'Twas the Day Before Christmas...

Our final push for pre-Christmas opinions yields some wonky, secular picks. And to all, a good night.

Well, we've reached the last day of the Atlantic Wire's Christmas opinion countdown. Despite our own skepticism about carrying it through, there proved to be more than enough commentary to fill the fourth day, third day, and second day before Christmas with the best and strangest. Today, on Christmas eve, we have a mix of the serious, secular, wonky, and jocular. Enjoy, and have a happy holiday.

• Health Care Ruined Christmas  A woman named "Bunny" calls in during the C-SPAN broadcast of the health care vote to say that she had taken down her Christmas tree, wreaths, and decorations in disappointment (Via Wonkette)
  

• A Very Wonky Christmas Eve for foreign-policy blogger Spencer Ackerman. He kicks off a long, characteristically detailed post on military contractors with the wryly self-aware headline, "What do Jews do on Christmas eve day? They write about military contracting."

• Kick Back With an Atheist's Guide to Christmas, suggests Phil Plait at Discover Magazine. Plait recommends the books for nonbelievers wishing to celebrate as well. He acknowledges the self-promotion, having contributed one of the book's essays. "It's OK to be non-Christian and celebrate Christmas. And for proof, you can read the 42 essays comprising the book The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, edited by Ariane Sherine. Yes, that Ariane Sherine, the one who created the Atheist Bus Campaign in the UK. Ariane is a humor writer and a journalist, and is also a genuinely wonderful human being who is upset by the way nonbelievers are portrayed in the media, and decided to do something about it."

• Two More Re-Writes of 'The Night Before Christmas'  The Atlantic Wire is guilty of its own variation on the classic poem, so we can hardly point fingers. Today we have a version from John Marshall at the Huffington Post lamenting the public option, and one from James Kendrick at tech site jkOnTheRun. He gives it a geeky spin: "visions of netbooks did dance in their heads."

• And Above All, Don't Get Fat  Cyndi Lee at the Huffington Post gives tips on how to avoid putting on weight if you plan to eat during the holidays. She begins dramatically: "'I am filled with self-loathing,' I said yanking my tank top down over my bloated belly." Her first big tip? "Breathe."