Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Science project prompts SD school evacuation

ssdd - 16-1-2010 at 18:15

I thought I would share this news article that I saw today, it has me pretty outraged since I am a major proponent for free thinking in education and promoting the sciences at a young age:

Summary (from slashdot):
"Police in San Diego were called to investigate an 11-year-old's science project, consisting of 'a motion detector made out of an empty Gatorade bottle and some electronics,' after the vice-principal came to the conclusion that it was a bomb. Charges aren't being laid against the youth, but it's being recommended that he and his family 'get counseling.'"

The original article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/15/students-evac...

Irony: "The school, which has about 440 students in grades 6 to 8 and emphasizes technology skills..."

I would really love to know why the %$#@ they think that the student and the parents need 'counseling,' what is wrong with a kid being interested in science outside of the classroom and working on a project that interests them? None the less the parents supported this which seems rare now-a-days...

Yes I am aware this was listed as a violation of school policy, but why blow it so far out of proportion?

-ssdd

R0b0t1 - 16-1-2010 at 22:18

I was so sad I laughed. Talk about inappropriate reaction :-\

MagicJigPipe - 16-1-2010 at 23:30

People's association of bombs with electronics is puzzling to me. Is it TV/movies? Twice in my life I have been suspected of "making bombs" because of my interest in electronics. The first time was when I was a teenager and the second time much later.

I think some people truly believe that bombs can be made with electronics alone (well, I guess they could but you know what I mean).

The_Davster - 17-1-2010 at 01:23

That is disgusting. If the parents had not been cooperative they would either have had to get a warrant, or be subject to illegal search of their garage and could be suing. The search was AFTER they x-rayed the bottle and found it harmless and was completely unwarranted. I would be getting a lawyer at this point and looking for some reason to sue local officials/school for this unnecessary response. That is the only way these morons learn, hitting them in their wallets.

The quote about getting counseling is a big WTF. The kid knew enough about electronics to make a motion detector, there must be something wrong with him. He is not like the majority of 11 year olds today; he is not trying to score pot or booze, he is playing scientist, this must change. If I was this kid's father heads would be metaphorically rolling at this school.

hissingnoise - 17-1-2010 at 06:44

This is obviously all part of the great 'Stupidity Contest' that bureaucrats have been running behind the scenes for some considerable time.
This latest 'effort' looks good for the moment but you can bet that some cretin out there is working real hard on something to put this one in the shade.


unionised - 17-1-2010 at 06:56

I think the important bit here is "after the vice-principal came to the conclusion that it was a bomb".
Isn't he the one who needs counselling?

hissingnoise - 17-1-2010 at 07:07

Or a brain-transplant?
My other theory is that this has to do with the feminisation of the male population.
Female hormones getting into drinking water and that kind of thing.
I'm guessing the vice-principal is female and so reacted with hysterics.
Unfortunately, when she brought it to the attention of some males, they too, became hysterical.
At some point we'll all become highly-strung teenage girls.

S.C. Wack - 17-1-2010 at 12:33

You haven't seen anything yet! Things like this will be nothing, with the way that the populace has been trained; for example everyone in Portland fully supports the overreaction in the plane to Hawaii that turned back last week...with fighter jets:
http://www.kgw.com/home/Maui-bound-plane-turned-back-to-PDX-...
http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Exclusive-KGW-interview-with-J...
and you'll see similar comments with Taserings, etc. How the comments in San Diego in this case got to be anti-establishment I have no idea, but you'll notice that very few comments are directed at the police.

It looks like this sort of reaction is par for the course in San Diego:
http://www.10news.com/news/22142908/detail.html

[Edited on 18-1-2010 by S.C. Wack]

MagicJigPipe - 17-1-2010 at 19:36

Oh my god... If that man goes to prison... We have officially gone completely bonkers. Textbook mass hysteria?

