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CARACAS — Venezuela in 2012 became a net importer of gasoline as a result of escalating problems at its refineries and increasing demand for fuel in its internal market, joining a growing list of countries that struggle with fuel supplies despite ample oil reserves. The OPEC nation exported 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline and naphtha last year, according to state oil company PDVSA's annual report. But it imported an average of 66,300 bpd of the same fuels from the United States alone, according to U.S. Energy Department data.

The list of the twenty-five top-grossing films (worldwide) of 2012 has been released, and I believe there are a few important lessons that proponents of free enterprise, limited government, and traditional Judeo-Christian values can learn from its inventory. First, let’s take a look at what types of stories drew the most attention in 2012. The top three – Avengers, Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall – are all superhero/action flicks. At their core, they are “good vs. evil” morality plays. They are about the pursuit of justice and defense of the defenseless. They are about sacrifice and loyalty and love. Of...

A lesbian wife of a Fort Bragg soldier was named the installation's military spouse of the year through a voting competition. Ashley Broadway is not recognized as a spouse under federal law, and she recently was denied official membership in a Fort Bragg officers' spouses organization. But her selection in the competition by Military Spouse magazine was praised by advocates for gays and lesbians, who say it underscores the need for the federal government to extend full benefits to same-sex couples. Broadway, the wife of Lt. Col. Heather Mack of Fort Bragg's 1st Theater Sustainment Command, will represent Fort Bragg...

Newsmax Bill Clinton Named 'Father of the Year' Wednesday, January 9, 2013 11:49 PM By: Newsmax Wires Clinton was named the “Father of the Year” by the National Father’s Day Council on Wednesday. "We are extremely honored to have President Clinton accept this award for Father of the Year," said Dan Orwig, Chairman of the National Father`s Day Committee. "With the profound generosity, leadership and tireless dedication to both his public office and many philanthropic organizations, President Clinton exemplifies the attributes that we celebrate through the father of the year award." The awards will be presented at the 72nd Annual...

The nominees for the 2013 Academy Awards have been revealed in Los Angeles. Find out who is in the running for the main prizes below. This page will be updated shortly with a full list of nominees. Best film Amour Argo Beasts Of The Southern Wild Django Unchained Les Miserables Lincoln Life Of Pi Silver Linings Playbook Zero Dark Thirty Best actress Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook Emmanuelle Riva - Amour Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild Naomi Watts - The Impossible

Bill Clinton named 'Father of the Year' Comments () By CAITLIN MCDEVITT | 1/9/13 3:38 PM EST AP AP Former President Bill Clinton is getting props for being a good dad. Clinton was named the “Father of the Year” by the National Father’s Day Council on Wednesday. The group selected Clinton for his “profound generosity, leadership and tireless dedication to both his public office and many philanthropic organizations,” Dan Orwig, chairman of the National Father’s Day Committee, said in the announcement.

<p>Temperatures in the contiguous United States last year were the hottest in more than a century of record-keeping, shattering the mark set in 1998 by a wide margin, the federal government announced Tuesday.</p> <p>The average temperature in 2012 was 55.3 degrees, one degree above the previous record and 3.2 degrees higher than the 20th-century average, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. They described the data as part of a longer-term trend of hotter, drier and potentially more extreme weather.</p>

While the arrival of 2013 rang in a happy new year, it also brought in happy ratings for the Fox News Channel, which continued to dominate the cable news channel race in total viewers and the Adult 24-54 demographic for the 11th consecutive year. According to a news release from FNC, Nielsen Media Research found that the network completed the previous 12 months with the top 11 programs in total viewers. Demonstrating the network's dominance is the fact that the evening audience for Fox News topped the ratings of CNN, MSNBC and CNN combined with an average of 2,071,000, up...

