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January 3, 2013

Book Review: Zak Cope, “Divided World, Divided Class: Global Political Economy and the Stratification of Labour Under Capitalism”

Posted in Book Review, Class Struggle, Economics, History, Imperialism, Politics, Social-Democracy, Theory, Trade tagged , , , , , , , at 02:16 by Matthijs Krul

There are times when one encounters a book that is frustrating in a way particular to the intellectual life: that is to say, when one encounters a book that is precisely the book one wanted to write. Given the relative obscurity of my interests, this does not happen often to me, but Zak Cope’s Divided World, Divided Class is precisely one of these. I have harboured plans for the longer term to write a book on the history of the labour aristocracy and its interrelationship with the rise of social-democracy as the political expression of the imperialist rent required for the maintenance of that class, with all the necessary economic and historical detail; in fact, I almost undertook this as my PhD subject. If I had done so, I might well have been embarrassed. Cope has done just this, even up to much of the same bibliography I had had in mind! Be that as it may; these reflections are not to make myself seem important, but to underline the value I think this book has, being the only one of its kind and a real historical contribution to the critique of political economy under capitalism.

Cope’s book is a milestone in the current of Marxist political economy known as “Third Worldism”, that is to say, in developing an honest and realistic understanding based in Marxist value theory of what in the wider literature is called the divergence question: the long-standing division of the world between a small number of rich countries where even the working class has incomes in the top 10-20% of the world population, and a much larger number of poor countries lagging tremendously behind in all aspects of development. As is well known, this gap grows larger rather than smaller, and significantly from the Marxist point of view, it has led for the first time in world history to the majority of the world population actually being poor urban workers – in these countries. There is among socialists little disagreement as to the reality and significance of this fact. Nor of the corollary, the enormous significance of finding the right economic theory to explain and understand the mechanics of this divergence. Even the ‘well-meaning’ type of neoclassical economist would readily agree to this. As Robert Lucas once famously noted:

Is there some action a government of India could take that would lead the Indian economy to grow like Indonesia’s or Egypt’s? If so, what, exactly? If not, what is it about the’ nature of India’ that makes it so? The consequences for human welfare involved in questions like these are simply staggering: Once one starts to think about them, it is hard to think about anything else.

For this reason it is remarkable with how little seriousness and honesty most Marxist economic theorists have been willing to analyze this subject. There is indeed some excellent Marxist literature in development economics, as exemplified by the works of Ben Fine, Patrick Bond, and others. There is also a wider literature more rooted in Marxisant versions of dependency theory, such as Samir Amin and Arghiri Emmanuel. These already go much further in trying to analyze not just the perpetuation of differences in wealth by immediate policies of imperialism and expropriation, but to also understand the historical reproduction of class relations corresponding to the phenomenon of global divergence. For this reason, perhaps, those authors are already somewhat marginal within Marxist economic theory. Generally it has been very acceptable to the various Marxist parties and political currents to expound upon the evils of imperialism and war and the poverty of the Third World, but it has been much less acceptable to try and understand those “mechanics” underlying this divergence, never mind the political conclusions to be drawn from these facts themselves. This threatens the political viewpoint of most intellectual Marxists, rooted in the politics of students and workers in the First World countries; those conclusions may not be compatible with that viewpoint, and it is hard to ignore the feeling that at some level this is sensed by many Marxist economists. Do not explore too far in this direction, they seem to say: for there be dragons.

It is therefore to the immense credit of Zak Cope (this may or may not be pseudonym) that he has done so regardless of the political consequences or palatability of this research for the Marxist mainstream in the West. Indeed, once one starts thinking about the perpetuation of divergence, the ever-declining interest in revolution and support for a meaningful socialism among First World workers, the rise of social-democracy as the ‘consensus’ of the First World even up to the neoliberal era, the logic of settler states and the inherent ‘workers’ chauvinism’ associated with them and the reproduction of similar ideas among the working classes of Old Europe in response to immigration; in short, all the unpleasant realities of Marxism today and one then notices how all these are contrary to the expectations of mainstream Marxist political thinking but entirely compatible with the Third Worldist perspective, one has a very strong case to be explained indeed. Cope does just this with great vigour and relentless scientific seriousness. What J. Sakai had done for American settlerism in Settlers, this Cope does more extensively and more scientifically for the position of the working class of the rich countries as a whole.

Cope’s case runs, briefly summarized, as follows. The imperialism of the Western countries (broadly taken), enabled initially by the plunder and exploitation of the Americas and continued by the increases in wealth, power, and technology enabled by these, have over time created the potential for systematic transfers of surplus value from the ‘imperialized’ ‘periphery’ to the imperialist ‘center’. These transfers then not only allow a great blossoming of labor in the countries of the center that is not immediately productive of capital, because it is compensated for by the external value transfers, but more importantly it permits the ruling classes of the center to buy off the exploited working class of the center with the proceeds of this imperialist rent. This labor aristocracy, so formed, then no longer fulfils the one special role the working class has in Marx and Engels’ theory of historical materialism: namely, to be unable to emancipate itself without overthrowing the conditions it itself reproduces with its labour.

In and of itself, this is not a new observation: it is the classic expression of the theory of the labor aristocracy as found in Engels and Lenin, among others. However, the real crux is that Cope then extends this theory by demonstrating, as only the obscure “H.W. Edwards” had done before him, that the natural ideology of the labor aristocracy is social-democracy, and that social-democracy is the means by which the imperialist rent is shared with a wider and wider section of the working class of the center. This First World generalized labor aristocracy thereby becomes almost entirely non-exploited in net terms, according to Marx’s theory of value, because the value of the surplus value produced by them is (more than) compensated for in the process of distribution through world trade. That is to say, the imperialist and neo-imperialist unequal exchange between the First World – defined by Cope as roughly the OECD and the non-OECD, excl. Eastern Europe – and the Third constitutes such a vast transfer of surplus value in the sphere of distribution that it permits, through social-democracy, an almost total compensation for the domestic exploitation of the First World working class.

Cope goes into considerable historical and economic detail to support this position. Almost always such a suggestion is immediately dismissed by doctrinaire mainstream Marxists as being impossible, or done away with by a kneejerk reference to the idea that the most productive laborers must be the most exploited. But not only does the theory of labor aristocracy have a considerable Marxist pedigree, as mentioned above, but it is vital to note that Marx himself emphasized that ‘world trade’ itself functions as an exogenous factor of distribution in the model of capitalist exploitation presented in Capital. Already early on, Marx criticizes the inability of Proudhon to take the global division of labor, as produced by world trade, into account, much like many Marxists today:

Mr Proudhon is so far from the truth that he neglects to do what even profane economists do. In discussing the division of labour, he feels no need to refer to the world market. Well! Must not the division of labour in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when there were as yet no colonies, when America was still non-existent for Europe, and when Eastern Asia existed only through the mediation of Constantinople, have been utterly different from the division of labour in the seventeenth century, when colonies were already developed?

And that is not all. Is the whole internal organisation of nations, are their international relations, anything but the expression of a given division of labour? And must they not change as the division of labour changes?

(2) In Capital, too, the modification in the domain of distribution (affecting market prices) is recognized, for example by the classic case of differences in productivity:

But the law of value in its international application is yet more modified by the fact that on the world-market the more productive national labour reckons also as the more intense, so long as the more productive nation is not compelled by competition to lower the selling price of its commodities to the level of their value.

Cope describes at length the formation of various labor aristocracies of settler kind, such as those of the American migrants in the United States (over and against the ‘racially inferior’ populations), of the English settlers in Ireland, and so forth. He describes how communism is subverted among these workers into a chauvinistic form, seeking the benefits of the capitalist system but shared with and among the labor aristocracy itself, not globally or with the lower ranks of the segmented labor market, and how social-democracy is the natural expression of this phenomenon, and fascism the crisis expression of it. (Which, incidentally, ought to do away with the Trotskyist canard about the supposedly evident ridiculousness of the theory of ‘social fascism’ proposed against social-democracy by the Comintern; in fact, this is precisely what social-democracy often is, seen from this global vantage point.) But, even all this accepted, Marx proposes above the usual mainstream Marxist explanation, that is, that differences in productivity and intensity of labour account for the very systematic and extremely widely shared wage differentials between the First World working class and the Third World working class. Merely pointing at imperialism and the remarkable ‘coincidence’ of this differential with the main imperialist countries or their primary trading partners is not enough, nor is historically describing the First World workers’ systematic rejection of revolutionary possibilities in favor of social-democracy, from which they benefit but nobody else. One must demonstrate the economic basis in unequal exchange and in direct exploitation of the Third World of this wage differential.

