Chezsven Blog: Wellfleet Today: Hurray for San Francisco!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Hurray for San Francisco!

A few more days and summer will officially be here. I can almost smell the salt sea air – that must be what so many of you are thinking as your Wellfleet vacation draws closer and closer. Vacation is not the topic of the day, but I sure did get your attention, didn’t I?

This post is about CELL PHONES. The City of San Francisco has decided to make cell phone manufacturers put a warning on their phones indicating that the radiation emitted may be dangerous to health. In fact, according to ABC News using a cell phone can increase your risk of developing a brain tumor, which will not become obvious until a decade has passed, when it may be too late. I hope the rest of the country will follow suit. I have been harping on the danger cell phones present for years and rigorously refuse to acquire one. My ex used to work for the cell phone industry in France and early on advised his kids not to hold their favorite gadget close to the head …. Do you limit cell phone to emergencies or have you given up your land line?

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Living Large · 770 weeks ago

I'm with you, although I do have to have a cell for business and safety (sure wouldn't want to break down in these dark mountains without one). However, I use it as little as possible because it literally gives me a headache when I use it. I looked this up and it is actually quite common. I did buy a wired headset so I didn't have to put it up to my head, but it doesn't work well with this model. That will be a requirement for the next one.

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chezsven 82p · 770 weeks ago

Hope all is well. Your blog is really growing as well as your website. Very nice and I wanted to tell you that your photos of Wellfleet thru the winter and fall sustained me. We'll be in Wellfleet June 26 thru July 10 and I will make it a point to stop in to introduce myself.

Thanks, Shelly

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Donna Hull · 770 weeks ago

A cellphone is my only phone. One way to avoid holding it close to your head is to use the speaker option or purchase earphones that plug into the phone. I would never use one of the bluetooth devices that clip onto your ear.
My recent post Celebrating a Boomer Birthday at Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain

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chezsven 82p · 770 weeks ago

I'll resist cellphones for as long as possible, not for fear of physical harm, but mental. Cell phones sap autonomy, initiative and a sense of adventure. They infantilize. When I heard a grown man in Stop &Shop asking someone over his cellphone what type of soap he should buy it was a sad day. David Wright

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sarah henry · 770 weeks ago

My son, 11, is badgering me for a cell phone and I'm so reluctant for this soon-to-be middle schooler to have such a device so close to his still developing brain. Am sure you saw the recent cover story in Harper's on the science re cell phones? I guess the jury is still out and yet...
My recent post Berkeley Farmers’ Market Man, Ben Feldman

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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chezsven 82p · 770 weeks ago

I didn't see the article, Sarah. Thanks for telling me. You are right to resist on behalf of your son. Younger brains may be even more vulnerable from what I have read.

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Jennifer Margulis · 770 weeks ago

You are awesome to NOT have a cell phone. We have them but we held out for a long time. When my battery died recently, I was relieved. I keep thinking, every time I use it, that I am giving myself brain cancer...
My recent post The Mastodon Theory of Writing

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edpilolla · 770 weeks ago

i remember when abc first reported that a study was conducted on this subject a few months back. it was the first major study done in the us. (european studies for years have demonstrated that cell phones appear to cause cancer.) abc buried the story 20 minutes in to the half-hour show, and diane sawyer announced at the beginning of the story that the results of the study were 'inconclusive.' then at the end of the segment she acknowledged that the study demonstrated a solid link in cancer for 'heavy' users of cells phones-- those who use cell phones more than a half hour a day. um, that should have been the first thing she said at the beginning of the broadcast, if actual news drove the placement of stories.
get the sense i'm irritated still?:)
funny, i was thinking last night about blogging about this.
My recent post Master This

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Frugal Kiwi · 770 weeks ago

I have a cell phone that I text on, but rarely use it for calling. Maybe the prohibitively expensive mobile phone rates in NZ has an upside!

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Kris · 770 weeks ago

I have a pay as you go phone. It’s rarely charged. If I’m going to need to be accessible to my kids, I’ll make sure to have it with me. But as for making calls? Rarely do I use it. I admit, I'd like to have access to the internet while I'm out and about, but no need for the phone part of it. I'm thinking iPod Touch. Or an iPad!
My recent post Baking Portuguese Sweet Bread in the Traditional Way

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Christine · 770 weeks ago

Thanks for calling our attention to this issue again. I see it pop up now and again in the news but it is so entrenched in our society, it seems. I'll definitely tell my children this is one of the main reasons we are not getting them a cell phone. I have one but don't use it often - I don't talk on the phone very often at all, actually. When I do I try to use a headset.
My recent post Back home

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stan s · 770 weeks ago

I think the jury is still out on the whole brain tumor thing - we'll know for sure before too long, when there is an epidemic of brain cancer - or it just disappears like all the hype and news reports surrounding the "swine flu" hoax/vaccine sales drive of 2009.

I don't like talking on the phone, but I love my internet connected pocket device. How better to check in with the chez sven blog?

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Kristen · 770 weeks ago

Israel has been doing studies on cell phone use for years. And if I'm not mistaken in Europe they discourage young children from being allowed to use them. I've actually heard that bluetooth devices are better in terms of less radiation exposure than using your phone--it emits less than holding the phone to your ear.
My recent post Supertasters Need for Salt

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Susan · 770 weeks ago

I'm with Donna! I don't have a landline phone so I use Skype and a cell phone. I'll be interested in reading more about this as it develops.
My recent post Guest Post: Why Writers Need to Emerge From the Cocoon

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Sheryl · 770 weeks ago

I use both a landline and cell phone, but try to limit my cell phone use. If I do talk on it, I always use a wired headset...never a bluetooth. The thought of having that right up against my head makes me very, very nervous.

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Stephanie, Wasabimon · 770 weeks ago

You know, it's funny - here in California, people are split down the middle: half are stoked with the new law, while others think it's a big joke. They swear that cell phones are safe. My response is to mention that the powers that be once said traffic radar guns were safe as well, but how many cops developed testicular cancer due to setting them in their laps? Hrmm...?
My recent post Simple Birthday Joys

1 reply · active 770 weeks ago

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chezsven 82p · 770 weeks ago

Yes, and tell them to rent the DVD Thank you for Not Smoking, about the tobacco industry and its tactics. Very revealing!

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stan · 770 weeks ago

The question is, will a warning sticker really affect consumers' behaviours? California already places "Prop 65" warning stickers on many everyday products, so many that the effect of yet another sticker may be diluted:

"Jeffrey B. Margulies. Proposition 65’s Effect on Small Businesses. In the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Small Business. October 28, 1999. "Implications for consumers. While the intent of Prop 65 was to “inform” consumers, the impact of warnings under the Act has been a proliferation of meaningless warnings. Virtually every business has some sort of Prop 65 warning sign posted, and innumerable products are labeled with the warning. From gas stations to hotels, from grocery stores to hardware stores, consumers are deluged with warnings that they are being exposed to unnamed carcinogens and reproductive toxins. They are not told either the degree of exposure or the likelihood that they may actually be impacted by it. Moreover, because the risks to business of not providing a warning, many provide a warning even though they don’t actually know whether an exposure is occurring, or even if the exposure is trivial, further diluting the meaning of warnings to consumers."

It sounds good and "feels good," but if the danger is real, more action is required.

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Meredith · 769 weeks ago

EWG released their lists of the radiation levels in cell phones not long ago, and I was so happy to read mine is one of the ones with the least amount of radiation. Still, I typically use the headset, and don't talk on it all that much.
My recent post The 5-Question [Author/Journalist] Interview: Marcia Layton Turner

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