Variable degrees of explicability

• Pope Benedict has over 300,000 followers and he hasn't even tweeted anything yet
• Someone apparently thought December would be a good time to tear up the road by a shopping mall
• Au Bonheur des Dames (by Zola) is about an eponymous department store that is not, in the long run, conducive to the happiness of the ladies, either those who shop there or those who work there; it just makes money for the man who owns it