Posted on 08/13/2008 7:13:32 AM PDT by yankeedame
An anonymous reader tips a guest posting up on the MAKE Magazine blog by the author of the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments. It seems that authorities in Massachusetts have raided a home chemistry lab, apparently without a warrant, and made off with all of its contents. Here's the local article from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
"Victor Deeb, a retired chemist who lives in Marlboro, has finally been allowed to return to his Fremont Street home, after Massachusetts authorities spent three days ransacking his basement lab and making off with its contents.
"Deeb is not accused of making methamphetamine or other illegal drugs. He's not accused of aiding terrorists, synthesizing explosives, nor even of making illegal fireworks. Deeb fell afoul of the Massachusetts authorities for... doing experiments...
"Pamela Wilderman, the code enforcement officer for [the Massachusetts town of] Marlboro stated, 'I think Mr. Deeb has crossed a line somewhere. This is not what we would consider to be a customary home occupation.'
"Allow me to translate Ms. Wilderman's words into plain English: 'Mr. Deeb hasn't actually violated any law or regulation that I can find, but I don't like what he's doing because I'm ignorant and irrationally afraid of chemicals, so I'll abuse my power to steal his property and shut him down.'"
“Phone call for Mr.Deeb.......It’s your homeowners insurance agent, something about covered when hell freezes over”
And once they find out the owner is a chemist, they should shut up and drag their asses away. The "nanny state" is growing far past the point of ridiculousness.
Pecisely why many subscribe to the “let it burn” way of thinking. If you live in many places, a fire or ambulance call is accompanied by a police officer/s and a complete look-see thru the dwelling. If they find guns, or items of “concern”, they seize them and will also take your kids if you get all constitutional on them.
And the knowledge of the average community firefighter is?........I bet they wouldn’t know a rotovapor flask from a stirring bar.
Time to exercise your civic duty and vote out the people in our local government.
This is also about fire code safety as firmen must know about the chemicals in case they gotta put out a fire.
That’s the nature of journalism; here today, gone tomorrow.
In another fifty years the doctor treating your grandchildren will have graduated Magna Cum Laude from Walmart University. The doctor's total chemistry background will consist of his new employee orientation at Walmart, covering floor waxes and the difference between Asprin and suppositories
< snurk>
Bleepin Massachusetts.
You bet I’m not laughing. The Founder’s of this great country are spinning in their graves over crap like this. :-(
I'd have to move. I can't go a week without welding, brazing, cutting, turning, or drilling something.
Actually, a fishing expedition is exactly what it was. During a call for an unrelated air conditioner fire, the firefighters saw chem-lab glassware and reported it as suspicious.
so they had a complaint, where is the warrant? You cannot just bust into someone’s house and take everything.
I am conflicted on this one, I think the firefighters called code enforcement and kept the scene open till everyone got there. It is kind of like the police finding something in plain sight. In Virginia, if there is one firefighter still on the scene, the arson team does not need a warrant. I have seen many times where a junior firefighter is left in the command of the scene overnight till the state arson guy could get there in the morning. This could go either way, but I don’t think there is going to be any charges.
Here’s hoping that Mr. Deeb files a federal civil rights suit against his local officials and is reimbursed for the physical damage done to his personal property and the emotional damage done by the stormtroopers and their tactics. Unless such government atrocities can be redressed in the court system, we might as well concede that we are not living in the USA anymore.
Before any conclusion can be made about what happened we would have to know what kind of experiments were going on.
Almost a great reply... but change “ILLEGAL” to “CRIMINAL” and you’ve got it. Lots of things are “illegal” without being criminal in nature. Like keeping your income secret from the tax collector. It’s hardly wrong to do that, but the a-hole tax collectors take a dim view of it. It’s both wrong and CRIMINAL to kidnap and rape women, for example. THAT is a CRIME plus being illegal.
You are way too willing to grant government way too much authority. Sorry, but you ain’t no friend of liberty.
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