Wow, who could have seen this coming? The Associated Press reports that some right-wing male social “influencers” have seized on Donald Trump’s victory to ramp up their hateful misogynistic derision and threats against women online. Some are using the phrase “Your body, my choice” online and on college campuses. (That phrase, by the way, apparently was coined by Nick Fuentes, the Holocaust denier and far-right online personality who — I’m sure this is just a coincidence — dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago two years ago. Trump said afterward that he had never met Fuentes or knew who he was before that dinner.)

You might have noticed a slow but steady increase in news coverage of avian flu, which is racing through Northwest farms. Evidence is mounting that the flu is spreading to farmworkers across the western United States. But it’s hard to tell for sure, in part because most Northwestern states are rarely testing workers. This story from InvestigateWest — published in the Oregon Capital Chronicle — explains why all of this could lead to much bigger problems in the very near future.

One of the reasons why the Pastega family Christmas lights display is no longer at the Benton County Fairgrounds is because the county was worried about potential copyright litigation from the companies that own the rights to some of the displays in the show — superheroes, Disney characters and so forth. Well, sure — ever since the Pastega show opened in 1981, we all remember the constant legal attacks from copyright lawyers outraged that the free event wasn’t making any money for them — and, worse, was collecting canned goods to feed hungry families. Linn County seems to not be particularly worried about the legal risk, though: You can view the Pastega display this year over at the Linn County Fairgrounds, where it’s been teamed with one of that county’s holiday traditions, Christmas Storybook Land. Better check it out before the lawyers get wind of this fresh outrage and shut down the whole thing. Shayla Escudero explains it all in her story for the Gazette-Times.

How should journalists react when they provide accurate information that is ignored — or disregarded — by its intended audience? Michael J. Socolow, a professor of journalism and communication at the University of Maine, raises a recent example: Millions of people knew all about Trump’s record in his first term and his intentions for his second — and still voted for him. Socolow doesn’t blame journalists for this and notes that “historical examples abound of American news consumers being presented with verified facts about controversial figures or events, only to have the excellent journalism have little to no effect. … Perhaps the most important lesson a journalist can learn is humility.” Fortunately, journalism offers numerous opportunities for its practitioners to learn this lesson over and over again. This piece originally appeared in The Conversation; I noticed it at the Nieman Lab website.

I suspect many Weekly Reader readers are fans of Wordle, the popular New York Times game. But the Times’ second most popular game is “Connections,” the game that asks players to identify words that share a common thread — and which triggers satisfaction and, occasionally, outrage among its players. The Atlantic’s Elaine Godfrey introduces you to the game’s editor, Wyna Liu.

Tired of arguing about politics with your family? Maybe you need a whole new issue to argue about. Here’s one: What exactly is “yacht rock,” and is it a legitimate musical genre? “Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary,” a new documentary on HBO and Max, makes the case for yacht rock, best personified by 1970s and 80s artists like Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, The Doobie Brothers, Michael McDonald and Toto — you know, smoothly produced, well-crafted music that you now hear mostly in grocery stores and doctor’s offices. The director of the documentary, Garret Price, defines “yacht rock” as elevated pop music infused with jazz and R&B, and that seems fair. As for me, I’d be hard-pressed to argue that most yacht rock actually rocks — but some of my favorite singles fall squarely into the genre, like Boz Scaggs’ “Lowdown,” Cross’ “Ride Like the Wind” (but, please, no “Sailing”) and any number of Steely Dan songs, especially from the band’s later years.

The dog desk at the Weekend Reader calls this story to my attention: If you have a dog, chances appear to be pretty good that your dog’s favorite toy is a stuffed version of Lamb Chop, the sheep puppet that was popularized by Shari Lewis. Or maybe it’s just that you think your dog’s favorite toy is Lamb Chop. Or maybe that’s what your dog wants you to think. In any event, Kate Lindsay, writing in The Atlantic, examines this issue from every angle.

On a somewhat similar note, if you must read one story about feral chickens this week, this is the one: It’s about the thousand or so feral chickens that roam through Yuba City, California — and have done so for decades. How did they get there? Nobody knows for sure. Extra points to the writer, Jake Goodrick of The Sacramento Bee, for not falling back on “chicken or the egg” cliche, tempting as it may have been.

Here’s a surprisingly fun feature from The New York Times about how developers of subdivisions come up with names for new streets. (The story features a quiz that seems like it should be easy, but — fair warning — is not.)

Before we file away this year’s Oregon State University football season, indulge me for a moment: In retrospect, the outcome of the Beavers’ 5-7 season seems just as obvious as the presidential election. Going into the season, as you may recall, the Beavers had lost roughly a quarter of their roster to the transfer portal, including last year’s starting quarterback and the team’s quarterback of the future. The team had a new coach, who had to rebuild his staff on the fly after the old coach bailed at the end of the Oregon game. The Beavers were one of just two teams remaining in the shattered Pac-12 Conference. If you were looking at just those facts, you’d probably say something like: “You know, a 5-7 season might be an OK outcome.” And you would be right.

With that said, the team has plenty of work to do, as Bill Oram of The Oregonian/OregonLive says in this column: The Beavers’ defense took a step back this season. The offense was flat much too often — and the Beavers’ inability to recruit or develop a truly elite quarterback continues to hobble the team (and will continue to be an issue, because potentially elite quarterbacks aren’t going to be looking first at OSU). Some OSU fans still harbor doubts about whether Trent Bray is up to the job — but before anyone gets too serious about this expected “fire the coach” talk, they should ask themselves these questions: Who else is available who would do a better job? Would that person be willing to take the job? Could OSU could afford to pay that person? Bray deserves at least another season at the helm.

That’s it for this weekend; sorry again for the relatively late posting. As Tony Kornheiser says at the end of every episode of “Pardon the Interruption:” We’ll try to do better next time.