Although not expected to be a very highly contested Congressinal district for this November, The WV-3rd district will see a contender vying for the Republican nomination who has ties to big coal and Massey Energy's Don Blankenship, very personal ties.  

His name is Eliot "Spike" Maynard, who is a lawyer and former jurist on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.  Spike Maynard enjoys long walks on the beach in the French Riviera with his pal Chairman Mao Blankenship.  

Currently, the 3rd district is held by Nick Rahall.  Rahall has held the same seat for 37 years, so its unlikely he will face much competition for his seat.  However, given the current political climate (especially in West Virginia) this may not be so.  If Blankenship has his way, he will most likely fork over millions of dollars to Maynard's campaign (just as he did for supreme court judge Benjamin when he unseated incumbent McGraw on the WV Supreme court of appeals).  

This in addition to the Rahall's semi-unpopular vote for the healthcare legislation and the public's current opinion of Democrats could spell trouble.  If Blankenship were able to get someone like Maynard all the way to Washington, this could be a huge boost to the non-unionized Massey Mine monopoly and would allow Blankenship even more reign to reek havoc.  

Elliot "Spike" Maynard is running in the Republican primary to take on Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.V.), whose district encompasses the heart of West Virginia coal country. Maynard, a former State Supreme Court judge, has said that his campaign "is about protecting the coal industry, including all the jobs associated with it," and has charged that Washington Democrats have "declared war on the coal industry." 

Via TPM Muckraker

On the surface it seems like Rahall has a clear shot at winning the seat again for yet another term, but with Blankenship's large checkbook and enormous power as a coal tycoon this may not be so.  I hope that we don't see Maynard past the primaries, but if he does god help us he doesn't get elected.  This would allow Blankenship even more power, more than he already has having bought out members of the court.  

 

 

I'm sure that by now, everyone who reads this will know about the disaster in Raleigh County, WV with the Massey Energy Coal Mine disaster.

MONTCOAL, W.Va. — A huge underground explosion blamed on methane gas killed 25 coal miners in the worst U.S. mining disaster in more than two decades.

Crews bulldozed an access road Tuesday so they could drill 1,000 feet into the earth to try to find four others missing and feared dead after the Monday afternoon blast.

Rescuers were held back by poison gases that accumulated near the blast site, about 1.5 miles from the entrance to Massey Energy Co.'s sprawling Upper Big Branch mine. The mine, about 30 miles south of Charleston, has a history of violations for not properly ventilating the highly combustible methane, safety officials said.

This was the deadliest mining accident in a quarter century.  25 brave men gave their lives so far, with numbers still unknown for the rest.  I speak for the entire mountain state when I say that we consider all the men and women working in coal mines as our family.   Our hearts go out to them, our prayers are with them, and our souls are crushed at this news.  The purpose of this diary is not only to mourn the lost, but to bring light to the dark situation of coal and Massey Energy in West Virginia and across Appalachia.  I love this state, and I love the people of this state so I hope this will be taken as insight and not out of disrespect for anyone.  

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be happy to tell you all you need to know about Don Blankenship and Massey Energy. His constant advocacy for the state of West Virginia's well-being in recent years has been a refreshing thing, at least from my perspective. The 122 mining violations against just that particular Raleigh Co. site since January (and 52 in the month of March nearly speak for themselves).  Lawsuits against Massey have been filed in the past (specifically for the location where the disaster occurred) saying that it endangered the local folk around them.  

In February 2003 a judge ordered Massey to pay the residents of Sylvester, West Virginia $473,000 to settle complaints that coal dust from Massey's Elk Run Processing Plant had caused health problems and lowered property values in the nearby town. The judge also ordered Massey to construct a cloth dome over their facility to reduce the dust.

 

Massey Energy has also had legal disputes involved with standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.  Thousands, literally thousands, of violations against the Clean Water Act had Massey and Grandmaster Blankenship forking out 20 million in penalties.  The method of mining known as Mountaintop Removal could have a book written about it completely filled with environmental hazards and violations alone.  

Mine safety is a stated top priority by Massey Energy, but has yet to be seen as carried out efficiently

On October 8, 2008 Steven Cain, 32, of Comfort, West Virginia was killed at Massey Energy's Independence Coal Justice No. 1 Mine when he was crushed by a railcar. A Mine Safety and Health Administration report  concludes Cain was killed because Massey managers assigned him a dangerous job, although he had “little mining experience and minimal training.”

Top priority Blankenship?  Blankenship and Massey Energy was fined roughly $400,000 last year for improper mining ventilation.  

Unionized Labor in this country is sometimes looked upon with a scowl.  Unions are known to be one cause of unemployment in this country.  The higher wages earned are seen as a problem from outsiders to the unions.  However, unionized labor has several benefits.  Labor Unions have the ability to challenge the corporation and big companies that they work for for higher wages and better benefits.  Instead of meeting one-on-one with an employer (like in a traditional job environment) labor unions act sort of as a group to meet with the employer.  They negotiate wages for them and their union fellows to work by, and have the ability to organize labor strikes if what they are getting they deem is unfair and unjust. 

Massey Energy is almost completely non-union based.  Don Blankenship (Chairman/CEO of Massey Energy) runs it as he pleases and is a man that likes to make his money.  The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is the large union for miners across the country and has a presence in the state.  UMWA fights for fair regulations, but also fights for safer mines.  

Nobody knows better than miners the need for good healthcare and safety regulations in coal mines.  

Blankenship is Anti-Envrionmentalism and Anti-Union.  He has done everything he can to block environmental efforts to help save the state.  

