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An interesting item from the Huff Post: Nike has a new uniform designed for West Virginia University intended to “honor” the 29 minors killed at the Upper Big Branch mine, but the ad features a flattened mountaintop in the background. This has pissed off some student groups who feel that it is not appropriate for their university to done an “honorary” uniform which normalizes mountaintop removal as a mining practice (click her to learn more).

This is just stupid and ignorant on Nike’s part. I have seen first hand this horrific practice. I can’t imagine any sane person who thinks blowing up the tops of mountains makes any sense on any level, even if it provides jobs. I visited a guy who lived just below the tree line of one flattened peak. We walked up to the mining site where there were these monstrous bulldozers as big as buildings scraping away the rock and soil. There was dust in the trees and in the creeks and in my eyes. The sound of explosions was terrifying. I prayed that a builder wouldn’t fly out and flatten us, as happens every once in a while. Meanwhile, this particular “beneficiary” of sporadic mining work (jobs come and go depending on supply, demand and global prices) lives in a little shack smaller than his very own monster truck paid for during a boom cycle. Some life!

BTW, this person in my story had “fuck it” tattooed on his lips. Indeed!