Slashdot Mirror
Bomb Squad Searches House Over Teenager's Chemistry Experiments
McGruber writes: On Wednesday, authorities in the south Fulton County, Georgia town of Hapeville shut down a street for hours and used their bomb squad to search a home. According to the suspect's father, the bomb scare started after his 18-year-old son was arrested for trespassing, entering an abandoned warehouse and salvaging mercury switches, which can be used to detonate explosives. When police searched the teen's home on Virginia Avenue at Rainey Avenue in Hapeville, they said they found chemicals inside. "He's not building bombs. He does do a lot of experiments. A lot of them I don't fully understand, but I'm certain he's not making bombs," said the suspect's father, Allen Mason. Mason says chemistry is his son's hobby and he wants to be a chemical engineer. Mason also said police told him what they found is not illegal to own. One neighbor, who couldn't return home for hours, said he didn't feel the teen was a threat. "I don't see a problem with this, but you have to trust the authorities in they're doing what they think is best," said Curtis Ray. In February 2015, Hapeville authorities evacuated businesses and called out the bomb squad to investigate a pinhole camera that was part of a Georgia University Art Project.
"I don't see a problem with this, but you have to trust the authorities in they're doing what they think is best,"
A ton of Slashdotters typically start railing on about excessive safety/ risk adversion culture bu the reality is that modern day law enforcement frowns very heavily on private labs of any description especially chemical labs. Outside of someone living in a mansion in the middle of nowhere, any and all labs are going to be suspected of drug manufacture and materials will be confiscated under whatever regulations.
Eventually, they'll start doing this to makers and 3D printers as well over gun parts or illicit matériel or whatever. Suburbia is a very conforming place.
"you have to trust the authorities".
To the ovens, gentlemen.
Why??
I applaud them, if you see something, say something. There could be a terrorist lurking behind every corner!
"salvaging mercury switches, which can be used to detonate explosives"
"...switches, which can be used to detonate explosives"
"...switches, which are used to detonate explosives"
"...switches...explosives"
"...explosives"
ARREST HIM!!!
Really? Wires are used to make explosives too. Duct tape is used to make explosives. Solder is used to make explosives.
What's our plan? Arrest all the electricians, day laborers and jewelry craft hobbyists as terrorists?
I think we're well past the point of intellect here and it's long since been illegal to be inquisitive and inventive. Don't ask questions, child. Your role is to consume: You should consume. Now go play with this ball...
If the police knew the community, they could have asked about the kid and found out the background. Unfortunately that sort of intelligence - in both senses - is lacking in police forces these days, so they just charge in and make idiots of themselves. Actually the judge that granted the warrant should be shouted at as well - he should have asked those questions...
"I don't see a problem with this, but you have to trust the authorities in they're doing what they think is best," said Curtis Ray.
Um... no you don't
I love how they say that Mercury switches can detonate explosives, as if any other switch can't.
This is exactly the reason I got out of the hobby, too many hobbyists getting raided (Especially after 9/11). And if they do decide they want to go after you, you're screwed. Magnetic stirrers, pyrex glasses, even coffee pots can be considered "bomb making equipment" in their eyes.
Modern education should be in one of the following subjects: programming Word and Excel, management, marketing, "journalism," social media, economics, political science.
Math is acceptable if it does not involve encryption. Chemistry, biology, and physics can be used to do dangerous things of which Jesus would not approve. Why should the taxpayers be expected to pay for such foolishness, when there is a major shortage of stockbrokers?
what materials do you have?
All the mercury switches your little terrorist hands can handle for $1.89 ea plus $1.99 shipping. Thank golly none of the terrorists know about that site.
and justify endless expansion and militarization of local thugs ^H^H^H^H^H police force.
"Your honor, our lab tested every one of the bottles and found that this evil person had 83 bottles of marijuanas!"
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
To be honest, as someone who enjoyed chemistry in high school I'm actually a bit surprised the kid wasn't making something inappropriate. My fellow students and I certainly were. Of course that was long ago when the high school kid taking a copy of the anarchist cookbook up to the 30 year old bookstore clerk only caused the clerk to grin and chuckle as he rang up the purchase, probably reminded of his high school chemistry days.
