Rummage through the government attic

governmentattic.org has recently posted an interesting series of FCC complaint logs with complaints about shows like the Simpsons, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and Sex and the City. It can be interesting and sometimes surprising to see what people filed a formal complaint about. You can also see some logs for the Peace Corp, the Secret Service, and NASA, among others. All of this information was obtained via a Freedom of Information Request. The Freedom of Information Act allows U.S. citizens to request any non-published information from any federal agency. As long as it is not classified or otherwise protected (see the link above) and you are willing to pay "reasonable processing fees" you have the right to access any information the government has! This is a great tool for original research in a wide variety of fields.

If your tastes run a little more lurid you can also check out the always interesting but sometimes frightening display of original documents at The Smoking Gun.