A yo-yo year

 Lots of people I know, myself included, spent a lot of time over the last year trying to get something across the line in terms of a federal reconciliation bill. We started with high hopes and saw things go off the rails on more than one occasion. 

Now, a possible new bill could be voted on very soon, one largely negotiated by a certain senator from West Virginia who has been front and center throughout the process. Although there are plenty of things in the bill not to like, and some things we wanted didn't make it, this is the first major federal legislation to address climate change, while also preserving health care benefits for millions, reducing prescription drug prices, and fixing Black Lung funding.

I'm pleased and proud that this action alert in support of the legislation is at the top of the AFSC webpage.

The United Mine Workers union has also come out strong in support of the Inflation Reduction Act. The release reads in part:

“We are very pleased that Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) were able to come to an agreement on legislation that includes full and permanent funding of the excise tax that funds the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. This will give victims of this insidious disease, their families and their survivors some peace of mind that the benefits they so desperately need will never be reduced.

“Senator Manchin never wavered in his commitment to secure the funding for this program, and he delivered. Thousands in the coalfields owe him yet another debt of gratitude, and the UMWA will never forget his dedication to getting this done.

“There is more to do regarding Black Lung, starting with the promulgation of a final rule to limit silica dust exposure in coal mines. We also must examine the entire Black Lung benefits system to make it more inclusive for victims, more efficient in the awarding of benefits, and to ensure its long-term viability in the face of a declining coal industry. The UMWA stands ready to meet with all stakeholders – victims and their families, labor, and industry – to work on solutions to these issues.

“We are also pleased to see that provisions were included in the IRA that will extend tax credits to renewable energy supply chain manufacturers that build plants in the coalfields, which will be a big step toward providing good jobs to these distressed communities. The enhanced tax credits for carbon capture and storage included in the legislation will also be a boon for coalfield jobs. We urge swift passage of this legislation by Congress.”

Now it looks like all eyes are on Senator Sinema. It's nice for once not to have to worry about someone from West Virginia breaking the deal. It would be nicer to finally get this one done.

Good for the soul

 These really are hard times. I don't know many people from any end of any spectrum who aren't a bit stressed out nowadays. But one recent dose of soul medicine for me came in the form of the United Mine Workers union Labor Day rally in Racine, WV. I've been going to those off and on for 30 years. 

It was really weird and sad to be there without seeing, talking with, and listening to my dear friend Elaine Purkey, a labor singer and songwriter who performed there pretty much every time until she died of COVID last year at around this time. Here's what I wrote about her when she passed. I took that hard.

This year was different and special in that Labor Day coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest workers' insurrection in American history (so far...), when 10,000 miners marched across southern West Virginian to gain the right to organize. Some UMWA members and supporters retraced that march this year. 

It was great to be around working class people committed to fighting for a working class agenda. I hope that all the efforts to commemorate past struggles help people commit to those of today. Things were rally bad here 100 years ago. Progress was made--and lost.

I'm so old-fashioned that I believe the only hope for the world is the solidarity of the diverse, multi-racial and international working class, even if part of it has lost its way for the time being. I know that without it, we aren't going anywhere.

I think we are at a pivotal point in history and it's going to be a close one.

Say it ain't so, Joe

 WV Senator Joe Manchin wrote an op-ed yesterday on his opposition to the HR 1/S 1 For the People Act, which was designed to protect and expand voting rights. No doubt that was good news to white nationalists, insurrectionists and their enablers and apologists, and vote suppressors--but, as this article shows, it was a slap in the face to Black West Virginians, who arguably provided his margin of victory in the last election, not to mention anyone who cares about democracy.

On a positive note, it was nice to see the United Mine Workers Union issue this statement today in favor of the proposed legislation. Union president Cecil Roberts said that  “Congress should be doing everything possible to not just maintain, but expand voting access and create freer and fairer elections. If only one party is interested in doing that, then so be it.”

