Inman on Bomb-Making, by Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal

Inman on Bomb-Making, by Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal

Postby admin » Wed Mar 04, 2015 6:29 am

Inman on Bomb-Making
by Matt Inman of The Oatmeal

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


[Librarian's Comment: So are Americans completely schizophrenic when they hate bombs/love bombs, or just a bunch of hypocrites? When is the FBI going to put Matt Inman on their bomb threat list, like they did this guy DJ? And when are they going to put Matt Inman in prison like they did Terry Nichols for making and possessing small bombs? Why is Matt Inman allowed to FLAUNT it (and make money off of it), while everyone else has to apologize for it?]

Excerpt from Why I Didn't Like Riding the Bus As A Kid, by Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal

Explosions and Fire

AAbout mid-way through its route our bus passed along an explosives factory which produced dynamite for removing tree stumps and other small demolition projects. When this factory caught fire, they had to evacuate an area a few square miles around our route because the resulting explosion was supposed to be on par with a poor man's nuclear bomb -- one or two kilotons. When normal people are informed that there's a very real possibility that everything they've ever known and loved will be burned alive, their typical reaction is fear or sorrow. When they announced it to the kids on our bus, however, everyone began cheering and throwing their backpacks into the air. It seemed appropriate that these soulless little shitheads would erupt in celebration upon learning that our little Idahoan middle-earth was going to be engulfed in an all consuming fireball.

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It's the end of times ... SO BRIGHT ... SO BEAUTIFUL
The end of days for Hayden Lake, Idaho


The fire was put out, however, and no one died. Years later, however, my brother and I took an interest in building explosives ourselves and we began building bombs using supplies purchased from a local sporting goods store. You had to be 18 to buy a gun, but you could buy smokeless black powder and waterproof cannon fuses without getting carded. We'd spend our summers creating new and exciting pipe bombs and detonating them in the woods. We weren't hurting anybody, we just liked creating craters where old trees used to be and producing massive fireballs and brain-trauma-inducing concussive shockwaves. Shrapnel was a problem too, but most of the time we'd just stand near a tree or crouch down a little to avoid the bits of metal that whizzed by our heads.

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[Man] When it detonates you're gonna want to squat down a bit that way the shrapnel doesn't hit you. Don't squat down too far though or you won't be able to see the awesome explosion. Just squat a little -- yeah, just like that. PERFECT! **
** Author's note: These were the actual instructions we gave our friend for avoiding shrapnel wounds.
Shrapnel safety 101 with the Inman brothers


We eventually decided to teach one of our friends how to build bombs so he could also take part in our fun blow-shit-up-to-smithereens adventures. He'd come over and we'd all build bombs together and then go find an old shed or dead animal to splatter into unrecognizable bits. One particularly popular type of bomb we'd make is what we called a "crater maker," which involved filling an empty CO2 cartridge with black powder and sealing it with a fuse. One Christmas this friend of ours decided it would be a good idea to give these to his friends as gifts so they could take them home and have fun blowing things up like we did. He wrapped them in adorably festive Christmas wrapping paper and applied an equally adorable Christmas bow. He then handed them out to all his buddies as they boarded the school bus. He specifically instructed them NOT to open them until they got home from school, and I clearly remember one kid shaking the box next to his head and saying "What's inside? I can hear it rattling."

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[Boy] Oh boy. I wonder what it is!
SHAKE SHAKE RATTLE RATTLE
[Boy 2] You'll just have to wait until Christmas! :):):)
Explosives for Christmas


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[Michael Moore] What do you grow here?

[James Nichols] Right now, there's tofu beans. Soybeans.
Tofu soybeans.

[Michael Moore] You're a tofu farmer.

[James Nichols] Yeah. Yeah, food farmer. I'm a food farmer. I grow food ...
for people to eat. No herbicides, no pesticides on that stuff.

[Michael Moore] Right. All natural.

[James Nichols] Right.

[Michael Moore] Yeah. Better.

[James Nichols] Certified organic.

[Michael Moore] Uh-huh. Healthier.

[James Nichols] Yeah.

[Michael Moore] Basically, yeah.
This is James Nichols, the brother of Terry Nichols.
James graduated from high school the same year I did ...
in the district next to mine.

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On this farm in Decker, Michigan ...

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McVeigh and the Nichols brothers made practice bombs, before Oklahoma City.

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Terry and James were both arrested in connection to the bombing.

[Newscaster] U.S. attorneys formally linked the Nichols brothers of Michigan ...

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with Oklahoma bomb suspect Timothy McVeigh.
Officials charged James, who was at the hearing, and Terry, who was not ...

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with conspiring to make and possess small bombs.

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[Michael Moore] Terry Nichols was convicted and received a life sentence.
Timothy McVeigh was executed.

