West Virginia Mine Tragedy

[Summer Wine]

There is so much sadness and unbelievable pain for these families. I feel ashamed, in a way, to even discuss it. These are real human beings whose lives were lost and whose families will be suffering for the rest of their lives.

But this is one of those current events that really bothers me. It seems full of metaphor and symbolism. 

Tragic twist: After word of survival, 12 confirmed dead in U.S. mine blast JENNIFER C. YATES
Wed Jan 4, 8:40 AM ET
 
TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. (CP) - In a stunning and heartbreaking reversal, family members were told early Wednesday that 12 of 13 trapped coal miners found were dead - three hours after they began celebrating news that they were alive.

The devastating new information shocked and angered family members, who had rejoiced with Gov. Joe Manchin hours earlier when a rumour began to spread that 12 miners were alive.

Rescue crews had found the first dead victim earlier Tuesday evening.

The sole survivor of the disaster, identified as 27-year-old Randal McCloy, was hospitalized in critical condition early Wednesday, a doctor said. When he arrived, he was unconscious but moaning, the hospital said.

The grim reversal of news came too late for many U.S. newspapers, which carried jubilant headlines touting the "miracle" of 12 surviving miners in West Virginia.

"It's sorrow beyond belief," said Ben Hatfield, International Coal Group chief executive officer. He admitted during a televised news conference the company knew within 20 minutes that the news about 12 survivors could be wrong but waited until it knew more before taking any action.

"Let's put this in perspective: Who do I tell not to celebrate? I didn't know if there were 12 or one (who were alive)," Hatfield said.

Company officials realized there was an "issue" with the information and sent word "through police channels" to the church where relatives had gathered, he said, while the company tried to determine the facts.

Hatfield blamed the wrong information on a "miscommunication." The news spread after people overheard cell phone calls, he said. In reality, rescuers had only confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs.
At least two family members in the church said they received cell phone calls from a mine foreman. "That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command centre," Hatfield said.

Gov. Manchin said in a television interview: "They knew the odds that were against us, and with that, to have the ending as it did with this high euphoria, I can only say there was no one who did anything intentionally other than risk their lives to save their loved ones."

Charles Green, father-in-law of McCloy, the sole survivor, also said on TV that McCloy was suffering from hypothermia and was on a ventilator, but didn't suffer any broken bones. There was no carbon monoxide in his body, he said, despite concerns about high levels of carbon monoxide inside the mine.

When he found out his son-in law was the only survivor, "I was still devastated," he said. "My whole family's heart goes out to them other families."

Thirteen miners had been trapped about 80 metres feet below the surface of the Sago Mine since an explosion early Monday. The mine is located about 160 kilometres northeast of Charleston. As rescue workers tried to get to the men, families waited at the Sago Baptist Church during an emotional two-day vigil.

But late Tuesday night, families began streaming out of the church, yelling "They're alive!" The church's bells began ringing and families embraced, as politicians proclaimed word of the apparent rescue a miracle.

As an ambulance drove away from the mine carrying what families believed was the first survivor, they applauded, not yet knowing there were no others.

Though the governor announced that there were 12 survivors, he later indicated he was uncertain about the news. As word buzzed through the church of survivors, he tried to find out what was going on, he said.

"All of a sudden we heard the families in a euphoric state, and all the shouting and screaming and joyfulness, and I asked my detachments, I said, 'Do you know what's happening?' Because we were wired in and we didn't know," Manchin said.

Three hours later, Hatfield told the families that "there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived," said John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners.

"There was no apology. There was no nothing. It was immediately out the door," said Nick Helms, son of miner Terry Helms.

Chaos broke out in the church and a fight started. About a dozen state troopers and a SWAT team were positioned along the road near the church because police were concerned about violence. Witnesses said one man had to be wrestled to the ground when he lunged for mining officials.

The explosion was the state's deadliest mining accident since November 1968, when 78 men - including the uncle of Manchin - died in an explosion at Consol's Farmington No. 9 mine in Marion County, an hour's drive north of Tallmansville. Nineteen bodies remain entombed in the mountain. It was that disaster that prompted Congress to pass the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.

It was also the worst countrywide since a pair of explosions tore through the Jim Walter Resources No. 5 mine in Brookwood, Ala., on Sept. 23, 2001, killing 13

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20060104/ca_pr_on_wo/us_mine_explosion_38

One of  the things that bother me the most – the number of 13s in this story to start, and today’s date adds up to 13.

The names “Ben Hatfield” CEO (bad guy) of the mining company and only surviving victim “Randal McCloy” (good guy). I immediately thought of “Hatfields & McCoys”. Course you would have to remove the “l” from this Randal’s last name.

Well guess what – here is the original background on the Hatfield & McCoy feud. And the original “good guy/victim” spelled his name “Randall (with 2 ls) McCoy”. Is this stretching it? Maybe – I hope you guys will tell me I’m just making all this stuff up. But what about 13 being part of this story too?
http://www.blueridgecountry.com/hatmac/hatmac.html

I found five number 13s in this story. Mean anything?? You tell me ----

Here is Wikipedia link on original Hatfield & McCoy feud – (I haven’t looked for 13s) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield-McCoy_feud

And here is Wikipedia link on the number 13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_%28number%29

In the Christian religion, the number is considered significant since there were thirteen present at the Last Supper. Also, if both Judas and Matthias are counted, there were thirteen apostles. Thirteen was also once associated with the Epiphany by Christians, the child Jesus having received the Magi on his thirteenth day of life.

