Comments on: Hard as Coal http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/ Home of Heart, Mind and Really Big Issues Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:31:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Nic http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3091 Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:49:06 +0000 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3091 Arriana was asking about mine safety days ago....and now another disaster. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-tv/arianna-on-countdown_b_60799.html Arriana was asking about mine safety days ago….and now another disaster.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-tv/arianna-on-countdown_b_60799.html

]]> by: brucew http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3050 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 21:07:22 +0000 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3050 You may be right. I just heard another interview with him. He just repeats what Richard Stickler says except he adds a lot of self-serving statements. I also get the impression he likes the attention he is getting. Somebody needs to let him know that everyone isn't tuning him to hear his views, they are concerned about the miners and their families and if he can't stick to that he should just put a sock in it. You may be right. I just heard another interview with him. He just repeats what Richard Stickler says except he adds a lot of self-serving statements. I also get the impression he likes the attention he is getting. Somebody needs to let him know that everyone isn’t tuning him to hear his views, they are concerned about the miners and their families and if he can’t stick to that he should just put a sock in it.

]]> by: Holly http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3047 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 23:05:32 +0000 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3047 Yes, brucecw, I'd interview him in a minute. I'd want it to be one-on-one though, and not in the wolf pack that exists outside the mine right now. For certain I would try to pin Murray down on his stubborn public statements (still) that an earthquake caused the cave-in, not human error or some unacceptably hazardous mining method. It's clear as glass to me that the guy has been thinking a mile ahead of these men and their families since the day it happened. Whatever the fate of these miners, there will be litigation beyond workers comp payouts. And if Murray can produce enough experts to battle the seismologists who say otherwise, and prove his company wasn't liable beyond a preponderance of evidence, he'll come out quite all right financially. Call me a cynic. But to me it's Murray who's showing the real cynicism by pushing his propaganda while so much human suffering is going on around him. Yes, brucecw, I’d interview him in a minute. I’d want it to be one-on-one though, and not in the wolf pack that exists outside the mine right now. For certain I would try to pin Murray down on his stubborn public statements (still) that an earthquake caused the cave-in, not human error or some unacceptably hazardous mining method.

It’s clear as glass to me that the guy has been thinking a mile ahead of these men and their families since the day it happened. Whatever the fate of these miners, there will be litigation beyond workers comp payouts. And if Murray can produce enough experts to battle the seismologists who say otherwise, and prove his company wasn’t liable beyond a preponderance of evidence, he’ll come out quite all right financially.

Call me a cynic. But to me it’s Murray who’s showing the real cynicism by pushing his propaganda while so much human suffering is going on around him.

]]> by: brucew http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3044 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:34:47 +0000 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3044 I have to admit I'm not sure what to make of this guy. Sometimes he sounds like he's on top of things and making rational statements and then he goes off on things that simply have nothing to do with helping these men. The interesting thing is that this guy actually isn't the official spokesperson. After the Sago mine fiasco congress put all of the responsibility including briefing the press under the Mining Safety and Health Administration. The official spokesperson is Robert Strickland I believe and Bob Murray really isn't supposed to be making official pronouncements since he is not running the operation at this point. The interesting thing is that the press keeps giving him air time and ink. That brings me to an evil question for Holly. If City Weekly had a chance to interview this guy, would you? I have to admit I’m not sure what to make of this guy. Sometimes he sounds like he’s on top of things and making rational statements and then he goes off on things that simply have nothing to do with helping these men.

The interesting thing is that this guy actually isn’t the official spokesperson. After the Sago mine fiasco congress put all of the responsibility including briefing the press under the Mining Safety and Health Administration. The official spokesperson is Robert Strickland I believe and Bob Murray really isn’t supposed to be making official pronouncements since he is not running the operation at this point.

The interesting thing is that the press keeps giving him air time and ink. That brings me to an evil question for Holly. If City Weekly had a chance to interview this guy, would you?

]]> by: twowheelfish http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3041 Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:13:46 +0000 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3041 You guys need to cut Murray some slack. There he was, in the arms of his mistress sleeping the sleep of the righteous when he gets a phone call out of the blue calling him, to of all places, Utah, where his mine just caved in trapping his miners and leaving his entire left financial flank exposed for the magpies to pick at. As he is flying into town he hears that it was caused by an earthquake (biblical intervention, that!) and the press hordes were already on site. No wonder he looks like a pit bull put out on a stake in the middle of the lawn in the sun with no water. I really hope they find those guys alive but based upon the magnitude of the mine collapse, I doubt it. You guys need to cut Murray some slack. There he was, in the arms of his mistress sleeping the sleep of the righteous when he gets a phone call out of the blue calling him, to of all places, Utah, where his mine just caved in trapping his miners and leaving his entire left financial flank exposed for the magpies to pick at. As he is flying into town he hears that it was caused by an earthquake (biblical intervention, that!) and the press hordes were already on site. No wonder he looks like a pit bull put out on a stake in the middle of the lawn in the sun with no water. I really hope they find those guys alive but based upon the magnitude of the mine collapse, I doubt it.

