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Editorial: Sheriff Out of Town, Election Cash Outlaws Rule
By Klaus Marre
A WhoWhatWhy editor laments the FEC’s regulatory collapse in the face of blatant election law dance-arounds.
WhoWhatWhy Media Extra: Paul DeRienzo on Thom Hartmann
By The WhoWhatWhy Team
Paul DeRienzo appeared on the Thom Hartmann Program to talk about the risk of contamination and explosions from America’s nuclear stockpile waste.
WHO
Bathed In Blood: World Bank’s Business-Lending Arm Backed Palm Oil Producer Amid Deadly Land War
Since 2004, almost 200 World Bank-supported projects led to physical or economic displacement of local populations. Perhaps the bloodiest example is in Honduras, where one of Latin America’s biggest producers of palm oil—Corporación Dinant—is locked in a land battle with locals. It is also the beneficiary of some $15 million in direct loans—plus another $70 million funneled through a Honduran bank—from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a little-known arm of the World Bank that lends to private companies.
Bipartisan Agreement: Foreign Governments Pay Former Senate Leaders to Sell TPP
Today, the House debated authorization of ‘Fast Track’ trade authority for President Obama. Although some in his party don’t support it on ideological grounds… and some on the other side don’t support it on political grounds… when it comes to cashing in on the influence accrued by former members of Congress, there is nothing but complete comity and agreement on the issue. These leaders follow the money.
Louisiana GOPers In Fiscal Mess Beg Grover Norquist To Relax No Tax Pledge
Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist has made a lotta hay—and green—by challenging GOP candidates to sign a pledge to never-ever raise taxes. And now that state revenues are cratering in Louisiana, GOP legislators are in the bizarre position of having to ask Norquist for “wiggle room” so they can raise some taxes to close a $1.6 billion budget gap. In essence, Norquist holds de facto veto power over their efforts.
WHAT
What Should We Do if the Islamic State Wins?
Some think President Obama is getting bogged down in an Iraq quagmire. And the US actually sees al Qaeda as a better alternative to the Islamic State in Syria. The strategy is obviously changing. But what if nothing works? What if the Islamic State is here to stay? Stephen Walt of Foreign Policy thinks the best option is the option used against previous “revolutionary state-building” movements—it may be time to dust off that George Kennan biography and get reacquainted with “containment.”
WHY
This is What Happens When You Scatter 225 Cameras Around the Serengeti
In a word—magic. That’s what “camera traps” set up in Serengeti National Park captured over the course of three years. The project is the brainchild of then-doctoral student Alexandra Swanson. Her study amassed 1.2 million sets of images, which were published and described this week. And the candid pictures are amazing… so be sure to go to the searchable database and type in your favorite animal.
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