A few random items around the blogosphere that caught my eye and might be of interest to Credit Slips readers. Yes, this means I didn’t have time to compose a lengthier post:

• The Executive Office of U.S. Trustee ("EOUST") extended its waiver of the credit counseling and debtor education requirements for bankruptcy filers in areas struck by Hurricane Katrina. The waiver affects bankruptcy filers in the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana and the Southern District of Mississippi. The press release is here. The 2005 bankruptcy amendments added these requirements and gives the EOUST power to waive requirements when they find the services are unavailable. Previous posts by Katie Porter and John Pottow discuss the increased power of the EOUST under the 2005 amendments, and this power to waive the counseling and education requirements is a good illustration of that increased power.
• In the business bankruptcy area, the September 21 issue of The Economist had an article entitled "In the Shadows of Debt." The subtitle says it all: "Business is being reshaped by a massive borrowing binge, but much of it is unseen, unregulated and little understood." The article is available online here for subscribers or those willing to watch an ad.
• An article in the N.Y. Times (reg. req’d) about skyrocketing housing costs and stagnating incomes. The second paragraph: "[M]any of the biggest jumps in the percentage of people paying a
  burdensome amount of their income for housing occurred in the Midwest
  and in suburbs nationwide, making it clear that the housing squeeze has
  reached deep into the middle class."