A transcript of what might put him in jail (for those that might have trouble reading it, like me):
Quote:
I thought I was going to die, we were so high up, I thought to myself: I hope we don't crach and burn or worse yet landing in the ocean, living through it, only to be eaten by shark's, or worse yet, end up on someplace like gilligans Island, stranded, or worse yet, be eaten by a Tribe of head hunters, speaking of head hunters, why do They just eat outsiders, and not The family members? strange... and what if The plane ripped apart in mid-flight and we plumited to earth landed on gilligans Island and Then lived Through it, and The only woman There was Mrs. Thurston Howell, III? no mary anne (my favorite) no ginger, just lovey! If it were just her, I think I'd opt, for the sharks, maybe The headhunters

Flight#: 39
From: Portland To: Maui

Coach


Hahahahaha!

Whoever the judge is in this case needs to reprimand whoever arrested him and throw the case out. Immediately.

Oh, this will piss you off. Look at some of the comments:
Quote:

"It was a joke." Nobody's laughing (except Mr. Johnson perhaps) My mother-in-law in the past left a phone message that she was dying of cancer. She then said it was a joke. She really thought she was funny. I suppose this guy could be like that, really think something was funny where 500,000 other people would think was monumentally stupid.
Quote:

I would hope that while serving the 20 years in prison, which I hope he gets, he will have the chance to learn how to be a human being, and appropriate ways of interacting with the public, while in it. I would also hope it will allow him time to reflect on all possible meanings of the term "stupid should hurt".
Quote:

What an a##whipe! His stupid, self-absorbed idea of comedy caused hundreds of people to be forced to endure a big disruption in their vacation time. And as we all know, vacation time is priceless. And he won't even appologize? If you can't keep your psychotic delusions in check, stay off the airplanes (and any other transportation for that matter). If I were a passenger on that plane, I would give him a resaon to regret his actions.


Are these real people? Really? I am ashamed to be human right now.

[Edited on 1-18-2010 by MagicJigPipe]

aonomus - 18-1-2010 at 00:13

There probably isn't a fine line between 'asking for it' and innocent guy with a cool project, and scared people that cry 'witchcraft'.

I myself have had my tesla coil outside, with some soccer moms nearby threatening to call the police, when its not necessarily threatening. I think the fact that it played music made it less threatening, but people fear what they don't understand.

I'm sure that if I had a big 1L RBF with a beta fish inside it, someone would say that I'm trying to synthesize methamphetamine, just because the glassware doesn't look like it was purchased from walmart for $9.99.

Again, the best thing we can hope to do is raise awareness of amateur science, and the fact that it doesn't just occur at low level projects in elementary/highschool, but at a post-secondary or even perhaps graduate level, independent of large organizations and funding. We need a new inventor/tinkerer age to dawn upon us, otherwise we will drown in patent filings.

Another problem is that once someone makes an accusation of 'its a bomb', 'its drugs', 'terrorism', they simply don't want to be proven wrong, for risk of their job, reputation etc. People will find a reason, whether valid or not, to justify their job.

Just look at the District of Columbia unmarked detective car incident, some kid in a random crowd hit his car with a snowball during a big snowball fight downtown, but he decided to exit the vehicle, gun drawn, and decided to pick one kid out of a crowd of probably 200+, just so he could justify drawing his gun and not looking incompetent and unable to judge/gauge the situation.

The vice principal probably said that the kid needed counselling, because their [in]ability to teach and supervise the kids, and be aware of their science fair projects would otherwise come to light. Unfortunately individuals in these situations fail to understand the new medium that is the internet (read: streisand effect). Probably every time one of these stories comes out and someone posts the administrator's contact information on a slashdot thread, he gets innundated with strongly worded voicemails, etc - urging the right action.

ssdd - 18-1-2010 at 06:55
Quote:

Are these real people? Really? I am ashamed to be human right now.


I couldn't agree more... It seems every time I read the news there are stories that are just disappointing. Today alone:
"Butter should be banned to protect the nation's health, according to a leading heart surgeon."
"Police In Britain Arrest Man For Bomb-Threat Joke On Twitter"
"Under changes to the state's classification act, which came into effect on Sunday, businesses will face fines of up to $5000 for displaying a "poster, pamphlet or other printed material" for films classified R18+."(south australia)

Quote:

Again, the best thing we can hope to do is raise awareness of amateur science, and the fact that it doesn't just occur at low level projects in elementary/highschool, but at a post-secondary or even perhaps graduate level, independent of large organizations and funding. We need a new inventor/tinkerer age to dawn upon us, otherwise we will drown in patent filings.


