News that Brian Williams won’t be reporting tonight because the network doesn’t want the Nielsen families to abandon their televisions and run screaming into the streets shouting “Repent, the end is near!”
Via Boing Boing:
Rep. Kanjorski: $550 Billion Disappeared in “Electronic Run On the Banks”
“Capital Markets Subcommittee Chair, Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, tells C-Span how the world economy almost collapsed in a matter of hours. A “tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion dollars.” According to Kanjorski, this electronic transfer occurred over the period of an hour or two.”
Via Infectious Greed:
Reinforcement learning signal predicts social conformity
“Fascinating new paper out in the journal Neuron on the biochemical reasons why it feels so good to go along with the consensus:
Summary:These findings provide evidence that social group norms evoke conformity via learning mechanisms reflected in the activity of the rostral cingulate zone and ventral striatum.
Translation: Agreeing with people makes you feel high.”
Via Get Out of Dodge:
Wikileaks: “Change you can download:a billion in secret Congressional reports“
“The 6,780 reports, current as of this month, comprise over 127,000 pages of material on some of the most contentious issues in the nation, from the U.S. relationship with Israel to the financial collapse.”
