Maybe it was media attitude. Maybe it was pure competence. Maybe just good luck. But in Chile . . .

[Stinky The Clown]

. . . . . everything has gone right.

This is an amazing story with what appears to be a great outcome on the horizon. My worry today, as they connect the 28" shaft to the miners' location, is what the men will be like, not so much when they reach the surface, but in the days and weeks that will follow.

But, for today, it is looking wall to wall good.

[BlueIris]

1. Go, Chile. nt

[hobbit709]

2. I'm not sure a couple of them will want to come out.

Since their wives AND girlfriends are waiting for them.

[TonyMontana]

6. I'd want to come out quicker in that case

Menage a trois....

[K8-EEE]

11. Some will be met by two women holding baseball bats! nt

[hlthe2b]

3. I'm told they have a good chance of coming out (psychologically)

ok, because they have known from the start that there were ongoing attempts to reach them. They could hear two such failed attempts. This in contrast to the soccer team that went down in the Andes years ago. They actually heard radio transmissions that stated all rescue attempts had been abandoned.

Plus, they have had contact with loved ones and psychologists working with them as a team.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. They also plan to send paramedics and psychologists down before they bring any of them out

As I said, they seem to be moving with wise planning and careful steps.

[EFerrari]

4. When I first read this story, I didn't really believe they could be rescued.

It sounded like the kind of happy talk people do when the truth is just too awful to say out loud right away.

[petronius]

7. Maybe it was the American drilling team, with the U.S.-made drill

:patriot: ;)

Seriously, this is a really happy-making story. I hope the extraction goes well (duh) and that they get continued support if they need it...

[lunatica]

8. According to an article posted here earlier they're going to be taken to a hospital

for at least 48 hours for psychological evaluation as well as physical treatment. First they'll be in a field hospital with their relatives for a while. All of them will undergo treatment before they're released to their families.

[Subdivisions]

9. I cannot wait to see the first of those men emerge from that hole...

and then the next; and then the next; until all have felt the love and hugs they will surely receive from their loved ones.

It will be a global celebration. Something we don't see nearly enough of.

[malaise]

13. Yes it will be a global feel good story

And we can all use one.

[blondeatlast]

10. Some days you realize how fortunate you are to be safe an alive. Prayers and sunshine to the miners,

the rescuers, and the families.

:bounce:

[Cleita]

12. Just a little background.

This mine was privately owned and did not have the high safety standards that the nationalized mines in Chile under Codelco do. They have had a history of instability in their tunnels. Yet, it seems they are doing really well technologically in getting these men to safety. I grew up in a copper mining camp in Chile, once owned by the American based Anaconda Copper Company out of Butte, Montana. It is now nationalized and owned and operated by Codelco a branch of the Chilean government. The unions always were very active in those mines even back in the days of American industrial colonialism so they managed to keep raising safety standards. It seems that unions and nationalization of mineral resources work well hand in hand in raising standards across the board even for the private companies whose standards always lag behind the nationalized mines.

This is what we need to do here in America. If we nationalized our mining and petroleum extraction industries, the BP Gulf Oil disaster and Massey Energy Company coal mining disaster in W. Virginia probably would have had a happier ending.

[madmax]

15. Good background check, Cleita.

Should serve as a role model for our miners. However, my rant lately is that workers are fungible in this country and no one, save for the mine workers and their families give a shit.

[madmax]

14. Maybe they just have

'real' family values and a social network and consciousness that gives a shit about people.

Good food for thought, Stinky. :toast:

[femrap]

16. The Big M....

Momentum has shifted southward to S. America. Lots of freedom and democracy...they learned from the Economic Hitmen.

I wish them the best.