Thanksgiving Is Ruined |
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June 30, 2009
he's right you know Last fall, Michael Tomasky included the following footnote in a book review: . . . Go to the Google Maps homepage, with the view set on "map." In the search bar, type in Whitesville, WV. You'll be automatically directed to a close-in view of that town. Next, zoom the view out two clicks. Now change the view from "map" to "satellite." Tomasky's review covered a few recent works about the the mining industry in the USA's Appalachians. He summarized Michael Shnayerson's account of the impact of journalist & author Penny Loeb's groundbreaking 1997 exposé of the environmental effects of mountaintop mining. [update 9/17/09: The text of Loeb's original piece is here. U.S. News & World Report published it with some never-before-seen (by the general public, anyway) and apparently horrifying aerial photos of post-"removal" mountains. Tomasky's footnote begins with the words: Today, anyone with a computer can have a look. The Google Maps image to which his search instructions lead is here. [More from the eternal reading backlog . . . ] |