Friday's comment from the papers in...

Today in Times Comment

• Gerard Baker: 2007, a bad year for God squadders
• Ben Macintyre: The allure of the tiny red plastic hotel
• Jamie Whyte: Am I a criminal? I haven't a clue
• William Shawcross: 81 years, 244 days of duty
• Mick Hume: Does an MP sleeping in a cardboard box raise more publicity for the cause or the politician?
• Jane Shilling: Chill frisson from a dark, distant dawn
• Patrick Hosking: Bad news will be worse if retailers delay
• Peter Riddell: Nick Clegg should take a leaf out of Paddy Ashdown's book - cut the waffle

And from the rest of the papers…

• Jeff Randall: (The Telegraph) - Reasons to be cheerful after gloomy year
• Iain Dale: (The Telegraph) - Lib Dems face challenge to retain MPs
• Alice Thomson: (The Telegraph) - The BBC has much to learn from the Queen
• Tristram Hunt: (The Guardian) - Stop sniffing the petrol
• Polly Toynbee: (The Guardian) - Sorry to disappoint, but it's nonsense to suggest we want to ban Christmas
• Simon Jenkins: (The Guardian) - This progenitor of Britishness has been denied her place in the pantheon
• Dominic Lawson: (The Independent) - A Christmas hard-luck story – and a glimpse into the lives of those struggling for self-respect
• Joan Bakewell: (The Independent) - Good God! A politician who doesn't believe...
• Terence Blacker: (The Independent) - Normal rules don't apply in football's parallel universe
• Andrew Alexander: (The Daily Mail) - Just one Wise Man would make a change

And from around the world…

• Herbert A. Allen: (The New York Times) - Gold in the Ivory Tower
• Eugene Robinson: (Washington Post) - A problem like Bill. It's Bill Clinton's world; Hillary just lives in it.
• Editorial: (Washington Post) - Is Mike Huckabee running to be president of all Americans, or just the Christian ones?
• Frederick W. Kagan: (The Wall Street Journal) - Can't Mrs. Clinton move beyond Bush-bashing on America's interests in the Middle East?
• Nick Robinson: (International Herald Tribune) - My vote has been globalized
• Hong Liang: (China Daily) - HK set to open its doors wider