It’s been a doozy of a week in Indiana. In addition to facing nationwide backlash as multi-billion dollar corporations continue to scale down or phase out their businesses in the state (in response to the “Religious Freedom” Restoration Act that, in effect, legalizes discrimination against the LGBTQ community), the Hoosiers are likewise dealing with an HIV outbreak (also due to some shortsighted lawmaking) and, in the same stroke, have just become the first US state to sentence a woman to two decades of prison time for killing a fetus. Enough said—I’m moving my fantasy vacation to Pittsburgh.
These are bizarre times (Barbie will soon be able to talk to your children; Passover is now an ice cream flavor) — and the whole world seems alight with weird. A South Australian woman chased down a Google camera car to flash her twins (those twins), and became an instant celebrity for the afternoon. Matt Stopera at Buzzfeed just updated us about his wave of fame in China after his article about his stolen cell phone went viral on Weibo (Chinese Twitter) last year. In Manchester, sewers are objects of beauty. And, right now, rangers in Kenya are standing guard over the last Northern White Rhino in the world. Back in the States, a police officer has been forced into counseling because he took a photo with Snoop Dogg.
The Internet is, in some ways, at least helping to mete out justice: within 24 hours of this video being posted yesterday—of a loose-cannon cop going off on a racist tirade against a really nice Uber driver—the cop was identified, transferred, and placed on modified duty. High five, Internet! And, an extra high five to this cute couple that managed to save enough money to retire in their 30s and travel the world. They, too, may find themselves removing Indiana from their bucket list.