Read it and weep

I'll say it again, it's time to shelve West Virginia's old state motto, "Mountaineers are always free" and replace it with something more fitting. (Although I hope we can reinstate the old one when conditions change.)

My nomination for the motto has oft appeared here. It's "You can't make this **** up." I was hoping to come up with a Latin version, but the Republican controlled state legislature declared English to be the official language.

Perhaps that will save the billions of dollars currently spent on printing official documents in Urdu...

But I digress.

The most recent example of why we should use the new motto can be found in the publication from prison by former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship titled An American Political Prisoner.

Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo had this to say about that here. The truly...interested can read the whole document here. I actually skimmed it.

Let's just say it ain't Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

Rediscovered again

It must be an election year, because WV has definitely been rediscovered. Two presidential candidates hit the state yesterday alone, with two entirely different vibes. Here's coverage of a forum on poverty in McDowell County, one of the nation's poorest counties, led by Bernie Sanders. And here's coverage of the other one.

Speaking of the other one, this piece from Forbes questions his claim to be able to bring back the coal industry.  This one talks about what he didn't say to miners. And this one questions claims about national working class support.

The verdict

Sorry about the slow posts. Aside from running around, I was without phone and internet for a good chunk of last week, which was very frustrating. The big news, obviously, was the Don Blankenship verdict. Short version: guilty on conspiracy to evade mine safety laws, not guilty on charges related to corporate reporting and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Here's my thought: how (fill in the blank)-ed up is it that the maximum sentence he could face for helping to bring about the needless deaths of 29 miners is one year, whereas the sentences for misleading investors carried a penalty of decades? OK, so that was a rhetorical question.

I mean, golly, one might almost think that the interests of the wealthy and powerful count for more than those of working people in this country.

Still the fact that a corporate boss got any penalty (or even inconvenience) at all for causing the deaths of workers is a big deal, so I'll try to focus on the positive.

Anyway, the story is all over the web. I think WV Public Broadcasting did a good job on Inside Appalachia and Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo had this to say after following this developing story for years.

In case you missed it...

...this rather lengthy NY Times article on former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship came out while I was traveling. I agree with Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo that it's a bit odd an article of that length didn't mention the role of federal prosecutor Booth Goodwin.

Speaking of coal, WV's ruling class is celebrating the Supreme Court ruling on the EPA. I'm not sure that this will be enough to bring back a booming economy in southern WV, however.

Two WV bright spots (really)

I've been very impressed by US Attorney Booth Goodwin. He made headlines last month with the indictment of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. This week, it was for the indictment of six owners and managers of Freedom Industries, the company that poisoned the water of 300,000 West Virginians last January. It's nice to see corporate crimes treated as real crimes.

Another WV bright spot is Charleston Gazette reporter and Coal Tattoo blogger Ken Ward, who really shines the light where it needs to go. If you click here, you can hear what he had to say  on NPR today about the chemical spill, the Blankenship indictment and more.

Last year, the WV legislature passed some pretty strong water protection legislation. Word is that incoming Republican leaders want to weaken that legislation in the 2015 session. That should be an interesting fight.

Maybe they should start by poisoning their own water.

Two for the road

 This explains a lot: a Princeton study suggests that the USA is no longer a democracy but rather an oligarchy, as in rule by the wealthy few. To some that might be a radical assertion; to others, it is stating the obvious. I tend to fall into the latter camp.

And then here are the post-election reflections of my friend Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo.

Cheers!

Election Day Blues

My friend Ken Ward over at Coal Tattoo has some words of wisdom on this election day. He notes that while lots of politicians rattle on about the so-called "war on coal,"

The list of things that coalfield candidates don’t want to talk seriously about is long and important: Mine disasters, black lung disease, global climate change, the environmental and human health costs of mountaintop removal, and — probably most significantly — what Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky will do for jobs and an economy as the region’s coal production continues to decline.

 In particular, candidates from both parties have tended to vie with one another on who can bash Obama the most. Ward blames the media as much as the campaigns for going along with oversimplified soundbites.

He nails it with his conclusion:

Because elections do matter. And regardless of who controls the U.S. Senate or the W.Va. House, coalfield residents will wake up on Wednesday facing the same set of serious challenges: Natural gas will still be cheap. The best coal reserves in Central Appalachia will still be mined out. Carbon dioxide in our planet’s atmosphere will still be climbing to levels we should all be afraid of. The coal-mining jobs that are left will will be too dangerous, putting workers at risk of dying suddenly in a roof fall or slowly from black lung.

When all the votes are counted, our region will still face too much drug abuse and too little education, too much pollution and not nearly enough quality health care, too many WARN notices and too few jobs — too much fear and far, far too little hope. And mostly all the election will have done with its endless television ads, sound bites and attacks is the one thing that coalfield residents can least afford: Torn us further apart, instead of bringing us closer together.

The whole piece is worth a look and has tons of links.

