Round Up – The Outside World
We in Anchorage are rather consumed by today’s Municipal election, but as a nod to those of you who are “outside” our little bubble, here are all the blips on the radar that would have whole pieces written on them if only that whole cloning thing had worked out for me.
Feel free to chat away!
And the Rhetoric Fans the Flames
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said 64-year-old Charles Alan Wilson of Selah was arrested at his home near Yakima and charged with threatening a federal official Tuesday morning.
The FBI said they began investigating Wilson after a series of threatening phone calls to the office of Washington’s U.S. Senator Patty Murray. According to the criminal complaint, between March 22 and April 4, 2010, Wilson called Murray’s office on multiple occasions leaving expletive laden threatening messages.
Investigators said the messages from Wilson said that Murray “had a target on her back” and “I want to (expletive) kill you.” His threats were in response to the passage of the Health Care Reform Act, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“Free speech is the cornerstone of our democratic process, and we are a country of vigorous debate,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg. “However, threats of violence have no place in that debate. The threats here crossed the line, and violate the law.”
Anybody want to guess what’s on this guy’s reading list, or where his TV is tuned, or what the pre-set stations are on his radio? Yes, that’s a rhetorical question.
Your Calls are Making a Difference for Wildlife!
The Orwellian “Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife” is all a-scramble about the potential rejection of Al Barrette from the Board of Game. Even conservative former board members have come out in opposition of the Barrette appointment calling him a “radical.” And now the call has gone out. The talking points are sent and the emails and phone calls will start from the other side. They even have a big warning banner on their email that says “Don’t Let it Go Green!” Yes, heaven forbid we don’t have an entire board that represents hunting and trapping interests, and nobody that represents “non-consumptive use”.
So, what this means is that if you have not done so, PLEASE call your representatives, or send them emails. The State Senate Resource committee will be having a hearing tomorrow and the vote is scheduled for Friday. We are within sight of keeping the owner of a commercial tannery and wolf trap company from profiting from his own votes. You can click HERE for my post with all the relevant information. Thank you for your efforts.
Live Blogging from the Egan Center
I’ll be live blogging tonight with Shannyn Moore from Election Central at the Egan Center. If you can’t be there, check in starting around 8pm for the results as they come in.
Defend the Internet – Support Net Neutrality
Two years ago, the FCC ruled that Comcast could not block online content, and Comcast challenged the ruling in court. Today, the court ruled in Comcast’s favor, effectively placing the Internet in the hands of big phone and cable companies.
This decision exploits a loophole in current law — the result of overzealous deregulation by the Bush administration — that threatens Net Neutrality and leaves the FCC unable to achieve the crucial goals of the National Broadband Plan.
Thankfully, this FCC can correct its predecessors’ mistakes, reassert its authority, and close the loophole. (Get ready, this is a tad complicated.)
The FCC needs to “reclassify” broadband under the Communications Act. In 2002, the FCC decided to place broadband providers outside the legal framework that traditionally applied to companies that offer two-way communications services, like phone companies.
That decision is what first put Net Neutrality in jeopardy, setting in motion the legal wrangling that now endangers the FCC’s ability to protect our Internet rights.
But the good news is that the FCC still has the power to set things right, and to make sure the free and open Internet stays that way. And once we’ve done that, the FCC can ensure that Comcast can’t interfere with our communications, no matter the platform.
To be clear: This court decision hurts. But it’s created the opportunity for us to fix what was broken so many years ago.
It’s our Internet, not theirs. Let’s take it back.
Tragedy in West Virginia
The mine owner in the clip below spent over a million dollars on a “Tea Party” to complain about Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, and the evils of organized labor, but apparently didn’t have enough to buy the safety equipment that every union mine is mandated to have. Even the ones in Canada.
Twenty-five miners were killed and another four are missing after an explosion took place yesterday afternoon at Massey subsidiary Performance Coal Co.’s Upper Big Branch Mine-South between the towns of Montcoal and Naoma in West Virginia.
The cause of the explosion, which set off what’s being called the worse mining disaster in 40 years, is still unknown, but safety officials say the mine owned by Massey Energy Co. has been cited in the past for failing to properly vent methane. In fact, Massey’s mine in Montcoal has been cited for over 3,000 violations, more than $2.2 million in fines, writes Brad Johnson in Grist. [snip]
Massey’s CEO, Don Blankenship, has long been a vocal adversary of environmentalists and organized labor, and, yes, regulatory control over safety standards in mines.
