Your customized headlines for Sun, Apr 8, 2012

Ask oil lobbyists, oil executives, and former employees and board members of the American Petroleum Institute how they describe API President Jack N. Gerard, and one thing they don't say is soft. One calls him a "hard-nosed guy." Another says he is "a political animal" who "loves a fight." Yet another dubs him "Voldemort."

Come graduation time next month, there will be grandparents — many with student loans themselves — sitting at the ceremonies for their grandchildren, who will leave college with their own education debt. Some in both groups will take those loans to their graves.

On a cold, clear January morning, Sir Richard Branson finds himself standing in the middle of a pedestrian-friendly street in Newcastle — a hardscrabble city in northeast England — becoming something he never thought he would be: a banker.

This week's best travel bargains around the globe

●Vermont's Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa is offering 50 percent off room rates. With the deal, rates start at $119.50 per night double (normally $239). Add $12 per night in taxes. Two-night minimum required for Friday or Saturday arrivals. Valid through May 24. Info: 800-253-2232, www.stoweflake.com/specials. 

The data seemed, at first glance, like it could be indicative of a medical miracle. Between 2009 and 2010, thousands of British men turned up at hospitals to be treated for many pregnancy-related services, things like obstetric exams and midwife services. All told, there were 17,000 of them.

I've been pursuing something of a project on this blog in recent months. The project has been to convince you that budgets matter. That they're not one-day stories or — even worse — dull documents that we have to pretend to care about before we get to the fun whirl of politics.