West Virginia’s deadly addiction to opioid drugs gained national attention in 2015, and as the state looks toward a new year my office seeks to combat this epidemic with a combination of enforcement, education and prevention. Read more
2015 was an explosive year in many ways in Huntington. Here are several quotes that highlight a controversial year in Huntington.
10. "If this proposed acquisition goes forward, it would eliminate important competition that has yielded tremendous benefits for Huntington-area residents. The merged hospitals would have a market share of more than 75%, and local employers and residents are likely to face higher prices and reduced quality and service at the combined hospital.” Steve Weissman, Deputy Director of The FTC's Bureau of Competition concerning proposed merger of St. Mary's and Cabell Huntington hospitals. Read more
The death of six US soldiers in Afghanistan on December 21 at the hands of a Taliban suicide bomber brings to 21 the number of US combat deaths there in 2015. Once again we must confront the question of national purpose in waging war without debate or declaration. Like all other battlefield deaths in the Middle East, the Obama administration rationalizes these latest as being part of “training, advising, and assisting,” not combat. But those are merely code words for direct interventions that Congress has not authorized since 2002, in clear violation of restrictions the War Powers Resolution of 1973 places on presidential power.Read more
BARBOURSVILLE, West Virginia – Campers are reminded they can make online campsite reservations for 2016 at Beech Fork State Park near Barboursville and Huntington. The online service began Jan. 1, 2015, and exceeded expectations, renting more than 14,100 reservable campsites from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day in 2015. Beech Fork State Park manages 275 campsites at one of West Virginia's most popular outdoors destinations.Read more
By Dave Ragland with Matt Meyer and Natalie Jeffers
2015 was a year of exceptionally overt police violence against black folk and tragic mass shootings. A common response to these events has been that they are the result of “sick” individuals. Many conservatives have suggested that the shooters werementally ill: that the problem was a proliferation of bad people,not a proliferation of guns. When, however, the murderers happen to be people “of color,” thenarrative often changes to one of terrorism and extremism (though the NRA position remains consistently pro-gun, even defending the rights of the San Bernadino terrorists to acquire their weaponry).Read more
With bigotry and hatred on the rise in the United States and politicians like Donald Trump giving everyone the nightmares of an American Hitler and Nazi Party, revisiting history offers us kernels of wisdom in resisting such extremism.Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that Brian Keith Dunnigan, 46, of Charleston, West Virginia, was sentenced today in federal court in Charleston to eight years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of methamphetamine. Dunnigan had previously pleaded guilty to the federal drug charge in September of 2015. Read more
A study released at the beginning of December by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) reported that America’s 20 wealthiest individuals own more wealth than roughly half the American population combined—152 million people. The startling level of economic inequality in the United States is also highlighted by Forbes, which recently observed that the richest 400 Americans possess more wealth than 62 percent of the American public—192 million people. Furthermore, these studies apparently underestimate the concentration of wealth in the United States, for the use of offshore tax havens and legal trusts conceals trillions of dollars that the richest Americans have amassed for themselves and their families. Read more
“The question now is how to change our institutions so that they promote human values rather than destroy them.”
Philip Zimbardo, who posed this question in the wake of the famous — or infamous — Stanford Prison Experiment 44 years ago, might have added: If we fail to do so, we guarantee our own social collapse. Read more
A notorious local criminal from the Guynadotte community of Huntington is in trouble again. A video on WSAZ's website shows him in a violent struggle at a pawn shop after being confronted by someone claiming the arrestee stole his property. The video can be viewed here videoRead more
Editor's Note: Wayne Knox, an activist in the Cold War veteran atomic energy health compensation battle, answers the following question from other workers that toiled at plants similar to the Huntington Pilot Plant, Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, etc:
To answer your questions: "does anyone on this actually believe the federal government will harm or kill any nuclear workers for exposing the truth." My answer is No! Not the "federal government". But our corporations have and will continue to kill in order to suppress truth that may endanger profits. Read more
Re: Irradiated – The Hidden Legacy of 70 Years of Atomic Weaponry
Dear Editor:
The above-referenced investigative report provided indepth insight into EEOICPA, a nuclear worker compensation program that is both profoundly important, and in need of attention to ensure its ability to function as intended. The Presidential Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH) should be embarrassed by the statements made by Board Member Wanda Munn in Chapter One of the article. Read more
At West Point I learned that technology forces warfare to evolve. The reason soldiers today no longer ride horses into battle, use bows and arrows, and wield spears, is because of the gun. The reason people no longer fight in trenches, as they did during World War I, is because the tank and airplane were greatly improved and mass-produced. But there is a technological innovation that has changed warfare more than the gun, tank, or airplane. That technological innovation is mass media.Read more
Once upon a time, there was a little, mischievous elf. His hair was sliver-blond, his eyes were silver-blue and his smile danced between a wide open grin that announced, “It’s a joy to be alive” and a hesitant twist that said, “Oops. What did I do wrong this time?”
