Ups and downs

Poor Elkhart. How would you like to live in a place that became "a symbol of the economic meltdown"?

The Big Boys of journalism are still trudging there to find out how the little people of the heartland are weathering this turribul recession. Of course, they don't all see the same things. The Wall Street Journal reports that there are signs of hope as unemployment falls from 18.9 percent to 14.5 percent, with embattled RV makers actually starting to hire people back:

The county has more than $134 million in new projects going on from outside companies that are investing in property, equipment, buildings and other improvements. That equates to about 3,300 new jobs, Ms. Heiden-Guss said.

But MSNBC is apparently more invested in Hoosier misery. (What would you expect when they've gone and made up something called the "Elkhart Project" -- that they would be happy to see a rebound?)

It's not going to be the same old Christmas in Elkhart County, that's for sure.

Instead of exchanging gifts, Frank Hartman and his family — the adults anyway — have resolved to make donations to charity because there's so much need. And Luis Tirado, recently laid off, is relying on charitable groups for the first time to make sure there are a few presents for the kids under the Christmas tree at his Elkhart home.

Unemployment, layoffs and home foreclosures have some of the hardest-hit people in the county wondering: Christmas cheer? What Christmas cheer?

Even the good news is disguised. The unemployment rate, the story tells us, is around 15 percent, "well above the national average." No mention that