A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

Recent entries:
“Instead of ‘British Summer Time’ and ‘Greenwich Mean Time’ we should just call them ‘Oven Clock Correct Time’...” (3/28)
“Has anyone here ever drank a pint of tequila? I know it’s a long shot” (3/28)
“A pint of tequila? That’s a long shot” (3/28)
“The U.S. should add three more states. Because 53 is a prime number. Then they can truly be one nation, indivisible” (3/28)
Entry in progress—BP4 (3/28)
More new entries...

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z


Entry from April 19, 2011
Famous But Incompetent (Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI nickname)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was founded in 1908 and conducts federal criminal and intelligence investigations. Other investigators (such as Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local police) have nicknamed the FBI “Famous But Incompetent,” cited in print since at least 1992.
 
The FBI has also been nicknamed “FBLie,” “Fake Bureau of Investigation,” “Fascist Bastards Incorporated,” “Fascist Bureau of Investigation,” “Fat Bitches Incorporated,” “Favoritism Before Integrity,” “Federal Bastards Incorporated,” “Federal Bullshit Investigations,” “Federal Bureau of Incompetency,” “Federal Bureau of Insurrectionists,” “Federal Bureau of Intimidation,” “Federal Bureau of Political Investigation,” “Female Body Inspector,” “Fix Be In,” “Following Biden’s Instructions,” “Fucking Bastards Incorporated,” “Fucking Bitches Incorporated,” “Fucking Bunch of Idiots,” “Full-Blown Idiots” and “Fumbling, Bumbling Idiots.”
 
     
Wikipedia: Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime. Its motto is a backronym of FBI, “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity”.
 
The FBI’s headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, is located in Washington, D.C. Fifty-six field offices are located in major cities throughout the United States as well as over 400 resident agencies in smaller cities and towns across the country. More than 50 international offices called “legal attachés” are in U.S. embassies worldwide.
 
Acronym Finder
What does FBI stand for?
FBI Famous But Incompetent (common slang used by militia groups)
 
Google Books
Fugitive Nights
By Joseph Wambaugh
New York, NY: Bantam Books
1993, ©1992.   
Pg. 192:
As she was about to speak, Lynn quickly said, “Hey, Mike. On that subject, know what FBI stands for?” “What?” “Forever bothering Italians,” Lynn said. “Or, famous but incompetent.”
   
Google Books
Swordfish:
A true story of ambition, savagery, and betrayal

By David McClintick
New York, NY: Pantheon Books
1993
Pg. 25:
DEA agents called FBI agents “Fucking Blithering Idiots,” “Famous But Incompetent,” “fibbies,” and “feebs” for “feebleminded.” FBI agents called DEA agents “Drunk Every Afternoon” “Don’t Expect Anything,” and “cowboys.”
   
New York (NY) Times 
Cocaine Cowboys
By Robert Stone
Published: May 30, 1993
SWORDFISH A True Story of Ambition, Savagery, and Betrayal. By David McClintick. Illustrated. 606 pp. New York: Pantheon Books. $25.
(...)
Fighting burnout and internal corruption, as narcotics cops always have, the (DEA—ed.) agents live in a world as closed in some ways as the addict’s, keeping their spirits up through a system of personal loyalties and sneering at their archenemies in the F.B.I, known to them as, among other things, “Famous But Incompetent,” “fibbies” or “feebs” (for “feebleminded”).
 
Google Books
Mob Lawyer
By Frank Ragano and Selwyn Raab
New York, NY: Maxwell Macmillan International
1994
Pg. 64:
As a sign of their contempt for federal agents, big-city detectives sarcastically referred to the Bureau’s initials as standing for “Famous But Incompetent.”
 
Google Books
Special Agent:
My life on the front lines as a woman in the FBI

By Candice DeLong and Elisa Petrini
New York, NY: Hyperion
2001
Pg. 217:
“DEA— doesn’t that stand for ‘Don’t Expect Anything’? Or is it ‘Drunk Every Afternoon’?”
   
The DEA agent shot back: “FBI — doesn’t that stand for ‘Famous but Incompetent’?”
   
Debbie Schlussel 
August 14, 2006, - 3:22 pm
Famous But Incompetent: FBI in Denial Again
By Debbie Schlussel
So, three Palestinian Muslim men buy 1,000 cellphones and spent who knows how much in gas driving from Texas to buy them.

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityGovernment/Law/Military/Religion /Health • Tuesday, April 19, 2011 • Permalink


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.