A Zippy panel for the day
God toasts the inauguration.
A song for the day
“I’m History,” words and music by Van Dyke Parks.
Things to do on Friday
I too would like to think that changing the channel or turning off the television will somehow bruise a certain outsize ego. But it’s not happening.
Margaret Atwood’s “Letter to America”
“If you proceed much further down the slippery slope, people around the world will stop admiring the good things about you.”
“Oh, Jesus — God — no —”
The Washington Post reports that the Beach Boys will be headlining an inaugural ball.
Word of the day: tyrant
Our president-elect appears to possess the traits of both Platonic and theatrical tyrants.
Words for these times
From the American Heritage Dictionary, words for these times: “Minions, sycophants, toadies, and other creatures.”
Word of the day: emolument
See also: “kleptocracy.”
Yes, again
From President Barack Obama’s farewell address: “Yes, we can. Yes, we did. Yes, we can.”
Nat Hentoff (1925–2017)
“I was addicted to books.”
New Koch
The New York Times reports on Charles and David Koch’s efforts to promote fossil fuels by winning over minority voters.
Deep story, deep resentment
It’s still remarkable to me that any resident of a town that depends upon a public university for its economic well-being would not be troubled to see that university in decline. It’s like cheering as your own house burns.
“The Scope of Hate in 2016”
The fifth installment of the New York Times feature “This Week in Hate.”
Caroline, no!
Billboard reports that the Beach Boys are considering an invitation to perform at an upcoming presidential inauguration.
“This Week in Hate”
At The New York Times , a fourth installment of “This Week in Hate.”
Not from The Onion
Sylvester Stallone and subject-verb disagreement.
“Tremendous”
The Manchurian Candidate was made into a film in 1962 and 2004. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to miss the joke.
No TV news
I dread what the next four years might mean for my country, but I don’t need a television to know about it.
“This Week in Hate”
The third installment of a new New York Times feature: “This Week in Hate.”
A new rubric
“Because I can no longer claim with any credibility that reading, writing, and critical thinking are essential skills for 21st-century success, I have revised the grading rubric for your papers accordingly.”
Lies and inconsistencies
At Daring Fireball, John Gruber unpacks the lies and illogicalities in a three-sentence statement from the president-elect’s transition team: 235 words to parse just 42.
Windrip’s universities
Education in It Can’t Happen Here and here in Illinois.
“This Week in Hate”
The second installment of a new New York Times feature.
Not O. K.
“It’s important to remember that, for example, in Russia, for the first year of when Vladimir Putin came to power, everybody was thinking that it will be O.K.”: Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot.
Merriam-Webster v. fascism
Merriam-Webster is encouraging readers to look up something other than “fascism.”
Bernie Sanders on the United Technologies deal
“Trump has endangered the jobs of workers who were previously safe in the United States.”
NO TODO ESTÁ PERDIDO
In a tiny Mexican restaurant for lunch.
Steven Greenhouse on the election
Steven Greenhouse writes in The New York Times about labor unions and the election.
Stranded by the State
A video series examining the effects of Illinois’s budget crisis on the state’s people.
“The Right Way to Resist Trump”
Luigi Zingales, an observer of Italian politics, writing in The New York Times.