~ MINERS MURDERED for CORPORATE PROFIT ~
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It’s still the same ole story, eh?
Now, we all know where the Upper Big Branch Mine, owned by the Massey Energy Co. is… 30 miles south of Charleston in West by god Virginia. If you’ve followed the ups and downs that matter to Massey Energy, you know, too, that their stock took a nice tumble of 11.4% this morning according to Standard and Poors. That’s the BOTTOM LINE for Massey and their CEO Don Blankenship… not the bones of 25 (and most probably 4 more) employees. The likes of the big corporate elite, Dan Blankenship, has been fastidious to corporate profit and that reciprocal payout !… not the niggling little details of safety or full function in the mine. What bet some bean counter didn’t advise this corporate board that eschewing the fines and waiting until full shut down repairs came up, it wasn’t worth it to fix or upgrade. 57 fine-able offences on the clipboard in March and these old boys just don’t give a fuck… payout? Not on your life. And that’s what we have here… not on the miners’ lives. CAN ANYONE SAY “CLASS ACTION”? Because frankly, Massey Energy murdered these miners by default of safety for the a bottom line of profit. That’s the way it swings up there. You betcha~! Yet this morning the stock market said a little something different… you screwed the pooch Massey. People don’t respond to corporate profits when they demonstrate murder. No, I don’t buy the Wash Post version that ‘even though their (Massey’s) safety standards are better than most industry standards … wait a friggin minute here! An industry bedrock in employee slavery, neglect and cheating them out of proper wages? That!? ‘industry standard’? From the likes of this kind of fella’s company?
Massey is one the largest coal producing company in the United States. The truth is that coal mining operations like Massey don’t have many accidents… most of the damage they do is subtly ongoing and more pervasive… the cancer rates, the strip mining, the overall poisoning of the water, air and spoilage to the mountains of Appalachia is just more SOP > standard operating procedure that is has taken on a timelessness since coal mining began. Does anyone not associate coal mining as probably one of the most laborious and dangerous jobs’ in America? An American archetype of extreme poverty, depression and corporate exploitation? Coal is a killer. It’s a human killer and a planet killer. It fills the mountains with the raw, naturally evolving ingredients for better minerals and stones… water purifier in its’ raw state. It’s been mined by many countries and claimed whole territorial generations of death and environmental disease. The is no such thing as ‘clean coal’. The ongoing barbaric dangers in mining it should be addressed seriously. The CEO of Massey does not want any of it. He decries climate change, unions and individual employees in allowing violations of coal dust and combustables to pile up at Big Branch. It’s in their corporate interests to deny global warming and climate change. They just happen to enjoy right wing conservative party values and ethics. And it shows, don’t it?
While I am angry and needing to speak out against the coal corporation and it’s worst…
more I am saddened for our West Virginian families, their grief and mourning. I understand they are among the most neglected Americans. And they are convinced overall that climate change, global warming is bunk meant to steal their pitiful livelihoods from them
because the likes of Dan Blankenship have told them so. Not all of them think this,
but
many do.
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Nuke my curry!!!!!….(the hotter the better)…;-)
Okay, I cannot let this go Mike. With all due respect, to say that nuclear power is the cleanest of all is, how do you say it… oh ya, a crock of crap.
We still haven’t disposed of the nuclear waste that has been produced from the reactors we have. The Yucca depository is not taking the waste yet, and it has been under construction for decades.
Several states have barrels of waste, underwater for containment, waiting on some place to dispose of it. This stuff is deadly poison for not tens or hundreds but 1000’s of years. Just because nuclear power doesn’t produce exhaust gas doesn’t mean it is clean. Would you say it is clean energy if radioactive waste,instead of being collected in barrels, were sent out each day into the atmosphere? What is the difference if there is no way to dispose of it?
And to put your faith in technology?? My engineering profession is built around designing industrial control systems, some of which have been used in power plants. I would never put my faith in technology when the stakes are so high. Just a simple example, higher technology is being used in “fly by wire” automotive systems today. Do you think that problems like what they are having today were around when it was just throttle cable? Same weird gremlins have also plagued the “fly by wire” new aviation systems. Chaos occurs and little glitches in the right combination can produce major unforeseen problems.
