In all honesty, I don't think either occurrence is that big a deal as far as the hobby is concerned.
As for the book, hey. I'd wager that everyone here could figure out a way to do as the book suggests, if you were so inclined. For those who can't, the book is probably just like any of the other manuals of destruction out there: go ahead, follow the instructions. Let me know before you start, though, because I want my 15 minutes of fame to be for writing your epitaph for the Darwin Awards website.
Everyone knows it could be done with the proper materials. What people don't know is that yeah, it's easy to make one blow up, but it's almost impossible for Joe Blow down the street on a budget (even a BIG budget) to make one go where he wants it to. Rather than try to get someone to stop selling the book, if you run across someone who's heard of it, use it as an opportunity to educate. Explain that the cameraderie and group waivers is only half the reason we form clubs. Explain that the other half is to get our hands on the kids' minds before idiots like the guy who wrote the book do. Asking that a book not be sold, regardless of the quality of reasoning provided, inherently carries the implication that we're trying to hide the fact that this can be done.
I think the TV program is even less harmful. Any kid who needed the TV show to put that idea in his head isn't imaginative enough to make the idea work anyway. Any kid who didn't need the show and has the drive to do something like this has already made himself a spud cannon out of either PVC pipe or soup cans. It's cheaper (dozens of shots on a single can of Lysol), easier (no batteries, no electrics) and you can buy a kit and/or plans on Ebay. Every year kids get hurt doing stupid things, and yes, it's happened as a result of rocketry too.
Every year, at *least* one person in Wisconsin gets shot during the one week of deer hunting season (most die because they're light years from civilization) and a few more die of heart attacks. It makes the front page of every newspaper in the state. There's no public outcry to ban hunting, but there is always pressure to educate those who are doing it.
What was far more worrisome to me is the video I just saw the other day of the Chinese guy who got hit in the chest at the World Spacemodeling Championchips by a rocket that went unstable. Another one is the Blazing Rockets video that is put out by (i believe) Rocketman or RocketVision. These send the message that the sport IS inherently dangerous, not just in the hands of the morons who wrote the book or want to copy the TV show, but also when practiced by some of the best in the hobby.
Morons will make anything dangerous, and the world knows it. It's when we show that none of us can make the hobby completely safe that we're going to scare people.
Hope I'm not getting too RMR on you guys. Not my intention.
