Don't Try This At Home

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/chemistry.html

I read this article back when it originally came out, I'm pretty certain, but I'd sort of forgotten about it since then. I ran across it again today, and did a little looking around... Things have really only gotten worse. When I was a kid I had one of the last Chemcraft chemistry sets, and I remember all the little empty spaces in the rack of chemicals for things they weren't allowed to include. Of course, people remember the exception; we remember that someone with access to chemicals built a bomb, which very rarely happens, but we seem to forget how many people with access to cars and alcohol kill themselves and others all the time. We see cars and alcohol everywhere, they're part of our lives, so we're not scared of them, but "chemicals" ("Without chemicals, life as we know it would be impossible," as my father would say) are foreign and frightening. Which is exactly the problem with the world in general. We don't really care whether you can build a bomb or make drugs; truth is, we can't stop you from doing either. We're just terrified of you being different.

Depressing.

I wonder if the new keg is ready to serve from yet...