jpat's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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cia

The CIA’s Aborted Investment in an 'Electronic Shark Repeller'

The agency saw the need for about 30 of them.
May 12, 2017
Gastro Obscura
story
cia

In the 1960s, the CIA Fired Some Employees Over a Cafeteria Fight

The fight might not have been the only one.
April 19, 2017
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comedy

When the FBI Was Asked to Investigate Groucho Marx Over a (Silly) Joke

"Please, Mr. Hoover."
April 14, 2017
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cia

How the CIA's Psychics Described Albert Einstein

"He looked like a hippie."
April 5, 2017
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cia

The Complications of Joining an Office Bowling League at the CIA

Lots of security briefings.
March 30, 2017
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muckrock

When Ronald Reagan Told a Joke About Irish Spies

“It’s one of the few stories I can tell now since ethnic jokes are a no-no."
March 22, 2017
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muckrock

How the FBI Thwarted a Non-Existent Plot to Assassinate Margaret Thatcher

"This will even the score."
March 1, 2017
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muckrock

The Bizarre Case of NASA's 'Stolen' Moon Rocks

Back in 2014, the agency got a tip.
February 8, 2017
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martin luther king

Peek Inside the 1977 Report Detailing FBI Misconduct While Surveilling Martin Luther King Jr.

A review of the Bureau’s assassination investigation uncovered the extent of an illegal counterintelligence program.
January 18, 2017
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muckrock

The Complaints the FCC Got Over This Year's World Series Coverage

Not everyone was a fan.
January 11, 2017
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cia

The FOIA Request That the CIA Didn't Touch for Six Years

Get it together, CIA.
December 28, 2016
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muckrock

When a Physicist Asked the FBI to Stop Calling Because He Helped Make the Atomic Bomb

Richard Feynman was upset.
December 14, 2016
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fbi

When the Government Tried to Bust Abbie Hoffman For Publishing Its Own Public Records

The year was 1969.
November 30, 2016
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fbi

Records Reveal the FBI's 7 Types of Protesters

Are you a "yielder" or "psychopathic?"
November 25, 2016
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fbi

When J. Edgar Hoover Told Some Cringeworthy Jokes Just Before He Died

It was during a rare public appearance.
November 16, 2016
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fbi

The FBI’s 2-Year Investigation Into a Fictional Anti-Goth Cult

It took awhile, but they finally got that it was a parody.
November 2, 2016
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brain collections

The Inept Story Behind 100 Missing Brains at the University of Texas

Were they ever missing at all?
October 26, 2016
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fbi

The Records the FBI Might Never Be Able to Find

The bureau's history isn't very well-organized.
October 21, 2016
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muckrock

The Complaints the FCC Got After Castration Was Brought Up on Fox News

It's been a long year.
October 12, 2016
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pokemon

The Complaints the FTC Received Over Pokémon Go

Will someone please think of the children?
September 28, 2016
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muckrock

The NSA Has Files on a Country That Doesn’t Exist

The Intellipedia entry on micronation “the Conch Republic” has been viewed more times than “Scientology” or “Montana."
September 16, 2016
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fbi

How the FBI Tied Tupac's Death to Eazy-E, Death Row Records, and the Jewish Defense League

He was gunned down on September 7, 1996 in Las Vegas.
September 8, 2016
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fbi

Ayn Rand’s One-Sided Love Affair With the FBI

Hoover shrugged.
August 3, 2016
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police

From Frogs to Immigration, How the Secret Service Kept Tabs on Peaceful Protests

In 2011, no protest was too small.
July 27, 2016