George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch coordinator who shot and killed unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012, is having a difficult time auctioning off the gun he used that night. After Zimmerman started the bid at $5,000, Internet trolls like “Racist McShootface” upped the bid to some $60 million. Other trolls named themselves “Tamir Rice” and “Donald Trump” and likewise raised the price.

Zimmerman’s auction announcement sparked a firestorm of controversy. Martin was a young black male temporarily living in the Sanford, Florida, neighborhood Zimmerman helped watch. Zimmerman, suspicious of Martin, followed him, and during a confrontation shot and killed the teenager. Zimmerman claimed Martin attacked him and that he only used his gun in self-defense. Zimmerman was acquitted of murder in 2013.

Critics were quick to declare the auction insensitive and an ugly way of profiting off a tragedy.

Shawn Leigh Alexander called it

…another link in the long chain of America’s historical obsession with selling and owning memorabilia connected with the murder of African Americans.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries spectators used to hoard pieces of rope, body parts, embers and charred remains of lynching victims.  During the twentieth century pictures of the horrific murders were sold on the streets and some individuals would send the images as postcards to friends and loved ones proudly proclaiming participation, spectatorship or just some fiendish connection with the event… The selling of a gun used to kill an unarmed African American as a trophy, or “an opportunity to own a piece of American history” is unacceptable.  As a nation we should demand more.

Zimmerman, on the online auction site, wrote:

I am honored and humbled to announce the sale of an American Firearm Icon.

The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin on 2/26/2012… Many have expressed interest in owning and displaying the firearm including The Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. This is a piece of American History. It has been featured in several publications and in current University text books. Offers to purchase the Firearm have been received; however, the offers were to use the gun in a fashion I did not feel comfortable with. The firearm is fully functional as the attempts by the Department of Justice on behalf of B. Hussein Obama to render the firearm inoperable were thwarted by my phenomenal Defense Attorney…

…I am proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds will be used to: fight BLM violence against Law Enforcement officers, ensure the demise of Angela Correy’s persecution career and Hillary Clinton’s anti-firearm rhetoric. Now is your opportunity to own a piece of American History.

The Smithsonian promptly said, “The Smithsonian has never expressed an interest in collecting this firearm and has no intention of collecting or displaying this firearm.”

Zimmerman has also been condemned by many for posting a photo of Martin’s body on social media, and engaging in further domestic violence and revenge porn.

The first online auction site Zimmerman used deleted the sale post, saying, “We want no part in the listing on our web site.”

The current auction site is deleting Racist McShootface and other troll names, but that apparently doesn’t undo the bids. The current bid is still over $65 million.

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Edward Nero, one of six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, was found not guilty of all charges Monday morning, May 23, 2016.

Nero, 30, was charged with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct after Freddie Gray was chased and detained by police on April 12, 2015 and found to be in possession of an illegal switchblade, then put in a police van in handcuffs without being secured in a seat belt, which resulted in spinal cord injuries that put Gray in a coma. He died a week later.

Prosecutors argued Nero helped arrest Gray without probable cause (Gray allegedly saw the police and began running, unprovoked; Nero and others gave chase, then discovered the switchblade) and that his negligence contributed to Gray’s death. Nero’s attorneys argued Nero and the other officers followed proper procedures.

Gray’s death sparked riots and looting in Baltimore. Like Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, it also renewed fierce debate over how African Americans, particularly young black men, are treated by the police — white and black officers alike (three of the officers charged are white, three are black). Research shows blacks are more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, or killed by police than whites exhibiting identical behaviors.

Nero is the second officer brought to trial for Gray’s death. The trial of William Porter resulted in a hung jury.

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Burt Kwouk, the actor best known for his role in the classic Pink Panther films, died on Tuesday at age 85.

Kwouk first played Cato Fong in the 1964 Pink Panther movie A Shot in the Dark. Cato was manservant to Peter Seller’s imbecilic Inspector Clouseau, who instructed Cato to attack him whenever possible — to help the inspector keep his reflexes sharp. Cato was a martial arts master, and his surprise assaults on Clouseau were usually the most hilarious parts of the movies.

Kwouk was born in Cheshire, England in 1930, but grew up in Shanghai, China. He began his acting career in 1957. His first major film role was in the 1958 classic Inn of the Sixth Happiness, opposite Ingrid Bergman. His last role was in 2010.