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But the feds didn't have the goods on James, so the charges were dropped.

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[James Nichols] I'm just glad to be out and free, so I can get on with my life.

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[Michael Moore] Did Timothy McVeigh ever stay here?

[James Nichols] Yes. Yes.
He stayed here several times. For the longest period, about three months or so. I don't know With the --
But he was a nice guy.

[Michael Moore] Decent guy.

[James Nichols] Oh, yeah.

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[Michael Moore] So they didn't find anything on this farm?

[James Nichols] As to what, bomb-making material?

[Michael Moore] Any kind of explosives.

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[James Nichols] Uh, yeah, I had blasting caps, dynamite blasting caps ...
dynamite fuse, black powder, you know, for muzzleloaders ...
And sure, diesel fuel, fertilizer ... but that is normal farm stuff.
That is in no way connected in any way whatsoever ...
to the Oklahoma City bombing, or bomb making.

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Them people, law enforcement, if you want to call them that ...
were here, and they were shaking in their shoes.
They were physically shaking.
Scared to death.

[Michael Moore] Of?

[James Nichols] Because they thought this was going to be another Waco.
Because certain people...
namely my ex-wife and other people ...
said I'm a radical. I'm a wild man.
I got a gun under every arm, down every leg ...
in every shoe, every corner of the house.

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You say anything to me, I'll shoot you.
[Laughs]

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If the people find out how they've been ripped off ...
and enslaved in this country by the government ...
by the powers-to-be...
they will revolt with anger ...

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with merciless anger. There will be blood running in the streets.

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When a government turns tyrannical, it is your duty to overthrow it.

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[Michael Moore] Well, why not use Gandhi's way?
He didn't have any guns, and he beat the British empire.

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[James Nichols] I'm not familiar with that.

***

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[Brent] Oscoda has a bad habit of raising psychos.
A bad habit of it.

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[Michael Moore] This is Brent, and this is his buddy DJ.

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They live in Oscoda, Michigan, across the bay from the Nichols' farm.

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Eric Harris, who would later go on to commit the massacre ...
at Columbine High School in Colorado, spent part of his childhood here.
[UNITED STATES AIR FORCE STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND, WURTSMITH AF BASE
8TH AF; 40 AD; 379 BW]

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Eric lived on the Air Force base in Oscoda ...

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where his dad flew planes during the Gulf War.
Twenty percent of all the bombs dropped in that war ...

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were from planes that took off from Oscoda.

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I asked Brent if he remembered anything about Eric.

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[Brent] I never knew him, but I knew of him. He left here before I got here.
I've only lived here about seven years, off and on.

[Michael Moore] He was about the same age as you, so you must have people in your class --

[Brent] Yeah. Like a friend of mine, he knows him. He was in class with him. He's lived up here all of his life.

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[DJ] I went to school with him, and it shocked me to hear it on the news ...

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you know that especially a kid from here would be doing that.

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[Brent] I didn't last too long in this high school, up here. I got kicked out. I got expelled.

[Michael Moore] Why was that?

[Brent] I had a run-in with a kid one time...

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and I pulled a weapon on him, I pulled a gun on him.

[Michael Moore] A gun?

[Brent] Yeah.

[Michael Moore] What kind of gun?

[Brent] 9 mm. I could have made a mess out of that situation.

[Michael Moore] Could've been worse.

[Brent] It could have been a lot worse.

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[Michael Moore] You could have been Eric Harris.

[Brent] I could have been.

[Michael Moore] So they kicked you out of school?

[Brent] Yeah, they kicked me out for 380 days ...

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or 165 days, whatever a full school year is.

[DJ] A matter of fact, for the longest time that's what my plan was, was to move out to Colorado.

[Michael Moore] Colorado?

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[DJ] Because I've got family out there.

And as a matter of fact, one of my uncles is a janitor for Columbine School.

[Michael Moore] Really?

[DJ] Yeah.

[Michael Moore] Well, after Columbine, what was it like here in Oscoda?

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[DJ] My name was second-highest on the bomb list ...
because of the reputation you get in this town.

[Michael Moore] Why? Why was your name ... You mean they did a list of --

[DJ] Of suspects.

[Michael Moore] Of students who potentially --

[DJ] Yeah.

[Michael Moore] would call in a bomb threat after Columbine?

[DJ] Yes.

[Michael Moore] And you were number two on the list?

[DJ] I was pretty much like second or third on the list, yeah.

[Michael Moore] Why is that?

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[DJ] Because the whole fact is, like I said, this town really gets people down.

[Michael Moore] Yeah, but why did they single you out?

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[DJ] Because I was a troubled kid and --

[Michael Moore] Were you in trouble in school?

[DJ] Oh, yeah.

