Mitt Romney Says That if it Were His Choice, Russia Would Not Be Hosting the Olympics (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Former Gov. Mitt Romney said today “were it my choice,” Russia would never have been awarded next month’s Winter Olympics — let alone any future Summer Olympics — because of the political message it sends.

“But it’s not my choice. They are a player on the global stage. They have a right to make their bid. But, they do strain the view of people like myself as to their leadership and their characterization of the Olympic spirt,” Romney told FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace.

Russia got the green light to host the games from the International Olympic Committee in 2007. Romney indicated his concerns are more the political message that was sent rather than the logistical success of the games, though he also questioned the cost.

Pointing out that the 2014 Winter Olympics’ $51 billion pricetag is more money than was spent on all previous winter games combined, and that Putin signed a law last summer empowering police to arrest anyone who shows tolerance toward gays, Wallace asked Romney, “At some point, does the country hosting the Olympics … does that country’s values undercut what the Olympics are supposed to be all about?”

Read more from this story HERE.

Kerry: We’ll Help Iraq Fight al-Qaeda, But No ‘Boots on The Ground’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday the U.S. will help Iraqi authorities fight al-Qaeda terrorists who have seized parts of two cities in western Iraq, but will not send troops.

“We are not, obviously, contemplating returning,” he told reporters in Jerusalem. “We’re not contemplating putting boots on the ground. This is their fight, but we’re going to help them in their fight.”

Kerry declined to say specifically how the U.S. would help the Iraqis.

“We’re going to do everything that is possible to help them, and I will not go into the details except to say that we’re in contact with tribal leaders from Anbar province whom we know, who are showing great courage in standing up against this as they reject terrorist groups from their cities,” he said.

“And this is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis. That is exactly what the president and the world decided some time ago when we left Iraq.”

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Two Giant Retailers Offer Free Prescription Drugs for ObamaCare Enrollees

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Photo Credit: Breitbart

Photo Credit: Breitbart

In what you can interpret as either an act of corporate altruism, corporate lobbying, or a mix of both, two giant retailers — Walmart and Walgreens — have agreed to save the Obama Administration from who knows how many horror-story anecdotes by agreeing to fill 30 days of free prescriptions for ObamaCare enrollees. The question is, though, what happens to the data and patient information these retailers collect?

When you have two of the biggest retailers in the country collecting untold amounts of personal health information from who knows how many people seeking free prescriptions, in the wake of revelations surrounding domestic NSA and Justice Department spying (on reporters!), it is not unreasonable to worry about this. We also know that a number of large corporations have apparently cooperated with the federal government’s data grabs.

Read more from this story HERE.

It Begins: Colorado Toddler Tests Positive for Marijuana (+video)

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Photo Credit: CBS

Photo Credit: CBS

Police in Longmont are trying to figure out how a toddler got her hands on marijuana that made her sick.

Two year old Evelyn tested positive for pot and ended up in the hospital but her mother doesn’t know how the child came into contact with the now-legal drug.

Evelyn’s mother, Aida Hernandez, believes the child ate part of a cookie she found on the ground in the grass outside of their apartment.

“It was brown, like a chocolate chip cookie,” said Hernandez.

Read more from this story HERE.

Getting Down to Business: New York’s Newly-Minted Mayor Offers Up a Strip Tease (+video)

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Photo Credit: nowthisnews.com

Photo Credit: nowthisnews.com

Mayor Bill de Blasio sure knows how to make reporters pay attention to his winter snowstorm briefings.

At the very end of a detailed press update this morning at a sanitation garage in Queens, the newly-minted mayor was asked how many layers he was wearing by CBS radio reporter Rich Lamb.

Dressed in a mayor’s office wind breaker, button-down shirt and dad jeans, Mr. de Blasio jokingly pretended to strip, dramatically unzipping his jacket to show off his shirt.

“Do you want me to go farther, Rich?” he offered suggestively with a smile. “I have an undershirt also.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Americans Spent $7.45B in 3 Years Helping Other Countries Deal with ‘Climate Change’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/POLFOTO, Claus Bjorn Larsen

Photo Credit: AP Photo/POLFOTO, Claus Bjorn Larsen

American taxpayers spent $7.45 billion to help developing countries cope with climate change in fiscal years 2010 through 2012, according to a federal government report submitted to the United Nations on a subject that Secretary of State John Kerry described as “a truly life-and-death challenge.”

That sum of $7.45 billion, which reached more than 120 countries through bilateral and multilateral channels, met President Obama’s “commitment to provide our fair share” of a collective pledge by developed nations to provide a total of nearly $30 billion in “fast start finance” (FSF), the report stated.