Another thing to ask yourself, if the nuke designs today are so safe, how come there isn’t one insurance company that will insure for damages at any cost? They cannot get insurance for damages caused by a catastrophe, the Nuclear Regulatory overrules any need for catastrophic damages.
Doesn’t even bring in the picture of any company taking shortcuts in construction or hiring of insufficiently trained personal, or paying the substandard wages. All it takes is one time…..
I would rather they go back to burning cow patties for energy before another nuke plant is built!
Finally~! TY Krell. Me too. I do have hope in green technology and the wonderful ‘science fiction’ they are working towards…
life ain’t bitch in my neighborhood. It’s challenging. 🙂
I agree with everything you say, but regardless nuclear energy is cleaner than burning fossil fuels. Our world is approaching a crisis the likes of which we have never seen. We must find an alternate source of energy and we must do it now. While I applaud the green solutions they cannot be implemented in time. I am suggesting we convert to nuclear energy in the short run and then continue to work on green energy. Anyone that knows me knows I am a serious environmentalist and would never choose something which threatens the environment over something that does not. The fact is nuclear energy, in the moment, is the lesser of two evils. As mentioned by Will, France uses it and they love it. Why can’t we until something more environmentally friendly comes along.
Mike, although I have known you for a short time and the “conversations” are just in a virtual sense, I know that you are a staunch environmentalist and wildlife protectionist.
Our differences here probably is that you have taken the more pragmatist view and mine is more idealistic. My big worry is that once the nuke plants are in place, the desire to find alternative sources will once again be put on the back burner.
This is the problem with fossil fuels. Everybody was all about the efficient cars back in the late 70’s when gas was relatively high priced quickly, but when it came back down again, suddenly it was SUV’S and Hummers. Americans tend to have a “out of pocketbocket sight, out of mind” mentality.
You make a good point Krell. Americans are spoiled rotten so they are not mindful of the consequences of their presumed “needs.” I think with a “pendulum” mentality. We build a couple of plants, everything is fine. There are no accidents, the waste is being “safely” stored, and the lights are still on. So, everyone takes a deep breath, says their fears were unjustified, blame the Republicans, and go about building more and more plants. The pendulum has swung once again in a wide arc, this time in favor of now “super-safe” nuclear power. In the process the waste sites are getting filled up, and once rigid safeguards are being relaxed for the sake of cost-savings and corporate influences. The next thing you know there is an accident, or one of the waste sites is somehow compromised and we are in serious shit indeed. I get it my friend, but I don’t see a way around it….I wish I did.
I agree with you 100%, Mike (and, yes, I salute the President, too, for his position). If France can safely get 70-80% of its electricity from nuclear, I pretty damn sure that we can competently explore this option, too.
A hundred years?
Like computers.
Or telephones, telegraphs, trains…
It doesn’t have to take any kind of time like that … nuclear clean?
Really? Mutant fish, whole ecosystems mutated… land radiated and spoiled…
It’s just a basic disagreement of witch way to wag as far as the environment. Each of us chooses the direction we feel the most comfortable moving in. Some folks will always want an SUV while others will happily choose Prius.
But its not apples and oranges
its more original vs mutant.
Love canal.
Hell, even electrical substations are emitting enough radiation to cause cancer.
Best thing any of can do though, is to
act local
think global.
In the meantime, folks like Blankenship and all of his corporate ilk are ramming as much profit as they can down the throats of the planet.
Gwen with all due respect a lot of what you say is science fiction. Contained and properly distributed nuclear power is as safe as your microwave. There will be no despoiled lands like you will find in coal mining states such as West Virginia, nor will there be thousands of windmills killing birds wherever they fly.
Thank you for posting this. I am very caught up in the plight of the coal miners and the land being decimated by the coal companies. I don’t know what the solution is, but we must find a better way to provide fuel for our country’s needs. Nuclear power is efficient, but until we find a way to safely dispose of the byproducts, there will always be detractors for that form of power. Wind and solar power, on the other hand, are great, but inefficient. We need to find another way.