Isn’t this Friday 1/6 this year’s date of the Epiphany? Exactly 7 days away from next Friday the 13th?

And on the way home from my work just now I had to pull over for an ambulance. It was number 562 or 13!

Does 13 mean something to anybody else?

Please don't think I'm evil for writing this. My mind is always spinning like this.
 

[annemarie j]

I certainly don't think you're evil for thinking like this. My brain works like this too.    Except that I often don't have the courage to share like you do/did, and I don't always write as concisely and as coherently as you have either.

One other thing, when I first read about the 12 being found alive last night, something stuck in my craw like I did not believe it for some strange reason. Ok, here's another weird thought I had when I first read that, I thought immediately of the 12 disciples [of JC].

Summer you're clearly a compassionate person, and this story is chock full of symbolism, including the Hatfield/McCoy legendary feud, and more...

[kephra]

SummerWine,

Please don't think I'm evil for writing this. My mind is always spinning like this.

I don't think anyone here is going to think that.  After all, aren't we all here to explore ideas that are out of the mainstream? 

I always thought the unlucky 13 was a result of the Knights Templar being arrested in 1307

On October 13 (the unlucky Friday the 13th), 1307, what may have been all the Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of Philip the Fair, to later be tortured into admitting heresy in the Order. The dominant view is that Philip, who seized the treasury and broke up the monastic banking system, was jealous of the Templars' wealth and power, and sought to control it for himself.

Source

Weren't there also 13 original tribes of Israel?

[Xaos]

I havent had a chance to look yet, and I dont know if a list of names has been released, but it would be interesting to see if those hold any comparisons as well.

[Captain Marvel]

People in our area were devistated by the news reversal also.  I was surprised by this as most people I meet face to face any more seem to be self centered and have little compassion. 

And Summer, 13 means a lot of different things to a lot of people(not evil).  Me, I always think of my mothers birthday and what a wonderful person.

I was really impressed that you saw so many comparisons especially with the Hatfields and McCoys.  Interesting.  I haven't had a chance to look at any of the other names, but that would be interesting too.

[Human Being]

Fawn, 13 is indeed a very "diverse" number - many societies associate it with good luck...
Regarding that "magic" number 13, my initial association was with the original 13 colonies.
With all the symbolic suggestions cropping up lately regarding the "End of America", I was
trying to envision how this "Say Go" mine thing might figure into the mix. 13 colonies, but
12 will be 'killed' and only 1 will 'live'. That is, if Randal McCloy recovers from his injuries.
Hence I pondered how the 13 colonies might be "attacked" - via an Atlantic tsunami. UGH.

And I agree with the majority sentiment that much symbolism plays into this current event.

[Summer Wine]

I agree that this is a metaphor "blatantly" for America. It seems to remind me of one of those old puzzles when I was a little kid. The kind you had to scrunch your eyes up at and look at with the back of your mind to see the real picture hidden in a maze. A classic portrayal of "big bad evil hearted corporate types" against "the common hard working backbone type" of every day American. Another boot kick to the head of ordinary Americans. Just another reinforcement of Katrina, all seems to be dissolving into chaos at the top of the pyramid.

Say a prayer for young Randal. I hope he recovers and never has to go back in the mines again.

After looking some more on 13, it is positively amazing how very large a part this number plays in all of America and her history.

The number of original colonies the United States was founded from. The original flag had thirteen stars, one for each state. New stars have since been added whenever a new state joins the union, but the idea of adding stripes for new states was soon dropped, so the American flag to this day has thirteen horizontal stripes, six white ones and seven red ones.

A U.S. 1 Dollar note has:

13 levels of the truncated pyramid,
13 stripes on the flag,
13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum", which appears in the banner running through the eagle's beak on the right side of the bill's reverse.
13 letters in the phrase "Annuit Coeptis", which appears over the pyramid on the left side of the bill's reverse.
13 stars above the Eagle,
13 leaves on the olive branch,
13 olives on the olive branch,
13 arrows held by the Eagle, and
13 bars on the shield.
The number of guns in a gun salute to U.S. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps Major Generals, and Navy and Coast Guard Rear Admirals Upper Half.
The number of Plutonium slugs in Fat Man, the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki

Unfortunately most of my links are ones that all religiously insist that this is an evil plot by Freemasons to take over the world. 13 is highly associated with the evil occult conspiracy view of masonry. I haven't decided if I believe that yet. They are easy to find and the first ones that pop up if you do a general search of 13 & freemasonry. I have only known 1 man in my life that I knew to be a mason. And one Christmas Eve he brought $100 to my Mother so she could buy presents for my brothers and me. We were on hard times and $100 was like a million dollars. So I have a hard time believing that they are the "bad guys".

And this whole story set where the original settlers landed, Virginia and West Virginia (which was originally part of Virginia and broke off as a result of the Civil War.) Virginia is named after the "Virgin Queen" - Elizabeth.