No surprise

This isn't exactly the most surprising news in the world, but it's still worth mentioning. A new study by the Urban Institute found that helping parents get health care helps kids as well.You can read more here. Part of the context for the study is the decision of states whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. I'm very proud of how WV has handled that--well over 141,000 people covered under Medicaid expansion since Jan. 1.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE has been in the news quite a bit lately. Here are some ideas about how to stop it.

MORE OF THE SAME. Here's Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo on business as usual in WV.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

People deserve better

Another round of coal mine layoffs has just been announced. Unfortunately, WV's political leaders from both major parties are not dealing with the real issues, as Ken Ward notes in Coal Tattoo. On the brighter side, this editorial from the generally conservative Charleston Daily Mail talks sense.

OFF TOPIC. Although El Cabrero works for a Quaker organization which tolerates the publication of this blog, not to mention my other heterodoxies, I happen to be a cradle Episcopalian. Which is why I have decided here to include the late comedian Robin Williams list of the top 10 reason to be Episcopal. I totally agree.

The last word...

...of the work week goes to Ken Ward at the Charleston Gazette and Coal Tattoo. Ken points out here that even if WV's ruling class got its wish and made the EPA disappear, the state's coal industry would still be in trouble due to cheap natural gas and coal competition from elsewhere. At some point, we need to deal with it.

Something useful for a change

West Virginia's political leaders threw a world class ruling class hissy fit in the wake of the Obama administration's efforts to deal with climate change, which can't be true here because of money. For what it's worth, I'd like to pitch two reality based assessments of the current situation. First, here's Kentucky's Jason Bailey talking about some practical ways of dealing with Appalachia's problems. Second, here's Ken Ward from Coal Tattoo calling leaders to a higher standard. Whether anyone is listening is an open question.

My wife told me to blog this

I received a direct order from the Spousal Unit to blog about a story in the news regarding the production and distribution of what El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia seems to regard as a dangerous and toxic substance, to wit, milk.

We have dabbled a bit in dairy at Goat Rope Farm, but it's hard when milk from non-industrialized (i.e., non-tortured) animals has roughly the same legal status as, say, nuclear waste or crack.

TWO TATTOO. My friend Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo was off last week, a busy week in coal news. But he's making up for lost ground this week. Here's his coverage on the latest climate change information for WV's ruling class to deny because of money and, closely related, here's his post on said ruling class's ongoing hissy fit over the EPA.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, at least WV's two senators voted against the Whackadoodle blackmail bill that threatens to shut down the government unless "Obamacare" is defunded.

FINAL THOUGHT. I love this tweet from Riann Wilson:

Things to say when you sit next to a stranger on the plane:
1) God put me next to you for a reason.
2) Are you ticklish?

I think I'll try that next flight.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED 

What was his first clue?

When asked about his political aspirations, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship told a Wall Street Journal reporter in a recent interview, "I don't think I'm electable." One wonders what chain of reasoning might have led to this conclusion. Read more about it at Coal Tattoo.

Apparently the interview was done before yesterday's news about additional criminal charges that might be going up the Massey corporate ladder.

And if you want more of Mr. B., click here.

NON SEQUITUR. If you are in need of a weird science article about immortal jellyfish, click here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Another slow news day

Golly, why does everybody look sleepy today?

There's a lot I could say post election but I'll just focus on one thing today: yesterday's vote means that the Affordable Care Act will survive. But it also means that the fight to expand coverage is going to take place at the state level.

One result of the US Supreme Court decision on the law was the ability of states to choose whether or not to expand Medicaid eligibility to 138% of the federal poverty level in 2014. The law as passed by Congress basically required states to do it or lose all Medicaid funding.

This means that states ruled by people who hate poor people, such as West Virginia seems to be some days,  are going to be reluctant to do so. It will take a huge effort, and lots of people power, to make that happen. But it will mean health care for well over 100,000 low income working West Virginians and for millions of others around the country.

Gird up thy loins...

ONE MORE THING. I had already posted yesterday's blog when I saw these pre-election reflections on the politics of coal by Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo. I'm wondering whether the ruling class hissy fit which blames a certain black guy in the White House and the EPA for all the ills of the world will continue unabated or will they figure out it isn't working very well. I guess the smart money is on the hissy fit.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

I felt so symbolic

We interrupt Goat Rope's regularly scheduled Moby-Dick series to celebrate a nice little victory. As noted earlier in this blog, members of Charleston WV's African American community and many white allies mobilized over the last year to add the name of Mary C. Snow, a prominent black educator, to the new West Side Elementary School.

This post from February shows what it's like when hundreds of people turn out for a school board meeting to make a stand. And this post from July celebrates the fact that community members overcame resistance and converted former opponents to support the name change.

On Tuesday night, I was back in the neighborhood and was thrilled to see that it had actually happened. A friend had previously circulated a picture, but I thought it might have been photo-shopped. Like doubting Thomas of old, I had to experience the reality for myself. And it was sweet.

