Back on board 2013

It has been a long time since I posted on this blog, almost a year. A lot has happened in a year some good, some bad and some ugly, LOL.

I spent 6 months in Brasil and then 6 months in West Yorkshire in the UK. The training went OK not as well as I hoped but slipping down the stairs the end of October was a disaster and although no ribs were cracked as initially thought it wrote off the final 2 months of the year. January 2013 came and hopes were high but the worst snow I ever experienced meant it was very difficult to get out and run, however the last week I have managed to get out 7 times for a 5 mile run.

A Curse on Hydropower Projects in the Amazon?

PORTO VELHO, Brazil, Feb 24, 2012 - "Perhaps it's the curse of Rondônia," joked Ari Ott, referring to teething troubles with the first turbine of the Santo Antônio hydroelectric plant which was intended to kick off a new cycle of huge power projects in Brazil's Amazon jungle region.

The enormous turbine, designed to generate 71.6 megawatts of electricity, overheated during initial tests in December and the necessary repairs delayed its coming on stream, now announced for late March, by at least three months.

Professor Ott, of the Federal University of Rondônia, said the problems "do not bode well" for the 44 turbines to be installed over a period of four years at the complex located on the Madeira river and run by the Santo Antônio Energia consortium, which is made up of Brazilian companies Odebrecht and Andrade Gutiérrez and other investors.

The use of high power "bulb" turbines is an innovation in Amazon jungle rivers that is suited to the low gradient and high flow rate of the Madeira river. Placed horizontally, unlike traditional vertical turbines, they require much less of a fall of water: in Santo Antônio, the drop will be only 13.9 metres.

Ott is not sure whether the turbines will be able to cope with the large amount of sediment carried by the river, which is still "a 'young' river, changing its shape and bed" with the seasons and carrying large numbers of trees along with its waters.

"When I used to bathe near the Santo Antônio waterfall, it would take days to get rid of the fine sediment that penetrated my pores," said Ott, a medical doctor and anthropologist of German descent, who has witnessed the transformations that have taken place in Rondônia over the past three decades.

It would seem to be unimaginable that those responsible for a project requiring an investment of nearly nine billion dollars should not only make such a technical blunder, but also repeat it in a similar project, the Jirau hydroelectric plant, which is under construction upstream on the Madeira, some 110 km southwest of the Santo Antônio dam.

Both designs were based on sediment studies, although these were questioned by environmentalists.

The "curse of Rondônia" that may yet frustrate these large local projects is said to have arisen in the early history of this northwestern Brazilian state which is largely covered with Amazon rainforest, Ott explained.

Porto Velho, the state capital, was originally a labourers' camp for the workers who built the Madeira-Mamoré railway in the early 20th century to transport latex, the raw material of natural rubber, extracted from the native rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) that grows dispersed in the rainforest. Latex exports were a source of great wealth in the Amazon regions of Brazil and Bolivia.

The natural route for exports was the extensive Madeira river, the largest tributary of the mighty Amazon river which flows into the Atlantic.

The upper basin of the Madeira covers central and northern Bolivia, southeastern Peru and western Brazil. But there is an unnavigable stretch, upriver from Porto Velho to Guajará-mirim, which the 366-km railway was built to circumvent, through forests and swamps.

The completion of the railway was one of the terms of a 1903 treaty to compensate Bolivia for territory previously taken by Brazil, comprising the present-day Brazilian state of Acre.

But the railway, a gigantic undertaking in its time, cost the lives of thousands of workers who arrived from every continent, but especially from the British West Indies. Tropical diseases like malaria and beriberi decimated the workforce, killing or disabling most of the labourers within a few months of arrival and creating a constant need for replacements.

In a tragic irony of history, the railway was inaugurated at the very moment that the Amazonian rubber business went into decline, due to the low prices of the more competitive and rapidly expanding rubber tree plantations established from seedlings taken by the British from Brazil to Malaya (now Malaysia).

Now uneconomic, the early railway service was repeatedly interrupted, there were conflicts with the latex exporters, and in 1931 the Madeira-Mamoré railway concession owned by U.S. and European capital threw in the towel. The railway limped on intermittently until 1972, thanks to efforts by the Brazilian government.

The laying of 1,786 km of telegraph lines to Porto Velho was a similar epic exploit, led by military commander Cândido Rondon, a national hero later promoted to army field marshal, after whom the state of Rondônia was named.

In addition to suffering from malaria and other diseases, his expeditions were attacked repeatedly by native groups. His reaction was never to counter-attack, but to seek out peaceful contact, and his attitude inspired the policy of protection of indigenous peoples in Brazil.

