MERRY XMAS TO ALL JOB SEEKERS FROM THE MODERATOR

Christmas arrives this year at a joyless time for many Californians. The state's unemployment rate is the highest it's been in 14 years. Families continue to lose their homes at an alarming rate, with defaults rising again despite government efforts to slow the pace. And steep losses in the stock market have diminished the 401(k) plans of many older residents, delaying their retirements or forcing them to make do with much less. A glimpse at editorials from Christmases past, however, reminds us that we've been through worse times -- the Great Depression, the buildup to World War II, the protracted stagflation of the 1970s. We're a resilient people, thanks in no small measure to the same qualities that Christians celebrate today: faith, hope and sacrificial love for one another. We look for those qualities again to bring light and promise to all.