Chile Comes Through

So I bitched a lot about the mysterious toxic gas cloud in Santiago yesterday. I accused the government, the press -- no, in a fit of repentable irrascibility I accused the entire nation of Chile -- of being either incompetent or corrupt, take your pick, it didn't matter, because we were all gonna die anyway if God hadn't sent miraculous 6 km/hr to sweep the cloud, which 2km in diameter, out to the mountains to knock off a few sheep herders for all we know.

But I take it back, Chile. I'm sorry. I realize I spoke too soon.

Because flipping through El Mercurio this morning I found a prominently placed article on page C7 that really put me at ease, democracy in action, the press getting to the bottom of it:

No longer is it a "toxic gas cloud," reports El Mercurio, but rather a "mysterious bad smell." They site government officials interviewed saying that they still don't know what happened it really wasn't that serious, and if you think about it hard enough, it actually didn't happen.

Well, this isn't the first time i've gotten really angry and then had to back down, standing corrected for speaking to soon, so I know the routine.

Time for a guilt trip. How could I have spoken anything bad about Chileans, when flipping further through El Mercurio I find this -- check it out:

Robbie Williams, after being received by 45 thousand fans in Santiago, reports that his confidence is restored.

In fact, he had been suffering from depression, which had caused him to cancel his tour to Asia. But now, all that's changed, he's back on tour...thanks to Chile.

Thank you, Chile.

Thank you.