Is there a kids' soccer game, kids' dance class, neighborhood book club meeting, or cocktail party in Southeast Michigan where the economy and Big Three meltdown ISN'T a topic of conversation this month?

As you head into the Thanksgiving holiday, here are a few tidbits for discussion we've picked up in recent days...

GM'S FRIENDS & FAMILY PITCH: Social networking is part of the crisis communications in the Renaissance Center. This document came our way via email from a family member fearing for the future.

DETROIT'S DAY OF RECKONING: The blunt answer to those well-framed arguments for support comes from business school gurus and others far and wide who are simply tired of Detroit's corruption and a long trail of Big Three blemishes.

FODDER FOR RIGHT-TO-WORK CROWD: West Michigan's push for right-to-work legislation gets a rhetorical boost in the auto bailout/bridge loan talk.

SMALL BIZ GROWS IN THE SHADOWS: Even this week, Metromode lists yet more Metro Detroit companies that are expanding and adding employees.

BUT SMALL BIZ SPIGOT IS TIGHT: Only 38 percent of small businesses in Michigan say they have clear access to credit. "Without capital, small business can't grow and create jobs," Todd Anderson, vice president of the Small Business Association of Michigan, says in this short Podcast discussion of how the credit crisis is hitting Main Streets across Michigan.