"Environmentalists are are overly emotional and rely on extremist rhetoric rather than facts and cool reason"

"America doesn’t need Green jobs – but Red, White, & Blue ones."

"The Sierra Club filed 983 lawsuits against the fed gov't over 9 years. They tie up the legal system AND private industry w/ frivolous suits."

Just look him up on twitter if you want any more of these folksy comments.

Blankenship believes in buying political gains and using his large wallet to get whatever it is he wants.  This was quoted back in Oct. 2008 from Dorothy Kosich

After he spent $3 million to unseat incumbent State Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw in 2004, Blankenship has now set his sights on spending “whatever it takes” to help win a Republican majority in the state legislature. Democrats have controlled the West Virginia Legislature since the 1930s.

In 2005, Blankenship fought the governor’s effort to finance worker’s compensation through a hike in the coal severance tax. Later that year, he also opposed another gubernatorial plan to sell $5.5 billion in bonds to cover state pension programs. Nevertheless, Blankenship has no interest in running for office and insists that he is not politically motivated.

Warren McGraw was a fearless advocate of mine-safety and one of Blankenship's enemies.  This is corruption at its finest. 

"If the White House wants to create US jobs, they can start by approving hundreds of mining permits. Coal employs more workers then wind."

Blankenship's Mountaintop Removal strategy has cost several jobs.  Employing wind power would help create more jobs, not lose them to MTR mining.

I'm not trying to denigrate and denounce the workers of Massey Coal Mines in West Virginia and across Appalachia, much to the contrary.  Coal miners are the backbone of West Virginia.  I have the utmost respect and adoration for coal miners, they perform a job I would never have the bravery to perform myself.  They sacrifice health and life every day to support their families, their state, and their country.  The brave souls who lost their lives in the mining disaster will be forever remembered and hold a special place in every West Virginians heart.

The purpose of this diary is to expose the truth about Don Blankenship and the company he runs.  In wake of this disaster I believe it is important for those new to the subject to be informed.  Don Blankenship is a scourge to the state, and he uses his wallet to do as he pleases.

Please understand the purpose of this diary and not misconstrue it as negative sentiment towards the miners and their families. This is simply to inform.  The country needs to know about the underlings who run these large corporations, and the slime that inhabits the corner office at Massey Energy.

I urge everyone to keep the coal-miners and their families in your thoughts and prayers.  

 

Full Disclosure:  I view myself as a proud and devout Christian and identify with the Episcopal denomination.  

Recently, a lot of controversy has been associated with several different "sects" of Christianity.  Most who are reading this have probably already heard the news regarding a "Christian Militia" based in places like Michigan, Ohio, Indiana etc.  These self-proclaimed "anti-Christ fearing militants" were all eventually arrested after information over a plot to kill a police officer emerged.  They call themselves The Hutaree, which accoring to Rachel Maddow is a made up term that they thought sounded good.

Beginning Saturday evening, the FBI staged multiple raids across Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio to arrest nine members of an apocalyptic Christian militia who were allegedly conspiring to murder police officers, carry out terrorist atrocities, and initiate a war against United States. The initial raids captured eight of the suspects. The ninth was captured on Monday. Fortunately, every member was detained without bloodshed – no Ruby Ridge, no Waco, no pretext for revenge along the lines of Oklahoma City.

Source:  The Guardian (UK)

This is unfortunately only one of the many Christian extremist groups making headlines today.  

Another group, which no doubt more people are familiar with as opposed to The Hutaree, is called the Westboro Baptist Church.  (This church doesn't have any formal ties with the actual Baptist denomination that most can associate with and therefore considers itself an independent Baptist church)  

The reason I bring this up is because they have personally hit home with me.  Their picket schedule coming up has them landing their homophobic butts in my home state of West Virginia.  They apparently are prepared to picket the University of Charleston and The Capitol building, both located in the state's capital of Charleston, WV.  

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Pickets from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., plan to visit Charleston early next month.

Source:  The Charleston Gazette

These people are the scumbags who protest the funerals of fallen soldiers that come home from war, and who have given the ultimate sacrifice for this wonderful country we live in.  They are the ones who carry the "god hates fags" signs, and even has a website with the same name.  

Fortunately, in wake of such planned pickets, many people on facebook are organizing peaceful protests for these so called Christian extremists.  I personally cannot bring myself to even associate such blatent hatred with Christianity, but that is what they call themselves and therefore what they are referred to as by others.  

Both of these situations, along with the current mess in the Catholic church, I'm afraid have hurt the public view of Christianity.  The crux of this diary isn't meant to preach religion towards anyone, so please don't take it as such.  This is merely to show that it is unfortunate how bad the religion has been portrayed in the media.  

The same, however, can be said for the Muslim faith as well.  We as Americans should embrace religious diversity, not discourage it.  Unfortunately, due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the constant misconstruing of the Muslim faith by several different outlets, much fear and skepticism is associated with the faith.

I hope that in time, better perceptions of both faiths will be displayed for everyone to see, and not these negative and embarrassing ones.

There is no way to deny the facts; yesterday in West Virginia was a significant win for Sen. Clinton.   As an Obama supporter up till now I have taken solace in the often reported "leaked" Obama projection spreadsheet. Following this spreadsheet for the last three months has helped keep from letting the highs get to high or the lows too low.  No projections can be expected to be 100% correct but this 2/6/2008 sheet has been amazingly close, until last night.  The Obama camp had originally projected a 43/55 loss and didn't come close. The events yesterday while minimal in impact to the delegate fight were significant at least in timing, a perfect proving ground for Sen. Clinton's recent central argument.

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