Exploding Phone Myth Debunked

As long as we are discussing cell phones, might as well dispel another myth. A popular myth hanging around since at least 1999 is that explosions in gas stations have been caused by cellphone use. Emails were purported to have been sent by Shell Oil and others, but this was proved false.

There never has been a documented case of a cellphone causing an explosion at a gas station, no one has been able to prove that it is even possible in scientific testing. The American Petroleum Institute said, "We can find no evidence of someone using a cellphone causing any kind of accident, no matter how small, at a gas station anywhere in the world." Mythbusters TV program tried and could not find a way to make it happen.

Police and firefighters often assume a connection between the two to be valid, but have never followed up with proof. The city of Cicero, Illinois (with no evidence to back it up) has made the use of cellphones at gas stations illegal. So, is it possible, yes it is possible, but it has not happened yet with over five billion phones in use.

Seven Un-American Brands

Firestone tires was bought out in 1988 by Bridgestone, a Japanese rubber conglomerate based in Tokyo.

Dial soap was bought in 2004 by by Henkel KGaA, of Germany.

Shell Oil Company is the US-based affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell from Netherlands.

Church's Chicken was sold in 2004 Arcapita of Bahrain (it removed bacon from its menu due to Sharia law).

Holiday Inn is now owned by British InterContinental Hotels Group PLC.

The Chrysler building in New York is now owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council.

Budweiser is now owned by Belgian company InBev.

Also, GM, Walmart, Symantec, Kodak (what's left of it), and McDonald's now get the majority of sales outside of the US. In fact, 53.6% of total sales from all the S&P companies were made outside of the US.