[Human Being]

One of Randal McCloy's doctors: John Prescott. Brings to mind the patriarch of the modern day Bush Family.


Another thing I thought of, regarding the number 13 - when initial reports indicated that a survivor
was found, the "missing zodiac sign" of Ophiuchus came to mind. Maybe it's a dead-end connection
or maybe there's something to it. Hmm, I just looked up that constellation at Wikipedia. Direct hit!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiuchus

There are several mythological possibilities for whom the figure represents.

The most recent interpretation is that the figure represents the legendary physician Asclepius, who learned the secrets of life and death from one serpent bringing another some herbs which healed it (Asclepius had previously tried to kill it). In order to avoid the human race becoming immortal under Asclepius' care, Zeus eventually killed him with a bolt of lightning, but placed him in the heavens to honour his good works. The involvement in the myth of Chiron may be connected to the nearby presence of the constellation Sagittarius, which was in later times occasionally considered to represent Chiron (who was more usually identified as the constellation Centaurus).

Another possibility is that the figure represents the demise during the Trojan War of the Trojan priest Laocoön, who was strangled by a snake or a sea serpent after warning the Trojans against accepting the Trojan Horse. A suggestive statue in the Vatican Museums depicts the tragedy.

A third possibility is Apollo wrestling with the Python to take control of the oracle at Delphi.

This connects with rumors that a lightning strike caused the explosion - regardless of the
probable (in)accuracy of the rumor. This also connects with Ariel Sharon, phonetically via
the Chiron angle. This also connects with the Trojans losing the Rose Bowl near the same
time as the other two events. Stretching this Trojan Horse angle, it may also connect via
the very recent security hole found in several versions of Microsoft Windows. As in, those
who apply Microsoft's WMF patch may be "inviting" a trojan horse into their system. Also,
the Sober virus *is* a trojan horse, perhaps in multiple ways. LASTLY, the quoted text on
Ophiuchus connects with one potential "Earth Changes" scenario - the Sun being orbited
by an "intruding" celestial body. There are definitely strong connections, between 13(-1)
miners dead, and 13(-1) zodiac signs "dead" up in "heaven" (the sky). Ophiuchus lives??


And... don't forget that 9 months ago, Pope John Paul II died three days after Terry Schiavo.
Nine months later, the "pregnancy echo" of another "Sun King" figure dies symbolically, 3 days
after the death of Terry Helms (first confirmed death at Sago). Brain damage figures into both
and what it may infer I haven't thought of yet. But these two events are clearly and blatantly
related - which further suggests that the timing of *everything* is quite necessary to TPTB...

[Summer Wine]

HB,

That fits. Where is this going? It does seem to lead to Sharon and America.

I heard rumors are circulating that young Randal was actually saved by the 12 older miners. Since he was the youngest, they gave him most of their air to breathe. The 12 sacrificing for the 1?
How very noble if true.

And today is January 6th or Three Kings Day or Day of the Ephiphany

Epiphany (Greek: επιφάνεια, "the appearance; miraculous phenomenon") is a Christian feast intended to celebrate the 'shining forth' or revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus. The observance had its origins in the eastern Christian churches, and included the birth of Jesus; the visit of the three Magi, or Wise Men (traditionally named Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar) who arrived in Bethlehem; and all of Jesus' childhood events, up to his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist. The feast was initially based on, and viewed as a fulfillment of, the Jewish Feast of Lights. This was fixed on January 6.

The first reference to Epiphany in the Eastern Church is a slighting remark by Clement of Alexandria in Stromateis, I, xxi, 45:

"There are those, too, who over-curiously assign to the Birth of Our Saviour not only its year but its day…"
Origen's list of festivals (in Contra Celsum, VIII, xxii) omits any reference to Epiphany. The first reference to an ecclesiastical feast of the Epiphany, in Ammianus Marcellinus (XXI:ii), is in 361.

Thus in the Western church, the feast of Christmas was established before that of Epiphany. Over time the West decided to celebrate Christmas on December 25. The East continued to treat January 6 as the day marking Jesus's birth. This has given rise in the west to the notion of a twelve-day festival, starting on December 25, and ending on January 6, called the twelve days of Christmas, although some Christian cultures — especially those of Latin America — extend it to forty days, ending on Candlemas, or February 2 (known as Candelaria in Spanish).

Prior to 1970, the Roman Catholic Church (and prior to 1976, the Anglican churches) reckoned Epiphany as an eight-day feast, beginning on January 6 and continuing through the Octave of Epiphany, or January 13.

Many traditionalist Catholics continue to use this calendar, celebrating the feast of the Holy Family on the Sunday within the octave. On the Feast of the Epiphany itself, the priest, wearing white vestments, will bless the Epiphany Water, frankincense, gold, and chalk. The chalk is used to write the initials of the three magi over the doors of churches and homes.

More recently, most Roman Catholics in the United States mark Epiphany on the Sunday after the first Saturday in January (before this the Sunday between January 1 and January 6, in years when there was one, was designated the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus), and most Catholics and Anglicans (along with many other Protestants) now formally end the Christmas season on the Sunday immediately following January 6, or, for American Catholics, the ensuing Monday in years when the Epiphany falls on January 7 or January 8. In either case, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord is observed on the latter day, after which the first installment of Ordinary Time begins. (But note that some Churches, such as the Anglican Catholic Church, and some groups of Roman Catholics, still use the pre-1970 calendar; for these bodies, Christmas still has twelve days and ends on January 5, and Epiphany is still celebrated on January 6 with an 8-day octave.) The Baptism of Christ is one of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary.

