McCain Campaign Spent $110,000 on Palin's Stylists  —  Gov. Sarah Palin's traveling makeup artist was paid $68,400 and her hair stylist received more than $42,000 for roughly two months of work, according to a new campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Milestone in Baghdad  —  The barbarism in Mumbai and the economic crisis at home have largely overshadowed an otherwise singular event: the ratification of military and strategic cooperation agreements between Iraq and the United States.  —  They must not pass unnoted.

Jobless Rate Rises to 6.7% as 533,000 Jobs Are Lost  —  With the economy deteriorating rapidly, the nation's employers shed 533,000 jobs in November, the 11th consecutive monthly decline, the government reported Friday morning, and the unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent.

New lending deals won't bring back 2006  —  THE GREAT housing cycle of the aughts - the 73 percent increase in housing prices between 2001 and 2006 and the 22 percent decline since then - was built on three illusions.  Too many homebuyers thought housing prices would go up forever.

Next on Obama's Dance Card, Mother Nature  —  The Obama transition team, moving along smartly to fill Cabinet posts, is planning to trot out nominees as early as next week for three jobs much watched by enviros: the secretaries of energy and the interior and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Democrats: Obama Needs Hands-On Economic Approach  —  WASHINGTON — Democrats are growing impatient with President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to inject himself in the major economic crises confronting the country.  Obama has sidestepped some policy questions by saying there is only one president at a time.

Donor: Obama suggested Jakarta visit  —  Barack Obama told a group of donors in California early last year that his first international trip would be to Muslim Indonesia, a supporter who was present recalled today.  —  Obama promised during the campaign to convene a Muslim summit …

Happiness Can Spread Among People Like a Contagion, Study Indicates  —  Happiness is contagious, spreading among friends, neighbors, siblings and spouses like the flu, according to a large study that for the first time shows how emotion can ripple through clusters of people who may not even know each other.

Who Will He Choose?  —  As in many other areas, the biggest education debates are happening within the Democratic Party.  On the one hand, there are the reformers like Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee, who support merit pay for good teachers, charter schools and tough accountability standards.

The fringe movement to keep Barack Obama from becoming president.  —  If you want to stop Barack Obama from becoming president, there's still time.  But you have to act right now.  Go to RallyCongress.com, and you can be the 126,000th-odd American to demand “proof of citizenship” from the president-elect.

Cuba Tightens Restrictions on Bloggers  —  As Cuba approaches the 50th anniversary of its revolution this New Year's Day, the island's Communist government appears to be taking a harder line against a budding group of Cuban Internet bloggers pushing for greater freedoms.

Tangled Web: Rangel son got campaign cash  —  Between 2004 and 2007, Rep. Charles Rangel steered nearly $80,000 in campaign cash to an Internet company run by his son - paying lavishly for a pair of political Web sites so poorly designed an expert estimated one should have cost no more than $100 to create.

Missing ballots stall Minnesota Senate recount  —  MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) — A missing envelope containing about 130 ballots has stalled the recount in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.

Matthews: It's ‘Really Hard’ to ‘Salute Sarah Palin’  —  On Thursday night's “Hardball,” Chris Matthews actually praised Sarah Palin for her ability to draw a crowd and even pegged her as the early frontrunner for the GOP nod in 2012, “Who's gonna beat her?”

Dubya's New Digs  —  First couple drops $2.07 million on 1.13 acre Dallas spread  —  This is the Texas home that George W. Bush has purchased for his fast-approaching post-White House years.  The home, on a Dallas cul-de-sac, sits on 1.13 acres and offers 8501 square feet of living space, according to city appraisal records.

DC Statehood  —  Many DC license plates are emblazoned with the slogan “taxation without representation” and it seems the DC Council wants president Obama to put those plates on his car.  —  I'd like to see that, too.  What I'd like even better is for congress to use its power to admit …