But, who wants to bet that the kid was white keep in mind they did not pressed charges. If the kid had been black....
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
There's a lot of steps in making explosives which don't look pretty innocuous if you don't know what you're looking for.
For example, when I was a teen we used to make black powder in large batches. In Canada, a teen couldn't just go into a store and buy it, and even getting hold of large quantities of potassium nitrate was challenging. So we did chemistry using readily available things like fertilizer and drain cleaner.
The end result was large quantities of a controlled substance, but the process looked fairly tame.
Log in or piss off.
"He let police search the house to examine all his materials and chemicals, where they found some things they told him could be used to create explosives."
Well. That's a very broad range of possibilities there. I could (hypothetically speaking) create explosives from wheat flour - all I need do is mix it with the right amount of air and light a match. Granted, not a particularly useful explosive, but it'd be an explosive nonetheless. An LPG tank, of the sort that can be found around many houses, is potentially explosive. Standard agricultural fertiliser is well known to be potentially useful as a precursor to explosives. And on, and on, and on. Chemistry and explosives are so intricately interlinked, it is impossible to separate them - not if you're looking to learn something significant.
"Mercury switches can be used to detonate explosives"? Well, so can a simple battery with a timer. Doesn't mean that that's what was going to happen.
What happened to the benefit of the doubt? Of talking to people, understanding what they're up to, and having a calm, measured response? Oh, that's right, society in general is moving towards a police state, and even if somebody is not up to no good, we have to make society think that they are, so that we can justify these new laws and procedures...
I love how they say that Mercury switches can detonate explosives, as if any other switch can't.
A mercury switch operates on gravity. Tilt a package (like, say, pick it up carelessly, or rotate it to face the label up to read who sent it) to complete the circuit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
So, mercury switches are more interesting to law enforcement than other types. He was into experimenting with chemicals. He was caught trespassing to acquire mercury switches. Of course he was interesting to law enforcement.
If those dumb cops just had the benefit of hindsight like we do, they would have known that the kid wasn't building bombs. They think they need to "investigate" things. Just read about it in the paper the next day.
All the mercury switches your little terrorist hands can handle for $1.89 ea plus $1.99 shipping. Thank golly none of the terrorists know about that site
Yes, but those will have a very easy to search record. Hell, Frys is probably required to report they were purchased. It would actually take more than a search of a database to track down scavenged switches. Not that it would be difficult to purchase them anonymously, but the authorities hate having to do extra work. In the post 9/11 world, that's practically a crime.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I'm sure they did find substances that could be used to create explosives -- heck, let's call a spade a spade, and acknowledge that they're precursors. Things like:
Water -- simply pass an electric current through it to generate a tremendously explosive mix of hydrogen and oxygen gas.
Air -- a critical component, and by far the major component by volume, of the infamous "fuel-air explosive".
Aluminum foil -- ball-mill it long enough, and it becomes dark aluminum, a controlled substance used to make flash powder.
Lunch meat -- a plentiful source of animal fat, which can be saponified to produce glycerine, which can be nitrated to form nitroglycerin.
Books and other printed material -- almost always printed on paper, consisting mostly of cellulose, which can be nitrated to form nitrocellulose ("smokeless powder").
I could go on in this vein at great length, but why bother? I've already outlined the case against anyone on the surface of the planet, or off it for that matter.
Oh, and yes, "trespassing" is bad -- that's why I'm sure none of us ever did it as children. Never mind that this kid was probably doing a favor for whomever eventually tries to rehabilitate or demolish the building, by removing hazardous materials from it. Something tells me that they don't always go around pulling all these mercury-bearing switches for "proper disposal" before they start demolition.
But, yeah, if you go in where you're not allowed, you can get in trouble. Especially if you take stuff without permission.
Sounds like a recycler to me. More power to him.
