By now, most of the nation is well aware of the hideous safety record of Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine south of Charleston, W. Va. where at least 25 miners died this week in the worst U.S. mining accident in a quarter-century. As the Washington Post, for example, noted yesterday, "the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration cited Upper Big Branch for 1,342 safety violations from 2005 through Monday, proposing $1.89 million in fines, according to federal records."