It Shouldn't Have Taken the Deaths of Three Miners to Get the Media to Focus on Mine Safety
The headline comes from Arianna Huffington.
Why did it take until this morning for CNN to finally run a chyron saying "Safety of Rescue Operation Debated"? For 12 days, there was precious little debate about why the mine had collapsed in the first place, or about the safety of the rescue operation -- which was, by law, in the hands of Stickler, another "heck of a job" Bush special, a coal industry insider who couldn't even win the approval of a GOP-controlled Senate.
So here we are, 12 days after the first collapse, with three heroic rescuers dead, six others injured, and the original six trapped miners almost certainly lost forever. And, finally, we have Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman suggesting we "focus like never before on workplace safety" (the Governor had better be prepared for the wrath of Murray: when Hillary Clinton made a similar statement months ago about the importance of workplace safety, Murray attacked her as "anti-American.")
So why wasn't the focus on workplace safety the focus of the media from Day One? It shouldn't have taken the deaths of 3 miners for those covering the story to have gotten that message...read on
When I pointed out Murray's insipid attacks against global warming, my quotes came up in a NY Times (The Lede) article that was doing a round up of reactions about Murray. Patrick Lyons seems to be interested in the vitriol he whipped up instead of his actions.
Crooks and Liars attacks Mr. Murray’s criticism of efforts in Congress to minimize global warming; Chesapeake Climate paints his defense of coal as alarmist, and Firedoglake sarcastically paints him an apologist for greed.
Why was I accused of attacking the man when he clearly had a political agenda while controlling the media during this horrible situation and I pointed that out? Here's some of my post.
Amidst the tragedy of the trapped coal miners in Utah, Bob Murray said this:
We’re going to get them,” said Robert E. Murray, chairman of Murray Energy Corp. of Cleveland, a part-owner of the Crandall Canyon mine. “There is nothing on my mind right now except getting those miners out.
Nothing on his mind other saving the miners, really?
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Digby follows up with:
Tragically, a whole bunch of people have died and others are injured but so far, we've heard almost nothing about this "star's" background in pushing unsafe mining techniques and anti-union policies and neither have we heard anything about the fact that the man Bush named to be the "mine safety czar" was such a bad choice for the job that he had to give him a recess appointment with a Republican congress...read on.
Oh man!
None of this should be any surprise to anyone on this blog...it takes something tragic like an exposed boobie before the media sits up and takes notice so it should be no surprise that even after the Sako Mine disaster and the 6 now in Utah that it would still take 3 more deaths before Mine Safety would be an issue.
EVERYBODY could tell this guy was a worm from the get go. Both MSNBC and CNN were calling his first news conference “weird”.
Now he has cost 3 more incredibly brave men their lives with his self serving crap.
I have a friend who is an earthquake guy at Berkley and he says this guy saying it started with an earthquake is wholly bullshit. The experts are shaking their heads.
Just like almost every Republican this guy should be in jail. And hopefully will be.
Did you see this jackass (Murray) marching around in that video with the stick in his hand showing everybody how they were doing the rescue? And the shot of him watching the video was scary to me. What an egomaniac. Lock him up!!
Forget it, John. It's the MSM.
They guy should be in jail. He's a murderer.
this is really about the bottom line...Profits.....as I've said before..they worship the almighty dollar..1st and foremost is their money and how to get more of it.They could care less about people 2000 ft down under a mountain.As long as they keep making record profits they don't care ...until something happens and the cameras show up.I've been somewhat following this sad spectacle and it appears to me that they were warned about the structural integrity of the mines.Apperantly they were told that the walls were unsafe(have you noticed that they were pointing to the ceilings and saying how good they were).The whole layout of the mine was and is unsafe,they were told to expect "bouncing".That's the earth moving from actual mining...They said it was seismic activity .....bullshit.Their money is more important to them.
