AN UNBOTTLED REBUTTAL. If you went to bed right after President Obama's State of the Union address last night, you missed one of the night's most tweetable moments: Sen. Marco Rubio's furtive sip of water during his rebuttal on behalf of the Republican Party. The Atlantic deconstructs it, frame by frame.
* Rubio followed up on Twitter with this.
'THANKING GOD THAT THESE TWO GUYS ARE OFF THE STREETS.' That's the father of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, reacting to news two reputed gang members have been arrested for shooting and killing her last month -- a crime that brought a national spotlight to Chicago's gun violence.
[Note: Looking for last week's news quiz? It's here.]
CAPT. KIRK vs. REDDIT. William Shatner -- new to Reddit -- is in his words, "apalled [sic] by some of the immature, horrifically racist, sexist, homophobic … posts that are just ignored."
Welcome back, our friends, to the quiz that comes in tens. It's ... that ... time.
(And stick around for more news below the quiz. That stuff could come up in next week's quiz.)
And now, we return to our regular programming.
RED-LIGHT DISTRICT. The chairman of the company behind Chicago's red-light camera program is quitting following a Chicago Tribune investigation that forced a company investigation and the discovery of improper ties to a former city transportation official -- including thousands of dollars in free trips to the Super Bowl and other sports events.
JAIL FOR JJJ? A plea deal on the table for ex-Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. would include "significant jail time," a source tells the Sun-Times.
THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOE BUSINESS ... At least, for Illinois lawmakers looking for new cash. A proposal in the House would stamp gym shoes with an extra 25-cent tax to help high-school dropouts get jobs. But that's not the sole issue on the General Assembly's agenda:
* Bill to legalize same-sex marriage moves ahead.
CALL FOR A MURDER COMMISSION. Chicago Magazine's Whet Moser says Newt Gingrich may be on to something when he calls for hearings on Chicago's violence. Moser suggests as a model President Johnson's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, more popularly known as the Kerner Commission -- which concluded, among other things, that "white racism is essentially responsible for the explosive mixture ... accumulating in our cities since the end of World War II."
'FOOTBALL'S DEATH SPIRAL.' Writing in Salon, Andrew O'Hehir says "the writing is on the wall for this bloated, behemoth sport."
