As President Obama carefully considers our next move in Afghanistan, a decision that will define his presidency, we too are questioning what it means to further commit to this complex quagmire. Would a “counter-terrorism” strategy be more successful than a surge of 30,000 plus American soldiers? If we commit more troops will that actually help our original intentions of disabling al-Qaeda? How can we trust a partnership with Hamid Karzai after he rigged his last election and employs warlords in his cabinet? Do we really want to try and reform the dangerous Taliban factions?
The news is barely giving us a clear picture of what an escalated war in Afghanistan would look like. At this point we are left to piece together fractured bits of insider information. Coming to our aid is the Critical Issues Seminar, “Afghanistan: Which Way Forward?” Larry Mantle, the host of KPCC’s Airtalk, will moderate a panel discussion between Congressman Adam Schiff, a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence and of the Committee on Foreign Operations; Dr. Kalev I. Sepp, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations; and Dr. Reza Aslan, author of “No God But God” and the upcoming “Words Without Borders: Writings From the Middle East.”
WHEN: 7:00pm
ADMISSION: Free
WHERE: The Autry National Center of the American West
ADDRESS: Griffith Park Campus, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027
AUTRY WEBSITE: www.autrynationalcenter.org
COMMUNITY ADVOCATES INC WEBSITE: www.cai-la.org
Despite last week’s love-in about Chief Bratton and the wonders of the LAPD under his leadership, police brutality and harassment in Los Angeles is rampant. The targeting of area immigrants and youth is on the rise. The October 22nd Coalition will be holding an organizing meeting to plan the 14th Annual National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality. Viva la Revolución!
Not your dad’s “Clockwork Orange” anarchism, the new generation has organized its belief in a “culture of resistance” for a two-day conference and fair. Featuring such panel discussions as “Piracy and Hooliganism,” “Anarcha-Feminism” and “A Survival Guide for Obamamania,” the first day will be a veritable summit of current L.A. anti-authoritarianism. The second day, a cultural fair for confronting democratic ideals, will offer the sounds of 19 bands, a chance to stock up on anarchist wares and the opportunity to mingle with fellow freedom-lovers.
Pulling up in Silver Lake for a special screening, the Filmmobile joins forces with the Echo Park Time Bank to present 
In 2004 Democrats lost Nevada by 2%. Prevent this repeat performance by calling identified Obama supporters in Nevada to make sure they get to the polls on Election Day. Bring a charged cell phone and head over to one of the many local cafés with temporary phone banks, including Kaldi Coffee in Atwater Village, The Trails in Los Feliz and Café Tropical in Silver Lake. Volunteers will be on hand to train newcomers as well as calm nerves about Pallin possibly being in the White House.
For a nation that’s produced eighteen “Law and Order” series, this story should prove both familiar and irresistible: on October 1, 1910, a bomb reduced the Los Angeles Times building to ashes, leaving twenty-one dead and dozens more injured. But who did it, and why? In “American Lightning,” Howard Blum unravels the true-life mystery from crime to trial, exposing unseen political forces at work and introducing us to the high-profile players along the way, including “America’s Greatest Detective” William J. Burns, famed attorney Clarence Darrow and even film pioneer D.W. Griffith. Part historical nonfiction, part gripping crime thriller, “American Lightning” is an engrossing look into America’s original “crime of the century.”
Globalization, Islam and heavy metal in the Middle East are all on the table as authors Reza Aslan (”No God but God”) and Mark LeVine (”Heavy Metal Islam”) deconstruct East vs. West myths. In a truly eclectic night of post 9/11 reflections, follow up the intellectual discourse with the Arab grooves of MC Rai and the up-and-coming Iranian heavy metal band Tarantist. No “clash of the civilizations” discourse would be complete without some headbanging at the King King Club with Middle East scholars.
Listen to Barack Obama’s Democratic nomination acceptance speech at a neighborhood movie theatre, Convention Watch Party or even Dodger Stadium. An estimated 76,000 onlookers will be present at Obama’s highly anticipated “Change You Can Believe In” address at Denver’s INVESCO Field. Join the excitement and watch the final night of the DNC with LA’s hoi polloi.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is at the center of world attention, yet it remains largely unknown to the West. Join award-winning photographer Mark Edward Harris for a narrated presentation of “Inside Iran,” the first contemporary photographic book on a place seldom seen or understood by outsiders. Harris’ work offers a fascinating look at a society of juxtapositions—ancient and modern, commercial and spiritual, serene and intense, political and personal. “Inside Iran” is a crucial look at a country whose future will undoubtedly influence our own.
Following its successful revival of Charles Burnett’s independent classic “Killer of Sheep” (1977), the UCLA Film & Television Archives presents “The Exiles” (1961), director Kent Mackenzie’s rarely seen and recently restored documentary. Long considered to be one of the greatest “lost” independent films, “The Exiles” looks at one night in the lives of young Native American men and women living in LA’s now defunct Bunker Hill neighborhood.
