By Samuel Davidson:
Five coal miners were killed in an explosion that ripped through an eastern Kentucky mine early Saturday morning.
The fatal blast took place at about 1:00 a.m. at the Darby Mine No. 1 in Harlan County, killing five of the six men on a maintenance crew at the mine, located near the Virginia border.
Killed in the disaster were: Amon Brock, 51, of Closplint; Jimmy D. Lee, 33, of Wallins Creek; Roy Middleton, 35, of Evarts; George William Petra, 49, of Kenvir; and Paris Thomas Jr., 53, of Evarts.
Only one man—Paul Ledford—survived. Initial reports indicate that the blast—which was so powerful that debris was blown hundreds of yards from the mine entrance—was caused by methane gas, which appears to have ignited in the production area after leaking from a sealed, unused section of the mine.
Coming just months after the explosion at the Sago Mine—which killed 12 West Virginia coal miners on January 2—the Harlan County disaster is an indictment of the entire political and corporate establishment in the United States.
Protest by dead miners’ families: here.
Song The Dying Miner by US singer Woodie Guthrie: here.
Update on Bush and mining safety: here.
And here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
I read that one too. If you’re not involved with the Socialist Equality Party (the people that run http://www.wsws.org) I urge you to contact them. They do more than just write articles.
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Hills of Tennessee
David Rovics
Beneath the Nashville skyline
There on Music Row
Songwriters churn out lyrics
Behind the laptops’ glow
While just a couple hours’ drive
And a hundred light years from the city
They’re blowing up the hills of Tennessee
Once upon a time
There were miners underground
But people are expensive
So they found a way around
With a million pounds of dynamite
And a government decree
They’re blowing up the hills of Tennessee
First they took the forests
Turned them into chips
And sold us paper cups
That we can press upon our lips
Then right here in this ancient land
Of the Cherokee
They’re blowing up the hills of Tennessee
They say the coal’s worth money
And they’re looking for the seams
So they dump a thousand tons of rubble
To block and poison all the streams
No more peaks, no more valleys
Not a single living tree
They’re blowing up the hills of Tennessee
There are miles with no life left
To hold the soil to the ground
So every time it rains
It all comes tumbling down
Flooding waters killing children
Turn the creek into a sea
They’re blowing up the hills of Tennessee
Now there are many mountains standing
Between the living and the dead
And when I look to the horizon
There’s a global watershed
Will you tell your children
You turned away and let it be
When they were blowing up the hills of Tennessee
David Rovics
http://www.davidrovics.com
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