To Don Blankenship, just the cost of doing coal business
On Thursday, a Senate committee took testimony on coal mine safety after the explosion last month at a West Virginia operation run by Massey Energy that killed 29 men.
In his first testimony since the accident, the worst coal mine disaster in 40 years, Don L. Blankenship, the chairman and chief executive, came out swinging. The 23 miner fatalities at Massey mines in the decade before the Upper Big Branch explosion made his company “about average,” he said, and Massey was a leader in safety innovation but had been forbidden by the Mine Safety and Health administration from making some safety improvements….
At the hearing, another witness, Cecil E. Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, challenged Mr. Blankenship’s assertion that Massey’s safety record was average.
“I can’t come up with another coal company that’s had 23 miners in 10 years die,” Mr. Roberts, seated next to Mr. Blankenship at the witness table, said. “This isn’t average. This is deplorable.
“This is the worst fatality rate in the industry either way you look at it, either before the explosion or after the explosion.”
… Robert C. Byrd, the 92-year-old West Virginia Democrat, took a tough stance with Mr. Blankenship. “Twenty-nine men are now dead, dead, dead, simply because they went to work that morning,” he said.
The very next morning:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Another Massey Energy coal miner has died as a result of on-the-job injuries.
State of West Virginia spokesman Hoy Murphy says 55-year-old James Erwin of Delbarton died about 6 a.m. Friday.
Murphy says Erwin was pinned between a piece of heavy equipment and the wall at Massey’s Ruby Energy mine in Mingo County on May 10.
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548 comments Add your comment
Bruno
May 23rd, 2010
3:51 pm
“It would appear that we are not doing a good job of communicating. Let me try again. First, the so called “affective” factors are of various types, and it is beyond the scope of this blogosphere for me to do an adequate representation of them all.”
In case you forgot, eyes, the word “doctor” means “teacher” in Latin. Our jobs are not dissimilar, though I teach only one subject all day: health. I have the same considerations and face the same challenges every day that you teachers do. Except I have to be the teacher and principal all rolled into one.
I understand your point, and am only trying to illustrate that “accommodation” can be a double-edged sword.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
May 23rd, 2010
3:53 pm
Djou wins U.S. House seat
The GOP trumpets a victory on Obama’s home turf, while Dems promise to regroup
Just sayin….
A SunDay in the Life of a Republican
May 23rd, 2010
4:19 pm
In my world, each person is responsible for their own destiny, health and education included. It’s not a matter of “deserving” or “not deserving”–those terms only apply to people who don’t have the physical or mental capacity to care for themselves. The reality remains that anyone with sufficient motivation can achieve success in this country, all of your hand-wringing aside.
Cough, Cough, went the food preparer. Hack, Hack, went the food server. Sneeze, sneeze, went the food handler. Too bad they simply do not deserve basic health care that cannot be rescinded or cancelled when it is needed. Oh well. All they need is a little motivation.
AmVet
May 23rd, 2010
4:33 pm
Andy, Sestak is your worst nightmare.
Impeccable military career, very smart, and he will absolutely crush his GOP rival in November…
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin....
May 23rd, 2010
4:41 pm
AmVet, so why does obozo want to take him out of the race?
AmVet
May 23rd, 2010
4:46 pm
You know. Barry loved and wanted his fellow Republican, Arlen, back…
Normal
May 23rd, 2010
5:14 pm
Expectations=Preordained disappointments
Normal
May 23rd, 2010
5:24 pm
Ol’ Newt is tasting toe jam…
In his new book, FOX News contributor Newt Gingrich compared President Obama’s administration to Nazi Germany saying his “secular-socialist machine represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did.”
This comparison is not only utterly offensive but also completely unacceptable within the context of “news.”
FOX News must condemn Gingrich’s statement and stop giving him a paid platform for promoting this view.
The American Jewish Committee has condemned the statement saying, “By invoking the current Administration in the same breath as two murderous totalitarian states, Newt Gingrich has drawn a foolish and dangerous analogy. Gingrich’s linkage not only diminishes the horror of the Holocaust, it also licenses the use of extremist language in contemporary America.”
FOX News’ own Chris Wallace called the Nazi comparison “wildly over the top.” And yet Gingrich’s employers at FOX News continue to give him a platform for promoting these views. In an appearance on FOX’s “On the Record” Gingrich defended his Nazi comparison, saying he made a “reasoned and compelling argument.”
Even for FOX this goes too far. If Newt Gingrich wants to peddle his hate speech, he has a right to do it on the tea party circuit or in extremist rightwing propaganda publications. But it is far beyond acceptable for a national news outlet, even one as conservative as FOX News, to give him a paid platform for promoting a view that “diminishes the horror of Holocaust.”
Tell FOX News: Condemn Gingrich’s Nazi comparison statement and end his employment as a paid news commentator.
Southern Comfort
May 23rd, 2010
5:30 pm
FOX News must condemn Gingrich’s statement and stop giving him a paid platform for promoting this view. FOX News must condemn Gingrich’s statement and stop giving him a paid platform for promoting this view.
We will have a 3rd party president before that happens. Don’t hold your breath…
Southern Comfort
May 23rd, 2010
5:32 pm
Sorry for the double copy. User error played a part in that somehow. The user just doesn’t know how.
