I was fortunate enough to live in Spring and go to a Klein ISD high school, Klein Oak, at the same time with "rising network star" Jim Parsons, currently starring as "Sheldon" in the hit CBS comedy series, "The Big Bang Theory."

Apparently since June, Houston area hospitals have been noticing a big rise in newborn babies.

From Reuters on Friday:

The Associated Press is reporting that the administration and congress are undecided about whether to extend the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, which is set to expire November 30 of this year. The credit allows up to an $8,000 refundable tax credit on the purchase of a first-time home. It's been a very effective policy for the past year, key to improving economic conditions in the U.S.

From Dina ElBoghdady at The Washington Post yesterday and today.  News about the critical FHA program this week will be that it likely needs additional funds from congress. The controversy is likely to have a flavor of the bail-out debate infused with how important the FHA loan program is to the recovery of the housing sector. From the articles:

In the 1990's there was a lot of discussion about "The Third Way" -- something "between" the private and public sectors. I had an opportunity to study the thinking at the time both in undergraduate and graduate school with the preeminent thought-leaders at that time. Truly I now believe that idea was merely an attempt to appease the prevailing dogmatic anti-regulation thinking of the prior 25 years, before Reagan's "government IS the problem" mantra.

The most efficient use of space is a square. Rounded walls take too much work to get smooth and round. And squares fit together really well.

Leftward liberals and rightward conservatives are both missing the mark when it comes to how they're framing economic issues. While some partisans of any stripe may have a roughly correct conclusion here and there, the reasoning involved is rarely enlightening for "pocket-book centrists" - a term for the majority of Americans simply concerned with living a comfortable and fair American dream. This morning, the much vaunted cultural critic Frank Rich writes in The Times that:

Thanks to www.calculatedriskblog.com for the following chart that shows job loss percentages following the onset of recessions since WWII. As for the depth of job losses, you see our current recession is on par with the recessions of 1948 and 1958. But the big most important question right now is this: how long will it take to get back above 0% when we get net job growth again? Here's the chart followed by some thoughts.

The Houston Chronicle today features an AP story about just-release August retail sales figures in America.