[Michael Moore] But why did they put you at number two on their list after Columbine ...
of the students that could be a threat?

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[DJ] [Shrugs his shoulders]

[Michael Moore] There must -- come on, there must be a reason.

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[DJ] Well, okay. The thing is, I have a thing, it's called the "Anarchist Cookbook."

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It shows you how to make bombs and stuff like that in it.

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If there's anything that went wrong, they are gonna come to me first.
And I don't need that.

[Michael Moore] Just 'cause you owned a copy of the book?

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[DJ] Just because I own a copy --

[Michael Moore] You never made a bomb yourself?

[DJ] Nope.

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Oh ...

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I've made 'em.

It was nothing big. It wasn't even as big as a pipe bomb.

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It was just... maybe like a little tennis-ball bomb, or something like that.

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Out of the "Anarchist Cookbook," the latest thing I built...

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I think, would have to be, I think I made it, like, about a good five-gallon drum of napalm.
You know, homemade napalm.

[Michael Moore] Kids knew that you were doing this?

[DJ] Yeah.

[Michael Moore] So you were number two, then, on the list.

[DJ] Right.

[Michael Moore] Who was number one?

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[DJ] I don't know. They never told me that name, which kind of made me mad.

[Michael Moore] Because you didn't make it to number one?

[DJ] Because I didn't make it to number one. I know it's kind of silly ...
I guess it had been kind of like an ego thing there

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knowing that I was number one at something in Oscoda ...
even if, you know, it was the bomb-threat list.

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-- Bowling for Columbine, directed by Michael Moore


Perspective

Nowadays when I see a school bus I don't think of homework, pencils, academia, or the children of today being responsible for the future of tomorrow. I think of fascism, rage, and the moral compass we all have which can bend completely backwards when packed into a sweaty, motorized box full of Nazis and overly-caffeinated, puberty-stricken howler monkeys.
____________________________________________________________________________________

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EXPLODING KITTENS
A CARD GAME
FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE INTO KITTENS AND EXPLOSIONS AND LASER BEAMS AND SOMETIMES GOATS
CREATED BY: ELAN LEE + THE OATMEAL + SHANE SMALL
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Re: Inman on Bomb-Making

Postby admin » Wed Mar 04, 2015 6:33 am

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


Exploding Kittens card game raises $8.8m on Kickstarter

by Stuart Dredge

February 23, 2015

Blend of ‘kittens and explosions and laser beams and sometimes goats’ becomes third-biggest campaign of all-time on crowdfunding site

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The Exploding Kittens card game raised $8.8m on Kickstarter.

Card game Exploding Kittens has become the third biggest Kickstarter campaign of all-time, raising $8.8m (£5.7m) on the crowdfunding website.

The game’s initial funding goal was just $10k, but it attracted 219,382 backers for its promised mix of “kittens and explosions and laser beams and sometimes goats” during its 30-day campaign.

That put Exploding Kittens behind only drinks cooler Coolest and smartwatchPebble in Kickstarter’s most-funded list, with those projects having raised $13.3m and $10.3m respectively.

However, Exploding Kittens is the most popular project ever in terms of the number of backers, according to Kickstarter, more than doubling the previous record of 105,857 backers held by children’s literacy project Reading Rainbow.

The card game was created by former Xbox executives Elan Lee and Shane Small, and Matthew Inman, creator of popular online comics site The Oatmeal.

“On the very first day of this campaign, we hit our funding goal. That was a big deal. But after that, the campaign stopped being about money, and started being about a community,” they wrote in an update to backers as the crowdfunding campaign ended.

“We decided that everything we did from that point on would be to celebrate you guys, and help you celebrate each other. In the last 30 days, you’ve broken a lot of records, but we wanted to highlight our favourite one: you made this the most fun Kickstarter to run of all time.”



The first run of Exploding Kittens is due to ship in July, with 15,505 backers paying $20 or more for its basic deck, but 202,934 paying more than $35 for the “NSFW Deck” which includes bonus cards that aren’t “kid friendly”.

“Exploding Kittens is a highly strategic kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette. Players take turns drawing cards until someone draws an exploding kitten and loses the game,” explained its Kickstarter pitch.

“The deck is made up of cards that let you avoid exploding by peeking at cards before you draw, forcing your opponent to draw multiple cards, or shuffling the deck.

The game gets more and more intense with each card you draw because fewer cards left in the deck means a greater chance of drawing the kitten and exploding in a fiery ball of feline hyperbole.”


The Exploding Kittens team have been taking advice from the creators of Cards Against Humanity – a $15.6k Kickstarter success in 2011, which went on to sell more than 500,000 copies by mid-2013 – to ensure that “no matter how many people pledge, everyone gets their Exploding Kittens quickly after the campaign ends”.
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