Joel B. Pollak - Page 305

Attorneys for “John Doe No. 117,” a British teenager who is filing a lawsuit claiming sexual abuse by X-Men director Brian Singer and Broadway producer Gary Goddard, will present their client’s case Monday in Los Angeles. Singer is facing another suit

Some of the many non-profit organizations to which L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling gave money over the years have returned it–most famously, UCLA, which announced last week that it would give back the portion of a $3 million donation that Sterling and

In the past few days, as new evidence emerged that the White House was directly involved in misleading the public with the lie that the Benghazi terror attack of Sep. 11, 2012 was motivated by outrage at a YouTube video,

The National Park Service has issued a warning to amateur pilots that drone aircraft are not permitted in Yosemite National Park.  Drones, some of which are available on the civilian consumer technology market, have reportedly been used by hobbyists to

Secretary of State John Kerry opened his remarks to African Union leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this weekend by asking whether some had traveled by donkey.  “Thank you, Mr. President, for being here. And thank you, all of you,

“Illinois, you put me in a happy state.” That was the tagline from Illinois tourism ads in the mid-1980s, which were near-ubiquitous in an era when John Hughes was filming Chicago hits like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and, of course,

California’s new “jungle” primary system does not boost turnout, but does raise participation by independent voters, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) reported Thursday. According to the PPIC’s Eric McGhee, the new system, in which all candidates compete together and

Federal prosecutors are probing yet another Illinois governor, incumbent Democrat Pat Quinn, as reports emerged Thursday that the Department of Justice had asked state officials about his Neighborhood Recovery Initiative Program, which has also been probed by state and local investigations. 

“What was causing the protests in Cairo that the CIA mentions? The video.” That’s how Slate’s John Dickerson pushes back against the idea that the new White House emails on (sorry, Jay Carney) Benghazi, obtained via a FOIA request by

In Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s celebrated book on the Watergate scandal, All the President’s Men, the figure of Hugh Sloan, Jr. stands out. Sloan was a staffer for President Richard Nixon and an official on his re-election campaign. He

The happy news that J Street had been denied membership in the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations was something of a surprise. Some liberal Jewish organizations that disagree with J Street vehemently on Israel, including the Anti-Defamation League,

The California Latino Legislative Caucus is one of several ethnic caucuses in the California state legislature. However, according to investigative journalist Steven Greenhut, it is the only one that is closed to Republicans. Greenhut notes in the San Diego Union-Tribune that

Several Democrats running to succeed veteran Rep. Henry Waxman (D) in California’s 33rd congressional district have released their first television advertisements. First among the ten Democrats to take to the airwaves was Matt Miller, the Clinton administration official-turned-public radio host

Shortly after the government released gross domestic product (GDP) data showing that the U.S. economy grew by only 0.1% in the first quarter of 2014, the host of Marketplace Morning Report, David Brancaccio, called the GDP report “ancient history” because

UCLA announced Tuesday that it would reject a $3 million donation by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, and would return the portion of that donation that had already been delivered, local CBS news affiliate KNX reports. The announcement is

A year ago, Ed Lasky of the American Thinker speculated that White House security official Ben Rhodes – a speechwriter with no prior national security experience or expertise – was at the heart of the Benghazi scandal, specifically the false talking points spouted on

Kevin Roose of New York magazine says that an ongoing class-action lawsuit on behalf of highly compensated tech employees at Silicon Valley’s leading firms has exposed the “caste” system in the industry: “There are the executives, who talk (and defer) to

Politico, the D.C.-based political publication, is sending senior writer Todd Purdum and media reporter Dylan Byers to Los Angeles.  Though the magazine insists it is not planning a broader expansion in L.A., and that the cross-country migration is largely a

President Barack Obama summarized his foreign policy doctrine in a press conference in Manilia, Philippines on Tuesday: he “avoids errors.”  Obama was asked to define his doctrine by Ed Henry of Fox News. The president, after complaining about Fox News’ coverage of

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry did not apologize Monday for suggesting last week that Israel could become “an apartheid state” if it did not reach a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Instead, he lashed out at his critics–who include

The Associated Press reports that in some drought-stricken parts of California–such as the state capital of Sacramento–local governments are resorting to “water waste patrols,” run by employees and volunteers: “I don’t want to crack down on them and be their

As the June 3 primary draws nearer, Republican gubernatorial candidates Neel Kashkari and Tim Donnelly are relying on different measurements of success to build confidence among their supporters. Kashkari, who has a massive fundraising edge, is rolling out big endorsements,

Casual observers, noting that L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling donated to Democratic politicians and was a frequent honoree by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), might wonder how it is that his racist opinions–which were apparently

On Sunday, the Daily Beast’s Josh Rogin reported that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned world leaders in a closed-door meeting Friday that Israel could become “an apartheid state” like South Africa if it could not reach a two-state

Rep. Mike Honda, a Democrat who has represented Silicon Valley for seven terms, told the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday that he will not move into the district. His home was excluded from the district boundaries

California’s “jungle primary” system, in which all candidates compete in a common primary, continues to befuddle the two major political parties. Just as in the 33rd congressional district, where a crowded field and strong campaigns by Republican and independent candidates

In a unanimous 71-0 vote last Thursday, with no debate or discussion, the California State Assembly passed a bill that would require the state’s board of education to teach students the racial “significance” of Barack Obama’s presidency as part of

President Barack Obama weighed in Sunday from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on remarks allegedly made by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, calling them “racist” and “incredibly offensive.” Sterling was alleged to have told his girlfriend not to brink black people

My father called me from LAX on Wednesday, on his way back home to Chicago after the holidays. Had I seen the Los Angeles Times yet? “There’s a story there about a doctor at UCLA. A whistleblower. They had to pay him

Union Station in Los Angeles is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The gorgeous Mission Revival structure is the focus of a summer exhibit at the Los Angeles Public Library: “No Further West: The Story of Los Angeles Union Station,”  as Dan