iqoniq
Prominent Member
I've seen this ( Review bid after right-wing extremist 'told to read classic books' ) on BBC News after a right wing extremist was told to read English classics as part of his punishment for possessing a record of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. Now I'm not particularly interested about the sentencing (that's something else), but more about the fact that it seems that the Anarchist Cookbook is unofficially banned. It's a book!
I've seen the said publication ( I DON'T OWN A COPY - legal disclaimer) and to be honest it's chemistry and electronics for nutters. If you don't know your stuff already, you're more likely to blow yourself up making the explosives. If you want to do it properly, you're going to end up looking like you're building a meth lab, and some of the chemicals are on watch lists. It's also nothing that can't be found on the internet or YouTube, and I have a copy of Pyro Joe's Cookbook from years ago that I found on Usenet around 95/96, purely because the recipes are so outrageous and the descriptions are hilarious, especially creating a nuclear meltdown in a moonshine still and the risk of two-headed puppies running around during said procedure. The thing is most people will look at it, go "wtf?", and then leave it on their bookshelf to look edgy or something.
Also, are they leaving out large parts of the National Curriculum out of physics, biology, chemistry and ICT (what my school called electronics)? My GCSEs taught me how to make a high yield nuclear device (we had a Russian ex-nuclear scientist, now in the UK, that the tutor knew explain it to us), a "dirty" bomb, conventional explosives, toxins and poisonous gas. With the exception of the nuclear bomb, they also informed me where I could get the chemicals, a lot of which were household ingredients. Have I tried to blow anything up? With the exception of draino or dry ice "bombs" (make a bang, but not destructive) which I did to show my kids, nope. I might have been tempted to make the meltdown moonshine still just to see if it really worked (and my kids wanted two headed puppies) if I could've got my hands on heavy water, though.
The thing is, if people are serious about doing something they'll usually find out a way to do it. It won't be because of any sense of political/religious/racial ideology (that just adds a sense of justification), but because they want to do it. Banning stuff isn't going to make any difference, especially when you've got places like YouTube which will show you how to make things in a step by step manner (apparently it's possible to make cherry Kool-Aid out of noxious chemicals, and it won't kill you). Do we start banning YouTube as well?
It probably makes the police or intelligence services look good, but while they've caught a guy with a book, does it mean they've ignored someone who is quietly building a bomb?
I've seen the said publication ( I DON'T OWN A COPY - legal disclaimer) and to be honest it's chemistry and electronics for nutters. If you don't know your stuff already, you're more likely to blow yourself up making the explosives. If you want to do it properly, you're going to end up looking like you're building a meth lab, and some of the chemicals are on watch lists. It's also nothing that can't be found on the internet or YouTube, and I have a copy of Pyro Joe's Cookbook from years ago that I found on Usenet around 95/96, purely because the recipes are so outrageous and the descriptions are hilarious, especially creating a nuclear meltdown in a moonshine still and the risk of two-headed puppies running around during said procedure. The thing is most people will look at it, go "wtf?", and then leave it on their bookshelf to look edgy or something.
Also, are they leaving out large parts of the National Curriculum out of physics, biology, chemistry and ICT (what my school called electronics)? My GCSEs taught me how to make a high yield nuclear device (we had a Russian ex-nuclear scientist, now in the UK, that the tutor knew explain it to us), a "dirty" bomb, conventional explosives, toxins and poisonous gas. With the exception of the nuclear bomb, they also informed me where I could get the chemicals, a lot of which were household ingredients. Have I tried to blow anything up? With the exception of draino or dry ice "bombs" (make a bang, but not destructive) which I did to show my kids, nope. I might have been tempted to make the meltdown moonshine still just to see if it really worked (and my kids wanted two headed puppies) if I could've got my hands on heavy water, though.
The thing is, if people are serious about doing something they'll usually find out a way to do it. It won't be because of any sense of political/religious/racial ideology (that just adds a sense of justification), but because they want to do it. Banning stuff isn't going to make any difference, especially when you've got places like YouTube which will show you how to make things in a step by step manner (apparently it's possible to make cherry Kool-Aid out of noxious chemicals, and it won't kill you). Do we start banning YouTube as well?
It probably makes the police or intelligence services look good, but while they've caught a guy with a book, does it mean they've ignored someone who is quietly building a bomb?