Beware of Cannibals!

Ted Turner (of CNN-founding fame, and mega-millionaire status), recently made some rather interesting comments on PBS about how extreme the global situation could become if global warming continues unchecked. One of the dire warnings he put forth for consideration was the prospect of how people, when pushed to the limits with lack of available food, may resort to cannibalism. Here's some of the what was discussed with regards to the global climate change issue:

If steps aren't taken to stem global warming, "We'll be eight degrees hotter in 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow," Turner said during a wide-ranging, hour-long interview with PBS's Charlie Rose that aired Tuesday.

"Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals," said Turner, 69. "Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable."

One way to combat global warming, Turner said, is to stabilize the population.

"We're too many people; that's why we have global warming," he said. "Too many people are using too much stuff."

OK, so this all sounds a bit extreme, or does it?
Fact is, Ted Turner may well be right!

I for one, at least while in my right mind (during this pre-catastrophic-earth period), tell myself I would rather just die of starvation than eat another human being, but who knows... if pushed to the brink, maybe I'd essentially become a zombie where only my deep animal instincts drove me to seek out any and all available "food", be it human or not.

Perhaps Ted Turner had just watched the movie Sweeney Todd (the Demon Barber of Fleet Street), and noticed how Johnny Depp's character (and his fellow house / business tenant) took to killing many a human and turning them into meat pies (which, they served to unsuspecting London consumers during what they characterized as "desperate times" or "hard times"). If 19th Century London is bad enough meat is so scarce, then I guess Ted Turner's 21st post-global-warming-catastrophic-earth conditions would make that look like nothing, and (human) meat-pies may be the menu-item of choice.

Now, instead of becoming a cannibal this year, I have just begun work on my new garden. A nice chunk of the yard (formerly just grass) is becoming what I hope will be a productive vegetable garden. I am doing this for a few reasons: 1) food prices have skyrocketed! and 2) I don't want to rely completely on others for my food. I want variation in my diet, and with this insane push for Ethanol, it seems the only 100% sure way to get the vegetables / crops I want (without paying a fortune) will be to grow my own. So, here's hoping this experiment pays off. And, with luck, I'll raise enough home-grown food I won't have to resort to cannibalism! :)

Less Pain, More Gain? Weightlifting rules changed.

I just couldn't help posting about this study that goes completely against the old "no pain, no gain" rule of weightlifting and muscle building.

Check this out:

Taking daily recommended dosages of ibuprofen and acetaminophen caused a substantially greater increase over placebo in the amount of quadriceps muscle mass and muscle strength gained during three months of regular weight lifting, in a study by physiologists at the Human Performance Laboratory, Ball State University

Isn't that just interesting? So, should we change the saying in the weight room to "less pain, more gain?" An interesting question may also be: will taking a daily Tylenol when lifting, or an Ibuprofin, produce gains equal to that of Anabolic Steroids or Human Growth Hormone (HGH) or protein powders, whey protein, amino acid supplements, etc? :)

Regardless, it was an interesting study.