This is very true, but I suppose the real question is how does one go about this?

-ssdd

aonomus - 18-1-2010 at 07:13

Sadly I don't know ssdd.

The recent news of http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/01/16/2140218/Italy-Floats-... means that putting up videos on the internet (of anything also) of chemistry will become harder. Italy sets the precedent for major media outlets to have to apply for permission for videos on the internet, but that trickles down to individuals eventually.

In the mean time, probably some nicely produced videos of chemistry procedures on youtube could help our cause in a minor way. You may or may not think nurdrage on youtube is a good thing or not, but with that level of interest and support, and with decent video production, hopefully we can bring favour towards our side.

Probably also even doing carefully produced video blogs in response to chemophobia, questioning the investigation of the media into the subject in cases that are applicable.

Youtube could be a good tool for us, so long as we don't look all like kewls. I see so many videos where unsafe chemistry happens, no gloves, open flame with flammable solvents, bedroom chemistry, etc. That kind of video makes the entirety of amateur chemistry look bad.... :( Perhaps Sciencemadness members could collaborate on making some nice videos?

[Edited on 18-1-2010 by aonomus]

psychokinetic - 18-1-2010 at 11:56

Holy shit a motion detector! That terrorist kid is going to detect our motion!

-ahem-. Yes aonomus, nurdrage has its place. And when the nurdrage is about stuff that people on the internet think is/are cool, then raging nurds are likely to have some backup.

ssdd - How does one go about this?
I'm going about it by DOING IT. Also, teaching my kids (including safety, because I'm not a knob who's going to go ruin it for everyone else).

Here's hoping.

the tefillin farce

Magpie - 22-1-2010 at 10:56

Here's the latest clusterfuck:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/21/jewish-teenagers-te...

Entrenched Idiots

MadHatter - 22-1-2010 at 18:29

An 11-year old is investigated by law enforcement because the vice-principal suspects that
the kid's homemade motion detector is a bomb. A bored, nervous air-passenger
is arrested for a federal felony for expressing his anxieties on a comment card. Italy is
considering censoring the uploading of videos. A 16-year old is detained and questioned
for performing a harmless religious ritual on an airplane.

The incident with the 11-year old is especially galling. "Counseling" is recommended for
this kid and his family. These bureaucratic wankers are so full of shit they need an ENEMA !
Invest any spare money in Fleet Labs. We'll make a fortune in the stock market when these
bastards get it rammed up their asses !

Jor - 23-1-2010 at 17:04

Quote: Originally posted by aonomus  
Sadly I don't know ssdd.

The recent news of http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/01/16/2140218/Italy-Floats-... means that putting up videos on the internet (of anything also) of chemistry will become harder. Italy sets the precedent for major media outlets to have to apply for permission for videos on the internet, but that trickles down to individuals eventually.

In the mean time, probably some nicely produced videos of chemistry procedures on youtube could help our cause in a minor way. You may or may not think nurdrage on youtube is a good thing or not, but with that level of interest and support, and with decent video production, hopefully we can bring favour towards our side.

Probably also even doing carefully produced video blogs in response to chemophobia, questioning the investigation of the media into the subject in cases that are applicable.

Youtube could be a good tool for us, so long as we don't look all like kewls. I see so many videos where unsafe chemistry happens, no gloves, open flame with flammable solvents, bedroom chemistry, etc. That kind of video makes the entirety of amateur chemistry look bad.... :( Perhaps Sciencemadness members could collaborate on making some nice videos?

[Edited on 18-1-2010 by aonomus]


I agree. Many people have chemistry channels. Please take a look for example at youtube-member Nurdrage. Or TheHomeScientist, wich is Robert Bruce Thompson, who has written a book about home chemistry. And Nurdrage is promoting many other channels, where there is also nice chemistry, like AlChemicalGarden.

And ofcourse take a look at mine :
http://www.youtube.com/user/chemlabchemistry

entropy51 - 23-1-2010 at 18:07

I think a lot of this stupidity is just that almost no one knows anything about science anymore.