Today in Eastern Orthodox churches, the emphasis at this feast is on the shining forth and revelation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and second person of the Holy Trinity at the time of his baptism. It is also celebrated because, according to tradition, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist marked the only occasion when all three persons of the Holy Trinity manifested their physical presence simultaneously to humanity: God the Father by speaking through the clouds, God the Son being baptized in the river, and God the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove overflying the scene. Usually called the Feast of the Theophany (Greek: Θεοφάνεια), it is one of the great feasts of the liturgical year; "theophany" is Greek for "God shining forth".

Orthodox Churches also perform a "Blessing of the Waters" on Epiphany Day: following Divine Liturgy, clerics proceed to the nearest body of water, be it a beach, a harbor, a quay, a river, a lake, a swimming pool, a water depot etc, and after a short ceremony they cast a cross in the water. If swimming is feasible on the spot, any number of volunteers may brave the cold winter waters and try to recover the cross. The person who gets the cross first swims back and returns it to the cleric, who then delivers a special blessing to the swimmer and their family and household. Certain such ceremonies have achieved particular prominence, such as the one held annually at Tarpon Springs, Florida.

The Irish call this day Little Christmas or Women's Christmas (Irish: Nollaig na mBan). In Rome, "Epiphania" was transformed into Befana, the great fair held at that season, when sigillaria of terracotta or baked pastry were sold (Macrobius I, x, xxiv; II, xlix).

In Spain, Mexico, Cuba and some Latin American countries Epiphany day is called El Día de los Reyes (The Day of the Three Kings). The day when the Three Kings or Three Magi of the Holy Bible arrived to worship and bring gifts to the baby Jesus after following a star in the heavens. This day is sometimes known as the Día de los Tres Reyes Magos (The day of the Three Magi) or La Pascua de los Negros (Holy Day of the Blackmen) in Chile, although the latter is hardly said. In Spanish tradition, on the day of January 6th, the Kings: Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltazar, representing Europe, Arabia, and Africa, arrived on horse, camel and elephant, bringing respectively gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus.

In Mexico, it is traditional for children to leave their shoes out on the evening of January 6, sometimes filling them with hay for the camels, so that the Kings will be generous with their gifts. In Puerto Rico, it is also a tradition for children to fill a box with grass or hay and put it underneath their bed, for the same reasons. This is analogous to children leaving mince pies or cookies and milk out for Santa Claus. In some parts of northern Mexico the shoes are left under the Christmas tree with a letter to the Three Kings. In the afternoon or evening of the same day the ritual of the Rosca de Reyes is shared with family and friends. The Rosca is a type of sweet-bread made with orange blossom, water, and butter; decorated with candied fruit. Baked inside is a small doll representing the baby Jesus. The person who finds the doll in his piece of rosca must throw a party on February 2nd, Calendaria Day, offering tamales and atole (a hot sweet drink thickened with corn flour) to the guests.

In France, on Epiphany people eat the gâteau des Rois in Provence or the galette des Rois in the northern half of France and Belgium. This is a kind of king cake, with a trinket or a bean hidden inside. The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket becomes king for a day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany

and this really ties in to your post

The Twelve Holy Days is the holy period, from December 26th to January 6th, in the esoteric and astrological interpretation of the Christmas season.

The night between the 24th and 25th of December is considered to be the most "holy night", when the sun (the "Light of the World") commences its journey from the south to the north. On the night when he commences his northward journey the zodiacal sign virgo, the celestial virgin (the "Queen of Heaven"), stands upon the eastern horizon at midnight (thus he is "born of a virgin" without other intermediary, hence, "immaculately conceived.") [1].

On December 25th the Christ enters the heart of earth and the planet is swept by powerful solstitial radiations, becoming enveloped by the light of the archangelic Christ and therefore Christmas is considered the most "holy day" of the year. From December 26th to January 6th the twelve zodiacal hierarquies work upon the earth and its life forms, along with the Christ light which continues throughout the twelve holy days. The night of January 6th is regarded as the Twelfth Night, the time when the "Rite of Baptism" was performed in early Christianity. This period of twelve-day interval, between Christmas and Twelfth Night, is regarded as the spiritual heart of the year to follow and is termed the year's "Holy of Holies" [2].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Holy_Days

[Summer Wine]

I am no bible thumper and I haven’t been to church in a long time. But I am still a deeply religious person. One of the Apostles was Matthew. And the book of Matthew, Chapter 13 is all about Jesus speaking to us in parables and metaphors. Knocking on our hearts and trying to open our eyes. It was his last day on earth before he was crucified.

Following this story where it led me I think is really what the internet is all about. You can find all the wisdom in the world by just surfing on the waves of the internet. And the more I followed this story, the more I felt an angel whispering in my ear and directing my hand. To show me in the end – my own heart and soul.

Each of us can find our own heart and light of truth. We each interpret differently and follow different paths. Find yours, it’s all around you waiting for you to remember.

The Dying Miner

It happened an hour ago
Way down in this tunnel of coal;
This gas caught a fire from somebody's lamp,
And the miners are choking in smoke.

Goodbye to you, little Dicky;
Goodbye to my wife that I love,
Most of these miners won't be coming home,
Tonight when the work whistle blows.

(It) looks like the end for me
And for all of my buddies I see;
We're all writing letters on state rock walls,
Please carry my word to my wife.

I found a little place in the air,
I crawled and I drug myself here,
But the smoke's getting bad and the fumes coming in,
This coal gas is burning my eyes.
Woody Guthrie

Young Randal is recovering. Here is article from this morning –
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/06/mine.survivor/index.html
and 13 is still important –

The 25-year-old mother of two, who began dating Randy McCloy when she was 13, described her husband as a heavy metal buff who also enjoys bow hunting, fishing, and working on cars and electronics.

Doctors are hoping a specialized oxygen treatment can help the 26-year-old overcome the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning and oxygen deprivation that have left his brain and other vital organs damaged.

McCloy is still suffering from six or seven life-threatening issues, Shannon said, but "a lot of things are heading in the right direction."

in 1913, during a copper strike in Calumet, Michigan, company thugs disrupted a Christmas party for the miners' children by shouting "Fire!" and then locked all the doors. ...seventy-three children were trampled and smothered in the crush. Woody's ballad... was one of his most delicate, affecting, and personal works.

Take a trip with me in 1913,
To Calumet, Michigan, in the copper country.
I will take you to a place called Italian Hall,
Where the miners are having their big Christmas ball.
I will take you in a door and up a high stairs,
Singing and dancing is heard everywhere,
I will let you shake hands with the people you see,
And watch the kids dance around the big Christmas tree.

You ask about work and you ask about pay,
They'll tell you they make less than a dollar a day,
Working the copper claims, risking their lives,
So it's fun to spend Christmas with children and wives.

There's talking and laughing and songs in the air,
And the spirit of Christmas is there everywhere,
Before you know it you're friends with us all,
And you're dancing around and around in the hall.

Well a little girl sits down by the Christmas tree lights,
To play the piano so you gotta keep quiet,
To hear all this fun you would not realize,
That the copper boss' thug men are milling outside.

The copper boss' thugs stuck their heads in the door,
One of them yelled and he screamed, "there's a fire,"
A lady she hollered, "there's no such a thing.
Keep on with your party, there's no such thing."

A few people rushed and it was only a few,
"It's just the thugs and the scabs fooling you,"
A man grabbed his daughter and carried her down,
But the thugs held the door and he could not get out.

And then others followed, a hundred or more,
But most everybody remained on the floor,
The gun thugs they laughed at their murderous joke,
While the children were smothered on the stairs by the door.

Such a terrible sight I never did see,
We carried our children back up to their tree,
The scabs outside still laughed at their spree,
And the children that died there were seventy-three.

The piano played a slow funeral tune,
And the town was lit up by a cold Christmas moon,
The parents they cried and the miners they moaned,
"See what your greed for money has done."


http://www.1913massacre.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/1913/1913T.html

http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/3448/ludlow.html ludlow massacre

MARY HARRIS "MOTHER" JONES ON THE 1914 MINERS' STRIKE AGAINST THE ROCKEFELLER HOLDINGS IN SOUTHERN COLORADO:
The miners armed, armed as it is permitted every American citizen to do in defense of his home, his family; as he is permitted to do against invasion. The smoke of armed battle rose from the arroyos and ravines of the Rocky Mountains.

No one listened. No one cared. The tickers in the offices of 26 Broadway sounded louder than the sobs of women and children. Men in the steam heated luxury of Broadway offices could not feel the stinging cold of Colorado hillsides where families lived in tents.

Then came Ludlow and the nation heard. Little children roasted alive make a front page story. Dying by inches of starvation and exposure does not.

On the 19th of April, 1914, machine guns... were placed in position above the tent colony of Ludlow. Major Pat Hamrock and Lieutenant K. E. Linderfelt were in charge of the militia, the majority of whom were company gunmen sworn in as soldiers.

Early in the morning soldiers approached the colony with a demand from headquarters that Louis Tikas, leader of the Greeks, surrender two Italians. Tikas demanded a warrant for their arrest. They had none. Tikas refused to surrender them. The soldiers returned to headquarters. A signal bomb was fired. Then another. Immediately the machine guns began spraying the flimsy tent colony, the only home the wretched families of the miners had, spraying it with bullets. Like iron rain, bullets fell upon men, women and children.

The women and children fled to the hills. Others tarried. The men defended their homes with their guns. All day long the firing continued. Men fell dead, their faces to the ground. Women dropped. The little Snyder boy was shot through the head, trying to save his kitten. A child carrying water to his dying mother was killed.

By five o'clock in the afternoon, the miners had no more food, nor water, nor ammunition. They had to retreat with their wives and little ones into the hills. Louis Tikas was riddled with shots while he tried to lead women and children to safety. They perished with him.

