Auto Makers to Get $17.4 Billion  —  The White House announced a $17.4 billion rescue package for the troubled Detroit auto makers that allows them to avoid bankruptcy and leaves many of the big decisions for the incoming Obama administration.  —  Speaking from the White House …

Levi Johnston's mother hit with drug charges  —  Arrested: her son was in the spotlight as father of bristol palin's baby.  —  zhollander@adn.com  —  WASILLA — A 42-year-old Wasilla woman was arrested Thursday at her home by Alaska State Troopers with a search warrant in an undercover drug investigation.

Caroline Kennedy Is No Sarah Palin  —  WASHINGTON — It is a legitimate question: Why is the resume-thin Caroline Kennedy being treated seriously as a prospective appointee to the U.S. Senate when the comparatively more-qualified Gov. Sarah Palin received such a harsh review?

Franken pushes his lead over Coleman past 150  —  The state Canvassing Board's first rush of ballot rulings in the U.S. Senate race has unofficially put challenger Al Franken in the lead by more than 150.  —  The intense scrutiny of “voter intent” resumed this morning by the five-member board charged …

Obama's Inaugural Mistake  —  It is difficult to comprehend how our president-elect, who has been so spot on in nearly every political move and gesture, could fail to grasp the symbolism of inviting an anti-gay theologian to deliver his inaugural invocation.  And the Obama campaign's response to the anger about this decision?

CNN Meteorologist: Manmade Global Warming Theory ‘Arrogant’  —  Network's second meteorologist to challenge notion man can alter climate.  —  Business & Media Institute  —  Unprecedented snow in Las Vegas has some scratching their heads - how can there be global warming with this unusual cold and snowy weather?

Music Industry to Abandon Mass Suits  —  After years of suing thousands of people for allegedly stealing music via the Internet, the recording industry is set to drop its legal assault as it searches for more effective ways to combat online music piracy.  —  The decision represents …

32 days to inauguration — Bailout for GM, Chrysler requires profitability ‘soon’ — CBS and Fox embeds land Sarah Palin book contract  —  N.Y. Post: “Bubba of Arabia” — Guest “Sports Blink” from Ari Fleischer — Dessert: New reason to take piano lessons  —  Good Friday morning.

The Madoff Economy  —  The revelation that Bernard Madoff — brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community — was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so.  The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.

The Employee Free Choice Act Is Unconstitutional  —  Free speech and the takings clause are at stake.  —  A top priority of the incoming Democratic Congress and Obama administration is the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act.  The EFCA, as is well known, introduces a card-check procedure …

Bush Has Made Us Vulnerable  —  Two incompetently prosecuted wars have undermined our deterrent power.  —  In his great Civil War history, “Decision in the West,” Albert Castel describes the last Confederate hope of victory.  If in 1864 the Confederate armies continue to exact a steep cost from the North …

A Way Out For Obama?  —  Here's an idea.  A reader notes that one of the other Americans honored at Obama's inaugural will be Itzhak Perlman, the great musician and violinist.  Rick Warren compared one of Perlman's daughters to someone practicing incest or pedophilia, and argued forcefully that her marriage be nullified.

COPS EYE QUEENS REP FOR GAL BEATING  —  POLICE: SLASHED GIRLFRIEND'S FACE WITH BOTTLE  —  City Councilman and State State-senator-elect Hiram Monserrate, who touted himself as a staunch advocate of victims of domestic violence, was arrested early this morning for allegedly attacking and cutting …