Cope then comes to the major economic contribution of his book, which is to do just that. Using the widely available statistics on working hours, male workers’ wages in OECD and non-OECD countries, the estimates of value transfer through undervaluation of Third World currencies compiled by Gernot Köhler, the estimates of value-added in production between the First World and the Third, and so forth, Cope makes a clear and convincing case suggesting strongly, although with some room for error, that it is not at all possible to account for the differentiation by productivity differentials only, and in fact that the overwhelming majority of the wage differential is composed of vast transfers of value from the developing countries to the developed ones, distributed there to the Western working class. The means of such transfer are unequal exchange in commodity trade (i.e. deteriorating terms of trade), unequal exchange in currency exchange rates, the substantial and systematic trade deficits of the First World (especially the US), FDI profit repatriation, and so forth.

The author has undertaken extensive statistical analysis of publicly available data from the ILO, World Bank, UN, OECD etc., and therefore cannot be accused of coming up with mere speculative estimates or handwaving it away, as is usually done by mainstream Marxists on this issue. Some may object that one cannot simply measure prices of production adjusted in the market and then conclude value transfers from these, but this misses the point: it is precisely the case that bourgeois measurements such as GDP, total factor productivity and so forth are merely based on existing prices, and therefore do not – as is the point of Marxist value theory – explain the causes and social origins of particular prices prevailing rather than others. Measures such as volume of trade within the First World versus between the First and the Third (the latter being much smaller at present prices) will not do as a common counterargument – they constitute a petitio principii, because it is precisely the low prices and low ‘value’ of the Third World production relative to the First World production that is reflected in such statistics, and that needs explaining in the first place.

It is tragic to note how little attention to these facts has been paid by most Marxist thinkers of the past decades, despite their enormous political and economic consequences. Perhaps this is because it is not very convenient to the outlook and strategy of many Marxist political organizations to acknowledge that the Western working class currently is not revolutionary, and in fact cannot be revolutionary without majorly violating the expectations of Marx and Engels’ theory of historical materialism. This would perhaps explain the systematic failure of many Marxist parties to analyze why they do not and cannot become ‘mass parties’ in the West, and why the ‘mass parties’ that did exist in the West did not make revolution at any point. (Although in being more serious about supporting the so-called ‘really existing socialisms’ elsewhere in the world, the Moscow line parties and ‘Eurocommunists’ were arguably still more useful than the current leading groups.) However, after the publication of this book the ball is in the court of the mainstream in Marxist political economy to do something with this, at the least to analyze it statistically, come up with new theories and new scientific research in this direction, and to not flinch from the conclusions these may offer. Socialism must be scientific or it is nothing, and there can be no partiality towards preconceived notions in science.

All this being said, I have some minor quibbles with the book, which should not detract from the great appreciation I have for its urgency and importance. At times, I fear – like many Third Worldist Marxists – Cope bends the stick somewhat too far. While he appears not to be wholly consistent in this, he suggests at some points in the historical section of the narrative that the labour aristocracy would have been relatively significant on the world stage for Britain and similar countries as early as the 18th century, due to the benefits of imperialism. This seems to me unlikely for two reasons: firstly, because social-democracy is the vehicle for the actual mechanics of ‘dividing the spoils’, and no such system was to be found anywhere but in the racial economy of settler states (including plantation Ireland). Secondly, because we know from refined economic history writing of the last two to three decades that the true ‘modern’ divergence between Europe and the rest of the world begins roughly between 1750-1830, depending on estimates, and reaches its complete form only with the conquest of India and its use as a cudgel to beat China with.

It seems therefore for a process of generalized labor aristocratization, so to speak, to occur, one would have to estimate this no earlier than the late 19th century – after the Berlin Congress, the complete colonization of the world by Europe, and the rise of social-democracy. It is important here for Cope and sympathizers not to bend the stick too far: imperialism as such is as old as the age of the first empires in Mesopotamia, and the mere fact of its presence even on a large scale does not thereby create the divergence nor generate a labor aristocracy. Ancient Rome had a labor aristocracy paid out of imperialist rent, among the plebeians of the capital city, but even this class was not numerous or politically significant enough to systematically alter the class relations underpinning ancient society, and it faded into nothingness.

It is also important to distinguish the particular political economy of settler societies from the larger set of labor aristocratic countries, and to sharpen these distinctions analytically. Cope does not fully do so. It is also for this reason that I disagree somewhat with his reading of Nazi Germany as a form of labor aristocratic imperialism. While Cope mentions the work of Adam Tooze in his footnotes, he does not seem to understand the significance of his work as counteracting Götz Aly’s claims of widespread German benefits from the very start of the Nazi empire. Of course, in Nazi Germany the programme of rearmament and re-industrialization virtually eliminated unemployment and inflation, and this made the fascist rule possible for most of the 1930s. But its basis, as described by Tooze as well as Sohn-Rethel, was not in a labor aristocracy, but in the expansionist sectors of industry, in the Junker class, and in the small and medium farmers, all classes greatly disadvantaged by the relative underdevelopment of Germany among the greater powers. A relative underdevelopment is not a basis for a classic story of labor aristocracy, but the contrary.

In my own three extensive articles outlining a preliminary Marxist political economy of Nazi Germany, I emphasize that the fascist policy of Nazi Germany was not primarily one of a ‘regular’, pseudo-social-democratic labor aristocracy in Germany, but an attempt at creating such a class; and not just that, but in the specific form of a settler society. The programme of colonization and destruction of Eastern Europe for ‘Lebensraum’ is, as Cope rightly notes, simply an application in Europe of the principles of colonial imperialism Europe undertook elsewhere; but he misses the significance of its settler form, which means a necessarily racial policy, a programme of genocide, and so forth. Cope seems to suggest that the Bismarck-Kautsky era had already created a greater labor aristocracy and that otherwise the presence of benefits from war plunder (including of Jewish assets), holidays and so forth pacified the working class of Germany.

I am not so convinced; precisely German relative underdevelopment prevented the full rise of such a labor aristocracy earlier on (hence the serious size and potential of the KPD, the various revolutionary moments, etc.), and the Nazi programme to create one was truncated by the war. It seems it was mainly a combination of repression, conscription, and the benefits of being employed in positions superior to the POWs and ‘undesirables’ that made large-scale working class resistance to the Nazis unfeasible until late in the war, but this only shows a settler society that failed to form, not one in real existence. More research is certainly needed into a serious Marxist explanation of this phenomenon, beyond opportunistic use of Götz Aly alone. The rise in the standard of living of Germans was in this way purely contingent on the first few war years and failed to materialize in a substantive way; in fact the rather austere ‘ordoliberalism’ of the Erhard period did more for post-fascist West German living standards, thanks to American value transfers(!), than the Nazi period ever did. It does, of course, all the more underline the great significance of destroying this attempt at creating the ultimate, perfect settler society in the heart of the imperialist center itself, an ultra-empire; and therefore the correctness of the Communist policy of ‘suspending the class struggle’ in favor of the anti-fascist effort.

Finally, Cope does not wholly avoid the common notion among Third Worldist Marxist writers (for example in LLCO) that the economic analysis as such necessarily generates a set of strategic political concerns. While it is certainly the case that these conclusions have major consequences for the evaluation of the possibility of revolution in Western countries, it does not follow, for example, that one must put an undifferentiated ‘anti-imperialism’ on the agenda as the only or main concern of all Marxist activity. Not that this is wrong per se, but one simply cannot make the leap from historical and political-economic analysis to strategy in this way, nor so close off the debate about the possible avenues of further political understanding. Just as the Trotskyists have a habit of reading clichéd conclusions about ‘socialism from below’ based on the experience of the Russian Revolution into every historical or economic analysis, so the Third Worldists tend to read into every event the necessity for Western Marxists to verbally or politically prop up any figure or group in the Third World that presents itself as ‘anti-imperialist’, however implausible; and this I do not think needs follow from accepting the conclusions of this critique of political economy.

These minor points being made, I cannot recommend this book strongly enough to all open-minded Marxists and people interested in development questions. Occasionally the prose is somewhat rote, but the points are extremely important and made with all scientific seriousness and are the fruit of an impressive amount of research and statistical calculation. In the current period, the capitalist classes of the First World seem inclined to go more and more against the historic compromise of social-democracy, and the social-democracy is therefore declining in historical vigour proportionally to the shift of capitalist production from the First to the Third World in search of lower wages and higher profits, pressured by ever-accumulating private debt. This death agony of social-democracy seems to me only understandable on the basis of a Third Worldist analysis as outlined in this book, if one does not want to fall back into unsatisfying and intellectually lazy clichés about “false consciousness”, “hegemony”, media dominance and whatnot to explain the current global political constellation. Nepal makes revolution while no British communist group has more than 3000 members, China and India ‘develop’ along capitalist lines because the Western working class has lived at their expense – that is the reality we must explain today. Divided Word, Divided Class is neither more nor less than an application to our time of the analysis Friedrich Engels made of the British working class in 1883, the year of Marx’s death:

Do not on any account whatever let yourself be deluded into thinking there is a real proletarian movement going on here. I know Liebknecht tries to delude himself and all the world about this, but it is not the case. The elements at present active may become important since they have accepted our theoretical programme and so acquired a basis, but only if a spontaneous movement breaks out here among the workers and they succeed in getting control of it. Till then they will remain individual minds, with a hotch-potch of confused sects, remnants of the great movement of the ‘forties, standing behind them and nothing more. And–apart from the unexpected–a really general workers’ movement will only come into existence here when the workers are made to feel the fact that England’s world monopoly is broken.

