The Obamacare We Deserve  —  TODAY marks the beginning of health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act's new insurance exchanges, for which two million Americans have signed up.  Now that the individual mandate is officially here, let me begin with an admission: Obamacare is awful.

Historic Bible goes missing after de Blasio swearing in  —  The FDR bible used by Mayor Bill de Blasio for his swearing in vanished after the New Year's Day ceremony, sparking a panicked, hours-long search for the historic tome.  —  “They had the whole detail looking through blankets,” …

World's climate warming faster than feared, scientists say  —  Scientists say the world's climate is warming faster than feared because previous predictions were too “optimistic” and overestimated the cooling impact of clouds  —  As the planet marked its fourth hottest year on record …

WORLD'S FIRST LEGAL RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA SALES BEGIN IN COLORADO  —  Colorado's ambitious experiment in cannabis policy hit a historic milestone Wednesday, when licensed stores began making the first legal sales of recreational marijuana anywhere in the world.

Helicopter rescue delayed as second ship trapped in ice  —  On board the Aurora Australis  —  Plans to rescue 52 passengers trapped on the stricken Russian research ship Akademik Shokalskiy have been thrown into disarray after the Chinese ice-breaker Xue Long itself became stuck in pack ice, west of the Mertz Glacier.

Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower  —  Seven months ago, the world began to learn the vast scope of the National Security Agency's reach into the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe, as it collects information about their phone calls, their email messages …

Slow Learners  —  What is it about Obama that makes otherwise intelligent people so dumb?  —  Politico has a headline for the ages up right now: “Management Experts Knock Obama.”  Management “experts” are just noticing now, after five years, that Obama's lack of experience is significant.

North Korean leader warns of nuclear disaster, threatens US  —  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said the Korean peninsula will be engulfed by “massive nuclear disaster” if war breaks out there again, warning the US it will not be safe in the event of a conflict.

Boehner Is Said to Back Change on Immigration  —  WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio has signaled he may embrace a series of limited changes to the nation's immigration laws in the coming months, giving advocates for change new hope that 2014 might be the year that a bitterly divided …

James Avery, star of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,’ dies at 68  —  (CNN) — Actor James Avery, who played the beloved Uncle Phil on the hit 1990s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” has died, his publicist said Wednesday.  He was 68.  —  The cause of death was complications from open-heart surgery, said his manager, Toni Benson.