They’re not sure whether hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) is occurring within Los Angeles, or to what extent. But by Gaia, they’re banning it. A raucous meeting at the L.A. City Council ended with cheers from the packed audience, the L.A. Times reports,
by Joel B. Pollak25 Feb 2014, 9:10 PM PST0

The Obama campaign offshoot known as Battleground Texas, which was caught on hidden camera by James O’Keefe allegedly violating state law by encouraging volunteers to copy voters’ private telephone numbers from registration forms into their get-out-the-vote database, has doubled down
by Joel B. Pollak25 Feb 2014, 8:28 PM PST0
Canadian Liberal Member of Parliament Justin Trudeau is the subject of controversy after joking that Russia’s intentions toward Ukraine were especially to be feared because of the Russian hockey team’s early exit from the Olympics. Canada’s Sun News Network has
by Joel B. Pollak25 Feb 2014, 9:09 AM PST0
There are many reasons to oppose President Barack Obama’s sweeping defense cuts, announced yesterday by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. One of them is an argument beloved by Obama himself: economic inequality. For generations, the U.S. military has been the
by Joel B. Pollak25 Feb 2014, 8:59 AM PST0

Conservative Legal experts are slamming U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for his call on Monday to his state counterparts to refuse to enforce state laws that uphold traditional marriage. Holder urged state attorneys general to follow the example of California and
by Joel B. Pollak25 Feb 2014, 8:42 AM PST0
California’s state Obamacare exchange is back online after a five-day crash that began midway through last week and is blamed on faulty software installed during a Feb. 16 upgrade, according to the Los Angeles Times. The situation is so bad
by Joel B. Pollak25 Feb 2014, 5:57 AM PST0

It was, as Sherlock Holmes might have said, the mystery of the dog that didn’t bark. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched a major airstrike Monday night on a Hezbollah base and other targets on the Syria-Lebanon border, destroying what
by Joel B. Pollak25 Feb 2014, 5:45 AM PST0

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s proposed defense cuts, which would slash the Pentagon budget and shrink the U.S. Army to World War II levels, are a reminder that the only area of government that President Barack Obama seems to have
by Joel B. Pollak24 Feb 2014, 12:54 PM PST0
Secretary of State Chuck Hagel has just announced sweeping defense cuts that will reduce the U.S. Army to its smallest size since before World War II. In 2013, during Hagel’s confirmation hearing, I pointed out that his newfound love of
by Joel B. Pollak24 Feb 2014, 12:43 PM PST0

The Los Angeles area is expecting its largest rainfall since March 2012 when two major storms arrive later this week. One is due Wednesday evening and the other is due Friday afternoon. Both are expected to break a local heat
by Joel B. Pollak24 Feb 2014, 6:22 AM PST0

It’s that time of year again–time for Israeli Apartheid Week, where ignorant and/or malicious left-wing faculty and students will participate in a global orgy of hatred against the Jewish state, in the hope of poisoning enough minds to create permanent
by Joel B. Pollak24 Feb 2014, 6:09 AM PST0

On Sunday evening, award-winning actor and prominent left-wing activist Alec Baldwin announced that he was leaving “public life”–and blamed “Roger Ailes. And Fox. And Breitbart.” In an extended rant to Joe Hogan, posted on vulture.com and published in New York magazine,
by Joel B. Pollak23 Feb 2014, 9:35 PM PST0

You don’t have to like Donald Trump to be disgusted by the spectacle of the Beltway media’s self-congratulation over their collective role in trashing the man. Buzzfeed’s McKay Coppins, author of last week’s sensational hit piece, was joined by Maggie
by Joel B. Pollak23 Feb 2014, 1:11 PM PST0

What kind of a question is “do you have any regrets?” A cop-out–that’s what. And it’s the question put by NBC’s David Gregory to National Security Advisor Susan Rice on Meet the Press on Sunday, rather than “you weren’t telling us
by Joel B. Pollak23 Feb 2014, 10:39 AM PST0

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel may face a formidable challenger when he runs for re-election in 2015: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Though Preckwinkle says she will seek a second term on the county board in November, there is a
by Joel B. Pollak23 Feb 2014, 7:01 AM PST0

California State Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, who is one of two major Republican candidates for governor in 2014, seized on comments last week by his well-funded rival, former U.S. Treasury official Neel Kashkari, in which the latter told students in Sacramento:
by Joel B. Pollak23 Feb 2014, 6:00 AM PST0
The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) published an op-ed in the New York Times Saturday in which its leaders made a passionate and well-argued case for continued pressure on Iran, and also for the role of Congress in setting foreign policy.
by Joel B. Pollak23 Feb 2014, 5:34 AM PST0

The Nation‘s Stephen Cohen has penned a lengthy criticism of the Venezuelan opposition, now subject to the brutal repression of Hugo Chávez’s successor, President Nicolás Maduro, as well as the violence perpetrated by left-wing colectivo vigilantes. The essence of the charge against
by Joel B. Pollak22 Feb 2014, 11:05 PM PST0

Gustavo Dudamel, the charismatic and popular young conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, is being targeted by protests in his native Venezuela and in the United States for his silence about the abuses of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Dudamel
by Joel B. Pollak22 Feb 2014, 10:02 PM PST0

Now that the Ukrainian opposition has toppled the government, the leaked telephone conversation between the U.S. Ambassador and Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, in which the latter told him to “f— the E.U.,” has taken
by Joel B. Pollak22 Feb 2014, 9:19 PM PST0

Earlier this month, state water authorities revealed that many California farmers would receive none of their annual water allocation from the State Water Project. Now, federal water authorities have announced that the farmers will receive no water from the Central Valley Project.
by Joel B. Pollak21 Feb 2014, 2:52 PM PST0

The U.S. Attorney for California announced Friday that a federal grand jury had indicted Democrat State Sen. Ronald Calderon on bribery charges. His brother Thomas was indicted on related money laundering charges. State Sen. Calderon is accused of agreeing to
by Joel B. Pollak21 Feb 2014, 2:35 PM PST0

An advanced computer network at Harvard University was hijacked to mine digital coins known as Dogecoin, similar to Bitcoin, the university revealed last week. According to Theodore R. Delwiche, writing for the Harvard Crimson, the university would not reveal who
by Joel B. Pollak21 Feb 2014, 10:00 AM PST0

California’s Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom has dropped his support for the state’s controversial high-speed rail project, defying Governor Jerry Brown, who has made high-speed rail one of his central priorities. Echoing arguments made by conservatives, Newsom–who once supported the high-speed
by Joel B. Pollak21 Feb 2014, 8:12 AM PST0

The streets of Venezuelan cities are aflame as Nicolás Maduro’s thugs try to snuff out opposition to his regime. Ukrainian patriots eager to join the west are digging in at the barricades in Kiev. And yet the revolutionaries of Occupy
by Joel B. Pollak21 Feb 2014, 7:51 AM PST0