Participation in the domination of the world market was and is the basis of the political nullity of the English workers. The tail of the bourgeoisie in the economic exploitation of this monopoly but nevertheless sharing in its advantages, politically they are naturally the tail of the “great Liberal Party,” which for its part pays them small attentions, recognises trade unions and strikes as legitimate factors, has relinquished the fight for an unlimited working day and has given the mass of better placed workers the vote. But once America and the united competition of the other industrial countries have made a decent breach in this monopoly (and in iron this is coming rapidly, in cotton unfortunately not as yet) you will see something here.

(4) This world monopoly is now that of ‘the West’ so-called; and every day it is more broken, while every day the Western working class fights to maintain it. What will we do?

1) Robert E Lucas Jr., “On the Mechanics of Economic Development”, in: Journal of Monetary Economics 22 (1988), p. 3-42. http://www.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/docs/darcillon-thibault/lucasmechanicseconomicgrowth.pdf
2) Karl Marx, Letter to P.V. Annenkov (Dec. 28, 1846). http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1846/letters/46_12_28.htm
3) Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, Ch. 22 http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch22.htm
4) Friedrich Engels, Letter to August Bebel (Aug. 30, 1883). http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1883/letters/83_08_30.htm

  1. Yuriy Dergunov said,

    Many thanks for this review, I have never heard about this book and it seems to be very interesting.
    BTW, are you familiar with John Smith’s PhD dissertation ‘Imperialism and Globalisaton of Production’ which is also an important attempt to provide the value-theory rooted political economy of super-exploitation of the Third World laborers? It is freely available on the web. As I understand he will publish the book on this topic in Monthly Review Press soon.

    • Matthijs Krul said,

      I have heard of him, but did not know it was going to be published soon! Thanks for alerting me.

      • Yuriy Dergunov said,

        It is still not listed on MR Press page, but here’s an information about him from the journal article in July-August issue of MR: “John Smith teaches political economy, human rights, and genocide studies at Kingston University in London. His forthcoming book on imperialism and globalization will be published by Monthly Review Press” http://monthlyreview.org/2012/07/01/the-gdp-illusion

  2. Miss Ann Thrope said,

    McCaine, I miss your posting at SA. And there are still plenty of people there who are well worth engaging, including, as always, a lot of very bright people who otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to anything beyond mainstream economics. We could really use your contribution.

    Please come back when you can.

  3. W (@wgllm) said,

    woah, rly wanna read this and Settlers

  4. kersplebedeb said,

    hey there – i tried sending you an email at the above address, but for some reason it bounced – i was wondering if it would be ok for me to repost your review of DWDC to my blog (http://www.sketchythoughts.blogspot.ca/) and website (www.kersplebedeb.com)?

    i would of course provide links back to you.

    you can let me know at info@kersplebedeb.com

    • Certainly, as long as it has a link & attribution to me, I’d be most pleased.

  5. kersplebedeb said,

    i posted it several weeks ago; you may be interested in a post today by Don Hamerquist, who follows up on several points you brought up in your review: http://sketchythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/02/comments-on-divided-world-from-don.html

  6. Yuriy Dergunov said,

  7. Yuriy Dergunov said,

    Dear Matthijs,

    Could I please ask you if you are familiar with this book and what is your opinion on it? I think it looks interesting.

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STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. -- The 11Alive News Today morning crew received a rousing welcome when it rolled into Stockbridge Friday morning.

The morning show is hitting the road on Fridays throughout the summer, traveling to towns all across metro Atlanta. Stockbridge was the first stop on the tour.

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VIDEO | Famous Henry County residents

Students from a number of schools stopped by City Hall Friday morning to chat with Karyn Greer, Ted Hall, Donna Lowry and Chesley McNeil. The NERDS step team from Pleasant Grove Elementary School performed, as did members of the Eagles Landing Dance Center. Henry County Schools is Stockbridge's biggest employer, and the district has earned national recognition for its top-notch teachers and programs.

VIDEO | Henry County schools earn bragging rights

The city is also home to several unique businesses and locations. Eagles Landing Country Club recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, Piedmont Henry Hospital has turned the county into a medical destination, and customers can learn how to brew beer and make cheese at Barley & Vine.

The morning show will hit the road again next Friday and travel to Paulding County for a live broadcast in Dallas.

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September 1, 2015 : 12:03 pm
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Energy Source Compatibility

Since radiant floor heating has a low operating temperature, a wide range of sources can be used to heat the water –a ground- source heat pump, a condensing or non-condensing boiler, solar or even district heating.

The system is quiet because a properly-sized circulator pump, used to slowly move the water, is almost inaudible. The loudest sound in the system is usually the gas or oil burner.

Unlike conventional forced-air furnaces, radiant floor heating has no ducts or radiators to contribute to dust collection or movement. Note: duct work is required for the mechanical ventilation system or air conditioning.

For residents with allergies, the reduction in dust movement may be beneficial.

McGrath Plumbing and Heating, of Waltham, MA, are experts in the application of radiant heating as well as a variety of plumbing applications.

Please be sure to call Gary McGrath at (781) 893-1193 for email info@McGrathPlumbing.com for expert assistance.

McGrath Plumbing

Plumbing and Heating

Prompt High Quality Work, at a Reasonable Price!

Gary McGrath

tel: (781) 893-1193
or email info@McGrathPlumbing.com

196 Dale Street
Waltham, MA 02451

Fax: (781)373-1925

 McGrath Plumbing

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First Degree Assault Alleged

WEST OCEAN CITY — A West Ocean City man faces first-degree assault and other charges this week after allegedly punching his girlfriend and choking her daughter with a flashlight during a dispute over loud music early last Saturday morning.

Around 6:30 a.m. on July 23, Maryland State Police troopers were dispatched to residence on Keyser Point Rd. for a reported domestic disturbance. The victim told police a verbal confrontation with her boyfriend, Jeffrey M. Hedrick, 41, of West Ocean City, turned physical when the suspect allegedly pulled her hair and bit her ear. The dispute was allegedly over loud music being played.

The victim’s daughter attempted to intervene when Hedrick allegedly pushed her against a wall in the garage and attempted to choke her with a flashlight. The mother and daughter went inside the residence and locked the door. Once he was locked out, Hedrick allegedly began damaging his girlfriend’s property in the garage before leaving on a scooter, according to police reports.

Hedrick returned allegedly intoxicated a short time later and kicked in the front door of the residence and renewed the verbal altercation with his girlfriend in an argument that continued in the front yard. When Hedrick attempted to leave again on the scooter, he allegedly attempted to run over his girlfriend and her daughter.

He then ran back into the garage, grabbed a pool stick and struck the victim’s vehicle. Hedrick was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and malicious destruction of property.

Near Head-On Collision

BISHOPVILLE — A Bishopville woman sustained injuries not believed to be life threatening this week after nearly colliding head-on with another vehicle before veering off into a cornfield.

Around 10 a.m. last Sunday, Maryland State Police troopers responded to a reported two-car accident on Bishopville Rd. near Old Stage Rd. The investigation revealed a vehicle traveling eastbound on Route 367, driven by Kim Hinkley, 45, of Bishopville, crossed the center line and side-swiped another vehicle, narrowly missing a head-on collision.

Hinkley’s vehicle then ran off the roadway and into a cornfield. She was transported to PRMC in Salisbury for treatment of injuries not believed to be life threatening. Charges are pending against Hinkley and alcohol was a factor in the accident, according to police reports.

Undercover Drug Bust

OCEAN CITY — A Charleston, S.C. man was arrested on drug distribution charges last weekend after selling ecstasy and cocaine to OCPD undercover officers in an alleged deal that began on the Boardwalk.

Around 11:45 p.m. last Saturday, Ocean City Police undercover narcotics officers were working a buy-sell detail on the Boardwalk in an attempt to solicit the sale of illegal drugs. The officers approached an individual, later identified as Nehemiah Godfrey, 24, in the area of 4th Street and the Boardwalk and told them they were interested in purchasing marijuana.

Godfrey allegedly told police he did not have any marijuana, but that he had ecstasy for sale.

Godfrey allegedly told police he was selling ecstasy for $20 per pill and asked the undercover officers how many they wanted. The officer agreed to purchase two pills for $40, but Godfrey told police he did not want to conduct the transaction out in the open and asked the undercover detectives to follow him off the Boardwalk.

