Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries

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Post by emotional leper »

Cheval wrote:I'm kind of suprised that "Anarchist's Cookbook" nor "Poor Man's James Bond" wasn't on the list.
Both books were banned from libraries and bookstores because they were considered "terrorist's" books.
(Wanna know how to make bombs and blow-up bridges?)
I've read one and used to own the other in the early '80s.
Now, if you you want to own either book, you must "special order" and "register" the book with the goverment.
The Anarchist's Cookbook is pretty much complete and total crap. Any 'real' anarchist or survivalist or individualist would have already known everything in the book (that was true,) and more. Heck, how to blow up a bridge is elementary physics! Where to hit people is basic anatomy!

As to the drug synthesis, many of the formulae are wrong. If I recall, in particular, if you try Acid, I think it was, by the listed Formula, you will die.
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Yeah, IIRC, quite a few of the "recipes" were suspect at best. The one for NG springs to mind immediately...

Always wanted to try thermite though... :twisted:

--A
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Post by emotional leper »

Avatar wrote:Yeah, IIRC, quite a few of the "recipes" were suspect at best. The one for NG springs to mind immediately...

Always wanted to try thermite though... :twisted:

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Be very, very, very careful when making thermite. It is nasty, nasty stuff. Unfortunately, unlike napalm, thermite does not stick to children.
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Nasty once ignited, but the ingredients are inert. (In my recipes anyway) *shrug*

--A
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Post by sgt.null »

i had read somewhere that many of the recipes in the Cookbook were more harmful to the person make them than any intended victim? does this bear out to anyone's knowledge. have never read the damned thing, but did find a copy of A Child's Garden of Grass (the title may be wrong) back in junior high. now that book was useful. :biggrin:
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I've heard the same thing, and I've seen a couple of suspect ones that I really wouldn't try.

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Post by emotional leper »

sgt.null wrote:i had read somewhere that many of the recipes in the Cookbook were more harmful to the person make them than any intended victim? does this bear out to anyone's knowledge. have never read the damned thing, but did find a copy of A Child's Garden of Grass (the title may be wrong) back in junior high. now that book was useful. :biggrin:
Most of the recipes for drugs, from what I remember from my copy (which disappeared in my move, hmm. Never let a roommate pack your things while you're away,) were either just plain wrong, or were off in the sort of minutia that will get you killed, because you just drank Hydrocyanic Acid. Not pleasant.

Other recipes in there, like for explosives, do not stress enough how dangerous it is to make. As someone who used to pull alot of fun pranks with Fulminate of Mercury, and who has made TNT, you have to be so ungodly careful that anyone stupid enough to even attempt it with security precautions has to be off in the head.

Stuff in there like demolitions is such basic physics it's stupid. Same with their fighting, but from two points: It's basic anatomy, and anyone who used the Anarchists Cookbook Fighting Style for anything other than complete and total suprise attacks will get their ass kicked by anyone with any real training in hand to hand. I've seen and done it. It's not pretty.

Anarchist's Cookbook: The book, and ownership of it, displays one of three things: A penchant for collecting comedy, an idiot, or someone who genuinely wants to learn the things in it, but has not yet found how to access accurate information, or is too lazy to.

And remember kids: Never let anyone but an Organic Chemist make your Acid.
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Post by Montresor »

HAHA! That was one hell of a good laugh!

I suspect the 'scholars' who compiled that list are all closet-monarchists. I'd cringe in horror at their right-wing melodrama, if I wasn't laughing so hard at their blatant ignorance and stupidity.

Full of fantastic quotes, such as this one about Das Kapital: "He could not have predicted 21st Century America: a free, affluent society based on capitalism and representative government that people the world over envy and seek to emulate" LMAO! What utter, utter BS.

And they really need to do their research - yes, the "Nazis loved Nietzche", but Nietzche absolutely hated anti-semites. He definitely would not have been a Nazi had he lived to see them.
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Post by Worm of Despite »

The Super Mario RPG Player's Guide is very harmful. It gives mis-leading hints and has information that is just wrong!
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Post by emotional leper »

Montressor wrote:HAHA! That was one hell of a good laugh!

I suspect the 'scholars' who compiled that list are all closet-monarchists. I'd cringe in horror at their right-wing melodrama, if I wasn't laughing so hard at their blatant ignorance and stupidity.

Full of fantastic quotes, such as this one about Das Kapital: "He could not have predicted 21st Century America: a free, affluent society based on capitalism and representative government that people the world over envy and seek to emulate" LMAO! What utter, utter BS.

