Even though Massey has faced proposed fines nearing $2 million since 2005 and been cited over 1,300 times, it’s paid only a fraction – one-sixth – of the proposed fines. All told, according to the United Mine Workers of America, nearly 50 people have been killed at Massey mines in the last ten years. In March alone, it was cited over 50 times for violations, many directly related to ventilation violations that allowed the build-up of explosive methane gas that played a major role in the killing of the 29 miners. As The Washington Post observed in an editorial,

“‘It’s a profession that’s not without risks and danger, and the workers and their families know that,’ Mr. Obama said of the coal industry Friday. ‘But their government and their employers know that they owe it to these families to do everything possible to ensure their safety when they go to work each day.’ A good place to start would be to ensure that the regulations on the books are vigorously enforced.”

And, in a perverse way, political leaders and media outlets that morbidly romanticize the courage of rural mine workers for working in an industry known for its risks are also in some ways promoting the view that mine disasters are as unavoidable as natural disasters. As USA Today proclaimed in a recent headline: “In mine country, risks a ‘way of life.’” The feature article concluded by quoting former miner Randy Cox, who had observed that deep in a coalmine, “bad things can happen fast, without warning.” The article noted, “that it will take a long time for this area to mourn and heal, Cox said. “‘It’s all in God’s hands now.’”

In contrast, “what unions, particularly in dangerous profession like mining, mean is that they give workers protection and the leverage of a working group with management to vocalize and bring forward concerns about safety without fear of retribution,” said Kimberly Freeman Brown, executive director of American Rights at Work, a champion of the now-stalled Employee Free Choice Act. She added, “In the absence of a union, in hard economic times, workers feel more vulnerable about losing their jobs and less confident about expressing their concerns about safety.”

This is what the Employee Free Choice Act is all about. Where there’s not going to be intimidation, where there’s not going to be retribution against employees who just think about organizing in the workplace because they’d like to go down into a workplace where they’re not going to lose their lives. Where it will just increase the safety in their area. Is that asking too much? Is it all for the dollar bill in America? This is morally wrong. There is absolutely no difference between what these guys did in the front office at this Massey Energy Company than what these guys did down the street on Wall Street to folks who were ripped off. This is a matter of life and death. That’s what this is.

Charleston Fire Department Station 12 had to remove a Nativity display from the lawn, after a local man filed a complaint with the Wisconsin based Freedom From Religion Foundation. The group sent a letter to the fire department Friday, December 18th. The complaint states the display shows Charleston’s endorsement of Christianity, which is prohibited under the Constitution, and asked that it be removed
The firefighters removed the manger scene after the matter was referred to the fire department’s legal department. The fire department was not allowed to speak on camera, but released a statement. “The Supreme Court has said that the United States Constitution prohibits government from taking any action that appears to promote one religion over another. The Crech is the universal symbol of Christianity, and therefore based on the law, it was removed from the fire station. The city and the fire department fully support everyone’s right to practice his or her religion in our city.“
The fire department has received dozens of complaints about removing the nativity.

Sister Jane Livingston and her sisters from the Community of Catholic Sister Daughters of St. Paul wanted to do something nice for firefighters in Station 12. So they baked them a special cake. Sister Livingston says, “I’m delivering a Christmas cake to the people at Fire Station number 12. I figured if they can’t have a nativity on the outside, we would bring them a nativity they can have on the inside from us. There’s a clear prejudice it seems against Christianity. I was really kind of in sorrow in one sense, because Christmas is a joyful time, and it’s meant to be a time that brings people together, rather than divides them.“

Joanne Roberts lives in the area. She says, “I think it’s crazy. This is America. I’m a citizen of the United States of America and if you cannot have a manger scene in a front yard of a fire department what are we going to do. I think it’s crazy. It does upset me that they are not there. I just think we should fuss and fight and put it back up.“

That follows hundreds of complaints filed against the satellite television business, which McKenna said Tuesday was a huge number for a company operating in the state.

“These guys are off the charts,” McKenna said in a meeting with reporters. “We’ve had more complaints about them than any other (company) in America this year. So they really do stand out.”

The California-based company is accused of attracting customers with ads for low prices that hide fees and rate changes. The attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit Monday in King County Superior Court alleging that DirecTV had repeatedly violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act.

California-based DirecTV is accused of wooing new viewers with ads for low prices while hiding a multitude of fees, planned rate changes and terms that call for automatic renewals. Following a year-long investigation by its Consumer Protection Division, the Attorney General’s Office filed documents today in King County Superior Court that allege the company has repeatedly violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act. McKenna wants the company to put its terms in writing.

The state attorney general’s office received more than 50 overnight complaints against DirectTV after Rob McKenna filed a lawsuit against the company for “deceptive and unfair practices.”

That follows hundreds of complaints filed against the satellite television business, which McKenna said Tuesday was a huge number for a company operating in the state.

“These guys are off the charts,” McKenna said in a meeting with reporters. “We’ve had more complaints about them than any other (company) in America this year. So they really do stand out.”