As the officers followed Godfrey off the Boardwalk to the 4th Street area, the suspect informed police he also had several grams of powder cocaine for sale. The officer told Godfrey he was also interested in purchasing a gram of cocaine and the two ecstasy pills for a total of $100. Godfrey then produced from his pocket a baggie containing alleged powder cocaine the size of a golf ball.

After the transaction was completed, Godfrey parted ways with the undercover officer, who gave the pre-arranged signal to other detectives in the area, who arrested the suspect without incident. Godfrey was charged with two counts of distribution of controlled dangerous substances.

Laptop Computer Swiped

OCEAN CITY — A homeless woman was arrested on first-degree burglary and theft charges last weekend after allegedly swiping a laptop computer from a downtown residence.

Last Saturday, an OCPD officer observed Elizabeth Evie White, 57, of no fixed address, carrying an HP laptop computer that had been reported stolen earlier in the day. When questioned about the laptop, White allegedly changed her story about how it came into her possession three different times. At one point, she told police an unidentified man had given it to her, allegedly saying, “I’m homeless, people give me stuff all the time.”

The officer took the laptop to an area on Caroline Street to meet with the victim who confirmed the computer was his. It was also identified by a faded Element sticker on the outside. The victim told police he was sleeping in a back room of his residence with the door open when someone entered his unit and went through his things. The door to his room was closed when he went to sleep, but it was open when he awoke. That is when the victim realized the laptop computer and around $100 was missing. White was arrested and charged with first-degree burglary and theft.

Two Charged With Pallet Thefts

BERLIN — Two local men were arrested on theft and other charges this week after detectives were able to connect them to the alleged theft of over 3,000 pallets valued at over $17,000 from their former employer, Kelly Foods, in Berlin.

Back in May, Worcester County Sheriff’s deputies responded to Kelly Foods on Old Ocean City Blvd. in Berlin to investigate the theft of pallets from the company’s warehouse. The investigation revealed the company had suffered a substantial loss of the pallets during a period from July 2010 to March 2011 and that two former employees might be involved.

The Worcester County Bureau of Investigation (WCBI) took over the investigation, which revealed a total of 3,060 pallets had been stolen. The company’s accounting department calculated the value of the pallets at $17,595. WCBI identified the suspects as Greg Jay Petersen, 48, of Berlin; and Chad Albert Alana, 40, of Delmar.

Petersen and Alana on Wednesday were charged with theft, theft scheme and conspiracy. A preliminary hearing has been set for August 19.

Late For Work Hit And Run

SNOW HILL — A Salisbury woman was arrested on hit-and-run and other charges last week after running into a Snow Hill police vehicle in the parking lot of the courthouse and leaving the scene.

Last Monday, a broadcast went out describing a vehicle that had just left District Court in Snow Hill and struck a Snow Hill police vehicle causing damage. A short time later, a Worcester County Sheriff’s deputy observed a vehicle matching the description provided heading north on Route 113 just south of Newark.

The vehicle was stopped and the driver, identified as Brittney Jessica Brown, 19, admitted hitting the police car, but told police she was going to be late for work, so she left the scene. A K-9 scan was performed on the vehicle and turned up numerous smoking devices and a small amount of marijuana. Brown had just left court after being found guilty of speeding. Brown was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.

Jewelry Swiped

BERLIN — A Berlin juvenile was arrested last week after police were able to connect him to the theft of a purse containing several pieces of jewelry worth $20,000.

On July 5, Berlin police began an investigation into the theft of a purse from a vehicle. The investigation revealed the victim was the owner and landlord of a property on Broad Street and was in the area collecting monthly rents from tenants. During her time away from her parked vehicle, an unknown suspect or suspects stole her purse containing several pieces of jewelry valued at around $20,000.

Because of the nature of the crime, the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation (WCBI) was brought in to conduct the investigation during which it was learned a 17-year-old juvenile that resided in one of the apartments was involved. Contact was made with the juvenile’s father and a meeting was scheduled to speak with the suspect.

During the interview, the suspect admitted to the theft and all of the stolen items were ultimately recovered and returned to the victim. The juvenile was arrested last Wednesday and charged with theft over $10,000 and under $100,000. He was released to the custody of his father pending a juvenile hearing.

Armed Robber Convicted

SALISBURY — A Hurlock man faces life in prison after a federal jury last week convicted him of the armed robbery of a Food Lion grocery store in Salisbury in November 2009.

Last week, a federal jury found Tyrone Dale, 45, of Hurlock, guilty of armed robbery and related gun charges for the November 2009 robbery of a Food Lion store in Salisbury. Dale, also known as “Slim Dollar,” faces life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years for possession of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Dale also faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for interference with interstate commerce by robbery and 10 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm, which would served consecutive to the sentence in the primary charge. Sentencing is set for Sept. 21.

According to testimony at Dale’s four-day trial, on November 22, 2009, he approached two employees of the Food Lion on Snow Hill Rd. in Salisbury as they were closing the store for the night. Witnesses testified Dale pointed a .12 gauge shotgun at both employees and threatened to kill them if they did not let him into the store.

The employees let Dale into the store and the suspect demanded money from the store’s safe. According to testimony, the employees, fearing for their lives, opened the store safe and Dale stole over $1,800 in small bills and coins. Dale then ordered the employees onto the floor and threatened to kill them if they activated the store’s alarm system before fleeing the scene.

Dale was intercepted by Salisbury Police officers upon leaving the store and was arrested after a brief foot chase. Salisbury Police recovered the shotgun and the proceeds from the robbery during the arrest.

Life For Murder Conviction

SALISBURY — A Salisbury man, convicted in May for the shooting death of a man in a convenience store parking lot last September, was sentenced last week to life in prison plus 25 years.

Last Thursday, a Wicomico County Circuit Court judge sentenced Walik Evans, 26, to life in prison for the shooting death of Devan Walls, 20, also of Salisbury, in the parking lot of a Royal Farms store last Sept. 19. Evans was convicted by a Wicomico jury on May 5 of first-degree murder and eight other charges related to the crime. In addition to the life sentence, the judge sentenced Evans to 25 years to be served consecutively for the eight other convictions.

A little before 3 a.m. last Sept. 19, Salisbury Police responded to the Royal Farms on N. Salisbury Blvd. for a reported shooting. When officers arrived, they found Walls unconscious in the parking lot with several gunshot wounds to his body. Witnesses told police the suspect was leaving in a vehicle and Salisbury Police pursued the vehicle to the area of Fairground Drive, where Evans abandoned the car and fled on foot. He was captured after a substantial foot chase. The victim was transported to PRMC and was pronounced dead from the gunshot wounds.

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Utility’s Substation Expansion Plans Move Ahead Despite Concerns

OCEAN CITY – Following a long public hearing, a favorable recommendation will move forward to the Mayor and City Council to allow the Delmarva Power and Light (DP&L) substation to expand on 138th Street in the Caine Woods community.

Zoning Administrator Blaine Smith began the hearing by taking a look back at the various changes the substation has gone under over the years.

In 1996 the easterly portion of the property where the substation exists included two vacant lots, which was subdivided into four lots and four dwellings were built. DP&L has since purchased those properties and demolished them to expand the substation.

According to DP&L Senior Public Affairs Manager Jim Smith, in order to enhance electric service reliability and maintain a stronger and more consistent flow of energy in the Ocean City area, DP&L must install a Static Var Compensator (SVC) adjacent to its 138th Street substation.

The SVC is similar to a booster pump that helps keep electrical pressure (voltage) constant across the Delmarva Power system. While the result will be increased electric service reliability for customers in eastern Worcester and Sussex counties, this $26 million project will mainly benefit Ocean City customers.

The project includes a new 15-foot wall, currently a wire fence, around the existing substation and expansion that will be 6.8 inches thick and made out of reinforced precast concrete with a textured face to resemble stone in the color of sandstone.

Sound and Electric Magnetic Field (EMF) studies have been conducted. Based on the sound study, DP&L expects the sound level from the expanded substation to be comparable to what exists currently.

“Delmarva Power is committed not only to this community but to providing a reliable and safe service. We have provided it for many years in Ocean City and providing reliable energy is of utmost importance to the company and this project is one from a reliability and sustainability point of view, it really is a necessity based on the studies that we have done and the studies that PJM Interconnection has done to keep voltage at necessary levels and keep the lights on here especially during the summer time when the economy depends on it,” Jim Smith said.

City Engineer Terry McGean testified that Ocean City’s electric lines came to a head in 1999 with rolling black outs in town and at the same time the town was going through electric deregulation. Since then, DP&L has made improvements within the town.

“We have not had the rolling blackouts that we had experienced so in terms of ‘keeping the lights on’ things are much better, but in terms of some of the other issues, particularly voltage fluctuations, or what we call phase drops, we still see quite a few and as I said that can cause considerable damage to our equipment,” McGean said.

