Wake-Up Call: When peroxide is outlawed, only outlaws will have peroxide

Before the Balloon Boy story blew up around the globe, Colorado's Najibullah Zazi was reportedly getting ready to blow up New York City. Our hometown terrorist is now being held without bail in New York on charges of conspiring to detonate explosives in the United States; his father has a...

By Patricia Calhoun

October 21, 2009

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Before the Balloon Boy story blew up around the globe, Colorado's Najibullah Zazi was reportedly getting ready to blow up New York City. Our hometown terrorist is now being held without bail in New York on charges of conspiring to detonate explosives in the United States; his father has a December 7 trial date in U.S. District Court in Denver on charges of lying to federal investigators.

Yesterday, President Barack Obama visited the Manhattan FBI office that led the investigation, and praised the agents for their work. But the job's not done yet: New York Senator Chuck Schumer is calling for a nationwide "awareness" program on sales of peroxide, which Zazi picked up in bulk at an Aurora beauty-supply company. He told the clerk that he had a lot of girlfriends in need of hair care -- but concentrated peroxide can also be used to make a liquid bomb known as TATP, and plans for the device were allegedly found on Zazi's computer.

It could have been the ultimate blonde bombshell...

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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