anybody catch this bit about "stolen Bolivian coal deposits" coming from Locke's TV in the beginning as we're seeing him eating his sad TV dinner? Anything to it? or just meaningless filler stuff...

Actually, it was gold, not coal. There's another thread where this is being discussed and some people say it's a nod to Alias.

Could this have anything to do with the digging operation they had Sawyer and Kate working on?

I noticed this too, watching for a 2nd time, but it sounded to me like a movie that he was watching, not a news broadcast.

It was a movie. They said the Cobra struck again.

the full transcript and audio is here:

http://www.thefuselage.com/Threaded/showpost.php?p=1443129&postcount=1402