McGean explained that when DP&L first came to Ocean City with the project two site were examined, a vacant lot behind the municipal parking lot on 100th Street, or the expansion of the substation on 138th Street. The expansion became the ideal option because of the existing infrastructure and would have been the most disruptive to build.

Caine Woods resident Vince Gisriel, a former councilman, opposes the project and pointed out that while DP&L claims the EMF will not impact residents there are other surrounding facilities with occupancy, such as the adjacent water plant and other commercial properties.

“My concern is while they may be addressing issues on the residential side, which they should be applauded for that, it leaves the working people in these facilities that much more vulnerable in my judgment,” Gisriel said. “Most of the studies that have been done indicate that low level EMFs generally are not harmful to people but there are cautions and the jury is still out on it. For example,  electric fields that run through our lines can be blocked by walls, buildings and trees but EMFs are not blocked by walls etc. so the 15-foot wall that is proposed may not be a block at all in that respect, it may hide the plant but it is not a block per se.”

Donna Moulton, who lives on 138th Street, pointed out the DP&L’s EMF study, was based on calculations, not specific readings.

“You may ask why I bought here when the power plant was there,” she said. “I had known readings that the seller I bought from gave to me and I was comfortable with those readings.”

Nearby resident Richard Hansen expressed concerns about the health issues and also felt more comfortable with having more specific readings over calculations.

“We would like to see some guarantees from the city or the power company that we are not going to have health problems years from now,” Hansen said. “I would rather put the thing on 100th Street even though it is going to cost additional money. “

Dr. William Bailey with DP&L, a scientist who has been involved in bio-electromagnetic research for the past 30 years, came before the room to clear the air. Bailey said that the World Health Organization (WHO) has studied animals who have been exposed over their entire lifetime to EMF levels up to 50,000 times higher than the average level that would be in a home. At the end of their lifetime, the scientists examine every tissue of their body and did not find access to cancer in any tissue of the animal. These studies have been done in Japan, the United States, and Canada, and they have all come to the same conclusion that there is no access of cancer or health defect in animals with lifelong exposures.

“With regard to issues about health, I think the entire review of the WHO should be considered is the latest version … they have not found that exposure to EMF at levels we find in our environment, whether they are produced by our appliances in our home or by the proposed or existing substation cause adverse effects on health,” Bailey said.

Three hours into the meeting, the public hearing was closed, and Commission member Lauren Taylor began the deliberation.

“The project is definitely needed …  besides city property I know several business owners who have suffered from loss of equipment, disrupted equipment, and it has damaged business. It has been an economic problem for Ocean City that needs to be solved,” she said.

Taylor concluded that according to DP&L’s testimony it is not a health issue and even at its maximum EMF levels it is well below acceptable levels.

“If the information presented in the public hearing is not correct or has been given to us with fraudulent information, then the company would be subject to action based on that,” she said.

Commission member Peck Miller agreed and said that as far as the surrounding wall and landscaping goes it will be required to be maintained regularly.

“If you truly do that, it is going to be a much nicer façade than what you have currently,” Miller said.

Commission Chair Pam Buckley said for 23 years on the board she has protected single-family neighborhoods but there is no way around having the substation expanded.

“We certainly have to take the experts’ knowledge and that they are deciphering the information correctly and that it is not a health risk, and as far as the noise and the lighting, all of that is controlled by our zoning ordinances and they will have to abide by those, as well as keeping up with the landscaping,” Buckley said.

The commissions voted unanimously to recommend to the Mayor and City Council the approval of the conditional use to expand the DP&L substation on 138th Street and the company will have to return for a site plan approval before building permits are issued.

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County Officials Approve $168M Budget But With Tension

SNOW HILL — A fiscal year 2013-2014 operating budget, totaling $168,643,654, was passed by a vote of 6-1 Tuesday by the Worcester County Commissioners.

The budget includes an increase to Board of Education funding and a 2-percent across-the-board raise for employees, among other expenditures, but will not require a property tax increase. Instead, existing stabilization funds will be used to balance the budget, a move one commissioner protested.

Other highlights of the budget include a $1.6 million increase to the schools’ budget, a $367,572 increase to the sheriff’s office and a $785,456 increase in grants to towns and municipalities, among other changes. School bus contractors will not be included in the 2-percent raise but will get a 1.5-percent increase in hourly rate, mileage rate and per vehicle allotment.

On the revenue side, the current property tax rate of 77 cents per $100 will not be changed, despite revenue from that tax dropping by $5.7 million due to falling property value assessments. Income tax revenue and other tax revenues will be increasing by $1,000,000 and $250,000, respectively. The county will also be applying $2,000,000 from Casino Local Impact funding towards debt service on Worcester Technical High School.

When the expenditures and revenues had been accounted for, the budget was still short, and the commission agreed to take roughly $1.6 million in “budget stabilization funds” from reserves and apply them to the FY2014 operating budget. Commissioner Jim Bunting opposed the move, citing fears that the stabilization funds would dry up quickly and leave the county in trouble.

“What are we going to do when all of that money is gone?” he asked.

Bunting was not given a chance to make his case, however, when in an unusual move Commission President Bud Church called for a vote on the budget without asking for discussion on the item. Immediately after the 6-1 vote, Church asked for a motion to adjourn, at which point Bunting interrupted and requested that he be allowed to offer discussion on the budget. Church said it was too late and that the meeting was over.

“Besides the president, you’re God, I guess,” said Bunting. “I was opposed, by the way.”

After the meeting, Bunting shared the points that he wanted to make.

“I was going to say that if we hadn’t given the 2-percent raise we would not have had to steal the $1.7 million [from the stabilization fund],” he said. “It would have equaled out and we would have truly balanced the budget. This was not balancing the budget.”

The stabilization funds are being used as technically intended, Bunting admitted. But he argued that the money is on course to be depleted in the next few years, which would leave Worcester in the lurch if a disaster or other costly event demanded resources that were no longer there.

“The budget stabilization fund I understand is for exactly that. But it’s for if you have a Hurricane Sandy come through here and all of your bridges get wiped out and the county has to re-build bridges, that’s what it’s there for,” he said. “It’s not to get certain politicians through an election.”

Church asserted that he couldn’t disagree more with what shape Worcester is in.

“The sky is not falling. We’re in an excellent financial state, probably the best county in the state,” Church said. “There is no fear from six of the county commissioners. And I really don’t understand Mr. Bunting’s concern but he’s entitled to his concern, I guess.”

According to Church, the county is on track with funds at least through 2016 to 2017 and even hopes to see a surplus returned to the stabilization fund next year.

Particulars of the budget aside, Bunting added that he felt Church was “disrespectful” by not allowing for discussion on the item and instead jumping to a vote and a quick adjournment.

“I think President Church showed a lack of knowledge of how to run a meeting. He did not give me the ample opportunity to have discussion, which you’re supposed to ask for,” Bunting said. “He never even asked for discussion … I think it was very disrespectful. I knew how the vote was going to go. I knew I was going to be the only one against the budget, but I did want to have my say.”

Church defended the lack of discussion after the meeting. Prior to the meeting, he said that all of the commissioners besides Bunting had told him that after months of debate they had nothing more to say about the budget beyond casting their vote. As for not responding to Bunting when he tried to fit in some discussion, Church claimed that he simply did not hear him and that any brush off was “not intentional.”

“I felt it was the consensus of the commissioners that they didn’t have anything to say,” said Church. “So there was a motion to adjourn. I did not … and I swear to God, I did not hear Mr. Bunting asking to speak.”

2 thoughts on “County Officials Approve $168M Budget But With Tension

  1. After observing Commission President Church’s behavior, it was obvious he heard Mr. Bunting’s request for discussion as I saw Mr. Church look right at Mr. Bunting then call the vote. Sitting 6 rows behind the podium, I heard Commissioner Bunting request discussion twice before and once after Mr. Church called the vote so I do not understand how Mr. Church did not hear Mr. Bunting. After the vote, Church adjourned the meeting so quickly, one of the press had to ask if press was going to be allowed to ask questions (Church always asks for questions from the press). The press was seeking clarification of the vote results, 6 in favor, 1 against. Regardless of Church’s justification for his behavior, it gave the ugly perception that his actions were preplanned, with no intention of allowing any type of discussion, especially from Commissioner Bunting. After the vote, I expressed my dissatisfaction about how the process was unjustly and unprofessionally handled. Church told me that when “you sit up here, you can do what you want.” Apparently, Church did not “want” to follow procedure or protocol in allowing discussion before the vote. I am shocked by Church’s unprofessional behavior.

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Prep Roundup: Marietta needs three OTs to topple East Paulding
by MDJ staff reports
January 12, 2014 12:22 AM | 2264 views | 2 2 comments | 9 9 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Cameron Jordan hit a baseline jumper to put Marietta in front by two and made a defensive stop by forcing a turnover with less than a second left in the third overtime, lifting Marietta to a 67-65 win over East Paulding on Saturday.

