Abstract Distractionism

Conservatives are all over the Chilean Miner Rescue - as are most Americans. I would argue rightfully so, as this story shows that mining, no matter where you are in the world, is dangerous and more stringent safety measures are required. However, conservatives are using this story of joy, hope, and victory, as a tool to - you guessed it - bash Barack Obama and his alleged "anti-capitalist" stand-points.

It needs to be said. The rescue of the Chilean miners is a smashing victory for free-market capitalism.

Amid the boundless human joy of the miners' liberation, it may seem churlish to make such a claim. It is churlish. These are churlish times, and the stakes are high.

In the United States, with 9.6% unemployment, a notably angry electorate will go to the polls shortly and dump one political party in favor of the other, on which no love is lost. The president of the U.S. is campaigning across the country making this statement at nearly every stop:

"The basic idea is that if we put our blind faith in the market and we let corporations do whatever they want and we leave everybody else to fend for themselves, then America somehow automatically is going to grow and prosper."

Uh, yeah. That's a caricature of the basic idea, but basically that's right. Ask the miners.

If those miners had been trapped a half-mile down like this 25 years ago anywhere on earth, they would be dead. What happened over the past 25 years that meant the difference between life and death for those men?

The alleged quote and the context - you know, that word that all conservatives are so steeped in when it comes to having their own words thrown back at them - is not sourced in the article at all. It's simply just a tossed out phrase inside a poorly conceived thesis designed to anger the very people that read Fox"Nation" and somehow feel they are being "informed".

But let's be frank about this - Capitalism is NOT what saved these men.

What saved these men was the kindness of people like Brandon Fisher and the use of his drilling technology. But if we want to put this into abstracts, like Daniel Henninger is doing, we could say that a sense of community, a sense of "yes, I am my brother's keeper" that saved these men.

This isn't about conservative ideology or contortions of a contextually irrelevant quotation from a man you despise being placed against the lives of 33 men, this is about reality and what was used to pull these workers up from the bowels of the earth.

Moreover, I would postulate that this shows that a "small business" - willing to put up it's own money in a time of economic uncertainty in their home country - was willing to sacrifice profit and praise in order to save people that utilize socialized medicine once they were brought to safety. So how does that settle with Henninger and the reactionary conservatives that lap up his narrative?

Using such abstract notions to rationalize situations like this, or even those not nearly as serious as this, shows that conservatives are more than willing to use anyone as an example to besmirch those with whom they disagree.

Brainstem Removal

Michelle Malkin has recently ceded much of her blog space to conservative hack Doug Powers, and he keeps up the right-wing blatherings with a short piece and comment section about Ashley Judd that is long of sophistry and schoolyard rhetoric and predictably short on realistic assessment.

Last month, in a speech to the National Press Club, actress Ashley Judd took a break from taking on Sarah Palin and set her sights on business practices in her home state.

Judd referred to the mountain top removal of coal in Kentucky as “environmental genocide,” called the process “the state-sanctioned, federal government supported, coal industry operated, rape of Appalachia,” and said the miners should be retrained to take “better jobs” (unfortunately the “vacuous actor” career field is full up at the moment).

On Wednesday, the coal industry sponsored a golf tournament at StoneCrest Golf Course in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, and launched a return salvo by way of a poster displayed at the tourney:

Here's the poster being referenced:



And while equating showing your boobs on film with the ecologically dangerous practice of quite literally blowing the tops off of mountains isn't anywhere near a realistic comparison, it showcases exactly how conservatives refuse to take an honest look the issue at hand. To put it another way, it's easy for conservative men to make a sexist joke because they know they'll not be chastised for it.

There are three types of mines in Kentucky: Strip, Underground, and Mountaintop Removal. While the first is the less dangerous practice - though almost on an equal playing field in regards to environmental damage, the later has a rich and storied past of destroying ecosystems and poisoning the waters of the region.

If conservatives were as passionate about how the ecological rape of our lands - not just here in Kentucky, mind you - as they were about deficits and taxation, then perhaps Powers would exercise a little intellectual honesty and find out exactly why Ashley Judd is describing mountaintop removal as she does.

