Cell Phones: Mini Microwaves?

When I saw this video on Good Morning America today, I could not believe it. A wildly popular YouTube video shows cell phones, when placed toward each other, can actually produce enough microwaves to pop popcorn. Gross.

So this got me thinking. If it’s powerful enough to do this, what’s it doing to our ears?

I remembered an article that I recently posted on the site which I am Editor for, Hesfit.com. In a piece about cell phone usage, writer Denise Musumeci uncovers a link between cell phones and brain cancer — a correlation that, although not proven, IS existent.

“I think the safe practice,” said Dr. Keith Black, a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “is to use an ear piece so you keep the microwave antenna away from your brain.”

A microwave antenna? Since when?? THIS explains the popcorn. But is it safe? We’re not sure. In fact, the FDA also admits that the average period of time that cell phones were used is three years, which is not enough time to measure the long-term risk of cell phone use.

“Three types of tumors have been associated with wireless phones: glioma tumors, salivary gland tumors, and acoustic neuroma. All three types of tumors are very rare, however, heavy use of cell phones increase this risk. According to the New York Times, “Last year, The American Journal of Epidemiology published data from Israel finding a 58 percent higher risk of parotid gland tumors among heavy cell phone users.”

What’s also unknown is the effect it will have on children, who are growing up using these things from a young age (I’m only 22, and I didn’t have a cell phone until I was about 15).

“Young people who are still not fully grown face a lifetime of increasing cell phone use and will ultimately face more exposure in the long run than those who didn’t start using cell phones until well into adulthood.”

Experts recommend — if you use a cell phone, wear a headset, if possible, to avoid holding the antenna near your head.

Yikes. Scary thought.

Feminism: Women, Where Are We?

 There are 153.6 million women in the United States.  That’s right, ladies. We outnumber men by about 5 million.  For once in our lives, we hold the potential to create change. It’s right at our fingertips, and we’re letting it slip away.

I strongly believe that participation in sports has allowed me to feel what every young woman should feel: part of something big — and that “something big” turned out to be feminism.

As women, we had to fight to get to where we are today. Because of those who came before us,  we now have the right to a choice when it comes to sex and pregnancy, we have the right to be treated fairly at work, we have the right to run for political office, we have the right to equal funding in education and sports, and most importantly, we have the right to vote.

Despite all of this growth, right now, I am starting to feel that we are our own worst enemies. 

As I sit here and watch the 2008 presidential election, I see a woman who defines feminism in the 21st century. She is powerful, strong, competent, resilient and COMPLETELY CAPABLE of getting the job done.

As women, we have the power to put one of our own in charge of our country, to lead us in foreign policy and healthcare reform. We have the opportunity to put someone in office that will protect us. Someone who will protect our families, someone who will take our fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters out of harm’s way in Iraq and bring them home where they belong.

As I sit here and watch – night after night – the news coverage and the debates, I can’t help but feel ashamed of my own country, of our media, but most of all — of our country’s women. When Hillary wins a state’s primary election, the story is always about “how little” of a lead she won by, or “how Obama won a strong number of votes in a particular area.” 

All that critics can say about her is how “bad her hair is” or “how annoying her voice is” or how she is a “hard” or “tough” candidate who has “no emotion,” or “how she is playing the race card.” In the debates, she always gets the first question. She is constantly being put down by her colleagues and peers.

I have never heard or seen so much bullshit in my entire life.  She is trying to make history, and we’re preventing that from happening.

I am completely and totally ashamed of women who support this nonsense, those who don’t see it, those who don’t go out and vote and those who are not outraged like I am. As women on the brink of the twenty-first century, how in the world can we let this happen?

Ladies, are we forgetting that this is the woman who stood up in Beijing at the 1995 Fourth World Conference and said in front of the world, “”It is time for us to say here in Beijing, and the world to hear, that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women’s rights as separate from human rights.”

Ah, but this was a different time. This was a time when she was referred to as a strong, “Mrs. Clinton,” and not laughed at as “Hillary” with no emotion and bad hair.

I am not only directing this letter toward fellow athletes, but also toward mothers, grandmothers, sisters, white women, black women, Spanish women, Asian women, congresswomen, senators, delegates and super delegates. As women of America, we are powerful beyond measure. And when we have the opportunity to create change, today, we choose to follow the popular crowd.

 ”As a lawyer, advocate, First Lady, and senator, Hillary has fought for issues important to women here at home and around the world for decades.  She has expanded access to family planning services, including for low-income women. She spoke out forcefully against the Supreme Court’s April 2007 decision that — for the first time in decades — failed to recognize the importance of women’s health. She has advocated for access to microfinance programs that enable women to start their own businesses and spoken out strongly against the tragic practice of sex trafficking.” – I couldn’t say it better myself.

LADIES, THESE ARE THE IMPORTANT ISSUES.  WHY AREN’T WE PAYING ATTENTION? We NEED someone in the office who HAS and WILL CONTINUE to look out for our health, for our bodies, for our choices and for our families. We need Hillary Clinton. And the time for change is passing us by.

Throughout her entire life she has fought for us. Here we are, years later, and instead of returning the favor to one of our historical champions, we deny her, criticize her, and vote for her opponent. Although a good candidate, he is NOT EVEN IN HER LEAGUE when it comes to championing for women’s health and women’s rights. We need someone who will put us FIRST. It is obvious and it is clear. She is meant to be our leader.

This is not an election about race. If it remains one, we have sold ourselves short as citizens and voters in a democratic society. This is an election about historical change, about choice, and about the future of our families. We need to stand up for ourselves — for feminists of the past and for female presidential candidates of the future.

The future of women and health is now. We have the power to create change. And we’re letting it slip away.

As women of the twenty-first century, you have to ask yourself – if you are brave enough to boldly call yourself a feminist, where do you  stand?