The Rotten Library.

December 20, 2003 8:11 PM

Most people have heard of Rotten.com, the website of sick and twisted news and pictures, but a great and full featured documentary of "all that mankind swore to forget" can be found at the Rotten Library. Information on just about everything is here, from LSD Blotters to the Mountain Meadows Massacre to the anti-masturbatory history of Kelloggs Corn Flakes, just to name a few. Of course, you can also find dirty secrets about the Freemasons, Fluoridation, Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction, The Kinderhook Plates, Lucky Luciano, Kevin Mitnick, and of course..... Michael Jackson.
posted by Keyser Soze (17 comments total)

The hoaxes section is really thin and light on the details and the piece on the Bohemian Grove is just bad. Alex Jones didn't go alone to the BG event, he was in fact invited along by Jon Ronson, the author of Them: Adventures with Extremists (highly recommended reading) which chronicles this and many more one or two man forays into subcultures or odd events. Regardless, Jon paints Alex as a complete and utter paranoid about to have a breakdown at BG because all he could see is "Satanists." Jon on the other hand described the event clearly and calmly as rich people having fun in a very elitist and weird way. Alex's site and video are heavily influenced by his own Xtian Jesus vs. the Devil mythology.

I know some of this stuff is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek but the research comes off as half-assed. They can learn a lot from disinfo.com or even the infamous fusionanomaly.net.

I will say that this photo from rotten is probably the best thing I've ever seen on the net. Street crime just doesn't pay, kids.
posted by skallas at 8:25 PM on December 20, 2003

interesting stuff here...some of it is like wiki; some just sad
posted by amberglow at 8:54 PM on December 20, 2003

Can anyone help me verify if Nixon actually said "That old cocksucker?" when told that J. Edgar Hoover died?
posted by Keyser Soze at 9:03 PM on December 20, 2003

Apparently he cursed all the time, keyser, in his tapes, but i wouldn't be surprised.
posted by amberglow at 9:30 PM on December 20, 2003

Keyser: the "that old cocksucker" quote was in a J. Edgar Hoover biography I was reading once; look through Hoover biographies, and you may find an annotation.

Sorry, but I can't remember what happened to the book, so I don't know the title or author.
posted by interrobang at 9:43 PM on December 20, 2003

I think the "joke" was that J. Edgar Hoover was a presumed homosexual, if he did indeed leave everything in his will to a male friend who lived with him for 40 years.
posted by Keyser Soze at 9:44 PM on December 20, 2003

Most people think he was more than presumed i think but there's little real proof--J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI chief, and his longtime companion, Clyde Tolson, were an ambiguously gay crime-fighting duo. Inseparable for 44 years, 1928-1972, the two top G-men vacationed together, often dressed similarly and continue their cohabitation even after death. They're buried alongside one another... Richard Nixon's obscene comment upon hearing of Hoover's death ("Jesus Christ, that old cocksucker!") perhaps describes the opinion of inside observers, but no letters, photos, diaries or reliable witnesses can carnally tie the two men together. The best "proof" comes from the wife of Hoover's psychiatrist; she claims that Hoover admitted his homosexuality to her husband during a confidential session. from J. Edgar Hoover: Gay marriage role model? in salon.
posted by amberglow at 9:51 PM on December 20, 2003

MetaFilter: That old cocksucker.
posted by antifreez_ at 10:07 PM on December 20, 2003

Metafilter: Try being original next time.
posted by Keyser Soze at 2:58 AM on December 21, 2003

Metafilter: I fit snarkiness in a tagline.
posted by joedan at 4:21 AM on December 21, 2003

The Banned Cartoon entry is quite interesting and was making the 'blog rounds last month.
posted by MrBaliHai at 5:45 AM on December 21, 2003

I was ready to jump up your ass for posting a link to rotten.com, which isn't exactly new and exciting, but this library thingo, which I'd never paid attention to before, is possibly the greatest thing ever.

So thanks.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:19 AM on December 21, 2003

MetaFilter: I was ready to jump up your ass.

Damn, you crack me up sometimes, STWC.
posted by bwg at 7:52 AM on December 21, 2003

Mark Chapman's due out in '04?

I wonder if Todd Rundgren knows about this?
posted by emf at 8:33 AM on December 21, 2003

i have the hoover bio where the "old cocksucker" nixon quote is relayed, but my empty diet pepsi 12 packs are stacked againt that shelf at least 4 deep and i ain't in the mood to screw around with those, so you'll have to take my uncited word for it. nixon said it, but nixon was known for his propensity toward graphic profanity when among close advisors. i think it was al haig who said meetings were candid and "often full of cocksucker this and bullshit that". i doubt nixon was impugning hoover's sexuality. besides, the only people at all surprised anymore by the fact that hoover was gay are hopelessly deluded by the flatulent FBI mythos that was so precisely stage managed, and which was actually hoover's greatest acheivement.
posted by quonsar at 7:48 PM on December 21, 2003

Love this one:
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/hackers/steve-wozniak/
posted by milnak at 2:44 AM on December 22, 2003

milnak - that Woz write-up is absolutely hilarious - thanks for highlighting it
posted by vito90 at 8:21 AM on December 22, 2003