UK & USA Today Editoweb 25 December 2009

The special power of Christmas Day
No matter how hard the world might conspire against joy, we can't help ourselves. For us, Christmas will always be a giddy time of warm hugs, of untold possibilities. The day is an excuse — that we shouldn't need — to do something kind for someone.
It is a day wrapped up in generosity and optimism, which leaves us contemplating the good that can happen for no good reason.
Maybe it's a day to let ourselves believe that we will come together and that things will get better and that they'll get better soon. I suppose it's a naive thought. A little childish, maybe.

Passenger tried to blow up airliner
A senior U.S. counterterror official says a passenger aboard a Delta Air Lines flight in Detroit was planning to blow up the plane but the explosive device failed.
The official said the passenger was being questioned Friday evening. It was not immediately clear why the passenger wanted to attack the flight that was arriving from Amsterdam.


Thousands volunteer to search for missing Md. girl
SALISBURY, Md. – Authorities are asking residents of Maryland's Eastern Shore to search their own properties for signs of a missing girl after thousands of volunteers fanned out but found no sign of her.
Police believe 11-year-old Sarah H. Foxwell was abducted by a registered sex offender.
At a news conference Friday afternoon, Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis asked all county residents to search their properties and hang red ribbons on the mailbox to show they've done so.

Democrats see GOP hypocrisy in health care debate
WASHINGTON – Republican senators attacking the cost of a Democratic health care bill showed far different concerns six years ago, when they approved a major Medicare expansion that has added tens of billions of dollars to federal deficits.
The inconsistency — or hypocrisy, as some call it — has irked Democrats, who claim that their plan will pay for itself with higher taxes and spending cuts and cite the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office for support.

Credit crunch: Home equity lending evaporates
Hocking the house for quick cash is a lot harder than it used to be, and it's causing headaches for homeowners, banks and the economy.
During the housing boom, millions of people borrowed against the value of their homes to remodel kitchens, finish basements, pay off credit cards, buy TVs or cars, and finance educations. Banks encouraged the borrowing, touting in ads how easy it is to unlock the cash in their homes to "live richly" and "seize your someday."
Now, the days of tapping your house for easy money have gone the way of soaring home prices. A quarter of all homeowners are ineligible for home equity loans because they owe more on their mortgage than what the house is worth. Those who have equity in their homes are finding banks far more stingy. Many with home-equity loans are seeing their credit limits reduced dramatically.