Comments on: FBI releases files on controversial booksellers Paladin and Loompanics

By: ck

ck — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 11:33:00 +0000

The funny part is “How to Kill” that everyone thinks is so absurd is based on real assassinations carried out in Vietnam. The guy who wrote it was a real CIA office and served carryout

By: ck

ck — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 10:27:00 +0000

Though Delta press doesn’t carry anything I would regard as sensitive even in the post 9/11 world.

You can find loom panics and paladin’s press entire library on bittorrent

By: ck

ck — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 10:25:00 +0000

The reason the FBI had little on the book publisher is the owner of booth publishers were CIA spooks. Do a bit of google digging and you’ll find out. The person who published “50 ways to kill” that everyone thought was really far fetched was just publishing techniques he used in Vietnam when he was running assassinations for the Central Intelligence Agency.

I own about 30 of Paladin’s books and a bunch of loom panics as paperbacks that I bought, though if you want these days you can find a torrent with about 300 of them.

Most of the books published by these to hauses were given to Law Enforcement Agencies or written with a clandestine service in mind. Many of the books (at first) were refused to be sold unless you knew the owner or were LEO.

By: erg79

erg79 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Loompanics catalog was always entertaining reading, just for the titles alone. One of my favorites was “Where There Is No Dentist,” which turned out to be a very noble book about providing proper oral care in remote areas.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I miss Loompanics.

By: ocschwar

ocschwar — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Hitch Hiker’s Handbook is another Loompanics classic. Not a handbook for the sociopath, like certain other titles, but an excellent guide for anyone who for whatever reason becomes shit-poor.

By: Crubellier

Crubellier — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

ISTRT Paladin used to offer the catchily-titled How To Kill Volumes 1-6, which was packed with suggestions ranging from the ultra-stealthy (injections via the navel are difficult to spot) to the deeply non-fuck-giving (if it doesn’t matter that it’s clear your target has been murdered, hitting them in the face with a primed bear trap is astonishingly effective).

By: lysdexia

lysdexia — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Two of my favorite titles were: “Home Workshop Explosives” and “Operating Clandestine Drug Labs”, both by (iirc) “Uncle Fester”. I personally never tried anything within those books, but dang, they sure did start some conversations.

By: caseyd

caseyd — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wasn’t Waco the ATF?
many R.A.Wilson orders from Loompanics. missed.

By: Neon Tooth

Neon Tooth — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Too busy harassing lefties.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I liked ‘Expedient Homemade Firearms: the 9mm Submachine Gun’ by P.A. Luty, and of course John Hoffman’s ‘Art and Science of Dumpster Diving.’

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Least inflammatory exposÃ© of an FBI investigation I’ve seen in a long time. Almost as if it’s part of a coverup!! When will they declassify the files on the declassification of these files???

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Be wary, Paladin’s books on sword arts range from quite good to quite awful hitting every point in the range.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wow, if I’d known that The Man showed so little interest I’d have bought fewer Loompanics books. I really thought I was sticking it to ‘em back then.

Man, I miss Loompanics.

By: HighKeeba

HighKeeba — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I miss Loompanics as well. My first copies of the Principia Discordia and many of Robert Anton Wilson’s books were ordered from there.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Small typo:
â€œIn the early 1970s, the FBI looked into of how Paladon got hold of various government documents. A la “Wow, we declassified that? Huh.â€

Will be reporting that to the FBI.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m surprised this case wasn’t mentioned in re. Paladin Press:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit_Man:_A_Technical_Manual_for_Independent_Contractors

By: TimDrew

TimDrew — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

From Paladin press: the “CIA Field-Expedient Guide to Explosives” (two thin volumes) was a particular favorite. And yes, some recipes did actually produce results. Fun times…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In the 1980s, police in Germany make an inquiry about the origins of Loompanics materials owned by locals who, “with the help of these materials … have been attempting to create dissention.”

As we all know, back in the 80s there were two Germanys. Going back to the source, this was the West German police. At first that surprised me. But it turns out that the quote in the post omits a key fact — the people the potential West Germans criminals were trying to rile up were “US military forces members stationed in West Berlin.” Allegedly they were also trying to get more US GI’s hooked on “illegal narcotics.”

Ah, the good old days of the Cold War.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Of course the sanity of the FBI did’t prevent Paladin from being sued in civil court.

By: Geoduck

Geoduck — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m another old Loompanics buyer. As noted, just reading their catalog was a hoot.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Anon – I too am surprised…that was an incredible case. Folks, look it up if you don’t remember.

By: swestcott

swestcott — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

wow Paladin press has many good books on Western martial arts mainly long sword good stuff

By: dwdyer

dwdyer — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I miss Loompanics. They had the kind of stuff Paladin had, but a much wider variety. I also think my first Principia Discordia came from there.

By: PeaceLove

PeaceLove — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ah, memories. The Loompanics and Paladin Press catalogs (and later, the vast, all-encompassing Amok Press catalog) were an amazing source of forbidden ideas. I still remember laughing at the How to Kill series, plus, my favorite, How to Rip Off a Drug Dealer for Fun and Profit. They definitely hinted at a darker, more outlaw existence — and provided sourcebooks for those who sought it.

On the other hand, I remember reading an article somewhere about a middle-aged housewife who wrote several of the assassination guides, drawing on her imagination and old episodes of TV cop shows…

How far we’ve come in the ‘Net age.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks for the kind words about my little hitchhiking book, ocschwar.

James MacLaren.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pre-9/11 (or, more specifically, pre-patriot act) America was just the best.

I hope we remember what it’s like to be sane once more.

God bless the first amendment, god bless America.

By: RHK

RHK — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wow, our government acting in a sane and reasonable fashion. What a concept.

By: efergus3

efergus3 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

These folks are still around: http://www.deltapress.com/ And you can get most military manuals through Amazon.

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pre-9/11 (or, more specifically, pre-patriot act) America was just the best.

Let’s not get too nostalgic here. This was the same FBI that was behind the siege at Waco and kept tabs on Martin Luther King Jr.’s sex life, after all.