Viva Chile!

The rescue of the miners in Chile has been a wonderful and welcome change to the usual drudge of the news. The whole world watched with delight as the miners came up one-by-one to the cheers of the crowd on site and the tearful hugs of loved ones.

There is a back story, though, that the Wall Street Journal reports that is worth knowing and that is that private businesses from the U.S. and around the world were the ones that made it happen, not the government. To be sure, the Chilean government to doing everything in its power to save these men, but from the drillers to the drill bit, to the drilling rig (U.S.), to the drilling cable (Germany), to the fiber optic cable that allowed visual and voice communication (Japan), down to the socks with copper wire (U.S. again) that kept the miners' feet dry and free of infection, it was the private sector that stepped in with the expertise and the unwavering commitment that ultimately led to the television pictures that made us all smile. So good job Chile - we are glad your people are back safe and sound! But great job to all those folks in the private sector who made it possible!

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703673604575550322091167574.html