Is that what media is focusing on?. You could have fooled me
Funny. MSM claims bloggers are nothing but dirty hippies typing away in their moms' basements then they turn around and quote them in their op eds to get a "round up of reactions". Go get'em John.
murray controls the mining town....everyone in this town owes their living to this guy...
word is, if any of them say anything to the press that is seen as negative, they can kiss their livings goodbye
the worst thing i heard this week is a wingnut radio host being an apologist for murray lying about the earthquake
saying that murray said that to protect himself from lawsuits....cuz sometimes accidents just happen
except we all know that we are gonna find that this mine was being run with substandard safety measures
i fucking hate the right in this country
Mining safety czar?
It's official, our country has more czars than russia.
Curtilingus @ 13:
I'm waiting for when the Shrub deciders he wants to be dictator do you think his dumb ass will want to be called the Czar Czar?
The 'heck of a job' tag is incredibly fitting. This is Utah's Katrina. I-35w was Minneapolis' Katrina. Five years of appointing the absolute WORST person possible to positions of responsibility has come home to roost for the bush admin. Too bad he'll never pay for it or care about it.
the media always look for ways to humanize union-busting robber barons
uncle joe mccarthy @ 12:
jr @ 16:
Ain't that the truth? Up here in Canada, most of the press constantly lionized Conrad Black. That is, until the recent stealing-millions-from-Hollinger-International thing. But even now, after his conviction, the nasty anti-labour jerk still has plenty of apologists in Canadian media. Lord love a fuckin' duck.
It's like this: "Our product is so essential, America should mind its own business if a few miners die. What's worse, losing a few coal miners or having old ladies pay more for electricity," I ask you? Don't you get the idea this is what he's telling us? Just shut up and let us run the coal mines. [Now back to our non-stop coverage of Paris Hilton.]
How many innocents have to die before Bush-Cheney are impeached for their cronyism, lies and incompetence? Goddess knows they don't have the common decency to step down.
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 14:
Another word for Czar is king. Every time they use the word Czar they are saying king. He is the mining "King".
Digby summed it up nicely when recommending watch films that are uncovering what the media ignores...
"Here's another mining movie recommendation: Harlan County USA. It's a film conservative exploiters like Murray don't want anybody to see. It might make working men and women in this country realize that voting for Republican jackasses who answer to pricks like him, might not be the best idea in the world."
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"And, finally, we have Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman suggesting we “focus like never before on workplace safety” "
Oh, I see....Now it's time, since this happened on Huntsman's watch.
Here's a list of coal minin' disasters in the US from 1839 through 2006. Coal minin', only, mind you.
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/discoal.htm
And weren't there supposed to be safety improvements after the Sago disaster? Radios and what-not?
Captain Kangaroo @ 21:
I'm waiting for Bush to appoint a "Freedom Czar" to monitor American's phone conversation and emails.
They should just toss Murray down that 4 foot hole they are drilling . . . if he will fit . . . and plug it up.
That guy is a typical arrogant Republican egomaniac.
I'm surprised Bush hasn't called him to become the chairman of the Bureau of Land Management.
And it'll take just another three minutes for them to lose that focus.
Here's some more (PDF) from West Virginia Public Broadcasting that was only mentioned in the NY Times article. And then as showing Murray as "a man who is quick to mix it up with critics and opponents."
One incident from this document: In 2001, a belt foreman named Tom Ciszewski had his arm ripped off by a conveyor belt. He bled to death. Murray pressured miners not to shut down the belt, "unless there's a man [in] it," and that he would fire them on the spot.
By leaving these details out of their story the NYT makes Murray sound like some scrappy entrepreneur fighting oppressive government regulations. Rather than the greedy uncaring person that his past actions show him to be.
If I can find this information. Why can't the NY Times?
Why isn't there more public outcry?
Bill Maker just asked this question not 5 minutes ago on Larry King Live regarding Iraq. The answer is the same in both situations. People may fight a hopeless battle, but they're not going to fight a pointless battle.
Its like what Maher said about Petraeus' upcoming report. It doesn't matter what he says, because Bush is just going to throw it away anyways. Its the same thing with any protest. If Bush was any kind of ethical human being, he might listen, but he isn't. Bush is king of the parasitic party in American and he's going to stay right where he is until he's forcibly removed.
Calamity at a mine.
pseudo media/gov't/talking heads - "blah blah blah mine safety blah blah blah"
We now return you to your regularly scheduled commercials.