Rescue operations are still underway to find the four missing men. News is not expected until tomorrow. Thoughts and prayers for the families who are mourning, and those who wait.
Those of us who have lived in and near coal regions can all tell you this: our hearts are very heavy.
My father and grandfathers “worked the mines” and my siblings were spared that fate because they did.
May they find restful peace.
The owners will pay their dues at some point, I know that they will.
The 2006 Sago mine disaster is still fresh in my memory.
I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about the families and friends at the Montcoal mine…and hard to grasp the fact that Massey Energy does what it does.
I’m with Cassie in believing karma will bite the owners, eventually.
It was so sad.
justafarmerNo Gravatar Says:
I’m with Cassie in believing karma will bite the owners, eventually.
—————
ditto, it is just heartbreaking and sickening
Sending love and condolences coal miners and their families, in West Virginia, and everywhere.
NBC Nightly News tonight reported the total ‘fines’ Massey has paid –for *over* 500 unsafe practices/conditions/violations last year ($168,000)– amounted to what Massey *makes/earns* in ONE HOUR [in the coal industry]. ONE HOUR!
(Lisa Myers spoke that information with as much decorum and neutrality as has to be mustered by a news reporter; she did well, but to my ear, she couldn’t hide her disgust — disgust also felt by me and most others in this nation.) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/nightly_news#36201896
The ‘fines’ Massey paid were/are a mere piffle to them…why should Massey change its ways when all it gets by way of chastisement is less than a single, wee, little drop of rain in the combined waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans? In my book, Massey Energy Co. are a bunch of 1st-class sonzabeaches. The sheer arrogance of them! Arrrgh!
My heart to the families, friends, and town of the miners lost and missing. beth.
““““`
“Massey Energy Co., which owns the Upper Big Branch mine, was fined more than $382,000 in the past year for repeated serious violations involving its ventilation plan and equipment. [...] Massey Energy, a publicly traded company based in Richmond, Va., ranks among the nation’s top five coal producers and is among the industry’s most profitable. It has 2.2 billion tons of coal reserves in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia and Tennessee. ”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100406/ap_on_bi_ge/us_mine_explosion
Infuriating. Today’s Thom Hartmann radio show played a montage of audio clips of Don Blankenship’s opinions. He felt that if his company didn’t have complete freedom to rape the land and endanger American workers, we’d all be “taking mass transit” (scary-!) and sharing bathrooms.
Since this mine disaster closely follows news of yet another horrendous mine accident in China (many, many fatalities every year) it should be obvious that the less we protect our workers and environment, the closer we come to China. The only difference is that here, all regulation bows to dictatorial corporate interests and in China all bow to the dictatorial state.
The person Bush appointed to the Mine Safety and Review Commission was Stanley Subuleski (sp?), directly from Massey. Safety inspections reveal huge numbers of violations…..
Why is it that this slime can get away with so much? It makes no sense to me. I don’t get it. I’m about as poor as a church mouse but if I fail to pay for a speeding ticket or some other fine, we all know there would be a warrant out for my arrest! Yet, this man can put so many workers and subsequently, rescuers lives in danger and he gets what?
My step dad’s father was one of the coal miners in Matewam, WV way back when the unions were trying to organize. Don’t know if anyone here has seen the movie or knows tthe story of the Matewan coal miner wars. We need strong unions to protect the men and women who are working so hard to provide for their families.
I was reading about the mine deaths and how some might still be alive and I can just hear Don Blankenship saying well they knew the dangers,forgetting that mining is in some cases the only jobs available,but i can still see him blaming the victims instead of himself,millions fighting health care via the tea baggers but not one red cent towards fixing the violations.
merrycricket I have seen videos of how the mine owners hired thugs and beat people for wanting unions.The one I saw people were killed over it.Such a shame that business owners don’t do what is right for their workers.So many companies know a head of time when someone is comming to check them out so they hide things..I know the company I worked for cleaned up oil spills ect so it would not be noticed.
Massey & Co are one of the worst in the US, especially in the KY and WVa areas.
I just don’t get it. Strong feelings of love and hope to the families involved.
Woohoo, Az, has a serious challenger to McCain and Hayworth.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/06/rodney-glassman-mccain-or_n_527764.html#postComment
still fuming. I was on a jury trial once in El Paso, where a woman was seriously injured in a sweat shop accident- on OUR side of the border. The owner was obnoxiously negligent, and it took me all afternoon to convince the rest of the jury that the victim deserved some damages.
We met afterwards with the judge and lawyers, and the first question was -”gee, I bet the owner will fix things now, huh?” The answer of course was NO. He’s in court all the time, because it is easier and cheaper to be sued than to fix what is wrong.
