Show up and smile

Earlier this month, presidential candidate Mitt Romney held a rally in Ohio which was intended to show that coal country was solidly behind him. It turns out that those miners who attended were told to do so by their employer. The event was mandatory and unpaid.

Another example of democracy at its finest.

SPEAKING OF COAL, here's some interesting news in the ongoing Upper Big Branch federal investigation.

THE ECONOMY ISN'T GROWING MUCH but poverty is.

WHAT MAKES INEQUALITY WORSE? Declining union membership.

HEALTH CARE REFORM. Most West Virginians favor parts of it.

CULTURE, CUSTOMS AND TRADITION aren't just for humans anymore.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED