A recent article in Kentucky’s leading paper, The Lexington Herald Leader, discusses the down-fall of coal in the Bluegrass state. The statistics reported are alarming. Overall, the industry is at a 118-year low as more than 50% of coal jobs have disappeared over the past few years. In a region laden with poverty the hits…

On May 10 West Virginia will hold its presidential primary. Contenders Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have all visited the state looking for working class votes. All three contenders have a vision for the future of West Virginia’s economy. Republican Trump wants to bring back “Clean Coal” and protect industry jobs. Democratic candidates…

I recently gave a talk at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee, regarding coal, power and liberty in the Southern Appalachian Bio-Region. This talk is based off of notes from my forthcoming study for The Center for a Stateless Society: Flowers of Darkness: Coal, Power and Liberty in the Southern Appalachian Bio-Region. This serves…

Another year is over. The New Year holiday is a natural time of reflection. When the ball drops and fireworks pop in the early January sky 2014 will be gone. A whole new year of human history will begin. A whole new year to continue our beautiful struggle. If there is one fact our collective history…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Grant A. Mincy‘s “Climate Action: Stand on the Ashes of Power” read by Erick Vasconcelos and edited by Nick Ford. The US Department of Defense is the nation’s single largest consumer of fossil fuels. From arms production to the grand machines of war, the military emits more greenhouse gas than any other state institution….

New research, published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that a large fallout plume of oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is deposited on the seafloor. This is a significant finding because this 2-million barrels worth of oil was originally thought to be trapped…

In un suo recente intervento al vertice sul clima delle Nazioni Unite, Barack Obama ha spronato le nazioni della terra a collaborare per affrontare il problema dei cambiamenti climatici antropogenici. Obama ha rassicurato i politici presenti che gli “Stati Uniti d’America si stanno dando una mossa” e che noi (collettivamente) “ci assumiamo la responsabilità” di…

In recent comments at the United Nations Climate Summit, US president Barack Obama espoused an urgent need for all the nations of Earth to work together and engage anthropogenic climate change. Obama ensured his peers in attendance that the “United States of America is stepping up to the plate” and that (the collective) we “embrace our responsibility” to…

On July 2nd, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, officially breaking ties between the American colonies and the British empire. It is the idealism behind this document and American independence that folks across the United States will celebrate this 4th of July. The 4th is the central holiday of the summer season and liberty is…

Lots of action on the equality front the past few days. One story gaining national attention from Tennessee is a political action that serves to marginalize the LGBTQ community. State senator Brian Kelsey, of Memphis, has introduced a bill coined “turn the gays away.” This bill would allow businesses to refuse service to the LGBTQ community. According to the bill no “persons” will…

The Washington Post‘s E.J. Dionne Jr., predicts that the reemergence of the Democratic left will be a major political story in 2014 (“The Resurgent Progressives,” January 1). He argues that the American right has been unwilling to compromise on policy matters with moderate Democrats. As a result the populace has been dragged ever farther to the right — even…

Glenn Broadnax, di Brooklyn, New York, soffriva di ansia e depressione. Secondo i documenti recentemente resi pubblici dal tribunale, il pomeriggio del 14 settembre stava “parlando con i suoi parenti morti che erano nella sua testa”, una cosa che lo spingeva a “buttarsi davanti alle auto per uccidersi”. Poiché intralciava il traffico, arrivò la polizia….

Peace on Earth and goodwill toward all —  in a world of conflict, tis the season of peace. The holiday season is also a time of reflection and, for many, hope. I am curious about hope, however, and wonder if careful reflection will reveal it is time to give it up. This idea was introduced…

Glenn Broadnax of Brooklyn, New York, suffers from anxiety and depression. According to recently released court documents, on the evening of September 14th he was “talking to dead relatives in his head,” which led him to try “throwing himself in front of cars to kill himself.” As he disrupted traffic, police arrived. Broadnax reached his hand into…