Night came. A raw wind blew down the canyons where men, women and children shivered and wept. Then a blaze lighted the sky. The soldiers, drunk with blood and with the liquor they had looted from the saloon, set fire to the tents of Ludlow with oil-soaked torches. The tents, all the poor furnishings, the clothes and bedding of the miners' families burned. Coils of barbed wire were stuffed into the well, the miners' only water supply.

After it was over, the wretched people crept back to bury their dead. In a dugout under a burned tent, the charred bodies of eleven little children and two women were found -- unrecognizable. Everything lay in ruins. The wires of bed springs writhed on the ground as if they, too, had tried to flee the horror. Oil and fire and guns had robbed men and women and children of their homes and slaughtered tiny babies and defenseless women. Done by order of Lieutenant Linderfelt, a savage, brutal executor of the will of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

The Autobiography of Mother Jones, Chicago, 1977, pp. 191-193
It was early springtime when the strike was on,
They drove us miners out of doors,
Out from the houses that the Company owned,
We moved into tents up at old Ludlow.
I was worried bad about my children,
Soldiers guarding the railroad bridge,
Every once in a while a bullet would fly,
Kick up gravel under my feet.

We were so afraid you would kill our children,
We dug us a cave that was seven foot deep,
Carried our young ones and pregnant women
Down inside the cave to sleep.

That very night your soldiers waited,
Until all us miners were asleep,
You snuck around our little tent town,
Soaked our tents with your kerosene.

You struck a match and in the blaze that started,
You pulled the triggers of your gatling guns,
I made a run for the children but the fire wall stopped me.
Thirteen children died from your guns.

I carried my blanket to a wire fence corner,
Watched the fire till the blaze died down,
I helped some people drag their belongings,
While your bullets killed us all around.

I never will forget the look on the faces
Of the men and women that awful day,
When we stood around to preach their funerals,
And lay the corpses of the dead away.
We told the Colorado Governor to call the President,
Tell him to call off his National Guard,
But the National Guard belonged to the Governor,
So he didn't try so very hard.

Our women from Trinidad they hauled some potatoes,
Up to Walsenburg in a little cart,
They sold their potatoes and brought some guns back,
And they put a gun in every hand.

The state soldiers jumped us in a wire fence corners,
They did not know we had these guns,
And the Red-neck Miners mowed down these troopers,
You should have seen those poor boys run.

We took some cement and walled that cave up,
Where you killed these thirteen children inside,
I said, "God bless the Mine Workers' Union,"
And then I hung my head and cried.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45b/030.html

We are told that Judas sold Jesus to the Jews for silver. And look at our history, for money.

Knock, Knock.

[Summer Wine]

Roof Collapse Kills Miner in Eastern Ky.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PIKEVILLE, Ky. - A roof collapse at an eastern Kentucky coal mine killed one miner, a state official said.

The rock fall occurred about 900 feet inside the Maverick Mining Co. LLC mine in Pikeville, near the Virginia line, said Chuck Wolfe, spokesman for the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/355976/roof_collapse_kills_miner_in_eastern_ky/index.html?source=r_science#

And now we are back to 13. And on the other side of the river in Pikeville. Home of The Hatfields and McCoys. And home to where the families held a truce in 2003 and finally realized that we are all brothers and sisters.

All I know is that this story has opened my heart (my third eye) and leads me ever onward. The deaths along the way are so frightening to me. I spent the entire weekend frightened and curled up into a ball. I refused to look at it or go anywhere near it. So frightened. Was I making this happen? Just by looking at it?

I think that is my ego talking to me. Only God can make this happen.

This story happened late last week. I refused to talk about it, or look at it, I didn’t want anyone else to die. But they did.

One of my dearest friends died late Saturday night. Her name was Sharon. She was an angel. She rescued animals and homeless people. She loved life, she loved people. She was very special and kind.

She just went to sleep and never woke up. She just stopped breathing. She was 49 on Christmas Eve. I am going to her wake today. It is at 2099 Miner Street in Des Plaines, Illinois.

[NicolasFlamel]

SummerWine,

I am sure you did not cause the mine disasters.  It does resonate strongly within you though.  Please do not blame yourself for the mine tragedy or the death of your friend.

Edited to add:
Ooops, I wrote this using my alternate, non-admin personna.... I use NicolasFlamel to test things out on the forum.  The forum appears different when I am signed in as admin.  So just remember that NicolasFlamel is the alterego of Kephra... in fact, I will change my sig to indicate that.

[Summer Wine]

"Homer Hickam was born in Coalwood, WV, to a coal miner and his wife. A noted author and retired aerospace engineer, Hickam is best known for his memoir Rocket Boys, which was made into the 1999 movie "October Sky." The book and movie portrayed his life in Coalwood and his journey toward the stars."

Sago Miners
Hickam
1
Sago Miners Memorial Remarks
by
Homer Hickam
January 15, 2006

Families of the Sago miners, Governor Manchin, Mrs. Manchin,
Senator Byrd, Senator Rockefeller, West Virginians, friends,
neighbors, all who have come here today to remember those brave
men who have gone on before us, who ventured into the darkness but
instead showed us the light, a light that shines on all West Virginians
and the nation today:

It is a great honor to be here. I am accompanied by three men I grew
up with, the rocket boys of Coalwood: Roy Lee Cooke, Jimmie O'Dell
Carroll, and Billy Rose. My wife Linda, an Alabama girl, is here with
me as well.

