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chloric1
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I really believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. First you have all these new biodiesel chemical suppliers springing up. This affords
access to common alkalies, acids and solvents at a cost significantly less that traditonal lab supply companies. Plus biodiesel can be a springboard
for soap making and, being a green activity, advocates sound use of resources in a positive way.
Secondly, garage science type literature is becoming more common. The more notable examples are the recently published works by Robert Bruce
Thompson and Theodore Grey. The latter, MAD SCIENCE, is DEFINATELY, on my to buy list Both books are fascinating, teach responsibility, and are
professionally written. I firmly believe most if not all of the membors here have something special to contribute to this hobby. One or more of us
actually getting something published would greatly help to accelerate the movement.
In this climate of economic uncertainty, it imperitive we as a people become more technically educated, more creative, and more self reliant. Having
a wave of tens of thousands of teens become like Adam Savage, Robert Bruce Thompson or Theodore Grey would most assuradly usher in new technolgies in
energy, material science, and resource management.
[Edited on 9/27/2009 by chloric1]
Fellow molecular manipulator
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S.C. Wack
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None of this will change the feelings towards home chemistry [EDIT: or rather, mere possession of chemicals that you can't safely ingest a pound of]
of fire marshals, insurers, code inspectors, and most importantly - mortgage companies. The attempt in the USA to remove any risk from life, via
legislation or otherwise, continues to spiral out of control.
[Edited on 27-9-2009 by S.C. Wack]
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Sedit
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I agree. The fact that the government feels as though we need them to protect us from ourselfs means that they will always treat chemist the way they
do now or if Im write much worse then they do at the present. I feel a time will come when no pure chemicals can be ordered without a special permit
and same with glassware as well. Texas has already started on this road and you can expect the rest of the states to follow soon enough.
All a sad state of affairs really when everyone that WE voted into office do not trust our judgement... LMAO whats that say about them?
Knowledge is useless to useless people...
"I see a lot of patterns in our behavior as a nation that parallel a lot of other historical processes. The fall of Rome, the fall of Germany — the
fall of the ruling country, the people who think they can do whatever they want without anybody else's consent. I've seen this story
before."~Maynard James Keenan
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entropy51
Gone, but not forgotten
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It's not as if there's no reason for the mistrust of garage chemistry. I don't like it, but I can understand it.
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Sedit
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There in lies the problem. All the government ever sees from home chemist anymore is bomb makers and drug makers. Those who are legit they almost
never hear from or know next to nothing about. So like entropy started I can understand how they are bothered when ALL they ever see from home chemist
are terrorist in there eyes. Even though the odds are say for the sake of argument 1 drug maker out of every 100 home chemist from there point of view
they see one true home chemist out of every 100 drug makers.
Given this hypothesis the only thing that could be done in an attempt to alter the way things are now would be for legit home experimenters to look
suspicious and draw the attention of the DEA who lets face it are the main shot callers in the suppression of the home chemist. This would cause more
lawsuits such as that of Victor Deebs(IIRC) where they get pressured to make up for the wrong they have caused. There would be so many sacrifices in a
tactic such as this that a mass uprising so to speak of home chemist is just completely unreasonable.
Knowledge is useless to useless people...
"I see a lot of patterns in our behavior as a nation that parallel a lot of other historical processes. The fall of Rome, the fall of Germany — the
fall of the ruling country, the people who think they can do whatever they want without anybody else's consent. I've seen this story
before."~Maynard James Keenan
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chloric1
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Sedit, your absolutely right ! There is no use in trying! Just bury the heads
in the sand and give up.
On a more serious note, I don't really care what the DEA, fire marshall or other blow hard thinks. We merely need to create a, for lack of better
word, create and open geek culture. Buy publishing works, constructive and usefull videos, and giving pubic presentations, eventially the DEA and
DHS will that there is meth cooks, bombers, AND people exploring and making discoveries. Granted, most of us are exploring victorian realms of
experimentation but when you combine old tech with high tech you would be surprised at what you may discover.
Fellow molecular manipulator
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Sedit
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| Quote: | Sedit, your absolutely right! There is no use in trying! Just bury the heads in the sand and give up.
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 Im not suggesting that even if thats how it sounds. I just don't feel the
possibility of a mass exodus of home chemist into the limelight is a reasonable thing to expect even if it would help our cause greatly. Think about
it. How many here would be willing to post there full names and adresses here? If you can't trust those here enough to expose yourself the odds of
doing so in person drop dramaticly.
What should be done and whats practical are sadly two different things. I know sound like a pessimist but Im just taking things for what they are.
There can not be improvment as long as we live in shadows but the odds of getting people to come out are lower then the odds of the government
accepting us at this point.
Knowledge is useless to useless people...
