Mohamed A. El-Erian, 1/13/12

CEO and co-CIO, PIMCO

The chatter on Friday's downgrades of European sovereign ratings debt is all over the place. Here is an attempt to provide a guide to the multifaceted implications.

Harvey Weinstein, 1/13/12

Film Producer

In today's world of tightly controlled public relations, is there any way to be other than safe? I always find myself rooting for people who stand up for what they believe in, and it always gives me a great charge to see it happen.

Tressie McMillan Cottom, 1/13/12

PhD student, Department of Sociology, Emory University

Kaplan's assertion that students' fears and pain should be used to motivate them insinuates what many of us suspect to be true of the people who end up at for-profit colleges: they are lazy and stupid. But the students I worked with were not lazy, unmotivated, or stupid.

Elena Panaritis, 1/13/12

Founder, Panel Group; Author, 'Prosperity Unbound'

We need to prove that the European Union is made of countries with a flexible yet robust productive base capable to innovate, attract new ideas and boost entrepreneurship.

Ellie Knaus, 1/12/12

Writer and blogger living in Los Angeles

Girlfriends have your back when you're unsteady on your feet. They celebrate your little victories and walk with you through the darkness. Cherish the women in your life. They make it so much better.

Sir Ken Robinson, 1/13/12

Consultant; Author, 'The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything'

One of corollaries on the rise of science has been a schism between the arts and sciences. The sciences are thought to be all about truth and objectivity: the arts about feelings and creativity. Neither stereotype holds up.

Richard (RJ) Eskow, 1/13/12

Consultant, writer and Senior Fellow, Campaign for America's Future

Bain Capital -- and Bain Capitalism -- isn't Mitt's creation. It was sewed together from the corpses of dead ideals and shocked into life in Washington's political laboratories.

Bishop T.D. Jakes, 1/13/12

Senior Pastor, Potter's House, Texas

Martin Luther King lived by faith with love, justice, and truth as the triumvirate of his legacy.

Craig Newmark, 1/13/12

Founder, craigslist and craigconnects.org

Okay, I'm not in the news business, and I'm not going to tell anyone how to do their job. However, it'd be good to have news reporting that I could trust again, and there's evidence that fact-checking is an idea whose time has come.

Richard W. Besdine, M.D., 1/13/12

For many older Americans, their relationship with the most important drugs in their medicine cabinets can be described as "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

Ingrid Newkirk, 1/13/12

President and co-founder, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Last year, a scandalous video emerged of a U.S. marine throwing a puppy off a cliff. Now there is this video of a soldier repeatedly beating a sheep with a baseball bat to the whoops and laughter of other soldiers who are looking on.

Maxwell Kennedy, 1/13/12

Author, attorney and environmentalist

In a new year in which the candidates will rehash arguments about American exceptionalism, it is worth paying attention to a little known aspect of American foreign policy that breaks the mold in many ways.

Caitlin Crosby, 1/13/12

Actress, Singer, Songwriter

It started in a New York motel. The key to my room was old and rusted. And I immediately loved it. So I 'permanently borrowed' it, put it on a chain, and slipped it over my neck.

Amb. Marc Ginsberg, 1/13/12

Former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco

Is there any way to "break" the regime's so-called "iron hand" short of outside Libya-style military intervention, which is just not in the cards for both practical military and diplomatic reasons? So far, there really is no light at the end of this tunnel.

Heidi Sinclair, 1/13/12

President, Global Technology Practice, Weber Shandwick

The annual Consumer Electronics Show always provides a preview of the great new gadgets, consumer devices and entertainment systems. However, this year, the larger trends behind the shiny new objects were also the talk of the show floor.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, 1/13/12

Civil rights activist

It is fitting that we celebrate Dr. King's birthday the week before the first Southern primary. Republicans still tout Reagan's vision, but it was King, not Reagan or Thurmond who forged the New South.

Janell Burley Hofmann, 1/13/12

Writer

I read picture books with only central female characters, I insisted she wrestle her big brothers, demanded family call her words like smart and brave as much as cute and adorable. I tell her we are all different -- straight and thin to round and plump and millions of ways in between. I tell her it's what makes us all beautiful. Unconvinced.

Jeanne Devon ("AKMuckraker"), 1/13/12

Managing editor, themudflats.net

Sarah Palin, perhaps politics' most high-profile vetting escapee, seems to have a strong opinion on the matter of vetting when it comes to people who are not Sarah Palin.

Sam Haskell, 1/13/12

Chairman of the Board, Miss America Organization

Tomorrow night live on ABC, we will mark the 91st anniversary of an American icon as we continue our beloved tradition of crowning the next Miss America. At the risk of sounding like a diplomat, all of our contestants are winners. Here's why.

Robert K. Lifton, 1/13/12

Former President, The American Jewish Congress

Mitt Romney's career as a candidate tells us little more than that he can be all things to all people. We have to look elsewhere than Bain Capital to make a well-reasoned decision about Romney's qualifications for president.

Jeff Greene, 1/13/12

Real estate entrepreneur

Standard and Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch -- also known as The Big Three -- lost much of their credibility as they failed to act as reliable brokers of information and played a big part in creating the economic crisis that began in 2007. In effect, the market has downgraded them.

David Wild, 1/13/12

TV Writer; Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone; Co-Author, 'Diary of a Player"'

I think I speak for all Americans -- okay, for literally dozens of them -- when I say the prospect of Stephen Colbert formally entering the Republican race makes it feels a lot like the day before it's morning in America again.

Jared Bernstein, 1/13/12

Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Mitt Romney's latest attack is against inefficient administration of federal low-income programs -- he claims that most of the dollars don't reach the clients. Trouble is, the facts are getting in his way.

Clarence B. Jones, 1/13/12

Scholar in Residence, Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University

What are some of the issues Dr. King would most likely talk about in January 2012? It is formidable and challenging, even for those of us who worked closely with him, to interpret his views today on current issues.