Mr. Hatfield is such a kind man. A reporter asked him if he felt

[frankly_fedup2]

responsible for the miners. He say, "I cannot accept any responsibility for what happened before I arrived here, and that is ALL THAT I WILL say about that!"

No remorse for the families. No compassion.

The families are claiming that HE, Hatfield, or a mining representative told them.

Now the VP under Hatfield are seriously trying to cover their asses. Charles Snavely said he watched CNN and Coal miner was not in the top 10 of the World's most dangerous jobs. Then Hatfield came on and said the company would move on an prosper.

He did state that the company would try to help these families monetarily and with the disruption of their lives.

Ya know, I live in VA right on the WVA line with VA. We may talk like we are not too bright due to our accent. We may dress simple around our homes. We are not Worldly and the rich people in our towns are usually the doctors and the lawyers. However, we are not stupid. I get so tired of people thinking we don't have all our teeth, we don't bathe, we are all on welfare because basically, 99% of us live just like everyone else. I'm not putting this toward anyone here, just am tired of those of means automatically assuming we are uneducated. I'm tired of it myself.

[DavidDvorkin]

1. Is it true that he just took over the mine?

And that the violations were committed by the previous owner?

I thought that was the case. If so, he really isn't responsible. Compassion is another matter, but that wasn't the question he was asked, according to what you wrote.

[LisaM]

4. If he took over a mine with over 200 safety violations

and didn't shut it down IMMEDIATELY, I don't care if he came on the job last week. However, I think it was a year ago.

[frankly_fedup2]

9. I talked about it with my husband when he got home this evening.

He works for a company that services the coal mines. The mines shut down twice a year, over the July 4th holiday and Christmas/New years holidays.

My husband has to work on site sometimes out of town; however, he will not go down in the mines or on any cranes up high. He has phobias and the company knows he cannot handle it.

Anyway, my point is, when I told him the mine had 96 violations, he told me that ALL mines have violations, always have and always will, but that does not mean the mine is dangerous for the miners. . That was not an unusual amount of violations. I told him that was pathetic this day and time and he agreed; however, he said that is the way it's been since he started working where he has worked the last 13 years.

So you are right, the man is not responsible for the accident, no negligence on his side. The negligence was knowing 20 minutes after the families were led to believe that their love ones were alive, and not telling them until 3 hours later. That is what is so distressing for the families because they were celebrating while the rescuers were removing their love-one's dead bodies. I cannot imagine the range of emotions they went through and are still going through.

Also, later today, I saw where Mr. Hatfield apologized and he was remorseful. He said that they should have let the families know when they knew instead of waiting for three hours. That was the bad decision he made and he is accepting responsibility for it.

[acmejack]

2. Who has implied that?

Ignore them, I live in Texas how much crap do you think we take? Ask sf musette, she'll be happy to explain about us.

[tatertop]

3. you also have awesome scenery and great cuisine

[Gormy Cuss]

5. The country bumpkin image goes well beyond WV

Trust me, I'm from Maine where we have no teeth and talk funny, are inbred, and like to litter our yards with more junk than Fred Sanford. We like being poor because we're independent Yankees. Just ask the average summer visitors from Massachusetts and the New York area.

******************
What Hatfield said was ill-considered. As representative of his company trying to deflect blame to prior owners/managers was so unprofessional that he should be censured. From the day he assumed control he became responsible. Period.

[Maine-ah]

20. I'll have to agree with you there

:hi:

[Nordmadr]

6. My mom lives in West Virginia. Her long time boyfriend recently

passed away, and I made a road trip down there with my wife to be with her.

I have never seen such a beautiful place. Just stunning, and I live just outside of the Adirondack Mountains in New York.

I can not imagine the range of motions these families must be going through.

Olafr

[fed-up]

7. My family dates back to 1760 in Lebanon, Russell County, VA, they were

farmers, not coal miners.

When I visited there some 30 odd years ago, I was impressed with the beauty of the area.

I still remember the meal we had at one relative's house where almost all the food was home grown or like the berry pies, harvested from the surrounding vegetation. I wanted to move there from California, but the locals said the only jobs were in the coal mines and they didn't allow women in the mines.