The California-based company is accused of attracting customers with ads for low prices that hide fees and rate changes. The attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit Monday in King County Superior Court alleging that DirecTV had repeatedly violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act.

California-based DirecTV is accused of wooing new viewers with ads for low prices while hiding a multitude of fees, planned rate changes and terms that call for automatic renewals. Following a year-long investigation by its Consumer Protection Division, the Attorney General’s Office filed documents today in King County Superior Court that allege the company has repeatedly violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act. McKenna wants the company to put its terms in writing.

“They’re telling people they can sign up for a low introductory rate of $29.99 a month for 12 months, but literally in the fine print at the bottom of the ad there’s this rebate process you have to go through in order to obtain the introductory offer,” McKenna said. “Here’s the trick. Once they install they equipment you’re on the hook for the minimum period of the contract of two years. If you decide it’s not satisfactory…(there’s) up to $480 cancellation fee…We’ve been telling DirectTV they need to clean up their act for a long time and they’ve refused to make the changes that we require.”

DirecTV, in a statement, refutes those charges.

“We always strive to provide 100 percent customer satisfaction,” the statement said. The company also said that the number of complaints in Washington state represent less than 1 percent of their customers here.

1. FROM THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN: This bill obliterates women’s fundamental right to choose.
“• Prevent women participating in the public health insurance exchange, administered by private insurance companies, from using 100 percent of their own money to purchase private insurance that covers abortion.
2. FROM THE CALIFORNIA NURSES ASSOCIATION: This bill fails to control costs
3. FROM CONGRESSMAN ERIC MASSA: This bill will enshrine in law the monopolistic powers of the private health insurance industry.

“At the highest level, this bill will enshrine in law the monopolistic powers of the private health insurance industry, period. There’s really no other way to look at it. I believe the private health insurance industry is part of the problem.
4. FROM PLANNED PARENTHOOD’S CECILE RICHARDS: This bill embraces religious-right extremes.
5. FROM CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: This bill worries about the health of Wall Street, not America.
6. FROM “SICKO’S” DONNA SMITH: The bill does not cure what ails us.

The move follows a number of individual actions by various states. Earlier this month, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued Credit Solutions of America (CSA) and its CEO Douglas Van Arsdale. The Attorney General’s complaint alleges that the company falsely claims that its services can help to reduce consumers’ credit card debt by 50 percent.

Madigan’s lawsuit contends the company continually fails to negotiate with consumers’ creditors even though consumers cease to pay their creditors directly and, instead, make months of upfront payments to CSA. As a result of CSA’s failure to take any effective debt settlement action on behalf of consumers, according to Madigan’s lawsuit, creditors frequently sue consumers to collect on the outstanding balances.

Madigan said her office has seen a sharp rise in debt- and credit-related consumer complaints. Over the last few years, her office has received more than 12,000 complaints regarding debt and credit issues.

The paper reports that the oil and gas liaison’s department did add an employee in 2009 (from two to three) and will see a tripling in its budget from 2008 to 2010, if its proposed budget for next year is approved. But a key hydrologic study to check for contaminants from gas drilling in the Mamm Creek area was slashed from $180,000 to $20,000 in 2009.

That study is part of an ongoing effort to investigate findings from a private consultant that show elevated levels of methane in groundwater supplies since the most recent gas boom began in the late 1990s. There also is a push for more federal regulation of certain drilling practices in the wake of complaints from residents that their groundwater wells are being contaminated and they’re being sickened by gas drilling.
Oil and gas liaison officer Judy Jordan told the paper she was perplexed by the rising number of complaints given the drop-off in drilling in the county (from 70 active rigs a year ago to 16 currently operating). That slowdown is widely attributed to the global recession and drop in the commodity price, but some Republicans say it’s directly linked to more stringent state environmental regulations for gas drilling that went into effect in the spring.
“America is facing a painful recession, and this Governor’s policies have made a bad economic situation worse,” Penry writes in his most recent campaign fund-raising newsletter, blasting the “stifling oil and gas regulations [that] have done nothing to help get our economy turned around.”

Whatever the causes the latest natural gas downturn (or some would say bust), Garfield County’s Jordan said the number of drilling permits her department is seeing forwarded from the state for county review continues to go up.

“The flaw that took place in Afghanistan was preventable,” the dismissed diplomat, Peter Galbraith, said Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Galbraith said the United Nations “did not exercise its responsibility.” In dismissing Galbraith, the deputy envoy at the U.N. mission there, Secretary-General Ki-moon did not specify the nature of their differences.
Preliminary results from the Aug. 20 election show President Hamid Karzai won a majority, with former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah in second place. But proclamation of a winner has been delayed pending a partial recount by the U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC).

A U.N. spokesman in Afghanistan said that the mission did not want to detract from the election process by commenting on Galbraith’s allegations.

“Enough is enough. We will deal with these accusations at the appropriate time. Now is not that time,” Dan McNorton said.

