Methanol? (WHY?)

[Susan Kline]

Once again to the fray! (and such a civilized fray)

>  .....Laquer thinner, Toluene, Naptha, and Turpentine are at least as toxic,
> and some more toxic, than Methanol.  All of these compounds are used commonly
> and used everyday.  

Not by me, they aren't!

> If you don't believe that try eating 6 tomatoes every
> day for two weeks or drinking 8 glasses of milk every day for two months.  Or
> eating 4 carrots a day for three weeks. 

Pardon, friend, but you are _way_ out to lunch here. I've eaten more than 4
carrots a day for months (during a few periods of my chequered life) with no
trouble at all. I eat salsa every day, almost to excess, probably nearly 6
tomatoes' worth sometimes, since it's concentrated. Beta carotene is NOT
vitamin A!! You could eat 16 carrots a day, and all you'd get is tired of
carrots. After about 6 months your skin might show a little orange color,
but it would actually be healthier (if less aesthetic) than normal. There
are people who take concentrated carotenes by capsule in order to "tan",
with no ill effects. Those had far more beta carotene than any amount of
carrots or tomatoes you could take my mouth.

As for milk, I don't handle it well. My hay fever gets worse, and I get
constipated, and I catch cold more easily. I have a little now and then, but
I don't drink much of it. This doesn't mean it's toxic! If you overindulge
in dairy food, depending on your constitution, you may get fat, you may get
acne, you won't do your arteries a heap of good if it's homogenized, and you
may get more colds or infected ears than you should. But you won't get
hepatitis. Organic solvents will give you toxic hepatitis, not milk.

The whole drift of my objection to methanol is that there is a much less
toxic alternative, that is _just_ as good, and even more available. As for
the toluene, naphtha, etc., I manage to live without them just fine, but if
you can't find a better substitute, sure, use them with due respect. But not
methanol. That's just (pardon) stupid.

Susan

P.S. Everclear allows you to control the percentage of water, but in a
pinch, vodka straight from the bottle makes a fine shrinking solution to
free center pins, kind of a strong one, though.

Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com

"If I were determined to commit suicide, I would first try to do it with
chocolate."
			-- Ashleigh Brilliant

"If life really is just an illusion, please convey my compliments to the
illusionist."
			-- Ashleigh Brilliant