Sopa

WASHINGTON -- Activists and lawmakers are geared up for a final push against the latest Internet security legislation, calling on Congress to reject or dial back the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (PDF) because of the considerable power it would give government to examine Americans' online activities. A number of amendments already have been made to the bill as its supporters have tried to secure passage - - a vote is likely on Friday - - by clearing up ambiguities regarding what the law would allow the government to do. CISPA's supporters portray it as a bill focused on opening up communication between the government and private entities for the purposes of sharing information about imminent or emerging cyber security threats, with particular emphasis on those that threaten national security from foreign sources.

ONE of the best pasta tricks I ever learned came from an Italian friend who would always commandeer my kitchen after a big party to make recovery spaghetti. He never put the sauce on the pasta. He put the pasta in the sauce, on the stove, and mixed it up really well. A little butter beforehand made the two parts cling together like potatoes and cream. Giorgio would undoubtedly be horrified to hear this, but I've now found a Mexican dish that goes him one better: It eliminates the middle pot.

SAN FRANCISCO - The escalating cyber attacks on corporate and government computers have provided a rare opportunity for bipartisan legislation to address the problem. But rather than sailing through Congress, the latest cyber security legislation is exposing a fault line in the tech industry. On one side stand some of tech's biggest companies, such as Intel Corp., Oracle Corp. and IBM Corp., which are pressing for more government action. On the other side are thousands of smaller tech firms and privacy activists who have launched online protests to raise the alarm over a bill they say harms privacy and civil liberties.

Although she has lived in Los Angeles for 23 years, Olympia Durand remembers the ceremonies commemorating All Souls Day in her native El Salvador. In urban areas such as Durand's hometown, Nejapa (which is close to San Salvador), the observance lasts two days. On Nov. 1, families arrange flowers on the tombs of children, a custom that is called enflorar a los ninos . The next day, tombs of adults are decorated with wreaths of cypress branches.

One of Pop &  Hiss' favorite radio shows is KPFK's "Travel Tips for Aztlan," the L.A. region's longest-running Latin-alternative music program, as well as one of its most clued-in and unpredictable. Marco Torres, the Saturday night show's founder, and co-host Mariluz Gonzalez go beyond the usual heavy-rotation, instantly disposable Spanish-language synth-pop that dominates commercial airwaves. Instead, the pair consistently bring attention to deserving alternative rock, pop, electronica from across Latin America, as well as the bilingual United States.

- At the village market, my friend Pepa buys a couple of small white fish, a handful of clams, a few shrimp. I ask what she's preparing. " Una sopa marinera, de pescado ," she replies. A fish soup. Nothing fancy, no complications, just a simple home-style fish soup, ready in minutes. In Spanish, " marinera " has nothing to do with tomato sauce - it means mariner's style, fishermen's fare. These seafood soups are traditional aboard fishing boats or in fishermen's homes, where the remains of the day's catch find their way into the soup pot. From the village where Pepa and I shop, we look down to the Mediterranean coast, where a fishing port receives fresh seafood daily.

What would the world be like without the Internet? Fire up your browser and see what you can't do. In the first strike of its kind, hundreds of popular sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing were scheduled to temporarily shut down Wednesday to protest a pair of anti-piracy bills that they say essentially amount to censorship of the Internet. The prospect of a day without the websites set off a frenzy in the hours leading up to the strike, which was slated to begin Tuesday night, with parents urging their children to do their homework early and tech-savvy users posting instructions for how to access cached Wikipedia pages during the blackout.

The industry's chief lobbying group wants to do a better job of telling Hollywood's story. The Motion Picture Assn. of America is launching a new website today called The Credits that provides feature stories, graphics and facts and figures intended to offer more insight into the people and businesses that make the film and television industry run. "I don't think the industry has done a very good job of telling its story," said Chris Dodd, chairman...

A foodie rite of passage here in Los Angeles is to walk the pupusa mile: that stretch of Beverly Boulevard where Koreatown's northeastern fringe pans to a scramble of auto services, a hostess club or two, and Central American restaurants and bakeries. This is the old-guard Salvadoran restaurant row, but these days a new wave of restaurants is revealing a wealth of regional dishes beyond that well-trod corridor. The pupusa may be El Salvador's national dish, but Sonsonate Grill , El Santiagueño and Mis Raices , located in two lesser-known Salvadoran enclaves — between the Vernon-Main neighborhood and Jefferson Park in central L.A., and an area straddling Lake Balboa and Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley — are showcasing recipes worthy of their greatest culinary symbol, the delectable izote flower.

A cast of Highland Park residents is producing a play this weekend as part of an international project documenting the rise of community-based theater. "Saquen La Sopa, Ya!" deals with incest, gangs and citizenship in an immigrant community. The play was developed through improvisation by community members who participate in El Teatro de la Realidad, a theater program based at the Highland Park Family Resource Center.