Miners

It was evidently good enough for Gilligan and Robinson Crusoe. But is coconut water a healthy choice for people who aren't stranded on a deserted island? A longstanding treat in tropical regions across the globe, coconut water hit U.S. supermarkets a few years back and is now being marketed with a vengeance. Sometimes billed as nature's sports drink, the slightly sour beverage has also acquired a reputation for being able to improve circulation, slow aging, fight viruses, boost immunity, and reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Pete and Jack Diehl grew up in the tall clapboard house their German immigrant ancestors built in 1842, on a hillside overlooking a creek in the Catskills. Sharp-featured and lean, the brothers run dairy farms within a couple miles of each other. They own land together, and Pete's grandson works on Jack's farm every day after school. But the Diehls are divided over the fate of their property — like thousands of others along the Pennsylvania border, where rich natural gas deposits underlie forests, pastures and towns.

Watching the events unfold around Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch coal mine the last few weeks created an uneasy sense of deja vu. And it had less to do with 29 miners' bodies below ground than with power plays and corporate hubris above it. The deadly West Virginia mine explosion came four days after the 100th anniversary of the start of a lengthy Colorado coal strike that eventually led to open guerrilla warfare between miners and the...

Fluoride is a natural mineral with an unnatural ability to stir controversy. On the Internet, the cavity fighter is often portrayed as a grave threat to health. Various sites call it "a deadly poison" and "an invisible killer" - the sort of thing you'd want to avoid if you had any choice. Most toothpastes contain fluoride, but people who prefer to brush without the additive have plenty of options. Tom's of Maine, a health and beauty company based in Kennebunk, sells several varieties of fluoride-free pastes.

Chile freed the last of 33 miners from imprisonment nearly half a mile underground late Wednesday, the miracle of a second chance at life made real by the methodical shuttle of a battered red, white and blue rescue capsule willed on by a joyful nation and global audience of hundreds of millions. When 54-year-old foreman Luis Urzua emerged at 9:55 p.m. from the 28-inch-diameter hole that curved deep into the San Jose mine, it had been 69 days since the miners were trapped, 52 days since they were able to declare to the world that they were still alive ?

What's in a name Re "Dishonored," Opinion, May 10 Karl Jacoby's general issue with how Americans do not fully grasp our Native American past is true in many respects, but I did not take the military code-name "Geronimo" as denigrating to the Apache leader. Quite the contrary. Whether we were playing games as kids or riding a roller- coaster, to yell out "Geronimo" was something of a war cry, a battle yell — shouting the name of that brave warrior to provide adrenaline and courage.

The saga of 33 Chilean miners trapped in a sweltering chamber 2,000 feet below the Earth's surface has gripped the world. For nearly three weeks before rescuers made contact, these disciplined men tunneled for water and survived on two spoonfuls of tuna, sips of milk and a cracker every two days. Their rations have nourished faith and inspired hope for humanity. But their dusty imprisonment in the San Jose gold and copper mine since Aug. 5 also has provoked horror and rage at an industry that time and again fails to protect its workers.

Miners and people in the hotel and food service industry have the highest smoking rates, while those in education have the lowest, finds a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on smoking prevalence in various professions. Data from the National Health Interview Survey found that overall the incidence of smoking was highest among those who didn't graduate high school, had no health insurance and lived below the federal poverty line. Smoking rates among all working adults surveyed was 19.6%.

For once, it was good news that came out from the depths of a Chinese coal mine as 115 workers were rescued Monday after eight days and eight nights trapped underground in Shanxi province. The extraordinary rescue turned into a round-the-clock reality show with state-run CCTV broadcasting live footage of the rescue workers carrying out the miners to a cheering audience. Crews were still hoping Monday night to bring out 38 more. Although the miners had their faces wrapped with towels to protect their eyes after so many days in darkness, their elation was evident.

Four rescue crews made their way into the Upper Big Branch mine just before 5 a.m. Eastern time Thursday in an attempt to reach four miners unaccounted for since the devastating explosion that killed 25 coworkers Monday, Gov. Joe Manchin III told reporters. "We are in full recovery mode," Manchin said at an early morning news conference. "They are advancing. They will move as rapidly as they possibly can." Once rescue crews are deep inside the mine, they will decide whether to also try to recover the bodies of 18 miners near the two locations where officials hope the four missing miners will be found.

