Some of the best #MuckReads we read this week. Want to receive these by email? Sign up to get this briefing delivered to your inbox every weekend.
'Bathed In blood' (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists & The Huffington Post)
Aguan Valley palm oil horror gets big coverage from @sashachavkin for @ICIJorg and @HuffingtonPost at http://t.co/STnlivlmPg
— Steven Bodzin (@guacamayan) June 11, 2015"Since 2004, the (World Bank's International Finance Corporation) has approved more than 180 projects that may involve physical or economic displacement, according to an analysis of IFC documents by the ICIJ. In such cases, displaced families could lose their homes or other assets or suffer damage to their livelihoods.
Migrants and the new Mediterranean mafia (Newsweek)
Migrants & the Mafia http://t.co/Vxu7Cz4xJt Enjoyed working on this must read story, makes me proud to be a photo editor. #muckreads
— Shaminder Dulai (@SDulai) June 10, 2015"...the man who is allegedly among the busiest and most sophisticated of the traffickers: an Ethiopian based in Libya named Ermias Ghermay. ... It is, the prosecutor adds, a criminal operation like no other. No name, no fixed base, a fluid membership and, most remarkably, 'totally without risk.' 'With drugs, if you lose the drugs, you lose your money,' says an anti-Mafia prosecutor. 'But in this case, you pay in advance. Even if the migrants drown, Ermias has already been paid.'"
Food flavor safety system a 'black box' (Center for Public Integrity)
Food flavor safety system a 'black box' — a new @Publici investigation #muckreadshttp://t.co/khaU6HS93p
— Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) June 10, 2015"Most Americans know as little about the decidedly low-profile Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association and its safety assessments as they do about the more than 2,700 flavoring chemicals it has declared safe during the past five decades. Moreover, public interest groups say the FDA's recent response to a Freedom of Information Act request suggests that even the government may be blind to the science behind many of those flavors."
Use it or lose it: Across the West, exercising one's right to waste water (ProPublica)
Redefining epic:@AbrahmL year-long effort, the multipart 'Killing the Colorado' in @ProPublicahttp://t.co/6hkv5BKQm6pic.twitter.com/aIWFDXBZu7
— Jay Famiglietti (@JayFamiglietti) June 10, 2015"Why shouldn't we have a say in how those savings are used?" asked Ken Spann, one of western Colorado's significant water users, who farms thousands of acres between Crested Butte and the town of Delta downstream. "Do I have a moral and ethical obligation as a citizen of Colorado to ensure that they can continue to expand the metropolitan area toward the Kansas line? I don't think I do."