But by the time Rondon finally got the telegraph cables to Porto Velho in 1914, radio telegraphy had just been invented, said Ott. The workers who laid the lines and the telegraph operators "were abandoned to their fate for decades, and survived in native fashion, by hunting and fishing," he added.

Nevertheless, laying the cables was not a complete waste of time, because the wireless telegraph system proved ineffective in the Amazonian climate, said Carlos Muller, a journalist who wrote his doctoral thesis on the history of telecommunications in Brazil.

Muller pointed out that Rondon also blazed the trail for the road route that, five decades later, would connect Rondônia with central Brazil.

That very road, the BR-364, became an axis of the expansion of the agricultural frontier from the 1970s on, associated with rising deforestation, conflicts over land-grabbing, disorderly migration, massacres of indigenous people and invasion of their ancestral lands, especially in Rondônia.

And the situation took a turn for the worse in the 1980s when the road was paved, a glaring example of the disastrous projects financed by the World Bank. Efforts were made to correct the mistakes in later decades, with the environmentally oriented Rondônia Agricultural and Forestry Plan (PLANAFLORO).

The Samuel hydroelectric plant, built between 1982 and 1989 on the Jamari river, a tributary of the Madeira, is another ecological disaster that is also apparently under a curse. The reservoir flooded 540 square km and the output is barely 216 megawatts. In comparison, the Santo Antônio reservoir will flood an area 35 percent smaller and have a 14.5-fold greater capacity.

Intensive activity by wildcat miners extracting gold and cassiterite have also brought more social and environmental problems than benefits to many places in the state.

Professor Ott carries out and directs university research into the impacts on the health of indigenous people of the "invasions" of Rondônia by outsiders, of which there is now a third wave.

After infectious diseases like measles and chickenpox came a wave of "modern" ailments like cancer, diabetes, heart disease and AIDS, and now "social pathologies" such as a rise in the murder rate, alcoholism and domestic violence, which "would once have been inconceivable in indigenous communities," Ott said.

Rape, which has become common, formerly did not exist in a culture where men "were gentlemen" in sexual relations, following the woman's lead, according to Ott.

The anthropologist derives satisfaction from the backpedalling forced on the Santo Antônio Energia company in negotiations with indigenous people who are indirectly affected by the hydroelectric plant.

The Karitiana people, who "live well" on their reservation 90 km from Porto Velho, realised that the consortium building the power station was paying compensation on a village by village basis. They promptly tripled the number of their villages, and received more reparations, including pick-up trucks, than originally envisaged.

How old is too old?

TOKYO Seventy-year-old Japanese equestrian Hiroshi Hoketsu has qualified for the London Olympics
Hoketsu qualified by winning an international dressage meet in France on Thursday. Japanese equestrian officials said Sunday an announcement will be made soon on whether he will actually compete in London. Hoketsu will turn 71 on March 28.
The oldest Olympian in history was Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who won a silver medal at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, at 72. It was his sixth medal in three games.
Hoketsu is based in Germany and become Japan's oldest Olympian when he competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics at 67.

Brazil Senator Is Accused of Keeping 35 Workers in Slave like Conditions

The Brazilian government has charged a senator with keeping 35 workers in slave like conditions on his ranch in the Amazon jungle state of Para, the Supreme Court said Friday on its Web site. In 2004, Labour Ministry inspectors found the employees on Senator João Ribeiro’s ranch working 78 hours a week with no medical assistance, no days off and living in “subhuman” conditions. The inspectors found that the workers racked up debts to the ranch for food and equipment, which were deducted from their wages and left them permanently indebted and unable to leave. Senator Ribeiro said the workers were never prevented from leaving.

Growing taste for elephant meat in Thailand raises risk of extinction claims horrified animal welfare group

Increased demand for meat including tusks and sex organs

Meat order was allegedly made by Phuket restaurants

The elephant, a national symbol in Thailand, is facing a new threat because of a developing taste for its meat in the country, it was claimed today.

The new interest in consuming the animal includes everything from trunks to sex organs, and could pose a significant risk to the survival of the species.

Wildlife officials said that they were alerted to the practice after finding two elephants slaughtered last month in a national park in western Thailand.

'The poachers took away the elephants' sex organs and trunks ... for human consumption,' Damrong Phidet, director-general of Thailand's wildlife agency, said in a telephone interview.

He said that some of the meat was being consumed raw, in a elephant meat sushi style.

Poachers typically just remove tusks, which are most commonly found on Asian male elephants and command high figures on the black market.

But a market for elephant meat, could lead to killing of the wider elephant population, Damrong said.

