Visionary Arianna Huffington's raison d'etre is to shake us up. It might seem like old news—but it isn't and it shouldn't—that she has changed the way we read our news, and the way news is delivered. Arianna shook up the entire journalism industry with the creation of the Huffington Post—which only a few years ago was an ambitious experiment. Arianna does it again, with her new book, Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning The Middle Class And Betraying The American Dream. Arianna warns that the middle class is near extinction, and that America is in danger of losing its preeminence as a first rate political, industrial and educational model. She cautions that as our middle class erodes, so does our political stability. Third World America, however, doesn't leave us despondent and hopeless—Arianna shares her ideas about how to save ourselves. Huffington has the great gift of being one of the most witty and compelling writers on subjects that can seem overwhelming. The American Dream, she says, has been in our bones for generations. Arianna says that there are those out there who will kill it, and she names names.

Tickets are $20.

Temple Emanuel is located at 300 North Clark Drive in Beverly Hills. It is:

1 block West of Roberston Blvd.;
3 blocks North of Wilshire Blvd.;
1/2 block South of Burton Way.

For Parking, we recommend the lot at 123 South Robertson, in Los Angeles. it is:

1 and 1/2 blocks North of Burton Way.

http://www.tebh.org

In 2002, during Ingrid Betancourt's run for President of Colombia, armed terrorist guerrillas from FARC (Revotultionary Armed Forces of Colombia) kidnapped her and held her hostage for 6 1/2 years. Held in captivity in the Amazon jungle, with a number of other hostages, she was tortured and starved. Chained at the neck, denied medical attention, and exposed to hellacious conditions, Betancourt and her fellow hostages could have died from any number of factors—including punishment from a few failed attempts at escape. Amid international negotiation attempts with FARC, through intervention by Nicolas Sarkozy and other world leaders, amid FARC infiltration by Colombian rescuers, the Colombian military finally conned the guerrillas into handing over the hostages: what FARC thought was a meeting with an "international mission" for hostage inspection turned out to be a hostage handover to escape and freedom.

Ingrid Betancourt's kidnapping, the international appeals and negotiations on her behalf, and her eventual rescue, make for an absolutely gripping read. Her memoir, Even Silence Has An End: My Six Years Of Captivity In The Colombian Jungle, details the six years of survival, of endurance, relationships that were built—and often crumbled—among the hostages. It is a fascinating study in human nature, in politics on an international—and intimate—scale.

Tickets are $20.

The ICM Screening Room is located at 10250 Constellation Blvd. in Century City. The screening room is off the lobby of the MGM Tower. Constellation runs paralell with Santa Monica and Olympic Blvds and is:

Between Avenue of the Stars and
Century Park West

For Parking, we recommend the garage under the Westfield Mall across the street.