After the score was tied at 40-all at the end of regulation, the Blue Devils were down three in the first overtime with 7 seconds left before Jordan came through with a 3-pointer off an inbounds pass.

Every Marietta player that played scored. Jordan led the way with 23 points, while Reynere Thornton contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Marietta (14-2) will play at McEachern on Tuesday, with first place in Region 4AAAAAA at stake.

North Cobb 55, Kell 53 (OT): Kendrick Summerour hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime, but he and his Longhorn teammates couldn’t repeat the magic in the extra period.

The teams went back and forth in overtime, before North Cobb (6-11) took its final lead on Darius Jones’ jumper in the final minute.

The Warriors’ Daniel Beausejour had a double-double of 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Devin Granville just missed at 10 points and nine rebounds. Micah Woodard had nine points and five assists.

Summerour led Kell (6-11) with 17 points, while Grant Bryant had 12.

North Cobb will travel to Pebblebrook in a Region 4AAAAAA game Tuesday. Kell will travel to Northview on Friday.

Kennesaw Mountain 70, Lassiter 57: Down four at halftime, the Mustangs took control in the second half and won the non-region game.

Nigel Hayes scored a game-high 23 points for Kennesaw Mountain (5-9). Alex Thomas added 13, while Andrew Jimenez scored 11.

Evan Dunham’s 15 points led Lassiter (3-12), with Derrick Lloyd contributing 14 and Justin Jackson 10.

Kennesaw Mountain will resume Region 4AAAAAA play Tuesday at Marietta, while Lassiter will host Roswell.

Walton 61, Campbell 58: In a non-region game, the Spartans battled back from a 12-point deficit in the second half and took the lead with 38 seconds to go.

But Campbell was unable to keep Walton off the free-throw line down the stretch. Elijah Weems hit two free throws to put the Raiders up by one with 17 seconds to go, and Juanye Colon added a pair to clinch it.

Jay Bowyer and Weems both had 13 points to lead the Raiders, and Maurice Gibson added 12.

For Campbell, Laz Walker had 16 points, all coming in the second half. Michael Olmert nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine assists.

Campbell will play at South Cobb on Tuesday in a Region 4AAAAAA game, and Walton will play at Wheeler in Region 5AAAAA.

Allatoona 65, Lithia Springs 60: The Buccaneers remained undefeated after holding off the Lions in a Region 5AAAAA game.

Although Lithia Springs kept it close, Allatoona got out in front early and never relinquished the lead. The Buccaneers were 24-of-35 from the free-throw line.

Rodney Brown led Allatoona with 18 points. He also pulled down eight rebounds.

Daniel Fowler had 14 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, and Ephraim Tshimanga had 14 points, eight rebounds and five steals.

Allatoona (16-0, 9-0) will play at East Paulding on Tuesday.

Whitefield Academy 59, Mount Pisgah Christian 50 (OT): Berto Dryden broke the tie in overtime when he made a steal and converted it into a layup.

The Wolfpack continued building on that lead and went 5-for-8 on the free-throw line to seal it.

Eric Lockett, who finished with 30 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, tied it at 47-all on a pair of free throws to send the game into overtime.

Dryden was the only other double-figure scorer with 10 points.

Whitefield (8-5, 4-1 Region 6A) will play at Walker on Tuesday.

North Cobb Christian 55, Fellowship Christian 27: Kendall Crute scored 11 of his team-high 22 points in the first quarter as the Eagles rolled to a Region 6A win.

North Cobb Christian (13-3, 6-0) opened the game on a 17-3 run and cruised to the victory.

Stephon Jelks finished with nine points and 15 rebounds. Trey Kalina and Hunter Ware each added eight points.

North Cobb Christian will travel to St. Francis on Tuesday.

King’s Ridge Christian 53, Walker 45: Robert Baker scored 26 points and pulled down 10 rebounds but it wasn’t enough as the Wolverines fell at home.

The game was tied 35-all heading to the fourth quarter, but King’s Ridge closed the game on an 18-10 run.

Walker (6-8) will host Whitefield Academy on Tuesday.

Community Christian 55, Dominion Christian 44: The Knights' cold shooting in the opening quarter dug a hole they would not be able to climb out of.

Community Christian led 12-6 after the first quarter and kept Dominion (5-7) at bay the rest of the night.

Jordan Dorsey scored 24 points and Tate Cooney added 11 in the loss.

Dominion will host Weber on Tuesday.

Hillgrove 60, South Cobb 18:
Mackenzie Engram scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Lady hawks to a Region 4AAAAAA victory.

Hillgrove (15-2, 8-1) jumped to a 27-5 lead after the first quarter and was never threatened.

Iasia Early had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Tene Thompson finished with 11 points.

The Lady Hawks will host Harrison on Tuesday.

North Cobb 55, Kell 42: North Cobb’s defense shut down Onyx Henderson and Santavia Grant in the third quarter and outscored the Lady Longhorns 10-1 to set the tone.

Kyrie’ Chandler led North Cobb (11-5) with 21 points and Ty Broadwater had a double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Grant had 15 points for Kell (6-11), and Henderson finished with 11.

North Cobb will play Region 4AAAAAA rival Pebblebrook on Tuesday. Kell will host Kennesaw Mountain.

Kennesaw Mountain 39, Lassiter 29: Anna Stewart had 13 points to lead the Lady Mustangs and was 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

Sarah Zimmerman added 12 points, all coming from behind the 3-point line.

Kennesaw Mountain held Lassiter to just three points in the fourth quarter and went on a scoring run at the end of the third quarter that extended into the fourth.

Maeve Vitale had 10 points to lead Lassiter (6-7).

Kennesaw Mountain (5-9) will play another non-region game at Kell on Tuesday. Lassiter will host Roswell in a Region 5AAAAAA game.

Allatoona 54, Lithia Springs 48: In the second half, Allatoona changed its defense from zone to a combination of man-to-man and zone, and Lithia Springs couldn’t adjust.

After trailing by eight points at the break, the Lady Buccaneers went on a 31-10 run to build a comfortable 13-point lead over their Region 5AAAAA opponent.

Katie Morrison scored 19 points to lead the Lady Buccaneers. Brianna Middleton chipped in with 14 points and Meredith Tilton had nine.

Allatoona will be at East Paulding on Tuesday.

Campbell 51, Walton 40: Julie McKie and Marissa Hall both scored 14 points to lead Campbell in a non-region win over Walton.

Campbell got off to a slow start and trailed by one after the first. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when the Lady Spartans started pulling away with their full court press. They forced 24 turnovers for the game.

For Walton, Katie Dozier had 11 points Hannah Patterson had 10 points. The Lady Raiders had six 3-pointers in the first half.

Campbell (12-4) will play at South Cobb on Tuesday in a Region 4AAAAAA game.

Harrison 71, Pebblebrook 32: Harrison put the Region 4AAAAAA game out of reach by outscoring Pebblebrook 28-5 in the fourth quarter.

Sydne Wiggins had 21 points to lead the Lady Hoyas (13-5, 5-3) and pulled down eight rebounds. Kaylyn Brooks had 17 points and seven steals, and Kayla Wright added nine points and five rebounds.

Precious Walker led Pebblebrook with eight points.

Harrison will play at Hillgrove on Tuesday, while Pebblebrook will host North Cobb.

Late Friday

McEachern 76, North Cobb 41:
The Lady Indians dominated from the start, taking a 39-point lead into halftime.

McEachern’s offensive success was due largely to Te’a Cooper, who led the Lady Indians with 34 points, including six 3-pointers.

Caliya Robinson added a double-double of 12 points and 10 blocks, while Aunesha Williams and Taylor Gordon each scored eight.

Kyrie’ Chandler had 21 points for North Cobb, with Chantel Strahorn adding 10.

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What's up?
January 12, 2014
Why is MCEachern's score in the paper? I thought they or the MDJ decided not to post their scores since they are cheating.What is going on MDJ? IS the investigation over? Has Cobb schools screwed up again or is it true that McEachern was in charge of the investigation and did really investigate anything? Things have been pretty quiet. Either give us an explanation or let's see a copy of the investigation!
Just hush
January 14, 2014
When are you going to hush? This has been investigated and proven false. Let the kids play ball. Go away.
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May, Karl (in full Karl Friedrich )May  ( born Feb. 25, 1842 , Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Saxony [Germany]—died March 30, 1912 , Radebeul, Ger. )  German author of travel and adventure stories for young people, dealing with desert Arabs or with American Indians in the wild West, remarkable for the realistic detail that the author was able to achieve.

