Does Social Psychology Explain Ben Bernanke's Behavior? Putin "Becomes" One of the Boys in the 'New World Order' Band? 40,000 Trillion Becquerels of Cesium 137 Measured Now From Fukushima But Nowhere To Get Rid of the Radioactive Ash (Why US Reps Can't Actually EVER Get Out of DC)

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Professor Lawrence Ball, Johns Hopkins University, NBER, and IMF (if you can believe he's complaining!) argues that the need to please your immediate community (social psychology) explains quite a bit about the different Bernankes we've come to know and fear for doing so little to improve the economic conditions of those at the bottom of the income pyramid.

But he's done a great job at not doing a very good job.

Except for the bankers.

And Wall Street betters.



Did you see the one about how Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, met Henry Kissinger and immediately issued a statement about how desirable a moment in time the New World Order will be?

I thought I was re-reading Animal Farm or Brave New World there for a moment.

Or maybe he's not ex-KGB at all, and a really good guy. Corporate guy anyway.

Our type of guy. Right, Henry?

And speaking of word from on high (or at least high up in a friendly government), we learn that "far more cesium was released" from the Fukushima meltdown than has been previously admitted.

Nice that we're finally finding out that more than "40,000 trillion becquerels of Cesium 137" (a negligible amount, I'm sure we'll learn) were actually released into the atmosphere, land and water.

No problem for the news media to release these figures now as it was last March that it occurred: 3/11, in fact. But I"m not a conspiracist. Never. Just an ordinary fact-driven writer. So, there's that.

No worries though (for them, anyway). They're ready to turn back on two nuclear generators due to worries about a "power shortage." Gotta get those goods to market.

And there's nowhere to put all that radioactive ash.



Neil Garfield at Living Lies reports that an Arizona Sheriff spent 2200 hours tracking down the bona fides (genesis) of the Barack Obama birth certificate, but none on the foreclosure lies that could have been exposed easily in just an hour or two on the homes he was foreclosing on everyday. Was he looking for easier work? Couldn't be that. More well-publicized, perhaps for the Breitbart site? Too bad about that, but others will undoubtedly be grateful for his taxpayer-funded efforts. Not the foreclosed on though.

And to end on an "up" note (up chuck, perhaps?): Mike the Mad Biologist lets us in on another insider secret. No matter how they've campaigned against Washington, DC, those mad (but logical) representatives never want to go home again (h/t to Thomas Wolfe). Call it the real "trickle-down" plan. Yes, surprising enough to the rubes amongst us, seems that they like the red-carpet DC treatment they've become accustomed to (ask long-deposed Rick Santorum and even the hapless Willard Rmoney who was defeated when he ran against Ted Kennedy for the Senate) and long for its warm embrace after they actually stop serving the "little people" in their districts. Who'd a thunk it? (Raise your hands up high.)



Gotta love learning how to read a graph.

See how "higher math" skills are necessary for everyone?

I know I'm glad I can read a graph.

Cause I don't think we'll see this in numbers anytime soon.

I'm thinking there's even a dental plan with that.