He was awarded the OBE, the Officer of the Order of the British Empire, by the Queen of England in 2011 for his work in drama. Prince Charles told Kwouk he was a fan. “He told me that when he gets depressed, he puts on a Pink Panther film and that makes him feel better,” said Kwouk years ago.

Kwouk’s agent says the actor “passed peacefully.”

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Grandmother Fish: A Child’s First Book of Evolution, a picture book meant to simplify the complex biological processes of evolution by natural selection for preschool children, may also help American adults finally figure out that no, humans did not evolve from apes.

In what began as a self-published book fueled by a Kickstarter campaign, author Jonathon Tweet and illustrator Karen Lewis’ work received so much attention it was picked up by MacMillan for a second edition.

While making evolution understandable for 3, 4, and 5 year olds may sound like mission impossible, perhaps it shouldn’t. Evolution is a simple phenomenon: over time, species change. In a small timespan, changes are subtle yet noticeable; in a massive timespan of millions of years, changes are shockingly dramatic — descendants look and behave nothing like their ancestors. Changes occur when genes mutate during an imperfect reproduction process, and are passed on if the mutation helps an individual creature escape predators, find food or shelter, or attract a mate (natural selection).

Grandmother Fish focuses on how all life on Earth is related, creating a family tree (the study of DNA, by the way, proved once and for all that Charles Darwin and countless other scientists were right. By mapping the genetic code of Earth’s lifeforms, scientists determined — and continue to determine daily — that all life on earth shares DNA, just like within human families). It also emphasizes the long stretch of time needed for the dramatic changes of species.

At the back of Grandmother Fish are science notes to help parents explain evolutionary concepts further. Tweet wrote on his website, during the early stages of the book, why that was important to him and how he went about doing it:

The story of Grandmother Fish is simplified for preschoolers, so the science notes for parents in the back have to be rigorous. Fortunately, I’m getting help from the National Center for Science Education. These people are serious about teaching evolution…

…I spent extra time trying to get the paragraph below just right. This is the paragraph in the back that helps parents talk to their children about the “grab” motion that Grandmother Ape was good at. Talking about “feet” and “hands” gets tricky when you’re talking about primates, humans in particular. Our ancestors’ limbs have been specialized first for swimming, then crawling, and then climbing. Now our hind limbs are specialized for walking while our forelimbs are specialized for grabbing. It might sound minor, but I want to help children understand how special human feet are. Here’s the paragraph…

• Our early primate ancestors’ paws evolved into four “hands” that helped them climb and live in trees. In humans, our rear “hands” have evolved into stable feet specialized for walking and running on the ground. They are a new kind of foot, unlike the feet of any other animal.

The work has been praised by the likes of philosopher Daniel Dennett and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker.

Hopefully it will capture the imagination of children and spark an interest in evolutionary science, clarify certain concepts for adults who understand that evolution isn’t fantasy, or, for adults who don’t understand that fact, provide a straightforward introduction to a discovery with 150 years of scientific research supporting its validity.

While the scientific community is nearly unanimous in support for evolution as fact, some 42% of Americans do not believe in evolution.

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The Fight for $15 movement has arrived at McDonald’s doorstep.

On Thursday, May 26, 2016, some 10,000 fast food, home care, and child care workers marched to McDonald’s headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Young and old, men and women, and people of all colors protested McDonald’s low wages, demanding $15 an hour and the right to unionize without corporate retaliation.

The protest, funded by SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, comes right before McDonald’s annual shareholders meeting. Corporate employees were told to work from home Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday night, over 100  protesters camped out near the headquarters. Protesters came from all over the nation, such as Atlanta and Kansas City.

McDonald’s said, in response to the protests, that it “takes seriously our role in helping strengthen communities” and gives work to “hundreds of thousands of people, providing many with their first job.” Fight for $15 proponents are angry that 88% of minimum wage earners are over 20, 52% have to rely on welfare because they make so little, and CEO to average worker pay is 644 to 1, one of the highest of any corporation in the country.

Generally, corporations and conservatives insist raising the minimum wage causes unemployment and higher prices, while workers and liberals point to economic research that contradicts this.

“We are just trying to survive,” one protester said. “We are all living in poverty regardless of what area we live in and McDonald’s just made $1 billion in profit the first three months of this year.”

The Fight for $15 has already raised the minimum wage in Seattle, California, and New York.

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