Don't forget to buy stuff.
Murray is an example of the bastards that want to bitch about 'big government', yet let big corporations use their power and influence to try to sweep away benefits and safety for the workers. We need government as big as the corporations they regulate. We need an end to the monopolies and the corporate powerhouses, including the media.
The REAL BLAME for all these mine deaths is YOU ASSHOLES that drive S.U.V.'s, like soccer moms, going to the market. You create this insane demand for oil/coal/energy, that encourages people to dig for coal in very dangerous places. And most of you reading this are guilty, and have blood on your hands. You're the ones speaking with your wallets, that you don't give a shit HOW they get energy, you just want it, so you can drive your S.U.V. to the 7-11. Shame on all of you... virtually ALL of you are guilty.
I was a miner for 10 years (above ground, limestone. I was a foreman) and a mine is only as safe as the local MSHA office makes it...these owners are scumbags but MSHA (under a Republican Administration) is just as guilty. The head of MSHA should be appointed for 10 years instead of being changed with every admin.
Sad to say,I'm sorry to say this, but it has to be said. Well I guess the American people particularly the voters are paying the consequences of having the mistake of putting this selfish bozo clown and his party of clowns in power twice. VOTE YOU ONCE SHAME ON YOU VOTE YOU TWICE SHAME ON ME. I guess Clinton's uncontrollable zipper is more dangerous than the selfish stupidity that this hypocrite morons do that cause numerous American and thousands of innocent Iraqis lives to lost.
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 2:
Yeah. Wait until Hurricane dean hooks right and hits LA/MO...maybe then we'll get stories on how the recovery isn't going too well.
I'm kind of ignorant on thsi topic but how come miners don't wear GPS devices or finder things or whatever so they can be rescued right away? Wait- don't tell me - that would cost too much...
And well said truthhurts. Too bad we are stuck living in the mess with all the ignorant selfish narrowminded assholes who voted for Bush.
Ali @ 35:
GPS doesn't work underground...these guys were 1500 ft below the surface.
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 14:
ROFLMAO
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sadly however, there is nothing really funny about these pieces of shit that control other peoples lives.
the mountain is settling as the internal support has been compromised/destabilized.
Crandall Canyon Mine has been producing a recent average of 624,000 TONS of coal per year. At an guestimate of $5/TON, that's $3.12 MIL cash income.
Peak production used to be about 3.5 million TONS/year... $17.5 MIL cash income.
Before the recent deaths and injuries... they employed 71 people who's average income was $58,000 each. That makes an annual payroll of about $4.1 MIL.
So money's really good when production is up... but profits get lean when production turns down. They were scheduled to CLOSE in 2008... with en estimated reserve of about 11 million TONS.
Frankly, I think we ought to develop SOLAR POWERED UTILITIES.
Someday, probably in the not too distant future, American families will be sitting in their living rooms, watching their children playing, and asking one another "Where were you on the day that President Bush declared nationwide martial law?"
And chatting about the good ol' days when there was a U.S. Congress and before the entire law enforcement authorities in our former democratic society hadn't been placed under the Martial Law Czar Alberto Gonzales.
Aaaah, for the good ol' days, before the only news channel citizens are allowed to watch is the Bush-sanctioned Fox News and the only newspapers allowed are the New York Post and the Washington Times. On radio, only Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Michael Savage are allowed, along with only Christian cult rock music and ol' time gospel music.
Of course, there's plenty of entertainment on television with "Leave it to Beaver" reruns and constant programming of Pat Robertson's 700 Club.
So, families in the not too distant future will have plenty of time to spend with their families, inside their homes, because of the curfews imposed by Martial Law Czar Gonzales and enforced by Blackwater private security contractors, with Predator drone aircraft (carrying Hellfire missiles) to back them up at close range, and U.S. spy satellites from on high.
Families will cower inside their homes, at least with those family members still present, because anyone dissenting with our country being locked down will have been carted off to one of the secret detention centers being built for $385 million of U.S. taxpayer dollars, supposedly for illegal immigrants, but with the bill containing the open-ended qualifier statement "...and for other purposes."