Bruno
May 23rd, 2010
5:39 pm
“Too bad they simply do not deserve basic health care that cannot be rescinded or cancelled when it is needed. Oh well. All they need is a little motivation.”
To A Gloomy Day In The Life of a Democrat:
Basic health care is available to every American, regardless of income. You are confusing health care with health care insurance. Two different creatures. I don’t carry health insurance, and am happy to pay out of pocket for the minimal care I have needed.
Southern Comfort
May 23rd, 2010
5:47 pm
http://www.ajc.com/news/despite-bank-failures-state-533684.html
Georgia leads the nation in bank failures, but the state is leaving key bank examiner positions vacant because of a tight budget and there’s no sign the jobs will be filled anytime soon.
Among states with the highest number of bank failures only Georgia has reduced oversight, according to an Associated Press review and interviews with state officials. Since Oct. 1, 2000, 40 banks in Georgia have collapsed.
I could almost understand Georgia’s situation with this if it were not for this bit of information later in the article:
Unlike most state agencies, Georgia’s banking department is funded not with taxpayer money but with fines and fees from the lending institutions it regulates. Overall revenue from the fines and fees has remained strong, but the department doesn’t get to keep all it collects. The fees brought in $20.7 million in the fiscal year 2009. Of that, state legislators appropriated just $11.6 million back to the department — a proportion that has held for the past several years.
Legislators have tapped the rest of the money collected by the department to pay for other things throughout state government.
Robbing Peter to pay Paul never works out in the end. Why not allow the non-taxpayer funded agency be fully self-supporting? It seems that Georgia may have been better off if politicians had not decided to use that agency as a piggy bank.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin....
May 23rd, 2010
6:06 pm
Stanley Cup Finals, just sayin, mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
Del
May 23rd, 2010
6:07 pm
Gingrich has on occasion offered up some pretty good insights and these days he appears mature and at times presidential. He, however, in the past hasn’t always appeared mature and presidential. I don’t think that conservatives over all view him as a viable presidential candidate. As a conservative, I’ll listen to what he says, however, I don’t see him as anywhere close to being the chosen leader. I will say that what he’s said in his most recent book isn’t anymore inflammatory than what has been said quite often from many on the left.
stands for decibels
May 23rd, 2010
6:15 pm
Off Topic #2:
Just back for a drive-by; wondering how many Bookmaniacs got sucked into a commitment watching Lost all these years, who are committed to the 9-11.30pm extravaganza tonight?
I might be back later, otherwise, a pleasant evening to all and to all a pleasant evening.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
6:25 pm
Okay, I’m back…
Bruno, Gotcha! I owe you something of an apology for the previous. I forgot you are a scientist and want clear-cut and definitive answers…I think in terms of the humanites. There aren’t any.
Del..
Good to see ya tonight.
Normal…
I still haven’t gotten back on the question yet…please forgive, will get to it…
Newt is an historian and an academic. He should have known better. But then he’s a t*rd to begin with in my opinion. He should’ve stayed in the classroom, but his ego wouldn’t let him.
A SunDay in the Life of a Republican
May 23rd, 2010
6:25 pm
Basic health care is available to every American, regardless of income. You are confusing health care with health care insurance. Two different creatures. I don’t carry health insurance, and am happy to pay out of pocket for the minimal care I have needed.
What! Do you expect sick food servers and food handlers and food preparers to be able to afford to take time off from work . No. They’ll just try not to drip too many of their germs on your meal. After all, it’s not like they deserve any better.
A SunDay in the Life of a Republican
May 23rd, 2010
6:30 pm
Southern Comfort
May 23rd, 2010
5:47 pm
You seem surprised. This is Georgia. Our legislators love to impose fees for one thing and misappropriate the revenue for their own pet peeves. Just look at the fees collected for used tires or even the misuse of Lottery money. Yet, as long as voters allow this sort of behavior, it will continue and it will continue to get worse.
A SunDay in the Life of a Republican
May 23rd, 2010
6:32 pm
I don’t carry health insurance, and am happy to pay out of pocket for the minimal care I have needed.
I have not needed health insurance either. What’s your point.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
6:33 pm
SunDay
What misuse of the lottery do you refer to?
AmVet
May 23rd, 2010
6:33 pm
Just watched a fantastic special on PBS about Lena Horne. Though her music predated me and was not really my thing, wow what a talent! And a really important American. She suffered great personal loss, was one of the last people to see Medgar Evers alive, was blackballed by the McCarthy scumbags, but through it all kept singing that beautiful music.
Normal, as for Gingrich, he clearly is a nut case. Notwithstanding his bookish intellect. And his long track record of philandering, lying and lacking moral courage and integrity is well documented. I suspect even he doesn’t believe the disgusting comparisons he posits but makes BIG money by keeping the ever-enraged fringe he once led, very, very afraid.
Sensationalist, salacious stupidity.
