28 WTF Moments from the Sixth Republican Debate

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/28-wtf-moments-from-the-sixth-republican-debate-20160115



6. Ben Carson, receiving his first question after 15 minutes of debate: "I didn't expect a question this early on; I was going to ask you to wake me up when the time came."

7. Cruz on why he hid $1 million in Wall Street financing from voters: "I made a paperwork error."

9. Trump on why he's gone birther on Cruz: "I win. I choose him as my vice presidential candidate, and the Democrats sue because we can't take him along for the ride. I don't like that. OK?"

28. Cruz on Black Lives Matter: "I want to speak to all of those maddened by political correctness, where Hillary Clinton apologizes for saying all lives matter. This will end. It will end on January 2017."

The Endless Trial of Trey Gowdy's Benghazi Committee

Twenty months, $5 million, and one Michael Bay movie later, the GOP's Hillary slayer is still searching for answers

By Andy Kroll January 14, 2016



http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-endless-trial-of-trey-gowdys-benghazi-committee-20160114

"A merciful god," Congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina tells me, "would only make you do this once." This, in Gowdy's telling, is the experience of squaring off against the vaunted Clinton juggernaut. It's early November, and I've caught up with Gowdy, the chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi, a few weeks after the committee's eight-hour televised grilling of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It was billed as a potentially fatal event for her presidential campaign — with Gowdy as her slayer. But in one of the grand twists of the primary season, Clinton came out on top. Political observers hailed her performance as "poised" and "presidential." Her poll numbers spiked. Gowdy, on the other hand, looked defensive, at times desperate, matched up against Clinton. Of which, he now says, "Nothing can prepare you."

When Gowdy took charge of the Benghazi committee in the spring of 2014, there had already been seven previous House and Senate investigations, plus an internal review by the State Department, into the circumstances surrounding the September 2012 attacks on a U.S. consulate and a CIA compound in Libya that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. All the evidence pointed to a terrorist attack, rather than the work of an angry mob, as members of the Obama administration initially claimed. But those same reports — some signed off on by senior House Republicans — debunked various conspiracy theories, including the existence of a so-called stand-down order to CIA operatives responding to the Benghazi attacks, that might have held the White House or Clinton culpable for the lives lost.

Twenty months, more than $5 million, and one Michael Bay movie later, Gowdy is still searching for the damning evidence that might prove Clinton's ineptitude. We meet in a spare conference room near his office on Capitol Hill. Seated in a leather chair, sporting a day's worth of silver stubble and a bottle of Diet Coke, he looks relaxed yet worn down, self-deprecating one moment and full of pathos the next. He is lean with a long narrow face, a penetrating stare, and a frosty head of hair that changes in cut and style and inspiration seemingly by the month. (GQ devoted an entire slideshow to Gowdy's various looks — the Keith Urban, the Emma Watson, the Draco Malfoy.)

His district, South Carolina's fourth congressional, is one of the most rightwing constituencies in America. It's home to the evangelical Bob Jones University, where students can't drink, dance or wear jeans. A local state senator named Lee Bright has called for making enforcement of the Affordable Care Act punishable by a year in jail and still endorses South Carolina breaking off from the Union. "If at first you don't secede," Bright once quipped, "try again."

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/265984-rand-paul-gop-banned-me-from-stage

Paul did not make the cut for the main stage of Thursday's presidential debates and decided not to take part in the undercard debate. He argued that he deserved a spot on the main stage and that without him, the party loses is unique perspective.

Instead, he asked that supporters join him in an online national Facebook town hall at 9 p.m. Thursday — the same time the main-stage debate is set to begin.

"Tonight I take the message directly to the people," he said. "Turn your TV off. Choose your own destiny. … Choose liberty, unfiltered and direct from the source."

In the video, Paul said the Republican party needs to be "bigger, better, bolder." It needs to be a party that welcomes everyone and allows diversity of opinion, he said.

http://www.thedailymeal.com/holidays/cadbury-faces-9-million-sales-slump-after-changing-creme-egg-formula/011116

A year after Cadbury changed the recipe for its beloved Creme Eggs — replacing Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate with cheaper cocoa mix, plus changing the standard six-egg order to five — the U.K. chocolate maker is facing the financial repercussions of its decision to ruin England’s collective Easter. Americans, unfortunately, have been getting a powdered milk version for years.

According market research firm IRI, Cadbury is facing a £6 million (approximately $8.7 million USD) slump in sales of the once popular Creme Egg, as chocolate lovers find the disappointment at the heart of the Egg. Total sales of all Cadbury-branded Easter eggs fell £10 million (approximately $14.5 million).

So far, Cadbury has not acknowledged the link between the unpopular formula change and its poor chocolate sales over the last year, with one representative telling trade magazine The Grocer that “the fundamentals of Cadbury Creme Egg remain exactly the same.”

This Easter, Cadbury’s claims will be put to the test when Mars introduces Galaxy Golden Eggs, and Ferraro releases a version of the Kinder Joy egg with chocolate in one side of the egg and a toy in the other.

Sandman, a.k.a. “Canada’s Tribute To Metallica” (we didn’t know they demanded sacrificial tributes from countries of the world, but live and learn), arrived at their London, Ontario gig Saturday night, only to be served with a 41-page cease-and-desist letter, courtesy of Metallica themselves. For some reason, Metallica took issue with Sandman using one of their “official, stylized logos” to promote live appearances, and their legal response was what those fluent in legalese refer to as a “Seek and Destroy” strategy.

This isn’t the first time Ulrich and co, intent on justice for all, have gone after Canadian Metallica fans for trademark breaches. Back in 2003, Metallica and their lawyers went after a small-time Edmonton punk band who decided the best way to get their name out there was to cut out the middleman and just name themselves Metallica. Well, maybe that’s one time the swift legal response was justified. After all, as their lawyers (Damages Inc?) noted at the time, “Your use of Metallica is particularly astonishing to the band, given that you have admitted in at least one interview that ‘you know you are not allowed to use the name.”



http://www.aux.tv/2016/01/metallica-threaten-canadian-tribute-band-with-lawsuit/

Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina Fail To Make The Cut For The Next Prime Time GOP Debate
Paul said he won't participate in the undercard debate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rand-paul-carly-fiorina-debate_569443b9e4b09dbb4bac5bc9

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina failed to make the cut for Fox Business' upcoming prime time GOP debate, the network announced Monday.

Paul and Fiorina did not meet the network's criteria for participating in Thursday's main debate, and are instead invited to participate in a 6 p.m. ET debate with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Paul, however, said he will not participate in the undercard debate.

"I'll be taking my campaign directly to New Hampshire and Iowa. I'm not going to be in South Carolina," Paul said during an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "I think it's a mistake to try to exclude me from the national debate."