America Keeps Swindling Students

The U.S. government is making college loans easier than ever to get, further ensuring the debt slavery of the nation’s youth; it’s possible the cure for AIDS is actually universal HIV screening; and, Craigslist has been accused time and again of killing newspapers, but is this argument valid? 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.

Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal The federal government has made it easier than ever to borrow money for higher education – saddling a generation with crushing debts and inflating a bubble that could bring down the economy

Bezos, Heraclitus and the Hybrid Future of Journalism One of the first people who came to mind when Arianna Huffington heard the news last week that Jeff Bezos was buying the Washington Post was a fellow countryman, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who around 2,500 years ago said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice.”

Chinese State Media Don’t Think The New Yorker’s Borowitz Report Is Very Funny The Shanghaiist brings us news of Chinese state media’s latest difficulty distinguishing reality from satire: The state-run Xinhua News Agency is currently reporting that Jeff Bezos’ $250-million purchase of the Washington Post was the result of an accidental mouse-click while the Amazon founder was shopping online.

Did Craigslist Kill Newspapers? Craigslist is once again being blamed by some for the decline of the newspaper industry, since it allegedly siphoned off billions in advertising revenue — but this ignores all of the other factors that combined to disrupt the newspaper business.

The Real Cure for AIDS In March 3, at a conference in Atlanta, a 59-year-old needlepoint expert, former missionary, and specialist in pediatric infectious disease named Hannah Gay announced that she’d found a cure for HIV.

Elites Keep Ruining America If America’s bipartisan establishment is agreed on something, you can be pretty sure it will be a disaster.

What Happens When You Abolish Tipping For more than six years, Jay Porter ran a restaurant without tips.

Progressives Ask for Too Little, Not Too Much in Age of Plutocratic Rule Truthout recently discussed with Nichols and McChesney the daunting challenge of maintaining a vibrant democracy when wealth can buy the media, the elections and the government.