This edition is out a little early today because I am scheduled to yell at a TV for a few hours this afternoon to encourage 22 people to give each other concussions. Enjoy!

STORY OF THE WEEK (20 min. read)
What: Good News Everyone! The State Of Our Union Is Still Strong.
Why: Because Obama gave his SOTU, and while it may have seemed pretty cookie cutter, he did say he would use the power of the Executive Branch to its fullest in areas where Congress proved to be unwilling to cooperate. And Joe Biden.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Capitalism Is Not Democratic
Why: Because this is one of the first actually academic studies that proposes capitalism and democracy, which have historically been necessarily tied together, may not be as compatible when democratic issues veer more towards equality.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: The Fight Over Education
Why: Because teachers unions are the oft-vilified reason for the US’s struggling school system, and this is just the beginning.

DRUG THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: The Real Problem With Designer Drugs
Why: Because the effort to control substances is potentially making them uncontrollably dangerous.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Black Holes Aren’t As Black Holey As Smart People Thought They Were
Why: Because it is very rare when a world renowned astrophysicist alters his own original findings on something of this magnitude.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Breaking Madden Super Bowl
Why: Because the Super Bowl is worthless without the 49ers in it, so this at least makes the matchup entertaining.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. look)
What: A Location You Can’t Refuse
Why: Because it is cool to see how much has changed and how much remains the same.

LAST MINUTE UPDATE: RIP Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (20 min. watch)
What: Music’s Best (?)
Why: Because the Grammys are trying really hard to stay relevant, but also aren’t quite doing their job right, and haven’t been for quite a while.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (potentially very long read, short download)
What: Lot’s Of Words From Some Of The Year’s Best New Authors
Why: Because reading is good for you, so here are some free things to read.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (5 min read. 8 min. watch)
What: GoPro Is Now A Media Production Company
Why: Because GoPro is lending its cameras to individuals to produce films like this.

FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Your Olive Oil Is Probably Sleeping Around
Why: Because most extra virgin olive oil in the U.S. is not actually extra virgin olive oil.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: GIFs Of The Year; The Voyager Can Use Negative Numbers; Where’d The Music Go?; Man > Baby.
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Some Rain Would Be Nice
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

Webtacularly yours,