Joel B. Pollak - Page 303

Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal columnist is a wonderfully articulate and bipartisan critic of U.S. foreign policy. I must say that I dislike his latest book, America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder, because it is the

With one week to go until the Nov. 24 deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran, there are three possible scenarios: one, a deal that allows Iran to pursue nuclear enrichment up to the point of nuclear “breakout,” with sanctions

National Public Radio has released the latest of its “race card” stories based on “six-word essays.” This one comes from Marc Quarles, a hospital technical who, NPR relates, “is African-American, with a German wife and two biracial children–a son, 15,

On Thursday evening, the South African Parliament erupted into a vicious brawl in which several members of the opposition were injured. It started when a member of the left-wing opposition called the country’s president a “thief.” When she refused to

A long-hidden official observer report on the 2002 presidential elections in Zimbabwe, which the South African government fought for years to conceal, was finally released on Friday following a decision by South Africa’s Constitutional Court. The report, compiled by two

David Remnick has penned an article on the rise of intolerance in Israel–toward Arabs, and towards fellow Jews–that is well-written, nuanced, and multifaceted. Yet it retains a thorough left-wing–and hostile–bias, beginning with the basic presumption that it is intolerance in

The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) film school has received a $10 million gift from Former EBay Inc. President Jeff Skoll to launch the Skoll Center for Social Impact Entertainment, “dedicated to promoting social change through entertainment and performing arts.”

In Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, the indispensable Bret Stephens explained why an Iran deal–which he still regards as unlikely–would be worth less than the paper on which it is printed. Should President Barack Obama emerge, Neville Chamberlain-like, and wave the

The Obama administration is touting a new deal on greenhouse gas emissions between the U.S. and China, according to which the U.S. will decrease its emissions more rapidly now, and China will stop increasing its emissions around 2030. The deal

With all the ballots from last week’s election nearly counted, California’s politicians can return to Sacramento, secure that the state’s massive spending can continue. And with that spending comes thousands of job openings in state government. The capital city’s local

SANTA MONICA, California — A small business owner who operates pony rides and a petting zoo is fighting back against the animal rights activists who convinced the city council to cancel her annual contract next May. Tawni Angel, the owner

Aaron David Miller, one of the most prominent analysts of U.S.-Israel relations, conducts an extended thought experiment in Foreign Policy today about the possible impact of a Hillary Clinton presidency on the alliance. His conclusion is that Clinton “would indeed

Palestinian terrorist Rasmieh Odeh, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prision in Israel over 40 years ago for her involvement in bombing a supermarket in 1969, was convicted Monday of lying to immigration officials when she applied for

At Foreign Policy, Trita Parsi makes the best case possible for President Barack Obama’s recent letter to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Parsi’s argument proceeds on the assumption–we cannot know for sure, since no one outside the White House has seen

Momentum–of a sort–is building behind the idea that California governor Jerry Brown ought to run for President in 2016. On Friday, the same day that former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown argued that Hillary Clinton might lose after all unless

The Ivanpah solar project, partly owned by Google, is now seeking a $539 million federal grant to help pay off a controversial $1.6 billion loan it has already received from taxpayers. The project, notorious for frying birds in midair with

LOS ANGELES, California — On Sunday, Nov. 9, the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall passed without notice in West Los Angeles. Whether that is because we have forgotten the significance of that event, or because communism

Ema Shah is a superstar in Kuwait and the Arab world. Known for her singing and her musical style, which blends pop and classical influences, she is also a pioneer for women in the region, choosing to dress as she

Loretta Lynch, President Barack Obama’s choice to replace Eric Holder as Attorney General, would likely sail through confirmation hearings under normal circumstances–i.e. even when Democrats had not gutted the filibuster rule in a cynical act of partisanship, and when the

Veteran California politician Willie Brown has warned this weekend that presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton “is going to lose” in 2016 “[u]nless there are some serious readjustments to the Democratic operation.” Brown made his remarks in his regular

From left: Speaker of the House John Boehner, President Barack Obama, outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In back: Democratic Party mastermind and Andrew Breitbart nemesis John Podesta Not pictured: incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

In 2006, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, which was promptly ignored. The context was mounting international pressure on the Iranian regime, especially the UN Security Council, which was nearly unanimous in demanding

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal revealed that President Barack Obama had sent a “secret letter” to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in late October. The letter supposedly focused on proposals to cooperate in fighting the Islamic State terror army. Yet the

The most astonishing thing about the Republicans’ 2014 midterm election victory is not how many seats or governorships the party won. Nor is it how wrong the polls were, or how tone-deaf President Barack Obama remains. No–the truly amazing thing

There were two messages from Republicans on the morning after their sweeping victory in the 2014 midterm elections. One was that voters had elected Republicans to stop President Barack Obama’s agenda. The other was that voters had elected Republicans to

The Republican wave election of 2014 was the result of voter dissatisfaction on a variety of fronts. As in 2006, when voters elected Democrats on the strength of frustration with the Iraq War, foreign policy was a major part of

Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari may have lost decisively to Governor Jerry Brown, but he won more than 40% of the statewide vote, an important threshold that may establish a foundation for his future political ambitions. Moreover, at 41.3% of

As the 2014 midterm election wound to a close, left-wing pundits repeated the error of their conservative rivals in 2012, claiming that the polls forecasting doom were skewed. It turns out that they were right–but in entirely the wrong direction.

SANTA MONICA, California — Measure D, which would have defended the Santa Monica Airport by forcing any land use change by the local city council to go to the voters first in a referendum, lost big on Tuesday, going down

It was a long night for California Republicans, who failed to win any statewide offices. However, the GOP did well in the drought-stricken Central Valley, with Doug Ose defeating freshman incumbent Rep. Ami Bera in the 7th congressional district; Johnny Tacherra

With 100% of precincts reporting, former San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio appears to have unseated incumbent Democrat Scott Peters in California’s 52nd congressional district, becoming the first openly gay Republican to win a seat in Congress. However, DeMaio’s lead

Tuesday was the worst day in the recent history of the Democratic Party–worse, by far, than the 2010 elections or even the 1994 “revolution.” It was bad because Democratic leaders insisted until the end that they would hold the Senate;

LOS ANGELES, California — Sandra Fluke, the feminist icon who rose to national prominence after being called a “slut” by conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, and after urging that Obamacare require religious institutions to cover abortion and birth control, has

Here is an update how California’s most interesting local government ballot measures fared on Election Day. Measure L, Sacramento: Mayor Kevin Johnson has long been seeking to shift the city to a “strong mayor” model of governance. The controversial measure