MyFoxPhilly

I get tired easily. It is a product of reading the latest headlines, usually. When I don't read the headlines I tend to have plenty of energy, like today when I went golfing instead of going to work. Work can be another energy-sapping experience, but I decided to combat it with golf days, something I cannot do more than one day a month. I was on top of my game today, as I actually made par on 4 out of 18 holes - finishing with my best-ever golf score - an occurrance which I hope will continue given I have been golfing now for precisely 39 days.

So when I returned home and checked the latest news, this just made me tired:

"The question is do you want to play Russian roulette with your brain," she said in an interview from her cell phone while using the hands-free speaker phone as recommended. "I don't know that cell phones are dangerous. But I don't know that they are safe." Of concern are the still unknown effects of more than a decade of cell phone use, with some studies raising alarms, said [Devra Lee] Davis, a former health adviser in the Clinton Administration.

Look, I avoided having a cell phone for years even though I work in one of the peripheral industries that make instant communications possible. All of the major cellular companies use my corporation's product, and in many instances I am directly involved in improving their networks (provided the price is right).

My main issue with instant communications was due to the nature of my job. I prefer to have a set priority list at the outset of my workday, and any interruptions to that could wait until I checked email or called my boss. With that said, last year I finally broke down and obtained a cell phone - primarily for my wife to be able to call in case of emergency, or for me to call from wherever I am in case of emergency.

Guess what? My cell phone has never been used in an emergency, and my primary callers are business related. See? I was right to try to avoid having a cell phone.

In any case, my work with the Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum has spanned more than 20 years. I work in an environment where RF power is significantly greater than that provided the general population, and given 8+ hours per day 5 days a week (minus golf days), I am substantially at risk for (remember, RF is the operating principle of your microwave oven) getting cooked if exposed to direct and focused RF radiation over a period of time. Am I worried that a cell phone might influence anything in my physiology? Only if my wife calls - or my boss.

For the competing analysis of cell phone risk, Wikipedia is always fun. Just remember, in over 20 years of direct RF involvement I have only had one coworker develop any form of cancer. That cancer was indeed a brain tumor. She works in Contracts and has been treated (presumably successfully since she is still working) through Chemo and surgery. She has always worked on the second floor and very infrequently came to the laboratory on the first floor (well away from her office). She never owned a cell phone until she was diagnosed with the tumor - go figure...

If the evidence does not prove a risk (think global warming), why are we alarmed? The answer is always found in the Democratic Party.

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