DoggoneGA
May 23rd, 2010
6:37 pm
“I have not needed health insurance either. What’s your point”
I’m not sure what the point is either, but I would dearly love to know if the “point” remains the same if he, or someone in his family, ever suffers a devastating, and devistatingly expensive, health disaster.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
6:41 pm
AmVet
Sorry to have missed the Lena Horne special. I’m a long time fan.Will try and catch it in repeat.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
6:46 pm
I don’t carry health insurance, and am happy to pay out of pocket for the minimal care I have needed.
That works in the case of yearly checkups, the flu and things like that. In the case of a serious sudden illness or accident, it’s a different story. A person is in no position to shop or bargain. As we’ve discussed before, the real conundrum is that something must be done to control costs.
AmVet
May 23rd, 2010
6:48 pm
Not indicative of her career, but what the hell, it’s a laugh…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0TyUOJfpQo
Del
May 23rd, 2010
6:52 pm
Hey josef,
Thanks, good hearing from you. Can’t hang around too long as I’m cooking. My wife as you know is Asian and she only knows hot and hotter for her food, so out of self preservation I had to learn how to cook. Just kidding though, she does prepare some good stuff.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
6:57 pm
Del
Love that hot Asian…may be on the menu here tonight. Unmentionable is buddies with the guy who has the Chinese place up the street and Sunday is usually take out from there…but take out prepared for the Cajun palate! Mmmmm! Good stuff…
A SunDay in the Life of a Republican
May 23rd, 2010
7:02 pm
Last year, only 25% of Georgia lottery proceeds were used for education. That’s 868 million out of 3.5 billion collected and this is deemed better for all because it’s not a tax! People volunteered to give away 2.6 billion for a chance at “winning” a piece of that “prize” money. And the truly sad thing is that the very people gambling away that money really need those dollars to put food on their families. I know far too many gullible ones and addicted ones that blow their entire weekly paychecks on the pipe deam called the lottery. This is one of the more incidious creations to have ever been used on an unsuspecting populace. It is “Let them eat cake” at its worst. Just tax us for the 868 million and leave the rest of that money in the hands of those that need it the most but are too ignorant or uneducated to even realize it.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
7:03 pm
AmVet
You ain’t nobody until you’ve made a guest appearance there, in my opinion!
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
7:06 pm
SunDay
Aw! I buy scratch offs. Have kept a running tally all these years and am a little over $150 to the good. Now where did that other 75% go? And, as a teacher, I’m grateful for Pre-K and Hope…
theyeshaveit
May 23rd, 2010
7:07 pm
Del, where is your wife from? My wife is an “original”, straight from Japan.
theyeshaveit
May 23rd, 2010
7:12 pm
Bruno, I don’t know if you are still here. Two things: I have been a teacher, but I am no longer a teacher. But since I am always learning, I suppose someone is teaching me, and I like to think that perhaps I am doing some teaching, too. By the way, the honorific for teacher, lawyer and doctor in Japan is the same – “sensei”. If only our teachers here could be treated with as much respect.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
7:12 pm
In reading through the earlier discussion today, I was reminded of a boy who grew up across the road from me. He was a couple years older than me and his Daddy had a low level job at a dairy. The family lived in a rundown house that the dairy owner owned, in sort of a tenant farmer situation.
They didn’t have much but the whole family worked hard at whatever they could to get along. This boy worked all through school, from the time he was old enough, and managed to graduate from high school but just barely. He was one of those people that nobody talks about, in that he just couldn’t do well at school work. He tried the best he could but he just could never do more than the minimum.
Of course, there were those that made fun of him because he struggled in school or because his clothes weren’t nice, though they were always clean. But he managed to get his diploma and he got married and had a couple of kids. He worked 2 jobs most of the time and sometimes more. Although he never did have a good paying job, he did manage to live a little better than he had as a boy.
And then one day, when he was in his middle or late 20’s (I forget exactly when), he was driving down the highway and somebody ran a stop sign and hit him. He and his entire family were killed.
Every time one of these discussions come up, I always think about him and puzzle over it. To this day, I really don’t see what more he could have done or what choices he could have made, that would have made things any better for him.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
7:25 pm
Hillbilly
Thank you for that story. It is the stuff of Flannery O’Conner. That “I always think about him and puzzle over it” There is no rationale to it, but still…why? There has to be an answer somewhere…
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
7:37 pm
Josef
I think it’s one of those things we aren’t supposed to understand. But anytime I hear somebody say that you just need to work harder or get educated and you’ll succeed, I always think of him. I’m not against hard work, I’ve done more than my share, and I’m not against education, in many cases it is a leg up but it’s not a guaranteed road.
There was a time in this country, if you were physically fit and willing to work, you could get a factory job or something and make your way but that’s getting harder and harder to do. We’ve sent most of those type jobs overseas.
I don’t know the answer but I don’t think we need to just write off the lower whatever percentile. There but for the Grace of God go I and it’s the same for everybody else whether they acknowledge it or not.
