By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
It's still a natural paradise far out in the Pacific, with thick jungles and stunningly steep and verdant slopes climbing out of the sea. But much of the splendor in the tiny Chilean islands that likely inspired Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" castaway novel is being eaten away.
A magnitude-6.2 earthquake shook down walls and knocked out electricity in parts of far-northern Chile, but no injuries or major damage were reported.
The Chilean government says a volcano in southern Chile that began erupting about two weeks ago is becoming less active. That will allow 4,000 people who were evacuated near the volcano to return home.
With President Obama's state visit earlier this week to India, the role of the government contractor has become an easy target for outsourcing critics backing crowd-pleasing government cost-reduction initiatives. The critical work accomplished by this segment of American industry is being portrayed by some as unnecessary or worse.
Imagine a scenario in which NFL officials - investigating an aggressive and illegal hit - decided to suspend all play by all teams for the entire season pending a full investigation into the adequacy of safety equipment. Now consider how those circumstances would play out if Commissioner Roger Goodell were President Obama, the league were America's oil and gas sectors and the canceled season were the offshore drilling ban.
Didn't we all feel a wonderful sense of togetherness in the human family when we saw those 33 people rescued from that mine in Chile? The Chilean government wasn't afraid to accept the worldwide help that was offered, and great minds created a successful outcome. Years back, the Russians shunned worldwide offers of help and 188 perished aboard their Kursk submarine.
The first video released of the 33 men trapped deep in a Chilean copper mine shows the men stripped to the waist and appearing slim but healthy, arm-in-arm, singing the national anthem and yelling "long live Chile, and long live the miners!" — images that bolstered family members' spirits Friday.
