WCBS NEWSRADIO 880 - Schumer Wants More Help for Struggling Homeowners

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Charles Schumer urged federal regulators Wednesday to do more to help certain homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments.

The Democratic senator from New York made his plea in a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, two men at the forefront of efforts to make sure the credit crunch that has rocked Wall Street doesn't undermine the economy.

Schumer asked Paulson and Bernanke to support a plan in Congress to provide $100 million to nonprofit housing groups to help troubled subprime borrowers, those with blemished credit histories, to refinance their homes.

Those borrowers have been hardest hit [LA Times] as interest rates have risen and home values have weakened. As a result, foreclosures and late payments have soared. The credit crunch, which started with these homeowners, has spread to other borrowers.

Schumer said the $100 million, which would be contained in a Senate appropriations package, may not be sufficient. He called on the Bush administration to ``come up quick additional financing.''

Schumer, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, also called upon policymakers to use their powers of persuasion to get financial institutions to pony up money.

``I urge you to use your leverage over financial institutions, whether banks, lenders, servicers or brokerages, to encourage them to match the federal government's efforts to provide funding to nonprofit group working to prevent foreclosures, and to work with the nonprofits to help borrowers who need ... loan modifications,'' Schumer wrote.

He said he intends to offer legislation when Congress returns next month to boost investment caps on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ``to increase their flexibility to participate in loan modifications with borrowers and lending institutions.'' The administration has so far been opposed to raising the caps. The two mortgage giants a few years ago suffered multibillion-dollar accounting scandals.

Take Blog Action!!!

On October 15th - Blog Action Day, bloggers around the web will unite to tackle the issue of the environment.

What can you do?

You can participate on Blog Action Day in one of two ways:



1. Publish a post on their blog which relates to an issue of their own choice pertaining to the environment.

For example: A blog about money might write about how to save around the home by using environmentally friendly ideas. Similarly a blog about politics might examine what weight environmental policy holds in the political arena.

Posts do not need to have any specific agenda, they simply need to relate to the larger issue in whatever way suits the blogger and readership. Our aim is not to promote one particular viewpoint, only to push the issue to the table for discussion.
2. Commit to donating their day’s advertising earnings to an environmental charity of their choice. There is a list of "official" Blog Action Day charities on the site, however bloggers are also free to choose an alternate environmental charity to donate to if they wish.





For more Details or to get a banner Click Here.

Gwen Stefani Nude?

Have you heard the big rukus over Gwen Stefani in Kuala Lumpur saying that shes a bad influence for the kids, that her ads and videos are too racy?


The National Association of Islamic Students has started a protest against the
Gwen Stefani Sweet Escape concert thats scheduled for August 21, 2007 on the basis that it is against Malaysian culture and lifestyle.



Malaysian mobile phone firm Maxis Communications, which is promoting the August 21 show as part of Stefani's "Sweet Escape" tour, promised it would feature no revealing costumes, the Star newspaper said.

"She will abide by the Malaysian authorities' guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensibilities," it quoted a Maxis statement as saying.

Malaysia's official guide for performers says women must be covered from the top of the bosom to the knees, the Star said.

Jumping, shouting and the throwing of objects are barred, while performers may not hug, kiss or wear clothes with obscene or drug-related pictures or slogans, it added.

On Tuesday, an official of the 10,000-strong National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students said Stefani's video promotion clips were obscene and the event would clash with local Asian and Islamic values.

"We want the organisers to cancel the concert, failing which we will ask the authorities to intervene," said Mohamad Hilmi Ramli, the group's president.

Ethnic Malays, who are by definition Muslims, make up just over half of Malaysia's 26 million people, while ethnic Chinese and Indians, who are mostly Buddhists, Christians or Hindus, account for most of the rest.



Article found here.

Do you Text & Drive?

If you do, PLEASE don't! In my opinion its worse than talking on the cellphone and driving, and you shouldn't be talking while driving, so you definitely shouldn't be texting!
I read this article in The New York Times that made me think about this and how dangerous it is.
This poor 17 year old girl is now dead because of it. All because she decided to send a text message, not to mention speeding on a winding road, as an inexperienced driver but I'm sure her looking down at her cellphone on a winding road was the main reason. A very sad story.
Here's part of the article.

Text Messages Sent on Phone of Driver Before Wreck


CANANDAIGUA, N.Y., July 13 (AP) — Text messages were sent back and forth on the cell phone of a 17-year-old driver moments before her sport-utility vehicle slammed head-on into a truck, killing her and four other recent high school graduates on June 28, the police said today.

A text message was sent from the phone of the S.U.V. driver, Bailey E. Goodman, at 10:05:02 p.m., according to Sheriff Philip C. Povero of Ontario County, adding that a friend here sent a text message to Ms. Goodman’s phone asking, “What are you doing?”

“The message was received on the cell phone at 10:06:29,” Sheriff Povero said.

A call reporting the accident to the authorities from a passenger in a car the S.U.V. had passed just before the crash was made at 10:07, according to The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

“The records indicate her phone was in use,” he said. “We will never be able to clearly state that she was the one doing the text messaging.”

For the Full Story

World's tallest man gets married

BEIJING - The world's tallest man married a woman who's two-thirds his height and half his age, holding a traditional Mongolian ceremony Thursday with great fanfare at the tomb of Kublai Khan.


Bao Xishun, a 7-foot-9 herdsman from Inner Mongolia, met his bride earlier this year after searching high and low, sending advertisements around the world. It turns out he didn't have to look far — 5-foot-6 saleswoman Xia Shujian hails from his hometown of Chifeng.

Bao wore a specially designed light blue gown topped with a gold vest, and rode to his bride's camp in front of the tomb in a cart pulled by two camels, AP Television News reported. A limo followed the cart.

Read the Full Story

Utah man, 87, says he hitchhiked to Pa.

An 87-year-old Utah man was discovered 2,000 miles away Wednesday in Pennsylvania, less than 48 hours after he was reported missing, police said. How did Andrew Hentz do it?

"He mentioned he had hitchhiked," Clinton police Detective Matt Fawbush said. "I wish I knew how he traveled that far. It's mind-boggling."

Read the Full Story

11 Year Old Girl Arrested Drunk Driving & Speeding over 100MPH!!

I saw this on this mornings news and couldn't believe it!


Eleven Year Old Charged With DUI in Alabama
Drunk Driving Alabama Girl Leads Police on High-Speed Car Chase

Police who chased a car for miles along a highway at speeds up to 100 mph said the driver was drunk, hardly a rarity in this resort town. But there was more: When they looked inside the flipped vehicle with guns drawn, they found an 11-year-old girl at the wheel.

"You go up there thinking it's a felon you're dealing with," assistant police Chief Greg Duck said.
The girl, who was slightly injured in the crash, is now charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding, reckless endangerment and leaving the scene of an accident. Duck said she sideswiped another vehicle during the roughly 8-mile chase.

The chase began around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when a patrol officer near the Florida line saw the car speeding west along a beach highway, Duck said. When the officer flicked on his lights, the driver sped up. The girl rolled the car just inside the Gulf Shores city limit.

Duck said the girl, whose name was not released because of her age, told police she was on her way to pick up her sister at a concert.

Investigators found no alcohol in the car but believe the girl drank before getting behind the wheel of the car, which belongs to relatives.

Duck declined to release the girl's blood alcohol level but said a blood test at the hospital showed it was higher than .02, the legal limit for minors.