A SunDay in the Life of a Republican
May 23rd, 2010
7:39 pm
Aw! I buy scratch offs. Have kept a running tally all these years and am a little over $150 to the good. Now where did that other 75% go? And, as a teacher, I’m grateful for Pre-K and Hope…
What you have spent/won is hardly representative of the populace. You came out ahead which means someone else had to lose. What if those winnings of yours kept a little child from being well fed or clothed. And what of the 3.5 billion collected in total last year. Only 868 million was returned for educational use. Based on your reply, it sounds to me like you might have been uttering “Let them eat cake” as you typed. Why not simply collect the 868 million as a tax on you and I and others that can afford it and leave the rest of that money where it is needed? I’m sure there are kids out there that would be most grateful.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
7:42 pm
Bill Shipp once referred to the Lottery as “lower class people sending middle class kids to college”. There’s some truth in that, in my opinion.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
May 23rd, 2010
7:42 pm
And, as a teacher, I’m grateful for Pre-K and Hope…
Well, me too, though I ain’t no teacher. Without them I don’t know how dumb we’d be. Maybe 58th out of the 57 states. I think Pre-K is awful important. Without it kids wouldn’t be taught enough to flunk all those tests.
Anyhow, good to see most of you don’t have a life and set around blogging all day. Me, I got to get ready for dealing with the wreckage you made at all the bars and stores. You don’t even know how important I am to your life till you go to the store Friday and stock up for the weekend. You must think the Beer Fairy puts all that stuff in the cooler.
Have a good night everybody.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
7:45 pm
Hillbilly
I’m going out on a limb here and will probably regret it. I’ve been in an exchange in a St. Elsewhere with someone who wants us Southerners to “jus fah-git ’bout it.” Your post brings, at least to me, a clarity as to why it is we continue to be so obsessed as a culture with the gothic and seemingly meaningless futility of it all. Just because we don’t know the answer is no reason not to contemplate it and, as you say, there but for the grace of G-d go I. In the long run, no matter who we are or how “successful” we are, the conqueror worm…and yet, if that be the case, then what was the purpose of it all to begin with…?
The balls shave it
May 23rd, 2010
7:47 pm
Hillbilly
Thank you for that story. It is the stuff of Flannery O’Conner. That “I always think about him and puzzle over it” There is no rationale to it, but still…why? There has to be an answer somewhere…
Surely you have a clue. Do tell. We’re all listening.
The balls shave it
May 23rd, 2010
7:48 pm
Wrong, Redneck, we knew it was a fairy.
Curious Observer
May 23rd, 2010
7:51 pm
There is no rationale to it, but still…why? There has to be an answer somewhere…
To me the answer is that O’Connor must have hated all those rednecks who populate her stories, and she must have delighted in killing them off or seeing them put in impossible predicaments. After surveying the landscape in Georgia for a few decades, I’m beginning to understand why.
The balls shave it
May 23rd, 2010
7:52 pm
The truth about the lottery is: you haven’t grown up until you stop buying lottery tickers. That’s the right of passage to adulthood in this country: You quit thinking that God will reward you for being “good”.
Try helping others. The path to success is paved with the lives you understand.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
7:56 pm
Redneck
“Without them I don’t know how dumb we’d be. Maybe 58th out of the 57 states.”
That’s your best one yet! Thanks, Beer Fairy!
SunDay–
It’s fun, okay? F-U-N…lottery players, and I do nothing more than the scratch offs and even that on a whim, are not spending the grocery money on lottery tickets any more than beer, cigarettes, and any number of vices we tax the snot out of…you certainly have a low opinion of your fellow man to think that they’re so “ignorant.” Please! Okay, Unmentionable brings in a bottle of the high end vino…but that’s okay, right? A weekend at the Gulf Coast or a Convention in Las Vegas are okay, right? Or are you out to deny us all a little fun, that’s F-U-N?
And what do you mean, let them eat cake? Among lottery players we scratch off-ers are, well, peasants!
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
7:56 pm
Josef
In spite of what people who’ve read my posts might think, I don’t spend all that much time thinking about it but when the subject comes up, I’m not going to back away from it. To deny who you are and what you come from, is to dishonor those who paved the way for you. What would any of us be without our parents, grandparents or whoever helped mold us along the way? The generations before me (especially the 2 immediate ones) worked like dogs so that I’d have an easier road. So I embrace what I am, warts and all. My folks weren’t always angels and neither were anybody else’s if they know enough to know. If the truth hurts, let it hurt as an ancestor of mine used to say.
So the Southerners won’t forget our roots, just as the Armenians won’t forget the Turks, the Irish won’t forget Cromwell, the slaves, in whatever part of the world they were held in bondage, won’t forget the slave masters, and on and on. It’s part of being human.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
7:59 pm
Curious Observer
This isn’t intended to be a smartassed question but if you feel that way, why do you stay here?
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
7:59 pm
Balls
“Surely you have a clue. Do tell. We’re all listening.”
Not that I would feel comfortable discussing with you.
Curious Observer..
I’ve thought that myself…! But, then, don’t forget what happened to Hulga in “Good Country People…”
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
8:01 pm
Hillbilly
That was the point I was trying to make at St. Elsewhere. It is easy for the deracinated to do…but not so for others…
Del
May 23rd, 2010
8:05 pm
Theyeshaveit,
Ethnic Chinese form the Indochinese Hmong. Been in U.S. a long time and educated here.