A hundred years ago ordinary folks read things like Scientific American, Popular Mechanics, Electrical World and so on. People made things in their home workshops and home labs were not really unheard of. My entirely self-educated grandfather had a very nice library of engineering books, which I still read sometimes.

Even 30 years ago students had to take a year of a lab science to get a bachelor's degree. I think this has largely gone by the wayside, with soft core things like "Physics for Poets" having replaced them.

People who had a physics course see wires and batteries and think "just like my physics lab in college". The other huge majority see wires and batteries and think "BOMB".

And they all wonder why the economy is going to hell.

Magpie - 23-1-2010 at 19:56

Quote: Originally posted by entropy51  

I think a lot of this stupidity is just that almost no one knows anything about science anymore.


I agree. Against my better judgement I forwarded the photo shown below to a relative that is unaware of my hobby. This guy is in his 50's and has a college degree - in business I think. When he saw the picture he said "whoa - are you makin' meth? haha."

My response was "why do you think I could make meth with just a few test tubes?" All he said was "Well I know they use Draino, right?."

test tubes.jpg - 65kB

aonomus - 23-1-2010 at 22:00

Hopefully the recent few years of 'makers' will start to turn things around, as more and more people are DIYing everything, and repurposing technology, it will bring around another advent of at-home invention, science, and technology.

Electronics, robotics, etc are the gateway, its easy and somewhat safe enough compared to what we do, but if they get hooked and want to do more, they'll feel confident enough to do the research first.

[Edited on 24-1-2010 by aonomus]

nitroglycol - 24-1-2010 at 18:55

This is truly insane. In the Union-Tribune article, the claim is made that "the student violated school policies", but the "journalist" who wrote the article doesn't seem to have asked which "policies" were actually violated. I'd bet that it's a blanket policy against "threats", and that embarrassed school officials want to fit this square peg in that round hole out of revenge. And obviously the kid needs counselling, because he's demonstrated that he's smarter than an authority figure, which can't be allowed.

I must take issue with the following, though; it's a gratuitous cheap shot at women with nothing to back it up:
Quote: Originally posted by hissingnoise  
Or a brain-transplant?
My other theory is that this has to do with the feminisation of the male population.
Female hormones getting into drinking water and that kind of thing.
I'm guessing the vice-principal is female and so reacted with hysterics.
Unfortunately, when she brought it to the attention of some males, they too, became hysterical.
At some point we'll all become highly-strung teenage girls.

Nowhere in the story is the sex of the vice-principal stated, so this is a total non sequitor.

[Edited on 25/1/2010 by nitroglycol]

hissingnoise - 25-1-2010 at 03:50

Quote:
I must take issue with the following, though; it's a gratuitous cheap shot at women with nothing to back it up:

You're right nitroglycol, I'm a pisstaking sexist boor and unapologetic to boot.
What I said probably isn't even worthy of being called a non sequitur. . .
So thanks!

Test Tubes

MadHatter - 26-1-2010 at 13:20

Magpie, a 50+ year old, college educated, person assumes a rack of test tubes can be used to
make "meth" ? Generally, I'll give the non-chemist types a pass but this sounds like a sign of
being exposed to too much government propaganda. I'm 51 years old and both my 6th
grade science and 9th grade earth science teachers loved to demonstrate explosives on
a lab scale. Maybe that's why I liked their courses so much ! :D

BTW, I had a test tube rack like that(wood) and test tubes in my 1st chemistry set at age 8.
My parents didn't understand the sciences but knew I had an interest at a very young age.
My brother and sisters couldn't have cared less.


[Edited on 2010/1/26 by MadHatter]

Magpie - 26-1-2010 at 13:45

Quote: Originally posted by MadHatter  
Magpie, a 50+ year old, college educated, person assumes a rack of test tubes can be used to
make "meth" ?

BTW, I had a test tube rack like that(wood) and test tubes in my 1st chemistry set at age 8.
[Edited on 2010/1/26 by MadHatter]


Yes, sad but true. To give him the benefit of the doubt, I think he was just surprised to see that I had all those solutions. Then his brainwashing just took over from there. And it was his chance to jab me a bit. :)

I made that rack out of black walnut and oak. The black walnut is from a small piece I had been saving for over 20 years, just waiting for a good application. This was my first home chemistry project. My brother liked the rack and assumed that this would be my hobby in retirement, ie, woodwork. I straightened him out on that real fast.

len1 - 26-1-2010 at 13:53

My son recently showed me a boat he made out of an empty coke tin and some electronics. I now told him on no account should he take it to school.

