Donald Trump Dominates Republican Field in Pre-Debate Bloomberg Poll  —  Billionaire Donald Trump is lapping the Republican field, a new Bloomberg Politics national poll shows, as two prominent governors, Chris Christie of New Jersey and John Kasich of Ohio, rank in the top 10 ahead of the first presidential debate.

2 Men Open Fire On Soldiers At Jade Helm Training Site In Mississippi  —  HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — A sheriff in Mississippi says authorities are searching for two men who fired gunshots from a vehicle at soldiers at a military facility.  No injuries were reported.

“Intact Fetal Cadavers” At 20-Weeks “Just a Matter of Line Items” at Planned Parenthood TX Mega-Center: Abortion Docs Can “Make it Happen”  —  #PPSellsBabyParts “INTACT FETAL CADAVERS” AT 20-WEEKS “JUST A MATTER OF LINE ITEMS” AT PLANNED PARENTHOOD TX MEGA-CENTER: ABORTION DOCS CAN “MAKE IT HAPPEN”

Robert Conquest, Seminal Historian of Soviet Misrule, Dies at 98  —  Anglo-American historian and poet who chronicled Stalin's excesses dies in Palo Alto, Calif.  —  Robert Conquest, an Anglo-American historian whose works on the terror and privation under Joseph Stalin …

Obama to call for Voting Rights Act restoration on law's anniversary  —  President Obama will call for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act on its 50th anniversary Thursday, the White House said.  —  Obama will hold a teleconference to commemorate the landmark legislation and call for its renewal …

Whole Foods' $6 Asparagus Water Is Just Water With Three Stalks of Asparagus in It [Updated]  —  Is Whole Foods trolling its own employees?  —  Twitter user Layla Dhere (@dhere) expressed confusion in a recent tweet featuring the above image of a row of bottles of what is labeled “Asparagus Water” on a shelf.

The Freakishness of Christianity  —  Evangelical Christianity has long had a stranglehold on how Americans imagine public faith.  Vague invocations of “religion”—whether it's “religion vs. science” or “religious freedom”—usually really mean “conservative, Protestant, evangelical Christianity …

Hear Trump's Message on His Leaked Cellphone  —  Donald Trump has turned the tables on Gawker.  After the online site released one of Donald Trump's cellphone numbers, the GOP presidential candidate changed his voicemail this morning.  —  “Hi, this is Donald Trump and I'm running …

Ted Cruz Anti-Iran Deal Site Accidentally Links To Big Photo Of Ass Instead Of Senator's Twitter Account  —  The site urges you to contact your senator to tell them to vote against the Iran nuclear agreement:  —  Via stoptheirandeal.com  —  If you click a link for Washington Democratic …

Uneven Performances in Trump-less Republican Forum  —  Jeb Bush stumbled through a familiar question about his brother and father, struggling for the right words as he cracked a joke about duking it out with anyone who questioned the legacy of his aging dad.

Crisis in Santorum campaign  —  The moves leave the winner of the 2012 Iowa Caucuses without a campaign manager and raise questions about whether he can last until Iowa votes on Feb. 1 next year.  —  Several top staffers have left Rick Santorum's campaign to create a new super PAC …

Police dash-cam video debunks professor's racial profiling claims  —  A college professor who accused a Connecticut state trooper of racial profiling saw her claims fail when audiotape of the stop proved she was lying, police said.  —  According to Fox CT, Minati Roychoudhuri, 32 …

Sandy Hook Families Settle Lawsuits Against Lanza Estate For $1.5M  —  The families of 16 victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting will receive about $94,000 each to settle two lawsuits against the estate of the shooter's mother, Nancy Lanza.  —  Documents filed Monday in Probate Court show …

Idaho's ban on undercover animal abuse videos struck down by federal judge  —  A federal judge struck down Idaho's ban on undercover videos at factory farms Monday, saying state legislators wrongly criminalized free speech to protect powerful agricultural groups.

Montgomery boxes Confederate statue to protect it from vandalism  —  Montgomery County has erected a wooden box around a Confederate monument recently spray-painted with the words “Black Lives Matter,” in hopes of shielding the statue from further vandalism as officials seek to move it out of downtown Rockville.

110-year-old New Jersey woman credits longevity to Miller High Life, whiskey  —  The secret to long life is High Life — or basically just drinking water.  —  A New Jersey woman who turned 110 on Saturday credits her longevity to two things: believing in God and popping the “champagne of beers” daily.

Racial graffiti written on Haley grave  —  The tombstone of a relative of author Alex Haley was defaced in a cemetery in Savannah earlier this week, according to Savannah Police Chief Gary Will.  —  Will said Queen Haley, a black woman and grandmother of Alex Haley, author of “Roots,” had …