"Morning Papers" - Its Origins

        

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

Haven't seem much of Palin around the Massey mine, right? No clue.

Manchin announces wreath-laying ceremony  (click title to entry - thank you)

April 10, 2010 by Ken Ward Jr. 

Gov. Joe Manchin and First Lady Gayle Manchin will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony in honor of the 31 miners involved in the mine disaster at the Upper Big Branch Mine-South. The ceremony begins at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, April 12, at the Coal Miner Memorial Statue, located on the state capitol grounds near the Culture Center.

During the event, the governor will ask people from across the nation to join the first lady and him in a moment of silence to honor the fallen miners and their families...

The fallen?   

Miners are at war?  

Really?  

Whatever happened to OSHA !!!!!!!!!!!!!  (click here)

MSHA News Release: [04/06/2010]
Contact Name: Jesse Lawder or Carl Fillichio
Phone Number: (202) 693-5060 or x (202) 309-9184
Release Number: 10-0452-NAT

Statement of US Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis on the death of 25 miners at Upper Big Branch South Mine

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement on the death of 25 miners yesterday at the Upper Big Branch South Mine in Whitesville, W.Va.:

"As we hear of more heartbreak from Whitesville, our thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends, loved ones, neighbors and coworkers.  Twenty-five hardworking men died needlessly in a mine yesterday.  I pledge that their deaths will not be in vain.

“The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration will investigate this tragedy, and take action.  Miners should never have to sacrifice their lives for their livelihood."

Shut them down !  No more compromise with companies that 'game the system' for profits.

"The investigative team (click here) will now begin its important work to determine exactly what happened, and Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joe Main and I will meet with the President to discuss what actions the administration can take to prevent further tragedies in this industry.

"Although details of the catastrophe are unclear at this time, we do know this: Mine explosions are preventable, miners should never have to sacrifice their lives for their livelihood, and all workers deserve to come home to their families at the end of their shift safe and whole."

I am sure the mine tragedy will be at the top of Palin's new show for advocacy for better conditions for families and workers.  And I am confident she'll stay on it until the dream is realized. 

The crowd started chanting "Drill, baby, drill." But she corrected them: "It's 'Mine, baby, mine.' "  (click here)

Massey and Palin made out of the same Wall Street Stuff.  Perhaps it will be Massey that will make the show and provide tears to the plight he faces trying to 'deal with' the rights of human beings in the USA.

There ya go, Sarah, some of the babies' fathers are dead.  Happy now?  Cutting safety to the bone to enhance stockholders happiness a priority still?  As a rule, Sarah isn't good with adult issues.  Just one of those crazy things that happens in the world of politics, right Sarah?  Here today, dead tomorrow. But, the violence sells well huh babe?  Oh, yeah.  Guns are power, dead miners are wealth.  You go get 'em, Sarah.  I am sure our Founding (Not Foundry, Sarah) Fathers would have backed that beyond a shadow of a doubt.  Death to Americans so Wall Street has its profit margin.  I think that might rightfully be called a 'Death Tax.'  Maybe your Tea Baggers might put it better into 'concept' that way.  Ask Rove, he would know.

The reason the coal miners had no high quality air in the mine was because methane is always present with coal and it wasn't being captured BEFORE the mining began.

Fossil fuels, regardless of their 'type' are all basically the same.  They are ROTTED carbon from living organisms.  When dead organisms ROT, especially plants, they produce methane, i.e. land fills.  The coal deposits are no different and neither is oil.  There are always toxic gases, including, sulfur and nitrogen affiliated with these deposits.  The methane in the mines is allowed to exist and cause high potential for explosions.  In order to make mines safe for human beings to work in they need three things, high ventilation rates (HVAC) systems, and the prior removal of methane to 'CONTAINERS' so it doesn't cause more greenhouse gas concentration in the troposphere.  All that takes money.  Money that Wall Street has no conscience to spend.  When profits are cut by a real conscious CEOs don't get big bonuses, including the one at Massey.  So, while the employees of Massey are ? grateful ? for the work, they are allowed to wallow in the slime of its CEO and the corruption of its government to protect them.  If this makes me sound like a dreaded 'Beck communist of socialist' then the people of that audience have become demented to a value system of decency !

The problem here is that access to the 'safe' chamber is too far away to actually access and in the case of Massey's mines the explosion rendered the miners throughout the mine unconscious and unable to save their own lives.

The mine's air was toxic and full of explosive capacity at some time during the 'work day' and they were required to continue to work.  The reason of course is 'the coal provides life.'  

That is about as perverse as it comes.

In the power point presentation there is a significantly different way of providing air quality and PROTECTION to the people of any mining employment.

There are measures that can be taken that can improve the lives of the communities and the work quality of the miners.  It is expensive.  It means that mines are not necessary excoriated of their 'last ounce of carbon rock.'  But it does mean dignityto a nation that is converting its energy resources to that which is modern and civilized.

The problem with Wall Street as an 'entity' of power in the USA is the FACT it has no conscience ! 

Do you make my Father's house a house of merchandise?

Shame on everyone for not seeing the truth.

This is what is known as a 'rescue chamber' - click title to read Power Point

In the power point presentation, it goes on to explain a far better form of 'built in' unit that has dedicated 'AIR LOCK' capacity.  What is also explained are the sincere dangers of mining and the ever present issue of air quality.  The definitions by Massey of what is acceptable OXYGEN levels or 19.5% is below any health standard employed by hospitals for patients, which is 21%.  The people of the USA have opportunity to change their means of obtaining energy and living free of any dangers provided the people of these towns.  I don't consider 'living dangerously' glamorous.  I consider it foolish.