Clearly that’s what’s been going on at the Massey mines.
and don’t get me started about the Ford Pintos bursting into flames……
Rachel Maddow did an excellent expose on Massey tonight. I checked her blog, but cannot find all the information she had in her show. I think you can view her show online. It’s worth it.
Seems that the owner of the coal company had allegedly been involved in a “judge” buying scandal where he poured tons of money into an election to oust a moderate WV S.Ct. Justice in favor of his opponent who just happened, once he was elected, cast the deciding vote in favor of the coal company in a huge lawsuit. Coincidence? No one seems to think so.
He also is well known for being against unions. Only twenty percent of the coal miners in America are unionized. Almost all of the deadly accidents happen in non-union mines. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Three coal miners die each day from Black Lung. Three! Each day!
Mine safety experts say that deadly explosions are entirely preventable if safety regulations are followed. Imagine! However, mines are only inspected three or four times a year because the Bush administration put a former Massey guy into head up the agency that oversees mine safety! He gutted safety regulations and inspections. Surprised? Probably not.
While violations have mushroomed with the deregulation, profits for Massey have tripled because they can take shortcuts, threaten the miners, and push them and the equipment beyond safe limits.
Anyone, I mean anyone, who thinks government ought to “stay out of our lives” should really stop and think about the consequences of that statement. This deadly accident is because corrupt politicians, judges and company owners did stay out of the miners’ lives by de-regulating, by stripping away or ignoring regulations. Good grief, when will simpletons understand that most regulations are there to counteract greed, to protect abuses, and to save lives as well as the environment in which we live.
That’s another gripe I have: how can Palin and her ilk talk about the environment as if its separate from us. We not only live in it; we are a part of it. We are a very special (to us) part of the environment and it is crucial that we begin to understand this as a country. We need to make mining companies put as their first priorities: the health and safety of both the workers and environment in which they live and work. Ignoring one as in this mine disaster devastates the other. Had Massey just invest a small portion of its enormous profits into making the mining environment safer, maybe there would be no families in tatters tonight making plans to say goodbye to their loved ones or waiting beyond hope to see if the last remaining men rescued or their bodies can be retrieved.
We have to stop listening to the lies of those who profit from abusing workers and environment. We have to stand up and say enough and demand prosecutions as well as demand tighter regulation and encourage the workers to unionize to ensure they can work in decent and safe circumstances.
Sorry to write so much, but I am so furious that bozos such as those that buy into Fox News or followed Bush or who follow Palin do not consider the consequences of their simplistic and self-serving rhetoric and policies.
Such very sad news. My prayers go out to all the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this preventable accident. I don’t know how Blankenship sleeps at night, really.
I was glad to hear that they arrested that nitwit over near Yakima. Hearing where he lives, it doesn’t surprise me though. I hope that the man who called Joe Lewis and left a long message that was so racist and hate-filled ends up getting arrested as well. His hatred was for just about everyone who isn’t like he is. Maybe a little jail time will give him time to come to his senses, and at the very least, it will keep people like that away from the rest of us. And it makes me personally very angry – Patty Murray is one of my senators, and I like her and I’m proud of her. She’s a good person who really cares about people.
Sometimes I really hate listening to the news. Some disasters can’t be averted (the recent earthquakes, floods, etc.), but the man-made ones in a country that should have higher standards are just so frustrating and maddening.
To pvazwindy: thank you so much for the link to the HuffPo article on Rodney Glassman! He does sound impressive, really impressive, and it gives me hope that AZ may actually get a Democratic Senator.
I can go to bed with a little more hope and a little less stress. Thank you.
Peace to the families in West Virginia and elsewhere affected by the mine explosion.
Keith Olberman also did a great segment tonight about Massey Energy and the Montcoal disaster.
my sympathies to the families of the miners. this a terrible thing. i am hoping they can be saved. my dad died of black lung and some of my cousins still go down in the mines. terrible.
And some people wonder why government safety regulations in industry are necessary. I ache for the miners and their families.
I think this is relevant, comes to me from very long ago. There are many variations. I remember it as sung by Peter Paul and Mary.
