U.S. mining industry suffers bum rap

I have often mused about why the mining industry is held in such disdain in the United States today. It wasn't always that way. When I was a child, the mining industry was the subject of song and saga, and before that, there was the day when the incessant stamp mills of mines like the A.J. in Juneau were the sound of a full lunch pail. People respected hard work and knew intuitively that basic ind...