Who should pay for the excessive responce? Either the school or the vice principal if he acted without consultation. To see this, one should only ask who would pay if I had called the special squad after my son had showed me his contraption in a bath tub?

[Edited on 26-1-2010 by len1]

DougTheMapper - 15-9-2010 at 10:35

This reminds me of a recent incident which occurred at my school dormitory. I had been harvesting fluorescent light ballasts from the trash while renovations were being made to the school, mainly for the large pass transistors and high-voltage inductors inside.

I had about 7 of them neatly wrapped in their wires and stacked in a drawer awaiting transport home. A visiting friend of my roommate's happened to see them and asked me if they were "Bricks of C-4."

I told him that he watches too much TV.

It also gets on my nerves when the few friends who do know I have a lab watch me mix two solutions and immediately point out "nothing happened," then ask why I'm interested in mixing things when they don't react spectacularly. Sheesh.


-DTM

quicksilver - 15-9-2010 at 15:59

I know some of you are parents.
I can personally vouch that several of my friends have had issues with their school and their child getting in very serious trouble for....... bringing blunt "child scissors" to school (expelled), bringing a pair of nail clippers to school (expelled), telling another child in elementary school "I'm gonna' kill you" (in reference to SPORTS) - he was suspended and sent to "counseling". Throwing mud at another child (5th grade) suspended, sent to counseling. Chasing a girl around the playground with a grasshopper (expelled), Playing with a broken TV remote-control during recess....police called: child suspended.

This was all in United States public schools from a selection of parents with diverse social-economic and educational backgrounds.

I remember when I was a child I brought a magnifying glass to school and got in trouble for burning my name in leaves. I was lectured on fire danger and sent back to class; told to pick up my magnifying glass when I went home after school and not to do that anymore as it was irresponsible. I didn't, it was, & I learned a lesson. Today, the school would go on "lock-down", the bomb squad would be called and the magnifying glass would be described as a weapon to a gaggle of reporters.

psychokinetic - 15-9-2010 at 18:14

And the kid would learn that it's a great way to get attention.

MagicJigPipe - 18-9-2010 at 08:22

I got into a huge ordeal in junior high when some little punk overheard me and my friends discussing the physics of explosives. He told an administrator and the next thing we knew we were being interviewed and accused of plotting "the next Columbine". Nothing ever came of it but ever since then the school staff wouldn't let me fart in their general direction without making a huge deal out of it. I transferred to a different school the next year.

Also, around that same time (I can't remember which incident occurred first) my friend's father kept accusing us of making bombs because we were interested in electronics and would routinely build electronic devices. Naturally, if your child is interested in something as nerdy as electronics (as opposed to booze and smoking cigarettes) it MUST be for nefarious purposes.

Intelligence (and I'm not necessarily saying that we were so don't go there) is no longer rewarded or praised, it is chastised and treated with suspicion.

psychokinetic - 18-9-2010 at 14:04

Yeah, welcome to my high school life.
I wasn't into drugs, smoking, drinking, skipping school.
I did my work, was polite to teachers.

So obviously I was a delinquent.

Before regulation managed so much of our lives for our own good

franklyn - 26-3-2013 at 09:12

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!


First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank
while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can
and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs
covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no child proof lids on medicine bottles, no locks on doors or cabinets
and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we rode in cars with no car seats, no booster seats,
no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes bad brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from bottled water.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
and the worms did not live in us forever.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle
and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar, and,
we weren't overweight. WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable.
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's.
No cell phones, No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and met them !

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door
or rang the bell, or just walked in to talk them.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day, and we were O.K.

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games
with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen,
we did not put out any eyes.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.
After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Imagine that !

These generations have produced some of the best Risk-takers, problem solvers
and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and
new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
how to deal with it all.

________________

related musing _

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=9661#p...

.