The article cites two excellent examples of why the Hapeville bomb squad needs to be dropped from next year's budget. I'm not sure of the county authorities would be any better, but if the local squad's hapless misjudgment of risk leads to wasted funds on response, wasted funds on defending their mistake, wasted funds on legal restitution (I sincerely hope the kid and his parents sue the city), and general loss of reputation for the city... then the bomb squad is a liability in terms of finance, risk, and reputation. The most obvious response is to take the toys away from the idiots.
Don't fight them, defund 'em.
I think not...(*poof*)
Just nuke the whole fucking usa already! Let's dispose of this nuisance for the greater good of the rest of the (sane) world.
That could've been me 40 years ago. We had a whole group of bomb makers. They all ended up as chemists/chemistry teachers or MDs; I was the odd one out with CS.
thegodmovie.com - watch it
I think they were concerned he was making Hg fuliminate
"I don't see a problem with this, but you have to trust the authorities in they're doing what they think is best."
According to the suspect's father, the bomb scare started after his 18-year-old son was arrested for trespassing, entering an abandoned warehouse and salvaging mercury switches...
That fenced-off warehouse may look abandoned, but that doesn't make it your personal salvage yard.
It's been a long time since the home chemist has been encouraged to muck around with mercury; scavenging industrial sites for mercury in any quantity makes you a "person of interest" to the police, to say the least.
Fun with Quicksilver, Unusual stunts you can do from Freakish Quicksilver 1939 and 1934, respectively.
''He's not building bombs. He does do a lot of experiments. A lot of them I don't fully understand, but I'm certain he's not making bombs,'' said the suspect's father, Allen Mason.
This is a tad less reassuring than it might be.
First thing that crossed my mind was this kid is trying to make a Sprengel pump.
Have gnu, will travel.
when I was about 12 in the mid 80's I rode my bike 10 miles to Radio Shack and bought all of the Mercury Switches they had (4?) for about $1.50 each. I built people detectors which consisted of a copper tube with batteries, Mercury switch, on/off push button, and siren. When we played hide and seek or paintball I could arm one and put a string across a path. If someone hit the string the siren would go off.
I lost one or so I thought. A kid found one and took it home. His Mom called the cops because she thought it was a bomb. The kid ratted me out as the builder. The cop showed up at my house and asked me to come look at something. I followed him and one of these devices was in the street. I told the cop what it was and he laughed and told me to pick it up and take it home.
I can't imagine what would happen today.
I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
"He does do a lot of experiments. A lot of them I don't fully understand, but I'm certain he's not making bombs," said the suspect's father, Allen Mason"
Oh? How are you so certain? You just said you don't know what he's doing. Ergo, you don't know what he's doing.
I know, I know... Slashdotters will all side with the "experimenter", because geek. But it sounds like the police are acting based on evidence, while the defense is acting based on blind faith. In such cases, I side with evidence.
Tom Geller
If that's the case then they probably shouldn't be sold in just about every electronic components store on the face of the planet. Or is it yet another example of "it's totally legal to buy/sell Radar Detectors but illegal to use them" bullshit?
still doesn't give you the right to trespass and steal
I think I can see the picture now ...
In the brave new world we live in the authority can and will break into people's house with a drop of a hat, and they have that "anti-terrorism" thing to fall back on
In the same brave new world nobody is permitted to go anywhere, rummage for anything, or they will be charged with 'trespassing', 'stealing', or any kind of trumped up charge TPTB decides to use
In other words, the people will become timid, self-restricting, and the overlord will get to wield any power they wish
In case you guys still do not see it yet --- living under this type of "brave new world" is not that much different from living inside area controlled by Islamic State or the North Korean regime
If Thomas Edison were to live in our era, there wouldn't be aThomas Edison.
still doesn't give you the right to trespass and steal.
Spoken like one who never had any adventures as all a kid.
I mean, granted, he's 18 so he's legally an adult for most purposes, but the proper response is still a "you have to make sure owner X doesn't mind", not a "you little thief!" Unless they have a major problem with this particular 18 year old or they just won't stop, you solve this with conversation.
