Cross-posted at Daily Kos. Don't forget to recommend us!

What's up?

We talked about our favorite Christmas movies. Believe it or not, there was an actual story in the press about children who have had their tongues stuck on poles a la A Christmas Story.

In related holiday news, our Gloria wrote about procrastinating on Christmas shopping because she can't afford to buy many gifts. Instead, she is making lists differentiating what she wants to buy and what she can afford to buy.

Katy Farber over at the Non-Toxic Kids blog had a comprehensive list of green gift ideas.

Our Suzanne had a fun diary on "super good music." An iTunes certificate anyone?

Pat of butter in a sea of grits -- isn't that a great handle? -- wrote about everything you know and don't know about family leave in the United States.

There were many studies out this week. One had to do with how soy may actually help keep breast cancer from recurring. Another one reported by Reuters was how cell phones do not give you brain cancer. That was a relief, at least to me, since my cell phone is my only phone.

In case you missed it, Daily Kos's navajo posted pictures from the SF Kossacks holiday party. There were a few MotherTalkers pictured, including myself, Amy and Shenanigans. Also, I posted the Kos family holiday photos this year.

Finally, here is an opportunity to meet Bay Area MotherTalkers. We are getting together at Pizzeria Delfina in San Francisco this Tuesday at 7 p.m.. Please join us!

What else is in the news? What's up with you?

As someone who spent years covering the cell phone industry as a reporter, I was thrilled to see a long-term and comprehensive Scandinavian study that cell phones do not give people brain cancer.

From Reuters:

(Isabelle) Deltour's team analyzed annual incidence rates of two types of brain tumor -- glioma and meningioma -- among adults aged 20 to 79 from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden from 1974 to 2003. These countries all have good cancer registries that keep a tally of known cancer cases.

This represented virtually the entire adult population of 16 million people, they said.

Over the 30 years, nearly 60,000 patients were diagnosed with brain tumors.

"In Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, the use of mobile phones increased sharply in the mid-1990s; thus, time trends in brain tumor incidence after 1998 may provide information about possible tumor risks associated with mobile phone use," the researchers wrote.

They did see a small, steady increase in brain tumors, but it started in 1974, long before cellphones existed.

Whew! I was relieved to see this, especially since DH and I use our cell phones as our only phones.