Nurse Your Medicare — Obama’s Coming for It

The only reason President Obama is interested in health care reform is to please big business; Aaron Swartz memorials have become the setting of discussions about transforming the U.S. justice system; meanwhile, Obama’s pick for secretary of the Treasury, Jack Lew, is no stranger to the Cayman Islands. 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.

Obama’s Shakedown of Medicare In a political era of corporate dominance it was inevitable that doublespeak would become the official language of Washington, DC.

A Cheap and Easy Plan to Stop Global Warming Here is the plan. Customize several Gulfstream business jets with military engines and with equipment to produce and disperse fine droplets of sulfuric acid.

Amidst a ‘Revolution,’ Publishers Are Told, Know Your ‘End Users’ Scholarly publishers that want to flourish in the 21st century can’t just keep producing content and selling it to customers.

Memorials for Aaron Swartz Turn to Discussion of How to Honor His Legacy An event held in a Congressional office building last week to honor Aaron H. Swartz, the young computer programmer and open-access advocate who committed suicide last month, was as much a rally calling for change in the U.S. justice system as a memorial service.

Are You With America or the Cayman Islands? When the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street drove this country into the deepest recession since the 1930s, the largest financial institutions in the United States took every advantage of being American.

Need Surgery? Good Luck Getting Hospital Cost Info Want to know how much a hip replacement will cost?

Obama’s Hypocrisy on Jack Lew In a brutal campaign ad last year, Barack Obama showed Mitt Romney warbling “America the Beautiful” while pictures of a sandy beach appeared and the ad declared: “He had millions in a Swiss bank account .?.?. tax havens like Bermuda … and the Cayman Islands.” It concluded: “Mitt Romney’s not the solution. He’s the problem.”