Barbara Kopple & Harlan Country 1976 - Examiner online - Hunter S Thompson - Storming the Capitol TV - ’Til Kingdom Come: Trump, Faith & Money TV - MonsterQuest TV - UFOs: Top Secret Alien Files TV - Strange Evidence TV -
In the summer of 1973 the men at the Brookside Mine in Harlan, Kentucky, voted to join the United Mine Workers of America. Duke Power Company and its subsidiary Eastover Mining Company refused to sign the contract. The miners came out on strike. Barbara Kopple, Harlan Country USA 1976 *****
He died of black lung ... I was beginning to hate the company. ibid. Lois Scott
Organise the unorganised. With organisation you have the aid of your fellow men; without organisation you are a lone individual, without influence and without recognition of any kind. And exploitation of you and your family when it pleases some industrialist to make money out of your misery. ibid. John L Lewis, president UMW, televised address
They used to abuse us actually ... If you stuck together in solidarity you can defeat them. Besides that, I learned that the politicians worked with the coal companies. I found out that the union officials were working with the coal companies. I also found out that the Catholic hierarchy was working with the officials. ibid. old miner
The government is acting as their muscle man. ibid.
We have to fight for our rights. ibid. miner’s wife at meeting
We didn’t give them any resistance whatever. We just lay down in the road. ibid.
It’s a feudal system. ibid. Houston Elmore, UMW organiser
Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? ibid. folk song
Consolidated Coal’s Mannington Mine in Farmington W. Va. was inspected by the Federal Bureau of Mines sixteen times in 1968. Extensions were granted to the company sixteen times. On November 20 1968 the mine exploded. Four men survived, 78 men were trapped in the mine. ibid. caption
It’s not true that the inhalation and retention of coal dust in the lungs necessarily results in any impairment of the pulmonary function. ibid. Attorney, Bitumous Coal Operators Association, televised address
If a company kills a man, the company gets let off. ibid. miner
Three months after the contract was signed at Brookside, the national coal contract expired. For the first time in UMW history the rank and file has the right to ratify the contract. ibid. caption
July - August 1975: 100,000 strike to protest company abuse of grievance procedures. ibid.
A Kentucky law requires residents and government officials to affirm the existence of God, or risk a penalty of up to 12 months in prison for failure to comply.
The Kentucky law requires that plaques celebrating the power of the Almighty God be installed outside the state Homeland Security building. The text of the inscription on the plaques begins with the assertion, ‘The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God’.
The law is part of a Kentucky state homeland security bill that passed in 2008. Examiner online article 25th November 2012 Michael Stone, ‘Atheists face 12 months in prison for disbelief’
I am more than just a serious basketball fan. I am a life-long addict. I was addicted from birth, in fact, because I was born in Kentucky and I learned, early on, that Habitual Domination was a natural way of life. Hunter S Thompson
Louisville: The resurgent militia movements: I saw these emboldened and empowered militias take over the very centre of Louisville … Why on earth were the police retreating and ceding territory to a private army? What signal was that sending? Storming the Capitol: The Inside Story, Robert Moore reporting, ITV 2021
We are the people that brought Donald Trump to power. And he pushes our agenda. ’Til Kingdom Come: Trump, Faith & Money, Pastor Boyd Bingham IV, Binghamtown Baptist Church, BBC 2021
I heard about the bombings, and they were bombing even near children. When we see all of these things happening to the nation of Israel, it should give us all hope … Our redemption will be coming. ibid. WMIK radio, Tomasa Rausner
There’s a spiritual obligation of a Christian to Israel. ibid. Bingham
Israel, their people the Jews, are better than all of us. ibid. Bingham to children
Today, Christians are the largest supporters of humanitarian projects in Israel through the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. ibid. Ms Eckstein, International Fellowship
$129 million is donated annually by Evangelical Christians to the Fellowship. ibid. caption
On May 14th 2018, the day of the embassy move, 58 Palestinians were killed and 2,771 were injured during mass protests. ibid.
There’s a terrifying beast prowling Kentucky’s swamps and backwoods. The creature has an appetite for flesh. And it’s seeking all kinds of prey. And now evidence may finally reveal the existence of the Hillbilly beast. MonsterQuest s4e2: Hillbilly Beast, History 2010
Something strange may also be lurking in these woods. Eye-witnesses report seeing a dark hairy creature, eight to ten feet tall and weighing up to eight hundred pounds. It is said to be covered in matted brown fur and has eyes that appear black in the day and yellow-orange in darkness. The creature is also said to let out piercing shrieks and howls at night. ibid.
Police helicopter UFO encounter, Louisville, Kentucky: February 1993: A routine patrol flight … A small light below them … a glowing pear-shaped object about the size of a basketball … It stops and shoot right up in front of the helicopter … and even shoots past them … seems to fire three fireballs at the helicopter … The pilots are panicking but then the UFO just zips away. UFOs: Top Secret Alien Files, History 2021
Kentucky, 2003: A flaming tornado spins on a freshwater lake … Hundreds of giant warehouses each one packed to the rafters with inflammable liquid … The bourbon capital of the world … Vital clues lie in Kentucky’s supercharged skies. Strange Evidence s1e2, History 2024