Times are tough here, but in some parts of the world they’re considerably tougher.
Today’s most gruesome story comes out of the Guardian, a British paper, which reported on the arrests of several members of a gang in Peru who were busted for killing possibly scores of people for their body fat. It probably doesn’t appear to be something most people in the Fort need to know about, much less concern themselves with (except for me, who spends a considerable amount of time in the Peruvian jungle annually) but it might. Seems the fat was sold on the black market in Europe where it goes into high end anti-wrinkle cream and other cosmetics. Those arrested claim they get 36,000 Euros per gallon.
Peruvians, particularly in the jungle, are very small people, very muscular, and rarely have much body fat due to a diet that consists primarily of boiled fish and plantains or yucca. Oil us used sparingly.
I on the other hand, am carrying around a pretty good amount of fat these days. At least 72,000 Euros worth.
Time to diet. Don’t want anybody looking at me and imagining a new car or two.
The full story is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/20/peru-gang-killing-human-fat