I think somebody kicked a hornet's nest and I have a feeling this isn't over.

Mine Workers pledge solidarity with teachers, school workers

In case you missed it, below is a statement from United Mine Workers president Cecil Roberts about the WV senate majority's attack on teachers and school support workers (I italilcized my favorite part):

“Once again, the Republican leadership in the West Virginia State Senate have demonstrated that they are mere tools of the radical out-of-state billionaires who pull their puppet strings. No one who actually cares about West Virginia schools, children and families would ever propose such meaningless nonsense, let alone codify it in legislation.

“Teachers and school support personnel already do not have the right to strike in West Virginia, but they ignored that and demonstrated the power of solidarity in each of the last two years. Their fight for better education for our kids remains an inspiration to education professionals across the nation, and the UMWA was proud to stand with them.

“From the Baldwin-Felts thugs at Paint Creek and Cabin Creek to Sherriff Chafin at Blair Mountain to Don Blankenship at Massey Energy, the UMWA has a long history of standing up to union-busting bullies in West Virginia. Mitch Carmicheal and his minions in the Senate are no different, and we will never back down to their kind.

“Let me make this very clear: If our state’s education workers believe they need to take to the streets once again, we will be there with them. And if someone comes to arrest them, they will have to go through us first.”​

This day in West Virginia labor history

On this day in 1989, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) began its historic strike against the Pittston Coal Company. The issues leading to the strike were mostly regarding retiree health benefits.

The union had been working without a contract for a full 14 months when the strike began, which was pretty much unheard of at the time. During that time many miners received training in nonviolent action and civil disobedience.

Around 1,700 miners in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky participated in the strike, which lasted until Feb. 20, 1990.

It was my first big fight. I had only been working on economic justice issues with the American Friends Service Committee for a month or so, although I followed events as closely as I could in the Charleston Gazette in the year leading up to it. Everybody paying attention knew something was going to blow.

I remember sitting in the cafeteria of the WV capitol and being told by a UMWA rep that it was starting as we spoke. It would come to absorb my attention, energy and chi for the next 10 months and I forged some strong relationships that continue to this day. I'll always be grateful to AFSC for giving me the chance to jump in. I can't say that I had a huge impact on the strike, but it had a huge impact on me.

It was intense and exhausting, but, to be honest, I was having the time of my life.

When I look back on it, I think of friends, picket lines, burning houses, evictions, crashing coal trucks, (alleged) jackrocks, singing, banter, jokes, learning guitar, anger, Christmas, courage, goon guards, provocations, state police, constant motion, solidarity, direct action, mischief, learning, absorbing history, brave women holding the line, places, and the threat of violence, all to a Bob Dylan soundtrack.

At times, the atmosphere on the picket lines reminded me of the movie Matewan just before the shootout. It seemed to me at the time as if the fate of the world, or at least the labor movement, hinged on the outcome. Eventually, the union won a restoration of benefits, which have helped thousands of retirees and survivors over the years. But UMWA membership continued to decline.

The strike developed in the aftermath of another less fortunate strike against Massey subsidiaries earlier in the decade. Like Pittston would later do, Massey withdrew from the Bituminous Coal Operators Association (BCOA), the industry bargaining group. This was the beginning of Massey's spree of union busting, environmental failures, intimidation, political manipulation, safety shortcuts and the rest.

Massey's power would grow over the years in power and influence, like the rising power of Mordor in The Lord of the Rings.

Ironically, Pittston withdrew from the coal industry in the years following the strike, with many of its assets sold to Massey.

Fast forward to this date in 2010, when a mammoth explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch underground mine in Montcoal WV killed 29 miners. Before Massey bought the mine from Peabody Coal in 1993, it had been a union operation. But after a strong anti-union campaign led by former Massey CEO and now candidate for the US senate (!), the union was decertified by the late 1990s.

Without a union, miners had less of a voice in working conditions, and especially mine safety. With terrible consequences. You can read all about it here.

