In the End, an Awful Manager  —  IN Caracas, Venezuela, you could tell a summit meeting mattered to Hugo Chávez when government workers touched up the city's rubble.  Before dignitaries arrived, teams with buckets and brushes would paint bright yellow lines along the route from the airport …

Rand Paul launches talking filibuster against CIA nominee  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is staging a talking filibuster against the nomination of John Brennan to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  —  “I'm here to filibuster John Brennan's nomination to be director of CIA,” Paul said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Trying to Revive Talks, Obama Goes Around G.O.P. Leaders  —  WASHINGTON — With Republican leaders in Congress forswearing budget negotiations over new revenues, President Obama has begun reaching around them to Republican lawmakers with a history of willingness to cut bipartisan deals.

Exclusive Excerpt: Roger Ailes Off Camera  —  Roger Ailes is one of the most powerful—and controversial—characters in television media, pilloried by critics and many in the mainstream media and lionized by conservative viewers who can't get enough of his posse of charismatic hosts.

Election bump over, Obama approval drops to 43 percent: Reuters/IPSOS poll  —  (Reuters) - Less than two months into his second term, President Barack Obama's approval rating has dropped and Americans blame him and his fellow Democrats almost as much as his Republican opponents for a fiscal mess.

Chief White House Calligrapher Gets Paid $96,725 Per Year  —  With the White House closing its doors to public tour groups in order to save money for the sequester, it's worth remembering some of the other costs the White House incurs annually.  —  Like the “Chief Calligrapher,” …

Capitol janitors making ‘ends meet’ with overtime?  Nope  —  “You know, those Capitol janitors will not get as much overtime.  I'm sure they think less pay, that they're taking home, does hurt.”  — Gene Sperling, director of the White House economic council, on ABC News' “This Week,” March 3, 2013

Revealed: Pentagon link to Iraq torture centres  —  Exclusive: General David Petraeus and ‘dirty wars’ veteran behind commando units implicated in detainee abuse  —  See the full-length documentary film of the 15-month investigation  —  The Pentagon sent a US veteran of the “dirty wars” …

Mayor Bloomberg's new health crusade: too-loud earbuds  —  Now listen up, if you can.  —  Mayor Bloomberg — who has already cracked down on smoking, junk food, trans fats, salt and super-sized drinks — is embarking on a new crusade: preventing New Yorkers from going deaf.

Sam Mendes Won't Direct Bond 24  —  Exclusive on ‘a very difficult decision’  —  Bond may be back, but Empire can exclusively reveal that Sam Mendes won't be joining him.  At the BAFTAs recently, basking in the glow of Skyfall's triumph for Outstanding British Film, it seemed that Mendes …

Niall Ferguson: Paul Krugman's Style Of Debate Suggests He May Have Been Traumatized As A Child  —  Paul Krugman has been charging hard of late at people he believes espouse particularly dangerous economic recipes.  —  It's elicited some equal and opposite responses.

Holder defends prosecution of Web activist Swartz  —  Attorney General Eric Holder denied on Wednesday that agency officials acted inappropriately in their prosecution of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist and co-creator of Reddit who killed himself earlier this year.

WATCH: Bill O'Reilly Harasses Gay Colorado Speaker Over Child Molester Laws  —  As expected, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is continuing his smear campaign against Colorado House Speaker Mark Ferrandino (D), who is openly gay, because of his opposition to instituting “Jessica's Law,” …