Headed to a hookah bar this weekend? Read this first.

The smoke is cool, the clubs cooler, but hookah smoke is nasty stuff. /AP

The smoke is cool, the clubs cooler, but hookah smoke is nasty stuff. /AP

Something about hookah smoking seems more benign, more chic, than plain old cigarette smoking. Perhaps it?s the pretty pipes, or the coolness of the smoke, or the party atmosphere that comes with sharing a pipe with friends.

But looks can be deceiving.

Tracey Barnett, an assistant professor of behavioral science and community health at the University of Florida, has been studying the hookah phenomenon and she?s finding the water pipes are manifestly NOT a healthy alternative to cigarette smoking.

Hookah pipes employ a water bowl to cool lit tobacco, whose smoke is inhaled through a tube or stem. Multiple pipes can come from the same bowl, making it more of a party scene. Gainesville has several hookah bars.

Barnett and her research group recently visited all of them with breath carbon monoxide testers. They assessed 173 hookah café patrons and 198 patrons of traditional bars that allow smoking.

They found the average carbon monoxide level of hookah patrons was 30.8 parts per million, while traditional bar-goers had an average carbon monoxide reading of 8.9 ppm.

Just sitting in the hookah bar was unhealthy, the researchers found. People who reported not smoking while in the café demonstrated elevated carbon monoxide levels of, on average, 11.5 ppm, an amount comparable to the carbon monoxide level of a regular cigarette smoker.

How much is unsafe? Fifty ppm over an eight-hour period is the limit allowed by The Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (Have they tested the folks who work in these clubs?)

Carbon monoxide interferes with blood oxygenation and has been linked to heart disease. It’s fatal at high levels.

Barnett?s group found some of the hookah patrons had extreme carbon monoxide levels. Eighteen percent were above 50 ppm compared with 1.5 percent of traditional bar patrons.

And eight of the hookah café patrons, or 5 percent, tested above 90 ppm.

At 70 ppm, symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as headache, fatigue and nausea can occur. Sustained exposure at 150 ppm to 200 ppm cause loss of consciousness.

Barnett has found the hookah fad is popular with the young. She surveyed Florida children in 2007 and found 11 percent of high school students and 4 percent of middle school had tried puff on the water pipe.
?This study demonstrates that even one hookah smoking session is exposing participants to high levels of carbon monoxide,? Barnett said in a statement from UF. ? There is no safe way to use tobacco.?

Source: http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/on-call/2011/04/09/headed-to-a-hookah-bar-this-weekend-read-this-first/

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Anibal Sanchez strikes out 11, helping Florida Marlins end losing skid with 8-0 win

Ending Medicare to give millionaires another tax break? New ads push the truth envelope

Democrats and affiliated organizations are waisting no time in siezing on the House budget resolution endorsing ending Medicare and replacing it with vouchers that would be used for private insurance.

Some of the ads are more accurate than others.

Here’s one from Americans United for Change:

The ad lumps into one fungible soup the budget savings that would come from shifting the risk of Medicare’s rising costs onto households, with the trickle-down concept of lower capital gains and other tax rates.

It packs some pretty complex ideas into one short ad, but it’s not so far off.

See this very detailed Washington Post story about how the Ryan “Path to Prosperity” budget proposal would affect one Wisconsin family.

This ad, on the other hand, from the Democratic National Committee, gets points for humor, but not for accuracy:

The web site PolitiFact calls it a “pants-on-fire” lie for saying “Seniors will have to find $12,500 for health care, because Republicans voted to end Medicare.”

That number is based on statistics compiled by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The ad doesn?t mention, though, that the number includes money that would go to Medicare in any case. The CBO estimates beneficiaries would contribute about $6,150 in premiums in 2022 if the program isn?t changed at all. So the extra money seniors need to pay under the Republican proposal is more like $6,350.

Also, PolitiFact rightly notes:

In one scene, the ad shows a senior citizen pushing a walker behind a lawn mower. A teenager looking on eats an apple and says, “You missed a spot.” In reality, people 55 and older won?t see changes under the Ryan plan. It?s actually that teenager — or anyone else 54 or younger — who would pay extra money when they are older.

Source: http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/on-call/2011/04/25/ending-medicare-to-give-millionaires-another-tax-break-new-ads-push-the-truth-envelope/

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Commentary: Rajon Rondo the symbol, Dwyane Wade the villain in Heat-Celtics story

The Heat has a problem, because the Celtics have a symbol: Rajon Rondo's dangling left arm. And most of New England figures Dwyane Wade is to blame for Rondo's pain.

Source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/heat/commentary-rajon-rondo-the-symbol-dwyane-wade-the-1462968.html?cxtype=rss_sports_1300

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Buzz builds at word of a British royals' CA visit

They could visit a movie set, grab a surfboard and shoot the curl at Malibu, sample a winery or two, even take in a baseball game at Dodger Stadium.

Source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/accent/travel/buzz-builds-at-word-of-a-british-royals-1457603.html?cxtype=rss_travel_5228

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Russell?s blue water grill gets a visit from the Beer Guy

More: Beer Guy visits World of Beer | More Watering Holes videos | Bars and clubs coverage Russell?s Blue Water Grill 2450 PGA Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410 (561) 318-6344

Source: http://www.pbpulse.com/bars-and-clubs/watering-holes/2011/04/25/russells-blue-water-grill-gets-a-visit-from-the-beer-guy/

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