W library in record book  —  $500M center would be priciest for a Prez  —  DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF  —  WASHINGTON - He may be a certified lame duck now, but President Bush and his truest believers are about to launch their final campaign - an eye-popping, half-billion-dollar drive for the Bush presidential library.

A Fix for Social Security?  —  How Personal Accounts Could Please Both Sides  —  The next six months could be a productive time for economic policy.  After a wasted 2005-06 cycle, in which the Bush administration approached entitlement reform too confidently and Democrats refused to talk, both sides may return to the table.

In The Blog's-Eye: The Impeached Former Judge  —  To voters in Florida's 23rd District, Democrat Alcee Hastings is their representative in the House.  They first elected him by 59 percent of the vote in 1992 and subsequently have returned him to Congress by margins ranging from 73 percent to 100 percent.

U.S. Embassy Asks Bush Twins to Leave Country  —  Joe Goldman and Rhonda Schwartz Report:  —  Amid a growing barrage of front-page headlines, U.S. embassy officials "strongly suggested" President Bush's twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara Bush, cut short their trip to Buenos Aires because of security issues …

Two Kassams land in Sderot area  —  Despite the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, two Kassam rockets, fired from the Gaza Strip, landed in open territory in the Sderot area on Monday afternoon.  —  No one was wounded and no damage was reported.  —  Although the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades …

Ahmadinejad Predicts Collapse of Israel, U.S., U.K. (Update1)  —  Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted the collapse of Israel, the U.S. and Britain, attacking what he called their ``oppressive behavior.''  —  ``The Zionist regime is on a steep downhill towards collapse …

A Day When Mahdi Army Showed Its Other Side  —  Militia Seen as Heroic In Aiding Bomb Victims  —  In the chaos, Ayad al-Fartoosi thrived.  —  Against a backdrop of death and panic in Sadr City last Thursday, he strode confidently through streets littered with burning cars and charred bodies.

Hurricane Predictions Off Track As Tranquil Season Wafts Away  —  More from this channel:  —  This feature requires the Macromedia Flash Plugin.  Please visit http://www.macromedia.com/go/ getflashplayer to download this plugin.  —  It was not the hurricane season we expected, thank you.

In Class Warfare, Guess Which Class Is Winning  —  NOT long ago, I had the pleasure of a lengthy meeting with one of the smartest men on the planet, Warren E. Buffett, the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, in his unpretentious offices in Omaha.  We talked of many things that, I hope, will inspire me for years to come.

Rangel Adopts the Logic of Kerry's 'Joke'  —  Rep. Charles Rangel has adopted Senator Kerry's "botched joke" about unsuccessful young people ending up in the military — only Mr. Rangel is not joking.  —  "If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career, or joining the Army to fight in Iraq …

The Hill May Look Steep For Republicans in 2008  —  As the 2006 congressional campaign fades from memory, the 2008 Republican campaign to retake the House and Senate will get underway in coming months.  —  This year, scandal and a strong anti-GOP tide were fortuitous forces for Democrats …

Better Late Than Never  —  Two Republicans take a stand against profligate spending.  —  It's been years since federal agencies have screamed this loudly about fiscal discipline being imposed on them.  GOP Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina have decided to take a stand …

50 Shots Fired, and the Experts Offer a Theory  —  It is known in police parlance as "contagious shooting" — gunfire that spreads among officers who believe that they, or their colleagues, are facing a threat.  It spreads like germs, like laughter, or fear.  An officer fires, so his colleagues do, too.

A G.O.P. Breed Loses Its Place in New England  —  It was a species as endemic to New England as craggy seascapes and creamy clam chowder: the moderate Yankee Republican.  —  Dignified in demeanor, independent in ideology and frequently blue in blood, they were politicians in the mold …

The gloves come off  —  Keith Olbermann's anti-Bush views have driven up the ratings of his MSNBC show.  —  THE Democrats may have wrested back control of power in Congress, but that hasn't quieted the ire of Keith Olbermann.  —  Last week, he delivered one of his trademark blistering critiques …

Democratic gains in suburbs spell trouble for GOP  —  WASHINGTON — Democrats made large gains in suburbia in this month's elections, pushing Republican turf to the outer edges of major population centers in a trend that could signal trouble for the GOP, an analysis shows.

The end for endnotes?  —  I've been reading Karen Cerulo's Never saw it coming and while it's generally pretty good, it contains what I assumed was a howler of a mistake, but turns out to be a gross misjudgement.  Cerulo argues that the generally optimistic view taken by Americans does …

Rep. Frank Accuses Fox News Host of Bias  —  Following in President Clinton's footsteps, a prominent Democratic congressman yesterday accused a Fox News anchor of conducting a skewed interview designed to make Democrats look bad.  —  "I've got to say, Chris, you have an odd view of balance …