Much happened in the wake of the disaster. There were investigations, lawsuits, fines and criminal prosecutions, including the first ever conviction of the CEO of a major corporation for conspiring to evade safety rules. Massey no longer exists. But eight years later, the Republican controlled congress has yet to pass meaningful mine safety legislation, such as that advocated by the late great Senator Robert C. Byrd.

This day reminds me of the best and worst in West Virginia history, of what working people organized in unions can achieve and of what can happen if unions are weakened and defeated.

During WV's recent and successful teachers' strike, I felt echoes of Pittston days, with crowds at the capitol almost as large as the ones in 1989. And it was great to feel the warm presence of UMWA members rallying in solidarity.

Times have changed but our recent and more distant history shows that the need for working class solidarity is as urgent as ever. And that's not likely to change.

Reclaiming Appalachia

A Republican-leaning public opinion research recently released a multi-state coal country survey on attitudes on the RECLAIM Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that has generated some buzz in the US House. The group, Public Opinion Strategies, found overwhelming support for the Act across the region and across political lines.

Here's some of what the proposed legislation would do:

“A proposal in Congress would release one billion dollars in existing money from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund which was collected from coal producers over the last forty years. The proposal, known as the RECLAIM Act, would release this money to affected states to help revitalize coal communities hit hardest by the downturn in the coal industry. Communities could apply for grants to restore abandoned mine lands, invest in economic development projects to put people to work, and tackle infrastructure needs such as ensuring clean drinking water."

This legislation is different from the Miners Protection Act, which has gained traction in the US Senate. That legislation would use AML money to protect promised health care benefits to over 20,000 miners.

The United Mine Workers supports both, but the latter is its top priority and the union has said its support for RECLAIM hinges on passage of the Miners Protection Act first. The AML currently has a budget of $2.5 billion.

I'd like to see both pass, but at this point I'd be glad to see either--and I hope the bills don't kill each other. It is nice that despite political polarization and overheated rhetoric these days, politicians from both major parties have agreed on the need to come to the help of those harmed by the downturn in the coal industry.

Flotsam and jetsam

Here's a good website to keep up with developments in the response to the massive flooding in West Virginia.

Meanwhile, here's a cool rant linking WV's rainy days with the state budget and rainy day fund, which took a heavy hit during the legislative special session. It underscores the state's need for new revenue, which will likely face opposition from anti-tax zealots unless the composition of the statehouse changes.

Speaking of taxes, the Paul Ryan "Better Way" plan isn't. It's mostly a rehash of the failed policies of the past.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to watch developments between the United Mine Workers union and Murray Energy. Union members recently voted to reject the deal. CEO Robert Murray seems to be gunning for the king of coal throne vacated by former Massey CEO Don Blankenship.

Finally, in the spirit of "it's not all bad," there are some exciting things happening in WV around youth leadership development and civic participation.

With the old breed

The title of this post comes from a great World War II memoir by Eugene Sledge, who told his story of horrific battles in the Pacific Theater of that war, which was where my father and two uncles served. It came to mind today when I met a veteran of a different kind of struggle, although he was probably a military veteran as well.

The occasion was a small community forum on ending child poverty in a coal mining community in southern West Virginia. I was privileged to meet and talk briefly with one of the Old Breed of West Virginia coal miners, union men (they were mostly men) who know what it means not only to work hard in a dangerous calling but to stand together in solidarity and fight back against corporate greed.

In these sad days, when union membership has declined and CEOs pose as protectors of the workers (like weasels claiming to  protect chickens), such voices are hard to find and are all too seldom heard. I was glad to hear it again. I can't say how much I've missed hearing it. If only such voices were as common today as in the past...

Fittingly, the meeting took place near Cabin Creek, the site of a major episode in the WV mine wars of 100 years ago.

THERE'S STILL HOPE for more prosecutions in the wake of the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster. May the goddess Nemesis be swift to render that which is due. And if she isn't swift, may she at least be sure.

