Diane Ravitch

Historian, NYU professor

The best way to remember Martin Luther King is not to think of him as a statue or an icon, but to take to heart his example. He said no. He resisted. He said, we will not acquiesce to what we know is wrong. How does that apply to the situation of public education today?

Norman Solomon

Author, 'War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death'

Hell hath no fury like war-makers scorned. Simmering rage will be palpable from political elites who do not want to see Congress set an unprecedented precedent: thwarting the will of a president who wants Pentagon firepower unleashed on another country.

John Pavley

CTO @ The Huffington Post, Blogger

For the HuffPost community to grow and develop we must emphasize fairness in access, promote civil discourse, reduce vitriol on our pages and provide a defense against trolling. A key strategy in doing all of this is our plan to require all new members to identify themselves when they create an account.

Maureen Ryan

TV critic, The Huffington Post

Once he had Jesse in his clutches, Hank became Walter White.

Christine Owens

Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project

Ah... Labor Day -- one last chance to throw a burger on the grill and take our minds off work. Not usually a day people spend contemplating workers in America. If most of us really stopped to think about the state of workers on Labor Day, we would be in no mood to celebrate.

Steven Strauss

Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

President Obama's proposed limited air attack on the Assad regime, with no boots on the ground, is the least bad choice. But whatever the result, the U.S. should avoid getting drawn into a land war in Syria.

Mike Adamick

Stay-at-home dad

Courage is 7. She wears tan jodhpurs and a blue coat, and she rides a bowy, knock-knee pony with a wild forelock and a white blaze.

Jonathan D. Lovitz

Public speaker

You know you know gay people. You realize by now that they're all around. You've been on baseball teams and in locker rooms and rushed frats together. We, as the impossible to define bunch known as Gen-Y, have become increasingly cool with our gay brothers and friends.

Christopher Elliott

Author, How to Be the World's Smartest Traveler (and Save Time, Money, and Hassle)

For years, travelers suspected online agencies of serving up higher fares and prices when they recognized your browser "cookies" -- those invisible electronic breadcrumbs that identify you.

Christian Piatt

Author, editor, speaker

Here's a list of handy phrases to help bring followers of Jesus into a post-Christendom, 21st-century world.

Jerry Lanson

Journalism professor, Emerson College

Employees walked out of about 1,000 restaurant. Many earn the $7.25-an-hour federal minimum wage. They're demanding $15 an hour instead, contending, as one Los Angeles striker told The Times' Steven Greenhouse, that "people can't survive on the minimum wage."

Frida Berrigan

Board member, War Resisters League; Columnist, Waging Nonviolence

This back-to-school season, the average U.S. household will spend $634.78 on apparel, shoes, supplies and electronics. My husband Patrick and I, however, did not keep up with the Joneses on this one and our credit rating thanks us for our miserliness.

Ken Reed

Sports Policy Director, League of Fans

It's mind-boggling that at a time when overweight and obesity levels are sky high among our young people, and physical activity levels are down, our schools are cutting physical education classes, recess and intramural sports programs.

James Zogby

President, Arab American Institute; author, 'Arab Voices'

It will not be easy to reconstitute the Syrian nation, to reconcile its people, and to heal the many wounds inflicted by this devastating war. But this, not revenge, must be the goal we seek -- for the sake of the region, for Syria and most especially for the Syrian people.

Mike Dunn

Proud Nutmegger, Univ. of Nebraska graduate

It's been described as a meltdown, but it really wasn't. At no point during Dave Chappelle's show at the Oddball Festival in Hartford was he ever anything other than in measured control of his actions. I was part of the audience at the show.

Donna Rockwell, PsyD

Licensed clinical psychologist, specialist in celebrity mental health, leading mindfulness meditation teacher, and activist in contemporary humanistic psychology

Thirty-three years ago, Dan hired me as a 23-year-old straight out of journalism school -- surely the latest in a long-line of short-lived assistants. These were the first few days of the fledgling Cable News Network (CNN), June of 1980. Unlike his first attempts, Dan and I clicked.

Paul Szep

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist

Shaila Callaghan

Chiropractor

When worn up to 60 minutes per day, it can be understood why the relationship between heavy backpacks and back pain in children is a growing concern. Choosing the right backpack and taking the time to load it properly can make a difference in preventing injury to our children.

Sean Lee

Doctoral student, Department of Political Science, Northwestern University

Please, don't let the conflict in Syria be about opposing America. Let it be about Syria, and what might actually help Syrians -- you know, the actually existing people who are dying by the tens of thousands in this brutal war. But if you can't do that, then do me a favor, and please shut up.

Troy Campbell

Social Scientist, Duke University

Modern comedy is about being part of something -- not just laughing. Modern comedians have transformed their fan bases into meaningful communities such that comedy shows have become meeting places and even celebrations for like-minded audiences.

Rajan Menon

Professor of Political Science, City College of New York/City University of New York; Non Resident Senior Fellow, The Atlantic Council

While President Obama seems poised to attack Syria, it's not clear what he intends to achieve, apart from saving face.

Denise Oliveira

Writer, Lawyer, Entrepreneur

Lots of brides and grooms-to-be get stuck in the band versus DJ debate, forgetting an additional musical possibility that can make their wedding day absolutely gorgeous: A chamber ensemble.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Author and political analyst

If Obama had bowed to the initial GOP demands to take military action before getting congressional approval, GOP leaders would have jumped all over him and blamed him for not getting that approval -- and they wouldn't have stopped there.