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Joel B. Pollak

Joel B. Pollak

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NPR's Liasson: Blame Bush for Crimea!

NPR's Liasson: Blame Bush for Crimea!

National Public Radio’s national political correspondent, Mara Liasson, told Weekend Edition on Sunday that Republican criticism of the Obama administration on the Crimea was misplaced since, arguably, it was their own inaction when Russia’s Vladimir Putin invaded Georgia in 2008 that

The Honor Flight from CPAC

Touching down at Los Angeles International, on the transcontinental flight from Dulles. Just over five hours, coast-to-coast. Not bad. Even got some work done and caught the last half hour of 12 Years a Slave and Gravity. The pilot welcomes

Crimea and the Limits of Gestural Foreign Policy

By the end of the week, the Obama administration had begun to do what it had declined, at first, to do after Russia made its “uncontested arrival” in the Crimea. It had provided loan guarantees to Ukraine, and promises of

Blue State Blues: The Gayest CPAC Ever

Blue State Blues: The Gayest CPAC Ever

It’s that time of year again: the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC. Every year there are squabbles over who is invited and who is not, which politicians are cheered and which are jeered, and which Republican presidential prospect will

Why Are Conservative Media Ignoring Venezuela?

Why Are Conservative Media Ignoring Venezuela?

At the “Uninvited” event alongside the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Thursday, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel about the ongoing crisis inUkraine. I pointed out that if CPAC had ignored Ukraine to some extent, even the

A Second Palestinian Civil War?

Avi Issacharoff of the Times of Israel makes a very interesting observation about the Israeli navy’s seizure of an Iranian shipment of Syrian M-302 missiles destined for Gaza. The missiles, he writes, were almost certainly intended for a Palestinian terror

Jonah Goldberg's Prediction on Crimea Comes True

A few days ago, Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online pointed out on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier that the language President Barack Obama was using on the Ukraine was setting him up for failure. Specifically, Obama’s insistence that

Breaking: Obama Rejects Crimea Referendum

Breaking: Obama Rejects Crimea Referendum

President Barack Obama rejected a proposed Mar. 16 referendum on the future of the Crimea, which was approved 78-0 earlier Thursday by the Crimean parliament. “The proposed referendum on the future of the Crimea would violate the Ukrainian constitution and international

George Will to CPAC: Democrats in 2016!

George Will to CPAC: Democrats in 2016!

Conservative columnist and Fox News contributor George Will touted the benefits of divided government in his remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday.  “There is a case to be made,” he said, from a conservative point of

George Will to CPAC: Democrats in 2016!

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — Conservative columnist and Fox News contributor George Will touted the benefits of divided government in his remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday.  “There is a case to be made,” he said, from

Amtrak Blames Wi-Fi for Bad Plumbing

The bitterly cold winter of 2013-14 caused major problems for Amtrak in the Midwest, notes the Chicago Tribune‘s Jon Hilkevitch. The train’s on-time rate was only 26 percent, with several spectacularly bad delays.  Hilkevitch notes that Amtrak blames the installation

Netanyahu Visits Israeli Settlement in California

Netanyahu Visits Israeli Settlement in California

If Israel is “America’s 51st state,” as some Israelis sometimes joke, then Silicon Valley might be an Israeli settlement. There are so many Israeli high-tech companies, and so many Israeli entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, that it was virtually home turf

Obama Cuts Funds for Israeli Missile Defense

Obama Cuts Funds for Israeli Missile Defense

In the same week that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intercepted a Gaza-bound shipment of Syrian missiles from Iran, President Barack Obama is asking Congress to reduce U.S. funding for Israel’s missile defense programs by $200 million, according to the

Cleric: Radical Muslim Wife Is a 'Time Bomb in Bed'

Cleric: Radical Muslim Wife Is a 'Time Bomb in Bed'

Egyptian cleric Sheik Mazhar Shahin has issued a fatwa permitting Muslim men to divorce their wives if they are supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, saying that a radical Muslim wife is a “time bomb in bed” whose husband is sleeping with a

Israel's Seizure of Iran Weapons Most Significant in 12 Years

Israel's Seizure of Iran Weapons Most Significant in 12 Years

When naval commandos from the Israel Defense Force (IDF) boarded the Panama-registered Klos-C merchant ship early Wednesday morning, they uncovered the most significant illicit Iranian arms shipment since the Karine A incident in 2002. According to news reports, the shipment included “advanced

Moody's Downgrades Chicago–Again

Less than a year after suffering a major investment downgrade, Chicago has been downgraded again. Moody’s Investment Services announced Tuesday that it was lowering Chicago’s rating from A3 to Baa1, three levels above junk bond status.  Last July, Moody’s downgraded