South Carolina Sheriff Refuses To Lower Flag For Mandela  —  Rick Clark, the sheriff of Pickens County, S.C., vowed on Friday to defy President Obama's order that U.S. flags be lowered to half staff in honor of deceased South African leader Nelson Mandela.  —  Clark made his promise …

Third Way Op-Ed Writer Says Elizabeth Warren's Backing Of Social Security Plan Was The ‘Final Moment’  —  Jim Kessler, senior vice president for policy and a co-founder of Third Way, said Friday morning that Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) backing of a plan to expand Social Security compelled …

Matthews to Sharpton: McConnell Worse than de Klerk  —  MSNBC host Chris Matthews is on a roll, unfavorably comparing the reaction of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) to President Obama's election to that of South African apartheid-era president F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela's election Friday on Now with Alex Wagner.

Slowly They Modernize: A Federal Agency That Still Uses Floppy Disks  —  WASHINGTON — The technology troubles that plagued the HealthCare.gov website rollout may not have come as a shock to people who work for certain agencies of the government — especially those who still use floppy disks, the cutting-edge technology of the 1980s.

Carney criticizes report on Sebelius  —  The White House on Friday criticized as misleading a report in POLITICO Magazine claiming that President Barack Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius met just once since the signing of the Affordable Care Act more than three years ago.

Doctors boycotting California's Obamacare exchange  —  WATCHDOG OBAMACARE CALIFORNIA HEALTH CARE HEALTHCARE.GOV HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES  —  An estimated seven out of every 10 physicians in deep-blue California are rebelling against the state's Obamacare health insurance exchange and won't participate …

Rand Paul on Detroit: The city's future won't come from Washington; magic is in Motown  —  DETROIT — The best way to bring Detroit back from the brink of economic collapse isn't through a government bailout, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said during a speech to the Detroit Economic Club today.

Sarah Palin: ‘Angry atheists’ are trying to ‘abort Christ from Christmas’  —  If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, Sarah Palin said, he would probably go on Fox News to complain about the war on Christmas.  —  The former half-term governor of Alaska and failed vice presidential candidate appeared Thursday …

Insight - Fukushima water tanks: leaky and built with illegal labor  —  (Reuters) - Storage tanks at the Fukushima nuclear plant like one that spilled almost 80,000 gallons of radioactive water this year were built in part by workers illegally hired in one of the poorest corners of Japan …

U.S. extends permit for eagle deaths  —  Obama administration says some firms can kill eagles to spur green energy investment.  —  CONNECT  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Friday it will allow some companies to kill or injure bald and golden eagles for up to 30 years without penalty …

Challenged by Tea Party, Veteran Mississippi Senator Seeks 7th Term  —  WASHINGTON — Thad Cochran, a Mississippi Republican who was first elected to the Senate in 1978, set up a generational and ideological clash in the state's Republican primary when he announced Friday that he would seek a seventh term in 2014.