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April 30, 2012 | | FOR CRYING OUT LOUD The iconic writer Stephen King scolds the superrich (including himself—and Mitt Romney) for not giving back and warns of a Kingsian apocalyptic scenario if inequality is not addressed in America. SPECIAL OPS He’s out there, and they’ll find him. American special-forces units are using their advanced equipment and training to help African troops hunt down Joseph Kony, who directs his band of child soldiers from the jungles of the Central African Republic. In the dense, hostile jungle, American troops working closely with African forces say that they see signs that Kony’s hold on his fighters is weakening, and the rebel commander has been forced to recede farther into the jungle. As for pressure from back home, one American official told The New York Times, “Did ‘Kony 2012’ have something to do with this? Absolutely.” SHADY Funds from a $4 billion program intended to improve relations between the two countries were siphoned off by the new enemy, a new audit finds. The Daily Beast’s Eli Lake reports on why CERP was still called a success. MITT’S MATH Republican candidate Mitt Romney may have to be extra careful with his electoral votes this fall, with some counts giving him a bare 20 votes over the 270 he’d need to win the presidency. That means that while there is a road to the White House for Romney, it’s not one that will allow for many mistakes. Republicans have had trouble winning a significant electoral ceiling in the past two decades, while Democrats have often swept up far more votes than needed—and Romney will need to take states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan, which have gone blue for the past five contests. IN THE DARK As Chinese and American diplomats work to resolve a tense diplomatic situation Monday, censors inside the communist country are blocking news of Chen Guangcheng’s defiant escape after 18 months under house arrest. Keyword searches for information about Chen on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese microblogging site, yield a message saying that the search has been denied due to “relevant laws and policies.” Officials have also blocked references to the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, because some Chinese saw similarities between the tale of prison inmates and Chen’s real-life drama. | | 
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