The Zeitgeist
The Welding Shut of the American Mind
The closing of the American mind is evolving into its next stage: the welding shut of the American mind.
What’s the difference between closing and welding shut? A closed door can be opened. A welded shut door cannot. We can’t save the minds already lost. We can only prevent our OWN minds from being welded shut.
And we can. Together.
Mailbag – Lucifer’s Hammer Edition
It’s been a full year since I wrote my last Mailbag note, which is kinda pathetic.
Well, better late than never. Reader comments and emails following our publication of Lucifer’s Hammer have been amazing, and it would be a disservice to the Pack if I didn’t collect some of them here. Enjoy!
Lucifer’s Hammer
There’s a comet speeding our way, a comet of endemic urban violence.
And for so many people – especially young men with the voice of Ego now shouting in their heads as the whispers are turned up to 11 by the amps of political party and social media – they think that post-apocalyptic world sounds just dandy.
Facebook Delenda Est
More than any other company, Facebook is undermining our democracy and our most integral political rights.
More than any other company, Facebook has bought and paid for political cover at the highest levels of American, Indian and European government, political cover that prevents any of the actions we might take as a society to rid ourselves of this cancer.
Facebook delenda est.
“Rebalance Timing Luck: The Dumb (Timing) Luck of Smart Beta” by Hoffstein, Faber and Braun
Hoffstein, Faber and Braun construct long-only indices that provide exposures to popular U.S. equity factors (value, size, momentum, quality, and low volatility) and vary their rebalance schedules to isolate the effects of “rebalance timing luck.”
Their results suggest substantial problems for analyzing any investment when the strategy, its peer group, or its benchmark is susceptible to performance impacts driven by the choice of rebalance schedule.
The Grifters, Chapter 2 – N95 Masks
I don’t think I have the words to communicate just how screwed up our PPE distribution system is in this country, or what a profound betrayal it is for our government to support this perverse system of personal greed and corporate ambivalence in exchange for campaign soundbites and photo ops.
But I’m gonna try.
The Grifters, chapter 1 – Kodak
We’ve been assaulted by three brutal grifts in just the past week … three smacks from Bobo and his bag of oranges … each deserving of an Epsilon Theory note.
Here’s chapter 1 – the ludicrous crony capitalism of the US government giving Kodak $765 million for “pharmaceutical supply production”.
The Stupid War
The war over reopening schools is a proxy war.
The real war is between political parties, but they’ve set up the fight as teachers on one side vs. parents on the other.
This is not our war. This is THEIR war.
How to stop it? We refuse to fight.
Harper's Corner
Michel Jordan is adding NASCAR to his sports resume. He's now the co-owner of a NASCAR team with Bubba Wallace as the driver.
ET Twitter Feed
The 1977 gif. Not bad.
Ok, using the first gif that pops up, type in the year you were born when you were 13.
Smart take on hypocritical pol strategy: denounce Netflix movie on book by China apologist to counter charge T/GOP weak on China. Ben reminds us to ask "why am I reading this now?"
Me: You're exhausted cause everything is game playing.
via @EpsilonTheory
Why Am I Reading This Now? | Epsilon Theory
Yesterday, 5 GOP Senators wrote a letter to Netflix, saying that their plan to adapt Liu Cixin's "The Three Body Problem" for TV/film amounted to "com...
www.epsilontheory.com
Yesterday, 5 GOP Senators wrote a letter to Netflix, saying that their plan to adapt Liu Cixin's "The Three Body Problem" for TV/film amounted to "complicity" with the CCP and their horrific mistreatment of the Uyghurs.
Why am I reading this NOW?
Why Am I Reading This Now? | Epsilon Theory
Yesterday, 5 GOP Senators wrote a letter to Netflix, saying that their plan to adapt Liu Cixin's "The Three Body Problem" for TV/film amounted to "com...
www.epsilontheory.com
This is The Long Now, where the future is pulled forward and the past is erased for the political managers of today.
It's not just a US thing. It's an everywhere thing.
@EpsilonTheory So Australia, apparently has not seen an economic downturn for 30+ years.
They have ridden the commodity supercycle. That is coming to a tail end.
First exogenous shock to the system and they go....ah burn it all.
Australia will no longer require mortgage loan verification by banks, allowing blanket acceptance of borrower statements, in order to address “excessive risk aversion which has built up and restricted the flow of credit".
LOL. Nothing matters.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-24/australia-to-loosen-lending-laws-to-boost-flow-of-credit?sref=Qfdx0Q4F
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Search and Discovery
Archive Spotlight
Even When I Lie
The way I see it, there are three reasons a person becomes a liar: he believes that he must, he believes that he may, or he believes it serves a Greater Truth.
ET Live!
ET Live! – 9.15.2020
In today’s episode, it’s all about BITFD and the almost hilarious extremes to which the Long Now has infected our financial world. Don’t forget to refresh your browser if your video doesn’t start promptly after 2:00 PM ET.