When It Hits Home

And this latest mine disaster will impact my town and my job, as I work for a company that sells supplies to them.

Two western Kentucky miners were missing Thursday and rescuers were unable to contact them after a roof collapsed in a large underground coal mine that had a history of safety violations, officials said.

Rescue crews were in the mine on Thursday morning, said Ricki Gardenhire, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing. Mine operators told a news conference that they are holding out hope of finding the miners alive.

U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere said rescue crews entered the Webster County Coal Dotiki (doh-TEE'-kee) Mine about 11:30 p.m., and traveled approximately four miles to the area where the miners are trapped. Their efforts to stabilize the roof and haul away rock were temporarily halted about 4:50 a.m. because of "adverse roof conditions."

I live in a very peculiar world. I don't feel that coal is necessarily the only source of energy for America, but I also know that many families in my region have no other real options in order to provide for their families.

That being said, the company that I work for values the safety and reliability of what we build and what we provide. As far as the Dotiki Mine, which I have been on site multiple times, you get the sense of safety when on premises. But far too often, that's where it stops.

Reports are coming in from friends and family members around the area that one of the men ( as yet, unidentified ) has been found alive. The initial word coming in stated that a "rock fall" had occurred in the ares where the two men were operating a continuous miner. Safety crews were able to get to the rear of the vehicle, but the remainder of the area was completely blocked off from the fall.

I'll update this post as the story develops.

UPDATE

The body of Micheal Carter was recovered from the area of the rock fall at Dotiki Mine. It is still uncertain as to whether or not the other miner, Justin Travis, is alive or not.

Discussing this issue with fellow employees and residents of the area this afternoon, you get the overriding sense that people are more concerned with protecting the mine against any scrutiny. This strikes me as more than just a little odd, considering that safety and security should be priority number one. But then again, we are living in a time where some feel that their jobs are going to be taken away by the government. This is most certainly a sentiment that is echoed through the mining community.

UPDATE

Regional news station WFIE has a live Twitter feed up and video footage from teh Dotiki Mine site and is continually updating as new information comes in.

Oddly enough, the Dotiki Mine site was referenced in an April 23rd piece in Business Week regarding it's citiations for safety violations that ultimately would lead to what happened late last night.

UPDATE

Justin Travis has been found. He is alive but his condition is not being reported at this time.

As further details are coming in, it appears that Travis and Carter were cleaning up a "small fall" prior to the event that would eventually trap the two men. It's unsure as of yet whether or not they should have been evacuated from the scene rather than take on any clean-up efforts.

UPDATE

More information regarding the DOTIKI Mine and their safety record has come to light. It's being reported that in the last 12 months, 25 "falls" have been reported.

Also, units of Alliance Resource Partners ( the company that owns the Dotiki Mine ) traded lower ( 6.2% ) and it is likely that that decline may steepen based on relevent information that comes from this incident.

CORRECTION

It appears that earlier reports from sources not directly connected to the mine rescue effort have been shown to be incorrect. Justin Travis is still trapped inside the mine as of 42 minutes ago.

FINAL UPDATE

Tragically, but somewhat predictably, both miners have been located and are dead.

A news release issued by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear Thursday afternoon indicates both men missing after a Hopkins County mine accident have been found dead.

"Today has been a terrible day for Kentucky and for our coal-mining families," the governor said in a statement. "I am very saddened to announce that we have lost two miners, Michael Carter and Justin Travis, in the roof collapse at Dotiki mine in western Kentucky. Our entire state mourns along with their families and friends. Despite our sadness, we must press forward to the work ahead of us – fully investigating what caused this accident and determining ways to avoid such accidents in the future."

The rescue effort had to abruptly end after the body of Justin Travis was found due to the unstable nature of the mine - more rocks began to fall. A further investigation is pending but I'm curious if MSHA will completely shut down the mine until it can be shown to be a safe working environment.

I'm going to keep an eye on this story.