A POSITIVE TREND. I mentioned in yesterday's post the WV is getting smarter about how it approaches criminal justice and prison issues. Here's an item that shows similar progress in dealing with school discipline problems.

ONE MORE THING. The Future Fund cleared another hurdle in the state senate. Now it heads to the floor. I want this one bad.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

A little good news

Congratulations to the United Mine Workers of America for reaching a settlement with Patriot Coal that preserves some of the benefits promised to retired miners. Details of the settlement aren't available yet. The company was formed from holdings from the Arch and Peabody coal companies. Many observers contend, with the union, that Patriot was set up to fail as a way of getting rid of promised benefits to retired union miners.

Despite an unfavorable ruling by a federal judge in May, the union kept up the pressure and protests, even as its leaders continued to try to reach a negotiated agreement.

Lots of us who sympathized with the miners were also concerned about the precedence this bankruptcy deal would set. The obvious question was, "Who's next?"

I'm glad they held the line.

MANDATORY MINIMUMS. Here's Politico on US Attorney General Eric Holder's proposal for sentencing reform.

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES. Here are the latest hijinks from the WV Attorney General's office.

FESS UP. OK, who smuggled this snapping turtle into Germany? It has to be a Goat Rope reader. I even tremble to think that the turtle in question might be this Goat Rope contributor.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

I had to ask

Today I attended a rally for union coal miners and retirees in danger of losing promised benefits from Patriot Coal. I'm proud that the American Friends Service Committee was one of many groups that signed on in support of those in danger of losing health benefits due to a corporate bankruptcy from a company that was set up to fail.

It so happened that I saw some old friends from my first big fight, the Pittston Coal strike. It turns out that one of the best union hell raisers I've ever known is now a preacher. For some reason this strikes me as a little weird, but it probably shouldn't. One former UMWA official told me a long time ago "Half our members are preachers."

 When I caught up with him he was busy preparing a sermon.

"What's it about?" I asked.

"Love," he said.

"For it or against it?" I responded.

"For it," he replied.

Just checking. You can't be too sure these days.

COVERAGE OF THE RALLY here.

POLITICAL? Meanwhile, former Massey CEO Don Blankenship claims that if he goes to jail for his role in the deaths of 29 miners at Upper Big Branch, it will be "political." I would have used a different word. Like maybe overdue.

TOLKIEN GEEKS, this link is just for you.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

This is what happens...

...when 20 odd turkeys sleep in a redbud tree.

(In case the picture is unclear, the horizontal tree used to be a good bit more vertical, no thanks to this guy and his buddies.)

CHILDREN IN AMERICA fare worse than those in most Western nations.

ON THIS DATE 101 YEARS AGO, members of the United Mine Workers began their historic Paint Creek/Cabin Creek strike that marked the beginning of the Mine Wars--and eventually inspired the writing of the song Solidarity Forever, which has become the international anthem of the labor movement. Too bad people don't know the verses better than the chorus...

CALLING OUT THE SENATE. This op-ed by Gabrielle Giffords is getting a lot of attention.

AND AGAIN, this time by WV native Michael Tomasky.

AYN RAND WOULD NOT BE AMUSED. According to a new poll, most Americans think the distribution of wealth is unfair and that the federal government should do something about it.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Do your work

During this busy season, I've been blogging off and on about the life and work of 19th century American literary giant Ralph Waldo Emerson. Right now I'm on his most Emersonian and American essay, Self Reliance.

Contrary to the associations such a title might bring to mind today, Emerson was not an intellectual predecessor of the vile Ayn Rand. Rather than exalting greed in the economic sphere, he was exhorting us to spiritual, personal and intellectual independence. 

The passage I'm highlighting today reminds me of the Hindu classic the Bhagavad Gita, a favorite of Emerson's. In that scripture, the god Krishna admonishes Arjuna to follow his own dharma or path of duty in the world, saying "It is better to fail in your own dharma than succeed in someone else's." In other words, do your own work and become yourself.

