suddenly Appalachia is no longer invisible on the Internet

hi everyone, hope you are well
a cold has caught me so I am sort of in slow motion today

lots of stories on the Sago tragedy today, and on the media catastrophe that followed it

this CNN article on Sago is one of the three most discussed articles on technorati right now and "miner" is currently at #6 in the technorati tag charts

All I can say is, it is about time people started paying attention to our nation's coal basket, and giving its people the respect they deserve.

I have been frustrated for a very long time by shoddy media coverage of Appalachia. Not just by the traditional media. it seems to me that the Internet makes this place look even more invisible.

I just hope that this little window into our region will stay open long enough for something positive to come about.

I know that Big Coal can't grow a heart all by itself, but with a little teamwork maybe we could help it get fitted with some kind of substitute heart, so the people of Appalachia are not always having to bank on miracles while they are working their tails off to keep this country running.

the other day I got stuck behind a train loaded with (what else?) coal.
that is nothing special to see here, but the logos on the railroad cars caught my eye

TOP - GON

one after another, these cars passed by me, headed North
if the irony of this escapes you, please learn a little bit more about coal today

if you have flipped on a light switch today it is your duty to know what coal really costs.

thanks for reading. peace.
Suzy

tags: miner, mining, sago, mountaintop removal coal mining