Rescue of Chilean Miners Begins, First Man Out!

Image from source, CNN

I was lucky enough to catch the live footage of the first miner rescued from the Chilean mine collapse. Those guys have been underground for 69 days, and now are being slowly extracted, one by one, in a tiny shuttle 22"-wide. I'm crossing my fingers that they all get out okay. And the first guy is out! It's about time we got a happy ending somewhere, right?

[Excerpt]

First of 33 trapped miners reaches surface

Rescuers clap and cheer as the first miner to be rescued, Florencio Avalos, 31, leaves the capsule and steps onto the surface for the first time in about 68 days. After hugging several people, he is put on a stretcher and wheeled into a nearby triage center. . .

Read more here (updated frequently): CNN

Miners Trapped, Possibly Until Christmas?

Holy cow. This story is amazing, and nearly triggers a reflexive clausterphobic panic. But these Chilean miners seem to be hanging in there. It makes the "Baby Jessica in the Well" story seem like no big deal.

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Mine Tragedies

I haven't said much about the mine tragedies, which seem to be multiplying, because they're already saturating the news. But I do want to say a couple of things. First, my heart goes out to all who have been hurt, killed, or are still missing. I can't even imagine what they and their families are going through.

As for the news coverage, it's pretty spotty, as all developing stories tend to be. But I have to say, it's heartening to see the "big news" story that is enveloping all coverage is actually news. No Anna Nicole, no Brittney or Lindsay. This is actually news. So I will not fault them for the wall-to-wall coverage, especially with the latest developments.

Now, I'm sure as blame is assessed, we're going to hear a lot of people saying, "this is not the time for finger pointing," and "we're not going to play the blame game." Bunk. Now is exactly the time for assessing blame. In our culture, times of calm--no mine collapses in this case--is a time when we turn it off. We don't get energized about fixing problems, and making sure they don't happen.

The only time for figuring out exactly what went wrong, and if there is anyone to blame, is now. End of rant.

For the latest news, a link:

2 Rescue Workers Killed at Utah Mine - ABCNews.com

Just in from MSNBC (at 10:41 PM 08/16/07): Third rescue worker dies.