The Holocaust Comparison Genocide Articles. Hunters are killing millions of animals, and 1 in 8 of those are endangered. About 1.7 million animal “trophies” have been exported across borders by hunters in the last decade, according to a new report. At least 200,000 of them are endangered species. The report found that American hunters are by far the largest killers of trophy animals.
Half of all the 11,000 lions shot in the last decade were by Americans. The issue came to global attention in July 2015 after an American dentist paid more than $50,000 to kill a lion called Cecil. The male lion was being tracked by conservation scientists in Zimbabwe. The report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), based on official records, sheds new light on the scale of the international trophy-hunting industry.
It found the number of lions hunted for trophies went up by 3 times to 1,500 a year in the last 10 years, while the number of elephants killed by hunters more than doubled to 1,600. Worldwide Demand The most popular target was the American black bear, of which 93,000 were hunted in the last decade. Rusty patched bumblebee added to endangered species list. TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The rusty patched bumblebee is officially endangered. It is the first bee in the continental United States to be named endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The bees have been dying in great numbers over the past 20 years, federal officials said Tuesday.
The government agency said it would develop a plan to help rebuild the bee's population. It hopes to encourage people to provide more habitat for the bee and reduce the use of pesticides. Many of the steps needed to rescue the rusty patched bumblebee might also help other natural pollinators, such as struggling bees and monarch butterflies. The Buzz In The 1990s Tom Melius from the Fish and Wildlife Service said pollinators are "small but mighty parts" of nature that sustain us and our world.
The rusty patched bumblebee is notable for the rust-colored marking on its back. The crash happened so quickly that few researchers noticed until the damage was largely done. Bees Are Keys To Strong Crops. To hunt or to protect? Western states struggle with wolf management. HUNTERS, Wash. — Sheep rancher Dave Dashiell got to his feet and wiped the blood from his hands. A newborn lamb he had just delivered took one breath, then another. He laid the lamb down gently in front of its mother. "I hope he lives," Dashiell said. In this part of Washington state, the hope is not only that the lamb will avoid sickness and injury, but that gray wolves won't make it their prey.
As gray wolves multiply and come off endangered species lists in Western states, a new problem has emerged: Packs of wolves are harassing ranchers, their sheep and cattle. And states are trying to walk the line between pleasing the ranchers, who view the animals as an economic and physical menace, and environmentalists, who see them as a success story. An Endangered Species "How do you cross that divide? However, America has decided it values wildlife, he said, and his job is to help the wolf population recover. In most of the United States, gray wolves are listed by the U.S.
A Costly Program. Starving sea lion pups washing ashore, last link in climate change events. SANTA ANA, Calif. — Every year in June, sea lion mothers on the Channel Islands give birth to a pup. For the next 11 months, the mothers swim off for days at a time to find food for themselves and provide milk for their progeny. In early 2015, sardines and anchovies — the best food — were hard to find. The mothers were forced to dive deeper and swim farther, and by the time they returned to the islands, they didn’t have much milk to offer.
The ocean, which in years past had been full with food, was emptier than before. The pups wound up stranded on mainland beaches in record numbers, emaciated and starving. As El Nino bears down on California this year, worse is expected. Marine mammal care centers are preparing for a rash of strandings. Treating The Symptom, Not The Bigger Issue “We treat them as sacred animals,” said Geoff Shester, the California campaign director for Oceana, an environmental group. Ecosystem Changes Lower Births “The ecosystem changed,” Lowry said. Facts About Sea Lions. Gay Rights Activists: Harvey Milk. Synopsis: Harvey Milk made history when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. A gay rights activist and community leader, he was one of the first openly gay officials in the United States. Milk was tragically shot and killed less than a year after taking office.
Numerous books and films have been made about his life. Early Years Harvey Milk was born on May 22, 1930, in Woodmere, New York. One of two boys born to William and Minerva Milk, he grew up in a small, middle-class Jewish family. Milk graduated from the New York State College for Teachers in 1951. New Life In San Francisco In late 1972, Milk moved to San Francisco, California. Milk had known that he was gay since he was a teenager. In 1977, Milk finally won a seat on the Board of Supervisors. Assassination Milk's election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors came at an important time for the gay community. Not all members of the city government supported the mayor's efforts. White's Trial. N.J.'s governor signs bill banning conversion therapy for gay children. TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Monday he “reluctantly” signed a bill that prohibits attempts to convert children from gay to straight.
So-called "conversion therapy" is a topic that triggers fierce debate on both sides. Christie said he is reluctant to limit parents’ choices when it comes to the care and treatment of their children. But he said he decided to sign the bill into law after weighing medical experts’ positions on the practice. He pointed to the American Psychological Association's findings. The organization has determined the treatment can lead to depression, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts. “I believe that exposing children to these health risks without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious risks is not appropriate,” Christie wrote.
Running For Second Term The ban comes as Christie runs for re-election in New Jersey this year and prepares for a possible presidential campaign in 2016. Morgan asked Christie if homosexuality is a sin. Supreme Court's order expands same-sex marriage. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court expanded same-sex marriage in the United States Monday, effectively making gay marriage legal in 30 states.
Unexpectedly and without comment, the justices decided not to hear appeals from five states seeking to prohibit gay and lesbian marriages. As Chief Justice John Roberts began the court's new term, he did not say a word about the issue. His silence frees gay and lesbian people to marry in those five states. The states are Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Same-sex couples in six other states should be able to get married soon.
However, the appeals court rulings were put on hold while the Supreme Court decided whether to hear the cases or not. Court's Ruling Not Nationwide The Supreme Court's action did not make same-sex marriage legal across the entire country. Evan Wolfson is the president of Freedom to Marry, a same-sex marriage advocacy group. Ed Whelan is with the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Both Sides Say Settle The Issue. Eight states censor LGBTQ topics in school. Now, a lawsuit is challenging that. Eight states have laws that limit how teachers can talk about LGBT issues in the classroom — but a lawsuit in Utah is aiming to overturn one of them. Photo via Getty Images As a 16-year-old junior in high school, Harper McGee had to fight for the ability to say “gay” on campus. At the time, McGee and a friend were trying to create a Gay-Straight Alliance group at Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah, in the fall of 2014.
McGee wanted to have an organized place where students could talk about LGBTQ issues, but It wasn’t easy. School officials were concerned about the name because, as one of them said, it “include[d] a reference to human sexuality.” Utah is one of eight states that has laws, sometimes called “no promo homo” laws, that limit how teachers can talk about LGBTQ issues with students, or forbid it altogether. After a debate at a meeting of the Alpine District school board, the Gay-Straight Alliance was able to move forward.
‘A climate of intimidation and silence’ Selma to Montgomery March. In early 1965, Selma, Alabama became the focus of efforts to register black people to vote in the South. Led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., protesters attempted to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. State and local authorities attacked them to stop the march. On the third try, the marchers finally achieved their goal. Protected by National Guard troops, they walked for three days to reach Montgomery. The historic march raised awareness of how difficult it was for blacks to vote in the South. Prevented from voting based on race The Civil Rights Act of 1964 said a person could not be prevented from voting based on his or her race.
King had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Another attempt on March 9 King himself led another attempt on March 9. Nearly 50,000 supporters met the marchers in Montgomery, and gathered in front of the state capitol building. President Johnson spoke to Congress On March 17, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson spoke to Congress. Opinion: New sense of urgency gives rise to many ideas for better policing. The question is not new, but it seems more urgent than ever these days: How do we improve relations between police and the black communities they serve? In early July, tensions between African-Americans and the police rose to new heights. Protests broke out around the country, following the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota; and police officers Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Smith, Michael Krol, Lorne Ahrens and Brent Thompson in Dallas.
A variety of groups, from the Black Lives Matter movement to the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, have suggested ways to reform our police departments. Some ideas have been around for years, while others have surfaced only recently. The ideas have come from scholars, community activists and the police themselves.
What follows is a list of some of the major reform proposals. Same Rules Across States First, there should be a national standard for the use of force. Issue Overview: Racial profiling. A car is pulled over, a pedestrian is stopped, an air traveler is pulled out of line. If the person is being singled out on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion rather than a specific action, the incident might be an example of profiling, a law enforcement tactic that’s been used, and debated, for decades. Or it might just be discrimination. Separating the two can be hard. Polls show that whites and nonwhites have different views on the fairness of U.S. law enforcement.
In December 2014, U.S. The Situation Loretta Lynch, the federal prosecutor who replaced Holder, has said reducing tensions between police and their communities is a top objective. Thirty states have laws that restrict racial profiling. The Background Profiling as a law enforcement practice gained attention in the 1970s and 1980s in the effort to fight drug trafficking. The Argument Supporters of profiling say it works when it’s based on solid evidence that certain traits are linked to higher rates of crime.
60 years on, Emmett Till's family visits the site of his "crime" and death. MONEY, Miss. — Two vans, escorted by local sheriff's deputies, traveled deep into the Mississippi Delta. Through endless stretches of corn and cotton. It was early afternoon when they arrived at the dilapidated grocery store. "Is this it? " one of the travelers asked. The building was barely standing, covered in thick weeds and ivy. Today, Bryant's Grocery is deserted and forgotten, much like the town. Some say the grocery store should be turned into a museum or at least prevented from falling down.
"They should have preserved all of it," Eddie Carthan said. Visitors See A Very Different Town Once wealthy from corn and cotton, towns in this part of Mississippi are now marked by blocks of boarded-up buildings, poor people and stray dogs. "This is one of the poorest areas in the United States of America," said Johnny Thomas, mayor of Glendora, a nearby village. Last weekend, on the 60th anniversary of Emmett's death, some distant relatives decided to visit Money. Old And Young Remember Together.