But how would Bush, Cheney and Gonzales pull this off?
One scenario would be Bush and Cheney ordering a preemptive attack on Iran, which would probably result in a domestic terrorist attack occurring inside the United States as the Iranians sought a way to attack us back.
A recent Bush executive order gives Bush and Cheney the ability to declare nationwide martial law even if a domestic terrorist attack is relatively limited in scope.
And in Congress, the Republicans and some Blue Dog Democrats just stripped language from an appropriations bill that would have ordered Bush and Cheney to get from Congress a war declaration before starting any hostilities with Iran.
One has to look at what BushCo has been and is doing in the context of a chess game. They've moved certain pieces into place, with one of the main pieces being Alberto Gonzales' politicizing of the Justice Department, filling as many positions there as possible with "loyal Bushie" partisan Republican hacks.
But when all these pieces are brought into focus, including the recent report that "loyal Bushie" pastors are joining a "Clergy Response Team" to try to assuage the fears of any citizens upset about martial law being declared, with one of these pastors, a guy named Tuberville, spouting something that reminds me of the "Divine Right of Kings," one has to really wonder if nationwide martial law being declared is really that farfetched.
Some what OT. I've been wonder if a mine "bump" is what I think it is. I'm thinking its like video I've seen of blocks of some stone under vertical stress until it failed.
And by fail I mean the block exploded outward, horizontally in all directions.
Is this what happens in a mine "bump"?
Murry is a true scumbag! I'm sure anyone who can think for them self figured out the earthquake excuse was bullshit. He's a relic just like the GOP. If it weren't for the family's of the miners involved I would normally love it when a propagandists like him open their lying scumbag mouths. They will burn in hell for what they have wrought.
Let me paraphrase this asshole.
Fossil fuel lobbyists have bought out the government to the point that coal continues to be a major source of energy in this country. By ignoring the safety precautions imposed on mines in Canada, my overhead is much lower and I can pad my profits to a more significant degree. Since you have no choice but to get your energy from a monopolized energy network, this means you have no choice but for coal to be used as the fuel for that power source.
If the government decides not to continue the fossil fuel corporate welfare, I will not let that threaten my yearly ceo bonus and will pass the extra costs onto you. The miners that a probably dead and those that we know are dead are an insignificant sacrifice, so I wish everyone would quit bitching about it.
Bush tells me I don't have to provide safe working conditions and does not enforce the regulations already in place because my companies largest responsibility is to the shareholders, unless of course we decide to defraud them, then noone gives a crap about them either.
Unless you people are rich enough to afford lobbyists to actually advocate for real mine safety, or make coal obsolete, shut the hell up.
Captain Kangaroo @ 6:
it was lie, that's for sure.
Why wasn't this a focus of media attention after the Sago mine disaster? After all, they exploited the tragedy like a soap opera during the rescue but not word one analyzing the effects of the recess appointment of Strickler against the senate's wishes or what that meant to the policies, or if the repubs were stonewalling real safety efforts. No mention of the devices that are already available to the miners to help with communication and the like.
I wrote to the media weekly and then monthly about why they weren't analyzing this when they were all too happy to be on scene to exploit the misery part of the Sago mine disaster. Another miserable failure on the part of the media and the public for that matter. Shameful!
didn't they say they were going to focus on mine safety like never before after the sago mine disaster? the only thing they did was sit on their hands and pray that there'd be no more major catastrophes on their watch.
and as far as not being debated for these many days--maybe should be: "not debated or mentioned by the gov. the industry and that fat slime ball mine owner" ppl out here in the world have been discussing it.
do they care? you saw how a dem presidential canidate blew off the widow of a miner killed at sago--surely we don't expect anyone else in the gov to care.
How very sad for the families of these men. I am sure they have visions of them scratching and clawing to get out of that cave.
All of this nightmare is brought on by the same kind of people who fight like hell to keep an administration in play so that they can continue to disrespect the safety laws in this country that would protect their workers and then they are allowed to just lie about it and blame it on anything but their own unwillingness to care.
It simply would cost them too much money to follow the rules and of course they have this big bad media to help them make it go away as quickly as it appeared.
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