The pledge was made at a Dec. 2009 U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, and the FSF funding aims to support developing countries adapt to and cope with phenomena blamed on climate change, such as droughts and rising sea levels.

“International assistance for climate change continues to be a major priority for the United States,” the administration said in its “Climate Action Report,” submitted to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on Wednesday.

Read more from this story about what Americans spent on climate change HERE.

Duck Commander and Mossberg Team Up to Release Line of Guns (+video)

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Duck DynastyThe family-owned business at the center of the hit TV show “Duck Dynasty” has launched its own line of guns.

The gunmaker Mossberg has teamed with Duck Commander, the company owned by “Duck Dynasty’s” Robertson clan, to release nine different shotguns, as well as two semiautomatic rifles and a semiautomatic pistol.

Mossberg has begun shipping some of the shotguns to distributors, according to spokeswoman Linda Powell. She declined to name specific retailers that will carry them.

Duck Commander was founded 40 years ago by Phil Robertson, the family patriarch who was recently suspended — and then reinstated — by A&E after making controversial remarks about gay people and African-Americans. He and his sons are featured prominently in four video ads for the new guns on Mossberg’s web site. Phil narrates one of the spots saying, “Do you know what makes me happy ladies and gentlemen? To blow a mallard drake’s head smooth off.”

Read more from this story HERE.

MSNBC Host Apologizes to Romney Family for Making Fun of Black Grandchild (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry apologized in a series of tweets Tuesday morning for using Mitt Romney’s black adopted grandchild in a comedy segment over the weekend.

“I am sorry. Without reservation or qualification. I apologize to the Romney family,” the apology started. “I work by guiding principle that those who offend do not have the right to tell those they hurt that they (are) wrong for hurting. Therefore, while I meant no offense, I want to immediately apologize to the Romney family for hurting them.”

Each tweet of the apology came with the hashtag #MHPApology.

“As (a) black child born into large white Mormon family I feel familiarity w/ Romney family (picture) & never meant to suggest otherwise,” she continued. “I apologize to all families built on loving transracial adoptions who feel I degraded their lives or choices.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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MSNBC uses Romney grandson in comedy segment

On Sunday, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry hosted a look back at 2013 through the lens of laughter, complete with a panel of comedians. The hour included a section on the most talked-about photos of the year, such as the Barack Obama selfie at the Nelson Mandela memorial. But toward the end of the segment, Harris-Perry pulled up a Romney family photo that included their recently adopted grandson Kieran Romney, who is black.

“A lot of people had emotions about this baby picture this year,” Harris-Perry said.

One of the panelists, actress Pia Glenn, started singing “one of these things is not like the others,” while Harris-Perry laughed.

“And that little baby, front and center, would be the one,” Glenn said.

Read more about the MSNBC host apology to Romney HERE.

Franklin Graham: Homosexuality is ‘A Sin,’ and ‘I Want to Warn People’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

In a Meet the Press interview Sunday, Franklin Graham, the son of famed preacher Billy Graham, refused to back down from his Biblical stance against homosexuality. “It’s sin,” he said, and added that he wanted to warn people about it because they will have to stand before God who will judge.

The younger Graham was speaking in the NBC interview about his father’s legacy, as the elder Graham, 95, is ‘very weak’ and eating little. He described how he helped to arrange a final sermon for his father that aired in November. He felt it was God’s will that he help his father “finish well.”

In the context of about Pope Francis’ “who am I to judge” comment, Franklin Graham was asked if he would shift his position on “gays.”

“God would have to shift, and God doesn’t,” Graham replied. “God’s word is the same yesterday and today and a million years from now, that it’s sin.”

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Global Warming Scientists Forced to Admit Defeat (+video)

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Photo Credit: AFP/Getty

Photo Credit: AFP/Getty

They went in search evidence of the world’s melting ice caps, but instead a team of climate scientists have been forced to abandon their mission … because the Antarctic ice is thicker than usual at this time of year.

The scientists have been stuck aboard the stricken MV Akademik Schokalskiy since Christmas Day, with repeated sea rescue attempts being abandoned as icebreaking ships failed to reach them.

Now that effort has been ditched, with experts admitting the ice is just too thick. Instead the crew have built an icy helipad, with plans afoot to rescue the 74-strong team by helicopter.

The expedition is being lead by Chris Turney, a climate scientist, who was hoping to reach the base camp of Douglas Mawson, one of the most famous Antarctic explorers, and repeat observations done by him in 1912 to see what impact climate change had made.

It is thought that the group, which includes scientific researchers and a journalist, will now be able to escape by air after two sea rescues failed.

Read more about the global warming scientists HERE.