Curious Observer
May 23rd, 2010
8:05 pm
I’ve thought that myself…! But, then, don’t forget what happened to Hulga in “Good Country People…”
As I say, impossible predicaments. What could be more impossible than a one-legged woman who has her artificial leg stolen while she’s in a barn loft? If there’s anything O’Connor hates more than a redneck, it’s a pretentious redneck.
getalife
May 23rd, 2010
8:06 pm
Jindal took over and said sc rew the fed.
They are building barriers.
These cajuns are pi ssed off.
Mention obama might get you hurt down here.
A SunDay in the Life of a Republican
May 23rd, 2010
8:11 pm
Sounds like a good time for a tune.
Disgusted
May 23rd, 2010
8:12 pm
Jindal took over and said sc rew the fed.
They are building barriers.
These cajuns are pi ssed off.
Mention obama might get you hurt down here.
Did you ever see a Cajun when he really got mad
When he really got trouble like a daughter gone bad
It gets real hot down in Louisiana
The stranger better move it or he’s gonna get killed
He’s gonna have to get it or a shotgun will
It ain’t no time for lengthy speeches
There ain’t no time for lengthy speeches.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
8:12 pm
getalife
Again, thanks for the report from the ground…my heart bleeds, but, then, “did you ever see a Cajun when he really got mad?”
Hillbilly
Maybe it’s just me, but I was taught not to insult people when a guest in their home.
DoggoneGA
May 23rd, 2010
8:13 pm
“Or are you out to deny us all a little fun, that’s F-U-N? ”
Isn’t that the definition of Puritanism: the fear that someone, somewhere might be having fun?
@@
May 23rd, 2010
8:13 pm
without the name-calling and political posturing that is part-and-parcel of too many posts on the JB blog.
I’ll be beggin’ your pardon. An occasional adjective or coded directive, but never a name.
NEVAH!
IGSDTOPOTBATTGAOUTBLCAWSMFTOSCSTR
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
8:14 pm
Disgusted…
Beat me to it!
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
8:20 pm
For the Cajuns and the other folks in Louisiana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdJVKiWo-Oc
A SunDay in the Life of a Republican
May 23rd, 2010
8:22 pm
It’s fun, okay? F-U-N…lottery players, and I do nothing more than the scratch offs and even that on a whim, are not spending the grocery money on lottery tickets any more than beer, cigarettes, and any number of vices we tax the snot out of…you certainly have a low opinion of your fellow man to think that they’re so “ignorant.” Please! Okay, Unmentionable brings in a bottle of the high end vino…but that’s okay, right? A weekend at the Gulf Coast or a Convention in Las Vegas are okay, right? Or are you out to deny us all a little fun, that’s F-U-N?
In other words, I was spot on with my assumption that you were indeed uttering, “Let them eat cake.” Further, I hardly assumed anything regarding the ignorance of some of my fellow man. If I had been, I would have made that point in my earlier post.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
8:22 pm
And don’t forget the Mississippi coast………..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh-YqugHpVc
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin....
May 23rd, 2010
8:22 pm
Frustrated Louisianans took the oil cleanup into their own hands Sunday, heading out in boats to lay protective booms around a bird sanctuary threatened by a black tide.
“Our crews are out there laying the absorbent boom,” he said, adding that he couldn’t understand why BP and the Coast Guard weren’t doing more to protect his coastal parish.
I know! I know!
Just sayin…
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
8:24 pm
curious
I don’t think it was redneck per se. Polish literature has the same fascination…
“What could be more impossible than a one-legged woman who has her artificial leg stolen while she’s in a barn loft?”
And, yet, did it really happen? I’m from Yoknapatawpha…”A Rose for Emily” is real and I know the family…my mother was one of the group of women who “laid out” “Addie Bundren” who watched as her husband built the coffin outside the window (the rest of the story is based on other stories from the area)…
@@
May 23rd, 2010
8:32 pm
WASHINGTON — In a newly released video, Anwar al-Awlaki, the Muslim cleric believed to be an inspiration for a series of recent terrorism plots, justifies the mass killing of American civilians and taunts the authorities to come find him in Yemen.
“Those who could have been killed in that plane are a drop in the sea,” Mr. Awlaki said, in a translation provided by the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors statements by jihadists. “And we should treat them the same way they treat us and attack them the same way they attack us.”
Osama has competition. Yemen ain’t THAT big.
Latitude/Longitude
15º 24′ N, 044º 14′ E
Del
May 23rd, 2010
8:34 pm
Hillbilly Deluxe,
With that haunting music about the Gulf Coast from Jimmy Buffet makes me want to go put one of his CD’s on my sound system and lay back. Pray for everyone there because you’ll also be praying for this country.
Curious Observer
May 23rd, 2010
8:35 pm
…”A Rose for Emily” is real and I know the family…
I had no idea that there was a real basis for this Faulkner story, josef, although my area of expertise is not American literature. The ending of that story is absolutely horrific and surprising. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Just finished reading the latest Emory Magazine, in which a scholar discusses a long plantation journal that served as the basis for part of Faulkner’s collection Go Down, Moses. The journal apparently fascinated Faulkner, who was a friend and a hunting partner of the owner. According to one of the descendants of the journal owner, Faulkner would peruse its pages and curse the writer of it over its details about slavery. Yoknapatawpha County was fictional, but many of its events weren’t.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
8:43 pm
SunDay
Okay. Whatever. Qu’ils mangent de la brioche? Maintenant, êtes-vous heureux?