Kids break laws every day. Things like trespassing (shortcut through a neighbor's yard), assault & battery (fighting another kid without their consent or other legal defense), defamation (your mom's a ____), and a dozen other things.
All the mercury switches your little terrorist hands can handle for $1.89 ea plus $1.99 shipping. Thank golly none of the terrorists know about that site
Yes, but those will have a very easy to search record. Hell, Frys is probably required to report they were purchased. It would actually take more than a search of a database to track down scavenged switches. Not that it would be difficult to purchase them anonymously, but the authorities hate having to do extra work. In the post 9/11 world, that's practically a crime.
I'm quite certain that someone has bought that quantity or more of mercury switches from Frys in the past and I would bet money that no SWAT team showed up at their door.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
Anyone who sells mercury in the US is required to report the sale. And that's pre-911. Mercury has always been dangerous. They used to sell the stuff as a toy called quicksilver but that's been banned for over 25 years.
the mass civil disobedience. No we don't trust that the authorities are doing what is best.
I'm sure they can ill-afford to discourage this young man from fulfilling his dream of becoming a chemical engineer. After all, that meth ain't gonna make itself.
You are welcome on my lawn.
The War on Drugs, the War on Terrorism, and ridiculous safety concerns have pretty much killed home chemistry. As a hobbyist or student, buying a chemical beaker or Erlenmeyer flask can get you into legal trouble in some places, and it will probably get you onto watch lists. Chemical kits and sets have been dumbed down so that they contain next to nothing of interest and even their containers for flour (that you provide yourself from your kitchen) carries health warnings. The War on Guns may well kill 3D printing, CNC machining, and metal working if we don't watch out. Software development is threatened by governmental desires to have backdoors into major software systems. Model airplanes and drones are subject to increasing and mostly unnecessary regulations. These developments threaten to turn a nation that has thrived on innovation and technology into a sclerotic empire dominated by bureaucrats and courtiers, like so many before us in history.
This isn't a partisan problem, it's a problem with politics and journalism being dominated by people in both parties who know little about science but who gain power by spreading FUD. Remember that to politicians, people who value science are just another demographic and voting bloc, and that politicians will tell you what you want to hear in order to get elected. If you want technology and innovation to thrive, think about this next time you vote.
...that we are designed to live in relatively small communities. In a small village everyone know what everyone is doing or their nature well enough to trust them. Sometimes this is a mistake, it is not the stranger that is the danger. When you get larger communities it starts to break down.
I'm glad I have one less day to live in this fucked up world.
Nobody is going to try and make mercury fulminate in their garage. Lead Azide is the material of choice: Lead Nitrate and Sodium Azide. Has high detonation velocity so it works as an initiator for other substances of interest. It's what's in blasting caps, easily detonated with an electric match (aka Estes Rocket Ignitor), etc. Not quite enough to do ANFO.
High school friend of mine blew part of his finger off making it in the 70s, when it crystalized a bit too soon. Fire Dept confiscated the nitrating mixture (Nitric and Sulfuric in the right ratio), but left the Nitric acid.
Mercury switches either to play with the mercury (which is fun) or to make a tilt switch.
A mercury switch by the way is a tilt switch, saying it can be used in explosives is silly hypothesizing.
In *MOVIES* terrorists put all sorts of anti-tamper devices (including mercury tilt switches) on their bombs and a brave policeman then defuses the bomb carefully by hand, but in the real world, they just blow up anything suspect with a 'controlled' detonation, and so there would be no point in the anti-tamper device.
ergo a tilt switch wouldn't be useful.
It would be more plausible to say "it could be used on a pin ball machine".
Which means only that serial killers don't flaunt their pathological obsession in public. It does not mean that everyone is under suspicion of being a serial killer and should be treated as such.
Serial killers are rare, thankfully. And so are bomb terrorists. In contrast, intelligent youngsters who explore chemistry or other scientific or technical topics by themselves instead of being glued to the TV are relatively common, and they are the source from which come the world's scientists and engineers.
