Yeowda

WashingtonPost.com | Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime

How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers

By Eliot Spitzer
Thursday, February 14, 2008; Page A25

Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers' ability to repay, making loans with deceptive "teaser" rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets.

Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers.

... continue . . .

I promised you a picture

But it's not really very helpful, is it? Loki just did not have any interest in cooperating. He was bound and determined to show me his back no matter what I tried to distract him with. Oh, well. Can't really say I blame him.



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Now playing: Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober
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Boy gone

Loki became gender neutral yesterday. He's back home from the vet's today and he doesn't seem to be the worse for wear although he did insist on chatting with me when I first got home. Poor thing had to tell me just how traumatized he was by his first trip away from home and how he really, really, really didn't appreciate being left at that nasty, strange place.

Normally I would have pictures to go with a post like this, but the rechargeable batteries in my camera finally gave up the ghost after almost four years and I just don't have any others handy at the moment so pictures will have to wait. I guess I should really look online for more batteries for the camera, but I'm feeling lazy right at this moment. It is Friday night after all and I am right in the middle of a really good book.

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Now playing: Azam Ali - Ben Pode Santa Maria
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so, u wantz marry her?

Definitely two thumbs up for originality.

Kind of an update

Did I ever mention the ordeal of the finger caused an outbreak of psoriasis which lead to an extremely debilitating case of psoriatic arthritis for which I've been undergoing Remicade treatment since December? Personally, I think it was the steroid treatment that sent my system into such shock which caused the psoriasis which led to the arthritis which pretty much kept me from doing anything. Ask the Prodigal Son . . . he had to open bags of chips for me as well as jars and doors since I couldn't really grasp doorknobs to turn them. When I say the arthritis was debilitating, I am not kidding. I was becoming concerned about my job because it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to drive to get to it not to mention losing the manual dexterity needed to perform some of it.

However, the Remicade treatments I've undergone have worked miracles. The arthritis is under control and I'm all but back to being my annoyingly cheerful self.

On the other hand, the finger still isn't 100%, but at least I can mostly use it to do mostly normal things like holding cups and cutting my own meat. Per the hand surgeon, I've at least another six months of self inflicted therapy to go through before I can give up and just learn to live with a finger that isn't 100%.

Right now I'm in the process of psyching myself up to trying to knit again since the finger and the arthritis made it impossible for me to do it. I have a scarf on the needles I started last year before all this finger nonsense started that I'm going to rip out and redo. I think. Well, it's certain I'll rip it out because I screwed it up badly when I thought I was recovered enough to knit to actually knit on it a bit that the perfectionist in me just won't let it go on. Whether or not I'll retry this pattern with this yarn . . . well, that's the question, isn't it?

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Now playing: Evanescence - Lacrymosa
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