Smoking in St. Thomas

I know, multiple posts in a day is a miracle, but this may become habit. Recently I was browsing one of my fave local blogs, the St. Thomas Blog, and there was a post with science (gasp!) showing the drastic decline in heart attacks in one community after a smoking ban was put into effect. The original article Scott got the information from is here. There were a lot of comments really quick on this post and when asked how do we start and what do we do, the next post was this:
Good morning Governor deJongh, Jr.

My name is Scott White and I run the most successful blog (with over 2000 readers per day) in the USVI called “The St. Thomas Blog”. Recently I published an article about banning smoking in restaurants, bars, nightclubs and the work place. You can see that article here: http://www.stthomasblog.com/?p=1528. A new study has revealed that secondhand smoke is much more dangerous than recently thought:

The study, the longest-running of its kind, showed the rate of hospitalized cases dropped 41 percent in the three years after the ban of workplace smoking in Pueblo, Colo., took effect. There was no such drop in two neighboring areas, and researchers believe it’s a clear sign the ban was responsible.

The letter continues on but is really well written.

I am really glad that someone is taking initiative. I lean towards the rules in Florida. I should be allowed to smoke at a bar, but not if there is food. Not for my sake, but just for the sake of everyone else. It is just a polite thing to do. You can always go outside to smoke. It's not that serious... but what do you guys think. Should the VI ban smoking in places?

Playing the devil's advocate here: people like to party when they come here and that, apparently, includes smoking. You could always hang out someplace smoke free. Obviously the patrons at these full smokey places don't mind... But really, what do you think? I know I am getting poll crazy, but there is science in polling. I swear.

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Archaeology in 2009

To stick with this weeks apparent theme of digging things up, I found a great blog post on a great Discovery News blog: Archaeorama. In this post predictions are made for 2009 using some pretty conclusive evidence as to why these are possible discoveries. In one for finding Cleopatra's Tomb, for example, Archaeorama writes:

"2009 might also be the year of the discovery of Cleopatra's tomb.

A team of 12 archeologists and 70 excavators is working at the site of a temple, the Taposiris Magna, 28 miles west of Alexandria. So far, they have found a 400ft tunnel beneath the temple containing clues that the queen and her lover, the Roman general Mark Antony, may lie beneath.

If Hawass is right, this could be the greatest archeological discovery in Egypt since Tutankhamun’s tomb was uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922."

There are also predictions on who the people discovering these amazing things will be. It is an interesting little post, so go read it!

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Dinosaur National Monument

Since I was grumbley yesterday from not finding my pictures through the hordes of CDs and the like that I have full of them (I really need a new digital camera) I am posting a lot of the ones I finally did find of myself at Dinosaur National Monument. It is a really remarkable place. There are amazing vistas, stunning rock formations, fossils in the walls, cave paintings... luckily Nick and I were some of the last visitors to the Quarry Visitor Center. The ground actually shifted and cracked the foundation and did considerable other damage to the building. You can still see the museum virtually at the National Park Service website.

First, the one for yesterday's post: Me with a Dinosaur Femur.

Nick posing (again) in front of some crazy rocks.

Bones in a cliff face

Pretty hillside

The Green River.

I hope you enjoyed this mini tour of Dinosaur.


Dinosaur NM by M. Moya is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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Hello 2009!

So almost a day into it and I think this year is ok so far... not great, but it will do. Ok, sarcasm does not convey in type very well. It was a beautiful day today. I hope it rains soon though. To start the New Year with a bang, I am going to give you a little blurb about dinosaurs.

Recently, paleontologists in China hit the mother lode. In a one area 990 ft x 30 ft (about 300 m x 9 m) more than 3,000 bones were found. Since March, scientists have uncovered some 7,600 bones in one province. The area was already known as "Dinosaur City" but a mining exploration done unearthed more than had been found there in the past.

Argh! I was going to insert me next to a dino leg bone taken at Dinosaur National Monument... but I can't find my pictures! I will update this later. Happy New Day! Happy New Year!