As USC's basketball practice finished Friday, an unfamiliar face joined the players in a huddle. Trojans Coach Kevin O'Neill introduced the man as the greatest player in the program's history. "I want you all to meet Harold Miner," he said. Miner's No. 23 jersey will be retired at Sunday's USC-UCLA game at the Galen Center. A large photo of him already hangs in the corner of the practice arena. "I really miss being around the game," Miner said later. "I've been away for a long time.

Question: Please give your thoughts on Gilead Sciences Inc. stock, which has been recommended to me. Answer: This biotechnology company is a leader in discovering, developing and marketing therapies for treating life-threatening infectious diseases. For example, it recently submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration for marketing approval of its single-tablet, once-daily regimen, called Quad, for treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults. Atripla, a three-drug pill, touts itself as "the No. 1 prescribed HIV regimen.

Miners and people in the hotel and food service industry have the highest smoking rates, while those in education have the lowest, finds a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on smoking prevalence in various professions. Data from the National Health Interview Survey found that overall the incidence of smoking was highest among those who didn't graduate high school, had no health insurance and lived below the federal poverty line. Smoking rates among all working adults surveyed was 19.6%.

Seventeen thousand feet above sea level, at the top of the Lake Titicaca basin in Peru, the gray-black slopes sparkle with tiny flakes of gold. Each day, 40,000 people with pickaxes and crude hydraulic drills work the shaft mines of La Rinconada. Another few thousand toil in teams sifting sand in an open pit mine at the headwaters of the lake's principal tributary. A gold rush is on in this part of the Andes. New fortunes are made by a few, while many others toil amid mass squalor.

The story of the Chilean miners who were trapped underground for more than two months is on its way to the big screen. The 33 miners have sold the rights to their story to producer Mike Medavoy, the producer and the miners' representatives announced Monday. The planned film will recount the remarkable plight of the miners who were trapped for 69 days after the San Jose mine they were working in collapsed near Copiapo, Chile. "Motorcycle Diaries" screenwriter Jose Rivera is set to write the script.

No one had to explain it to Rory McIlroy — he understood the significance of the moment. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland had just won the U.S. Open, capturing his first major, and already his name was being mentioned in the same breath as Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. McIlroy had become the Next Big Thing. "When you win a major quite early in your career, everyone is going to draw comparisons," he told reporters. "It's natural. " Modern sport thrives on star power, feeding off those rarified athletes who come along once a generation or so, talented and successful enough to become icons.

The remains of all four miners missing from the devastating explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine were found by rescue crews late Friday night, ending a desperate, four-day search for men who authorities now say were killed by the blast Monday afternoon. "We did not receive the miracle we prayed for," West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III said at a news conference at 12:30 a.m. Eastern time. The discovery of the four bodies brings the total death toll from the explosion Monday at the mine to 29, making it the worst mining disaster in nearly 40 years.

SANTIAGO -- Thirty-three Chilean miners trapped 17 days deep underground sent a message that they were all alive Sunday, but rescuers said it could take until Christmas to dig them out. President Sebastian Pinera said the miners' note was tied to a drill that rescuers used to bore into the area near an underground shelter, where the miners took refuge after an Aug. 5 cave-in at the small gold and copper mine in the far north. "The 33 of us in the shelter are well," read the message written with red paint on a piece of paper that Pinera held aloft on television.

Reporting from Ladrymbai, India The young miners descend on rickety ladders made of branches into the makeshift coal mines dotting the Jaintia Hills in northeast India, scrambling sideways into "rat hole" shafts so small that even kneeling becomes impossible. Lying horizontally, they hack away with picks and their bare hands: Human labor here is far cheaper than machines. Many wear flip-flops and shorts, their faces and lungs blackened by coal. None have helmets. Two hours of grinding work fills a cart half the size of a coffin that they drag back, crouching, to the mouth where a clerk credits their work.

What's in a name Re "Dishonored," Opinion, May 10 Karl Jacoby's general issue with how Americans do not fully grasp our Native American past is true in many respects, but I did not take the military code-name "Geronimo" as denigrating to the Apache leader. Quite the contrary. Whether we were playing games as kids or riding a roller- coaster, to yell out "Geronimo" was something of a war cry, a battle yell — shouting the name of that brave warrior to provide adrenaline and courage.