All Thirty Three

[goldcatt]

hurrah! pretty incredible stuff. 69 days, 2,000 feet below. I'd have lost my sanity.

The times I have been in mines, just one hour creeps me out.

But miners are a different breed. They spend 12 hours a day in the mines, not seeing the sun is part of their lives.

What I find terrifying is the first few weeks when nobody knew they were alive. Having to go day by day doubting whether you could be rescued.

I know miners are a tough breed, we still have veterans of the deep mines here from before it all switched over to strip mining. But I can't imagine even men that accustomed to the mines being trapped in the dark for those first weeks, not knowing if it was their tomb....my hat's off to every one of these men. And to the Chileans, they're pros when it comes to mining but this was above and beyond what any nation would be prepared for and they handled it wonderfully.

 

[boedicca]

The President of Chile is a real leader of his people.

Obama is a self-absorbed pile of shit.

You and Boedicca are pathetic. Peddle your partisan babble elsewhere for once. This is great news, leave it at that.

What's pathetic is to witness an achievement and to either ignore or not understand what made that achievement possible.

Leadership matters.

Pinera is inspirational. What a refreshing reminder of what leaders can and should do.

 

[rightwinger]

The President of Chile is a real leader of his people.

Obama is a self-absorbed pile of shit.

You and Boedicca are pathetic. Peddle your partisan babble elsewhere for once. This is great news, leave it at that.

What's pathetic is to witness an achievement and to either ignore or not understand what made that achievement possible.

Leadership matters.

Pinera is inspirational. What a refreshing reminder of what leaders can and should do.

Maybe I missed it.

Can you fill us in on what direct leadership he provided in extracting the miners?

 

[boedicca]

You really don't pay attention to the news.

What Pinera did:

- Made saving the miners a national objective (unlike how 2,000 miners per year are allowed to die in cave-ins each year in China)
- Sought and secured resources and experts from around the world
- Oversaw multiple plans so there were alternatives
- Acted quickly
- Was visibly on site providing comfort and encouragement
- Communicated frequently and clearly with the public
- Avoided assigning blame and looking for someone to blame

His dignified and joyous reaction last night as the last miner was rescued was lovely. He let that man be the center of attention, and bore respectful witness (unlike making it all about himself).

He's a leader. Something that is becoming increasingly scarce.

 

[Nate]

You really don't pay attention to the news.

What Pinera did:

- Made saving the miners a national objective (unlike how 2,000 miners per year are allowed to die in cave-ins each year in China)
- Sought and secured resources and experts from around the world
- Oversaw multiple plans so there were alternatives
- Acted quickly
- Was visibly on site providing comfort and encouragement
- Communicated frequently and clearly with the public
- Avoided assigning blame and looking for someone to blame

His dignified and joyous reaction last night as the last miner was rescued was lovely. He let that man be the center of attention, and bore respectful witness (unlike making it all about himself).

He's a leader. Something that is becoming increasingly scarce.

Up top, Pinera was a true leader of Chile but down below it was Luis Urzua;

Under Mr Urzua's leadership, the men stretched an emergency food supply meant to last just 48 hours over 2½ weeks, taking tiny sips of milk and bites of tuna fish every other day.

"We had only a little food," Mr Urzua said. "We give thanks to God that we were able to resist" eating it all right away.

The trapped men made sparing use of their helmet lamps - their only source of light other than a few vehicles. They fired up a bulldozer to carve into a natural water deposit, but otherwise minimized use of the vehicles, which contaminated the available air.

Mr Urzua said that when rescuers first made contact by pounding a narrow borehole into their refuge, the miners were so elated that "everyone wanted to hug the hammer."

He described the difficulties of the first days, saying that it took about three hours for the dust to settle before the men could inspect where tons of collapsed rock sealed off the main way out.

He said he knew they were in for a long wait: "I saw (the collapsed rock). Many thought it would be two days. But when I saw it, I knew otherwise."

Chile mine rescue: Luis Urzua profile - Telegraph

Without Urzua this could have been a tragedy...

 

[Old Rocks]

However, he did state that there would be an accounting for what went wrong in the mine collapse. And that there would be a 'treaty or contract' with the miners to ensure safer standards in the mines. All of which is as it should be.

 

[boedicca]

You really don't pay attention to the news.

What Pinera did:

- Made saving the miners a national objective (unlike how 2,000 miners per year are allowed to die in cave-ins each year in China)
- Sought and secured resources and experts from around the world
- Oversaw multiple plans so there were alternatives
- Acted quickly
- Was visibly on site providing comfort and encouragement
- Communicated frequently and clearly with the public
- Avoided assigning blame and looking for someone to blame

His dignified and joyous reaction last night as the last miner was rescued was lovely. He let that man be the center of attention, and bore respectful witness (unlike making it all about himself).

He's a leader. Something that is becoming increasingly scarce.

Up top, Pinera was a true leader of Chile but down below it was Luis Urzua;

Under Mr Urzua's leadership, the men stretched an emergency food supply meant to last just 48 hours over 2½ weeks, taking tiny sips of milk and bites of tuna fish every other day.

"We had only a little food," Mr Urzua said. "We give thanks to God that we were able to resist" eating it all right away.

The trapped men made sparing use of their helmet lamps - their only source of light other than a few vehicles. They fired up a bulldozer to carve into a natural water deposit, but otherwise minimized use of the vehicles, which contaminated the available air.

Mr Urzua said that when rescuers first made contact by pounding a narrow borehole into their refuge, the miners were so elated that "everyone wanted to hug the hammer."

He described the difficulties of the first days, saying that it took about three hours for the dust to settle before the men could inspect where tons of collapsed rock sealed off the main way out.

He said he knew they were in for a long wait: "I saw (the collapsed rock). Many thought it would be two days. But when I saw it, I knew otherwise."

Chile mine rescue: Luis Urzua profile - Telegraph

Without Urzua this could have been a tragedy...

Indeed. And that's why Pinera standing back and letting Urzua be the center of attention when he was the last to be rescued was so significant.

Leadership opportunities arise for everyone - it's wonderful to see someone be at the right place at the right time, and succeed.

 

[saveliberty]

Chile has a market-oriented economy characterized by a high level of foreign trade and a reputation for strong financial institutions and sound policy that have given it the strongest sovereign bond rating in South America. Exports account for more than one-fourth of GDP, with commodities making up some three-quarters of total exports. Copper alone provides one-third of government revenue.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ci.html

This probably explains a lot of it.

 

[boedicca]

I wish we would adopt their version of privatized retirement savings accounts (designed per the guidance of Milton Friendman).

 

[goldcatt]

Chile has a market-oriented economy characterized by a high level of foreign trade and a reputation for strong financial institutions and sound policy that have given it the strongest sovereign bond rating in South America. Exports account for more than one-fourth of GDP, with commodities making up some three-quarters of total exports. Copper alone provides one-third of government revenue.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ci.html

This probably explains a lot of it.

They have a lot of experience with mining in general and copper in particular, true. They have some world class scientists as far as geologists too, working both with the mines and their assorted geologic hot spots. This was up their alley if it was up anyone's, but still a challenge they deserve a lot of credit for pulling off well - both the rescuers and the miners.