Accomplished” http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/
$506 Billion: Cost of Iraqi Conflict http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home
$341.4 Million: Cost of Iraqi conflict per day http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home
Continue reading The Iraq Conflict by the Numbers
Glengarry (Wetlands Redux): Aberdeen Considers a Softer, Gentler 500-acre Annexation Request
April 2, 2008
Take the Aberdeen Annexation Survey and let them know what concerns you the most!
The Aberdeen Planning Commission will entertain a request next week for the city to annex the nearly-500-acre Glengarry Community, which is basically a rebranding of the already-once-defeated Wetlands Golf Course property annexation attempt - minus a key group of Locksley Manor residents.
Before addressing the planning commission next week, the development team, led by engineering firm KCI Technologies, will present their annexation proposal in Aberdeen City Hall on Wednesday, April 2 during a 6:30 p.m. community input meeting.
It remains to be seen how the new look city hall, helmed by Mayor Mike Bennett and his chief booster Art Helton, will deal with the return of the annexation request, which was largely responsible for booting former mayor S. Fred Simmons from office and ushering Bennett into his seat.
In anticipation of the community meeting, Wetlands/Glengarry development partner Chris Michel issued a letter through KCI to select property owners, apprising them of the situation, informing them of Wednesday’s meeting and also presenting a questionnaire regarding citizen opinions in specific areas: Continue reading Glengarry (Wetlands Redux): Aberdeen Considers a Softer, Gentler 500-acre Annexation Request
