In the past week or so, a high school chemistry teacher was arrested in Orlando Florida after his students claimed that he taught them how to make a bomb.

The name of the high school was "Freedom High School".

This is ironic. It just so happens that freedom and bombs go together. As much as beer and guns do, when you think about it.

And when we celebrate our freedom, like on the fourth of July, the main ingredient is fire works. Big explosions in the sky. Right?

At a time when we are clamoring for better education, especially in the sciences, we find ourselves with a chemistry teacher who puts a little bang into a boring class filled with numbers and letters and formulas. And what do we do with him? We charge him with "possessing or discharging a destructive device", and release him on $1000 bail.

Now, every boy worth his salt peter [technically know as potassium nitrate] is going to want to put a little bang in his life sooner or later, and it only stands to reason that being taught proper procedures will diminish the occurrence of injuries or property damage.

So, with their new found knowledge the boys apparently set off a device at a local golf course and video-taped the event. The tape was shown to the teacher, and he approved of their procedures and successful results.

There was no mention of any damage occurring. Like maybe a new sand bunker on the seventeenth hole or anything like that.

If the biology teacher had inspired the students in his class to initiate independent field trips to study, letâs say, the breeding rituals of the yellow bellied sap-sucker, and if they came back with video-taped documentation, why, he would be up for teacher of the year.

But inspiring tomorrows chemists, miners, and special forces operatives, gets you in the soup. So to speak.

What do you think the odds are that all the fire works stands in Florida will be closed down?

Odds are pretty high against it, wouldnât you say?

Till next week
Helga Biermeister
Secretary