And they really need to do their research - yes, the "Nazis loved Nietzche", but Nietzche absolutely hated anti-semites. He definitely would not have been a Nazi had he lived to see them.
I'm a Monarchist... A king is the only person who can protect the people from themselves. The problem is making sure God picks the right king.
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Post by Montresor »

Emotional Leper wrote: I'm a Monarchist... A king is the only person who can protect the people from themselves. The problem is making sure God picks the right king.
Each to their own persuasion, as far as I'm concerned.

Of course, as an atheist, I don't believe God picks anything; and as a borderline socialist/closet anarchist, I think the best thing kings and queens ever did was get their heads cut off :wink:
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Post by emotional leper »

Montressor wrote:
Emotional Leper wrote: I'm a Monarchist... A king is the only person who can protect the people from themselves. The problem is making sure God picks the right king.
Each to their own persuasion, as far as I'm concerned.

Of course, as an atheist, I don't believe God picks anything; and as a borderline socialist/closet anarchist, I think the best thing kings and queens ever did was get their heads cut off :wink:
But you don't understand! I'm a monarchist because I believe in Democracy! :P
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Post by Holsety »

25. Silent Spring
Probably on here because "OH NO WE STOPPED KILLING MALARIA!" Too bad the people who say that are wrong...in africa they kept using DDT until malaria cases dropped drastically. The problem is that bugs developed an immunity to it, causing a rebound in malaria cases a few years later. Stronger insecticides have had to been used instead.
"FDR adopted the idea as U.S. policy, and the U.S. government now has a $2.6-trillion annual budget and an $8-trillion dollar debt."

??? Um, yeah, because that's FDR's fault. And, you know, Bush didn't get handed the reins to a government with a balanced budget or anything...
The fault is with US politicians after Roosy who didn't undertake to refine new deal policies. Not the president who fought to save starving americans. I've seen evidence that the new deal didn't FIX the economy but at the very least it helped keep the population kicking around till world war II.
What do you all think of the Communist Manifesto at number one?
Even if I hated communism with the fiery rage of someone who feels its the source of all evil in the world, the manifesto is just an attempt to state the ideas - it's not the source of them. Ever heard "know thy enemy?"
A penchant for collecting comedy
*raises hand* Actually I don't own it but I did borrow it from a friend.
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Post by Prebe »

“lebensraum” translated into “living room” is fantastic, hillarious & unbelievable.

Yes. The Arians certainly needed a nice couch and a reclining chair!!! :haha:
"I would have gone to the thesaurus for a more erudite word."
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Post by emotional leper »

Prebe wrote:“lebensraum” translated into “living room” is fantastic, hillarious & unbelievable.

Yes. The Arians certainly needed a nice couch and a reclining chair!!! :haha:
Well, after the Ottoman empire fell apart, where were they supposed to get their furniture? :lol:

German: The art of stringing words together. I have some german from one of my Robotech Graphic Novels where Dr. Lang and another Robotechnologist are talking, and doing it in german, apparently because they can't come up with good english words for what's going on. I need those words translated.
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Post by Montresor »

Emotional Leper wrote: German: The art of stringing words together. I have some german from one of my Robotech Graphic Novels where Dr. Lang and another Robotechnologist are talking, and doing it in german, apparently because they can't come up with good english words for what's going on. I need those words translated.
I could give it a crack for you . . . but, then again, so could Babel Fish :) .
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Post by Prebe »

EL wrote:Well, after the Ottoman empire fell apart, where were they supposed to get their furniture?
:haha:
"I would have gone to the thesaurus for a more erudite word."
-Hashi Lebwohl
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Post by The Dreaming »

Cheval wrote:I'm kind of suprised that "Anarchist's Cookbook" nor "Poor Man's James Bond" wasn't on the list.
Both books were banned from libraries and bookstores because they were considered "terrorist's" books.
(Wanna know how to make bombs and blow-up bridges?)
I've read one and used to own the other in the early '80s.
Now, if you you want to own either book, you must "special order" and "register" the book with the goverment.
I'm also a little surprised that "The Bell Curve" and "Atlas Shrugged" aren't on there. (Then I realized it's a conservative list :))
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Post by Holsety »

Glancing back here, another somewhat funny thing to me is how Hitler's name pulls up Mein Kampf. Ok, Hitler was probably worse than Mussolini but various italian fascists were more instrumental than he was in creating the movement.
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