Ernesto "Bete Noire" Guevara: The Yugoslav View of Che

Ernesto Guevara, better known as "Che", is an iconic figure. His face adorns everything from beer bottles to t-shirts and his books, decades later, still enjoy brisk sales. Even his honest opponents will admit that he was a skilled political theorist and guerrilla warrior.

However, as reported by the American State Department, Che Guevara had few friends in the Yugoslav government. In a 10/22/1965 Airgram, the Belgrade embassy reported that Che's decision to take leave of the Cubans started an attack on Che by the Yugoslav newspaper Borba, the most important Yugoslav print media of the time. The Borba's Latin American correspondent accused Che of, among other things, having personality defects and of damaging the Cuban economy, and that his dissapearance would like spawn a wave of repression. You can see a summary of the Borba's attack on the second page of the PDF below. The first page is the Airgram's cover sheet.

10/22/1965 Airgram from the US Embassy in Belgrade

Conservapedia Never Even Called the FBI

In Summer 2007, the august founder of Conservapedia Andrew Schlafly threatened to sic the FBI on a user of his website. Naturally, a huge blow-up ensued and was ably documented by the heroes at the RationalWiki.

However, the RationalWiki did fall down on arguably most important task of all, following up on the FBI investigation. There's simply nothing there. Turns out there is a perfectly rational explanation for all this, Neuschwander.

The rational explanation is that Andy Schlafly never called the FBI. He made it all up. I discovered this after ordering up a FOIA request to the FBI on the matter. As their final response letter demonstrates, they have no records pertaining to Conservapedia.


Conservapedia FBI FOIA Letter

CIA Denies Request for Records Given to 9-11 Commission

In his book, Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam after Iraq, Michael Scheuer provides a tantalizing glimpse into a collection of documents that he provided to the 9-11 Commission that details the American response to the threat posed by Al-Qaeda. Naturally, I immediately had them FOIAed for and eagerly awaited the CIA's response.

I was informed that the CIA's response was very negative. You can see for yourself that the CIA not only invoked the operational exemption to FOIA requests given to it by the CIA Information Act of 1984, they would not even confirm that the files existed. Nor did they give leave to appeal their decision. Overall, a total FOIA block.

P.S. I included the pages from Marching Toward Hell in which Scheuer describes the files on the off-chance that someone else wants to submit a FOIA request.

CIA Shoot Down Scheuer FOIA

What Was Mother Teresa Doing?

Interesting fact: Mother Teresa not only has amassed some form of records with the National Security Agency, but those records, if released, would "cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security." See the denial letter


NSA Mother Teresa Denial Letter

Seriously, WTF?

Did Hitler Cheat on His Wife?

No, Adolf Hitler never cheated on his heterosexual life partner/ wife Eva Braun.

Below is a delightful study of the women who surrounded Adolf Hitler. The report itself is undated and unaccredited but appears to be a study conducted by the US military, probably the US Army, sometime after the conclusion of the Second World War.

Hitler's Women: A Study of Them By the US Gov.

The report, as posted here, is nine pages with a single page memorandum attached to it. However, the last page of the report ends abruptly which shows that this report was at least one page longer. However, the nine pages posted here are all that made it to the National Archives for preservation.

Some Republican Sanity on Unemployment

Below is a 12/21/1981 Rudy Giuliani memo on unemployment compensation. It should be noted that unemployment is "earned" and that "acceptance of such benefits does not make one a public charge."

12/21/1981 Rudy Giuliani Memo on Unemployment

Baltimore Marxist Group

An associate of mine acquired the FBI's file on the Baltimore Marxist Group, a left-wing organization active in the mid-1970s. As they are done with the file, I have decided to post it online.

BMG FBI File