U.S. to become world's largest oil producer before 2020, IEA says

This post has been corrected. See below for details.The U.S. will become the world’s top producer of oil within five years,...

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Gmail Location Data Led FBI to Uncover Top Spy's Affair

Every year careless hackers, cyberstalkers and others are undone by the digital trails they leave behind for law enforcement to collect and trace back to them.But who would have thought the nation’s top spy chief would be undone so easily by digital footprints left behind in Gmail?In the irony of ironies, the distinguished career of CIA Director and former Afghanistan war commander David Petraeus...

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U2′s Bono to urge U.S. politicians not to cut aid programs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Irish rocker and anti-poverty campaigner Bono will appeal to Democrats and Republicans during a visit to Washington this week to spare U.S. development assistance programs from cuts as Congress tries to avert the looming “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending reductions early next year.The U2 lead singer’s visit comes as the Obama...

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Personal Best: Quitting Smoking for Good

Few smokers would claim that it’s easy to quit. The addiction to nicotine is strong and repeatedly reinforced by circumstances that prompt smokers to light up.Yet the millions who have successfully quit are proof that a smoke-free life is achievable, even by those who have been regular, even heavy, smokers for decades.Today, 19 percent of American adults smoke, down from more than 42 percent half...

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Report Sees U.S. as Top Oil Producer, Overtaking Saudi Arabia, in 5 Years

Charlie Riedel/Associated PressIncreased oil production and new policies to improve energy efficiency mean that the United States will become “all but self-sufficient” in energy in about two decades, the International Energy Agency predicted. Above, an oil rig near Greensburg, Kan. The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading oil producer by about 2017 and will become a net...

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Times investigation: Legal drugs, deadly outcomes

Terry Smith collapsed face-down in a pool of his own vomit.Lynn Blunt snored loudly as her lungs slowly filled with fluid.Summer...

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How I Was Drawn Into the Cult of David Petraeus

When it came out that CIA Director David Petraeus had an affair with his hagiographer, I got punked. “It seems so obvious in retrospect. How could you @attackerman?” tweeted @bitteranagram, complete with a link to a florid piece I wrote for this blog when Petraeus retired from the Army last year. (“The gold standard for wartime command” is one of the harsher judgments in the piece.) I was...

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MTV awards bring pop glitz to Frankfurt

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The MTV Europe Music Awards bring the pop circus to Frankfurt on Sunday, with Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna leading the nominations and the late Whitney Houston to be honored with a Global Icon award.Houston, who was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub on February 11, will be the third artist to be given the award, following...

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Mind Faded, Darrell Royal’s Wisdom and Humor Intact Till End

Three days before his death last week at 88, Darrell Royal told his wife, Edith: “We need to go back to Hollis” — in Oklahoma. “Uncle Otis died.” “Oh, Darrell,” she said, “Uncle Otis didn’t die.” Royal, a former University of Texas football coach, chuckled and said, “Well, Uncle Otis will be glad to hear that.” The Royal humor never faded, even as he sank deeper into Alzheimer’s...

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Hurricane Sandy and the Disaster-Preparedness Economy

Jeffrey Phelps for The New York TimesAn assembly line at a Generac Power Systems plant. Generac makes residential generators, coveted items in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. FOLKS here don’t wish disaster on their fellow Americans. They didn’t pray for Hurricane Sandy to come grinding up the East Coast, tearing lives apart and plunging millions into darkness. But the fact is, disasters are good...

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