A bored clerk faxes over dozens of patient records to a toll-free number at a government health agency. Routine, right? Unfortunately, no. The clerk typed too hurriedly, and blasted the fax to the wrong number, violating the medical privacy of scores of the sick and infirm. That frightening scenario actually …

Famed Beverly Hills Courier columnist George Christy gives you an insider’s peek into Hollywood’s A-list parties and personalities. “Have you ever seen anything like this?” Quincy Jones was talking with Ginny Mancini about wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel’s inaugural gala with the L.A. Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. “A triumph!” …

The Obamas are doing all they can to bring the Olympics their beloved Chicago. Michelle Obama even used the word “sacrifice” to explain it. In Denmark Wednesday, she said: “That’s what excites me most about bringing the games to Chicago… as much of a sacrifice as people say this is …

I know this is a weird day to say this and I know this might shock you, but back in high school, you’d be surprised by the number of girls who turned me down for dates. Sometimes they weren’t even subtle. I remember fumbling through a request with one stunner, …

Tuesday’s show was all about shadow players. President Obama talks of transparency, yet appoints 16 czars who answer only to him. And far from holding jobs that no one else would do, they just enhance executive power at the expense of departments and agencies that the Constitution says Congress should …

While most of us were arguing with relatives or loosening our belts this Thanksgiving weekend, there was a story that popped up that most of us didn’t pay attention to. It was a story about Dubai and a mini-panic happened while we were sitting at our Thanksgiving tables. They don’t …

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine: Life of the Party Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says health insurance for party employees will no longer include coverage for elective abortion. POLITICO reported the existence of the provision this week sending party officials scrambling. The Republican platform calls abortion …

To help with the cost of Barack Obama’s inauguration, celebrities like Sam Jackson, Halle Berry and my favorite, Sharon Stone, donated tons of cash. An expert on karma, Stone donated 50-grand — knowing that’s the only way a crusty whack-job like her would be allowed outside a padded cell. How …

The siblings of a worker trampled to death by Wal-Mart shoppers looking for Black Friday bargains have filed a lawsuit against the retailer and the shopping center. Jdimytai Damour’s three sisters and brother filed the wrongful death suit Wednesday, according to their attorney, Jordan Hecht of the Hecht, Kleeger, Pintel …

Lauryn Hill| Bad Company Lauryn Hill: Brainwashed? Has Grammy winner Lauryn Hill come under the influence of a cultish Svengali? People around her say she has,and that heaccounts for her strange behavior and equally weird new album of songs. The 27-year-old singer-songwriter, once part of the Fugees, surprised her fans …