I am a firm supporter of anything but coal. I am a realist however, and understand that nuclear power is the cleanest most efficient source of energy today. Right now. We no longer have the luxury of time.
There is much disagreement but the fact remains that nuclear power is the cleanest and most reliable source of energy. It is far more efficient than any fossil based fuel. It is the future and its future should have been in place thirty years ago. If you don’t agree, but eschew the burning of fossil fuels, then suggest the alternative.
There is no reasonable alternative. We need to move quickly because time is running out for us. Before we know it Mama Nature will be knockin’ at our door and she will be dressed as death.
Massey is also a big contributor to the tea party groups. He was quoted a few years ago saying that the company was unfairly targeted by regulators and he does not pay attention to violation counts. Wonder if he will start paying attention now that more have died. I doubt that somehow. CNN reported earlier today that police had to be called in to the meeting he had with families. Something about one of the family members asking if he knew the word sorry and had he made enough money already. Here is a link from Think Progress showing this group has been cited up the wazoo and it looks like nothing has been done.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/06/massey-deadly-mine/
You go down a mine you risk it. They risked it and some lost out. I wish it wasn’t so but that’s the way the deck cuts.
If I was a praying man I’d pray but I’m not.
You live you die…the bit in between is called life…Enjoy
Hope they enjoyed the bit in between…only one shot and their’s ended.
Very sad but you do a job like that it happens sometimes. They were unlucky.
Such is life.
As for corporations? They exist to make money. They’ll risk your life or my life is we’re in the frame.
We don’t like it? Get another job. Don’t blame the corporation, they just wanted to make money and they had enough miners willing to go underground to make it for them.
Life’s a bitch and then you die.
Very sad but very true 4D. You are a realist.
OH OH OH! Don’ tell me that mad Mike! Nuclear? O dear. Well, ta each their own…yea?
Well Gwen what is your suggestion? Wind is good, but it will take hundreds of years to do what we need it to do, because no one wants windmills in their backyard. So if we can’t do coal, wind, or nuclear what do we do? Mice on treadmills? Won’t work. Oso’s Dulce will eat the mice. So the option? The main problem with nuclear is the waste. We have to find a way safely dispose of the waste. The accident rate is too slim to consider. Please don’t bring up Chernobyl…That was Russia. We are much better at taking care of our own than they are. Please don’t bring up Three-Mile. That was ages ago and we are NOW much better at taking care of our own. So the basic question is again: What’s the alternative to coal, nuclear, and wind?
Ck out the ‘bloom box’ out in silicone valley… the future is here… we can get rid of fossil fuels, the nuclear waste makers (we are just waiting patiently for a major American meltdown)… wind, solar, but this new energy resource and the new resources in ongoing use and production at CERN… we have it. BIg OIL, BiG COAL, Big friggin business does not want us using it. No profits for them in it… are there? Gee, didn’t you catch the story of the bloom box (I think that’s what it’s called, close enough) on 60 mins a week ago? We have the technology, Mike. And we still have and have always had HEMP! (http://www.bloomenergy.com/) ck out the bloom box.
4D, I don’t live a life like that… it’s a bitch and then you die… over on this side, it’s the right wing nutters who live according to those values and ethics. I try to live my life with a positive, caring contribution… to the best I might, anyway. 🙂
Jess… I did not want to use up another 500 words on that! Ta for mentioning! Yeah, he’s a grade A Teabagger. Blankenship. That’s a great link…ty!
No worries, that is what is great about teh toobs. Everyone gets to have a little piece of information to pass to someone else, willing to look into it. Well most everyone does, I don’t trust right leaning sites with the info they give, I look for my own in that case so I know I am getting truth :). This bloom energy looks interesting, I am looking through the site.
Gwen I saw this on 60 Minutes. It will take a hundred years to implement. We don’t have the time.
This is yet another powerful reason why we need to find alternative fuel sources. Me? I’m a nuclear power kind of guy.