I am hoping I will get to do another visit in the next 10 or 20 years.

This is a horrible tragedy and I feel for the families involved.

[skids]

8. Hey, I'm an elite new-englander...

...And I dress simply around my home, too. Don't sweat it -- as long as what comes out of your mouth is true, most people won't care about the curve of your vowels.

[frankly_fedup2]

11. I have went to other parts of the country (i.e. Michigan, Ohio, ), and

anytime we went shopping and I had to ask someone a question, I always had to repeat it. They couldn't understand a word I was saying.

One of the ladies who they talked to stated, "I know we are from West Virginia, and we may be DUMB, but we still love our families.

She obviously gets the same kind of feedback or something to say "AND WE MAY BE DUMB" It is like she said it before anyone else could say it.

The farthest I have been from Virginia is Florida. I must say though just the pictures I have seen of the New England states are beautiful and my mother-in-law and I are thinking of taking a fall Bus trip up the east coast that stops in several states at different festivals. Just a scenery ride with some shopping for antiques, Amish furniture, and I love anything crafty.

Well, I didn't realize that some of the other states had stigmas against them like we do and West VA. I've pretty much lived in a bubble in the hills.

Of course, VA rags WVA big time. Here is one of our jokes about West Virginia.

Do you know why Jesus wasn't born in West VA? Because they couldn't find a virgin or three wise men (YUCK, YUCK, YUCK ...too funny). lol. Also, What do you get when you line up 36 women from W. VA? . . . a full set of teeth (HAHAHAH).

Sorry W.VA. Now's not the time for mean jokes. Throw some back at me, I deserve it.

Oh yeah, we also wear shoes down here too. (lol)

Thanks for the posts everyone. :grouphug:

[skids]

13. There's a reason for that.

Most Americans hear a lot of General American on the TV and radio. As a result, you actually have an advantage -- you've already learned to understand that accent. It's not true in reverse -- the rest of the country is not saturated with your accent, so many people just simply haven't learned how to comprehend it. So I guess that's proof positive you ain't dumb -- you know one and a half dialects, they only know one. :-)

I'm sure it's annoying -- just remind yourself it's a busy, busy world and people don't tend to learn things without being exposed to it during the normal course of their daily lives.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

10. It's worth noting that Hatfield

is a former Massey Energy exec. These sleazebags cluster together. Massey is single-handedly trying to eliminate the Applachian mountain range.

[frankly_fedup2]

12. I thought Hatfield was a Billionaire and owned the company that

had several of these mines?

[GrpCaptMandrake]

14. No, Bennett Hatfield is President and CEO

of International Coal Group.

The Chairman and majority shareholder is Wilbur Ross, Jr. a predatory investment banker.

[frankly_fedup2]

17. Yeah, I saw him on Primetime live tonight. I didn't know a different

guy owned it. The billionaire is going to give 2 million (well the board members of the company have decided the company will give that to the families. Then they hope the good people of this country will be just as generous to these families as we were with 9/11, katrena, tsunami, etc.

The reporter said that was kind of cheap for a billionare and asked him if any of that money was out of his pocket. He said no and that the board would discuss more donations.

Unreal.

[sandnsea]

19. And Ross owned the mine before ICG was formed

When it was the Anker Coal and Ross owned that. ICG was formed out of Anker Coal and Coal Quest. This mine changed on paper, but Wilbur Ross has owned it for quite some time now. He's also the one that busted up the steel industry and outsourced it. I keep posting this, but it doesn't seem to be getting through.

http://www.oligopolywatch.com/2004/11/20.html

[MiniMe]

15. Hatfield: "This is the worst day of my life" at the press conference

The worst day of HIS life? What family members did he lose in the tragedy? I couldn't believe he said that during the press conference. How does that make the families feel?

[GrpCaptMandrake]

18. Even more of a smart ass!

The direct quote is "Welcome to the worst day of my life. It's tough."

"Welcome to . . . ?" Who does he think he is? Alice Cooper? "Welcome to my nightmare . . ."

[ComerPerro]

16. That's the important thing. The company will prosper

[Javaman]

21. "I owe my soul to the company store...."

Unions now.