Police, judges and politicians come down hard on youngsters who do innocuous technical things only because they have no skills themselves in such topics, and so they're in fear of them. It's not because they think that such kids are any significant danger to the community, but just sheer unadulterated fear of the unknown.
As for the police, it's less work and safer than going after real criminals.
In my opinion, it looks like WSB (CBS) News in Atlanta is trying to escalate the situation by calling the mercury switches: "bomb making materials" instead of mercury switches -- they use the word, "allegedly", but at best should only say that he "allegedly" stole some mercury switches.
From the WSB article:
"
Channel 2 Action News obtained exclusive surveillance video of the teen allegedly stealing bomb-making materials from a warehouse. See the video and hear from Atlanta police about the investigation on Channel 2 Action News at 5:04.
"
I quit cable primarily because cable news started making up the news (and also have talking-heads with the inability to start a sentence without saying: ["well","you know","look","look, well, you know...", etc] -- I was hoping local OTA news would have slightly higher standards, but I guess I'll have to start my own damn news network.
..is destroying your country from within
Walk your doggie and ride your bicycle.
Everything else is outlawed.
Local news can be much worse.
You have two morning newscasts, a lunchtime newscast, an afternoon newscast, and an evening newscast. You also have airtime between those newscasts to fill, and a lot of stations are taking to making their news staff run coffeetalk shows or other roundtable type non-news shows on the same sets as the news shows because they're cheaper to produce than it is to license reruns, and new content often gets better ratings. It's now worse worse because there's usually less local stuff to report on, so any little thing has to become very, very important so to keep the audience hooked. Consequently, "high school student trespasses, steals old thermostats from broken-down warehouse," becomes, "man breaks into warehouse to steal materials that could be used in a bomb! Oh mah gawd!"
All I need from my local news is the traffic, the weather, a calendar of upcoming municipal-sized events that could either disrupt traffic or could be fun to go to, and news of patterns of significant crimes taking place outside of parts of town where they're expected. That's really it.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I had heard the saying 'Good thing all the criminals are dumb'
Who would use a mercury switch if it gets you on a watch list?
There are hundreds of different sensors out there with much more accuracy and redundancy if you want to tamper-proof a bomb. google
And of course you can make our own sensor without mercury, You could use Iron powder or even ball bearing balls in a tube. retarded criminals and law enforcement agencies result in this.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion. -- Spazmania (174582)
Local law enforcement authorities in Hapeville, GA have found what appear to be books on the premises of the suspected teenage bomber. Unfortunately, they can't identify them as such and are awaiting state and federal authorities to verify that they are indeed published material. When asked for comment, a local authority responded: "Well now they could be books and they might not be. We don't cozen to no highbrows around here so the possibility that they are books is quite rare."
Yes and buying them gets you on a watch list. This kid was interesting to the authorities because he bypassed the list by salvaging an abandoned warehouse.
The fact that the watch list exists is the larger issue. And in today's era, the kid was recycling, so a hearty fuck you to the authorities who want to call it otherwise.
Go green!
Well, not surprised. The US is the most scared country in the world. They are scared of everything.
"the bomb scare started after his 18-year-old son was arrested for trespassing, entering an abandoned warehouse and salvaging mercury switches"
In this day-and-age it would more likely be a mobile phone ...
Back in the day, or in professional run places today, there would just be a cleanup and proper ventilation but in the case above it looks like things got political and someone without a clue went full retard to cover their backside.
Mark Twain (ok then, Samuel Clemens) had mercury washing over his hands while gold mining and lived to old age with no mental impairment because the problem is the vapour not the liquid. Hatters went insane from it. Those who boiled off mercury to recover gold went insane from it. Those who touched the liquid without ingesting it didn't (though there is always that risk that something that gets on your hands can end up in your mouth so don't do it kids). A spill cleaned up properly should leave no traces since it's actually very easy stuff to clean up - it doesn't "wet" most surfaces and acts like a big drop of water skating over a hotplate.
The pinball tilt switches I've seen are just a hole with a thing hanging down in the middle that only contacts when tilted - cheaper, provides two dimensions and manually adjustable. There may be other brands that do it differently.
