Last of the Miners

Brought Up to Safety

All 33 Chilean miners have been brought up from the gruesome hole underground, where they spent 68 days. It’s now time for them to start a new chapter in their lives, forever marked by this experience. While the country and world still celebrate their endurance, a few hard questions are in order. First of all, they all should be financially compensated by their employee for the ordeal, while the glare of public scrutiny and the global attention are still on them. One also hopes they’ll sign lucrative publicity deals very soon to assure their families a comfortable life. Above all, Chile will need to revaluate carefully its reliance on a national strategy heavily dependent on mining, against the threat of natural disasters, the damage to the environment, rising health care costs and the ultimate loss of human life commonly associated with such ventures.

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Here’s
Los 33

After spending 69 days buried underground, it’s time for the 33 Chilean miners to start a new chapter in their lives, which will be forever marked by this experience. As the country and world celebrate their endurance, a few hard questions are in order. First of all, they all should be financially compensated by their employee for the ordeal, while the glare of public scrutiny and the global attention are still on them. One also hopes they’ll sign lucrative publicity deals very soon to assure their families a comfortable life. Above all, Chile will need to revaluate carefully its reliance on a national strategy heavily dependent on mining, against the threat of natural disasters, the damage to the environment, rising health care costs and the ultimate loss of human life commonly associated with such ventures.

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Runner of Mine

From Chilean   Miner #12
to New York Marathoner

Edison Peña, the miner who used to run underground while still trapped with 32 others in a Chilean mine for 69 days, is one of the attractions of this year’s marathon, along with your usual lot of African fast runners, fitness go-getters and wheel-chair bound devils. And, regardless of when and how he’ll to reach the finish line today, Peña’s sweet 15 minutes in the New York glare already marked at least one zeitgeist moment: his pitch-perfect – pronunciation, not so much – partial rendition of an Elvis Presley song during a talk show.

 

 

 

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