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Human Interest

Of Popes and Populism

Ross Douthat finds that Pope Francis and Donald Trump have a lot in common:

Neoliberalism needs critics, as the Republican Party needs reinvention and the Catholic Church needs reform. At the same time, as Schmitz notes, what both Trump and Francis promise — deliverance “from inconvenient and unresponsive institutions, with all their strictures and corruptions” — downplays the value of rules, customs, and traditions in protecting people from the rule of novelty and whim.

Footage Shows UFO Shot Down By Indian Fighter Jet

Footage has been released that shows an Indian fighter jet shooting down what appears to be a UFO – after the unidentified object set off a radar alert.  A ‘balloon shaped object’ was targeted by the Su-30 aircraft after it was spotted close to the country’s border with Pakistan. Yahoo News reports: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar claimed radars picked up the shiny flying object entering Indian airspace. “A fighter jet was quickly scrambled which intercepted it and shot it down,” he said. The explosion could be heard within a 10km radius.

Song of the South

Collin Wilcox died last October, just as we were about to settle in for our annual viewing of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Wilcox was the North Carolina actress whose surly white-trash ejaculation Gregory Peckwards—“A chiffarobe!”—is one of several lines from the movie that have entered our family lexicon.  (It’s just ahead of “He’s gone and drownded his dinner in sirrup” and behind “You wrong, man—you dade wrong.”)

Outrage As Dolphin Dies After Beachgoers Pass It Around For Photos

A video showing a young dolphin being taken out of the water to allow beachgoers take photos with it, has led to uproar across social media. Crowds gathered around the small animal on the beach resort at Santa Teresita in Argentina after a man picked it up. But it appears the poor creature quickly overheated and died while out of the water. Left dead on the sand, people still gathered around to take pictures of the endangered La Plata or Franciscana dolphin, which usually has a lifespan of up to 20 years.

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