Government
USA-Issued “Explosives and Blasting Procedure Manual”
Despite a Federal history of discouraging DIY explosives handbooks, the OFFICE of SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION and ENFORCEMENT is happy to host their own explosives guidebook online.Read it here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 11, 2021 -
Comments (6)
Category: Explosives, Government, Hobbies and DIY, Industry, Factories and Manufacturing
Baldness at the FBI
William Sullivan was a high-ranking official at the FBI from 1961 to 1971, when Hoover was director. In his tell-all book about his time there (The Bureau My Thirty Years in Hoover's FBI) Sullivan claimed that one of Hoover's many eccentricities was that he didn't like bald-headed men... to the extent that Hoover wouldn't allow bald men to be hired as agents, because he believed their baldness made a bad impression:Flacking for the FBI was part of every agent's job from his first day. In fact, "making a good first impression" was a necessary prerequisite for being hired as a special agent in the first place. Bald-headed men, for example, were never hired as agents because Hoover thought a bald head made a bad impression. No matter if the man involved was a member of Phi Beta Kappa or a much-decorated marine, or both. Appearances were terribly important to Hoover, and special agents had to have the right look and wear the right clothes...
Though a bald-headed man wouldn't be hired as an agent, an employee who later lost his hair wasn't fired but was kept out of the public eye.
I guess that means that, under Hoover, Walter Skinner would never have made the cut.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 30, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Government, Officials, Hair and Hairstyling
Little Mr. Tritium
The Japanese government recently created an animated character that definitely belongs in our ongoing series of strange spokesbeings. It was a "cute fish-like creature with rosy cheeks" that was intended to represent a radioactive hydrogen isotope. The government was hoping that this creature would help gain public support for its plan of releasing contaminated water from Fukushima into the sea.While the government didn't give this creature a name, people have been calling it "Little Mr. Tritium".
More info: The Guardian
Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 27, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Government, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters
Widow wills millions to help pay U.S. debt
In 1960, the late Mrs. W.L. Clayton reportedly left $25 million in her will to the U.S. government to help pay down the national debt.The amount she left for this purpose may have been unusually large, but it turns out that leaving behind money to help pay off the national debt isn't unusual. The Associated Press reports that, every year, the U.S. government receives about $1 million in bequests to help with the national debt. And since 1961, it's received $100 million.
However, the AP also notes that all these bequests, though well-intentioned, are "pointless" and "essentially, useless". This isn't just because the amounts are like a drop in the ocean compared to the size of the national debt. It's because: "The donations are recorded on the receipts ledger of the federal government’s general fund. So, rather than actually paying down the national debt, these donations just reduce the amount of money our government will borrow."
Los Angeles Times - Jan 30, 1960
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 24, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Government, Money
All About Albany Board Game
Too much excitement for me!
More details here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 28, 2021 -
Comments (4)
Category: Games, Government, Regionalism, 1980s
Hidden Message in “I Am the Walrus”
Everyone knows that the Beatles song "I Am the Walrus" is all about the secret death of Paul McCartney.But back in 1968, reporter Jed Drews heard something else there.
Source: Fort Lauderdale News (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) 24 Feb 1968, Sat Page 15
I can find literally not one other online endorsement of this interpretation of the lyrics--except when Mr. Drews's article was inserted into the Congressional Record upon his testimony in DC.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 25, 2021 -
Comments (6)
Category: Drugs, Government, Music, Newspapers, 1960s
Metric Lunch Box
Imagine the insults suffered by the dweeb forced by well-meaning parents to carry this lunch pail to school.The objects children take to school can communicate messages. In the 1970s, the U.S. government encouraged more general use of the metric units of weight and measure, units that had been adopted in almost all other nations. To teach children about metric units, some parents purchased this lunch box.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 23, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Food, Government, Science, Bullying, Harassment, Outsiders, Persecuted, and Excluded Groups, Children, 1970s
When Belgium Invaded England
Very good long article here.
Tip of the hat to pal Peter Danssaert.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 22, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Government, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, War, Reader Recommendation, 1960s, Europe, United Kingdom
Recipes for Cooking Muskrat Meat
Check it out here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 15, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Food, Government, 1940s, Nausea, Revulsion and Disgust
Tomato
Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 17, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Government, Police and Other Law Enforcement, PSA’s, Sexuality
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |