Bad Deeds for 4/8/2010

 

Fox News Got Man Worked Up to Make Death Threat According to His Mother – Gregory Giusti was arrested Wednesday afternoon for threatening Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi over recent healthcare legislation. His 83-year-old mother blames Fox News for getting her son worked up.

“Greg frequently gets in with a group of people that have really radical ideas and that are not consistent with myself or the rest of the family, which gets him into problems,” Eleanor Giusti said. “I say Fox News, or all of those that are really radical, and he, that’s where he comes from.”

 

The Attitude of Don Blankenship – As more details continue to surface about the checkered safety record of the Massey Energy coal mine where 25 workers perished Monday, the lavish lifestyle and allegedly cavalier attitude of the company’s controversial chief executive, as described in lawsuits and corporate documents, are now coming under intensifying scrutiny.

One miner who worked in Massey mines most of his 25-year career said working for CEO Don Blankenship was “like living under a hammer. It’s all about the bottom line, we all know that.” The miner, who would only agree to speak with an ABC News reporter if his name was not used, said Blankenship believes in “stretching the men to the limit … they want every ounce out of the men that they can get.”

According to freelance writer Michael Shnayerson, Blankenship had a special red phone installed at Upper Big Branch so he could reach managers whenever he needed to. “It was like the line to the Kremlin, only it went to Don.” Blankenship would call any time coal production slowed.

When Blankenship first took control of the mine, he spent more than a year trying to woo the miners to abandon their allegiance to the labor union that had represented them.

“Don made it his own personal campaign. He began flying in every week in his helicopter. He gave pep talks. He took a whole bunch of them on trips to Dollywood, where they went to concerts. He went with them and bonded with them. New cars started turning up in their driveways,” Shnayerson said.
But as soon as the union was gone, Shnayerson said Blankenship shifted gears. Work hours increased from eight hours to 12 hours. Bonuses were cut. If they got injured, their jobs were at risk.

And according to federal mining data, citations and safety violations started to rise. Ellen Smith, a mine safety expert who publishes a mining industry news letter, said a number of violations at Upper Big Branch signaled significant risks, including one incident where a ventilation system was malfunctioning and sending coal dust into a primary escape shaft. Two violations were cited on the day of the explosion.

The safety complaints were also the subject of increasing unease from investors, who worried Blankenship’s management style was putting the future of Massey Energy at risk. In June 2007, two board members resigned from Massey’s board of directors. Daniel S. Loeb and Todd Q. Swanson submitted a resignation letter saying they were stepping down in part because of Blankenship’s “poor risk management” and the company’s “confrontational handling” of regulatory matters.

 

“DermDoc” Lays Off Employee for Voting for Obama – Last Friday, someone going by the name “dermdoc” posted a thread on a message board for Texas A&M students and alumni with this topic: “Laid off my first Obama voting employee today.”

“Our reimbursement rates are spiraling downward, taxes are projected to go up with Obamacare, so I did it,” the person wrote. He later added: “I made this decision because I can.”

“It is kind of interesting watching their face as you explain to them the economic consequences of the policies of the guy they voted for,” wrote dermdoc. “And what a lot of you guys and gals don’t seem to understand is that as long as I make the money, pay the bills, pay the taxes, pay the salaries, assume all the legal liability, etc., that I can do just about what I want to (as can every other business owner in the US),” he added.

Hotsheet reached out to the person who we believe to have been responsible for the posting, but requests for comment went unanswered. Late Wednesday afternoon, after Hotsheet’s inquiry, the thread appeared to be removed from the TexAgs.com Web site.

Regards,

Jim