The Swiss are considering limiting the compensation of chief executive officers to a 12:1 ratio, but Americans can’t even get banksters to reveal the comparison of their pay to the average salary; Germany wants to impose a financial transactions tax; meanwhile, in London the per-capita income is 90 percent higher than in the rest of Britain. 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.

While Swiss Limit CEO Pay, We Can’t Even Enforce Our Pay Laws

The Wall Street reform law that passed in 2010 includes a requirement that companies disclose the ratio of CEO pay to median pay.

Right Wing Moneybags Organizations Are Multiplying Like Rabbits

Jesus, just how many of these things are there?

European Progress Toward a Financial Transactions Tax

Germany’s major political parties have agreed on the need to impose a financial transactions tax (FTT) as part of a broad package of economic reforms to be undertaken by a coalition government.

Mistake to Pass Gay Law Before Olympics

Russia’s sports minister says passing the gay “propaganda” law that sparked calls for boycotting the Sochi Olympics was a mistake — not because of its contents but because of its timing.

What if Lee Harvey Oswald Had Lost His Nerve?

A historical novelist—who is also a student of the Kennedy assassination—imagines what might have happened next.

The Evolution of Driving in America

Contrary to the enviro stereotype, I like cars and I like driving. Those who know me well know I’m telling the truth and, if you’re looking for a purist manifesto, you’ve found the wrong guy.

British Disease?

Neil Irwin, in commenting on the fact that the per-capita income in London is now 90 percent higher than the rest of Britain (which means it’s twenty percentage points higher than it was in the late-1990s), suggests a modified version of Dutch Disease:

The Extraordinary Pierre Omidyar

The world knows very little about the political motivations of Pierre Omidyar, the eBay billionaire who is founding (and funding) a quarter-billion-dollar journalism venture with Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill.

No More Digitally Challenged Liberal-Arts Majors

How to give B.A.’s in arts and humanities more career options without abandoning the life of the mind.

NSA Leaks Could Inspire a Global Boom in Intrusive Surveillance

Governments already dabbling with authoritarian control of the Internet could be spurred on by learning of NSA surveillance.

Lurking Inside the iPad Is the Future of High-Def Displays

The appearance of indium gallium zinc oxide transistors in iPads shows that the display industry is poised to begin churning out a new breed of high-performance screens.