Home Chemistry An Endangered Hobby in U.S.

Disoculated writes "Wired is running an article entitled "Don't Try This at Home" discussing how that increasing paranoia about terrorism and liability is making it nearly impossible to become involved in any chemistry related hobby in the United States. Sure, the innovative will try to work around these types of limitations, but are we teaching our kids to be afraid of science?"

great article

[brookesy]

read a few days ago, great article. makes me wanna buy some explosives !

new chemistry

[samsonov]

Well, while conventional chemistry might have gone the way of the rotary phone, there are still those playing with chemicals in their houses - how about all those meth labs [streetdrugs.org]?

Good For America

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

Chemistry supports terrorism.

You're not a chemist are you?

Re:Management Culture

[Jim_Callahan]

"will also stagnate due to massively overburdening corporations and governments with beaurocracy"

So you're saying that they'll finally throw off the yoke of western cultural dominance and return to the way they were before Europeans arrived and screwed up their country? (Apologies to Chinese readers, but I couldn't resist.)

Top tips for parents and toys

[i_want_you_to_throw_]

You can never go wrong buying your child a crystal-radio set. It's a great way for him or her to learn about crystal radios.

If one of your children is killed playing with a chemistry set, make a game of it by challenging your surviving children to reanimate him or her.

It's amazing how much kids can learn about chemistry the old-fashioned way. As soon as you get home from work, demand that they mix you an Old-Fashioned.

Regarding other toys..

To determine a toy's safety, try these simple tests:
Does your child choke on it? Does it produce welts, cuts, or bruises? Does it turn up whole or in fragments in your child's stool?

Decide what you would like your child to be, then only buy toys that steer him or her in that direction.

If it is Finnish, sold at an upscale toy boutique, and three times as expensive as a comparable toy made by an American company, it is safe and educational.

Often, the best toys are the simplest. For example, sewing cards, through which a piece of yarn is laced, enhances a child's motor skills and teaches the fundamentals of sewing. Yeah, sewing cards are a whole fucking lot of fun.

Visit your local mall for such upscale toy stores as Wooden Toys Your Kids Will Hate and Professor Faggot Q. Boredom's Lame-U-Cational Cocksuckery.

One of the best educational toys you can buy your child is a pet. A rabbit, for example, can teach him or her about the life cycle, mammalian reproduction, toxicology, comparative anatomy, and cooking.

When toy shopping, look for the Joe Mantegna Seal Of Safety. It's your only guarantee that the toy has been deemed safe by Joe Mantegna.

Rounded edges on toys should be sharpened in case your child tries to chop vegetables with them.

After your child unwraps his or her new toy, throw it on the ground and stomp on it. If any small pieces break off, the toy is too dangerous for young children.

Erector sets are a great way to get your pre-teen started on making juvenile sex puns.

Buy your child expensive, collectible toys and forbid him or her to take them out of the box. This will teach your child valuable life lessons about longing, deprivation, and resentment.

Re:Management Culture

[dwandy]

hmmm ... I'd always pondered 'What will the people be doing, one day when robotics are performing essentially 100% of the physical labour?'

now I know: Managing Lawsuits!

Re:Awww =(

[ozmanjusri]

You're education was better than mine

Thank you. That's a keeper!

Re:great article

[twistedsymphony]

Well really that's the only home chemestry that pays.

Something tells me the little old lady next door doesn't need anything titrated.

Re:Terrorist paranoia not the only cause for this.

[russotto]

A chemical compound should be treated like a firearm. Which is to say, in a free country, available without government restriction. Except DHMO. DHMO is exceedingly dangerous and should be restricted. But that's the only exception.