ElectroWin - 26-3-2013 at 10:25

this was a science project.

what school policy was violated?

elementcollector1 - 26-3-2013 at 11:35

Technology = bomb.
...I hate the American education system.

bfesser - 26-3-2013 at 12:59

When I was fairly young (elementary), I was constantly bringing breadboards and electronics components to school to tinker with during recess or lunch breaks. I never got into real trouble for it... of course, that was pre-9/11, and I wasn't stupid enough to cram wires into a Gatorade bottle.

Though, I remember having a lock pick set confiscated once, in High School (2003?). Some **** substitute teacher had taken it away from me, claiming that they (she had no idea what they were) were 'weapons'. I went to the principal and demanded that it be returned. When she asked what it was, I told her that it was a lock pick set and that I'd read the pertinent laws, and lock picks are legal to carry in Minnesota, unless the cops can prove malicious/criminal intent. Apparently the principal had already consulted with the police liaison officer, and knew this—she must have expected me to be unaware of my rights. As a precaution, in case of such a situation, I always had a padlock or two in my pocket to produce as 'evidence' of non-criminal intent. I got it back right away. ;) I think they were a little intimidated that I wasn't afraid of their bureaucratic fear-mongering bullshit.

Then there was the time that a teacher threatened to send me and a classmate/friend to the principal for arguing with her in front of the class... so my friend and I walked out and went to the principal on our own, and told her that we'd bring down a shitstorm against the teacher, school, and district, if she (the principal) didn't take action against the teacher for bullying students. Of course, it was a science class, and my friend and I had simply pointed out fallacies and lies that the teacher had presented as fact. Luckily, for my friend, his father was a state senator and also a regular substitute teacher in the district. I wasn't as lucky. The teacher tried to fail me (hard to falsely 'fail' someone with an A+), and I nearly got her fired (teacher's unions are bullshit). I graduated and moved on before achieving this goal.

I hated public school...

In the words of Bobby Conn, "You're never gonna get ahead, givin' head to the man!"<iframe sandbox width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zmT3Ny9fRIw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Edited on 3/26/13 by bfesser]

S.C. Wack - 26-3-2013 at 19:26

The paranoia with buying chemicals at the hardware store was already in full force 20-25 years ago here, the store next to my school got kids arrested a few times for "bomb making material", at a different store, I was followed out to my car by an owner (part time fireman) who made sure I saw him writing down my license plate, just for scanning ingredients in a couple items and not buying anything...
Quote: Originally posted by S.C. Wack  
everyone in Portland fully supports the overreaction in the plane to Hawaii that turned back last week...with fighter jets:
http://www.kgw.com/home/Maui-bound-plane-turned-back-to-PDX-...
http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Exclusive-KGW-interview-with-J...


Ah...now I understand...see picture
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12346532

A man who caused a Hawaiian Airlines flight to reverse course over the North Pacific under F-15 fighter escort had charges against him dropped in federal court Tuesday. Joseph Hedlund Johnson of Salem, Oregon will instead have to apologize in writing and perform community service for his actions on an aborted flight from Portland to Honolulu January 8.

Johnson was responsible for two fighter jets accompanying the Hawaiian Air flight back to Portland after he refused to give up his carry-on bag and filled out a comment card referring to plane crashes, Gilligan's Island and sharks.

Johnson will instead perform 50 hours of community service, abstain from drug or alcohol use and write a letter of apology to Hawaiian Air and his fellow passengers aboard flight 39.

alan309 - 3-4-2013 at 10:25

This is a new world of technologies everyone should have their right make anything they want which is not very harmful to them.
And I agree with that if someone is doing something in which he/she has interest than let them do and review if it is good for them or not and guide them

elementcollector1 - 3-4-2013 at 11:29

Quote: Originally posted by alan309  
This is a new world of technologies everyone should have their right make anything they want which is not very harmful to them.
And I agree with that if someone is doing something in which he/she has interest than let them do and review if it is good for them or not and guide them

Oh, sure, not harmful to them - but what about harm to others?
And what if someone has an interest in disassociation of your respective body parts?
Not saying I'm for all this damned legislation, but I am heavily against blanket statements.