Deep in the heart of the Cumberland Mine
There’s blood on the coal and the miners lie
In roads that never saw sun nor sky
Roads that never saw sun nor sky
In the town of Springhill you don’t sleep easy
Often the earth would tremble and roll
When the earth is restless miners die
Bone and blood is the price of coal
Bone and blood is the price of coal
In the town of Springhill Nova Scotia
Late in the year of 58
The day still comes and the sun still shines
But it’s dark as the grave in the Cumberland Mine
Dark as the grave in the Cumberland Mine
Down at the coal face miners working
Rattle of the belts and the cutter blades
Then a rumble of rock and the walls close round
Living and the dead men two miles down
Living and the dead men two miles down
Twelve men lay two miles from the pitshaft
Twelve men lay in the dark and sang
Long hot days in the miner’s tomb
It was three foot wide by a hundred long
Three foot wide by a hundred long
Three days passed and the lights gave out
When the leading man got up and said
There’s no more water nor light nor bread
So we’ll live on songs of hope instead
Live on songs of hope instead
Listen for the shouts of the bareface miners
Listen through the rubble for the rescue team
Six hundred feet of coal and slag
Hope imprisoned in a three-foot seam
Hope imprisoned in a three-foot seam
Eight days passed and some were rescued
Leaving the rest to die alone
Through all their lives they dug a grave
Two miles of earth for a marking stone
Two miles of earth for a marking stone
Net neutrality is finished unless Congress passes laws giving the FCC clout.
This is how it will play out.
No matter what the FCC does to fix this, the artificial people who control broadband will spend all of the money they want to get *their* people elected in 2010, 2012 and 2014. By then they’ll control both the House and the Senate and if they haven’t managed to get a sympathetic I.E. puppet President elected in 2012 they’ll succeed in 2016.
Then it’s all over.
Because those opposed to net neutrality are also against all of those other things we want. Air, water, environment, factory farming, mountain removal, fly ash, you name it, if we’re for it they’re against and and if we’re against it they’re for it. When it comes to profit, we’ll lose every time.
They also own a majority of the Supreme Court.
There may be a temporary respite for a few years, but eventually whatever the FCC does to stem the tide will go.
Comcast, AT&T and others need to control the internet so they can make sure their candidates get elected.
Obama won because of net neutrality. They’re going to make sure that mistake is never repeated.
How’s that deregulaty, corporatey citizeny think workin’ out for ya?
Pretty kr*ppy sh*tty, thanks to you!
You #(%@(($&%)(&#(!)%&^*10&% republicans and teabaggers, if you’re so #(&%)$)%)^($) serious about deregulating, deunionizing, and cutting back on oversight and government benefits, why don’t you go preach that in West Virginia right about now!
Sanctimonious, greedy jerks.
And it’s because you’re jerks that a bunch of kids are going to bad tonight without fathers or older brothers or grandfathers or uncles, while your kids still have the same parents and the same excellent taxpayer funded health care they had last week. If you’re sleeping well, your only hope is an epiphany, and those don’t happen often.
Dear families. May you find comfort and solace in the arms of your dear ones and your communities. May you be surrounded by those with a true spirit and a strength of compassion that so gently leads you back from the depths. And may you find it in your hearts to not only know that your loved ones are cared for right where they are, but to forgive those that were so careless of their lives.
Peace be with you. The love of a country is with you.
I read on the internet this evening that the mine owner had 600 complaints against him. He owes all those people in his area big time. I am sorry for the companies greed. It’s uncalled for! Our government is suppose to protect us all equally. But, sadly the Corportations with millions are in control. The rich get richer and the poor poorer. It’s like that up here in Bush Alaska.
My son-in-law and his son (my grandson) both work in one of the coal mines here in Western Kentucky. We sweat a little each day as they drive away and the concern for them stays in the back of our mind until they are safely home at the end of their shifts. The s-in-law drives a miner, which means he’s at the front of the team, digging out the rock. He’s had so many close calls and rocks falling on the rig, but fortunately no major injuries yet. There aren’t many decent employment opportunities for those who don’t have college degrees. The mines pay extremely well and offer excellent benefits, although in my mind, the pay and benefits don’t compare to the constant chance of injury or death.
The mine they work at now is NOT part of the Massey empire, but one they worked at before was and they left because there are so many safety violations. One of our neighbors also worked at that other mine. He is 37 years old and last fall, a 1200 pound slab of rock fell on him and crushed his spine, along with many other injuries. Fortunately, the slab was gotten off of him quickly. However, the cart that was to go down and carry him out had a flat tire, then when the on-site medical team got there, the stretcher was missing its straps!