Here's a dose for the day:

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

The objection to conforming to usages that have become dead to you is, that it scatters your force. It loses your time and blurs the impression of your character. If you maintain a dead church, contribute to a dead Bible-society, vote with a great party either for the government or against it, spread your table like base housekeepers, — under all these screens I have difficulty to detect the precise man you are. And, of course, so much force is withdrawn from your proper life. But do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself. 

JUST ONE LINK. I couldn't join this massive rally by members of the United Mine Workers union in Charleston yesterday, but I was there in spirit. I hope they win justice from Patriot coal for union retirees.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Pitfalls of pronunciation

There are certain hallmarks of a true Appalachian accent, at least in El Cabrero's neck of the woods. One of these is the fact that we pronounce certain words alike, even though they are spelled differently. Examples are words like pen and pin and ten and tin, both of which are pronounced like the latter by any self respecting hillbilly.

I thought about that this weekend when I ran around to several stores in search of a winch to tighten a cable. It turns out that the same pronunciation thing applies to the words winch and wench. The possibilities astounded me. I must admit that I was tempted to run into crowded retail establishments and holler out, "For the love of God, where can a man find a decent we/winch in this state?"

I was only restrained by my uncommonly overdeveloped sense of propriety and deportment. Oh yeah, and of my unflagging respect of Appalachian womanhood.

UP AND RUNNING. Here's more on WV's newly established Office of Minority Affairs.

LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS. There was a good old-fashioned union rally in Charleston on behalf of coal miners who may lose retiree health care and pension benefits as a result of Patriot Coal's bankruptcy. I'd say there were 2000 or so people there, maybe more. I took pictures and would write more about it but I'm too tired at the moment. I'll think about that tomorrow. As Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day."

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

"Industrial homicide"

The United Mine Workers of America released its report today on Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine disaster of April 5, 2010 which killed 29 miners. Previously, reports on the disaster have been released by the WV Governor's Independent Investigation Panel and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The title of the report sums up the union's position: "Industrial Homicide." According to the union:

Massey Energy must be held accountable for the death of each of the 29 miners. Theirs is not a guilt of omission, but rather, based on the facts publicly available, the union believes that Massey Energy and its management were on notice of and recklessly tolerated mining conditions that were so egregious that the resulting disaster constituted a massive slaughter in the nature of an industrial homicide.

The union calls on federal prosecutors to pursue this case all the way up the corporate ladder, which leads to former CEO Don Blankenship.

Read more here from Ken Ward's uber-blog Coal Tattoo.

THE WHOLE 1 PERCENT THING. Uhhh, there might be something to it.

NOTE: Still on the road. Regular posts will resume in a day or so.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Getting warmer

This is Holden 22, where Don Blankenship's Labor Day inversion was held. The picture was taken when there was still a mountain there.

I had planned on leading with another topic today, but an item from Ken Ward's Coal Tattoo blog caught my eye.

Since Labor Day, I've written here and elsewhere about the contrast between the United Mine Workers of America and Don Blankenship's effort to present himself as the voice and protector of coal miners. The subject of Ward's post, an interview with union president Cecil Roberts on Living on Earth, is a case in point.

In contrast to Blankenship and allies, who are taking the position that climate change cannot be real because it may cut into their profits, UMWA president Cecil Robert admits that it's a reality that must be faced. Roberts said:

The union has never taken a position arguing against the science of climate change. We've engaged in the debate as to how to deal with it.

That realistic response to a problem from labor is a welcome contrast to the ruling class hissy fit we've been subjected to lately. It shows once again the need for workers to have a voice independent of their employers. It is also reason #9484 why we need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

SPEAKING OF HISSY FITS, here's Dean Baker on the opposition to a public option in health care reform.

WHILE WE'RE AT IT, here's Washington Post columnist Marie Cocco pointing out that we already have several public options and they're working pretty well. Senator Rockefeller said yesterday that he wouldn't support a bill without one.

