A little existentialism and more

"It is perfectly true, as philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards. And if one thinks over that proposition it becomes more and more evident that life can never really be understood in time because at no particular moment can I find the necessary resting-place from which to understand it."--Soren Kierkegaard

Well, that takes some of the pressure off, doesn't it?

So, without attempting to understand anything, here are a few items:

*A take from outside WV on the horrific murder of a young African American teen by a white man in the capitol city of Charleston. More on that to come.

*The latest Front Porch podcast, about growing up Arab-American in WV.

*A bill in the US Senate that actually makes sense.

Damp as the dew

The psychologist Erik Erikson once observed that people often try to recreate the first fight in which they felt at home. The first big fight--in terms of economic and social justice--I was able to get involved in at more than a superficial level was the Pittston coal strike of 1989-1990 in support of the United Mine Workers of America.

I didn't have much of an impact on it, but it had a big one on me.

It had very little moral ambiguity, which is a good thing in a major struggle. We should thank the gods for such times.

People usually do better in a struggle that is morally clear. Pittston was basically miners and their families striking against the same coal company that gave us the Buffalo Creek Disaster of 1972, which killed around 125 people, left thousands homeless and wiped out several communities. The main issues in the strike were health care-imagine that--and retiree benefits.

One thing that is sometimes sadly different about current coal controversies is that these often divide people who were once allies. And, given the union busting success of certain coal companies which shall remain nameless, the UMWA is not as strong as it once was at a time when workers need an independent voice.

More on that to come.

BUT WHILE WE'RE AT IT, minimal training by Massey Energy and a related contractor was cited as contributing to the death of coal miner Steven Cain last fall.

HEALTH CARE. WV health care advocates, including yours truly, held a press conference yesterday and released a report on how West Virginia would benefit from health care refom.

A GERIATRIC CRIME WAVE? Maybe.

NO PRESSURE. Meanwhile, the struggle over health care may be reaching a critical point.

MINIMUM WAGE. Here's a new issue guide on the wage increase from the Economic Policy Institute.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

WIRED FOR INGRATITUDE

Caption: Venus is the ultimate ingrate.

One of humanity's many character defects is a tendency towards ingratitude. In some respects, we can't help it. Bad is louder than good.

By that I mean that we seem to be wired to notice and take action when faced with a threat or a need. Hunger, heat, cold, fear, pain, whatever.

Everybody notices it when they have a toothache. But how often do you notice when you don't?

El Cabrero's perspective on all that changed a few years back when I woke up in a hospital with a respirator going down and a catheter going up. I'm not sure which was worse.

Ever since then, I've tried to make it a practice to notice and be grateful when I wake up and those things are gone.

Happy Thanksgiving!

SPEAKING OF TURKEYS, here are some observations about the ethics of our culture warriors.

DON'T HATE THE PLAYER. According to a new study, violent video games are great teachers--of aggression.

HATE CRIMES went up by 8 percent in 2006.

GOT WOLF MILK? Archaeologists think they may have located an ancient Roman shrine venerated as the cave where legendary founders Romulus and Remus were nursed by a she wolf.

NOT A SHOCK. A new study links lower test scores with declines in reading.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED