The Gentrification of Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas

As rising prices in the rest of the beloved Brazilian city are pushing more people to live in shantytowns, they may become unaffordable to lower income residents; Bob Dylan has been charged in Paris for comparing Croats to Nazis; meanwhile, a forthcoming Supreme Court ruling will put the “corporations are people” argument to the test. 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.

Is a Favela Still a Favela Once It Starts Gentrifying? Rio de Janeiro’s shanty towns, its favelas, long stricken by poverty and violence, have a new boogeyman: Gentrification.

Secretive Program Reportedly Recruits Air Force Cadets to Inform on Peers The U.S. Air Force has created a secretive program to recruit cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy to serve as informants and report on misconduct by their peers, according to The Gazette, a Colorado Springs newspaper.

Bob Dylan Charged in France Over Rolling Stone Interview Bob Dylan has been charged with incitement to hatred in France after he was quoted comparing Croats with Nazis in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, a judicial source said Monday.

Ending the Criminal Insanity of the Concept of Corporations as People Anyone who isn’t worried about how the Supreme Court may rule on whether secular corporations can deny health insurance coverage of birth control for its female employees hasn’t been paying attention.

Why Birds Can Sleep on Branches and Not Fall Off You ever see a bird clutching onto a branch high in a tree and wonder, “What happens if it falls asleep? How could it hold on?”

The Rich and Educated Believe Wealth Correlates with Virtue, Says Study The rich think they’re superior, they deserve their wealth and that the world is fair.

Merchandise Uses Olympics Principles Against Russian Anti-Gay Laws One of the mainstays of the Olympics is the myriad examples of branded merchandise that are sold to support the Games, not to mention burnish the images of official sponsors.

Reality Check: Cars Didn’t Save Our Cities From Being Buried in Horse Manure “History loves smooth transitions,” writes Brandon Keim in the new Nautilus, in an essay debunking one of the more endearing tales about technological transformation in American cities.

One Answer to San Francisco’s Overpriced Housing: ‘Co-Living’ Allegedly popular in San Francisco: Investor-backed individuals turning mansions into modern-day communes, in which a couple dozen residents share meals, chores, entrepreneurial ideas, deep discussions, and maybe, one day, babysitters.