STILL THERE. Cost of health insurance have increased faster than wages and inflation.

WONKY BUT IMPORTANT. Parts of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dealing with TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), can be used to do interesting things like beef up emergency assistance for families or even create subsidized employment. The catch is that states have to be willing to do it. Here's info about the possibilities. This is something I'm going to be pushing for with folks in WV.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

And the pleasures are few

One thing that's sad about current coalfield controversies is that they sometimes seem to pit people against each other who should be on the same side. An example might be people who work in and around mines that engage in destructive practices and people who live nearby whose wells are ruined.

As I mentioned yesterday, this is a time when miners more than ever need an independent voice distinct from--and when necessary in opposition to--the companies which employ them. Without naming any names (not that I need to) some who have been most active in trying to destroy the United Mine Workers union also engage in the most environmentally damaging practices. And then they have the gall to present themselves as the voice and defender of miners.

I'm trying to think of an appropriate analogy, but the closest I can get right now is Claudius posing as the protector of Hamlet and grieving heir of the brother he murdered in Shakespeare's play.

I don't think working people have ever gained much by groveling.

A CALL FOR PEACE IN THE COALFIELDS came from the WV Council of Churches in the wake of increasing heated controversies over mountaintop removal and climate change. As I wrote earlier this week, I wouldn't be surprised if someone got killed before this is over.

FEELING THE STRAIN. Many states are borrowing to pay for rising unemployment insurance claims. Fortunately, WV address the solvency of its fund during the last regular legislative session (although that was quite a fight).

COOL COSMIC PICTURE of a galaxy with a black hole at the center here.

HERE'S HOPING YOU WON'T NEED THIS. From The Nation, 10 things you might need to know about being homeless.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Where the dangers are double

"I remember the ways in the bygone days
when we was in our prime
How us and John L. give the old man hell
down in the Blue Diamond Mine"

El Cabrero is basically a labor person. The issues that interest me and the ones that I've spent the most time working on are those that affect working and low income people. Unions have always important in that department and always should be.

In West Virginia, the union that has had the biggest impact historically has been the United Mine Workers of America. It has had good times and bad times but its high points were high indeed.

Founded in 1890, it was an early example of an industrial union, one which aimed to include everyone who worked in and around the mines, regardless of skill level. It was always racially integrated and reached out to immigrant labor, often having several different language committees working in the same big mines. And it fought titanic battles (sometimes literally) with companies to improve conditions for miners.

The UMWA helped give birth to the mass industrial unions of the CIO during the 1930s, which eventually enabled millions of workers to earn a living wage with benefits and enter the middle class. It has also often led the charge for workplace safety and for things like black lung benefits.

Unfortunately, the UMWA has been hit by all kinds of changes over the last several decades, starting with automation and the switch to less labor intensive (and, many would add, more destructive) kinds of mining.

It has also been the target of a major union busting campaign beginning in the 1980s, with Massey playing the key role.

Sometimes the UMWA is singled out for criticism by environmentalists, but their position is that their job is to represent their members, who don't get to decide under what conditions coal is to be mined. And they are caught in a bind over climate change and the future of coal, regardless of what happens with mountaintop removal.

It's a tough situation. But I think the position and interests of people who work in mining would be much stronger in all these controversies if the union itself was larger and stronger. It would be better positioned to take a stand independent of the coal companies who now claim to represent their interests.

It is really galling for me to see the same companies that have worked so hard to destroy the union to claim to be the protector and beneficiary of miners.

FORKED TONGUES. Opponents of health care reform are following a carefully crafted script.

GO TEAM! From the same source, the Episcopal Church passed a resolution supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.

USING THE T WORD. This item talks taxes.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Road Trip!

El Cabrero is not the world's biggest fans of marches or rallies in Washington. It's not that they're a bad idea; it's just that any tactic repeated too often tends to diminish in value.

