Massey Comes to Power

To celebrate the DVD reissue of the 1986 film The Mine War on Blackberry Creek, Appalshop is streaming the documentary in its entirety (28 minutes) on the web for free.  In 1984, Massey began a push to break the union along the West Virginia and Kentucky border. But union miners refused to give away their high wages, pensions, benefits, and independence without a struggle.  Compelled by the blood their ancestors spilled to give them their rights, and in solidarity with South Africans working in slave conditions in Massey mines across the globe, union miners struggled intensely for two and a half years against company goons, amoral scabs, and a state police force which might as well have been on king coal’s payroll.

Another Blessing From Coal

Several communities in Mingo County have been devastated over the weekend by flash flooding and mudslides.

Not coincidentally, the places most affected (Gilbert, Varney, Pie) are surrounded by mountaintop removal sites. The picture of the valley fill I included in the post “Is Obama Duped by PR Scheme?”  sits adjacent to Gilbert High School, which lost a baseball field and many classrooms to the flood.