James Gandolfini has died aged 51 after a suspected heart attack.

The Sopranos star was on vacation in Rome with his teenage son Michael ahead of the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily.

He is survived by his wife Deborah Lin, their nine-month-old daughter Liliana Ruth and his teenage son Michael from an earlier marriage, believed to be with his father in Italy when he died.

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via James Gandolfini dead at 51: The Sopranos actor dies in Italy following a suspected heart attack | Mail Online.

A fence built along the border with Mexico will stand as a permanent embarrassment to the United States.

A few years ago, a friend who lives in Arizona near the Mexican border took a group on a drive though the countryside near his ranch. After about 40 minutes of bumping through the hills, he braked the Jeep and told everyone to get out. “There it is,” he said.

“There’s what?” I asked.

“Mexico. You’re looking at Mexico.”

Mexico was a hill on the other side of a small wooden fence, which stretched to the left and the right to the horizon. We were in a vast, empty place.

via Henninger: America’s Berlin Wall – WSJ.com.

On key measurements, people on Medicaid did not achieve better outcomes than uninsured people

Does having health insurance make people healthier? It’s widely assumed that it does.

Obamacare advocates repeatedly said that its expansion of Medicaid would save thousands of lives a year. Obamacare critics seldom challenged the idea that increased insurance coverage would improve at least some people’s health.

Now, out of Oregon, comes a study that casts doubt on the premise that insurance improves health.

In 2008, Oregon state government had enough Medicaid money to extend the program to 10,000 people, but many more were eligible. So the state set up a lottery to determine who would get coverage.

That created a randomized control trial (RCT), in which you can compare the health outcomes of about 6,000 people who won the lottery with a similar number who lost.

via An Oregon study casts doubt on whether health insurance improves health | WashingtonExaminer.com.

Yesterday was a busy day on the immigration front.  Let’s get you caught up.  Earlier in the week, sources close to House Speaker John Boehner were indicating that he would respect the so-called ‘Hastert rule’ by ensuring that any immigration reform legislation brought to the floor would enjoy the backing of a majority of House Republicans.  On Tuesday, the Speaker confirmed those reports publicly:

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday told GOP lawmakers that he would adhere to the “Hastert Rule” on immigration reform and not hold a vote without the support of a majority of the caucus.  “I don’t see any way of bringing an immigration bill to the floor that doesn’t have a majority support of Republicans,” Boehner told reporters following a closed-door House GOP conference meeting, where he offered a similar message to his members.

via Immigration: Boehner Confirms Hastert Rule in House, Senate Kills Border Fence Measure – Guy Benson.

Rand Paul seems to be crossing over to the mainstream — or maybe it’s the other way around.

When Kentucky’s junior senator arrived in Washington just over two years ago, he appeared destined to inhabit the role of perpetual outlier. But now, he’s in the mix on just about everything that is happening, and is talked about as a credible Republican presidential contender in 2016.

Paul is aggressively trying to forge at least a cordial relationship with GOP establishment interests that have been suspicious of him — sometimes even outright hostile — in the past.

via Is Rand Paul going mainstream, or vice versa? – The Washington Post.

WASHINGTON — FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged Wednesday that the bureau has used unmanned aerial drones for surveillance in the United States and suggested that government needs to develop guidelines as their use grows.

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mueller said the bureau has employed drones in “a very, very minimal way and very seldom.”

“I will tell you that our footprint is very small,” he said, responding to a question by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. “We have very few and have limited use, and we’re exploring not only the use but also the necessary guidelines for that use.”

via FBI tells Congress it uses drones in U.S. | McClatchy.

A Republican senator blasted the Pentagon after it entered into a new helicopter contract with a Russian company which is supplying the Syrian regime — even as the U.S. moves to arm the Syrian opposition.

The contract was announced Monday with Russian arms firm Rosoboronexport, for military helicopters that will go to Afghan security forces. The Pentagon argues the helicopters are the only option, but Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is adamant that the U.S. find an alternative considering the company’s ties to the Bashar Assad government in Syria.

“American taxpayers should not be indirectly subsidizing the murder of Syrian civilians,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a statement.

via Senator rips Pentagon over contract with company arming Syrian regime | Fox News.

EXCLUSIVE: In the hallowed halls of Columbia University, a nest of ex-cons — who have served time for murder, attempted murder, robbery and assault — hold court on their unique brand of social justice for admiring students enrolled in the school’s social work program, a FoxNews.com investigation has found.

The ex-cons work for or with the Criminal Justice Initiative (CJI), co-founded in 2009 by former Weather Underground operative and Columbia adjunct professor Kathy Boudin, who pleaded guilty to felony murder for her role in an infamous 1981 armed robbery that left two police officers and a security guard dead. And while that case was well-publicized, the group is hardly upfront about the “practical experience” of Boudin and others associated with the CJI.

via Columbia’s Cons: Ivy League social work program run by team of former prisoners | Fox News.

CONCORD— The organizers of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns campaign on Wednesday apologized for including Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev among a list of shooting victims’ names that were read during a demonstration in Concord on Tuesday.

The apology came after several groups, including the New Hampshire Republican Party, blasted the campaign for including his name.

via UPDATED: Apology issued for naming of Boston bomber as a victim of gun violence at Concord rally | New Hampshire NEWS06.

Earlier this year, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg decided he was going to take up the pro-immigration reform side to make life easier for Silicon Valley’s skilled labor.

Thanks to immigration reform legislation pending before the U.S. Senate, Zuckerberg and his efforts have attracted controversy. Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions mentioned him by name on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

Sessions questioned Zuckerberg’s desire to recruit labor and the loyalties of legislators who support the same type of immigration reform as Zuckerberg.

via Jeff Sessions issues challenge to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg | The Daily Caller.