Amazon: The New Drones on the Block

The online retail giant wants to deliver products to your door in 30 minutes via tiny unmanned aircraft; the minimum wage in the U.S. has decreased in the last 40 years; meanwhile, Canada and France assisted the NSA in its spying schemes, according to the latest leaks from Edward Snowden. 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.

Amazon Unveils Delivery by Drone: Prime Air. No, Seriously Not content with next-day delivery service through its Prime program, Amazon wants orders to land on people’s front porches in as little as half an hour.

Soon, You Might Pay for Everything With a Coin Let’s be honest, paying with change is a nuisance.

10 Things We’ve Learned About Taste Most Americans said they are grateful for many things–except, chances are, for the one thing they should be most thankful for when they sit down to the table.

‘Such An Economy Kills’ The other day the new Roman Catholic Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (which translates as “The Joy of the Gospel”) was posted.

Minimum Wage Indeed As Arindrajit Dube explains: As a result of legislative inaction, inflation-adjusted minimum wages in the United States have declined in both absolute and relative terms for most of the past four decades.

French Intelligence Involved in NSA Spying in France, Monde Says French intelligence services worked “very closely” with the U.S. National Security Agency in spying on the country’s citizens, Le Monde reported, citing documents it said it obtained from Edward Snowden.

Canada Allowed Widespread NSA Surveillance at 2010 G20 Summit Canada allowed the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct widespread surveillance during the 2010 Group of 20 summit in Toronto, according to a media report that cited documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.