Home tax credit extension approved by Congress - Homebuyers have until September 30 to close

Congress approved the home tax credit extension on Wednesday. This is great news for homebuyers who are trying to use the credit to buy a house. Under the extension, homebuyers who signed contracts by April 30 who were not able to close by June 30, which was the original deadline, now have until September 30 to close on their home purchase.

Thank goodness. Now the home tax credit extension simply has to be signed by President Barack Obama. This credit is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. It allows first time homebuyers an $8,000 tax credit as well as an amazing $6,500 credit for those who are purchasing a new primary residence.

This home tax credit has been widely popular and has helped jump start home sales during the recession. The reason for the extension is that banks and settlement offices were overextended in dealing with the closing rush. This home tax credit extension has eased up on that load allowing for more time keeping thousands of home buyers from losing out on the credit.

I know so many people who have taken advantage of this credit. Of course, we bought our house several months too soon to get it, but it has been great to see our friends getting into their first houses using this amazing $8,000 home tax credit.

My sister works in the mortgage industry, and I know that this home tax credit extension has been a huge relief for her bank. I am very glad that Congress got things together to get this passed.

Have you been affected by the home tax credit extension? Also, were you able to take advantage of it?

More speculation about the alleged Tiger Woods divorce settlement

As noted briefly in this morning's mix, People magazine -- along with a flurry of other news outlets -- are jumping on reports that Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren are closer to reaching a divorce settlement.

Tiger Woods, circa 2008. (Getty Images)

Citing anonymous sources, People has now stated that Nordegren is likely to get around $700 million in the divorce, money that allegedly will buy her silence and prevent her from sharing more details about Woods's extra-marital affairs.

Thus far, no one has gone on the record to confirm any of this. A call to Jeffrey Fisher, the Florida attorney reportedly representing Woods in the case, has not yet been returned. His assistant said he is currently in a meeting but would be back in touch with the Post.

More if/when any new (and legitimate) information emerges...

Joel Zumaya Injury VIDEO: Tigers Reliever's Elbow Injured During Game

Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya suffered what appeared to be a dreadful elbow injury Monday night in Minneapolis, leaving the reliever writhing on the field in agonizing pain. With one out in the eighth inning, the hard-throwing Zumaya threw a 99-mph fastball to Twins outfielder Delmon Young.

Zumaya reacted almost instantly, twisting in discomfort before falling to the ground. His right hand was visibly shaking, and Tigers catcher Greg Laird -- who was 60 feet away from Zumaya at the time of the injury -- said he heard a "pop."

Zumaya, who has a history of injury troubles, is known for pitching at extremely high velocities. He was once clocked throwing a pitch at 104 mph.

After the game, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said, "It obviously doesn't look good. It's an awful bad feeling when you see something like that happen to anybody." Scroll down for unsettling video of Zumaya's injury.

UPDATE: Zumaya is out for the season.

Obama Immigration Reform Speech: President Argues For Immigration Overhaul

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday blamed immigration policy gridlock on "political posturing and special interest wrangling."

In a speech Thursday, Obama took Republicans to task, in particular 11 GOP senators who supported recent efforts to improve the immigration system. He did not name any in particular, but told his largely supportive audience at American University that those lawmakers had succumbed to the "pressures of partisanship and election-year politics."

Seeking to rally new momentum to an issue that many advocates had hoped would be completed by this point, Obama laid out his rationale for a comprehensive approach to fixing what he and others, Republicans included, say is a broken immigration system.

He said the problem cannot be solved "only with fences and border patrols" but said the government should be held accountable for its responsibility to secure the border. Obama also said businesses should face consequences for knowingly employing illegal immigrants and that those who enter the country illegally should own up to their actions before they can begin the process of becoming citizens.

"The question now is whether we will have the courage and the political will to pass a bill through Congress, to finally get it done," the president said. "I'm ready to move forward, the majority of Democrats are ready to move forward and I believe the majority of Americans are ready to move forward. But the fact is that without bipartisan support, as we had just a few years ago, we cannot solve this problem."

"Reform that brings accountability to our immigration system cannot pass without Republican votes," he said. "That is the political and mathematical reality."

Michael Kirkham DEAD: MMA Fighter Dies After Debut Match

A mixed martial arts fighter has died from brain injuries in his professional debut.

The Aiken County coroner said Monday that 30-year-old Michael Kirkham died from bleeding inside the brain. Coroner Tim Carlton said Kirkham collapsed following Saturday night's fight at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.

He added that Kirkham was taken to Aiken Regional Medical Center and never regained consciousness. Carlton said an autopsy will be done Tuesday.

Kirkham was from South Carolina and nicknamed "Tree" because he is 6-foot-9. He had fought six times as an amateur before turning pro.

South Carolina law had prevented organized MMA-style competition until last summer.

Joel Zumaya Injury VIDEO

Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya suffered what appeared to be a dreadful elbow injury Monday night in Minneapolis, leaving the reliever writhing on the field in agonizing pain. With one out in the eighth inning, the hard-throwing Zumaya threw a 99-mph fastball to Twins outfielder Delmon Young.Zumaya reacted almost instantly, twisting in discomfort before falling to the ground. His right hand was visibly shaking, and Tigers catcher Greg Laird -- who was 60 feet away from Zumaya at the time of the injury -- said he heard a "pop."

Zumaya, who has a history of injury troubles, is known for pitching at extremely high velocities. He was once clocked throwing a pitch at 104 mph.

After the game, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said, "It obviously doesn't look good. It's an awful bad feeling when you see something like that happen to anybody." Scroll down for unsettling video of Zumaya's injury.

Twilight Eclipse Review and Breaking Dawn Movie Release Date

Twilight Eclipes Reviews are mixed as of this moment but it is a sure hit whether those reviews are positive or not mainly because of the starts of the film. They had been the fantasy of women around the world.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opened in 4,416 theaters and 193 IMAX screens in the United States on June 30. It also ha d a worldwide opening on the same date. Predictions and forecasts says that the film will gross from around $150 million to around $180 million in just the first six days. This third installment of the Stephen Meyer novel is expected to beat the record of Twilight Saga: New Moon. According to the online ticket seller, Fandango, Twilight Eclipse accounts for almost 82 percent of their online ticket sales and had been always on the top five since May 14, 2010. As for MovieTickets.com, sales from Twilight Eclipse accounts for 50 percent of their daily ticket sales since the start they have sold them.

Today, July 1, 2010, an official United Kingdom premiere will also be held in Leicester Square, London . Sad to say however that Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner will not be present.

Breaking Dawn movie release date is scheduled on November 18, 2011. Breaking Dawn will be split into two films and will be directed by Bill Gondon and co-produced by Stephenie Meyer along with Karen Rosenfelt and Wyck Godfrey.

As for Twilight Eclipse Reviews, the reliable review site Rotten Tomatoes gave the Eclipse 52% rating based on 99 reviews. It earned a total rating of 5./10 which is positive in the terms of Rotten Tomatoes.

Metacritic on the other hand give a rating of 58/100 for the Twilight Saga: Eclipsed based on 27 reviews. Another positive review came from The Hollywood Reporter which basically said that the movie nailed it.

Morris from the Boston Globe stated, “If the first two movies were “get a room,” part three is “get a therapist”. He said the second and third film “repeat that discovery [in Twilight] without truly deepening it…the movies are interesting without ever being good.

Other reviews basically gave really a 50% to less than 50% approval of the Twilight Saga: Eclipse. This rating is even shared by its predecessors. One of the perhaps more eye catching critic about Twilight Saga is that the film had always been “too chatty and too long.” There had been some true action and true climatic scenes missing.