James H. Simons keeps putting his money where his mind is.

The billionaire former mathematics professor and his wife, Marilyn Hawrys Simons, have given $60 million to Stony Brook University.

Brad Pitt is unlikely to quit his day job, especially with a houseful of Jolie-Pitt munchkins. And judging from the picture of partner Angelina’s much talked about “bump” during this past weekend’s Independent Spirit Awards, child number five may be on the way.

Texas has Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban, Ross Perot, the Basses and the Hunts. And then there are the Butts.

It may be too early for the post-mortems on the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY.

But given her troubles of late, the pre-mortems are rolling in.

There’s enough blame to go around, but Mark Penn, Clinton’s chief strategist and pollster, is taking a lot of the hits.

What do you do when your longtime girlfriend tells you she’s “f***ing Matt Damon?” If you’re Jimmy Kimmel, you f*** Ben Affleck!

This was a year in which some of the least connected actors won the most coveted awards.

The often reclusive Daniel Day-Lewis took the Oscar for best actor, beating the omnipresent George Clooney. (Clooney has so many celebrity friends, colleagues and co-stars, he qualifies as a Hollywood hub.)

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader declared Sunday on Meet the Press that he is running — again — for president.

The Politico said Nader’s third-party run would be a “huge boon” for Republicans in November.

The New York Times, however, pointed out that Nader received just .3 percent of the vote in his 2004 presidential bid, down considerably from the 2.7 percent he received as the Green Party candidate in 2000.

One of the biggest events this weekend for Oscar A-listers, aside from the awards ceremony itself, took place last night. The sixth annual Night Before Fundraiser raised $6 million for the Motion Picture & Television Fund.

Hosts included George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Matt Damon, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Reese Witherspoon.

Faced with questions this past week about his dealings with lobbyist Vicki Iseman, Sen. John McCain had another lobbyist speak in his defense.

“Neither Sen. McCain nor the campaign will dignify false rumors and gossip by responding to them,” Charles R. Black Jr., McCain’s chief political adviser, told The Washington Post Thursday. “John McCain has never done favors for anyone, not lobbyists or any special interest.”

More than one media outlet pointed out the irony of Black’s serving as a point man on the lobbyist issue, as Black himself is a high-powered, well-connected Washington lobbyist.

Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the Fed’s top anti-inflation hawk, cautioned again that the central bank must be wary of “stirring the embers of inflation.”