News

After President Obama finished his final State Of The Union address, he lingered at the exit to the US House chamber, saying, “Let me look at this thing one last time.” The president’s last look was brief as moments later he was swarmed by well-wishers. Watch below.

Big news in sportsball last night. Via the Washington Post: The NFL made its long-awaited return to Los Angeles Tuesday after an absence of more than two decades. Owners of the teams voted to allow the Rams to move from St. Louis to Inglewood, Calif., and gave the Chargers the option to join them there by relocating from San Diego. …

Really unfortunate timing with the SOTU only hours away. NBC News reports: Iranian military forces seized two U.S. Navy boats Tuesday and are detaining them on Iran’s Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf, senior U.S. officials told NBC News. The 10 American sailors were on a training mission around noon ET when one of the boats may have experienced mechanical …

Democratic Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards was sworn in yesterday and as Bobby Jindal hits the exit things will immediately get better for the state’s impoverished families. Via Daily News Bin: Edwards says that he’s signing off on Medicaid expansion this Tuesday. That means at least 100,000 low-income residents of Louisiana will gain access to health care immediately. The Affordable …

“In God We Trust” first appeared on US coins in 1864 and was added to paper currency in 1957 during the height of the red scare. Atheist activist Michael Newdow is trying again to put an end to it, but this time he’s using the Hobby Lobby tactic. Hemant Mehta reports at Friendly Atheist: The federal lawsuit, which was filed …

The Frankfort Courier-Journal reports: Following through on a campaign pledge, Gov. Matt Bevin has notified federal authorities he plans to dismantle kynect, Kentucky’s health insurance exchange created under the Affordable Care Act. The decision drew immediate fire from health care advocates, including Bill Wagner, executive director of the Family Health Centers, a network of public health clinics in Louisville. “It’s …

Rupert Murdoch, Mick Jagger – what’s the difference? USA Today reports: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and actress and former supermodel Jerry Hall announced their engagement Tuesday. The news was revealed in the births, marriages and deaths section of the Times of London, which is owned by Murdoch’s News Corporation media group. It reads: “Mr Rupert Murdoch, father of Prudence, Elisabeth, …

JMG reader Alan tips us to this sorta bear-related story from Business Insider: Idaho resident Mike Wolfe had always been embarrassed by his back hair, but at age 35 he decided to turn it into profitable works of art. Wolfe recruited his friend and artist Tyler Harding to shave an American flag into his back. From there, the duo decided …

Business Insider, shockingly, says this a terrible strategy. They write: On Monday morning, liberal media watchdog group Media Matters tweeted a screenshot from a Saturday Fox and Friends segment advising a simple strategy for maximizing your chances of winning the lottery: Buy as many tickets as you can afford. This is technically true. Buying more lottery tickets does increase your …

The Associated Press reports: Acting Army Secretary Eric Fanning is stepping aside, at least temporarily, because Senate hasn’t confirmed his nomination, officials said Monday. The Army’s undersecretary, Patrick Murphy, was confirmed last week, so he will oversee the Army. Fanning is expected to step down and move into another Pentagon post for now. He would return to the Army leadership …

The Hill reports: Airline passengers in five states and a U.S. territory will be unable to present their current driver’s licenses at airport checkpoints after Jan. 22, 2018, under new rules announced on Friday by the Department of Homeland Security. The Homeland Security department, which overseas the TSA, said it would begin enforcing a post-Sept. 11 law that directs federal …

The Guardian: ‘I’m going to be nice tonight’ promises Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais in his opening speech at this year’s ceremony in Los Angeles. The actor, comedian and Hollywood bête noire left the film and television industries’ biggest stars gasping in shock, delight and discomfort as he poked fun at everyone from Caitlyn Jenner to Jennifer Lawrence to Roman …

Sorry kids, you’re going to work tomorrow. The Independent reports: America awaits its first lottery billionaire, after the Powerball jackpot rollover hit a world-record figure of $1.3 billion. No one won Saturday’s $949.8 million jackpot on 9 January, already the biggest in US history. Strong ticket sales, fueled by excitement over the enormous sum, have driven the prize money up …

This was definitely the most surreal news on the net last night. CBS News reports: The recapture of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman took a surprise, Hollywood twist when a Mexican official said security forces located the whereabouts of the world’s most-wanted trafficker thanks to a secret interview with U.S. actor Sean Penn. Penn’s interview with Guzman, who has …

ABC News reports: Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted today that the infamous drug lord known as “El Chapo” has been captured. “Mission accomplished: We have him. I want to inform the Mexicans that Joaquin Guzman Loera has been detained,” the tweet states, originally in Spanish. No further details have been released. Guzman escaped from the Altiplano prison near Mexico …

Teabagistan has been patting itself on the back all week for finally getting an Obamacare repeal bill to the president’s desk after literally dozens of attempts. You know how this ends. NBC News reports: President Obama vetoed a bill Friday aimed at repealing his signature health care law. “This legislation would not only repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, …

#ThanksObama! The Washington Post reports: The U.S. economy finished the year with a red-hot hiring spree, adding 292,000 new jobs as the unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent, according to new government data released Friday morning. The latest jobs report exceeded the expectations of economists and investors and provided a reassuring note about the resiliency of the labor market, …

The first eight of 20 planned medical marijuana dispensaries open today in New York state, but unlike in most states, you won’t see actual buds available. CBS New reports: Vireo Health of New York in White Plains is one of the dispensaries opening Thursday, about 18 months after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a medical marijuana bill into law. New York …

Gothamist reports: Governor Cuomo announced on Wednesday that he is spearheading a comprehensive overhaul of Penn Station. In conjunction with Amtrak and the MTA, the renovation will seek a private developer to convert the Farley post office building on Eighth Avenue into a grand, sun-soaked waiting area. Maybe this time the stories will be true? The project—dubbed the Empire Station …

Reported yesterday by the Associated Press: The son of Alabama’s chief justice has pleaded not guilty to drug charges. Court documents show Caleb Moore pleaded not guilty on Dec. 21 to two counts. Moore, who is 25, faces charges of felony possession of the prescription medication alprazolam and misdemeanor marijuana possession. Caleb Moore was arrested in March in Troy. Police …