AP Stylebook Addresses Illegal Immigration

“Illegal” describes an action, not a person, says The Associated Press; Vice President Joe Biden claims television shows like “Will & Grace” helped change the American public’s attitude toward gay marriage; meanwhile, Kansas legislators are close to passing a law that would quarantine people with HIV. 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.

‘Illegal Immigrant’ No More The AP Stylebook is making some changes in how we describe people living in a country illegally.

On the Antisemitism Question Who knows if Karl Marx was an anti-Semite?

Lots of Cars and Trucks, No Traffic Signs or Lights: Chaos or Calm? No traffic lights. No traffic signs. No painted lines in the roadway. No curbs. And 26,000 vehicles passing every day through a traditional village center with busy pedestrian traffic.

Shortening the Workweek? In what year did the United States passed a law limiting the length of the workweek?

Challenges of Arab Uprisings Reflected at World Social Forum “This was like a dream come true,” said a radiant Sossi Mohamed Sadek, a Tunisian second-year engineering student who was one of the hundreds of local volunteers at the World Social Forum in Tunis.

The Mad World of ‘Mad Men’ “Mad Men” returns to cable television this coming Sunday, continuing its saga of mutable identities and creative branding at a New York advertising firm during the 1960s.

Obama’s Latest End Run Around the Constitution Our country’s democratic values could be under threat if President Obama fast tracks the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Under California Bill, Faculty-Free Colleges Would Award Exam-Based Degrees A bill being considered this month by the California Assembly would create a fourth division of the state’s higher-education system that would provide no instruction and would issue college credit and degrees to any student who could pass a series of examinations.

Did TV Change America’s Mind on Gay Marriage? Did gay and lesbian characters on TV (and to a lesser extent in the movies) help pave the way toward acceptance of gay marriage and this spring’s potential Supreme Court landmark?

Kansas Bill Calls for HIV Positive People to be Quarantined A bill forcing people with HIV or AIDS to be possibly isolated from society could be passed by Kansas government.