More on cell phones

The number of cell phone-only households continues to increase, (full report here), growing by nearly 50% in three years. This is a topic that we've discussed before, in our own household and as a part of national trend.

via Study: More Cellular-only Homes as Americans Expand Mobile Media Usage | Nielsen Wire

Meanwhile, in the great state of Maine, one state senator has grabbed a shard of bad science and is calling the legislature into emergency session next month to consider a law that would require all cell phone manufacturers to put an irremovable label on their handsets that warn of possible brain cancer.
 While there's a lot of noise regarding the possibility (and even presumed probability) of cell phone radiation causing tumors, we're not seeing it in the data. For example, in the years from 1990, when cell phones first started showing up, until 2006, when the latest stats were collated, the incidence of new brain cancers dropped slightly. Remembering that the old analog bag phones were several times more powerful than the current digital handsets, we would have expected to see an increase in new cancer cases. I haven't found research to show why we haven't, but we haven't. 

Fifteen years into the Cell Phone Age, researchers say there has been no increase in brain tumor incidence in high-tech Scandinavia, casting more doubt on alleged dangers from the ubiquitous gadgets. -  Medical News: Brain Cancer Study Casts Doubt on Cell Phone Danger - in Neurology, Brain Cancer from MedPage Today

And, even so, if even the law passes in the Maine legislature, it'll surely get tossed aside by a federal judge. All cell phone safety issues are under the jurisdiction of the FCC and not a matter for the states to control.
BTW, you'll get no jokes from this corner regarding brain cancers. There are couple of people close to our family who are, well, 'nuff said.