Hillbilly:
Thanks for the kind thoughts for Uncle Sam’s Red Headed Stepchildren…
“Allons enfants de la patrie…!” Do I hear the tumbrels in the background?
@@
May 23rd, 2010
8:44 pm
I may not be a big fan of either Paul, but I could go for this.
Mr. Paul has said that, if elected, one of his first demands will be that Congress print the constitutional justification on any law is passes
Make it clear and concise too. No political jibberish.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
8:49 pm
curious
I sat at Faulkner’s knee as a lad…he would come to the ginyard and listen to the stories he heard and then weave them together…Granny, whose father had served under his grandfather in the Wah-uh, hated him with a passion for his artistic license and called him “that lyin’ old drunk” and told Granddaddy to keep me away from him. Granddaddy said, “but, Miz Georgia, he’s won a Nobel Prize.” “So. He’s a Nobel Prize winning lyin’ old drunk.”
As for Yoknapatawpha, the old home place is at what he called Frenchman’s bend…
Curious Observer
May 23rd, 2010
8:52 pm
Mr. Paul has said that, if elected, one of his first demands will be that Congress print the constitutional justification on any law it passes.
I suppose that the Supreme Court is useless to Dr. Paul as the final arbiter of what laws are constitutional. Or does Dr. Paul consider the Supreme Court as extra-constitutional?
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
8:59 pm
It’s coming (Barney) Miller time, but before I go
Hillbilly and Curious…
I won’t go into the details here, but I was in my first county line juke joint knife fight when I was ten years old (had been in the care of an older brother who found it necessary to go by to defend the dignity of his lady friend) and when Mama found out about it, the expected result was not quite what we expected. She busted out laughing, and said, “ain’t even eleven years old yet and already been cut up in a wh*rehouse brawl.” It was my introduction to her favorite of all Faulkner novels, “The Reivers” in which Boon Hogganback makes the comment following a very similar happening. Faulkner said his entire career was so he could tell that story. Still my favorite of his works…
A SunDay in the Life of a Republican
May 23rd, 2010
9:00 pm
Okay. Whatever. Qu’ils mangent de la brioche? Maintenant, êtes-vous heureux?
Saddened. You chose to take time to reply but you never once addressed my issue of simply paying the 868 million as a tax and leaving the rest of the money in the hands of those most in need of it. Where’s the F-U-N in that.
Scout
May 23rd, 2010
9:04 pm
There is very little on here this late in the thread that even comes close to the subject matter so here goes #3 :
Quid Pro Quo !
Headline: “Washington (CNN) – Rep. Joe Sestak says he was offered an unspecified job by the White House in an attempt to stop him from challenging Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania’s Senate Democratic primary.
“Sestak, who defeated the veteran Specter in last week’s primary election for the Democratic nomination, answered “yes” Sunday when asked by CNN about the White House offer. Sestak has previously acknowledged the offer in other interviews.
“However, Sestak refused to provide any further details “about something that happened months earlier,” saying “beyond that, there’s nothing to add.”
Now, this is pretty disgusting and I also think it involves a “quid pro quo” attempt so it’s also highly illegal. I think the FBI needs to start talking to some people !
@@
May 23rd, 2010
9:11 pm
Curious:
Beats having the laws operational until SCOTUS rules them unconstitutional. I wanna know what motivates them to pile laws upon laws.
I’m willing to bet there are a whole lot of ‘em that wouldn’t get passed if they had to explain their reasons prior to the vote.
I’m a curious sort too, CO.
Bruno
May 23rd, 2010
9:19 pm
josef and HD–I have no problem with folks who are proud of their roots, as long as they don’t try to hold those roots against me due to some perceived injustice from years and years ago that I had no part of.
Also, josef, interest in ones “roots” isn’t a North/South thing–One of my best friends growing up was a history nut and could spin yarns for hours and hours about the Jersey Devil and the Pine Barrens and all other sorts of local history. My hometown in Bucks County PA has numerous historical societies. The focus is usually more on the Revolutionary War than the Civil War from my recollection.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
9:31 pm
SunDay–
I simply don’t grasp your logic…I asked what happened to the other 75% and was not being snarky. That falls under the category of accountability and I have not myself looked at the books. I was hoping that you might provide some insight there. It was when you went off on those who play the lottery and impugning their character with stereotypes that I took issue and said what I did about fun. Government agency accountability and misappropriation of funds is one thing. Tacky comments about lottery players is another.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
9:35 pm
Bruno
As I have indicated, this is something that is far more complex than this forum and its limitations permits discussion of. Just please don’t take it personally. It is a cultural thing.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
9:35 pm
Bruno
One branch of my family were Dutch settlers in NYC in the 1650’s. They stayed there awhile then moved into NJ somewhere in the Trenton area. One of the collateral (uncles) ancestors was the first mayor of Trenton. They then migrated into the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania area and into Delaware. They were living on both of the river during the Revolution. Five brothers (one of whom was my Gr-gr-gr-gr-great Grandpa) served in the Continental Army, and all survived the War. After the war, my aforementioned ancestor was killed at St Clair’s Defeat in 1791, in the service of the U S Army. His children were sent to Tennessee to live with a brother who had already migrated there. By the early 1830’s, they had found their way here.