As this tragedy unfolded, the national media kept asking me: Who are
these men? And why are they coal miners? And what kind of men
would still mine the deep coal?

One answer came early after the miners were recovered. It was
revealed that, as his life dwindled, Martin Toler had written this: It
wasn't bad. I just went to sleep. Tell all I'll see them on the other
side. I love you.

In all the books I have written, I have never captured in so few words
a message so powerful or eloquent: It wasn't bad. I just went to
sleep. Tell all I'll see them on the other side. I love you.
I believe Mr. Toler was writing for all of the men who were with him
that day. These were obviously not ordinary men.

But what made these men so extraordinary? And how did they
become the men they were? Men of honor. Men you could trust. Men
who practiced a dangerous profession. Men who dug coal from
beneath a jealous mountain.

Part of the answer is where they lived. Look around you. This is a
place where many lessons are learned, of true things that shape
people as surely as rivers carve valleys, or rain melts mountains, or
currents push apart the sea. Here, miners still walk with a trudging
grace to and from vast, deep mines. And in the schools, the children
still learn and the teachers teach, and, in snowy white churches built
on hillside cuts, the preachers still preach, and God, who we have no
doubt is also a West Virginian, still does his work, too. The people
endure here as they always have for they understand that God has
determined that there is no joy greater than hard work, and that there
is no water holier than the sweat off a man's brow.

In such a place as this, a dozen men may die, but death can never
destroy how they lived their lives, or why.

As I watched the events of this tragedy unfold, I kept being reminded
of Coalwood, the mining town where I grew up. Back then, I thought
life in that little town was pretty ordinary, even though nearly all the
men who lived there worked in the mine and, all too often, some of
them died or were hurt. My grandfather lost both his legs in the
Coalwood mine and lived in pain until the day he died. My father lost
the sight in an eye while trying to rescue trapped miners. After that
he worked in the mine for fifteen more years. He died of black lung.

When I began to write my books about growing up in West Virginia, I
was surprised to discover, upon reflection, that maybe it wasn't such
an ordinary place at all. I realized that in a place where maybe
everybody should be afraid—after all, every day the men went off to
work in a deep, dark, and dangerous coal mine— instead they had
adopted a philosophy of life that consisted of these basic attitudes:
We are proud of who we are. We stand up for what we believe. We
keep our families together. We trust in God but rely on ourselves.

By adhering to these simple approaches to life, they became a people
who were not afraid to do what had to be done, to mine the deep coal,
and to do it with integrity and honor.

The first time my dad ever took me in the mine was when I was in high
school. He wanted to show me where he worked, what he did for a
living. I have to confess I was pretty impressed. But what I recall
most of all was what he said to me while we were down there. He put
his spot of light in my face and explained to me what mining meant to
him. He said, "Every day, I ride the mantrip down the main line, get
out and walk back into the gob and feel the air pressure on my face. I
know the mine like I know a man, can sense things about it that aren't
right even when everything on paper says it is. Every day there's
something that needs to be done, because men will be hurt if it isn't
done, or the coal the company's promised to load won't get loaded.

Coal is the life blood of this country. If we fail, the country fails."
And then he said, "There's no men in the world like miners, Sonny.
They're good men, strong men. The best there is. I think no matter
what you do with your life, no matter where you go or who you know,
you will never know such good and strong men."

Over time, though I would meet many famous people from astronauts
to actors to Presidents, I came to realize my father was right. There
are no better men than coal miners. And he was right about
something else, too:

If coal fails, our country fails.

The American economy rests on the back of the coal miner. We could
not prosper without him. God in His wisdom provided this country
with an abundance of coal, and he also gave us the American coal
miner who glories in his work. A television interviewer asked me to
describe work in a coal mine and I called it "beautiful." He was
astonished that I would say such a thing so I went on to explain that,
yes, it's hard work but, when it all comes together, it's like watching
and listening to a great symphony: the continuous mining machines,
the shuttle cars, the roof bolters, the ventilation brattices, the
conveyor belts, all in concert, all accomplishing their great task. Yes,
it is a beautiful thing to see.

There is a beauty in anything well done, and that goes for a life well
lived.

How and why these men died will be studied now and in the future.
Many lessons will be learned. And many other miners will live
because of what is learned. This is right and proper.

But how and why these men lived, that is perhaps the more important
thing to be studied. We know this much for certain: They were men
who loved their families. They were men who worked hard. They
were men of integrity, and honor. And they were also men who
laughed and knew how to tell a good story. Of course they could.
They were West Virginians!

And so we come together on this day to recall these men, and to glory
in their presence among us, if only for a little while. We also come in
hope that this service will help the families with their great loss and to
know the honor we wish to accord them.

No matter what else might be said or done concerning these events,
let us forever be reminded of who these men really were and what
they believed, and who their families are, and who West Virginians
are, and what we believe, too.

There are those now in the world who would turn our nation into a
land of fear and the frightened. It's laughable, really. How little they
understand who we are, that we are still the home of the brave. They
need look no further than right here in this state for proof.

