democracy now

David Rovics is an American indie singer/songwriter and activist for peace and social justice. He lives in Portland, Oregon, and tours regularly on four continents, playing for audiences large and small at cafes, pubs, universities, churches, union halls, and protest rallies. He has shared the stage with a veritable who's who of the Left in two dozen countries, and has had his music featured on Democracy Now!, BBC, Al-Jazeera, and other networks. His essays are published regularly on CounterPunch and elsewhere, and the 200+ songs he makes available for free on the web have been downloaded more than a million times.    

Four people protesting Massey Energy's mountaintop removal mining practices were arrested Wednesday after linking their arms together with plastic pipe and duct tape, briefly blocking a private road to Massey's Boone County headquarters.The Boone County sheriff charged the four men, who range in age from 22 to 80, with trespassing, destruction of property, failure to obey lawful command, conspiracy and resisting arrest. The sheriff says the makeshift roadblock nearly caused an accident as cars backed up to nearby US 119 in heavy fog. Standup. One of those charged was 80-year-old Roland Micklem, 80, of Savannah, N.Y. Deputies also busted Joseph Hamsher; James McGuinness, and Fred Williamson.

A fifth person detained and charged after the protest was described by Climate Ground Zero as an independent videojournalist who goes by the name FluxRostrum. Cops called him Gianni Lapis and charged him with trespassing, conspiracy and failure to obey a lawful command. The latest protest comes just two days after a huge pro-coal rally that Massey helped sponsor.

report @ photo by Bob Aaron of WCH8