Brexit, State of the Union, and more

Just a quick note about the State of the Union in the US and weather or not it was delivered in person. Put simply:

From 1790 to 1800 they were in person

1801-1912, written

1913-1923, in person

1924-1932, written

In 1933 the speech was delivered in person and has been on all but 7 occasions since.

In 1945, likely due to FDR's health

In 1946, Truman may have wanted to go back to the written precedent, but he addressed a joint session in May of that year on Railroad Strikes and may have been convinced by this to attend more in person.

1953, Truman was the outgoing president, and likely did not attend to not take the spotlight away from Ike.

1956, Ike did not deliver the speech in person, likely to his heart attack a few months prior.

1961, Ike delivered a written address for similar reasons as Truman above.

1973, Nixon sent a written only message; this was just days before the Senate voted to investigate Watergate.

Lastly, 1981 Carter sent a written message for similar reasons as Truman and Ike.



Brexit:

As expected, the government survived the VoNC. As such, no new news at this time.



Israel:

Polls suggest Ta'al may take as many as 6 seats, equal to the 6 expected to be taken by the remainder of Joint List.



India:

Polls suggest the government may lose their majority in the elections this spring



Indonesia:

Polls suggest Widodo, perhaps most famous for looking a bit like Barack Obama, leads heavily