For in this place, this old place, this ancient place, this glorious and
beautiful and sometimes fearsome place of mountains and mines,
there still lives a people like the miners of Sago and their families,
people who yet believe in the old ways, the old virtues, the old truths;
who still lift their heads from the darkness to the light, and say for the
nation and all the world to hear:

We are proud of who we are.
We stand up for what we believe.
We keep our families together.
We trust in God.
We do what needs to be done.
We are not afraid.

And I am not afraid anymore. West Virginia is very important. I have a feeling that hidden answers are about to be revealed. We are supposed to look here.

The state flag of West Virginia holds the motto "Mountaineers always live free" and has two men holding a rock between them. "Free" is a very important word where we are in time now.

And the force keeps pulling me back here -

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060120/ap_on_re_us/mine_fire;_ylt=AiZtkbpVj0fsRCW.wOcEHbp34T0D;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

Fire Erupts in W.Va. Mine; Two Missing

MELVILLE, W.Va. - Rescue teams searched early Friday for two miners who were unable to escape after a fire broke out in an underground coal mine. Nineteen miners were able to flee the blaze, state officials said.

[Summer Wine]

I'm sorry to keep going back here. But I think I am supposed to. Lately I am in a strange place "A New World" so to speak. I feel like I have my own radio station and tv stations playing just for me. And maybe that's what it's all about. So I don't know if any of this makes any sense to anyone but me.

When I said before we are supposed to look at this we are. The name of the first mine was "Sago". That means palm. Still struggling to understand that. Middle east? Dunno

But this mine was named Aracoma. And the men who died had very strange middle names -
"Israel" and "Elvis". But Aracoma - why it's beautiful -

West Virginia, and in particular, Logan County, can lay claim to one of America's most romantic legends, the story of Aracoma, which has grown in Logan County around the authentic details of an incident in the history of the region more than 200 years ago.

The tradition of Logan County asserts that Princess Aracoma and Boling Baker moved into this valley sometime close to the year 1760 and lived in peace on the island in today's city of Logan until 1780.

In 1915, when the Abdoney building was being constructed on the 100 block of Stratton Street, the workmen uncovered a grave that was eight feet deep, considerably deeper than the other Shawnee graves in the county. In it was the skeleton of a young woman and a necklace of buckhorn beads. The string had rotted away, but the necklace was still arranged around her neck. The odd and haunting irony was that the skeleton was buried at the bend of the Guyandotte river, almost exactly where the old, and half forgotten folklore claimed was the final resting place of Princess Aracoma.

"The Aracoma Story" blends tales of the Shawnee Indians with the story of young love, as Boling Baker, a scout from General Braddock's Army, is captured by the Shawnee, led by Chief Cornstalk. He is rescued from death by Cornstalk's daughter, Aracoma, and adopted into the tribe that moved to the island in the Guyandotte. The drama tells how Baker and Aracoma's people were weakened by disease and how a raid, led by Baker to steal horses, ended in the destruction of his adopted tribe.

Sounds very similar to this:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808589420/details

In the early years of the 17th century, North America is much as it has been for the previous five thousand years--a vast land of seemingly endless primeval wilderness populated by an intricate network of tribal cultures. Although these nations live in graceful harmony with their environment, their relations with each other are a bit more uneasy. All it will take to upset the balance is an intrusion from the outside. On a spring day in April of 1607, three diminutive ships bearing 103 men sail into this world from their distant home, the island kingdom of England, three thousand miles to the east across a vast ocean. On behalf of their sponsor, the royally chartered Virginia Company, they are seeking to establish a cultural, religious, and economic foothold on the coast of what they regard as the New World. The lead ship of the tiny flotilla is called the Susan Constant. Shackled below decks in her brig is a rebellious 27-year-old named John Smith, destined to be hanged for insubordination as soon as the ship reaches land. A veteran of countless European wars, Smith is a soldier of fortune. He is too talented and popular to have his neck stretched by his own people, and is freed by Captain Christopher Newport soon after the Susan Constant drops anchor. As Captain Newport knows--and the colonists will soon discover--surviving in this unknown wilderness will require the services of every able-bodied man--particularly one of Smith's abilities. Though they don't realize it at the time, Newport and his band of British settlers have landed in the midst of a sophisticated Native American empire ruled by the powerful chieftain Powhatan. To the colonists, it may be a new world. But to Powhatan and his people, it's an ancient world--and the only one they have ever known. The English struggle from the beginning, unable--or, in some cases, stubbornly unwilling--to fend for themselves. Smith, searching for assistance from the local tribesmen, chances upon a young woman who at first seems to be more woodland sprite than human being. A willful and impetuous young woman whose family and friends affectionately call her "Pocahontas"--or "playful one"--she is the favorite of Powhatan's children. Before long a bond develops between Smith and Pocahontas, a bond so powerful that it transcends friendship or even romance.

And in both cases a “woman” saved them through her heart.

And right now as I sit here writing this a drama is being played out in Iraq over a kidnapped woman. Both sides are calling for her release. Both sides being brought together by a woman and her heart.

[Dutch]

There's indeed something with these mine accidents, something very profound. It's on my mind for a while but I haven't digged into it yet. I have to think about some of my wife's dreams about 'real danger coming from within Earth' , exploded planet theory comes to mind