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Anti-Terrorism and the Death of the Chemistry Set

Posted by samzenpus on from the the-dark-side-of-phenolphthalein dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A recent unfortunate casualty of anti-terrorism laws is the home chemistry set. Once deemed the gift that saved Christmas, most Slashdotters probably remember early childhood experimentation with one of the many pre-packaged chemistry sets that were on the market. Unfortunately the FBI has decided that home chemistry sets are a threat to national security and they are rapidly disappearing from the market entirely. Those that remain are shallow boring versions of the old kits."

7 of 860 comments (clear)

  1. It totally makes sense now... by machinelou · · Score: 4, Funny

    Mr. Wizard wasn't interested in "educating" youth, he was trying to build an army for his own jihad!

  2. Re:When's it going to stop? by RLiegh · · Score: 4, Funny

    Why not just throw everyone in jail now, so we don't have to worry about terrorists running loose in the streets?

    Patience, patience. We're getting there!
  3. Tinkertoys Next? by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 4, Funny
    I can only believe that Tinkertoys will be next.

    They burn if ignited.
    They can cause physical injury if someone is stabbed with one, or has a hub thrown at them from close range.
    They can be assembled into a gun that might look too realistic if viewed under poor conditions.

    Got to get rid of this stuff now. Leave the kids ignorant of any toys that might actually teach them critical thinking by doing.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  4. man those were the days by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Funny

    dissolving ants in hydrochoric acid, pouring bleach into ammonia and giving myself chemical pneumonia from chlorine gas, setting the house on fire with burning trails of isopropyl alcohol, fiddling with the mercury drops i squeezed out of that weird battery

    heh

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:man those were the days by fyngyrz · · Score: 3, Funny

      pouring bleach into ammonia and giving myself chemical pneumonia from chlorine gas

      That's the stuff that burned out your ability to use capital letters, eh? I knew there had to be a reason...

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  5. Re:Mod Parent Up by zmollusc · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is that how it goes in the states?
    UK Gov : We are nice and want to sort everything out for you.
    People : Hey, the media say you are nice! You got my vote.
    UK Gov : Hurrah!
    People : Hey, everything is still crap.
    UK gov : Look at picture of us being concerned whilst we line our own pockets.
    People : Things aren't improving.
    UK Gov : We will pay our friends a load of tax money to look concerned and talk on tv about the high level of concern.
    People : Nobody is actually doing anything constructive.
    UK gov : STFU! Look, a circus! And bread!
    People : Ooooh! Cool!

    --
    They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
  6. Re:just taking care to take care. by tgd · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hmmm, anyone know the steps to turn meth back into pseudoephedrine Hcl? Its pretty easy to find meth these without needing an ID, wonder if you'd go to jail for turning it back into an OTC drug?