GEN: Bomb-making and the internet

[Barbara Allen <BSAllen@AOL.COM>]

I think it's possible that humans have always been fascinated by fire,
fireworks, and explosions.  Some scientists pursue explosives as a
profession, some use explosives in every day jobs in mines and construction,
some blow up tin cans and stumps out in the country as a hobby, and some
people use explosives for murder.  That's not even counting all that little
explosions in the cylinders that power our cars.  I don't think that it's
either wrong or sinister that information about both bombs and anarchy be on
the internet.  Any student of history or government needs to know about
anarchy.  Most physics students want to know about bombs, rockets,
explosives, etc.  Everyone who uses the internet at all needs to know that
information on the internet is frequently not accurate.  My high school son
and a friend made a rocket engine (a controlled bomb) using a recipe found on
the internet.  They had the physics teacher look over the recipe to make sure
that it was safe.  (The teacher also supplied appropriate amounts of the need
chemicals. )    I think we need to look deeper than the availability of
information, the availability of guns, the availability of violent images on
screen and in video games for the explanations, if they exist, for tragedies
like Littleton.
JMHO
Barbara Allen
Program Analyst / Library Services
Tucson Unified School District
Tucson, AZ
bsallen@aol.com

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