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Five years after the near complete financial meltdown of the economy in this country, resulting in millions of people losing their homes nothing has really changed. Despite the billions of dollars in settlement fees the banks have shelled out, bad press, and loss of trust, it’s pretty much business as usual. Actually it’s more blatant and brazen than ever.

Remember HAMP? What about HAMP 2.0? The mortgage modification programs the administration paraded out as a way to save millions of homeowners from foreclosure? The same program that Tim Geithner, during a congressional hearing, flippantly admitted in 2009 was never meant to help homeowners, but more a way to alleviate the stress of too many foreclosures coming in at once.

John Wright over at Piggy Bank Blog has had an on-going fervent argument with a particularly obnoxious individual who goes by the name "Hut Master." Over the past week James Aitken (that's his real name) has taken to email and Facebook to throw unfounded accusations John's way, calling him a shill and going into apparent frothy, drunken rants on various blog comments and Facebook, according to Wright.

In his latest post, he writes:

Kentucky Atty. Gen. Jack Conway announced that his office filed a lawsuit today in Franklin Circuit Court against MERS for violating Kentucky law.

In the lawsuit, he alleges that MERS violated Kentucky law by not recording mortgage assignments with the County Clerk's offices when mortgages were sold or transferred from one bank to another.

Here's an email I received from a friend ... all legit and true. Inother words, not one of those scammy shitty emails you get that turns out to be BS. It's a reall person, in real trouble, trying to find a real solution. You can read the email below:

2012 Maine Special Olympics - Charlie got 3 medals (2 bronze and a silver)

This is my friend Charles, currently of Berwick, Maine. Charlie just turned 51 years old this past December, he lives with his sister Sandra and his twenty-two year old niece, as he has since 1999. I met the family in 2001, back when Sandra and I were both heavily involved in humane work. We quickly developed a friendship that, over the years, has morphed into family.