the congo river

The Congo River (also known as the Zaire River; French: (le) fleuve Congo/Zaïre; Portugese
: rio Congo/Zaire; Kongo: Nzâdi Kôngo) is a river in Africa. It is the second largest river in the world by discharge (after the Amazon), and the world's deepest river with measured depths in excess of 220 m (720 ft). The Congo-Chambeshi river has an overall length of 4,700 km (2,920 mi), which makes it the ninth-longest river (in terms of discharge, the Chambeshi is a tributary of the Lualaba River, Lualaba being the name of the Congo River upstream of the Boyoma Falls, extending for 1,800 km). Measured along the Lualaba, the Congo River has a total length of 4,370 km (2,715 mi). It crosses the equator twice.The Congo Basin has a total area of about 4 million km², or 13% of the entire African landmass.

A Covered Up Hope

Whenever someone says "movie sets", you generally would think of green screens, props, lights, and cameras in Hollywood, but many movie are filmed out of the Americas and in other more diverse countries. For example one of the best franchises, if not the best franchise of films, Simply known as... Star Wars. Produced by George Lucas, this film obviously had many special effects, such as light-sabers, outer-space species, and the ships in space. But some special effects cant just be made, and for almost every Star Wars film, (including the prequels) has a scene on a sand planet, whether it is the planet of Jakku in The Force Awakens, or on Tatooine in all of the Star Wars films I, II, III, IV, V, and VI. The set of these films included villages, such as the Tuskan raider village or The slave homes on Tatooine. So people built temporary buildings for Star Wars and when they were done, the producers left the props and homes there. There are still items there such as a large sand snake skeleton, (say that ten times fast) a few homes, and Luke Skywalkers home from "A New Hope". People used to visit this place regularly but now, because of sandstorms, some of these cool buildings and props are buried. Remember that sand snake I hinted at? well, That thing was found by a paleontologist and claimed a new species, until... he got busted by Lucas co.

Money for kills.

Would you pay $350,000 to kill Rhinos? Recently a hunter from Texas paid $350,000 for the right to kill a Black Rhino. Corey Knowlton won an auction in January for the right to kill a Black Rhino weighing about 3,000 pounds. Also their are within 4,000 to 5,000 Rhinos and Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism they target older rhinos that are closer to death. The New Era newspaper said 60 Rhinos have been poached since 2015. Besides that Black Rhinos can be found in the  flood plains of eastern and southern Africa. Would you kill Rhinos for money because I know I wouldn't.

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate

Most people love chocolate. But most people also don't know that some companies make chocolate in ways that aren't so delicious. When you open a chocolate wrapper, you look at the outcome of the labor: the chocolate. What you don't know (or may care to think about) is thousands of people have put in hard work into that chocolate that you're eating. The problem is, some of these workers are slaves. They are being against their will to make that chocolate bar you're eating. You can help these people by raising awareness and only consuming chocolate from companies that don't use slaves. The companies will clearly state this fact with a logo on their wrapper. What will you do to help these people?
 

Money Makes Up For Endangerment?

         Rhino hunting. Obviously it shouldn’t be legal because rhinos are endangered, right? Not according to the Dallas Safari Club (DSC). This past weekend, the club auctioned off a permit to shoot a black rhino in Namibia, which are highly endangered. The permit was sold to Corey Knowlton for a whopping $350,000! And that’s not even the worst part. The club says that they will be donating the proceeds to the conservation of the elusive black rhino. The DSC also claims that the hunt will “help the wildlife officials manage the endangered animals and bring in much needed funds for conservation efforts”. In my opinion, “managing” the already low numbers of an endangered animal means just killing them off. Furthermore, it seems very hypocritical of them to kill an animal and compensate by donating to the charity that saves them. It’s not like the rhino that they killed will come back after that large sum of money is given to the organization. Why do you think that the DSC even auctioned off the permit in the first place

Here is the link to the website I used in this writing.

African Airlines

Some African countries have banned big devices on planes, that are usually bigger than a smart phone. The African country Egypt has a ban on some electronics, if bigger than a smart phone then it will have to be put in the cargo hold for safety reasons enforced by the Trump administration. Homeland security for The United States states that "We have no comment on potential security precautions, but will provide any updates as appropriate." However US Airlines will not be affected by the ban, but I don't know exactly why. The ban will be put in effect on March 22, to June 23. An unnamed government official says that the reason for the ban is to increase security for a period of time. Do you agree or disagree with the ban on flights?

A "Silent Extinction" is Still an Extinction

Giraffes in Africa are currently suffering from silent extinction. In addition to drought, this is due to illegal hunting and expansion of farmland.The giraffes population has dropped 40% since the 1980s. If they continue at this rate giraffes will be extinct by 2024. Most people including zoo keepers do not know that our world's tallest land mammal could go extinct. Africa's population is growing which may lead to more poaching. I don’t know about you but when I think of Africa I think of the wildlife and giraffes. Imagine what it would be like without them. What can you do to help save these beautiful creatures?