December 25, 1994

House Republicans are preparing to push quickly next year for legislation that would radically restrict the Government's ability to regulate everything from auto safety to wilderness protection. Republicans in the House have pledged to push to a vote within the first 100 days of the new Congressional session legislation that would increase the ability of groups affected by regulations to challenge them before they take effect or are even formally proposed. For the first time, analyses of costs and benefits prepared in the initial phase of drafting regulations would be subject to review by outside experts, and these analyses could be challenged in court.

The National Football League playoff picture, traditionally a confusing series of "what-ifs," began to take final shape yesterday on the last weekend of the regular season. Games were played yesterday instead of Sunday to avoid having to play on Christmas Day. The Giants entered the day with a chance of reaching the post-season, needing to beat the Dallas Cowboys at the Meadowlands and then have Green Bay lose at Tampa Bay. The Giants did their part with a 15-10 victory, but Green Bay won by 34-19, and the Packers instead of the Giants made the playoffs.

WITH gift giving, family gatherings and prayers, hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders are celebrating the birth of Jesus today, in a region where Christians make up two-thirds to three-quarters of the population of 2.6 million. Families will begin this morning with opening festively wrapped gifts laid out beneath Christmas trees glittering with lights and ornaments. In many homes turkey dinners will follow, on a day when nearly all commerce ceases and those who have to work suffer even while earning double or triple pay.

LEGALIZED gambling in East Hartford, Derby and Torrington? The three municipalities may seem to be following Ledyard's lead into the world of betting, but the odds they're playing are Mother Nature's. The communities are wagering that this winter it will snow, and snow big. If it does, they can cash in on their new snowstorm insurance policies. The policies vary but will essentially pay a specified amount to each city for every major snowfall that exceeds a predetermined limit -- something like the limits, or deductible, on an auto insurance policy. Municipal officials, who saw their snow removal budgets chewed to bits by last winter's repeated snowfalls, say the gamble for a payoff is worth it.

MUCH more than at any time in recent years, Haitians have good reason to celebrate this Christmas. The dictatorship that subjugated them has fallen, their beloved president-priest has returned to power and hope has been reborn. But religion is deeply woven into the fabric of daily life here, so much so that even buses bear names like "Trust in God" or "God Knows." To a degree difficult to imagine elsewhere, Haitians testify daily, not just on holidays or in a church or in a time of reborn hope, to their belief in the redemptive power of faith. "Here the scope of religion is wider than in the United States and other countries," said the Rev. Jean-Yves Urfie, a French-born Roman Catholic priest who lived in New York City before transferring here and becoming a colleague and friend of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. "Maybe in the Middle Ages, France was just as religious as Haiti. But the question is what kind of religion do Haitians have?"