Top Items:

Shooter opens fire at Grand Theatre, injures 6, kills self — UPDATED: — Gov. Bobby Jindal confirmed on Twitter that he is speaking with state police to investigate the shooting. … City Marshal Brian Pope has confirmed for The Daily Advertiser that six people were injured in a shooting Thursday night at the Grand Theatre.
Discussion:
CNN, Associated Press, Washington Times, Washington Post, The Week, Mashable, New York Magazine, Fox News Insider, Talking Points Memo and Fox News
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Lafayette Police confirm shooter is dead after opening fire at The Grand Theater on Johnston Street — WATCH LIVE COVERAGE: http://klfy.com/live-stream/ — The Lafayette Police Department has confirmed to KLFY News 10 that they believe the shooter, who opened fire at the Grand Theater, is dead.
Discussion:
NBC News, Daily Mail, WBTW-TV and WLNS-TV

Medicare Cost Projections Are Down Stunningly in 2015 Report — As long as we're on the subject of annual trustees reports, the 2015 Medicare report was released today too. And if the Social Security report was slightly good news, the Medicare report is, once again, spectacularly good news.
Discussion:
SaintPetersBlog
RELATED:
Eli Stokols / Politico:
Jeb Bush defends Medicare ‘phase out’ comment — GORHAM, N.H. - During a town hall meeting here Thursday afternoon, Jeb Bush was put on the defensive about his comments Wednesday night about “phasing out” Medicare by an elderly woman who said she was worried about losing benefits she's spent years paying for.
Discussion:
OnPolitics

Jeb Bush pushes to ‘phase out’ Medicare
Discussion:
cbpp.org, Show Me Progress, Hit & Run, PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog News, The Week, New York Times and Talking Points Memo
Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:
Jeb Bush Quietly Suggests ‘Phasing Out’ Medicare
Jeb Bush Quietly Suggests ‘Phasing Out’ Medicare
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money

Mayflies force shutdown of Savanna - Sabula Bridge — Emergency crews were on scene over the weekend to clear a bridge after bugs took over. — On Saturday night, Teena Franzen recorded the incident while riding with her son in a Sabula police car.

Exclusive: Trump threatens third-party run — NEW YORK — Donald Trump says the chances that he will launch a third-party White House run will “absolutely” increase if the Republican National Committee is unfair to him during the 2016 primary season. — “The RNC has not been supportive.
Discussion:
Salon, The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values, Fox News, USA Today, Daily Kos, CNN, Washington Post, New York Times, The Daily Caller, PoliticusUSA, Wall Street Journal, Rush Limbaugh, Politico, Mediaite, Phantom Public, BizPac Review, NBC News, Outside the Beltway, PinkNews, Yahoo Politics, Hot Air, The Right Scoop, Business Insider, Shakesville, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, The Week and Washington Monthly
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Trump: 'I think I'll get the nomination' — Businessman Donald Trump predicted Thursday that he would secure the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, playing down the suggestion he might run as a third-party candidate. — “I want to run as a Republican.
Discussion:
Hot Air, BREITBART.COM, The Federalist, American Spectator and Hit & Run

Trump Card — When I opened my favorite news aggregator this morning …
Discussion:
New York Times, PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Caller and Balloon Juice
Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Poll shows Trump with slim lead, Walker in second
Poll shows Trump with slim lead, Walker in second
Discussion:
Yahoo Politics, ABC News and Eschaton

GOP's Favorability Rating Takes a Negative Turn — Republicans Less Positive About Their Party — The Republican Party's image has grown more negative over the first half of this year. Currently, 32% have a favorable impression of the Republican Party, while 60% have an unfavorable view.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The American Conservative, Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo

Wait a sec: UN inspectors will be forced to rely on samples provided by ... Iran? — This can't be true, can it? … “PMD” is “possible military dimensions.” In other words, if nuclear inspectors get a hot tip that Iran is conducting (or conducted in the past) atomic-bomb work at a secret site …
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon and New York Times
RELATED:

White House acknowledges ‘side’ deals between Iran, IAEA
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler and Clash Daily

Sandra Bland Death Ruled a Suicide by Hanging, Texas Prosecutor Says — Medical examiners ruled the death of Sandra Bland a suicide by hanging, and the autopsy uncovered no evidence of a violent struggle, a Texas prosecutor said Thursday. — Warren Diepraam, the first assistant district attorney …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Raw Story and KFOR-TV
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Sandra Bland Autopsy Finds No Injuries Consistent With Violent Homicide
Discussion:
Washington Post, CBS Chicago, Slantpoint and The Week