'If you keep hunting elephants for this, then they'll become extinct,' he said.
Consuming elephant meat is not common in Thailand, but some Asian cultures believe consuming animals' reproductive organs can boost sexual prowess.

Damrong said the elephant meat was ordered by restaurants in Phuket, a popular travel destination in the country's south. It wasn't clear if the diners were foreigners.

The accusation drew a quick rebuttal from Phuket Governor Tri Akradecha, who told Thai media that he had never heard of such restaurants but ordered officials to look into the matter.

The trend is a worry because poaching elephants is already banned in the country, and trafficking or possessing poached animal parts also is illegal.
Elephant tusks are sought in the illegal ivory trade, and baby wild elephants are sometimes poached to be trained for talent shows.

'The situation has come to a crisis point. The longer we allow these cruel acts to happen, the sooner they will become extinct,' Damrong said.

The quest for ivory remains the top reason poachers kill elephants in Thailand, other environmentalists say.

Soraida Salwala, the founder of Friends of the Asian Elephant foundation, said a full grown pair of tusks could be sold from 1 million to 2 million baht (£20,000 to £40,300), while the estimated value of an elephant's penis is more than 30,000 baht (£607).

'There's only a handful of people who like to eat elephant meat, but once there's demand, poachers will find it hard to resist the big money,' she cautioned.

Thailand has fewer than 3,000 wild elephants and about 4,000 domesticated elephants, according to the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.

Don’t hurt my baby Pregnant orang-utan protectively hugs her daughter as ruthless Borneo bounty hunters move in for the kill

As bounty hunters with bush knives entrapped them in a circle and moved in for the kill, the only thing this mother orang-utan could think to do was to wrap a giant protective arm around her daughter.
The pair seemed to be facing a certain death as a gang of hunters surrounded them in Borneo, keen to cash in on the palm oil plantations' bid to be ride of the animals.
But, happily, a team from the British-based international animal rescue group Four Paws arrived in time to stop the slaughter and saved their lives.
The pregnant mother and daughter were captured and moved to a remote and safe area of the rainforest and released back into the wild - but not before the mother was equipped with a radio device so she and her young can be tracked to ensure they remain safe.

'Our arrival could not have been more timely,' said Dr Signe Preuschoft, a Four Paws primate expert.

Mother and daughter were captured and moved to a remote and safe area of the rainforest and released back into the wild - but not before the mother was equipped with a radio device so she and her young can be tracked to ensure they remain safe.
'Our arrival could not have been more timely,' said Dr Signe Preuschoft, a Four Paws primate expert.

A few minutes later and the orang-utans could have been dead.

We discovered a gang of young men surrounding them and both victims were clearly petrified.

The gang meanwhile were jubilant in anticipation of their rewards for catching and killing the animals. These massacres must not be allowed to continue.'

Rescue when the animal rescue group found the 'clearly petrified' mother and baby they discovered a gang of young men who were looking to cash in on the palm oil companies' offer of £70 per orang-utan

Before the rescue, a Four Paws team had scoured the area on the Indonesian side of Borneo, which is shared with Malaysia, but found no other orang-utans which had survived an earlier slaughter.

Deforestation has dramatically reduced their habitat and their numbers have dropped from 250,000 a few decades ago to only 50,000 in the wild.

And while the loss of their habitat by logging companies has created a major threat to their existence, a more brutal form of reducing their numbers has emerged in recent years - direct slaughter.

Palm oil is used in hundreds of products from chocolate to oven chips, but the demand for buying it at a low price has resulted in significant deforestation as habitats are being destroyed to make way for plantations.

Some palm oil companies see orang-utans as pests, a threat to their lucrative business, and have placed a bounty on their heads.

Company executives are reported to be offering up to £70 to employees for each orang-utan killed on the palm oil plantations.

While such stories were at first denied, proof of the slaughter emerged last September when graves and bones were found by investigators.

'Killing of orang-utans is illegal in Indonesia but the law is lacking enforcement,' said a British Four Paws spokesman.

'Before November last year only two low-level arrests had ever been made.
'But in the last two months 10 more arrests have taken place including the arrest of the senior manager of the plantation where the worst graves have been found.'
In an equally tragic scenario, babies left alive after adult orang-utans have been slaughtered have been put up for sale in the pet trade by hunters.
When traumatised babies are found by Four Paws and other animal rescue teams they are taken to a sanctuary and taught skills they will need in order to return to the wild.

Ultra-Fit magazine - Let Gambian George Inspire you too!

I enjoyed this article in last month's Ultra Fit magazine.

The motivation for change must come from within. Studies have shown that internal motivation is far more powerful than external motivation.

