MITCH ALBOM

Thanks for nothing, senators

We have grease on our hands. You have blood. History will show that when America was on its knees, you lawmakers wanted to cut off its feet. How does this happen in America?

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BRIAN DICKERSON

Detroiters will decide Freep’s fate

Ready for some good news? I thought so. You’ve already heard the future of your hometown newspaper is in jeopardy. I know: Big whup. What Michigan company’s future isn’t?

MIKE WENDLAND | 12 DAYS OF SHOPPING

Tech's Top 10 for gift giving

Down economy or not, Americans love their tech toys. Here are 10 great gizmos, from a compact camcorder to a computer, that will make the perfect gift under someone's Christmas tree.

MICHAEL ROSENBERG

Two close

These are heady times here at the Road to XVI. What started as an absurd and pathetic dream has morphed into ... well, it's still an absurd and pathetic dream. We like to think that's appropriate. We're not real big on progress around here.

MIKE WENDLAND

You have 2 months to convert to digital TV

Are you ready for D-Day? That's Feb. 17, the day when the television broadcast industry switches to all-digital video, or DTV.

ROCHELLE RILEY

Auto rescue for workers, not CEOs

Billy Gibson is a 44-year-old family man who lives in Gibson, Ala. He drives 50 miles each way to work at Larry Puckett Chevrolet in Prattville, 4 miles from a Hyundai plant, because McGoo Pontiac/GMC, where he'd worked for 26 years, went out of business.

MICHAEL ROSENBERG | ROAD TO XVI

With two games left, what could go right for Lions?

Our motto is “Nothing is Possible,” so of course we believe. The Lions are 87.5% of the way down the Road to XVI, and as I always told my parents in high school, an 88 is a solid A grade. Nonetheless, this is not a Road to LXXXVII.V%.

FREE PRESS CARTOONIST MIKE THOMPSON

An Auto Christmas Carol

Looks like help for GM and Chrysler is on the way...we hope.

DREW SHARP | INDY 31, DETROIT 21

Playing hard, close calls mean nothing

INDIANAPOLIS — There was a little stuffed lion swinging from a rope along a wall in Lucas Oil Stadium behind the Indianapolis bench Sunday. Its neck was dangling inside a noose with a “suicide note” that simply read 0-14 attached to its mane.

JEFF SEIDEL

Warm up your butts and the economy

Welcome to the Bummer Free Zone, an area of the newspaper where we've banned depressing topics like the struggling auto industry and the pitiful, pathetic Detroit Lions. Instead, we will focus on things that make life happy and fulfilling, vitally important things, like car seat butt warmers.

MATT HELMS

5 things you don't want to ignore until there's a problem

With brushes of winter under our belts, there's no more putting off preparations for making our vehicles safer on the road. We're talking the often-overlooked items not obvious until there's a big problem. There are the must-haves, of course. Extra windshield solvent? Check. Ice scraper? Got it.

GEORGEA KOVANIS | 12 DAYS OF SHOPPING

Buy one of these gifts, do a good deed

Looking for a gift that will keep on giving? Here are 10 presents, from shoes to soaps to cute calendars to great music, that give back by benefiting a charity or good cause.

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MIKE THOMPSON'S BLOG

Front porch

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS TECH GIFT GUIDE

Expand viewing horizon with Apple TV

In today’s installment of his 12 Days of Christmas Tech Gift Guide, Mike Wendland shows how TV sets can be used to play content stored on a personal computer.

MATT HELMS

Overblown forecasts and other irritants

I’m constantly aggravated by warnings that huge winter storms are coming, and then amazed that certain drivers didn’t get the message.

Lions

Orlovsky will start at QB for Lions vs. Saints

Dan Orlovsky will start at quarterback Sunday against New Orleans as the 0-14 Lions try to earn their first victory.

HELENE ST. JAMES' BLOG

Find out where the Red Wings will be stationed for Tuesday's Salvation Army drive

Here's some useful information for those in a giving mood: The Red Wings will be around town Tuesday afternoon, collecting for the Salvation Army.

FREE PRESS EDITORIAL BOARD BLOG

Community leaders defend DPS leader Connie Calloway

As the Detroit Board of Education prepares to vote on Superintendent Connie Calloway's fate, 10 civic and union leaders have issued a plea urging the board not to oust Calloway.

HELENE ST. JAMES' BLOG

Cleary-Franzen-Hossa line could be big hit for Wings

Based on the morning skate, it looks like we’ll see Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk back together tonight, when the Red Wings host the Colorado Avalanche.

NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA'S BLOG

Kevin Smith thinks Lions should open up offense

“We don’t have anything to lose,” Smith said today. “These last two games, I would come out with everything you ever knew in football.”

SHANNON SHELTON'S BLOG

MSU's Goran Suton recovering quickly, could return this week

EAST LANSING -- Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said today that center Goran Suton’s recovery from minor surgery on his left knee has been quicker than expected, and he hopes Suton can return to the court before Christmas.

MIKE WENDLAND

Great gift for couch potatoes

In this installment of Mike's 12 Days of Christmas Tech Gift Guide, he offers up a gizmo that clears away techno clutter, makes TV viewing easier to manage and is so darn cool that even at $199, anyone who likes to watch TV will want one: The ultimate universal remote control.

NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA'S BLOG

Rookie RB: 'I’m going to ... work like a beast.'

Coach Rod Marinelli said today that the Lions' locker room is drawing closer, and it certainly seems to be. But rookie tailback Kevin Smith said that is fragile.

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