Space Opera: Renewal of an Oath

Something Warren Ellis said on the Bad Signal this morning reminded me: I've still got that space opera novel of my own to finish. The one I have listed on my Projects web page as my "Great Canadian Space Opera" novel.

Consider this a vow: as soon as I'm done the page work on Local Hero # 1, I will be devoting at least an hour a day to getting that novel finally done. I want to knock off at least one more Goal for 2006 from that list...

A thought on chemistry and safety

Just wondering, apropos of absolutely nothing else going on with me at the moment:

If it turns out that it was never safe to put a particular substance on millions of frying pans sold 'round the world to begin with, why do we still think it's safe enough to soak select items of our clothing in the same substance and make it a selling point for the clothing?