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Banning Black Liberation: Michigan prisoners are barred from reading Frantz Fanon
Michigan Department of Correction’s 60 page long list of books banned in state prisons, acquired by MuckRock through a public records request, includes 43 that are prohibited for “advocating racial supremacy.” These titles include Mein Kampf, The Turner Diaries, and, alarmingly, Black Skin, White Masks, by post-colonial theorist Frantz Fanon. Michigan DOC’s ban on an important anti-colonial text is one reminder of the inconsistent, and potentially biased, book banning practices that exist in prisons across the United States.
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How to host your own FOIA Karaoke
FOIA and public records are vital to holding our government accountable - but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with the results, too. Here’s how you can host your own FOIA Karaoke - and if you do, let us know how it goes!
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CIA psychic program undone by a burrito
By the early ’90s, the multi-agency program investigating psychic phenomenon known as STARGATE was nearing its end. After decades of dubious “remote viewing” experiments, the Central Intelligence Agency had been tasked by Congress with consolidating and evaluating the program’s efficacy - and little did anyone know, but that evaluation was about to be heavily influenced by one subject’s lunch.
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From the department of “Nailed It:” Army psychics take on the Nazca lines
As part of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Project SUN STREAK, in 1990 an agency psychic was tasked with using remote viewing to describe the Nazca lines. Provided with encrypted coordinates, the alleged psychic “had many accurate perceptions of the site and no discernible incorrect ones.” This statement is somewhat extraordinary - but probably not for the reasons you imagine. Rather, it’s somewhat extraordinary because it’s immediately followed by a list of things the remote viewer got wrong.
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Intelligence agency takes on intelligence agency in the “Astral Projection Caper”
A formerly TOP SECRET document from the NSA describes an incident which it called the “Astral Projection Caper,” which revolved around what seems to have been fabricated, or at least nonexistent, CIA evidence of confirmed psychic phenomenon.
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Government’s psychic research may have resulted from a misunderstanding of Middle School math
A common question, especially as MuckRock continues to explore CIA and DIA’s involvement in psychic research, is how so many resources wound up being wasted on frivolous efforts that produced laughable results, absurd guides and even more absurd worries. The FBI’s file on Extrasensory Perception (ESP), which predates the CIA’s declassified psychic research program by more than a decade, may hold the answer: a basic failure to understand how math works.
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Read the Justice Department’s guide to using psychics in police investigations
Police psychics have so saturated popular culture that the concept borders on the cliche. There was a time, however, when the Department of Justice took the matter very seriously - not only were instances reported of the police using psychics, there were studies on the matter, and even guidance issued by the DOJ.
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Watch the video that sparked a CIA debate over psychic phenomenon
A video produced by Stanford as part of its government funded research into psychic phenomena alleged to show Uri Geller performing various psychic and extrasensory feats. While some in the Agency were “humbled” by the film, others were quick to declare it ordinary trickery from a con artist using techniques from stage magic and mentalist.
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In Alaska, food stamps will get you bows, arrows, and even harpoons
General categories for what can be purchased with funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, have been outlined by the federal government. We requested lists of specific exemptions, and it seems Alaska is definitely an outlier.
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Funny papers, please: a sampling of comic strips in the CIA’s archives
A unexpected fringe benefit of the CIA’s release of its declassified archive is the treasure trove of comic strips - mostly concerning the Agency’s activities - contained therein.