February 23, 2011

Calendar picks and clicks: Feb. 22–March 4, 2011

Ryan Torok February 23, 2011

The composer of “A Chorus Line” and the songs “The Way We Were” and “Nobody Does It Better” has won every major entertainment award — Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony — as well as a Pulitzer Prize and two Golden Globes. The pops conductor shares the bill with actress-singer Betty Buckley, who won a Tony for her role in “Cats” on Broadway. Sat. 8 p.m. $34.75-$82.75. Valley Performing Arts Center, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. (818) 677-8800.

L.A.’s Iranian Americans keep tabs on new freedom protests in Iran

Karmel Melamed February 23, 2011

In the wake of the Feb. 14 Iranian protests for greater freedom, which took place throughout that country, Iranian Americans of various religious backgrounds in Southern California have been closely monitoring the developments and voicing support for those seeking democracy.

Peace Corps at 50 draws volunteers over 50

Jewish Journal February 23, 2011

Lillian Mizrahi is not your typical Peace Corps volunteer. She first considered joining 40 years ago, when she moved to Los Angeles from the Bronx, but her life became busy with children and a career.

David Suissa: A King’s Speech

David Suissa February 23, 2011

If I were advising the president or prime minister of Israel, I would suggest he go on Al Jazeera this week and deliver this message to the people of the Middle East:

Budget cuts require united front

Jewish Journal February 23, 2011

My in-box has been crowded these last days by requests that I sign on to this draft letter or that, all demanding that budget cuts proposed by House Republicans be restored. AmeriCorps fears it will be eliminated entirely. Federal help to states to defray some of the costs of special education would take a significant hit; so would the program that helps poor people pay for heating oil in the winter, a 66 percent cut. Mentoring for children of prisoners would be eliminated and Head Start cut by 15 percent. Community health centers would lose 46 percent of their current funding, and treatment of substance abuse cut by more than $200 million

Notes from LimmudLA 2011 [VIDEO]

Jewish Journal February 23, 2011

If it was a bit easier than usual to find a seat or a parking spot at your synagogue over Presidents’ Day weekend, you may be able to thank the organizers of the LimmudLA conference. More than 500 Jews from Los Angeles and beyond traveled to the Hilton in Costa Mesa for the fourth annual gathering of cross-denominational learning. LimmudLA is one of 50 annual Limmud conferences worldwide, all of them modeled after the United Kingdom Limmud, begun in 1980.