When they finally got him the several miles to the elevator, and then up the 600 or so feet to the surface, he was airlifted to St. Mary’s in Evansville. He is now totally paralyzed from the waist down. He is doing well, has a modified truck, tractor, 4-wheeler, etc. and is trying to live his life with his lovely wife and two daughters, to the fullest that he can, given his condition. Although a lawsuit has been started, his lawyers tell him that with Massey’s track record of fighting lawsuits, it could go a whole decade and still not be settled.
The mine owners HATE the unions and fight them tooth and nail. The unions are very good at enforcing regulations on behalf of their members. Most non-union mines do pay well and offer
such great benefits because they want to keep the unions out.
I remember back a few years ago when Massey had the cave-in at one of the Canyon mines in Utah. Blankenship continually played off talking with the families and ultimately set up a system for government officials to speak to family members on a regular basis – he avoided them like the plague, just as he is doing this time.
Tragedies of this nature affect the whole town – everyone is so close and many are related. Prayers for all of them are definitely needed.
I posted some YouTube videos on my FB page…I’ll post them here one at a time…
this song is for the SAgo mine disaster in 2006, but uses old photos from the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster in Monongah, WV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OazytLZieNM&feature=related
here’s a video about the Monongah Mine disaster…over 500 people dead, including children as young as 8 years old working in the mines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HCJBvc53wU&feature=player_embedded
and this one, Jean Ritchie, singing in the old timey Appalachia tradition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stbg74o2JYk&feature=related
ok…I’ll stop now…
A request is going around the internet tonight, for everyone to leave an outside light on in memory for those miners who have died, and for those still missing.
My family comes from a coal mining town in PA. My father remembered and passed along the stories of the unionization of the mines. And particularly remembered the Pinkerton thugs hired by the mine owners to intimidate and beat the miners who were trying to unionize. My grandfather and one of my uncles were killed in mine cave-ins. In one of those rare moments of humanity, the companies forbade any more hires from any family that had lost 2 or more to the mines because of the impact on the families. An uncle by marriage, though, worked the mines until a 6ft x 6ft x 8in slab came down on him as he was returning after a blast and crippled him. Because there was no other work in those towns other than mining, most of my family moved to Detroit where there were a variety of steel mills and auto plants.
I have a nice white collar job, and people wonder why I am so adamant about the need for unions. Between the mines, steel plants and car companies, I have nothing but respect for most all of the unions and what they do for their members. You will note that none of the major mining accidents that happened were in union mines. That is not an accident.
29 GreatGranny2C Says:
April 6th, 2010 at 8:38 PM
A request is going around the internet tonight, for everyone to leave an outside light on in memory for those miners who have died, and for those still missing.
********************
Like the Iditarod red lantern. I hope all the red lantern teams of years past hear of this and hang out their lanterns until the last miner comes home.
My porch light is on. May it bring a little more light to those suffering losses as well as to those suffering from indifference.
I’ve had my backporch light on since Monday…front porch light shines through the bedroom window and keeps hubster awake…
I’m still holding out for a miracle for the four still missing…it happened with one at Sago in 2006.
Election results are coming in. Matt Claman is way behind. Paul Honeman is pulling ahead. It’s close between Traini and Clary.
http://www.adn.com
front page
OK, turning light on. Wiping tears away after reading that request – thanks GreatGranny2C.
Krubozumo Nyankoye # 21
I remember that ballad. Here’s a rendition from the U2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWzYSJ3-Cjw&feature=related
I lit a candle for the miners and their families:
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=WV
There may be another group but I named one WV for West Virginia because I don’t know how to break the group codes.
My porchlight is also on.
I cannot imagine sending a loved one into a mine. It’s bad enough that I send my husband off to the oilfield every 2 weeks and I am always afraid for him. The oilfield is also a very dangerous place. No unions. Not all that great of pay or benefits. It’s a job. He always tells me he will be careful but…..I try not to go there or I couldn’t say goodbye.
1. KN: Springhill Mine is a powerful, powerful song, sadly relegated to folk music. I’m not dissing PPM — I love them — it’s just not, you know, current. But great. I’m gonna send emails to a few of the usual suspects and suggest a cover/adaptation. The apparently unending series of disasters deserves an update.
2. General remark. This is the fundamental reason why there are unions. Although I am not religious, I sincerely hope that that the entire management of Massey will eventually rot in their own version of Hell for all eternity.
yes…the candles…I lit mine…there are still four miners left unaccounted for…
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=WV
strangelet…YES!!! this is why we have unions and I can NOT wrap my head around why people are so anti-union….especially this SEIU nonsense…
So…the teepea peeps want us to go back to when 8 year olds were in the coal mines back in 1907-09 and died in those coal mines?
I weep…