In The Independent today:

Shame on the doctors prejudiced against Down Syndrome - Dominic Lawson

At last - Brown is forced to be bold - Steve Richards

The most irresponsible budget I have ever heard - Michael Brown

Only one person is writing this - me - Terence Blacker

Slow cookers rock - and casseroles roll - Tom Sutcliffe

The best of the rest:

Spend urges not so joyous Santa Darling - Ann Treneman, The Times

Only total energy renewal can save us - George Monbiot, The Guardian

The party of social justice has awoken - Polly Toynbee, The Guardian

An election by late spring 2010 - Simon Heffer, The Daily Telegraph

Search for work-life balance goes offshore - Michael Skapinker, The Financial Times

In The Independent today:

Cameron can't afford mistakes. But nor can he play it safe - Matthew Norman

Charles as President? Not in my name - Johann Hari

Recovery cannot begin until house prices bottom out - Adrian Hamilton

Politicians must dress to impress - Ellie Levenson

Sorry, John - but it's right for you to go - Sophie Morris

The best of the rest:

The BNP can never make itself respectable - David Aaronovitch, The Times

Cameron may drown in his clear blue water - Anatole Kaletsky, The Times

The BBC must confront its moral crisis - Joan Bakewell, The Guardian

UK must choose economy of David Cameron or Gordon Brown. But will it help Arron? - Mary Riddell, The Daily Telegraph

In The Independent today:

For most women, prostitution is not a life choice - Deborah Orr

Recessions serve a useful purpose - Hamish McRae

Why do people cling to the myth of the nuclear family? - Mark Steel

Pub quizzes: the answer to everything - Katy Guest

Who can say now that mother always knows best? - Janet Street-Porter

The best of the rest:

Hillary is not the right woman for the job - Bronwen Maddox, The Times

The errors of Iraq are being repeated - Simon Jenkins, The Guardian

Sir Michael Lyons was thrown to the lions - Andrew Gimson, The Daily Telegraph

Obama is right to opt for pragmatism - John Kay, The Financial Times

In The Independent today:

To silence his Tory critics, Osborne must do more. Now - Bruce Anderson

Sixties radicals are back. But why? - Johann Hari

The state panders to parents, but not all families are safe - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Putin's energy threat should be risible - Andres Whittam Smith

Was Mason a racist, or just an imbecile? - Philip Hensher

The best of the rest:

If we want more representative MPs, we need to start talking about class - John Harris, The Guardian

There is nothing mean about a means test - Libby Purves, The Times

Browbeaten MPs fail to do their basic job - Philip Johnston, The Daily Telegraph

Carbon disclosure should be mandatory by 2010 - James Murdoch, The Financial Times

For sanity's sake, let's keep things in perspective - Max Hastings, The Daily Mail

In The Independent today:

Double agents, car bombs, and antics worthy of James Bond - Robert Fisk

Obama's chance to end the fantasy that is Star Wars - Johann Hari

In praise of a Renaissance Prince - Bruce Anderson

Attack the professionals, and a tragedy like Baby P will result - Beatrix Campbell

In vain pursuit of punctuality - Hermione Eyre

Cheap booze ban will not stop bingeing - Sophie Morris

The best of the rest:

Who's to blame? Look in the mirror, Mr Brown - John Major, The Times

House shamed by row over political corpse of Baby P - Simon Hoggart, The Guardian

Alaska isn't about dumb, moose-eating rednecks - Clare Chesher, The Guardian

Rich nations must share power - David Rothkopf, The Daily Telegraph

Detroit tries to fool them again - John Gapper, The Financial Times

In The Independent today:

When doctors and parents clash over life and death - Deborah Orr

Cut taxes, but don't expect miracles - Hamish McRae

Why did the West ignore the truth about the war in Georgia? - Mary Dejevsky

The losers who hate to love Obama - Mark Steel

I fear 'Healthy Towns' are just another fad - Janet Street-Porter

The best of the rest:

Triumph of those who resist violence - Daniel Finkelstein, The Times

The president-elect is a much smarter hawk - Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian

Why Lloyds' takeover of HBOS stinks - Jeff Randall, The Daily Telegraph

It's the state that needs cutting, not taxes - Peter Oborne, The Daily Mail

In The Independent today:

Will the real Barack Obama now finally stand up? - Bruce Anderson

You can't force patriotism on a people - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Lloyds and HBOS – a merger that should not go through - Andreas Whittam Smith

Credit crunch even hits dog-sitters - John Lichfield

Britain's cowardice in Congo - Tom Porteous

Scent and the secret of daily hedonism - Philip Hensher

The best of the rest:

Is Obama really president or am I just watching a fantasy? It's almost too good to be true - Charlie Brooker, The Guardian

Ageism, pensions and the end of high heels - it's time I spoke up - Joan Bakewell, The Guardian

'It's knives, firearms, cash, drugs.  Every night' - Libby Purves, The Times

Barack Obama has only one lesson for David Cameron: tax cuts win votes - Janet Daley, The Daily Telegraph

In The Independent today:

When you want your child to share America's moment - Matthew Norman

We New Yorkers have others to thank - Jay McInerney

To tackle the world's crises, the new President must stay strong - Johann Hari

The arts are here to provide the strength to overcome despair - Alan Davey

Lessons in life that only a pet can give us - Sophie Morris

We rejected so much history and so many rules that have bound us. We rejected fear - Baratunde Thurston

A speech with echoes of Lincoln and Nixon - Sean O'Grady

Under Reagan's gaze the faithful despaired - Michael Brown

The best of the rest:

Now he must declare that the war on terror is over - Jonathan Steele, The Guardian

The US has truly overcome. And the world is joining in - Wangari Maathai, The Guardian

What do you mean, bin Laden doesn't exist? - Anthony Loyd, The Times

Barack Obama's historic victory: Now we need to find out what 'change' means - Simon Heffer, The Daily Telegraph

In The Independent today:

The new President has a huge challenge ahead of him - Hamish McRae

Change is what the Scots want too - Deborah Orr

Two dinosaurs, two outdated world-views - Janet Street-Porter

Australia's persistent racism - Kathy Marks

It's not about great men, but those who put them there - Mark Steel

Yushchenko should not have called the Ukraine to the ballot box - Taras Kuzio

The best of the rest:

We've come a long, long way - Jonathan Steele, The Guardian

No black America or white America - Lola Adesioye, The Guardian

John McCain: a man who fought and lost with honour - Ben Macintyre, The Times

Gordon Brown has to embrace Barack Obama - but not too tightly - Mary Riddell, The Daily Telegraph

In The Independent today:

The French find our local obsessions simply ridiculous - Dominic Lawson

Will Europe get the America it wants? - Mary Dejevsky

From behind Obama, I could see a girl moved to tears ... - Hermione Eyre

Excellent questions, evasive answers - Simon Carr

We're living in the Great Age of Panic - Terence Blacker

It's the unanswered questions that make particle physics sexy - Brian Cox

The best of the rest:

McCain is on the verge of a defeat that marks the end of the Republican era - Sidney Blumenthal, The Guardian

Signs of progress at last, but profound inequality remains - Polly Toynbee, The Guardian

This is no time for a novice.  Oh yes it is - Rachel Sylvester, The Times

US election: Like us, James Bond needed America's help to beat the bad guys - Boris Johnson, The Daily Telegraph