The Associated Press reports more than 2,000 trapped gold miners in South Africa were rescued in a dramatic all-night operation, and efforts gathered speed to bring hundreds more to the surface.Officials say pressurized air pipe snapped at the mine near Johannesburg and tumbled down a shaft Wednesday, causing extensive damage to an elevator and stranding more than 3,000 miners more than a mile underground.

Politopics writes, "They say that Crab Fishermen have the most dangerous job in the world. The men & women in Iraq would probably take issue, but in the world of non-military jobs, working in mines trumps crab fishing in my opinion. This is a disaster. More than 3,000 trapped in South Africa mine - CNN.com. I'm already claustrophobic, so I couldn't imagine being a mine, let along trapped in one."
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Anja Merret says, "It is quite interesting to note how the media in different countries focus their attention and what they consider to be the top stories of the day. A case in point is the mining accident at a Harmony Gold mine near Johannesburg, South Africa, which involves several thousand miners...Today I noticed something quite strange. On the first IOL South Africa newsletter of the day, there is a small little reference to a mine accident. I almost didn’t read it, it was so insignificant...On the other hand the BBC has the mine disaster as second item in their top stories, and second for Spiegel as well. British radio is mentioning the disaster on their hourly newscasts with interviews of Union officials."

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The New York Times reports "when the Justice Department publicly declared torture “abhorrent” in a legal opinion in December 2004, the Bush administration appeared to have abandoned its assertion of nearly unlimited presidential authority to order brutal interrogations."

The report from the Times continues, "But soon after Alberto R. Gonzales’s arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. It was a very different document, according to officials briefed on it, an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures."

Shakesville writes, "...When do we start impeachment proceedings?

Yeah, yeah—I know. But we should. Dammit, at this point, the only way to show this nation does not condone the despicable actions of this administration is to start impeachment proceedings. Even if they fail. We should. It's the right goddamned thing to do."

Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest also blogs at Queen of Spain Blog