The Last Two Years

Jan. 22, 2015

Analysis: President Obama's State of the Union proves he's not going to end his presidency quietly "For a guy whose party lost both the House of Representatives and the Senate less than 80 days ago, President Barack Obama sure didn't act like it when he delivered his sixth and second-to-last State of the Union on Tuesday night," writes Mic's Mark Kogan on Obama's Tuesday address to the nation, in which the president laid out an ambitious agenda covering policy issues from community college to tax cuts for the middle class. "With his last election behind him, Obama appears comfortable to once again serve as chief standard-bearer for the liberal left that catapulted him into office in 2008," writes Kogan. "The only thing that both Democrats and Republicans can be certain of is that Obama won't spend the last two years of his second and final term quietly planning his presidential library." + This is all well and good, but Obama's ambitious agenda resembled past addresses — full of promises, but short on specifics. + Republicans certainly aren't cowering in their boots. In defiance of the president, House Speaker John Boehner announced that he's invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stand before Congress and push for new sanctions against its archenemy Iran. + It doesn't seem that America was paying attention, either: This year's State of the Union had the smallest audience since 2000. + The Republican "enhanced webcast" of the State of the Union also tried to edit out Obama's references to climate change. The Department of Justice recommends no civil rights charges in the Ferguson shooting The Justice Department has decided it will not pursue federal civil rights charges against Darren Wilson, the white Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who shot and killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014. Prosecutors had been investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal encounter for months, continuing their work well after a St. Louis County grand jury decided in late November that it would not return an indictment against Wilson, who resigned from the force days later. + "Federal prosecutors must clear a higher bar than the state law enforcement officials who decide if criminal charges are warranted," explains Mic's Tom McKay. "In this case, the Department of Justice needed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Wilson sought to 'willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.'" + The announcement comes one day after President Obama blew an opportunity to address race and violence in America in his State of the Union address.

There's one important group of world leaders the global business elite didn't invite to Davos. Mic There's a big problem with "it" girls. BuzzFeed The U.S. Senate actually had to vote to affirm that climate change is not a hoax. The Hill These sex patents are both bizarre and horrifying. Gizmodo Now there's a name for people who are only attracted to intelligence. Mic Thirteen hours inside Pharrell Williams's relentless pop-culture machine. GQ "It’s a funny thing about lying: We all do it, and we all damn it." Chronicle of Higher Education Facebook is finally taking on fake news and hoaxes. Mic Why can't the world's greatest minds solve the mystery of consciousness? The Guardian Forty record labels tried to sign this one Texan dishwasher — and for a good reason. Mic

Photo of the Day Every January, on St. Sebastian Day, the streets of Piornal, Spain, fill with residents armed with turnips, seeking to punish the Jarramplas, a devil-like character portrayed by a man wearing a costume made from colorful strips of fabric, a frightening mask and body armor underneath.

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