Ghost of Christmas is present even after Rita Jeorge Zarazua In Sabine Pass, a town amid ruins, Christmas isn't forgotten. With the same perseverance that has helped it survive, this small, tight-knit community has pulled together with the kindness and generosity of strangers to celebrate their first holiday season since the massive storm. A few residents even managed to string a line or two of Christmas lights in their yards. (Mike Kane/Express-News) Greg Patin stands outside his FEMA trailer in Sabine Pass. The Patin family tried to get into the Christmas spirit.

Christmas, Hanukkah overlap for 4th time in 100 years

Rumsfeld: Bush to cut U.S. combat troops in Iraq
Rumsfeld did not reveal the exact size of the troop cut, but Pentagon officials have said it could be as much as 7,000 combat troops [of some 160,000)

Washington Post
Power We Didn't Grant
By Tom Daschle
In the face of mounting questions about news stories saying that President Bush approved a program to wiretap American citizens without getting warrants, the White House argues that Congress granted it authority for such surveillance in the 2001 legislation authorizing the use of force against al Qaeda. On Tuesday, Vice President Cheney said the president "was granted authority by the Congress to use all means necessary to take on the terrorists, and that's what we've done."
As Senate majority leader at the time, I helped negotiate that law with the White House counsel's office over two harried days....

Austin American-Statesman
If spy court so compliant, why did Bush bypass it?

New York Times EDITORIAL
Mr. Cheney's Imperial Presidency
George W. Bush has quipped several times during his political career that it would be so much easier to govern in a dictatorship. Apparently he never told his vice president that this was a joke.

Washington Post
Newly emboldened congress has dogged Bush this year
After four years in which Congress repeatedly lay down while President Bush dictated his priorities, 2005 will go down as the year legislators stood up.

Wal-Mart workers awarded millions
A California jury awarded thousands of employees $172 million for denied lunch breaks.

Holiday visit worth the risk for migrants
Sneaking back into the US is made harder by unmanned drones and infrared-equipped patrols.

Rhode Island statehouse Christmas tree dead from flame retardant

Man jailed for using "Heil Hitler on cell phone's voice mail

Dog rescued after testicles frozen to railroad tracks