Some interesting notes from today’s perusal of the headlines over lunch:
- From the “Your kitchen, it glows…” Department: It appears the homeowners are discovering a new source of radiation and radon in their homes: their new stylish granite countertops. Granite, it turns out, can contain trace uranium. Usually it’s not high enough to be a problem, but sometimes….
- From the “And That’s How The Money Goes Around” Department: The Bush Administration is projecting a record budget deficit. In other news, the total cost of the Iraq war is approaching that of Vietnam. Are these connected? On paper, no, because the budget deficit doesn’t include war costs.
- From the “What’s In A Name?” Department: The Secretary of State has changed the description of Proposition 8 from a measure “to limit marriage between a man and a woman” to “a constitutional change to eliminate the right of same sex couples to marry.” It should have an interesting effect, for it is much harder to argue taking away existing rights. In related news, money is flowing to both sides, including a major contribution to the “No on 8” campaign by one of the original founders of WordPerfect.
- From the “Will They Never Learn?” Department: John Waters is writing a sequel to the musical “Hairspray”, holding up “High School Musical 2” as a successful sequel to a musical. Hint to Mr. Waters: That’s TV, not stage. I cannot think of a successful stage sequel, although I can think of many failed ones: “Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public”, “Bring Back Birdie”, “Annie Warbucks”, “Annie 2”, “Let ‘Em Eat Cake”. Even in terms of screen musicals, can we really hold up “Grease 2” as a paragon of a good movie musical?
