Ben Carson Uses Justice Scalia's Death for a Campaign Ad

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2016/02/ben-carson-antonin-scalia-radio-ad



All the Republican presidential candidates have seized on the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to make the case for electing one of their own next fall, but Ben Carson is the first of this lot to exploit the justice's passing for a radio ad. In a spot running on conservative talk radio in South Carolina, a narrator declares that Scalia's unrelenting opposition to affirmative action was a defining part of his legacy and then promises that Carson will carry the torch for the late justice by promoting "compassionate action" if elected president.

Scalia believed that "we are just one race—American," the ad begins. Then it continues:

He thought affirmative action was wrong. That racial entitlement preserves the way of thinking that produced slavery, racial privilege, and hatred. More than anyone else running for president, Dr. Ben Carson knows about race—and hatred. He was raised in the ghettos of Detroit. He saw the face of hatred, bigotry, and violence firsthand. So when Dr. Carson says we should replace affirmative action with compassionate action, that it's a fairer way to treat people, we should listen to him.

The ad is consistent with what Carson has been saying throughout the campaign—that left-wing "political correctness" poses a greater threat to the United States than, say, the structural racism that affirmative action seeks to address. And with this radio spot, the only African American candidate in the race is seeking to win back GOP voters by citing the fellow whom many conservatives embraced as their movement's most prominent anti-PC crusader. As the ad notes—in something of a non sequitur—"Judge Scalia's life has taught us, if you’ve lived the life you believe in, you've earned the right to speak about what it has taught you. The rest is just political correctness."

The latest bad news came on Wednesday, when popular Governor Nikki Haley endorsed Senator Marco Rubio. Her backing gives Rubio another boost in his quest to consolidate the backing of the Republican establishment against Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, and it makes it even harder for Bush to do that. Bush had been angling for Haley’s endorsement too, and on Tuesday—in a moment of candor he may regret now, told NBC, “She is the probably the most meaningful endorsement if there is, if she is going to give an endorsement it would be the most powerful meaningful one in the state.”

A little bit too much honesty was Bush’s theme on Wednesday. After news of the Haley endorsement leaked, he lashed out during a trail stop. “It’s all decided, apparently. The pundits have already figured it out. We don’t have to go vote. I should stop campaigning maybe, huh? It’s all done,” he sniped, then recovered, adding: “That's not how democracy works.”

That recovery was a little late: In reaching for pugnacious underdog, Bush had instead come across as a peevish and petulant. Besides, he’s not just fighting off questions from pundits, but also from supporters.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/jeb-death-watch/463377/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ted-cruz-promises-no-gluten-free-meals-military-article-1.2535823



Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz took a hard line against the military’s top enemy: Gluten-free food.

At a Tuesday rally in South Carolina, the Texas Senator vowed to fight against the Pentagon’s culture of “political correctness” — which apparently means nixing special meals for soldiers with dietary restrictions.

“That's why the last thing any commander should need to worry about is the grades he is getting from some plush-bottomed Pentagon bureaucrat for political correctness or social experiments — or providing gluten-free MREs,” Cruz said referencing field rations known as Meal, Ready-to-Eat.

Gluten-free diets are recommended for people with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder where the body cannot tolerate gluten, the type of protein found in wheat barley, rye and other grains. The special diet cuts out pasta, bread, cereal and other grains unless they’re specially made without gluten.

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2016/02/16/the-psychological-underpinnings-of-2016-the-year-america-went-nuts/

Trump is a “candidate who will promise just about anything.” He has vowed to “be the greatest jobs president that God ever created,” have Mexico pay for a wall at the border, solve all U.S. security problems, defeat Islamic terrorism and stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons once and for all. He promises this without a shred of supporting evidence about his ability to deliver — beyond his self-proclaimed business acumen and mastery at “the art of the deal.”

Trump appeals to people’s motivations for safety and comfort. His message resonates with people who struggle for subsistence or fear sliding back economically. They worry about losing their jobs to competition from immigration or globalization. Many might see themselves a paycheck away from homelessness. They feel insecure and abandoned by their leaders and society. They find Trump appealing because of his self-advertised power, his chest-thumping avowal that “he can!” protect them. His campaign exploits the psycho-dynamics of prevention and defense.

Psychological research attests that when persons lose their personal sense of being in control, they often cede it to external agents: the federal government, a dictator, God. Trump supporters exemplify such yearning for a powerful protector.

“They live in a childlike fantasy land,” one writer quipped, and “want a daddy, not a president.” Trump encourages a relinquishment of control that leaves it all up to him — because he proclaims himself the proven “winner.” His campaign exploits people’s resignation and their sense of frailty, whereas Sanders’ champions empowerment through commitment to a cause.

TAMPA, Fla. - Truck drivers Ron Baker and Craig Dawson have been eating at Brocato's Sandwich Shop on 5021 East Columbus Drive in Tampa for 40 years.

But state inspectors had a different opinion of Brocato's, writing up 226 violations in less than a year from February 2015 to January 2016 and needing to return 12 times for follow up inspections due to repeat violations.

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Those temperature violations were so severe in October that inspectors issued a stop sale on 10 pounds of Spanish bean soup, 10 pounds of cooked green beans, and 10 pounds of black beans because they were improperly cooled and at dangerous temperatures.

The state also finding over a dozen other items in the cooler at temperatures that could make you sick. They include cut tomatoes at 52 degrees, butter at 70 degrees, cut lettuce at 57 degrees, cheese at 46 degrees, breaded chicken at 44 degrees, sofrita at 46 degrees, chorizo at 47 degrees, cooked pork at 46 degrees, and crab meat at 47 degrees.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/money/consumer/dirty-dining/dirty-dining-state-writes-up-tampa-landmark-for-200-violations-with-major-food-safety-issues