Spanning the Web

Taking you around the internet for your afternoon enjoyment.

Somebody needs to get his pineapple under the sea de-leaded: First it was Dora the Explorer. Then it was Polly Pockets. And now it’s the absorbent and porous SpongeBob Squarepants who may be poisoning children with lead paint in the spiral binding of notebooks and address books. Who’s to blame? All together now: China! [WHDH]

Also, we don’t want the Stars and Stripes to poison the kids: Representative Thomas Stanley hopes to propose legislation that will require the state to buy only flags that are made in the USA. Thus providing jobs to Americans in the lucrative field of flag-assembly. [WBZ]

Revenge of the nerds: Two Boston College football players and a State Police sergeant were charged this morning with assaulting a software engineer who wouldn’t give up his seat at the Greatest Bar for the conquering BC heroes. While the software engineer wasn’t as big as the football players, his balls are easily thrice the size. [WBZ]

Another week, another train that won’t run to Somerville: The Federal Transit Administration stopped $40 million of fast-tracked funds to build an Orange Line stop at Assembly Square. Mayor Joe Curtatone assures residents that the station will eventually be built. Somerville residents shrug and renew their bus passes for another month. [Somerville Journal]

It’s just as safe as the Zakim: The National Institutes of Health says that the proposed BU Biolab in the South End would be no more dangerous there than if it were built in a rural area, and that “there was no difference in simulated disease transmission among the urban, suburban, or rural communities.” Somehow, we aren’t reassured. [Boston.com]