Yes, it was primarily a symbolic victory. Yes, we have much bigger problems to deal with. As a general rule I prefer hard targets (as in policy wins) to symbolic victories, but it occurs to me that humans are, after all, creatures of sign and symbol. And that symbolic victories are sweet as well.

(I am reminded of the lyrics of my favorite song from the 1990s, Mr. Jones by Counting Crows: "I felt so symbolic yesterday.")

POLLS, JESUS, POLITICS AND ALL THAT are discussed in the latest edition of the Rev. Jim Lewis' Notes from Under the Fig Tree.

THE RAW AND THE COOKED. Was cooking the trick that helped early humans develop such big brains? Maybe.

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING what was up with former Massey CEO Don Blankenship after Frodo melted the Ring he retired from the company, click here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

A win, a loss, a rant and such

I love a bill signing--especially when it's a good bill that people fought long and hard to pass. Monday was such a day. As pictured above, WV House Speaker Rick Thompson, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, and Senate President Jeff Kessler ceremonially signed a bill creating the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs, which is charged to address issues of racial, ethnic and gender equity. It will be directed by Dr. Carolyn Stuart. The room was packed for the signing.

I spent a good chunk of the past two and a half years pushing for this and it was nice to see the day when the office was up and running. I especially liked seeing the above sign right across the hall from the Governor's Office. That was about as tangible as you can get.

A WEST VIRGINIA ORIGINAL. Many people in WV and beyond were shocked by the sudden death of Larry Gibson, a vocal and active opponent of mountaintop removal mining. He was absolutely fearless and relentless in pursuit of what he believed. Here's Ken Ward on his passing.

THE LATEST RANT. Here's an op-ed by yours truly on the state of working West Virginians.

ARPAD UPDATE. I'd like to thank those who sent messages of concern about the travails of our Great Pyrenees Arpad who is suffering from the after effects of a broken leg. The latest is that he is back at the vets for a day or two for observation.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Road fever

Sorry about the irregular posts, but El Cabrero has been and will be on the road a lot these days. If you are on the road yourself, remember that there are a lot of turkeys out there.

LAST WORD goes to Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Bumper stickers

You can find the darnedest things on bumper stickers. Recently a friend sent me a couple that were pretty good. One went like this:

No, you can't have my rights, I'm still using them.

Another one went in the direction of theology and etiquette:

I'll be JESUS would have used HIS turn signals.

He probably really would have, you know.

Meanwhile, given all the coal rhetoric around El Cabero's beloved state of West Virginia the following bumper sticker sized slogan came to me:

Whale oil kept the lights on.

That, of course, is a riff on the ever popular "Coal keeps the lights on." I must say in my defense that I'm not trying to be a smartass about this. It is literally true. The whaling industry and the oil harvested therefrom was a major source of lamp oil in the early 1800s. As I understand it, Confederate commerce raiding during the Civil War helped put an end to whaling as a major US industry. Meanwhile other fuels became more practical.

The wheels kept turning. But they used different fuel. Like it or not, the same thing might be happening now. We need to tone down the rhetoric and start thinking about how to deal with this challenge.

LAST WORD goes to Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

An Enemy of the People...

...is the title of a play by Ibsen about an otherwise well-regarded doctor who becomes a pariah when he discovers that the waters on which his home town's economy is based are poisonous.

Good thing nothing like that could ever happen in El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia, huh? I mean, the idea of someone catching some flack for being insufficiently servile to a major industry is way too far-fetched in this day and age...

Totally off topic, WV's ruling class is throwing yet another hissy fit over Senator Jay Rockefeller's recent comments about coal. As usual, Ken Ward provides a great summary at Coal Tattoo.

Here's just one example of how those who dance to the masters' tune spin things around here. The headline of the print version of The State Journal, a business publication, blares "Rockefeller Blasts Coal, Lauds EPA," which, to the ears of those who run this state, is the equivalent of "Rockefeller Dropkicks Jesus, Gives Obama-style fist bump to Satan," only worse.

If you actually read what Rockefeller said, it's pretty clear that he wants the industry to have a place at the table for years to come, but facts don't matter around here. I'm afraid things are going to be pretty ugly here for a stretch.

The sad part is, things are going to be tough enough anyway. WV has a tough transition to go through, thanks as much to market forces and competition with natural gas as to anything else. Excessive rhetoric, denial and blind resistance aren't going to help.

This and that

OK, I've gotten a little bit of zombie fever out of my system. No--I wasn't bitten by one, thank
God,  but I did manage to wolf down, visually speaking, Season 1 of The Walking Dead while the Spousal Unit, an otherwise remarkable woman who doesn't happen to be all that cool about zombies, was out of town.

But zombies aren't just for TV anymore, as this AP story explains.

CALLING BS. Here's America's best coal reporter Ken Ward dispensing an all too rare dose of reason and reality in a state of denial.

GASLAND. What's in it for us? Here's a call to to even things out a bit where Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling is concerned.

SHOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK. Here's a really good item about austerity from Arianna Huffington. I hope she's right.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED