| Trapped Chilean miners show hidden depths after two months underground How the 33 Chilean miners and their families have risen to the challenge of their enforced separationPolice Officer Mario Segura had just finished a course on how to save people from drowning. After hours in the cold of the Pacific Ocean, he was back at the station, ready to boil some water, drink some tea and end his 10-hour shift.When the phone rang, he joked "probably a rescue," as the men always seemed to get hauled into the dust-clogged desert when they were about to finish a shift or had just spent the day scrubbing the cars spotless."I could tell by his face it was serious, he completely froze up," said Segura as he described the initial SOS that arrived at the police station on 4 August. Though the mine accident had happened at lunchtime, the specially trained Special Operations Group (GOPE in Spanish) was notified hours later, as the sun set on this deserted corner of northern Chile.Packing ropes, carabiners, oxygen tanks and rescue ladders, the police moved quickly. Mining accidents in this part of Chile, especially in the San Jose mine, were common. "I looked at my watch and it was 7.30pm, I told my buddy we'd be back in three hours," said Segura. "Rescues always last three hours."But when the police commandos were first briefed by geologists from the mine and began to listen to workers describe the "volcano" of dust and debris that had poured from the mountain, they began to unload their entire stash of equipment.For the next 36 hours, in one futile attempt after another, they slowly lowered themselves into the mine as they descended a series of perilous ventilation ducts. Rocks fell around them. Small avalanches sprung from the walls, sending rivers of debris dangerously close to the team. Finally, the men found an entrance into the mine – but it was sealed."Usually a mine collapses and around the edges you can find space or rubble, but this was like one huge rock had just slid down," said Segura. "It looked polished, cleanly cut."With all escape hatches sealed, the miners had no choice but to seek refuge at the bottom of the mine, 688 metres deep, where they had a small refuge and a section of tunnel that would now be home.Luis "Lucho" Urzua was the designated shift leader and a man who commanded great respect from his workers – 32 of whom were now depending on him for leadership. Urzua rose to the occasion. He divided the men into three groups and created a sense of purpose for each man, a move that psychologists would later determine to be a key factor in the men's ability to spend 10 weeks underground without suffering mental breakdowns.Urzua had more than two decades of experience as a miner, but had never worked in a mine as dangerous as San Jose. Locals jokingly called the men who worked there the kamikazes. Rarely did a month go by without serious mishap. In miner lingo, the San Jose mine regularly "goteaba" (dripped), which means rocks the size of a football fell from the roof. More than a few of the 33 trapped miners have missing fingers, a grim reminder that setting explosives in a darkened cave filled with loose rock is about as dangerous as work can be. "He never really talked about how dangerous it was, but we knew," said Carolina Lobos, 26, whose father, Franklin Lobos, is one of the 33. "He had been trapped before, in a different mine when a fire broke out, so we have been outside an accident before, but that one only lasted for 14 hours."Urzua guided his men through the most difficult period, the first 17 days when they had no contact with the outside world and virtually no food. Living off a meagre ration of one spoonful of tuna fish and a half glass of milk every 48 hours, the men survived for 17 days until a rescue drill bored a hole large enough to deliver food, medical supplies and letters from their loved ones.The miners' wives and families could never have imagined that the incident in early August would last a full two months. "I have passed through every possible stage of suffering [including] pain, anguish, terror, panic and uncertainty," said Elvira "Katty" Valdivia, wife of Mario Sepulveda. "You can't imagine the conditions in which these men worked. Mario would come out of there and spit these wads of black I don't know what … Never again will I let him work in a mine."For many relatives, the months have been a mix of anguish and remorse. Several of the miners, it turned out, had multiple families who have now been thrust together on this uncomfortable stage.Johnny Barrios, a shy miner known to be a great sketch artist, was pushed to the centre of the media circus when two women came to the mine to pray for their lover to be free. "Johnny doesn't want to come up," one of the psychologists for the miners would later joke in reference to the uncomfortable confrontation awaiting Barrios.Other miners have confessed that after two months of solitude and reflection, they are aware of a singular truth – the end of their marriage. "I have realised how empty my life has been for all these … years," said one miner who plans to end his marriage on arrival topside.For Victor Zamora, the confinement forced him to slow his perpetual workaholic schedule. "He found his other self down there," said Nelly, his mother, beaming with pride. "He always worked so much, he never stopped for anything, but now he has discovered that he is a poet. What he writes is so moving, so much from his heart, it is all just beautiful."ChileJonathan Franklinguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Chilean miners rescue – live coverage • 17 of the 33 trapped Chilean miners rescued• All rescued miners reported to be in good health• Press play for live video feed courtesy of MSNBC.com• Follow Rory Carroll at the mine on Twitter6.38pm (2.38pm Chile) As if getting out of the mine is not enough, the 33 men have been offered an all expenses paid trip to Greece, according to our man on the ground Jonathan Franklin.Elmin, a Greek mining company, has shown its solidarity with the 33 men by offering to fly each of them and a companion to its country."We want them to relax on our beaches with the sun and our sea," wrote Liberis Polixronopulos, an executive at the firm.The trip includes a stop in Madrid to watch a Real Madrid game, then a trip to England, where they will see Manchester United play. Football clubs around the world have sent signed shirts, while the Chilean football players' association has offered a trip to South Korea.The men will also each be given a free iPod, apparently sent by Steve Jobs himself. Chilean officials withheld the iPods before the rescue, concerned that the men might use music to isolate themselves from their fellow miners.6.30pm (2.30pm Chile) The operation to rescue the trapped Chilean miners at the San José mine in Copiapohas passed the halfway mark. So far, 17 of the 33 miners have been brought to the surface, and all are reported to be in good health.We are bringing you live coverage as the rescue operation continues. Read our coverage of how the operation unfolded earlier today here.ChileAdam Gabbattguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Gay marriage debate persists in some Nov. 2 races By DAVID CRARY 2010-10-17T13:48:51ZNEW YORK (AP) -- This election will be the first since the 1990s without a measure to ban gay marriage on any state ballot, yet the divisive issue is roiling races across the country during a time of tumult for the gay rights movement.... hosted.ap.org |
Tea Partiers keep low profile shock! | Alex Slater Could it be that Republican handlers don't trust their gaffe-prone candidates not to screw up?There are fewer than two weeks to go until the US midterm elections, and everything is in full swing. Overblown candidate advertisements, some good, many bad, and most of dubious integrity, are saturating the airwaves. Pamphlets are plopping into American postboxes all over the country. Canvassing calls are being made from northern Maine to southern California. Results of opinion polls are being released and dissected almost every hour. Only one thing is conspicuously absent: the candidates. More specifically, the Tea Party's candidates.Granted, over the past week or so, many Tea Partiers have been forced to conduct one, and in rare cases two, debates with their opponents. The effects have ranged from the embarrassing (see the dimwitted Sharron Angle versus the poised senate majority leader Harry Reid in Nevada), to the downright farcical (see Carl Paladino, debating with a prostitute).But apart from those rare moments, the political consensus in Washington is this: Tea Party candidates themselves are ducking. They are avoiding conducting campaign stops; they have noticeably reduced or even pulled out of debates with their opponents at the last minute; they don't publicise events they are conducting until the very last minute – so the other side doesn't get a chance to put a camera in the audience.In short, Tea Party politicians – not known for their lack of attraction to the front-side of cameras – are staying behind them.The reason is simple. Tea Party political handlers have little if any trust in their candidates not to screw up public appearances. In the age of YouTube gaffes, one off-the-cuff statement can see the demise of a candidate's campaign in the matter of hours, ruining a career forever. The first, and most famous, example of this phenomenon was demonstrated in 2006 by George Allen, then a senate candidate in Virginia, who would, no doubt, have been a member of the Tea Party, had it existed. He was caught on camera addressing a person of dark skin as "macaca" (a type of monkey). His thus-far successful campaign never recovered.So, today, it's just not worth the risk to the Tea Partiers. Certainly, Tea Party absence comes at a cost – journalists, pundits, blogs and the public notice when candidates avoid them like the plague. But for the candidates it is worth it: take the hit of a few whiny journalists who complain they're not getting access, as opposed to risking everything by appearing in public. Yes, that's just how much political consultants distrust their Tea Party candidates. It may seem absurd, but it is also perversely logical and has basis in truth.Take the example of Ken Buck, a Republican running for senate in Colorado. Earlier this month, he was absent from the campaign trail for a massive 10 days. Then, he was forced to do a debate last weekend in which he made gaffe after gaffe, notably dismissing racism in the Tea Party movement.Candidates for Senate in Kentucky (Rand Paul) and Delaware (Christine O'Donnell) have gone underground since their primary victories. They recognise they are the targets of national media coverage. They also recognise just how out of the mainstream their views are and how likely they are to be pilloried by potential voters. O'Donnell has even denied – in a statement delivered by someone else – that she has gone into hiding.These candidates have taken to such tactics as dashing from buildings to unmarked cars in order to avoid the press, using decoy cars to divert the attention of waiting crowds, literally sprinting away from cameras, even asking reporters to submit their questions in writing so they can get neat, perfectly drawn-up answers in return that come not from the candidate, but from press secretaries.The year of the missing Tea Party candidates has Washington observers scratching their heads for two reasons. First, is this the start of a trend where we'll see statewide candidates guarded and shielded as much as presidential candidates? And second, how on earth are the Tea Party press handlers going to control their candidates who actually become elected officials?The Tea Party candidates can run (literally), but they can't hide forever. And once in the senate or the house chambers, they're going to be unleashed to say whatever they want – usually, the first racist, bigoted or just idiotic pronouncement that comes into their minds.So these are good, important questions – critical to the future of at least the next two years in politics. But don't think of asking the Tea Party candidates for an answer. They're too busy keeping their heads down and waiting for the final whistle to blow on 2 November.Tea Party movementUS midterm elections 2010US politicsUnited StatesDemocratsRepublicansSharron AngleChristine O'DonnellAlex Slaterguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
British Airways chairman pans US security rules By 2010-10-27T15:40:49ZLONDON (AP) -- The United States is making excessive demands for airline passenger screening, including measures it doesn't require on U.S. domestic flights, the chairman of British Airways says.... hosted.ap.org |