The dead are buried and now what? Oh, life goes on as if nothing happented.

I hope President Obama finds a good replacement for the Supreme Court.  More women would be nice.  But, I refuse to play the Republican media game.  There are people's lives at stake.  The 'so called' RESCUE CHAMBERS, come in a box.  They are chambers at all.

So, let's see.  The mine operators don't care about safety.  The 'bore holes' should have been VENT HOLES along the entire duration of the mine tunnel with continuous air quality meters.  The rescue chambers should have been real chambers where a human body could actually survive toxic and explosive air, the equipment they wear don't protect them from concussion.  The children of the town are encouraged to attend a school where coal dust dominates their playground and the water the people of the area drink is polluted. 

Now, I want to know why a Justice choice to the Supreme Court is dominating the USA media where there is so much WRONG with the quality of life of the people of this industry?

I suppose the 'rescue' was sensational and moral enough to pursue but the aftermath just ain't worth it because it might actually change the way the USA finds energy in this country and God forbid Wall Street shouldn't have its profit margin anymore ! 

Was the CEO fired?  Did the news media 'rag on' until he was gone?  Votes might want to ask themselves how much of a puppet they really area !  AIG didn't insure them either.  I don't believe Bech or Limbaugh carried much coverage.  So much for FAIR and BALANCED.  Murdoch viewers have an alternate reality.  So long as viewers and listeners stay in their 'cubical lives,' "All is well."  They are 'spoon fed' their rage on a regular basis and God forbid it should effect Wall Street and Murdoch's political cronies.

Company self-insured for mine tragedy claims  (click here)

Safety record eyed after blast kills at least 25

MONTCOAL, W.Va.—The company that owns the West Virginia coal mine where at least 25 miners were killed last week is largely self-insured for the risks associated with the explosion. 

In its annual report filed last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy Co. said—despite the inherent risks associated with coal mining, including fires and explosions—it does not have business interruption insurance. It also self-insures its underground mining equipment, Massey said.

A spokesman for the West Virginia Insurance Commission said Massey's Performance Coal Co. subsidiary, which operates the Upper Big Branch-South mine where the explosion happened, is a qualified self-insured company in the state and self-insures its workers compensation risks....

CORRRECTION: Shares of Massey Energy Co. rise  (click here)

April 9, 2010, 10:25 a.m. EDT

By Kate Gibson NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Massey Energy Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!mee/quotes/nls/mee (MEE 46.72, +0.58, +1.26%) on Friday rose for a second day after the coal company said in a regulatory filing it would hike output elsewhere to make up for lost production at its mine in West Virginia, where a blast killed 25 and left four others missing. Monday's explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Moncoal is the worst U.S. mine accident in decades. Shares of Massey rose 2.9% to $47.46.

These people should never be allowed to stand alone anymore in trying to live a life with health and longevity.  They have lawyers just to fight for clean water.  Does everyone else in the country?  And Wall Street does nothing but love the profits made on the backs of danger and death.

Massey’s Blankenship Fought Regulators, Town, Maid as Coal CEO  (click here)

April 10, 2010, 12:03 AM EDT

By Margaret Cronin Fisk, Brian K. Sullivan and Karen Freifeld

April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Don Blankenship, chief executive officer of Massey Energy Co., has fought with mine regulators, unions, residents of his town and even his personal maid.

His company regularly appeals fines for safety infractions. He has personally gone into mines to persuade workers to abandon union organizing efforts. Massey is fighting lawsuits that claim it contaminated groundwater in Blankenship’s town. A maid supplied by a company she claimed was a Massey unit was forced to fight all the way to West Virginia’s highest court to collect unemployment benefits.

Blankenship, 60, is emerging as the public face of Massey as rescue workers search for four additional miners after the April 5 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine that left 25 dead. Resistance to spending money and willingness to litigate reflect policies Massey has pursued since he became CEO in 2000.

“Don Blankenship is perfect for Massey Energy,” said Kevin Thompson, attorney for residents of the West Virginia county where the CEO lives who are suing the company alleging water contamination. “It’s more than cost-cutting with Don Blankenship. It’s a need to control. It’s a need to win.”

At a July 11, 2008, deposition in a lawsuit over two deaths at the company’s Aracoma mine, Blankenship was asked by his lawyer, Thomas V. Flaherty, to respond to accusations that he had a “personal drive for increasing company profits at all costs, including the safety of subsidiaries’ associates.”

Accidents Cost

“It is just the opposite,” Blankenship testified. “As an accountant, I know that safety is an important cost control. So even if I were so calloused, which I am not, as to believe that safety should be sacrificed for production, I would understand that it doesn’t make any sense because the accidents and so forth cause you to have more costs.”

Blankenship wasn’t available for an interview for this story, a spokeswoman at the Massey media hotline who declined to give her name said on April 8. He is declining to comment until the search and rescue of missing miners is completed, she said. Another spokeswoman at the hotline yesterday said the company wouldn’t respond immediately to questions about Blankenship because of the rescue effort.

James S. Crockett Jr., a Charleston, West Virginia, attorney who represented the company in the Aracoma mine wrongful-death suit, declined to comment. Albert F. Sebok, a Charleston attorney with Jackson Kelly PLLC representing Massey in the pollution suit, didn’t return calls for comment.

Safety ‘Job One’

To the claim that Blankenship puts production ahead of safety, his attorney Flaherty said yesterday that “safety is job one” at the company....