And again I don’t know what to read next. As I won’t be getting any new books any time soon, I feel like I should hoard the new books I have, and go back and re-read some old favorites.

Hmm… I have been meaning to re-read Steven Brust‘s Vlad Taltos series…

What on earth is happening?

Today, two more miners were killed in separate mine accidents. (CNN) (Charleston Gazette)

One accident was in an underground mine and occurred when a wall collapsed (Long Branch Energy’s No. 18 Tunnel Mine in Boone County). The second accident was at a surface mine, and occurred when a bulldozer struck and ignited a gas line (Black Castle Surface Mine in Boone County).

This makes sixteen deaths in West Virginia since the start of the year. Last year there were 22 coal mine accident deaths in the entire nation for the entire year.

The Black Castle in Boone is run by Elk Run Coal Co, which is a Massey subsidiary. The Alma mine is also a Massey mine.

On the 26th, ICG was forced by a federal judge to allow UMWA representatives to accompany federal mine inspectors into the mine to help with the investigation. (Their response was, unsurprisingly, a nasty little piece of work that should have been beneath them. But then blocking the UMWA from assisting in the inspection should also have been beneath them.)

Earlier, Governor Manchin has called for every mine in the state to conduct detailed safety reviews and inspections. I will be very curious to see how mine operators like ICG and Massey respond to this. (Cecil E. Roberts has also put out a same call in support of Governor Manchin.)

My personal hope is that these disasters allow the UMWA to regain a place in all underground mines, because it seems as if mine operators in non-union mines are not paying as much attention to safety issues as they should.

(Again, I highly recomend WVPR’s recent reporting on mine safety.)

ADDENDUM the First:
Here’s more from the NY Times and the Washington Post as well as Ken Ward’s article in the Charleson Gazette.

(Previous content was edited for accuracy)

abulia \ay-BOO-lee-uh\ noun
: abnormal lack of ability to act or to make decisions

theomachy
noun (pl. theomachies) a war or struggle against God or among or against the gods.
origin late 16th cent. (denoting fighting against God): from Greek theomakhia, from theos ‘god’ + –makhia ‘fighting’.

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations – you got 10 out of 10 correct!

via Stereo Describes My Scenario

I may have mentioned before that the Morgantownies page on my website gets lots of visitors in spurts, and then nothing.

Well, January has been a busy month. Since the 19th I’ve gotten nine e-mails for page, eight of them with suggestions of additions, which is a lot for my site. Consider that the last two e-mails I received were in November and October.

But what’s really cool is the number of people I have known who have found me because of that page. In the past week I’ve gotten e-mail from two people that I haven’t heard from in years–in once case since 1988.

There’s just something lovely about seeing names that you haven’t seen for years appear from out of the blue.

And Michael has not yet gotten any interviews, however it has only been a week, so I wouldn’t necessarily have expected him to get a call yet.

So if you know of any great jobs available in the Morgantown area, lemme know so I can point him that way!

Inside Appalachia again has several excellent pieces about mine safety and the recent mine disasters.

The first report talks about the Alma mine fire, and has an interview with a beltman at the Alma mine. If what he says is true, then the legislation that was just passed isn’t going to be nearly enough.

The miner interviewed claims that a similar fire happened at the exact same spot two days before Christmas. He also says that at that time, the fire fighting equipment didn’t work properly.

Supporting his claim is the fact that MSHA cited Massey twelve times since June for inadequate fire fighting equipment.

Additionally, a proposed rule to require belts like the one that caused the fire in the Alma mine, to be made of inflammable material, was killed by federal mine regulators in 2002.

Happy New Year!

It’s the Year of the Dog, which is my year, so I’m hoping that in 4703 my luck is going to be a little better than it’s been so far for 2006.

And for amusement:

THE METAL DOG 1910 AND 1970

Metal Dogs have extremely high standards and expect a lot of themselves and of others. They are loyal and hold a strong outlook about the direction they want their life to take. They choose their friends and causes with care, as they do not plan to ever not support these people and things again. Once they have committed themselves, there is little to no turning back. They are bold, unafraid to disagree out loud about anything they feel is unjust or unfair. Metal Dogs are easily stressed if a plan does not go accordingly. They find it difficult to relax when there are things to be done.

Michael’s response? “God! That describes you perfectly.” Mostly referring to the last three sentences I believe.

Some bits I’m just not willing to share with the entire internet.
(more…)

Friday Time Wasting: Serenity Quiz!

(more…)

Autism Spectrum Quotient Quiz

The test is interesting, but I don’t think I believe my score.
(more…)

You know, you read this as a plot in a novel, you’d say it was absolutely too ridiculous, and put the book back.

An Indian man has been living in a tree for the past 15 years despite passionate appeals by his mother to return home.

But wait! It gets better!

Kapila’s wife, Tulasi, began having “illicit relations” with his younger brother Babuan.

It’s got everything! Sex, family intrigue, AND living in a tree.

In case you were feeling good about your accomplishments, here’s a story of a ten-year old actor who is now directing his first movie.

I’ll give you an unusually long quote, because this was the part that struck me:

The film is about the street children who have no other address than the footpaths in India’s big cities.

“When I was six years old, I saw slum children selling newspapers at a traffic signal and I asked my dad why they are not like us. Why they do not go to schools.

“My dad said they do not have parents. I felt very bad and thought I must do something for them,” Kishan told the BBC.

“Then I wrote a short story and read it to my dad who narrated it to his friends as well. It was my dad’s friends who suggested that I should direct the film myself, as I had written the story.”

Wow. The best part is that he actually sounds like a good kid.

If MSHA hasn’t been doing anything wrong, you wouldn’t know it by the actions of David Dye, who walked out of the hearings, saying he had more important things to do. (NY Times, Charleston Gazette)

Additionally, the WV legislature passed a major piece of Mine Safety Legislation yesterday. (Charleston Gazette, Charleson Daily Mail) It creates a Mine and Industrial Accident Rapid Response System, to respond to mine accidents, would create an electronic tracking system for miners, and most importantly, imposes $100,000 fines upon mines that do not report accidents immediately. Delayed reporting occurred in both the Sago and Aracoma Alma mines.

There will also be SCSRs (Self-Contained Self Rescuer, which are oxygen tanks for miners to use when the air becomes unsafe) placed throughout the mine, so that miners should be less likely to run out of oxygen, such as happened in Sago.

We can hope that this legislation will be combined with increased vigilance at MSHA, to save the lives of miners in the future. We can also hope that these steps will serve as a guide to countries like China, where mine safety is now is where it was in the United States a century or more ago.

(For more mine news, see also The Logan Banner)