"I see a lot of patterns in our behavior as a nation that parallel a lot of other historical processes. The fall of Rome, the fall of Germany — the
fall of the ruling country, the people who think they can do whatever they want without anybody else's consent. I've seen this story
before."~Maynard James Keenan
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Magpie
lab constructor
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I'm not out to make discoveries for the betterment of mankind, or even to push back the foreskin of science. I'm merely practicing a legitimate hobby
that I enjoy. This should be no different than people enjoying wood working, knitting, bowling, or golf. Our (US) Constitution guarantees our right
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It really irritates me that I can't do this openly without fear of unjust persecution. But that's the times in which we live. Terrorists and
drugmakers are largely responsible for creating this environment.
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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S.C. Wack
bibliomaster
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If you come to the attention of a fire marshal and you are in violation of NFPA codes, your attitude will please him greatly, and he will make you
care. Same story if your storage of flammables, oxidizers, fireworks, environmentally hazardous chemicals, etc. in any amount come to the attention of
your landlord, insurer, or mortgage company.
The chemicals will go, and you'll be getting a bill for "cleanup" costs.
[Edited on 27-9-2009 by S.C. Wack]
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ketel-one
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What do legit organic chemists make anyways? Aside from making nylon and that Deeb guy's rubber sealant, what application of what they make have in
real life? From what I've seen so far everyone is trying to create not even so much drugs themselves, but definitely precursors or reagents for such
reactions (for example one of the stickied pages in organic chemistry is 2,5-something benzaldehyde). I mean I don't have a problem with that, but
realistically until drugs become legal, government isn't going to be too fanatic about organic chemists.
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UnintentionalChaos
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Quote: Originally posted by ketel-one  | | What do legit organic chemists make anyways? Aside from making nylon and that Deeb guy's rubber sealant, what application of what they make have in
real life? From what I've seen so far everyone is trying to create not even so much drugs themselves, but definitely precursors or reagents for such
reactions (for example one of the stickied pages in organic chemistry is 2,5-something benzaldehyde). I mean I don't have a problem with that, but
realistically until drugs become legal, government isn't going to be too fanatic about organic chemists. |
I make dyes, mostly, fragrance compounds, and polycyclics. I just think they're neat. There's no money in it at all for me, making it a true hobby. ;p
However, I have need of things like benzaldehyde and acetic anhydride in these syntheses, which are usually "OMG, drugs!!!!" chemicals. Some of my
planned preps use birch reductions as well, which is another "omg, drugs!!!!!" thing.
Department of Redundancy Department - Now with paperwork!
'In organic synthesis, we call decomposition products "crap", however this is not a IUPAC approved nomenclature.' -Nicodem
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Sedit
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You have so much to learn ketel. Do you like esters? I sure do... thats one thing legit chemist make. Sights scents and smells.... That should be the
home chemist goal if you ask me. Even if you like to make mind altering substances you should still have the sights and smell of the reagent as your
top priority.... if you don't your going to fail anyway so whats it matter?
Damn man you have no defense what so ever setup for when the boys in blue raid your house do you? Good luck with that.
Knowledge is useless to useless people...
"I see a lot of patterns in our behavior as a nation that parallel a lot of other historical processes. The fall of Rome, the fall of Germany — the
fall of the ruling country, the people who think they can do whatever they want without anybody else's consent. I've seen this story
before."~Maynard James Keenan
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ketel-one
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Ah how could I forget? Making good smells!
Seriously though I'll be like that guy in fight club and start making soap. 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzaldehyde, nitroglycerin? Well those are just catalysts
in my soap making process!
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watson.fawkes
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| Quote: Originally posted by chloric1 | | On a more serious note, I don't really care what the DEA, fire marshall or other blow hard thinks. We merely need to create a, for lack of better
word, create and open geek culture. |
That open culture you're talking about, if it is to be successful, is
going to care about the DEA and the fire marshal (but not, thankfully, the busybody blowhards). It is going to do so openly and forthrightly. Secrecy
on a tactical time scale is an unfortunate necessity for many. Secrecy on a strategic time scale on the other hand, is a death knell.
Disregard of other people's concerns is a sure way for them to feel free to disregard yours. At the end of the day, it's as simple as that. It
certainly can feel good to be all full of piss and vinegar and say "I'll do it no matter what." And that induces an equal and opposite reaction in
authoritarians: "I'll teach those scofflaws a lesson." This dynamic is a recipe for failure, disaster, and misery.
Showing respect for the reasonable concerns of others is a tactic, not an end in itself. The result of applying this tactic is to defuse authoritarian
reaction. You say "I respect your concerns" and their response is "They're not a scofflaw, and a man's home is his castle". This dynamic is not only
sustainable, it's a foundation for growth of home chemistry and amateur science.