During fiscal year 2012, the U.S. government spent a record $80.4 billion on food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a $2.7 billion increase from FY 2011. (Fiscal year 2012 ran from Oct. 1, 2011 through Sept. 30, 2012.) According to the Monthly Treasury Statement that summarizes the receipts and outlays of the federal government, $80,401,000,000 went towards SNAP during FY 2012, which was a $2.7 billion increase from $77,637,000,000 in FY 2011. …

Guns: The mayor of what is at once America's most gun-controlled city and its murder capital wants an assault weapons ban like the one he pushed in 1994. Except it didn't work then, and it won't work now. Nathaniel T. Jackson, 40, an alleged gang member with a long arrest record, was gunned down last week outside a store in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, becoming the Windy City's 500th murder victim in 2012. Up to 80% of Chicago's murders and shootings are gang-related, according to police. By one estimate, the city has almost 70,000 gang members. A police audit last spring...

Posted from an android.......

Every year, crowning one scientific achievement as Breakthrough of the Year is no easy task, and 2012 was no exception. The year saw leaps and bounds in physics, along with significant advances in genetics, engineering, and many other areas. In keeping with tradition, Science’s editors and staff have selected a winner and nine runners-up, as well as highlighting the year’s top news stories and areas to watch in 2013

The beginning of a new year is often a time to look forward and look back. The way the future looks, I prefer to look back — and depend on my advanced age to spare me from having to deal with too much of the future. If there are any awards to be given to anyone for what they did in 2012, one of those rewards should be for prophecy, if only because prophecies that turn out to be right are so rare. With that in mind, my choice for the prediction of the year award goes to Bret Stephens...

Time Magazine has just named President Obama as their Person of the Year. This has been, of course, controversial, and for the usual reasons: much like with the President’s Nobel Peace Prize, one has to wonder what he actually did to deserve it. Surely getting reelected is important, but beside the point; what matters is what you do in office, and I just don’t see much in the way of achievement by the President this year, in which he spent most of it either campaigning or doing nothing to avoid rocking the boat before the election. But Person of the...

It’s that time again – time to make resolutions we won’t keep, spend two weeks writing the wrong date on checks and to look back on the year we’re leaving. As for 2012, it can’t end quickly enough. It was an awful year for many reasons. Let me count just a few of the ways: The Fiscal Cliff This column is due to my editors by noon on Saturday, so there’s a chance Speaker of the House John Boehner has cut some horrible deal with President Obama to avoid the over-hyped fiscal cliff since I submitted it. If that happens...

my personal fave is Sweet Brown..."ain't nobody got time for that!"

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y., - "Whatever" remains the most annoying word or phrase in the English language, a poll indicates. "Like" and "you know" trailed in the show and place positions, the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., reported Thursday. Almost one-third, 32 percent, of the adults surveyed selected "whatever." Another 21 percent picked "like" and 17 percent "you know." "Just sayin" was the only other phrase to break into double digits at 10 percent. Another 9 percent picked "Twitterverse" and 5 percent "gotcha." "Whatever" has now been in the top spot for four years running. But it has...

They could have fed a Third World nation, or poured money into cancer research, or tried saving those polar bears stuck on itty-bitty ice floes. But no-o-o-o-o, Hollywood had better things to do with its hundreds of millions of dollars, like letting Adam Sandler make That's My Boy, and thinking we needed a remake of Red Dawn. Sure, the film biz isn't in it for the philanthropy, and it's totally unfair to hold the expenditure of $250 million ( John Carter) or even a paltry $102 million ( Cloud Atlas) against actors, directors, and second grips engaged in earnest endeavors...

Because in 2013 there's more facing the United States and the rest of the world than just the fiscal cliff and debt ceiling! Although you wouldn't know it by watching and listening to the priorities of the Obama administration, or by the performance of our MIA Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who is apparently on the 21-day disabled list, there are some serious political, social and economic crises brewing both at home and around the globe for 2013. These are links to articles concerning some of these potential flash points from a variety of different sources. Global news you...

WASHINGTON — It's "Auld Lang Syne" time again. Robert Burns is credited with "collecting" the lyrics for the old Scottish drinking and dancing ballad that's become a traditional part of New Year's festivities. The most memorable verses — "should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind" and the chorus, "for auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup o' kindness yet for auld lang syne" — are often described as reminders of "the good old times" amid new beginnings. That's a tough task this year. Saying goodbye to 2012 won't be hard. But...