In Defense of NPR

Bill Moyers comes to the defense of NPR, a London university was warned against taking money from the Gadhafi family, and communism’s role in universal Wi-Fi.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that 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.

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In defense of NPR Just as public radio struggles against yet another assault from its long-time nemesis — the right-wing machine that would thrill if our sole sources of information were Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and ads paid for by the Koch Brothers — it walks into a trap perpetrated by one of the sleaziest operatives ever to climb out of a sewer.

The London School of Economics Was Warned The late Fred Halliday, the stellar and courageous scholar of Muslim worlds who died last year, tried to convince LSE, where he taught international relations for many years (and was Director-Designate of the LSE Middle East Centre, 2006-2008), not to take one-and-a-half million pounds from the Qaddafi Foundation.

In Estonia, Communism’s collapse paved the way for Wi-Fi everywhere Estonia, one of Europe’s poorest countries, is also one of its most wired. Free, public Wi-Fi can be found in places as remote as the middle of a forest.

If You Take Street Art Off the Street, Is It Still Art? Can you “steal” a piece of graffiti art? That’s the talk of the town in Detroit, where members of the 555 Gallery removed a painting believed to be by street artist Banksy from a wall in an abandoned Packard plant. WSJ’s Matt Dolan reports.

A Dose of Reality for Newt Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich can’t avoid the reality that his personal past is a problem in Republican primaries and caucuses where social conservative activists, including born-again Christians, will play a large role in choosing who eventually becomes the Republican nominee.

Thousands Storm Wisconsin Capitol Thousands of protesters rushed to the state Capitol Wednesday night, forcing their way through doors, crawling through windows and jamming corridors, as word spread of hastily called votes on Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial bill limiting collective bargaining rights for public workers.

Michelangelo’s David Totters on Weak Ankles Michelangelo’s statue of David is at risk of being toppled by the construction of a high-speed railway line beneath Florence because of his flimsy ankles.