I've been reading about mountaintop removal bomb-and-bury mining lately, and it's got me right het up. I figured there aren't enough people preaching about it. I'm no church fellow, but maybe the following could be useful to them what are...( Read more... )

Bar prep. Bar prep bar prep bar prep ( Read more... )

From Joe Palca's NPR blog: Real-Live Snake on a Plane

I think that officially tops the time when two mating black snakes practically fell on my mom in the kitchen.

Ah, Memorial Day weekend in West Virginia. It speaks of the Vandalia Gathering and local bluegrass festivals. But this year, K was up for neither, after a long road trip to the farm, preceded by a flight back from Buenos Aires, where she had spent the month with her maternal fam ( Read more... )

Baltimore City Paper: Local Filmmaker Catherine Pancake Hopes to Bring the Devastation of Mountaintop Removal Mining to a Theater Near YouPancake's sister Ann - also a pro-mountain advocate - echoes what I've been trying to tell non-WVans for the last three years about the dangerous interaction of culture, stereotypes, and corporate colonialism in ( Read more... )

Some readers might remember my post last summer about my childhood friend who was busted for meth - the drug plague currently sweeping rural America. I just got the following email from Dad (names redacted):J. was sentenced this morning.   The judge gave him 1-5 years in the state penitentiary.  The judge would not consider a stay of execution and ( Read more... )

NPR: Wind Farms Draw Mixed Response in Appalachia
When Virginia regulators held a hearing on Tal McBride's proposed wind farm, local opinion was overwhelmingly negative. Residents fear the windmills will destroy the area's scenic beauty. Real estate agent Randy Richardson says people come to Highland County to see unspoiled mountain vistas -- not ( Read more... )

Dad sent me this article from the Charleston Gazette today. I think his commentary is actually more illuminating than the article itself, so I've included both after the jump.

( Read more... )

Ever wonder what happens when our industrial energy addiction meets beautiful, ancient geology?

It looks something like this.

::blanches, barfs::

On the phone last night, my parents had some very f*'d up, bad news to tell me ( Read more... )