Tony Blair’s Selfie: An Emblem of the Iraq War

A doctored photo of Britain’s former prime minister posing in front of exploding bombs may play a large role in how the Iraq War is recalled; beginning in January, millions of uninsured Americans will receive health coverage under Medicaid; meanwhile, the climate threat we should all be worried about is water scarcity. These discoveries and more below.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that have found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

The Tony Blair ‘Selfie’ Photo Op Will Have a Place in History Art could not stop the war in Iraq but this photomontage – now on show at the Imperial War Museum North – can influence how that war is remembered.

Report by Faculty Group Questions Savings From MOOCs In the second of a series of papers challenging optimistic assumptions about massive open online courses, a coalition of faculty-advocacy organizations asserts that online instruction “isn’t saving money—and may actually be costing students and colleges more,” but that “snappy slogans, massive amounts of corporate money, and a great deal of wishful thinking have created a bandwagon mentality that is hard to resist.”

5.2 Million People Fall Into ACA Coverage Gap The expansion of Medicaid, effective in January 2014, fills in historical gaps in Medicaid eligibility for low-income adults and has the potential to extend health coverage to millions of currently uninsured individuals.

Why Pierre Omidyar Decided to Join Forces with Glenn Greenwald for a New Venture in News [Tuesday] word leaked out that Glenn Greenwald would be leaving The Guardian to help create some new thing backed by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay.

Indigenous Nations Are at the Forefront of the Conflict With Transnational Corporate Power On Monday, October 7, 2013, indigenous nations and their allies held 70 actions throughout the world proclaiming their sovereignty.

The Immediate Climate Threat Is Water Scarcity, Not Rising Sea Levels When it comes to explaining how climate change will harm future civilization, many media outlets (including this one) tend to focus on hurricanes or rising sea levels.

Old Game, New Obsession, New Enemy. Now It’s China. Countries are “pieces on a chessboard upon which is being played out a great game for the domination of the world,” wrote Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, in 1898. Nothing has changed.

The (Forgotten) Utility of the Humanities The current state and future prospects of the humanities are occasioning considerable anxious comment.