May was , a weaver’s son. He , was an elementary school teacher until arrested for petty theft. He later was twice arrested for fraud and spent several years in prison, where he is said to have read voraciously. After his release in 1874 May wrote short stories that were serialized in various periodicals. His popularity soared upon the appearance of his short-story collections and novels in the early 1890s.

Some of the best known of his more than 60 works are Der Schatz im Silbersee (1894; “The Treasure in the Silver Lake”), Durch die Wüste (1892; In the Desert), Winnetou, 3 vol. (1893; Eng. trans., 1977); Ardistan und Dschinnistan (1909; Ardistan and Djinnistan), and the autobiography Mein Leben und Streben (1910; “My Life and Struggle”). In his memory there have been were established a publishing house, the Karl May Verlag in Bamberg, Ger. (originally in Radebeul); , and the Karl May Museum in Bamberg, containing North American Indian collections; and the Karl May Freilichtspiele, open-air theatres in Bad Segeberg and Elspe. Though virtually unknown in the United States, he is widely read in Europe and is one of the world’s all-time fiction best-sellers.


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Ford connects with Notable

Ford got exclusive this summer with the Ford/Notable Icon Series, a set of invite-only events in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver aimed at connecting the car co with the highly prized demographic of adults in their mid to late 30s.

With work from Blue Hive, Mindshare and Sonic Boom, the series of nine events featured iconic speakers like Jesse Wente, head of film programmes at TIFF in Toronto, the designers behind Mackage in Montreal and Riaz Meghji of Breakfast Television in Vancouver addressing an exclusive group of 30 guests in each city.

A branded video is created for each event, with the content living on the dedicated microsite at Each event had a winner who met up with Notable CEO Julian Brass and drove to the venue in a new Ford Fusion, with their journey filmed along the way.

Michelle Jamieson, marketing communications manager of car and CUV at Ford Canada, tells MiC that the young professional market that reads Notable is a desirable audience for the car co, with the exclusive element of the program bringing a new twist for the company.

“This exclusive series was targeted towards people in their mid to late 30s [who were] looking for a genuine, private experience,” says Jamieson.

Notable had nearly one million unique visitors in August, according to Brass. Its weekly newsletter goes out to 50,000 subscribers.

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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Breath of fresh air for asthmatics

People in good health don't usually think about breathing. But for the one in 10 Australians who have asthma and other respiratory diseases, research into inhalable medications to help them breathe more easily could change ...

Aug 18, 2015
popularity8 comments 0

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), also known as chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD), chronic obstructive airway disease (COAD), chronic airflow limitation (CAL) and chronic obstructive respiratory disease (CORD), is the co-occurrence of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, a pair of commonly co-existing diseases of the lungs in which the airways become narrowed. This leads to a limitation of the flow of air to and from the lungs, causing shortness of breath (dyspnea). In clinical practice, COPD is defined by its characteristically low airflow on lung function tests. In contrast to asthma, this limitation is poorly reversible and usually gets progressively worse over time. In England, an estimated 842,100 of 50 million people have a diagnosis of COPD.

COPD is caused by noxious particles or gas, most commonly from tobacco smoking, which triggers an abnormal inflammatory response in the lung.

The diagnosis of COPD requires lung function tests. Important management strategies are smoking cessation, vaccinations, rehabilitation, and drug therapy (often using inhalers). Some patients go on to require long-term oxygen therapy or lung transplantation.

Worldwide, COPD ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in 1990. It is projected to be the fourth leading cause of death worldwide by 2030 due to an increase in smoking rates and demographic changes in many countries. COPD is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and the economic burden of COPD in the U.S. in 2007 was $42.6 billion in health care costs and lost productivity.

This text uses material from Wikipedia licensed under CC BY-SA

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Older populations are scoring better on cognitive tests than people of the same age did in the past —a trend that could be linked to higher education rates and increased use of technology in our daily lives, say IIASA population ...


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US girl gets lung transplant after political firestorm (Update)

June 12, 2013 by Kerry Sheridan

A 10-year-old American girl whose dire need for a lung transplant catapulted her into the political spotlight underwent potentially life-saving surgery Wednesday after a donor was found.

"God is great! He moved the mountain! Sarah got THE CALL," wrote Janet Ruddock Murnaghan, the mother of the critically ill child, on her Facebook page.

The Pennsylvania girl, who suffers from cystic fibrosis and was said to be near death's door without a transplant, entered surgery early Wednesday, her mother said. The operation was expected to last several hours.

The case drew international attention when the child's family gave interviews to cable news networks and pleaded with the US government to bend the rules and allow her to be put on the list for an adult lung transplant.

She was at the top of a waiting list for children under 12, but pediatric donor lungs are far rarer than those from adults, and experts had given Sarah only a few weeks to live if doctors did not perform a transplant.

It was unclear whether the donated organs, which arrived late Tuesday, came from an adult or a child.

"Please pray for Sarah's donor, her HERO, who has given her the gift of life. Today their family has experienced a tremendous loss, may God grant them a peace that surpasses understanding," her mother wrote.

"Today is the start of Sarah's new beginning and new life!"

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia declined to share any details about the surgery, citing patient privacy.

Last week, a US judge took the unusual step of ordering that the child should be placed on an adult waiting list, after Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius declined to intervene and the family filed a lawsuit, alleging that current US standards discriminated against children.

A petition by the girl's family and friends appealing for new donor policy regarding children in need of transplants drew more than 372,000 supporters.

The practice of transplanting adult organs into children is relatively rare.

Just one lung transplant has occurred in the United States since 2007 involving a donor older than 18 and a recipient younger than 12, according to government data.

On Monday, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network agreed to revise its policy on transplant candidates 11 and under, which previously stated that children may only be considered for adult lungs if there were no other suitable candidates.

The changes—effective for one year pending further review—allow transplant programs to request higher priority for children and allow for doctors to consider transplanting lungs from teens or adult donors.

"The number of patients potentially affected by this policy is very small and unlikely to have a significant impact on the larger pool of transplant candidates," the OPTN said.

As of June 10, there were 1,659 candidates listed for a lung transplant nationwide, of whom 30 were under age 10.

Murnaghan was diagnosed as an infant with cystic fibrosis, a chronic lung disease that affects about 70,000 people worldwide. The median survival age is the late 30s.

While Murnaghan's case sparked a torrent of media attention, it also raised questions about the ethics of appealing for medical help in such a public way, with some experts fearing it could set a damaging precedent.

"It raised the question, can you sue or use PR (public relations) or otherwise campaign to get to the head of the line?" said Arthur Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at New York University Langone Medical Center.

"In our system in the US, you sometimes can use money to gain an advantage. I don't think that is a startling revelation," he told AFP.

However, he added that the girl's apparent victory of getting a transplant does not guarantee it will be successful, and complications are frequent in such cases.

"I think this little girl got herself into the woods by her parents fighting for her, and that helped. But she is not out of the woods."

Explore further: Study finds lungs from heavy smokers OK for transplant

Related Stories

Shift in lung allocation score alters transplant survival

May 8, 2013

(HealthDay)—An acute increase in lung allocation score (LAS) before transplantation is associated with worse post-transplant survival, according to a study published in the May 7 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Transplant group considers lung rule changes

June 10, 2013

(AP)—Members of the national organization that manages organ transplants are voicing concern about a federal judge's ruling to make two sick children at a Pennsylvania hospital eligible for adult lungs.

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not rated yet Jun 13, 2013
god is great, he gave her CF and she's still going to die before she's 30. not a fucking word about doctors who save her life.

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Pharmaceutical advances offer new options for health outcomes

May 20, 2013 in Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) explores pharmaceutical advances for treating irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) and hepatitis C.

An international study holds promising results for patients suffering from IBS-D. In the phase II study, researchers found that the drug ibodutant significantly improved symptoms in more than 50 percent of the individuals treated.

"While there's been a lot of progress in medicines for IBS with constipation, we haven't seen the same in IBS with diarrhea," said Jan Tack, MD, professor and director of the division of gastroenterology and internal medicine at Leuven University in Belgium. "Up to this point, we haven't been able to provide a pharmaceutical option for this patient group that successfully manages the pain associated with the condition."

IBS is an extremely common condition, affecting an estimated 10 percent of adults. Funded by Menarini, the double-blind, multinational study recruited 559 patients with IBS-D who were randomized and treated with 1, 3 or 10 mg of ibodutant or a placebo. Patients took an once daily for eight consecutive weeks. Researchers found that 10 mg was the most effective dose and that it worked best for females.

"These are exciting findings that could bring a lot of relief to many patients," said Dr. Tack said. "We're looking forward to moving into phase III to confirm our findings with a much larger sample of patients."

New therapy for patients with hepatitis C examined

New research suggests that an investigational therapy for patients with can achieve high response rates in a wide range of patients, even those who respond poorly to current treatments. The study examined the safety and efficacy of -free regimens, including three direct-acting with and without , for 12 or 24 weeks, in patients with who were either treatment-naïve or had previously failed standard treatment with peginterferon and ribavirin.

