Ralph Nader on Prop. 14

What Ralph Nader has to say about California’s Prop. 14, Rupert Murdoch’s billion-dollar disaster, and reports and videos on the flotilla raid you won’t find in U.S. media.

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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Ralph Nader Warns Californians: Vote NO on Proposition 14 Ralph Nader, who has run for president both as an independent and as a third-party candidate, today warned against the ballot proposition promoted by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Washington State’s Third Party Leaders Issue Anti-Proposition 14 Statement

The Israeli spin machine claimed the activists were first trying to use non-lethal weapons including, and this is no joke, paintball guns. (Funny we did not see evidence of passengers with paint-stained shirts, but only blood-soaked shirts.) The respected media watch group FAIR details how some Western media outlets mustered little skepticism in reporting on the attack.

Communication severed with flotilla media Reporters Without Borders urges the Israeli authorities to release a list of the journalists who were arrested during [the] raid on the humanitarian flotilla and to say where they are being held. There were at least 15 foreign journalists travelling with the flotilla who still cannot be reached directly.

Some Western media did a balanced job. Here is Democracy Now! with excellent coverage:

Israelis celebrating attack on Turkish aid ship — in front of Turkish Embassy, Tel Aviv

… And at Ben Gurion University:

Of cowardice, dignity, and solidarity

Survivors of the massacre who are released tell their stories

Demonstrations in … Bethlehem:

… New York:

… San Francisco:

Gaza aid flotilla: Israeli sabotage suspected Israel’s military may have sabotaged two boats carrying Free Gaza activists after both malfunctioned at the same time in the same way prior to the raid.

Nobel-winning Elders deplore Gaza flotilla attack The Elders group of past and present world leaders, including former South African president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, on Monday condemned as “completely inexcusable” the deadly Israeli attack on a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza.

Treat Palestinians Like Jews It was an act of international terrorism, pure and simple. There can be no valid claims of self-defense on the part of Israeli commandos who attacked a ship of protesters in international waters, killing nine civilians and kidnapping more than 600 others—including 15 international reporters who were prevented from filing their stories by a nation that claims to be the beacon of democracy in the Mideast.

What does Israel fear from media coverage? Isn’t it strange how Plucky, Democratic Israel goes to such extreme lengths to prevent any media coverage of what they do, any journalistic interference with their propaganda machine, in light of the fact that — as always — They Did Absolutely Nothing Wrong?

“Use caution — This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.” Punch a pair of addresses into Google Maps and ask for walking directions between them, and Google will warn you of the above, noting that its walking directions are in beta.

This Country Needs a Few Good Communists The witch hunts against communists in the United States were used to silence socialists, anarchists, pacifists and all those who defied the abuses of capitalism. Those “anti-Red” actions were devastating blows to the political health of the country.

Murdoch’s Disastrous Triumph How Rupert Murdoch won the Wall Street Journal and lost billions in the process.