Fantasma4500 - 11-5-2013 at 05:43

laughing of hopelessness.. ''nothing is so bad its not good for something''
infact.. if you can just remember that C4 contains 91% RDX then youre a wisest person average persons have ever met, i think thats pretty sad people take you for genious if you can remember 3 letters and percentage of somthing..

some of you will surely doubt im the smartest around, im sure im not.. but i do have a burning desire and interest in chemistry and ofcourse in releasing energy in form of different reactions, when thats said i think we live in a society where stereotypes of idiocracy breeds and is praised by the usual western type government, mentality towards homechemistry and even stuff that does on or without purpose goes bang changes radically, people laugh and clap at it where the further west and more civilized you go the more police will show up in less time when you mention chemistry or well im very sure that if you called the police station in my town and said you have 50 litres of dyhydrogenmonoxide that you are ready to let out on an open trafficked street you would have quite some trouble in little time

sad and yet hilarius because im 99% sure this would cause mayhem to say :D

infact, actual demolitions experts judged copper sulfate as being a very dangerous and very VERY powerful explosive, in need of being blown away with great force, the persons who judged this was actual ''experts''

im not saying im superior in any possible way, but you dont need much to top the top, sadly..

S.C. Wack - 11-5-2013 at 09:09

Perhaps it should be noted that in the US, city police and firemen are the best of the best, the "top" 5% of generally hundreds if not thousands of applicants every year...they are surely expert, and our explosives detection dogs are so good they can smell inorganic salt, which can be used in explosive devices (as the hexahydrate), justifiably resulting in the shutdown of a Tampa cruise ship terminal. The unrestricted non-hazmat Mg(NO3)2·6H2O molecule is so volatile and penetrating that it contaminates every pallet in the warehouse with dog-inducing explosives scent; this wasn't the first time.

In other a bit off-topic magnesium-related Florida news, it might be Mg in a shed...EVACUATE 49 HOUSES AND LOCK DOWN 3 SCHOOLS

http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.h...

..."From what I understand and from what I hear from the guys is that it is a lot of chemicals. It is a lot of dangerous chemicals,” explained Jeff Williamson, spokesperson for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. “And because of that they are going to take their time, methodically go through it. These guys don't want to be hurt so no one is rushing through this."

Williamson said some of the chemicals were labeled, some were in Tupperware. Orange County investigators originally said one of the chemicals was magnesium. They now say they are not sure, and it will be tested....

----------------------

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-05-02/news/os-suspi...

Five or six kinds of volatile chemicals were found Wednesday in the shed and home of a fireworks enthusiast who died last week of natural causes, prompting an evacuation of his east Orange County manufactured-home park.

Members of the Sheriff's Office and Fire Rescue bomb squads late Wednesday "rendered safe" more than 40 pounds of explosives, sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson said. That usually means blowing them up, but Williamson would not be more specific.

Deputies think the chemicals were used to make fireworks, he said.

A shelter was set up at nearby Corner Lake Middle School for the roughly 70 people who were evacuated about 10:30 a.m. from about 50 homes in the Alafaya Palms community near Lake Pickett and East Colonial drives.

Residents were allowed back in their homes about eight hours later.

A worker hired to clean out the shed 1849 La Crosse Ave. after the owner's death found the chemicals and contacted authorities.

"These are volatile chemicals," said Orange County Fire Rescue Chief Rick Reynolds, who declined to identify them. "I'll say this: If there was a fire, I would not like to roll up on something like this."

Local agencies worked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to identify each substance.

Alafaya Palms resident George Diaz lives across the street from the contaminated home and knew his neighbor as a nice man who kept mostly to himself...

Cou - 17-5-2013 at 18:14

Only terrorists need to learn about chemistry. Why don't you play sports with your friends and get in fights like a real american kid should?

-sarcasm

Fantasma4500 - 20-5-2013 at 21:29

Quote: Originally posted by Cou  
Only terrorists need to learn about chemistry. Why don't you play sports with your friends and get in fights like a real american kid should?

-sarcasm


dont forget the drugs controlled by the good guys, THE GOOD GUYS they cant hurt you.. its not the terrorists creeping around with them anymore
go watch some television and stop being so violent and angered, everything is gonna solve itself, the system is here to help you, just close your eyes and let it solve it all for you