Ironically the cycle repeated, as my Great, Great Grandpa (Great Grandson of the Continental soldier) and 4 of his brothers were in the Confederate Army. He was the only one of those 5 who survived the war. He also had 3 more siblings and a brother in law who died between 1860 and 1870, at least 2 of them as a direct result of the war. So of 14 kids (he and his siblings), 7 of them died during the war or shortly thereafter.
@@
May 23rd, 2010
9:37 pm
Oregon law.
811.025 Failure to yield to pedestrian on sidewalk; penalty.
(1) The driver of a vehicle commits the offense of failure to yield to a pedestrian on a sidewalk if the driver does not yield the right of way to any pedestrian on a sidewalk.
(2) The offense described in this section, failure to yield to a pedestrian on a sidewalk, is a Class B traffic violation.
[1983 c.338 547; 1995 c.383 42]
So what….cars just sit idle in the streets while everybody else walks down the sidewalk?
Too funny.
Dusty
May 23rd, 2010
9:40 pm
Josef,
I am sitting here thinking about the words of you and Bruno and HillBilly. Bruno presents the case that each person is largely responsible for his own achievements in life. You feel that because we are not all born in equal circumstances, those born into good care and financial secuirty have a “leg up” on success. Although I certainly see the logic of both arguments, I tend to lean toward Bruno’s conclusion and even part of yours.
While I look at the children of lesser beginng assets, I see that many rise above that status. Then I look at the children of the rich and those in substanial comfort and I find that many of their offspring fail miserably in life. So why did the rich not succeed and the poor succeed or vice versa? Because of their personal efforts and stubborness to succeed whether rich or poor.
Perhaps my “statistics’ are not accurate but the news reports of criminals often mentions that he came from a “good home” or is the son of the CEO of some big company. But, anyway, I am back to strength of character and direction may outweigh even big obstacles.
HILLBILLY, I think the man in your story was a man of great character and perserverance. Seems he never gave up. I don’t doubt that he was a happy man. Hard work is not evil, as some seem to think, It may have some satisfaction.
As to his ending, I can’t explain that or other tragedies that beset so many people who have done nothing to cause it. Survivors of such tragedies are sometimes made stronger. Sometimes not. I would bring the thought of faith and grace here. Many have found comfort with those two.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
9:41 pm
They drive on the sidewalk in Oregom? (IWH)
A SunDay in the Life of a Republican
May 23rd, 2010
9:43 pm
josef,
What does it matter what happened to the other 75%. The key point is that only 25% of the proceeds goes toward education. The remainder obviously goes out as winnings to a handful of those that purchased tickets and toward administrative costs. So, the more cost effective approach would be to simply pay the damn tax. Then again, where’s the fun in that. It’s much more fun to get back 1/4 of what is paid in. As for your claim that I impugned someone’s character, back it up and I’ll address your specifics. Otherwise, you simply come across as a grouch who got his feelings hurt.
@@
May 23rd, 2010
9:47 pm
Wisconsin law:
97.18(5)
(5) The serving of oleomargarine or margarine to students, patients or inmates of any state institutions as a substitute for table butter is prohibited, except that such substitution may be ordered by the institution superintendent when necessary for the health of a specific patient or inmate, if directed by the physician in charge of the patient or inmate.
97.18(6)
(6) Any person who violates any provision of this section may be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500 or imprisoned not more than 3 months or both; and for each subsequent offense may be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 or imprisoned in the county jail not less than 6 months nor more than one year.
Of course, Wisconsin is the dairy state. All captives must support the dairy farmers.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
9:48 pm
Dusty
My point in telling that story wasn’t the way he died. That’s just one of those things that we’ll never know in this life. The point I was trying to make is, had he lived and not had the accident, I don’t think he would have been able to improve his financial standing, much if at all, no matter what he did.
It was aimed at those, not you by the way, who say people would all be comfortable, if not for a lack of effort. Sometimes, that’s just not the case.
And yes, he was a good man and pleasant to be around, for those who took the time to look past his finances.
Dusty
May 23rd, 2010
10:00 pm
HILLBILLY, the other side of the coin on this “man”. Did he raise his family anad establish a home which was probably not grand? Did he do it independently or did the government give him generous support?
I am thinking about the idea often presented that government support makes poor people into dependents who make no effort to support themselves. What is the fine line between being charitable and expecting independent efforts?
The balls shave it
May 23rd, 2010
10:10 pm
Joe nix: Not comfy? About what? A debate is a debate. If you’re not comfy, then why parry the proposition?
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
10:11 pm
Dusty
Thanks for your input which is, in cases such as this, always welcome. I agree with you that much is what we make of the conditions. As I was reading Hillbilly’s story I was getting ready for the warm, fuzzy ending and there was not one. There should have been. There ought to have been. But there wasn’t. That’s why I asked why…the smart a33 above snarked that I probably had an answer. would that I did.
