Talked to a Coal-miner neighbor this morning, he says the Mine Manager's should be in prison

[ThomWV]

Bunk is my next door neighbor, he lives about a half mile down the road. He is a coal miner, it is the only job he has ever had. His older brother is a coal miner and their Uncle Jack, who used to be my neighbor on the other side, was also a coal miner all his life. Bunks father retired from the nines and several of his nephews are mines. Bunk and his people literally live and breath coal.

This morning he drove by the house and stopped, we chatted for a few minutes and then I asked him, 'what do you think about the mine explosion?'. His response was almost instantaneous, he said 'the mine's managers ought to be put in jail'. It was a flat out statement of fact. I asked him why. One word answer, "Negligence". He said negligence killed those miners, nothing else. He said "it was an explosion, that means there wasn't proper ventilation, it is management's job to make sure there is adequate ventilation, and its clear they didn't do it because if they had there would not have been an explosion, and if they didn't do their job then it is their negligence that killed those men."

And I would not claim for one second to know anything about coal mining, but Bunk sure does. I think I'll take his word for it rather than all the dazzling nonsense the news will provide that in the end tells us this is an act of god or that somehow it just happened and no one was at fault. I hope you take Bunk's word for it too.


Edited to change the word Owners to Managers. It was managers who were at fault, the owern's involvement is unknown.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Past tense.

Should've.

[FBaggins]

2. It COULD be an "act of God" -

but the chance of that would be much higher if this mine operator hadn't been cited scores of time for similar safety issues (and fined millions of dollars).

Too much coincidence to be plausible if you ask me. And if it WAS a coincidental accident? Tough... that's the price you pay for taking too many chances.

[ThomWV]

5. Only if lightening strikes underground.

Everything else that goes on in that mine is caused and controlled by men.

[The Wielding Truth]

3. It seems like an obvious case of greed over safety. I agree with Bunk.

:grr: :cry: :grouphug:

[LiberalLoner]

4. Thank you for posting this. n/t

[Brickbat]

6. Oh, it was the owners all right.

Blankenship bathes in a tub full of blood and $100 bills.

I wish these miners would organize.

[ThomWV]

7. I changed the word "Owner" to "Managers" after I recalled what his actual words were.

[crazylikafox]

8. As the daughter & granddaughter of miners who died from the coal dust in their lungs, I agree.

This really hits home for me.

[RKP5637]

9. I'll believe a local report over the corporate media any day. Thanks for the post! n/t

[1776Forever]

10. WTRF Channel 7 has a good article on it from the Sago Mine Investigator & News Conf. at 5 today:

http://www.wtrf.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=77916

Lead Investigator for Sago Mine Disaster Speaks About Raleigh County Disaster (at link)

LIVE STREAMING > > > Watch the latest news conference about the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion here starting at about 5 p.m.

[elehhhhna]

11. They need Mother Jones. Again.

She organized the first labor unions in the mines. The miners were attacked by the US Army, for god's sake... and one old Irish immigrant woman stood up and made them act like the men they were...and coal miners' unions were born.

My daughter recently checked the US history books used at her H.S. Not a single one mentions Mother Jones.