Having said that, I'm in the process of spending a long hot day and a minimum of 16 hours of bus time attending what participants hope will be a decent-sized health care rally up that way. At last word, five buses were going from West Virginia alone.

Among the messages that I hope get delivered loud and clear are 1. that it's unacceptable that more than 45 million Americans lack health care and that many who do have some kind of insurance can't afford the coverage they have; and 2. if we're serious about health care reform, there needs to be a public option to compete with private plans.

This is a critical time for real health care reform in this country and it could be a long time before it rolls around again on the guitar if this chance is missed. As the saying goes, (no pun intended), this would be one of those times to leave it all on the road.

(Note: This post was scheduled to be published several hours after the bus left at midnight, so it may not have links to anything really good or bad that happened after Wednesday evening. In such cases, please accept congratulations or condolences as appropriate.)

((Final comment: if anyone starts singing "100 Bottles of Beer" on the bus, I may wind up doing jail time.))

I HOPE HE MEANS IT. Obama discusses the public option among other things here.

POLICY MATTERS. Some countries use labor market policies to reduce unemployment. The latest snapshot from the Economic Policy Institute looks at the example of Germany.

PLAIN TALK. By way of Coal Tattoo, the United Mine Workers of America takes aim at Massey CEO Don Blankenship.

WHALE CULTURE. Some of them may have it. What would Melville say?

IN ONE EAR BUT NOT THE OTHER. You are more likely to get what you want if you whisper in someone's right ear than the left.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

AMONTILLADO?

Caption: This is Poe's black cat or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Pretty scary, huh?

Welcome to the last day of Edgar Allan Poe Week at Goat Rope. If this is your first visit, please click on the earlier posts. You will also find links and comments about current events.

El Cabrero can't think of a better way to wrap up the week than with his selection of Greatest Hits from Poe's short stories.

Here goes:

*Cask of Amontillado. This tale of revenge by burial alive is a hoot. It's probably Poe at his most darkly humorous. I love the first paragraph:

THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled --but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.

Aside from beautiful dead women, Poe had a major fixation about live burial. It was even better for him when a not quite dead beautiful woman was buried alive. Something like that happened in The Fall of The House of Usher.

*The Masque of the Red Death. A little justice is done by Death in this story, which shows that even rich folks have to pay the piper. Here are some first lines:

THE "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal -- the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.

But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince's own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the "Red Death."

But the Red Death had the last word. I love the last line:

And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

*The Pit and the Pendulum. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, much less the hapless narrator of this tale.

*The Telltale Heart. Although El Cabrero's taste for the theme of heats has diminished in the wake of his own cardio problems, this one is still a keeper. Again, some great first lines:

TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story.

I didn't include The Black Cat as I am a friend to the feline.

Did I miss any of your favorites?

CALLING IT A WIN. The United Mine Workers is declaring victory after an NLRB judge ruled in their favor in a dispute with Massey Energy at the Mammoth mine in Kanawha County, WV. Here's hoping it's over. Massey will appeal.

GASSING DOWN. A new study suggests the US could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent with relatively little costs.

SHINY UNHAPPY PEOPLE. El Cabrero's beloved state of WV comes within a hair of leading the nation in depression and suicide. Basic economic justice issues seem to be a major factor:

People who are college educated and have health insurance are less likely to be depressed or suicidal, the study concluded. About 245,000 of 1.8 million West Virginians are without health insurance, and roughly 16 percent have college degrees.

West Virginia also has a relatively low number of mental health professionals compared to other states. West Virginia has about eight psychiatrists and 10 psychologists per 100,000 people, compared with 22 and 83, respectively, in neighboring Maryland, one of the healthiest states in the country.

In addition, more than 17 percent of West Virginians report being unable to afford health care, about double the rate of South Dakota, which had the lowest depression rate.

CALAMITY JANE. This one from alternet suggests we move beyond the Jane Austen vogue. El Cabrero, however, is a big fan.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED