December 6th. is National Coal Miner's Day

The final reports are out for the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster. For those of you who may have forgotten Upper Big Branch was the Massey Coal Mine where 29 miners were killed last year in a single blast.

Blame was placed squarely on Massey's shoulders for forcing miners to work with faulty equipment and falsifying safety reports on a regular basis. In fact the report was so damning that Massey has been sold to Alpha Coal. Now, of course, Alpha Coal is telling the miners families that they don't have to settle because the accident was Massey's fault. The management is still the same as it was before except that Don Blankenship was forced to resign. He walked away with millions of dollars in the process.

Everything is business as usual in the Coal Mining Industry. This is a pattern I have watched over and over for my whole life.