The motivation for change must come from within. Studies have shown that internal motivation is far more powerful than external motivation. Telling your kids - rather unpolitically correctly, but stay with me - that they are fat and need to lose weight is a waste of breath. They’ll lose weight when (and if) they are ready. Whilst if you struggle to maintain a fitness or dietary regime past January and into February - let's face it your heart just isn’t in it. The cold, hard truth is that the only person who can motivate you is you! The secret to keeping yourself motivated for week-after-week and year-after-year is turning your motivation into something that is big and real and alive within you.
Gambian George....!

This leads me to Gambian George! I met Gambian George in the Gambia (odd, that!) a few years back when I was on holiday.

George came up to me on the beach and we started talking about training and exercise. His enthusiasm was boundless and every day for about a week he hounded me to come and visit his gym. I was on holiday and enjoying a break from training so politely refused at first but George was persistent. Eventually I capitulated and off we went to his gym. I was expecting an old Universal set-up and a few ropey-looking dumbbells at best but what I saw was something quite inspirational.
Before I tell you about the gym, let me tell you a bit more about George. George was actually from Sierra Leone, one of the volatile countries that boarders the Gambia. He had slipped over the border to escape the mass genocide and mayhem happening in his own country – he literally had to run for his life. The rest of his family were not so lucky and were victims of the common-place atrocities being carried out in the name of the civil war and political freedom. You get the picture – Gambian George had it tough. Homeless and penniless, George sold drinks on the beaches so he could survive from one day to the next.

Back to George’s gym...Gym is actually a bit of a grand term – George had a shack made of corrugated iron and outside that shack was a selection of strength training equipment George had made himself. Much of it consisted of car parts and other items of scrap iron. He would save a little money and get a local engineer to weld the pieces of scrap together to make exercise benches and fixed weight dumbbells. His gym floor was the hard-packed earth.

George learned everything he knew about strength training from two very old and well-read copies of Flex bodybuilding magazine. His equipment designs were based on what was in those mags and so were his workouts. Considering his lack of reliable information, George was remarkably fit and strong. He had no supplements, no fancy machines, a less than optimal diet, no air conditioning (it was 30 degrees centigrade in the middle of winter). He just got on with it – no fuss, no bother. His workouts involved two of my favourite things in exercise – picking up heavy stuff and putting it back down. Brilliant!

Thinking about Gambian George brings me back to many people’s inability to stick with a New Year’s Resolution for more than a couple of weeks. Think of some of the common excuses people use for not exercising or losing weight: 'I don’t have enough time, I feel tired all the time, the classes are too busy, the gym is too warm/too cold, I can’t afford the right workout shoes, it’s hard work'...it’s a long list! Funnily enough, very few will have the excuse “My family were murdered during the civil war and I have next to no money for food let alone a fancy gym membership”. I think George’s potential excuses for not exercising trump any weak-chinned excuse most of us can conjure up – by the power of about 1000.

So, ladies and gentlemen, next time you get the urge to skip a workout and sit on the sofa eating junk food or drinking wine instead of heading off to the gym, spare a thought for George. If, with all the strife in HIS life, he can commit to regular workouts week-after-week, year-after-year, what valid excuse do WE have to bunk off exercise?

I consider Gambian George to be one of my major fitness influences and also a key-player in what helps keep me motivated. I hope his story helps you stay on the fitness path over the coming 12 months.
From all of us at ultra-FIT magazine, Merry Christmas and here’s wishing you a happy, healthy and active weekend.
Patrick Dale
ultra-FIT Contributing Editor

Whilst I agree with what Patrick say’s about only you can motivate yourself but reading something like Gambian George does motivate me however the last 3 months have not gone as well as I would like training ways. I have had one niggling injury or illness after another, 5 months ago I realised that running 5 or 6 times a week was not getting me fit as I still had the belly and was not fit. I started off with a short circuit of 300 res, or should I say that was the plan, I started off with the 25 press ups and as I approached 10 I realised whilst I could probably do 25 but would have to have a rest before carrying on with the rest, which was not how the schedule was supposed to work. I had to reduce the reps drastically and took me 6 weeks before I could do the full routine and time myself I managed just under 6 mins which I was told was between excellent and good so at 52 I was pleased, I did the routine for 3 months then introduced weights and as I had never lifted a weight for a long time I started off lightly. So I have gone from flu, groin strain, right calf tightening, coccyx problem, hernia and told to take 15 days off from training and so have walked between 1 and 2 hours a day (surprising how stiff my legs are just from walking, considering I run between 30 mins and an hour at a time). 2012 will be an interesting time to see how my goal to get fit works out… Watch this space…