In the phase II study, researchers found that the treatment regimens achieved high sustained virologic response (SVR) rates, an efficacy measure of a hepatitis C treatment, in non-cirrhotic patients with HCV genotype-1 (GT 1). SVR was achieved by 98.7 percent of treatment-naïve patients and 93.3 percent of prior nonresponders after 12 weeks of treatment with three direct-acting agents with ribavirin.

"Hepatitis C genotype 1 is the most common type of hepatitis in the U.S., and many of these patients are still quite difficult to treat with current interferon-based therapies," said Frederick Nunes, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at Penn Medicine. "This includes specific populations such as African Americans and patients with high body mass or pre-diabetes. These results suggest that highly effective regimens like this one may overcome that difficulty, without the need for interferon."

Provided by Digestive Disease Week

"Pharmaceutical advances offer new options for health outcomes" May 20, 2013 http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-pharmaceutical-advances-options-health-outcomes.html


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Medicare Advantage (PART C)

What is Medicare Advantage? What is Medicare Part C?

Medicare Advantage (MA), also known as Medicare Part C, is a health insurance program that provides an eligible person with the United States’ Medicare benefits. Medicare Advantage plans differs from the original Medicare model, which offered a standard plan provided directly by the state.

The term originated with the passage of the Balance Budget Act of 1997, which offered Medicare beneficiaries this option, instead of receiving these benefits through the original Medicare Plan (Parts A and B). These programs were known as Medicare+Choice or Part C plans.

Medicare Advantage plan features:

  • Offered from private insurance companies
  • Traditional come as an HMO or PPO insurance
  • Plan premiums are little to no cost at all
  • Generally, these plans include Part D Drug coverage at no additional cost.
  • Works in place of your Medicare, your Medicare benefits get redirected through the private insurance. The private is then responsible for 100% of your health care, not 80/20 like Medicare
  • Medicare Advantage plans are required to offer benefits as good as Medicare, if not better. Ei, discounts on dental, vision, hearing and sometimes gym memberships and more.

With Medicare Advantage plans, your Medicare benefits get redirected through a private insurance which is required to cover you just as good as Medicare benefits or better.

Instead of Medicare being responsible for 80% of your hospital and medical coverage and you being responsible for the other 20% plus deductibles (or having to buy an expensive supplement to cover the difference) Medicare Advantage plans are funded a set amount per member per month for your care. The private insurer (Medicare Advantage plan) is then responsible for 100% of your hospital and medical coverage.

Medicare advantage plans in Florida

In Florida, most common Medicare Advantage plans come either as a HMO insurance plan or a PPO insurance plan.

HMO = Health Maintenance Organization

  • Defined network
  • No out of network benefits (except for Emergency and Urgent care)
  • Referrals are required to see specialist (except for chiropractic, vision and well women exams)
  • Normally these plans are limited to a state or geographic region (counties) for scheduled care

PPO  =  Preferred Provider Organization

  • Defined network
  • Out of network benefits are generally available
  • No referrals required
  • Normally these plans cover you statewide or nationwide for scheduled care

Medicare Part C costs

The cost for a Medicare Advantage plan can be as little as $0 monthly. The reason why these plans have no premium is because Medicare funds the private insurance company a set amount of money monthly for your care regardless whether you use your insurance or not. By doing this, the company makes money on some and loses on other. It’s the law of large numbers and large insurance companies are very well versed in this category.

If you would like assistance on narrowing down YOUR options, contact me directly at 321.947.3810 for personalized assistance.


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"Even after so many years, I hold a deep sense of meaning in being a physician — a special sense of values that I learned at Wright State and carry with me to each patient, even on busy days."
— Susan B., M.D., Class of 1998

student activity in White Hall

Our curriculum is guided by our understanding of the root word for education, educari, which means to "lead forth the innate wholeness of each student," and our educational objectives, designed to help students know what they need to know and to be able to do by the time of graduation. We encourage you to read these objectives and see if they resonate with what you envision for your education as a physician.

For the first two years, most learning activities occur at White Hall, our medical education center. This is a state-of-the-art space specifically designed for medical student education. Located here are classrooms, laboratories, small group rooms, study areas, a lounge, mailboxes and offices for faculty and administrators who are devoted to medical student education. The curriculum of the first two years is called Biennium I, and it provides a rich exposure to the basic medical sciences with close integration through the Patient, Physician & Society course and the practice of medicine through Introduction to Clinical Medicine.

All courses provide learning activities (team-based learning, laboratory projects, online interactions, case discussions) that tie closely to course objectives and often provide educative assessments so that students can benchmark their progress in applying what they learn. We want the Biennium I curriculum to provide significant learning — the kind of learning that "sticks" for more than just a quiz, test or exam.

young woman studyingEnhancing the basic medical sciences of the first two years is Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM), which provides students with closely supervised instruction in interviewing, history building, physical examination and physical diagnosis. It includes a preceptorship with practicing physicians and frequent evaluations of skill development with volunteer patients, standardized patients and teaching associates at the new Skills Assessment & Training Center. Clinical Decision Making in the second year provides a foundation for understanding how the physician can use evidence to make decisions on clinical care.

Electives form an additional set of opportunities for learning about medicine. Some electives are genuine service learning, some can be in a basic medical science laboratory or in a clinic, others can be student designed. Many students enroll in the Healer's Art, a five-session course that engages students in a sharing and reflective process to discover an enduring sense of meaning for a life of service as a physician. Our International Education Program has become one of the most popular elective opportunities as more and more students appreciate their future responsibility to serve people beyond our borders and those from other lands who have immigrated here.

team based learning in White Hall

The Biennium II curriculum starts in the third year. This year is devoted to six clerkships that occur at all of our affiliated hospital sites, multiple community clinics, and private practice offices. Each clerkship provides the student with supervised clinical-care experiences with patients and their families. In addition, students are expected to read a great deal about clinical disorders and treatment approaches and regularly present their cases. By the end of the third year, all students have had a broad set of experiences in the care of patients and their families, working with a "team," either in the hospital or office setting, and have begun to understand the complexities of providing comprehensive care in a rapidly changing health care system.

The fourth year has considerable flexibility to enhance student pursuit of interests as they define their next steps into residency. Emergency Medicine, Neurology and a Junior Internship integrate many of the third year experiences and, by the end of the year, all students feel confident in their knowledge and skills to begin their first post-graduate year. The spectrum of electives, either existing or student-initiated, provide capstone experiences to broaden the perspective of medicine. Many students elect to spend a couple of months in a Third World country working in a clinic or hospital, complete a laboratory-based research project that started in the first year, or do a fourth year clerkship at another institution in another state.

Last edited on 02/14/2015.


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SACME session

The quest for practice-based, evidence-based tools continues, and progress is being made, said director of the AMA s PRA policy Charles Willis at the SACME fall meeting, held Nov. 6 in Boston. Here s what s been happening.

The physician-directed, interactive Internet CME pilot project, started in December of 2000, is an attempt to capture, as learning, use of professional literature at or near the point of care using technology. The four pilot participants SKOLAR Inc., UpToDate Inc., American College of Physicians Physician Information and Education Resource system, and MerkMedicus have been popping along.

The SKOLAR system includes a faculty review of every physician credited under its system. Unfortunately, the company was bought out in the midst of the project, but it is continuing its participation in the program, Willis said.

UpToDate s system, which as of last winter when I last reported on it awards an hour of credit for each hour spent using the system, has had the highest volume of participation so far, he said. The PIER system, which links PIER s database to an EMR to track physician behavior at the point of interaction, is not certifying for credit at this time. All he had to say about the MerkMedicus system is that it is being offered for free.

Finding a non-time-based metric

The AMA Task Force on Self-Directed Self-Initiated Learning is still interested in finding a metric other than time (i.e., an hour of learning for an hour of credit). Learning instead should be associated with searching on a specific topic, documented through search criteria, with credit increases awarded based on the level of engagement, such as how many sources are consulted through the system, Willis said. So far, the average interaction in a point-of-care search is two to three minutes, so they re using it when they need quick answers.

Physicians would be credited, using time as a gross measure, when they answered several questions, such as describing what the clinical question was, the resources consulted, and how the information was applied to practice. This could be done after the actual interaction, and it would be up to the physician and/or provider to choose how much info they want to provide.

Draft credit metrics

An initial inquiry would be a small increment of PRA Category 1 credit: 0.10. A deeper search would require documented physician response to the above questions on clinical question, resources, and application to practice. This would garner the learner 0.50 credits.

Willis stressed that this would continue to use providers to track and award credit and ensure the integrity of the content according to PRA definitions and ACCME content validation guidelines. While the final stage would link to documented practice cahnge, that would most likely fall into the realm of the performance improvement arena, rather than CME, he said.

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