Free Republic

IL: Struggling Illinois coal industry excited about Romney By Jayette Bolinski / October 4, 2012 / The Illinois coal industry, struggling since the federal government cracked down on the burning of high-sulfur coal, is excited about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who says he supports the industry. SPRINGFIELD — When it comes to Illinois coal, a lot is riding on the outcome of the November presidential election between Democrat President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. To put it simply, if you’re for coal in Illinois, then you can’t be for Obama, said Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois...

Hundreds of coal miners and their families stand in line while waiting to attend a rally at the Century Mine near Beallsville, Ohio, for Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012.

<p>JOHANNESBURG — Frantic wives searched for missing loved ones, President Jacob Zuma rushed home from a regional summit and some miners vowed a fight to the death Friday as police finally announced the toll from the previous day's shooting by officers of striking platinum miners: 34 dead and 78 wounded.</p>

In obscure, blue-collar towns across Appalachia -- places that most Americans have never seen -- generations of coal miners have toiled away at back-breaking labor to power American homes and industry. Now, as many as 200,000 of them who dig, process, transport and burn America's most abundant fuel are threatened by EPA's latest coal rule. It imposes a standard for emissions that is all but impossible for many plants to meet. It requires coal-fired plants to release no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour. The only means for many older plants to attain that standard is...

Bolivian President Evo Morales has abandoned a public event in the face of an angry protests over food shortages and price rises. Mr Morales was due to address a parade to commemorate a colonial-era uprising in the mining city of Oruro. But he and his team left the city to avoid a violent demonstration by miners throwing dynamite.There have also been protests in other Bolivian cities over the shortage of sugar and other basic foodstuffs.Mr Morales cut short his visit and returned to La Paz after protesters set off explosions close to where he was preparing to give a speech...

“All these people who got MBAs made a mistake,” according to Jim Rogers, the commodities investor, at the Reuters Investment Outlook Summit last month. “The City of London and Wall Street are not going to be great places to be in the next two or three decades. It’s going to be the people who produce real goods in charge – the farmers and the miners.” With commodities up 42pc since the beginning of last year, according to a basket tracked by Reuters, his words certainly ring true for 2010. An array of metals from gold to copper have hit record...

LA PAZ, Bolivia Bucking a global trend, leftist-led Bolivia is lowering its retirement age and nationalizing its pension funds. Bolivia's Congress approved legislation early Friday to make Bolivians eligible for full pensions at age 58. The country's 70,000 miners will get to retire two years earlier. The previous retirement age was 65 for men and 60 for women. Bolivia's decision to lower its retirement age runs counter to a global trend to raise retirement ages as life expectancies rise, birth rates drop and national treasuries come under strain from pension obligations. France raised its minimum retirement age to 62 last...

Greg and Angie Hall / The rescue operation in Chile On Wednesday, the world watched in anticipation as 33 Chilean miners finally began to emerge through a narrow shaft, drilled half a mile below the earth. The extraordinary man who helped save them, Drillers Supply International co-owner Greg Hall, is also training to become a deacon in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston next February.EWTN News spoke to his wife Angelica Hall (with whom he runs Drillers Supply) on Wednesday, about her husband's service to the Church, and the role their Catholic faith had played in helping them plan the rescue.While...

<p>A backlash against China's powerful presence in the Zambian economy has been triggered by an incident in which 11 miners were shot by Chinese managers.</p> <p>Police said that the Chinese executives opened fire on workers protesting against poor pay and conditions at the Collum coal mine in the southern Sinazongwe province on Friday.</p>

Chilean Miners Return For Emotional Service (Copiapo, Chile) -- Thirteen of 33 rescued men returned yesterday to the Chilean mine where they were trapped for more than two months. The men took part in a service, led by Roman Catholic and Protestant clergy, at "Camp Hope." That's the tent city adjacent to the mine where friends and family gathered in hopes that the men would be rescued. Though the service was closed to the press, participants were heard clapping loudly and singing Chile's national anthem. Meanwhile, the rescued miners are so far honoring a pact of silence about the horrors...

Why didn't the press cover the fact they wore these tee shirts over their overalls?

- Satire - Watching with moist eye the rescue of the thirty-three miners from the collapsed San Jose mine in Copiopo, Chile I found myself inspired by the sense of purpose and pride displayed by the actors in this all too real life drama. The unbending commitment of each and every Chilean and foreign national involved in rescue operation was genuinely heartwarming. (snip) It is an instinct that is shared by the citizens of the United States, an innate quality imbedded in the DNA of every American. Or is it? What if Copiopo was located on the western slope of...

Two minute video that I know you will share with other Christians. Here.

The oldest freed miner has given in to his partner after 30 years and agreed to marry her in a church ceremony.Mario Gomez, 63, told delighted Lilianet, 51, their big day will be on his 64th birthday next month.Speaking about the emotional moment Mario emerged at the surface, Lilianet said: "The first thing I did was to kneel down and thank God and the Virgin Mary."The couple, who have four children and seven grandchildren, embraced before he revealed his wedding plans.She said: "He told me that we were going to get married by the church on November 7, the...

It needs to be said. The rescue of the Chilean miners is a smashing victory for free-market capitalism. Amid the boundless human joy of the miners' liberation, it may seem churlish to make such a claim. It is churlish. These are churlish times, and the stakes are high.

President Obama on Thursday called Chilean President Sebastian Piñera to congratulate him and his government on the rescue of 33 trapped miners after 69 days underground, the White House said in a statement. "The president hailed the rescue as a tribute not only to the determination of the rescue workers and the Chilean government, but also the miners and the Chilean people who have inspired the world. President Piñera conveyed his thanks to the president, the United States government, and the American companies and individuals who provided support for the rescue efforts," the statement said.

At the San Jose mine near Copiapo in Chile all the miners have emerged, one by one, including those brave men who went underground yesterday to help with the extraction from 642 m below surface. The industry at large should view this as a great triumph. This, more than anything we have ever done over the last decades, has had the general public interested in the mining industry. The incident has certainly shown mining engineers in a very positive, professional light. It also, inadvertently, contrasted the oil and mining industries, following so close after the drawn out BP oil spill...

Reader Carlos Caso-Rosendi wrote (slightly edited): You may look at the time-stamp on this message and wonder, what am I doing sending e-mails at this ungodly hour? I have a good explanation: I'm watching the Chilean television coverage of the rescue at the San José mine, near Copiapó in Chile's Atacama Desert, 10,000 feet over sea level with mountains reaching well over 20,000 feet on both sides. That is a terrible place. If it never rains in southern California, it rains even less in Atacama. The sparse life that survives there depends on the camanchaca (the blinder), a very thick...

Yes, another Mattews post. But this is just too great to pass up. Matthews goes on one of those very special rants as he explains why the government is good. His guest … AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, of course, concurs. Set aside we do not want to eliminate government … try and follow the logic.

NY Times' Media Decoder blog CNN's ratings surged on Tuesday night, as it broadcast the first rescue of 33 miners who had been trapped in a Chilean mine, reports The New York Times' Media Decoder blog. The cable-news network, usually in third place, jumped to first place with 5 million viewers between 11 p.m. and 11:15 p.m., when the first miner surfaced, the story says. Fox News Channel averaged 4.3 million viewers, while 1.3 million people tuned into MSNBC. The three channels combined typically draw just 2 million viewers at that time, the article points out. Audiences stayed up late...