Not all elves have the same color hair or the same color eyes. But all elves have the same smile Read more
Surely some uber-conservative political candidates will call me out on “politicizing tragedy” but I don’t care. I don’t want to pray for victims. I don’t want to seek vengeance on perpetrators. I want this never to happen again; I want to never feel this weight again.Read more
A family buried their loved one this week after he overdosed on drugs. The family acknowledged the young man's demons and encouraged friends and families to donate to the recovery community instead of buying flowers. Read more
Jesus sided with underdogs. He championed little people, not the privileged and powerful. “Blessed are the poor” was one of his maxims. He told a noble: “Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor.” Read more
Millions of Americans believe that war doesn’t work, that war cannot end terrorism because war is terrorism, and that U.S. war-making is breeding a new generation of terrorists around the world. Millions also want the senseless killing to stop and they realize we must begin with ending our own military’s killing sprees. Read more
Forty-six volunteers went on a medical mission to Jordan to help the disadvantaged Syrian refugees and to restore their faith in humanity. The mission drew together an amazing group of people who validate the existence of those who are suffering -- through medical care, psychosocial support, food, clothing and most importantly, human empathy.Read more
Even some of my favorite doves are advocating a mixed military response to ISIS. I can’t agree. The history of our violent response to terrorism began as a trickle, then a stream, then a torrent into Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, and Syria. Each and every time we “won” (deposed the Taliban in Afghanistan, “Mission Accomplished” by knocking over Saddam, the surge), the response from the terror side has gotten worse. Now, for pity’s sake, we see a genocidal terror caliphate. Our game of violence is a loser.
What are the elements of an alternative response? Read more
Some Congressional Rep’s -- carrying bags of money from the nuclear industry -- want to resurrect the cancelled Yucca Mountain dump project for high-level radioactive waste, 90 miles from Las Vegas. I’ve presented Yucca’s shortcomings before, but Congress needs a refresher and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is taking public comments on Yucca’s Draft Supplemental EIS until Nov. 20. Read more
Huntington, WV is in the midst of a drug epidemic. Here is a prayer for Huntington during this battle for this holiday season.
Dear Father,
Thanks for our loved ones, that although they may be hooked on drugs, that they are still able to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Please watch over them and do not let their chairs be empty next year.Read more
In the past 36 hours, I have watched and listened to hundreds of reactions of ordinary people to the attacks in Paris. With a clenched gut, I feared the reiteration of the sequence of 9/11: anger, shock, fear, calls for vengeance, war, and more violence.
Instead, I saw the unexpected, and a tendril of hope grew inside my heart. Here is some of what I saw: Read more
When he ran for reelection in 2012, Barack Obama told TV interviewer Charlie Rose that the biggest mistake of his first term was to think, simply, “that this job was about getting the policy right.” Obama explained that, “the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times." Read more
Will the real China please stand up? In the US media, most stories about China raise questions that amount to threat-mongering. How can China’s “aggressiveness” in the South China Sea be stopped? Is China forming a new alliance with Putin’s Russia? Has China hacked its way into the most sensitive US industrial and military secrets? Is China on the verge of displacing the West from Africa and even Latin America? Are the Chinese about to become a military rival of the US in terms of naval and air power? Read more
One of my favorite things about West Virginia is how much pride we, as a state, take in our men and women who serve in our Armed Forces. As we celebrate Veterans Day this week, I’ve thought deeply about the sacrifice that so many of these people have made, and how much gratitude I personally have for each and every one of them. Read more
Recently the Obama administration announced another military aid package for Pakistan: eight F-16 fighter jets. Once again considerations of human rights and democratic values have been sacrificed to strategic calculations. Recall, the robust figures for US military assistance to Pakistan: more than $20 billion in weapons, training, and other activities between FY2002 and FY2015, making Pakistan the 16th ranking recipient of US arms. And that amount does not include drone strikes.Read more
The origins of Armistice Day, also known as Remembrance Day, were all about ending war, marking the signing of a ceasefire to begin to halt the destruction of World War I. That signing occurred on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918. Since the vast majority of war dead in World War I were military, it was inaugurated as a commemoration of their service and sacrifice. Read more
After being pulled over for speeding and unregistered tags, West Virginia Democrat Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Justice was caught on dashcam verbally abusing a police officer during a routine traffic stop. Justice calls the officer a "total lunatic" and "crazy" for doing his job. Then, when the police officer respectfully offers to explains the citation, Justice makes it clear he thinks he is above the law, telling the officer to "I want you to explain it to your boss."Read more
President Barack Obama’s foreign policies have had important successes that demonstrate creative applications of the increasingly recognized constructive conflict approach. However, Obama is widely attacked as if he were responsible for the many ongoing terribly destructive foreign conflicts. Criticisms of Obama’s administration have usually come from the political right in the United States and others committed to opposing Obama. They attack him for being naïve and insufficiently tough. Even analysts sympathetic to Obama’s foreign policies are sometimes critical of his failure to rely more on coercion and military force.Read more
_1.jpg "OPINION COLUMN: Ten Top Explosive Huntington Quotes in 2015")