As to the fire marshall, the fire code should be treated as a treasured body of collective wisdom about how not to kill yourself or cause harm to
other people and their property. The fact that it's not an open publication itself and is couched in its own jargon and cant is a hurdle, but not an
insurmountable one. Every time I've needed to understand a particular piece of the fire code, it's been eminently sensible. Take solvent storage, for
example. The principle is that if you have large amounts of solvents, that you segregate them from sources of ignition. So don't store multiple
gallons in your lab. You store them elsewhere, with at least a door separating the lab space from the storage space. It's really that simple. It's
slightly more work to have "day flasks" of solvent and to refill them, but it greatly reduces the consequences of an accidental fire. Indeed it
changes it from something that you can clean up to something that the fire department has to clean up, and that, finally, is the real point.
As for the drug enforcers, their concerns are more or less reasonable, unless, that is, your goal is making controlled substances, in which case I
can't help you. While I think the current policies are broken (briefly, because they create economic incentives toward large producers and consequent
government corruption), my opinions are beside the point when it comes to compliance with current regulation. To emphasize this, it is not a
contradiction to comply with regulation and, at the very same time, agitate to change that regulation. Take the example of the DEA Diversion program
and the List I restrictions. They are both annoying and hardly the end of the world. In particular, they're not prohibitions on simple possession. If
you make it yourself, for your own use, and don't sell it, you're not breaking any law. In many ways, the regulators have provided a list of synthetic
products that every home chemist in the US should learn.
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Magpie
lab constructor
Posts: 5939
Registered: 1-11-2003
Location: USA
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| Quote: |
As to the fire marshall, the fire code should be treated as a treasured body of collective wisdom about how not to kill yourself or cause harm to
other people and their property.
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Fire codes are an interesting subject to me. At the last place I worked industrial fire codes were strictly enforced. There was a limit to how many
pounds of combustible material could be stored per 100ft2. We would go to such lengths as using metal pallets vs wood or plastic pallets in order to
comply with the fire code. We were subject to periodic inspections by a fire marshall.
Now compare this to the typical domestic residence, which is just crammed with combustible material: furniture, clothing, wood, cardboard, and paper.
Also there are no inspections by a fire marshall, unless you ask for one.
A week doesn't go by in my community that someone's house, trailer, or apartment doesn't catch on fire. If it is an apartment it very likely will
catch the neighbors' residences on fire also. These fires are almost always caused by electrical deficiencies, carelessness, or some little kid with
a butane lighter or matches. Granted, on a percentage basis these incidences may be considered rare. But where is the hue and cry about these
tragedies? I guess people are comfortable with fires they understand and involve material goods that everyone has.
Now if a fire would be caused by a (gasp) home chemist's accident there would be hell to pay. What hypocrisy.
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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watson.fawkes
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| Quote: Originally posted by Magpie | I guess people are comfortable with fires they understand and involve material goods that everyone has.
Now if a fire would be caused by a (gasp) home chemist's accident there would be hell to pay. What hypocrisy. |
I don't think this is hypocrisy, simply because it's not in the central meaning of that word to be inconsistent with something that
you have no conception of. The lack of understanding, thus, is much more central to the actual problem. Ordinary dwellings may be packed with simple
combustibles, but all those combustibles are completely typical in their aggregate behavior, and this leads to a fair measure of predictability. On
the other hand, the same kind of "typical" isn't present in science or industry. There are too many possible variations. The two kinds of solutions to
this uncertainty are engineering and over-caution. The fire code embodies the second principle, because it's generally cheaper than the first.
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chloric1
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OK my meaning has been misconstrued. My apparent defiance was not so much contempt for authority but more for making the point that I am not doing
anything illegal and I am on constant watch for possible dangers not only to me, my family, and my property but also my neighbors.
I have to agree that taking extra steps to like keeping flammable liquids separate and only having what you need in your lab at the moment does
minimize risk. Also, chemicals that do not store well should be maintained at low volumes, sythesized when needed, or replaced by safer substitutes.
Examples like solid hypochlorites, ethers, and formic acid.
The skills I have learned in amatuer science have proven their worth many times over. Even if we don't make a discovery to help mankind, we are more
able to enlighten ourselves and our peers. Hell, the one sythesis you have done 100 times before may just present itself with a more efficient method
to the same end results. Sometimes you not even realize the value of what you are doing. For example, 20 years ago I figured out that adding
hydrogen peroxide to bleach produced an unstable mixture that evolved copious amounts of O2 and wat very good at converting common metals to their
oxides. For me is was just a lab curiousity but mostly forgotten until 10 years ago the maker of Clorox decided to make a drain opener from this
reaction by putting each component in a divided bottle. When I saw this I was shocked but filled with inspiration and wonder. I was 17 playing
around with household ingredients and inadvertantly made a consumer commodity 10 years before its time. Only I used it to rust nails and copper
wire.
