Author Archives: D. Jette

The latest chapter in the on-going preemptive eulogy of the great freethinker, essayist and contrarian (and unwitting hero of this very blog), Christopher Hitchens, is a video cut together by r/atheism frequenter gonzoblair.  Dozens of folks from all over the world toast the life and work of a singular intellectual, and drink to his honor a bit of his favorite liquor, Johnny Walker Black. (Accept no substitute.)

The diversity of the group is remarkable (although they almost all speak in Hitch’s tongue of English) and their sentiments are sincere.  That a man could attract such positive wishes mainly for pointing out the shortcomings of figures like Mother Theresa, Princess Diana, Pope John Paul II and the Hebrew God is a testament to how honesty is the king of virtues, and that truthfulness with one’s self is paramount.  I do wish that more mention was made of his journalistic pursuits, as my first encounter with his writing was in the inspirational Letters to a Young Contrarian.  That book made me unashamed to assert myself when I was sure I was unpopularly right, and to check myself when I had unpopular doubt.  I’ve never looked back.

Perhaps it is a feature of being such an outspoken atheist that people take the trouble to tell you how much they care before you die.  Just think about how nice this world would be if we made such an effort to everyone we loved.

Here’s to you, Hitch.  Cheers.

News broke today that the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had a little disagreement about a transfer of assets between subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation (BAC) which owns both Merrill Lynch and Bank of America (BofA, the retail bank you’re more familiar with.)  It seems that BAC is moving something on the order of $75 trillion dollars of derivatives risk from Merrill Lynch, which is not insured by American taxpayers, to Bank of America, which is.  This means that just as European banks are about to crumble in on themselves in an epic default, BAC has pushed their substantial share of the risk of those defaults from their shareholders to the FDIC, effectively putting taxpayers on the hook.

Here is another great piece on the transfer from former regulator William K. Black.

They did this without a peep from the Federal Reserve.  Through the FDIC, you and I now bear the risk of the screwed up European banking system without ever engaging in these risky and fraudulent debt obligations to begin with.  They ate the meal, now we clean the $75 trillion dishes.

This is why people do not, and probably should not, trust the financial sector and its narrow interests. People now associate ‘Wall Street’ with a threat to regular people with regular jobs and regular investments. The financial sector is the largest contributor to federal elections, including President Obama.  Mitt Romney is one and is surrounded by them.  And the media is literally owned by them, and are aligned according to a strict imaginary line that seperates D’s and R’s who both say ‘Wall Street is the best.’

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