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US Moves to List Giraffes Under Endangered Species Act for First Time (Maria)
The authors write, “They are the tallest animal to roam the Earth and have become an icon of children’s books, toys and awed wildlife documentaries. But giraffes are in decline, which has prompted the US government to list them as endangered for the first time. Giraffes will be listed under the US Endangered Species Act, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed in a move that will cover five subspecies of the animal. The agency hopes the listing will crack down on the poaching of giraffes, as the US is a leading destination of rugs, pillowcases, boots, furniture and even Bible covers made from giraffe body parts.”
Trump Won Less Than 50 Percent. Why Is Everyone Calling It a Landslide? (DonkeyHotey)
From Politico: “To coin a phrase, we’ve defined dominance down. After years as a 50-50 country, it seems, even a small win gets talked about like a shellacking. Wriggling into office with a puny plurality and less than half the vote in an essentially two-way race used to be considered pretty weak sauce. A squeaker. Why do we now treat a JV-caliber success like some sort of Olympian feat? Following the traumas of 2020, maybe ‘dominant victory’ has come to simply mean a win that doesn’t lead to endless recounts or domestic insurrection. Washington, please stop this consensus!”
What Could Stop Him? (Gerry)
From The New York Review: “Our Constitution includes multiple guardrails against Trump-like presidents. But those checks and balances only work when citizens resist.”
Preserving America From Trump’s Appointments (Al)
The author writes, “The newspapers address the surprise and the shock by investigating each proposed appointment individually. And we need this. With detail comes leverage and power. But clarity must also come, and quickly. Each appointment is part of a larger picture. Taken together, Trump’s candidates constitute an attempt to wreck the American government.”
Yes, You Can Cancel Holiday Plans With Your Family Because of Politics (Russ)
The author writes, “Before I knew the results of the 2024 presidential election, I gave myself permission to do something I’d never done before: change my holiday plans. … For many voters, spending holidays with family was nonnegotiable before Donald Trump came onto the political scene. Now, they’re reassessing.”
Climate Initiatives Fare Well Across the Country Despite National Political Climate (Laura)
From Inside Climate News: “From California to Louisiana, ballot measures on climate and the environment gained voters’ approval. In state legislatures, results were mixed.”
A Lone Dolphin Has Been Yelling Into Baltic Sea for Years (Dana)
The author writes, “A solitary dolphin swimming off Denmark’s frigid coast is chirping and yelling into the vast nothingness, and no one is responding. The 17-year-old bottlenose Dolphin, which locals named ‘Delle,’ was first spotted roaming the Svendborgsund channel around five years ago. That’s odd because the area is far outside the region dolphins normally traverse. Odder still, Delle appeared all on his own, a rarity for a highly social species that almost always travels in pods.”