Fellow molecular manipulator
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watson.fawkes
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| Quote: Originally posted by chloric1 | | My apparent defiance was not so much contempt for authority but more for making the point that I am not doing anything illegal and I am on constant
watch for possible dangers not only to me, my family, and my property but also my neighbors. |
It's not enough
to be responsible. What's needed is to be visibly responsible. The difference between these two is that between your knowledge of the situation and
someone else's, not in any underlying activity.
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ketel-one
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| Quote: Originally posted by Magpie | | It really irritates me that I can't do this openly without fear of unjust persecution. But that's the times in which we live. Terrorists and
drugmakers are largely responsible for creating this environment. |
No! What you're doing is accepting the government's rules as unchangeable. Have you heard of stanford prison study? That's what you're doing,
accepting that the government won't freely let you practice chemistry. Terrorists and drugmakers should be the government's problem, not yours or the
environment you live in.
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watson.fawkes
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The
difference here is that between de facto and de jure. The de facto situation, that as it actually is, is indeed as Magpie
described it, that there's an atmosphere of suspicion about home chemistry. The de jure situation, that as justice would demand, is as you
describe it, is that it should not be the case that there is this suspicion. What you are saying is that the world should be just. Yes, it
should. What Magpie is saying is that the world is not just. No, it's not.
So terrorists and drugmakers have harmed you. Can you seek redress against them directly? You might, but that would be itself unjust, and two wrongs
do not make a right. Can you seek redress against them indirectly, through law enforcement? Perhaps, but the underlying problem is that you and the
drugmaker are indistinguishable in the eyes of law enforcement, barring other information. Indeed this lack of distinction is the mode through which
drugmakers harm you.
So you, and all other home chemists, are at the wrong end of an injustice, with little immediate hope of changing this. So what to do? First, don't
cry over spilt milk. This is the way of the world right now, and accepting this reality is more productive than not. Second, get on with the business
of making it easy and ordinary to distinguish you from the drugmakers, both by educating the larger world and by working within these circles of home
chemists to make this culture distinct, recognizable, and respectable.
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chloric1
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Ok fine then the response to the most recent post and the response to my last post is this. Simple steps like being organized,(ex. not storing
chemicals wherever), keeping a lab manual filled out to university standards, and becoming a part of a home schooling group. The later might be
really convenient for me as I have a child close to kindergarten age. I am still sticking with my point about writing a book or article with an
established publishing media(palladium press not a good choice). IF writing is not practical then a series of Youtube videos of a professional
approach is very helpful. The main point is that you openly recognize safety precautions, obey local laws, and demonstrate your knowledge and
expertise is a structured and professional way.
Fellow molecular manipulator
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vulture
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You are not going to change the mind of the DHS or the DEA in any way, even if you come up with the most frigging awesome PR stunt the world has ever
seen. These organizations exist on the behalf of lobby groups and thus large corporate muscle. It all boils down to money and protecting your
interests.
Alot of people are laughing all the way to the bank because of their participation in the war on drugs and terror.
[Edited on 3-10-2009 by vulture]
One shouldn't accept or resort to the mutilation of science to appease the mentally impaired.
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S.C. Wack
bibliomaster
Posts: 2419
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Since I mentioned NFPA codes...a little searching of the gigapedia shows
NFPA codes 1-5000 as of 2002:
http://rapidshare.com/files/23535086/NFPA2002.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/23583434/NFPA2002.part2.rar
It's a windows program for installation.
Just the
Standard on Fire Protection for Laboratories Using Chemicals
(2000) http://ifile.it/zmr5hno
Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code
(2000) http://ifile.it/s2ni1j
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entropy51
Gone, but not forgotten
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Thanks, S.C. Those sure bring back memories. Years ago when our labs underwent the annual inspection by the fire marshall, we could almost always
shut them up by pulling out NFPA 45 and showing them that we were in compliance. Before we got that standard, there was a certain arbitrary and
capricious flavor to those inspections.
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quicksilver
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I'm not entirely sure if you've touched upon this but the three (or 4) letter agencies have many many people who are gainfully employed by same....
......A "hobby" is not going to hold a candle to the loss of the income of thousands of people. We are NOT talking about money against money such as
why we still have gasoline engines....we are dealing with the same discussion-path as "Could you please tear down the Municipal Court; I want to use
that area for a football field".
In effect, the proposal is an exaggeration of "I have a hobby and my recreation may threaten the expansion of your job"...... is a NO WIN proposal.
Some of these agencies (like the DEA) are DAMN strong politically as they also function as Intelligence agencies in addition as their prime target. NO
ONE who makes decisions that MAY curtail that platform will even give a wink at the idea of slowing up an agency that may seriously have national
security interests as some of it's agenda.
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