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.

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.

Can a Mormon be President?  —  Why Mitt Romney will have to explain a faith that remains mysterious to many  —  A mormon church official and a public relations executive shuttled recently from the Fox News Washington bureau to the Washington Post to the online political digest the Hotline.

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.

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 …

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.

Woman faces fines for wreath peace sign  —  DENVER - A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti- Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Sending a Grim Message  —  The Nobel Peace Prize Concert will be held in Oslo on December 11 and broadcast around the world.  The Norwegian Nobel Committee doesn't much care for Americans these days (except for 2002 laureate Jimmy Carter), but it knows who's an international draw and who isn't …

Marie Claire's Mecca Stars  —  I stopped buying women's fashion magazines years ago when I got fed up of looking at photo after photo of anorexic fifteen year olds wearing $700 flip-flops, along with repetitive articles exulting women's superiority, victimhood, dieting and plastic surgery.