“Our work is and must be focused on the electoral process. To do otherThe Obama administration is weighing whether to send thousands of additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan, as commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal reportedly has urged.

Galbraith also said that unless U.S. and coalition troops can secure significant population centers in Afghanistan, “we’re going to be there as an occupying force for a long time … and that doesn’t make any sense.”
wise would be totally irresponsible,” he added.

* A 2003 wage analysis reported that cashiers, the second most common job, earn approximately $7.92 per hour and work 29 hours a week. This brings in annual wages of only $11,948. ["Statistical Analysis of Gender Patterns in Wal-Mart's Workforce", Dr. Richard Drogin 2003]

Complaints about understaffing and low pay are not uncommon among retail workers — but Wal-Mart is no mere peddler of saucepans and boom boxes. The company is the world’s largest retailer, with $220 billion in sales, and the nation’s largest private employer, with 3,372 stores and more than 1 million hourly workers. Its annual revenues account for 2 percent of America’s entire domestic product. Even as the economy has slowed, the company has continued to metastasize.

Given its staggering size and rapid expansion, Wal-Mart increasingly sets the standard for wages and benefits throughout the U.S. economy. “Americans can’t live on a Wal-Mart paycheck,” says Greg Denier, communications director for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). “Yet it’s the dominant employer, and what they pay will be the future of working America.”

Wal-Mart has responded to the union drive by trying to stop workers from organizing — sometimes in violation of federal labor law. In 10 separate cases, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Wal-Mart repeatedly broke the law by interrogating workers, confiscating union literature, and firing union supporters. At the first sign of organizing in a store, Wal-Mart dispatches a team of union busters from its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, sometimes setting up surveillance cameras to monitor workers. “In my 35 years in labor relations, I’ve never seen a company that will go to the lengths that Wal-Mart goes to, to avoid a union,” says Martin Levitt, a management consultant who helped the company develop its anti-union tactics before writing a book called Confessions of a Union Buster. “They have zero tolerance.”

Wal-Mart’s success story was scripted by its founder, Sam Walton, whose genius was not so much for innovation as for picking which of his competitors’ innovations to copy in his own stores. In 1945, Walton bought a franchise variety store in Newport, Arkansas. The most successful retailers, he noticed, were chains like Sears and A&P, which distributed goods to stores most efficiently, lowered prices to generate a larger volume of sales, and in the process generated a lot of cash to finance further expansion. These, in turn, would serve as basic principles of Walton’s business. As he explains in his autobiography, Sam Walton, Made in America, he drove long distances to buy ladies’ panties at lower prices, recognizing that selling more pairs at four for a dollar would bring greater profits than selling fewer pairs at three for a dollar. The women of northeastern Arkansas were soon awash in underwear, and a discounter was born. Walton opened his first Wal-Mart Discount City in 1962 and gradually expanded out from his Arkansas base. By 1970 Wal-Mart owned 32 outlets; by 1980 there were 276; by 1990, 1,528 in 29 states.

The attacks of September 11, 2001 dramatically altered the course of freedom and Democracy. The attacks were used by an egregiously appointed criminal Presidential administration as an excuse to consistently terrorize an unsuspecting American public while keeping them in a constant state of fear.

Whoever is responsible for perpetrating the attacks against the U.S. on 9/11 had help from someone on the ground. There is no way that foreign terrorists would be able to perpetrate the attacks, quickly remove the evidence, and then cover-up the attacks. The attacks were done with the aid of domestic terrorists in the U.S. government. The implosion of three World Trade Center buildings — including one that wasn’t hit by any flying objects — could not have happened had the event not been planned long in advance. Planes did did not bring those buildings down. Military grade explosives did.

It was consequently crucial for the development of a coherent antiwar and civil rights movement, to reveal the nature of Al Qaeda and its evolving relationship to successive US adminstrations. Amply documented but rarely mentioned by the mainstream media, Al Qaeda was a creation of the CIA going back to the Soviet-Afghan war. This was a known fact, corroborated by numerous sources including official documents of the US Congress. The intelligence community had time and again acknowledged that they had indeed supported Osama bin Laden, but that in the wake of the Cold War: “he turned against us”.

After 9/11, the campaign of media disinformation served not only to drown the truth but also to kill much of the historical evidence on how this illusive “outside enemy” had been fabricated and transformed into “Enemy Number One”.

Unfortunately for America, the mainstream media has been nothing short of complicit in keeping the crimes committed by an appointed Presidential administration covered up. Of course, it’s not surprising when you realize that many of the owners of these media corporations are also Jewish neo-cons whose loyalty has been handsomely rewarded by the corrupted politicians they’re protecting. The corporately owned mainstream media is a shining example of the problem America has with corrupt monopolies that purposely lie and decieve to keep their crimes hidden.

The festival starts in August 4th in 2010, running for 5 days – but don’t miss ‘No Panty Wednesday’ when you can swap your undies for a free drink.