Timothy May wrote:

(One can asssume that with more and more such things being added to the "watch lists" each year, that there will be less acceptance of cash, or anonymous digital cash, for such purchases.)

I tried to buy some chemicals down here with cash about six months ago. They tried everything they could to get me to write a check and in the end I stormed out of the building, leaving the merchandise on the counter. I haven't been back yet, and there's probably a good chance that the security camera footage was sent to the FBI. Come to think of it, that would explain some rather wierd incidents I've observed since then. People say that the only reason to pay in cash is if you have something to hide. You're damned right. The last thing I want is a bunch of government shills keeping track of what I buy so that they can stage some raid because they have a record of me paying for a beaker "which could be used" to mix chemicals which "could be used" as explosives, or metal "which could be used" to make thermite which "could be used" for some nefarious purpose. In America today if you have interests in biology, chemistry, or physics it is considered grounds by both the government and the pathetic sheep to shoot you. Pardon me if I'm a little bit paranoid these days. It used to be intellectuals were just beat up and made fun of by the others in schools. Now it's fashionable to throw them in jail or kill them. "Unauthorized and illegitimate research:" what a stupid concept. The American people consider anybody who does things in secret to be automatically guilty. Forget the principles that America was founded on! When the government sends the ninjas into your home because you were going 56 mph when you passed a cop on the highway and looked over at him the wrong way they sieze your computer. They find that you're running Linux. Oooh, you must be evil because your computer is password protected but the Microshaft apologist across the hall has his computer wide open. They find that you have blocks of random data on your drive, and even if they don't get them decrypted because they *ARE* blocks of completely random data they wave it in front of a jury and get a guilty verdict. It's a sad, sad state of affairs.

ObMinorNote: I recently tried to buy a bag of ammonium nitrate for my yard...the local yard store says it hasn't been available to ordinary customers since OKC. I had to settle for ammonium sulfate instead.

It is when I read things like this that I realize how completely stupid the entire government position is. Why do you need to buy ammonium nitrate to make a bomb? Assuming you just don't use something else which is more effective, why not do this? NH OH + HNO --> NH NO + H O 3 3 3 3 2 So this naturally leads to the following question: Is having nitric acid and ammonium hydroxide now a crime worthy of ninjas flying through your windows with big guns in the middle of the night and shooting you because "you looked like you were going for a weapon" when you flushed the toilet and pulled your pants up? Then if they don't have anything to charge you with they plant some drugs in your toilet tank and claim that you were in "possession of drugs with intention to distribute." Of course you were going to distribute them! You had a truck and you frequently drove around!

We live in a dangerous world, full of potentially dangerous substances and things. Instead of dealing with the danger on a personal basis, we are using the government as our nanny, and also letting it record our purchases, open files on us for "unusual" purchases, and generally track our actions. Which actually won't have much effect on dedicated terrorists and criminals.

Exactly. Welcome to the shakedown extortion police state known as Amerika, Land of the Freeh.