General Stuff: July 2008 Archives

I heard this on the radio on my way into work this morning, and Kent forwarded me a link as well. It's an article warning of the dangers of cancer from the use of cell phones. Most of us use cell phones. I can't live without mine, but I'm not using it a lot. I figure next to the other dangers in life, like simply driving to work in the morning, cell phone usage is way down on the list of dangers.

Still, I do worry about some people. I know people who seem to live their lives on cell phones. When I visit the UCONN campus, students all over the place have a cell phone up to their ear. Many others have the phone up to their ear a lot. I also know people who go around the office all day long with a blue tooth ear set hooked to their ear. All day long, even when they don't have a call, or are in their car! I stopped using a blue tooth ear set because my new car simply has it all built in (I wonder what that's doing to me on my way to work?), so when I get a call, my car rings. I pick up the call with a button on my steering wheel, and the radio stops, and it puts the call through my car speakers.

But still, for those who wear a blue tooth ear set all day long, what does that do to you? It's pulsing every few seconds to stay online waiting for a call. And every time it pulses, what does that do to their brain?

Just something to think about. Personally, I view the cell phone as a great invention, kind of like the light bulb. I never go anywhere without it, but a lot of that is knowing that if I'm in an accident, or fall while out hiking, help is only a phone call away. But I use it with moderation, like every thing in life. I love martinis, but I don't have one every night and I don't use them to deal with stress in my life. I love chocolate and deserts, but I don't gorge myself on them. Once in a great while, maybe once every 2-3 months, I'll have a dessert and a cappuccino after a nice dinner.

And sometimes when I'm making a nice dinner for guests, I will use real butter in a sauce (some sauces will not work without it). If I'm making a Hollandaise or a Bearnaise sauce, they have butter and egg yolks for the consistency. How often do I make those? Maybe twice a year. How often to I eat steak? Maybe once a month.

The message here is, everything in moderation. Know what the risk is, and act accordingly.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cellphone use because of the possible risk of cancer.

The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cellphone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. [...]

Adults should keep the phone away from the head and use the speaker phone or a wireless headset, he says. He even warns against using cellphones in public places like a bus because it exposes others to the phone's electromagnetic fields. (source)

First off, Happy Fourth of July everyone! It's nice to just chill out and have very little to do. We are going to a bar-b-que tonight, and having a friend over tomorrow night for dinner. We really tried this year to do little to nothing on this long weekend. We need the rest! Sometimes, when you have a smaller work week, it's a bit more difficult to get through. You still have the same amount of work to get done.

I thought I'd share this with you. It's a bit humorous and tickled my funny bone. Hope you enjoy.

THE American Family Association has a strict policy to replace the word "gay" with "homosexual" on its news website - but it created a problem with sprinter Tyson Gay.

The association's computer's auto-corrected the US sprint star's name to Tyson Homosexual.

Here's an extract of an Associated Press story as it ran on the association's OneNewsNow Christian news website:

Tyson Homosexual was a blur in blue, sprinting 100 meters faster than anyone ever has. His time of 9.68 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials Sunday doesn't count as a world record, because it was run with the help of a too-strong tailwind.

Here's what does matter: Homosexual qualified for his first Summer Games team and served notice he's certainly someone to watch in Beijing.

"It means a lot to me," the 25-year-old Homosexual said. "I'm glad my body could do it, because now I know I have it in me." (source)