Murdoc’s been looking for a couple of new twists to throw into his daily workout now that spring is approaching, and maybe I’ll try one or two from Training for Warriors: The Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Workout by Martin Rooney.

To be a warrior, you must train like a warrior

Discover the training secrets that have produced World Champions in MMA, Submission Grappling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Judo. More than 750 color photos will show you how to perform hundreds of exercises designed to specifically target each area of your body. You’ll also learn:

• Nutrition and safe weight-cutting tips
• Information on dealing with injuries
• Advice on the warrior mind and mental game
• The ultimate 8-week warrior workout plan

Whether you are a fighter or just want to look like one, Training for Warriors is a proven, comprehensive system to get you fit for whatever battle life throws at you.

About the Author
Martin Rooney is the performance coach for the 2007 IFL Champion New York Pitbulls, COO and director of training of the Parisi Speed School, and an international fitness and martial arts consultant. For more information or to join the online warrior community, go to www.trainingforwarriors.com.

Though obviously geared for those in the mixed martial arts, this photo-packed book has a lot of exercises, workouts, and training guidance that can be applied to general strength and fitness building.

If I had a tire, I could try the ‘kneeling overhead hammer strike’ on page 173. If I had a sledge hammer.

A construction crane, reported to be perhaps 15 stories tall, has collapsed in New York City. Parts of several buildings were severely damaged, including one apartment building which was really hit hard.

This isn’t normal Murdoc fare, but the MSNBC.com story says two were killed. CNN says four. I’ll be shocked if that’s all the higher the number really is, particularly if apartment buildings were hit on a Saturday.

Let’s hope that’s all there is, though.

Solar Power to Rule in 20 Years, Futurists Say

Via Instapundit:

He predicted the fall of the Soviet Union. He predicted the explosive spread of the Internet and wireless access.

Now futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil is part of distinguished panel of engineers that says solar power will scale up to produce all the energy needs of Earth’s people in 20 years.

There is 10,000 times more sunlight than we need to meet 100 percent of our energy needs, he says, and the technology needed for collecting and storing it is about to emerge as the field of solar energy is going to advance exponentially in accordance with Kurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns.

They didn’t say “could scale up” or “be capable of producing all the energy needs of Earth’s people.” They said “will.”

I’ve long been a strong supporter of greatly increased nuclear power generation, but if this turns out to be true I’ll happily jump on the solar bandwagon.

However, this seems to be the basis of the 20 years claim:

“We also see an exponential progression in the use of solar energy,” he said. “It is doubling now every two years. Doubling every two years means multiplying by 1,000 in 20 years. At that rate we’ll meet 100 percent of our energy needs in 20 years.”

To expect the growth rate of something in the early stages of its infancy to continue is not terribly realistic. On the other hand, if solar electricity generation breakthroughs bring the benefits that many are hoping for, I can see it happening.

Opinions?

This has been getting a lot of (pretty justified, IMHO) attention:

The total amount of cooling ranges from 0.65C up to 0.75C — a value large enough to wipe out nearly all the warming recorded over the past 100 years. All in one year’s time. For all four sources, it’s the single fastest temperature change ever recorded, either up or down.

I’ve been skeptical that a decade and more of warming data was not really enough to prove anything, so one year of cooling data is no better. But it’s anecdotal evidence that does a lot to derail much of the anecdotal evidence the global warming crowd like to toss around as conclusive fact.

All along I’ve thought that the largest effect on earth’s global temperatures was the sun. I still think that, and it seems that more and more evidence is coming to light that supports this.

And if you think major Global Warming scenarios were scary, you had better not take a look at some major Global Cooling scenarios. You’ll pine for the days when the Ross Ice Shelf was disappearing, rather than the days that the Ross Ice Shelf threatens to gobble up southern Australia.

My 10-year-old daughter went skiing yesterday and we got a snapshot:

She’s fine. On Monday they’ll set the break.

If you aren’t skiing hard, you aren’t skiing. And Murdoc’s kids ski.

Good thing I wasn’t with, because I probably would have told her something along the lines of “tape it up and get back in the game.” I always say that God created moms to protect the children from the dads.

If posting has suddenly let up, I apologize. But someone has to carry the girl around. And sometimes sit by her and do nothing but be close.

The Edmund Fitzgerald sank with all hands on the night of November 10th, 1975.

For more Edmund Fitzgerald videos, see last year’s post in MichiBlogger.

The United Auto Workers has set a deadline of 11 a.m. Wednesday to agree on a new contract with Chrysler LLC or workers could strike.

Blah, blah, blah.

Searchers locate missing Boy Scout troop

They had gotten off the trail so they “hunkered down” for an extra night.

They waited until daylight rather than trying to walk out in the dark.

All were safe and well, and on their way out, when found. The search was initiated in case a member of the troop had been injured and the group was having difficulty getting out of the woods, so to speak.

I’ve mentioned before the plan to bike the 600+ miles from Lansing, MI, to Washington, DC in support of childrens’ rights. The Equal Parenting Bike Trek begins this Saturday, and they’re still a few bucks short of their fund-raising target.

Also, they’ve launched a new site dedicated to the effort: Cycling4Children.com. This will cover the Trek, and right now features videos and links to the impressive media coverage so far. Worth checking out.

The site’s tagline is “Children have a fundamental right to equal time with both fit and willing parents after a divorce“, and if you agree with this and would like to help support this fundraiser, you can donate via the widget here or on the Cycling4Children.com site (left sidebar).

Police: 4 dead in Minneapolis bridge collapse
Death toll revised downward; investigation to begin into cause of buckling

Murdoc has a number of friends and family in the Twin Cities area. I know that, statistically speaking, none of my people were probably involved. But it’s obviously a scary thing to think you could be driving along on your way to work and the road just suddenly falls into the river.

I grew up in Minnesota, and I always thought the traffic in the Twin Cities area was far, far worse than it should have been.

Prayers out for all of those killed, hurt, or lost. And for their families.