What is he building in there?
http://www.metrolyrics.com/wha...
Okay, the police were a bit heavy handed. Still, they did arrest this kid legitimately. And he was playing with chemicals and tilt switches. There is at least some reason for reasonable suspicion when combining all these factors. Remember, this is just an investigation; they do not need proof beyond reasonable doubt.
The bomb squad investigated and decided there wasn't a problem, as is right. These guys probably played with chemistry a bit as kids, and recognised this kid was doing the same as they did.
Perhaps there was no need to close off the road, but sometimes police investigate innocent people.
I hate to go with cliches but it is a clear case of sheep society that makes social engineering possible and easy. Look like a farmer and no one questions you buying tons of fertilizer. Hell, look like you belong and you can erect an eighteen foot tall cock with lights and sounds on the main street of town.
The father should thank the police for arresting his son and hazmat cleansing the house! That young Darwin Award runner-up was stealing mercury switches to disassemble them. Mercury is insanely poisonous and makes the victims go insane, including bursts of homicidal violence and bouts of an arsonist's run of amok. (The saying "mad as a hatter" stems from there.)
The reason for the fall of once super rich and militarily powerful Venetian Merchant Republic is suspected to be widespread mercury poisoning from the manufacture of luxurious amalgamate plated mirrors, which they kept in the very heart of the city, to be able to keep a close watch over the workshop and prevent leaking of the secret recipe.
There is a reason mercury has just been banned from armpit thermometers and the older generation of MD who still insist on using mercury to measure blood pressure have to keep the device in a locked metal vault off-hours. People with amalgamated tooth filling should have them replaced with ceramic composites ASAP!
It is also no longer allowed to run streetcars, elevators, cranes and movie arclights off electricity from a mercury filled glass octopus, even though that Hewittic tech was highly efficient and reliable.
> I love how they say that Mercury switches can detonate explosives, as if any other switch can't.
Mercury switches have long been used to specifically create car bombs for assassination purposes. (As the car starts to roll and negotiates the first bend or pothole, liquid mercury will tilt in the vial and short the blasting cap circuit. This quasi guarantees that the car won't blow up unoccupied, which could occur with timer fuses, for example.)
Now you understand why the police reacted with a significant effort.
I have a friend from South Carolina who moved to Florida and was gone from his home town for five years or so. He felt a strong calling to get back together with his high school sweetheart and after letters and phone calls sent her a package. Instead of the Post Office delivering the package the police came to her home with the package. The police were concerned that the package came from Florida. You know, Florida! The land of perverts, junkies and people who are not baptists. The cops wanted to protect her in case something shocking or perverse was inside this package from the godless land called Florida. So they opened the package in front of her to reveal the treats that girls tend to like such as candy, perfume and other fluff. She then informed them that packages from her boy friend should be allowed to be delivered to her home. This all happened well before 9/11. Apparently small towns in the deep south look at other US states about like we look at Syria or Yemen.
No need to bomb anything anymore. The western world already lives in terror.
And on the Eighth Day, Man created God.
"salvaging mercury switches, which can be used to detonate explosives"
Was the abandoned building an old bomb factory? No? Well, guess what? Mercury switches have other uses too! Do we raid the houses of everyone who steals hammers or screwdrivers? Why not? Both of those can be used to kill people. The reason is science! Chemistry and electronics are fields most people don't understand, and it's (regrettably) human nature is to fear what is not understood. Everyone understands a hammer, so no panic is induced.
This also gives the bomb squad some legitimacy on paper. They can show at the end of the year that the squad was sent out on 47 runs. Clearly they are needed and need further funding by the tax payers. The fact that not one of those 47 runs involved an actual bomb is not evaluated.