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Attainable Goals

As the New Year quickly approaches and the old year winds to a screeching halt, I was wondering what all of you had planned for the New Year. Any of those pesky resolutions? I have really specific goals.

1. I need to bring my painting to a production level soon
   
2. I have to actively market my products to at least 10 gift shops on island by summer
   
3. I have to get better video editing software (so behind on my horrid videos)
   

Yes, I paint. I mentioned it briefly I think in the post about Bipolar Disorder. It is something I love to do and painting canvas bags and ornaments for extra money forces me to make time to do something I love. I really enjoy the Butterfly Farm, don't get me wrong... best job ever, but I do live on a very expensive island and the bags, etc. supplement my income nicely. I don't know if mine are actual resolutions, more like goals. I set goals all year. If I don't, I lose focus.

So what are your resolutions? Do you fail at them considerably and do it for fun or do you enjoy a good challenge?

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More Pre-2009 Wrap-Ups

Since all my favorite news websites are doing their own best of 2008 things and I sort of did one based on NASA a few days ago, I am left to my own devices. I want new news. Ah well, such is life.

Instead, I bring you some of the best of everyone else's blog posts. Sort of my own mini blog carnival, but no submissions, just me remembering what I can.

• First off, a post by the ever popular Greg Laden. His site really got me thinking I could have my own blog and was the first on my blogroll. One particular post really made me start exploring the rest of the internet with even more depth than I had in the past. It was a video from TEDTalks (which I am hooked on by the way, really good stuff) about how mushrooms will save the world.

• In a post of much interest to anyone who blogs, political favorite of mine Crooks and Liars, had a post recently about a certain person (read the post if you must know... this isn't a political blog so I will try to keep it that way) who thinks anonymous blogging should be banned. That would mean I would have to be banned too, since, you know, Mimi is just a nick-name. Ay me!

• I have always packed my own bento-style lunches on airplanes but this is where I can give a shout (whisper from my site, really) to the ruler-supreme of all bento blogs: Lunch in a Box. Biggie started the year off last year with this post about packing airplane bentos. I think she did a really great job with this one and I actually picked up a few tips for the airplane bentos I already made.

• ScientistMother did a really good job with bringing the question to light about whether or not culture affects your science. In it she reveals a bit about herself and states why the question came to her and how she copes. It also tugs at the roles of women in science and is in general a good read.

• This post on Pikko's blog is not bento related and I don't have kids but I had to laugh when I read it. She posted the 10 Toddler Commandments. There are also pictures of food and be warned: her site makes everyone wish they were organized enough to cook like her.

• A local political blog, Virgin Islands Watch, just did a post about the corrupt governments in the US. We are number 2. SHAME! It is a great post.

• The amazing people at Oecana started a blog and were the first to let me know who might be the head of NOAA. I am glad that Obama went with Jane Lubchenco.

This is just the tip of the iceberg however, because I read way WAY too many blogs and these are just a few "big poppa" blogs that I read. What were some of your favorite posts of the year? Leave the links in comments or just mention what it is!

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Olive Oil For Your Health

In an article posted earlier today on ScienceDaily, it was revealed that there are anti-cancer components to olive oil. According to the article, good quality olive oil contains "phytochemicals" which can kill off cancer cells. The research was done to determine if Mediterranean diets were the reason breast cancer rates were lower in the region. Researchers were from the Catalan Institute of Oncology and the University of Grenada in Spain. It was found that Extra Virgin Olive Oil is best for these "phytochemicals" as the oil is extracted from pressed olives. No heat is involved therefore leaving the chemicals in tact. The oil was tested on cultured breast cancer cells and really worked; however, no testing has been done on humans and the researchers are uncertain of how it would work since the human body is more than a few cancerous cells.


In other good olive oil related science, it is just good for you. Olives have great fatty acids and good cholesterol too! Pair this with some wine high in resveratrol (and good at determining climate change) and you have one heart healthy snacking opportunity. I love food and science so this is perfect! Doesn't Alton Brown have the best job? A food scientist! Nice.

Photo is licensed under Creative Commons to Grace on Flickr.

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