WV Notes:
Excellent Vanity Fair article on mountaintop removal mining, especially as it is practiced by Massey Energy & their lovable chief Don Blankenship. I noted yesterday our local paper commented on McGraw losing his judgeship last election because “West Virginians were tired of him and his anti-business positions” (I paraphrase). Not quite. As mentioned in passing in the Vanity Fair article, Blankenship bought the election with outrageous spending.

Also: I tried ramps (ramson) for the first time ever. Very tasty sweet onion, to be trimmed and sauteed like a leek. The smell is definitely overhyped. I’d eat them again, even grow them if I could. I figured since no one in the immediate family would ever be dragged to Richwood for the Feast of the Ramson, I’d better stay local. So I went to the Proctorville VFW, where quite a few people were enjoying the local crop.