The uproar generated by Rush Limbaugh repeatedly referring to Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke as a ‘slut’ and a ‘prostitute’ on his widely listened to radio program is showing little sign of dying down. Apparently many advertisers have pulled their support from his show, though this may be just a temporary setback for him. As long as he continues to command a large audience, advertisers will likely slowly come back once the furor dies down. [Read more…]

So says the UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez.

Mendez told the Guardian that he could not reach a definitive conclusion on whether Manning had been tortured because he has consistently been denied permission by the US military to interview the prisoner under acceptable circumstances. [Read more…]

Some conventional political observers give reasons such as the high unemployment rate, the majority who say the country is on the wrong track, and Obama’s below 50% job approval rating, as reasons why Obama’s re-election chances are dim. [Read more…]

One of the ways is which ordinary people are intimidated is by the government passing all manner of laws that violate basic rights and then selectively using those laws to go after those they dislike or are powerless, while exempting the elite classes from prosecution. This has the effect of making people, especially political activists, constantly have to be on the alert in case they violate this or that law passed in the war on terror. [Read more…]

In a comment to my post on what really matters in predicting presidential election outcomes, where I said that political scientists tend to look at things like the change in disposable income, reader Vincenzo kindly provided a link to an essay by political scientist Douglas Hibbs where he spells out the model more precisely. Hibbs has what he calls a ‘Bread and Peace’ Model, which looks at [Read more…]