Although the presidential election of 2016 was certainly more volatile than usual, one reaction to the outcome was the apparent ease with which some in America’s next generation of college-trained leaders were sidelined by self-described emotional pain and distress. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that special attention was given by administrators at Tufts University, the University of Kansas and Ivy League Cornell, among other places, where their young adults could “grieve” over the election and seek emotional support, such as use of “therapy dogs” in Kansas and, at the University of Michigan, the availability of Play-Doh and coloring books for distraction.


No Crunchy Roll for You

The Space World theme park in Kitakyushu, Japan, opened a popular (with visitors) ice-skating rink in November, but was forced to close it two weeks later for being hugely unpopular (with social media critics). The park had placed 5,000 fish and other sea animals in the ice deck of its “Freezing Port” rink so that skaters could look down as they glided along, gazing at marvels of nature (all dead in advance, of course, purchased from a fish market). Nonetheless, the park manager apologized for grossing out so many people and closed the exhibit (melting the ice and conducting an “appropriate religious service” for the fishes’ souls).