So, you thought Bank of America and Countrywide Mortgage finally, finally got what was coming to them, when a jury ruled against them a couple years ago, and awarded a $1.2B fine?? You really thought that?

Well, what a surprise. US Appeals court has OVERTURNED A JURY VERDICT and negated the fine. Do you have any idea how hard it is, to overturn a jury's verdict? You know what a jury does, right? They are allegedly common people who sift through presented alleged facts and evidence, and reach a decision.

Uh, no. I'm shocked, I tell ya', just shocked. Martha Stewart goes to prison for alleged insider information, reputation damaged. Golfer Phil Mickelson does the same act, and has to merely return the money and take some public embarrassment. The white men's club is firmly in place, and entrenched. You expected what, change?

A jury verdict, overturned. Like it never happened. And the people wonder if anything will ever change in this country. Not as long as the old school ties are in place they won't.

Imagine the glasses being raised and the toasts made in B of A boardrooms across the country.

Disgusting.

Interesting show on Netflix entitled, The Sixties. Nine or ten parts, I believe, each one covering approximately one year.

Fun to look back at the way we were, how much in turmoil we were as a country, how many people saw JFK's death as a turning point.

The episode last night was turbulent, deadly 1968, starting with Walter Cronkite's now famous report from S. Vietnam and his subsequent t.v. news broadcast calling the war unwinnable.

The episode covered the assassinations of Martin and Bobby, the resulting violence, the party convention madness that was Chicago, when Daley turned his animals loose on the population.

I wonder, 48 years later, if we have improved as a populace. We were deadly, angry, violent people then, have been since JFK's death. Not much seems to have changed.

We lost some astronauts on the way to the moon, then stopped going. Space station trips are okay, I guess, but I am not seeing the colonization of the moon. All those billions spent just to beat the Russians to a site we now do not care about.

It's good to take a step back and look at our nation's history. Events do repeat themselves. The lack of good timbre for presidential candidates today mirrors 1960, '64, and '68. Not much new.

We remain a nation divided, infatuated with violence as a problem and frustration-solving tool, putting about 33k of us in the ground annually and solving nothing in the process.

Blacks are still mired in endless poverty, angry, and blaming everyone else, having failed these 48 years to instill even the basics of decent family standards and social graces in their young, for too many of them. Our prisons overflow, our streets run bloody, our Congress does nothing, our Court uses no common sense, and our foreign born, Muslim-leaning leader plays golf and issues dictatorial executive orders.

This is NOT, how it is supposed to be.

In response to an MSNBC online news article posting photos of attendees at the NRA convention posing with weapons, I posted this response to a commentor on the article.

Rights, have limits. Freedom, has limits. 

How much firepower is necessary to bring down Bambi, or defend your home or person?

Do you need assault weaponry?

Do you need a 32-round clip?

I have no problem with gun enthusiasts. It's a hobby. I don't want to take anyone's guns away. Nor, I believe, does anyone else.

What many of us believe, and are looking for, is an end to the intransigence that is the NRA. No indication of compromise, no willingness to talk, and to listen.

There are reasons that tanks aren't sold at dealerships. Probably about 95% of weapons do not belong in the hands of private citizens, I don't care how the 2nd Amendment is interpreted. 

I believe that if any citizen is interested in firing specialized, military-use-designed weapons, they pay to do so at an authorized, licensed range. Go for it. Safely. In AZ a couple years back, a youngster tried doing just this, allegedly lost control of her weapon, and spun around and shot her instructor to death. Based upon that tragic, deadly occurrence, even ranges should have age limits. 

It is not about the weapon used. It is about the violence within us all. Some 33,000 of us are shot to death, all needlessly, annually. Isn't it time to end the carnage?

During what I believe should be extended waiting periods for background checks, it should be a requirement of all applicants, to spend two eight hour shifts in an ER, preferably on Fri and Sat nights, to see what the results are of irresponsible gun use. Also, one documented visit to a city or country morgue.

Yesterday, a 5 year old Louisiana girl became the latest victim of responsible gun ownership when she played with her daddy's gun while he was showering.

He's devastated, she's in a box. 

How long are we willing to continue the carnage? There is middle ground.