The widespread consumption of fake news is a hot topic (if today's headlines are to be believed). Google and Facebook are both facing increased pressure to do something about the distribution of fictional news stories. And, at least when it comes to advertising dollars, they are starting to take some steps. From the NYT: Google and Facebook Take Aim at Fake News Sites. (America's institutions have been hammered so hard, these moves might just lead people to no longer trust Google and Facebook.) We should stem the distribution of ridiculous fake news. But ultimately, we're gonna have to deal with the people who believe it.

+ "Fake news ran wild on our platform during the entire campaign season." From Buzzfeed: Renegade Facebook employees form task force to battle fake news.

+ Twitter is rolling out some new anti-harassment tools. (They should just replace the Tweet button with a Mute button.)

+ ProPublica: News organizations see a bump in subscriptions and donations.

+ Asha Dornfest: This is what happens when you stop paying for quality journalism.

"Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back." That's from Bruce Springsteen's song My Hometown. The election brought more light to the plight of the middle class. But can public policy do anything to reverse trends such as automation and globalization? FiveThirtyEight on why current proposals won't help the white working class -- or the urban poor.

+ Can politics impact the coal industry. Maybe, but as MIT Tech Review explains, "regulations aren't the industry's real problem -- market forces are. Coal's true rival is cheap natural gas."

+ LA Times: "The U.S. has moved toward advanced manufacturing, which employs highly educated people, and plants that once required manual labor are now manned by robots that work faster than people and cost less."

Aleppo is getting pummeled again. And the latest Russian bombing comes a day after Putin spoke with President-elect Donald Trump by telephone. "The strikes were the first to hit Aleppo since October 18, when Russia agreed to a humanitarian halt to the bombings, but the resumption of airstrikes was expected for several weeks."

+ John McCain is not a fan of what looks like the oncoming thawing of relations with Putin: "We should place as much faith in such statements as any other made by a former KGB agent who has plunged his country into tyranny, murdered his political opponents, invaded his neighbors, threatened America's allies and attempted to undermine America's elections."

+ There are the politics of war. And there is the real life of war. Here's a pretty amazing scene of an Iraqi soldier finding his mother on a bus out of Mosul.

NYT: "After steady declines over the last four decades, highway fatalities last year recorded the largest annual percentage increase in 50 years." Why? Oh come on, you know exactly why.

The Trump transition team has hit some stumbling blocks, including the departure of "Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent who is a widely respected voice on national security."

+ Paul Ryan locks in his Speaker role.

+ The Guardian: Obama will not restrict the drone strike playbook before Trump takes office.

+ The Trump team is seeking top-secret security clearances for his children.

+ Ben Carson has officially stated he won't be part of the administration. His business manager and friend explains why: "Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he's never run a federal agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency."

"YouTube and Facebook abound with videos of veterans confronting suspected fakers." From The Atlantic: Meet the soldier who's made it his personal mission to name and shame people who pretend to be military heroes.

"In a lot of ways, this levels the playing field. This was one of the few areas of the law where citizens were treated differently based on the amount of wealth that they have." That was Indiegogo CEO Dave Mandelbrot on his company's latest offering that will let individuals invest in startups, instead of merely backing them with a crowdfunding donation. (After the election, I put all my money in Glitter.) Full disclosure: Dave Mandelbrot is one of my oldest friends. And he's excellent.

Back in 2013, George Saunders gave a speech to the graduating class at Syracuse. I've been thinking about that speech a lot over the past week. I'll skip the platitudes about why it's important, and I'll leave the matter of politics entirely out of it. This is about something bigger than politics anyway. When it comes down to it, it might be bigger than anything. It's worth a read: The Big Thing About Little Things.

"You can buy oil from coconuts -- not to be confused with butter from coconuts -- and flour and sugar and milk and aminos and vinegar from coconuts. The coconut market is booming." But that product boom is only one of the reasons that the world's coconuts are in danger. (I swear, I'm looking for good news too!)

Do a good deed today. Why? Because Scientific American is reporting that altruistic people have more sexual partners. (Is it still considered altruism if I had to beg?)

+ Another guy who Photoshops himself into photos with famous people.

+ The guy who invented the Roomba is working on a Roomba for your garden.

+ And a kind reader sent in this Onion headline that aptly sums up my life: Accidentally Closing Browser Window With 23 Tabs Open Presents Rare Chance At New Life.

+ And if you missed (or were too traumatized to read) my election wrap, here it is: What the Hell Just Happened?