I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
In the 70s, I had an entire chemistry lab in the shed behind our house because I liked science and was curious and wanted to experiment. I had things like calcium carbide rocks (makes Acetylene gas), nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid (really all the components to make nitroglycerin and diatomaceous earth to turn that into dynamite), and lots of other chemicals and equipment. I was smart enough not make anything dangerous. Then I got turned on to electronics and started disassembling TV sets (mostly tubes in those days) for parts and to learn. If there would have been any abandoned factories or warehouses near me, I probably would have gone rummaging for junk parts. I could have easily been this guy; just following my curiosity with no ill intentions but my lab sure would look like I was some sort of terrorist. Now days with all the fear and the bombings, you can't explore your interest in science as easily as you once could.
Kennedy Airport, New York.... I lived in a small town on the edge of Queens -- named Rosedale. We used to do all kinds of shit back when I was a kid that would now be called "terrorism"; and back then we just called it messing around and having fun.
For example: Every July 4th, we'd try and use fireworks to shoot down approaching aircraft trying to land. And every year, we upped the level of what was possible. We made Hydrogen balloons, we created "two stage" bottle rockets with timed fuses, etc.
I had noticed that my Estes "Sandhawk" model Rocket, which used the infamous "D" engine, would go up and then come back down in pieces, so, fed up with rebuilding it, I stuffed it full of fireworks and foil strips.
That got noticed, as you might have guessed, but we cleared out by the time the cops arrived, although some other friends were not as lucky trying to fly a kite into a jet engine out near Brookville Park.
Heck, we used to walk out to the fence just in front of runway and try and hit the planes with rocks. I'll bet that gets you into Gitmo these days.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
...and news of patterns of significant crimes taking place outside of parts of town where they're expected.
That doesn't really cover local politics, the "taking place outside of parts of town where they're expected", i.e. city hall, so you probably want to add that.
Local politics, e.g. major building projects etc., often have a greater direct effect on you than state-wide politics, so local's actually more important to keep track of. (But its even more boring, for the most part, so people don't bother, unfortunately.)
Stefan Axelsson
"...you have to trust the authorities in they're doing what they think is best."
Do you, though? Do you?
It's got electrolytes.
Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
Thanks for the numbers! That is eye-opening.
Had a new gas meter installed. The installers said that an unlit pilot light on a stove could release enough natural gas over a 3-day period to destroy an apartment! Furthermore since today's buildings are sealed better (more heating/cooling efficient) the problem is more pronounced in new buildings.
I had been perfectly comfortable with my natural gas stove. Now I check it periodically. Luckily(?) we have a old leaky apartment.
Ha! My slashdot captcha is "bombed"!
...but fear itself." Was true then, seems to be even more true now.
That's a neat trick! Wish I'd thought of that!
If the kid's name had been Ahmed, you would have been all over this . . .
You get picked up by the cops for doing something illegal (to any degree) - cops investigate if there's any ill intent.
Fucking obviously this is the security state, big brother blah blah blah, oops, they did real police work.
Don't forget, if it was a girl, you'd be bitching about how she didn't get Tased.
Yay Slashdot.
Mercury switches have historically been used to make car bombs intended to kill the occupants. Acquiring them anonymously looks very suspicious.
These cops are way to dumb for all the power they have.
An open jar you say? Someone hasn't heard of evaporation before. You can go ahead and huff on your open jar all you want. I'll neither of the items, thanks.
Mercury exposure causes birth defects. So is it surprising that you didn't have any issues? You were already birthed! It is entirely plausible that your playing with that mercury bare handed and in the open way back then mutated your sperm and passed those mutated genes to your kids. Yeah, it IS your fault.
Instead people will have to use suspension contactors.
...to trigger a massive government witch-hunt. We have criminalized learning about chemistry and then we wonder why we need so many H1B visas to supply chemists.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyn...
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazi...
http://www.telegram.com/articl...
Chemistry sets-one of the epic whirlpool nodes of government lunacy.
Hey, you people voted for these morons.
Now you get to live with it.
You can buy mercury switches at Fry's today.
I remember those days. Oh Lord, now a kid with these interests could probably have done nothing harmful, yet garner a permanent record that would make it very difficult for him to ever get employment, enemy of The State, Homeland Security Breach, No-Fly, Watch List, Ad Nausaeum. Quit pursuing your dreams, kid, and get in your cube in the cube farm with the rest of us.