Anjali Taneja

Tomorrow, the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign and Power Paths Productions are hosting a screening of Power Paths, a documentary film that follows the Navajo (Dine) and Hopi tribes as they fight against polluting companies and work to...

Remember when Remote Area Medical (RAM) -- a Tennessee-based nonprofit organization that traditionally provided free healthcare to poorer countries around the world -- delivered 14,000 free healthcare services to over 6,400 people over eight days, in Los Angeles last year? Well they're back in Los Angeles this week, and making history. Today marks the first day of a seven day free healthcare event, the largest event of its kind, and the 601st Remote Area...

Robin Sukhadia and Walter Kitundu performing live. Photo credit: Mischief Photo. Two years ago, Machine Project hosted a month-long Tablacentric residency, featuring the tabla -- a traditional drum of northern India. Twelve tablas were set up all month at Machine Project, and workshops and sessions ranged from tabla lessons to film screenings, cooking lessons, and a talk on robotics and the tabla. The month's events were devised and organized by Robin Sukhadia aka Tablapusher,...

Photo of Patti Smith in performance | Photo by richt/tlobf on flickr About one year ago, Nuart Theater in Los Angeles premiered the award-winning Dream of Life, a documentary about rock legend Patti Smith, filmed by Steven Sebring. It was not highly publicized but the theater was crowded with an audience spanning all ages, all curious to see how a piece that was filmed over eleven years would portray Patti Smith. At the end...

It's a fascinating story -- ex-gang members from Los Angeles traveling to rural southwest Alabama to talk to kids about violence, gangs, poverty and love. Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention program in the country, is based in Los Angeles and is doing just that. The LA Times covered a recent trip to Prichard, Alabama by two members of Homeboy Industries, Luis Colocio and Agustin Lizama.

Mr Mouse | Photo by ccharmon via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr The US Senate convened today -- the day before Christmas -- and passed the Senate's version of the famed health insurance reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This bill will move into conference committee with the House of Representatives' version of the bill in January, before finall passage (Previous discussion of this week's Senate events here). It is not...

Although it was highly anticlimactic and awfully frustrating for all parties involved, this week signified a historic move on the health care reform bill. So what exactly happened? Well, the US Senate voted 60-40 -- not in favor of passing a specific bill --- but in favor of ending debate and stopping further filibustering on a specific set of amendments to the health care reform bill known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [full bill and amendments can be found here (.pdf)]

Photo by Speaker Pelosi via Flickr Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives (D-CA) has been a strong supporter of the Public Option as a critical piece of President Obama's health care reform proposal. For more information on the public option, check out this video and chart. This past week, many politicians are weakening their stances on the public option as a result of pressure from special interests. But Speaker Pelosi marked a...

Really. President Obama's healthcare reform proposal ranks highly among least understood policy proposals in current politics. What follows is a concise and easy to understand explanation of the popular but often muddled "public option" that is contained in national legislation and that forms the centerpiece of President Obama's proposal. This one is great for cocktail parties and local bars, because it's so easy to explain....

Last week the fifth and final White House Regional Forum on Health Reform took place at the California Endowment in downtown Los Angeles. Speakers included California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes, Childrens Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman, and the event was moderated by Dr Mehmet Oz who appears regularly on the Oprah show. A preselected audience shared personal stories, and some questions were chosen from those...