Welcome to a hot, steamy Monday. I felt like I was in a sauna yesterday. How did you cope with the hot weather? Did it force you to change any plans? It’s time for an open thread to share your burning opinions. The floor is yours.
Massey Energy is under criminal investigation. Good.
The FBI has launched a criminal investigation of the Massey Energy Co. mine where earlier this month an explosion killed 29 West Virginia miners, according to the Associated Press.
Citing an unnamed law enforcement official, the wire service reported that the FBI has interviewed nearly two-dozen of the company’s current and former employees in its probe of the April 5 accident.
Massey spokesperson Jeff Gillenwater acknowledged the FBI had conducted interviews, but said the company is “not aware of the nature of their investigation. We intend to cooperate in all phases of the accident investigation.”
Massey Energy is still headed by world’s biggest PR nightmare, Don Blankenship. There’s not much more information on the nature of the FBI investigation yet, but reports earlier in the week indicated there may have been bribery of federal regulators involved. This makes me sick to my stomach.
The “Great Seal” of the Commonwealth of Virginia depicts the Roman goddess Virtus standing over the defeated Tyranny and has been in use since 1776. Virtus is holding a spear and a sheathed sword, and the garb she is wearing exposes her left breast. (An earlier rendition of the seal traced back to Thomas Jefferson shows the goddess wearing even less clothing.) However, far-right Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) is now tinkering with the historic seal:
When the new design came up at a staff meeting, workers in attendance said Cuccinelli joked that it converts a risqué image into a PG one.
Judge for yourself the risqué image that got Cucinelli in a tizzy:
