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The Systemic Risk No One Sees

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 30, 2021 | 0 Comments
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The unraveling of social cohesion has consequences. Once social cohesion unravels, the nation unravels. My recent posts have focused on the systemic financial risks created by Federal Reserve policies that have elevated moral hazard (risks can be taken without consequence) and speculation to levels so extreme that they threaten the stability of the entire financial system.

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#AxisOfEasy 202: Stop What You’re Doing: Unplug Your WD My Book Live Storage Device

By Mark E. Jeftovic | June 29, 2021 | 9 Comments
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Unplug your Western Digital MyBook Storage Drive Immediately,
WHO stealth edits recommendation to not vaccinate children,
MailChimp suspends Babylon Bee… this and more in Axis of Easy # 202

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Terminated by an algorithm

By Jesse Hirsh | June 29, 2021 | 0 Comments
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Yesterday we talked about how AI can act unethically, as well as encourage and enable humans to engage in unethical behaviour.
The idea that technology enables us to do things is self-evident, yet the inverse is also true, that technology enables us to not do things.

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When Expedient "Saves" Become Permanent, Ruin Is Assured

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 28, 2021 | 0 Comments
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The Fed’s “choice” is as illusory as the “wealth” the Fed has created with its perfection of moral hazard. The belief that the Federal Reserve possesses god-like powers and wisdom would be comical if it wasn’t so deeply tragic, for the Fed doesn’t even have a plan, much less wisdom.

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Does AI subvert our humanity?

By Jesse Hirsh | June 28, 2021 | 0 Comments
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When Gary Kasparov lost to a chess playing computer in 1997 I recall the paranoia people felt as they assumed this marked the moment where machines became smarter than humans. Of course it wasn’t, but it was a reminder that humans can be as dumb as machines.

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America’s Social Order is Unraveling

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 25, 2021 | 0 Comments
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The unraveling of America’s social order is accelerating, and denial will not save us from the consequences of the plundering of the social contract. What kind of nation boasts a record-high stock market and an unraveling social order?

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It Always Ends The Same Way: Crisis, Crash, Collapse

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 23, 2021 | 0 Comments
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Risk has not been extinguished, it is expanding geometrically beneath the false stability of a monstrously manipulated market. One of the most under-appreciated investment insights is courtesy of Mike Tyson: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” At this moment in history, the plan of most market participants is to place their full faith and trust in the status quo’s ability to keep asset prices lofting ever higher, essentially forever.

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#AxisOfEasy 201: Bill C-10 Rammed Through Parliament In Midnight session

By Mark E. Jeftovic | June 22, 2021 | 20 Comments
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Bill C-10 rammed through parlliament in midnight session,
IoT devices could be weaponized for DDoS attacks at record levels,
Peloton software bug allows complete remote takeover… this and more in Axis of Easy # 201

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Our perception of time has changed

By Jesse Hirsh | June 21, 2021 | 0 Comments
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As we progress through what we hope is the latter stages of this pandemic, it’s worth revisiting something that was self-evident this time last year, but since then we may have subconsciously adjusted. We’re talking about our perception of time.

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Front-Running the Crash

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 20, 2021 | 0 Comments
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What if everyone in the market realizes it’s now the moment to front-run the crash? We have a fine-sounding word for running with the herd: momentum. When the herd is running, those who buy what the herd is buying and sell what the herd is selling are trading momentum, which sounds so much more professional and high-brow than the noisy, dusty image of large mammals (and their trading machines) mindlessly running with the herd.

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USA 2021: Capitalism for the Powerless, Crony-Socialism for the Powerful

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 18, 2021 | 0 Comments
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The only dynamic that’s even faintly “capitalist” about America’s Crony-Socialism is the price of political corruption is still a “market.” The supposed “choice” between “capitalism” and “socialism” is a useful fabrication masking the worst of all possible worlds we inhabit: Capitalism for the powerless and Crony-Socialism for the powerful.

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Can Lina Khan save us from Big Tech?

By Jesse Hirsh | June 18, 2021 | 0 Comments
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There’s usually a point, early on, in any administration, when peak hope is reached. This is the moment when supporters of said regime reach the highest point of optimism, euphoria, and hope. It’s usually not appreciated in the moment, but tragically recognized afterwards, when hopes are dashed, and expectations plummet.

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Is Inflation "Transitory"? Here’s Your Simple Test

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 16, 2021 | 0 Comments
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Is inflation “transitory” in your household budget? Really? Where? The Federal Reserve has been bleating that inflation is “transitory”–but what about the real world that we live in, as opposed to the abstract funhouse of rigged statistics? Here’s a simple test to help you decide if inflation is “transitory” in the real world.

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#AxisOfEasy 200: Chat App Of Choice For Cyber-Criminals Turns Out To Be Run By FBI

By Mark E. Jeftovic | June 15, 2021 | 1 Comment
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Google’s FLOC already being gamed by adtech companies
Bill C-10 hits rock bottom for Canadian democracy
Vaccine passports come to Manitoba, “no jab = no phone“ in Pakistan… this and more in Axis of Easy # 200

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Seven Things Nobody Talks About that Will Eventually Matter–A Lot

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 14, 2021 | 0 Comments
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Nobody seems to notice the ‘diminishing returns’ on Fed manipulation, oops, I mean ‘intervention’. Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise us that everything that will eventually matter is ignored until it does matter–but by then it’s too late.

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The Fed Is Wrong: Inflation Is Sticky

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 11, 2021 | 0 Comments
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The Fed’s god-like powers will be revealed for what they really are: artifice and illusion. The Fed will be proven catastrophically wrong about inflation for the simple reason that inflation isn’t transitory, it’s sticky: when prices rise due to real-world scarcities and higher costs, they stay high and then move higher as expectations catch up with reality.

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The Sources of Rip-Your-Face-Off Inflation Few Dare Discuss

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 8, 2021 | 0 Comments
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We’re getting a real-world economics lesson in rip-your-face-off increases in prices, and the tuition is about to go up–way up. Inflation will be transitory, blah-blah-blah–I beg to differ, for these reasons. There are numerous structural sources of inflation, which I define as prices rise while the quality and quantity of goods and services remain the same or diminish.

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#AxisOfEasy 199: Welcome to Canada: Where Debate On Freedom Of Speech Is Officially Banned

By Mark E. Jeftovic | June 8, 2021 | 3 Comments
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Canadian government blocks discussion on internet censorship bill,
Docs show Google shares location data with other apps,
Brave browser adding support for ENS and Handshake domains… this and more in Axis of Easy # 199.

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Post-Pandemic Metamorphosis: Never Going Back

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 6, 2021 | 0 Comments
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People caught on that the returns on the frenzied hamster wheel of “normal” have been diminishing for decades, but everyone was too busy to notice. The superficial “return to normal” narrative focuses solely on first order effects now that people can dispense with masks and social distancing, they are resuming their pre-pandemic spending orgy with a vengeance, which augurs great profits for Corporate America and higher tax revenues.

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A Couple Things About Inflation

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 4, 2021 | 0 Comments
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The higher they push phantom “assets” based on exponential increases in leverage, the greater the air gap between essential tangibles and fantasy. Inflation is in the news, but there are a couple of things about inflation that don’t get much coverage.

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(Not) Living Large on Social Security

By Charles Hugh Smith | June 2, 2021 | 0 Comments
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For about 1 in 4, Social Security provides at least 90 percent of their income. How many retired workers are getting less than $1,000 per month in Social Security benefits?

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#AxisOfEasy 198: Ransomware Hits World’s Largest Meat Packer

By Mark E. Jeftovic | June 1, 2021 | 2 Comments
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Trudeau government reviving Bell’s “Fair Play” site blocking,
CTRC issues wholesale broadband decision that everybody hates,
Canada Post hit with supplier ransomware…this and more in Axis of Easy # 198

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Weird Weapons on their Way

By Jesse Hirsh | June 1, 2021 | 0 Comments
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The forests on our property are about to be devastated by gypsy moths, an invasive species that is poised to devastate a lot of forests across Ontario and North America. While a home owner with one or two trees might stand a chance, there’s little for us to do, short of documenting it. It was with this in mind that I bought a mini drone last year, one capable enough of flying over the tree tops and recording video, but light enough that it did not require a drone pilot’s license or registration.

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A Day of Mourning

By Jesse Hirsh | May 31, 2021 | 0 Comments
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This isn’t a newsletter issue but more of an acknowledgement. In the form of a day of mourning.
An acknowledgement of a deep trauma, and horrific crimes, carried out by the Canadian state and the Catholic Church.

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Why the Minimum Wage Should Be $18/Hour

By Charles Hugh Smith | May 31, 2021 | 0 Comments
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What does it say about our “prosperity” if we can’t even afford to equal the purchasing power of the minimum wage paid 50 years ago? It says the 1% got the mine and the bottom 90% got the shaft. Given the rising prosperity we keep hearing about, shouldn’t we be able to provide minimum wage workers the same purchasing power they enjoyed 50 years ago in 1970?

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Contributors

Mark E. Jeftovic

Mark E. Jeftovic

Mark is the co-founder of easyDNS and the editor-in-chief of #AxisOfEasy. He is the author of Managing Mission Critical Domains & DNS (Packt UK, 2018) and Unassailable: Protect Yourself from Deplatform Attacks & Cancel Culture. 

The Canadian Bitcoiners

The Canadian Bitcoiners

Joey Tweets and Len the Lengend are the hosts of The Canadian Bitcoiners Podcast, and you may recognize them as the voices (and faces) behing the AxisOfEasy Podcast. CanadianBitcoiners.com

Charles Hugh Smith

Charles Hugh Smith

Charles Hugh Smith is the author of numerous books and writes from OfTwoMinds.com.