A Chance to Reimagine the European Union

The EU’s flaws have come into high relief during the recession, but it may be an opportunity to change them; an Israeli contractor wants to build a residential project where only Jews can live; meanwhile, cat cafes are spreading throughout the world. 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 Europe We Want The continuing economic crisis has revealed both the inadequacies and the limits of the process of neoliberal European integration.

Wall Street Journal’s Lobby Chandelier Is Coming Down Wall Street Journal deputy editor in chief Matt Murray told staffers that the Journal’s low-hanging chandelier will come down once they figure out how.

Israeli Contractor Plans Jewish-Only Residential Project in Jaffa A group of religious-Zionist Israelis committed to Judaizing Arab neighborhoods of Jaffa plans on building a new residential project that will cater to and be subsidized exclusively for Jews.

Gay Cat In Nigeria Is Publicly Disowned By His Owner A woman in Nigeria has disowned her seven-year-old cat for displaying “unnatural sexual behavior” when it made repeated sexual advances towards other male cats, the Nigerian newspaper Leadership reports.

The Long Regulatory Road to America’s First Cat Cafe Cat cafes, where guests can sip coffee while petting or playing with a cast of resident felines, have been a thing in Japan since the mid-2000s.