]]> by: chardonnay http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3040 Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:15:29 +0000 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3040 PBS did a segment on the Utah coal mine disaster that featured Terry Wood. I haven`t seen Mr.Wood in 30+ years but there he was, same vacuous smile and zero intellect. What a trip down memory lane ! When Utah gets a TV giant they just don`t let go. Judy Woodruff did her part by loosing control of the interview,allowing Wood to motor-mouth on ad-nauseam. PBS did a segment on the Utah coal mine disaster that featured Terry Wood. I haven`t seen Mr.Wood in 30+ years but there he was, same vacuous smile and zero intellect. What a trip down memory lane ! When Utah gets a TV giant they just don`t let go. Judy Woodruff did her part by loosing control of the interview,allowing Wood to motor-mouth on ad-nauseam.

]]> by: Blogula Rasa » Deadly Percussion http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3037 Thu, 09 Aug 2007 04:46:38 +0000 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3037 [...] Deadly Percussion mullentown » Blog Archive » Hard as Coal Did you all see this guy this morning during his rant outside the Crandall Canyon coal mine disaster?The screaming bald guy would be Robert Murray, president and CEO of Murray Energy Corp., of Cleveland, Ohio. I didn’t get to see him on live TV today, but did listen on the car radio to 90 percent of his news conference in Huntington, Utah. My first thoughts were to cut the guy some slack because he is in shock, is sleep-deprived and deeply worried about the fates of the six coal miners trapped some 1,700 feet below the surface of the caved-in mine. But then… [...] […] Deadly Percussion mullentown » Blog Archive » Hard as Coal Did you all see this guy this morning during his rant outside the Crandall Canyon coal mine disaster?The screaming bald guy would be Robert Murray, president and CEO of Murray Energy Corp., of Cleveland, Ohio. I didn’t get to see him on live TV today, but did listen on the car radio to 90 percent of his news conference in Huntington, Utah. My first thoughts were to cut the guy some slack because he is in shock, is sleep-deprived and deeply worried about the fates of the six coal miners trapped some 1,700 feet below the surface of the caved-in mine. But then… […]

]]> by: GinnyRED57 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3036 Thu, 09 Aug 2007 04:20:11 +0000 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3036 Now I'll have to go hunt down an audio or video clip - they excerpted part of his rant on NPR this morning, but clearly left out the worst of it. [saves that Santayana quote for later savoring] Now I’ll have to go hunt down an audio or video clip - they excerpted part of his rant on NPR this morning, but clearly left out the worst of it.

[saves that Santayana quote for later savoring]

]]> by: chardonnay http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3034 Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:51:43 +0000 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3034 The blue-collar middle class in this country has been destroyed and D.C. doesn`t seem to care. Look at the unemployed in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana...hundreds of thousands have had their lives ruined and the AFL/CIO is a distant memory. To go from $30/hour with benefits to $9/hour in a "service" job is awful. We need another Walter Reuther, that or maybe Leon Trotsky. The blue-collar middle class in this country has been destroyed and D.C. doesn`t seem to care. Look at the unemployed in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana…hundreds of thousands have had their lives ruined and the AFL/CIO is a distant memory. To go from $30/hour with benefits to $9/hour in a “service” job is awful.

We need another Walter Reuther, that or maybe Leon Trotsky.

]]> by: larryomiller http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3032 Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:48:00 +0000 http://mullentown.com/hard-as-coal/#comment-3032 A CEO doesn't want his or her workers unionized for a reason. They do not want anyone looking over their shoulder, especially in high risk jobs such as mining. You'll all recall the miners strikes and discord when brave workers gave their lives to obtain decent working conditions and wages. If a company is run well and is fair to its workers there is much less reason for the workers to form a union and thus less reason for the management to resist. The more a company resists unionization, the greater their fear of being "found out" and called to task. They have more to lose. Murray is scared shitless at what will come out of the investigation into this mine collapse, hence his concern more with his image and wallet than with the six miners in the ground. "It is a revenge the devil sometimes takes upon the virtuous, that he entraps them by the force of the very passion they have suppressed and think themselves superior to." - George Santayana A CEO doesn’t want his or her workers unionized for a reason. They do not want anyone looking over their shoulder, especially in high risk jobs such as mining. You’ll all recall the miners strikes and discord when brave workers gave their lives to obtain decent working conditions and wages. If a company is run well and is fair to its workers there is much less reason for the workers to form a union and thus less reason for the management to resist.

The more a company resists unionization, the greater their fear of being “found out” and called to task. They have more to lose.

Murray is scared shitless at what will come out of the investigation into this mine collapse, hence his concern more with his image and wallet than with the six miners in the ground.

“It is a revenge the devil sometimes takes upon the virtuous, that he entraps them by the force of the very passion they have suppressed and think themselves superior to.” - George Santayana

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