Democrats drop Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson names from annual fundraising dinner — Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson are history in Connecticut. — Under pressure from the NAACP, the state Democratic Party will scrub the names of the two presidents from its annual fundraising dinner because of their ties to slavery.
Discussion:
American Power, Hartford Courant, US News, Associated Press, Fox News, RedState, BizPac Review, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler and Clash Daily
RELATED:
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Bye Bye J-J! — Executive Office of the President/Wikimedia Commons …
Bye Bye J-J! — Executive Office of the President/Wikimedia Commons …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune

Clinton teen who mounted gun on drone arrested, charged with assaulting officers — CLINTON, Conn. (WTNH) — A Clinton teenager who posted a YouTube video of a gun being shot from a drone in his yard has been arrested after a warrant was issued. — Police say 18-year-old Austin Haughwout …
Discussion:
KXAN-TV
Michael E. Miller / Washington Post:
Bison selfies are a bad idea: tourist gored in Yellowstone as another photo goes awry — Every year, more than three million people pour into Yellowstone National Park, eager to escape the cramped cubicles and tiny apartments from whence they came. — They gaze upon the geysers.
RELATED:
Jethro Mullen / CNN:
Bison attacks woman who was trying to take selfie with it in Yellowstone Park
Bison attacks woman who was trying to take selfie with it in Yellowstone Park
Discussion:
Mediaite

Windham lobsterman traps bright orange lobster, his second rarity — Bill Coppersmith caught a bright orange lobster Wednesday, and in 1997 his catch included an albino. — When it comes to catching “one in several million” lobsters, Bill Coppersmith's score is 2.
Discussion:
Associated Press and NPR

Civilian guard accidentally fires weapon outside Lancaster recruiting center — LANCASTER, Ohio — An armed volunteer guarding an Army recruiting station in the River Valley Mall area has been charged with a misdemeanor after he accidentally fired his AR-15 rifle this afternoon.
Discussion:
Liberaland and Raw Story

Judge must decide sentence for LAPD cop who assaulted woman on video — A judge is expected to decide Thursday whether a Los Angeles police officer should serve time behind bars for assaulting a South L.A. woman in an incident that was caught on video by a police cruiser camera.
Discussion:
Fusion
RELATED:
Peter Beinart / The Atlantic:
The Gaping Hole in the Iran Debate — Iraqis peer through the window of an armored vehicle as the last American soldiers leave Iraq. (Lucas Jackson / Reuters) — I have a fantasy. It's that every politician and pundit who goes on TV to discuss the Iran deal is asked this question first …
Discussion:
The American Conservative
Joe Concha / Mediaite:
Exclusive: More MSNBC Changes Coming with Three Shows Out, Hard News and Chuck Todd Back — A well-placed source tells me MSNBC will announce today major changes to its afternoon lineup...arguably the most significant revamp the network has made at one time in its 19-year history.

Turkey to Let U.S. Military Use Its Base to Launch Strikes Against Islamic State — Agreement allows U.S. to operate manned, unmanned planes from air base near Syrian border — Turkey agreed to allow the U.S. to use air bases there to launch strikes against Islamic State forces in neighboring Syria …
Discussion:
Fox News, Reuters, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and NPR

New York Times Editor: Isn't It Awesome How Hillary's Stonewalling The Press? — In a podcast posted on the New York Times website earlier this week, the paper's editorial page editor openly praised Hillary Clinton's strategy of stonewalling the media and refusing to answer questions about her campaign.
Discussion:
RH Reality Check, Religion News Service, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams, The Week, LifeNews.com, Instapundit and Erick on the Radio

No profit left behind — In the high-stakes world of American education, Pearson makes money even when its results don't measure up. — The British publishing giant Pearson had made few inroads in the United States — aside from distributing the TV game show “Family Feud” …
Discussion:
Slantpoint

The Toxic Worldview of Ta-Nehisi Coates — Moses gave us the Ten Commandments. Paul gave us the epistles. And Ta-Nehisi gave us, Between the World and Me. — Get POLITICO Magazine in your feeds — The new book by Atlantic writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, in the form of a letter to his son …
Discussion:
American Power