SOTU: President Obama declared economic victory last night in his sixth State of the Union message. “At this moment, with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, booming energy production, we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth,” the president said.

   He said “middle class economics” works.

And then he set out a bold agenda for tax increases on the rich, free community college, childcare, and paid parental leave. He wants to reverse the drastic inequality of incomes in America. But he might have a hard time getting it all past a Democratic Congress, let alone two houses with a majority of Republicans.

The president vowed to veto any bill to roll back what he’s done, including repealing Obamacare. He was greeted with applause from the Democratic side, and stony faces from the Republicans.

He called on Congress to give him the authority to use military force against the Islamic State forces in Iraq

Near the end of his speech, Obama called for “a better politics.” He said, “Understand, a better politics isn’t one where Democrats abandon their agenda or Republicans simply embrace mine; a better politics is one where we appeal to each other’s basic decency instead of our basest fears. He said, “If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments. But let’s make them debates worthy of this body and worthy of this country.”

Deflating News: The ESPN network reports that 11 of 12 balls used by the New England Patriots in Sunday’s crushing of Indianapolis were under-inflated by two pounds of air pressure. Softer balls would have been easier to grip in chilly rain. Each team is responsible for providing 12 balls for their own offense and they are checked two hours before kickoff. If found guilty the Patriots still go to the Super Bowl, but they could be docked some draft picks.

World: Houthi rebels took over the presidential palace in Yemen yesterday, threatening the possibility of a coup against Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who’s considered an important American ally. A senior Houthi leader said it was not actually an attempted coup, but a warning to the president to respond to their demands. The Houthi have been fighting for greater autonomy in their region of Yemen.

>A Palestinian man has been arrested after a stabbing spree on an Israeli bus left 11 people injured, four of them seriously. Police say it was an act of revenge for last year’s war in Gaza.

>Argentina has been rocked by the shooting death of a crusading prosecutor who’s accused President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of helping to cover up for Iran in the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center that left 85 people dead. Alberto Nisman, 51, was found dead of a single gunshot on his bathroom floor with a gun at his side. Authorities say they see no evidence of any outside involvement. Nisman had been scheduled to detail his accusations to a congressional committee on Monday. Friends and family say he never would have killed himself.

Tabloid Cover-up!!!:The Sun newspaper in London has abruptly stopped featuring pictures of bare breasted women on its infamous Page Three, a Sun tradition for 44 years. The change has been met with more shock than the pictures themselves.

Page Three was a big circulation booster and no one thought the The Sun would give it up. Some of the Page Three models became household names and went on to fame and wealth. The Times newspaper, owned by the same company, dryly reported that, “The News Corp executive chairman is understood to have signed off on the change of policy.” That means the boss Rupert Murdoch decided that after 44 years everyone’s had a good look.

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