I have always pondered this particular question. What is in one instance a stumbling block in the next instance may be what provides that leg up. I know that from some of the doors slammed in my face due to one of my stations in life, others have opened from what that put in me. I also know that I have not taken full advantage of other gifts and/or blessings which came from the luck of the draw. The two are part and parcel of the human conundrum in my opinion.
Whether or not we are responsible for our own fate is a matter of perspective in the life we know. The bottom line is, though, that we all go out the same way and, as I believe, when we meet our maker our fate will be determined not by what we accrued but in how we treated those who crossed our paths in the journey.
That is why I still cling to the belief that somewhere there must be a rationale to it all or otherwise what is the purpose of living at all…but, then, what do I know. I’m just a priviledged elite little Jew boy f*ggot from Down in Dixie…
TnGelding
May 23rd, 2010
10:20 pm
Well, I’ve got to have the electricity to blog! It’s dangerous work, but those that do it consider themselves lucky to be able to put food on the table. Certainly ever effort should be made to make it as safe as possible and violators of safety rules should be prosecuted.
Isn’t it the responsibility of Congress to impeach all these federal judges that members claim are legislating from the bench?
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
10:22 pm
balls
I am not comfortable discussing the subject with YOU. I am quite comfortable and would even benefit from discussing the subject with someone else.
SunDay
I refer you to your post @ 7:02…
Hillbilly
To me the most fascinating point in your story IS that you weren’t telling it to tell how he died…that is what makes it all the more poignant…
TnGelding
May 23rd, 2010
10:26 pm
Do unto others…
I’m sure you’ll wow St. Peter, Josef! The inhumanity many of us display is repulsive. May God have mercy on our souls.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
10:27 pm
Did he raise his family anad establish a home which was probably not grand? Did he do it independently or did the government give him generous support?
As far as I know he rented a home. He was raising his family but that was not to be. And if he ever received any government help, I don’t know of it. My guess is that he fell into that, too much income for assistance and not enough to get ahead bracket. That’s been quite a few years ago and I don’t think there was as much of a safety net as now.
On a similar note, my Daddy thinks a lot of Gene Talmadge, to this day. I’ve discussed it with him and said, “You know he was a crook?”. He says, “Yeah, he was a damn crook but he started the school lunch program and we didn’t have that when I was coming up. Lot’s of kids went without dinner when I was going to school.”
We’ve come a long way in a short time. That’s why history is so important. People soon forget.
theyeshaveit
May 23rd, 2010
10:30 pm
josef, maybe Sunday nights are the time to talk about Proto Indo European linguistics?
BTW, have you ever heard the Gula language spoken? An old Air Force buddy from South Carolina once played a record recording of that creole language, and I could hardly understand what the man was saying.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
10:31 pm
Do unto others…
If everybody would follow that simple phrase, how much better the world would be.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
10:31 pm
Hillbilly
Granny was DAR, too! King’s Mountain even. Both sides of the family had rebels in that fray! Including the son of he who “had shipping interests in the Caribbean!”
As Granddaddy said, “one step ahead of the inquisition, whatever the inquisition of the day.” Been rebels at least since the time of Machir the Babylon and those who met Willy on his day at the beach…
TnGelding
May 23rd, 2010
10:31 pm
We’ve come a long way? Many among us would have us retreat. It’s hard to understand the need in this land of opportuniy in the 21st century. What are we doing wrong?
Dusty
May 23rd, 2010
10:31 pm
Dear Josef,
If you keep using that closing line, I am going to be most unhappy with you. It is not typical of the reasonable Josef.. Hold out your hand. I have a ruler!!!
Anyway, yes, we come though different but much the same faith. So we meet our Maker with hope.
But, I thought of you in church today!! Yes!! But…it was about languages. The first reading was about Pentecost and how each heard the message in their own native language.”Parthians, Medes, Elamits, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocis, Pontus and Asis, Pnhrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and part of Libya belonging to Cyrene,and also Cretans and Arabs”
I was wondering how many languages that really includes and how many you could speak or understand.
So…my mind sometimes wanders when I should be attentive. Anyway, what say ye?
theyeshaveit
May 23rd, 2010
10:33 pm
Do unto others…
If everybody would follow that simple phrase, how much better the world would be.
Hillbilly, I would be happy if it would happen here in our blogosphere world.
TnGelding
May 23rd, 2010
10:35 pm
Well, it looks like you might make 500 tonight after all. I’d hang around and get some education if I felt better. Good night and sweet dreams!
josef nix
May 23rd, 2010
10:36 pm
TnGelding
“May G-d have mercy on their souls…” and mine, too. The gist of my daily plea to the Alm-ghty.
eyes
I’ve studied Gullah. Afraid I’ve got to get to bed soon and won’t have the time for a linguistic’s discussion tonight as much as I would like to. I once had a student in one of my high school classes who spoke Gullah at home…one of my neighbors is from the Carolina sea islands and speaks it and has made sure his two little ones have learned it…
theyeshaveit
May 23rd, 2010
10:36 pm
Dusty, we are hoping that Jay comes up with a linguistic thread for us to debate one day.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2010
10:37 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGv_7VgFgeg