SHRINKING BEAUTY
LOOK: Dyke Marsh, A Natural Retreat Near Alexandria, Is Slowly Vanishing

Mark Engler, 06/21/12

Senior Analyst, Foreign Policy In Focus

These DREAMers aren't finished yet. America's shifting demographics are on their side. And their recent victory gives them a well-deserved shot of encouragement.

John Farr, 06/22/12

Editor, bestmoviesbyfarr.com

Today, our most celebrated actress, Meryl Streep, turns 63. Can it be possible? My own top-ten list below reflects what I believe are her best films. On her birthday, let's say: "Bravo, Meryl Streep."

Maggie Furlong, 06/22/12

TV critic and pop culture fanatic

HBO's "The Newsroom" has all the hallmarks of an Aaron Sorkin show, but there's one significant twist that should attract Sorkin fans and the uninitiated alike: He's making viewers the smart ones.

Jason Silverstein, 06/22/12

PhD student, Department of Anthropology at Harvard

Taking DNA samples from people arrested, but not convicted of a crime, has the potential to make our already unfair justice system even less fair. Before we expand the preconviction DNA dragnet, we should think hard about what that means in a racially biased system.

Richard (RJ) Eskow, 06/19/12

Writer; host, 'The Breakdown'; Senior Fellow, Campaign for America's Future

We'll be marching on the headquarters of Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS organization in Washington, D.C., to protest the corrupting, debasing and anti-democratic influence of money in politics. I'll be there, and you should be too. Why?

MutualArt, 06/21/12

World's largest online art information service

Should exhibitions cater to the masses with monolithic shows featuring blue-chip artists and a shiny new line of gift shop merchandise, or should they present a novel intellectual and aesthetic experience?

Brian Frederick, 06/21/12

Executive Director, SportsFans.org

It's one thing to rip baseball fans in general for some of these behaviors, quite another to use only one fan base as a sample and then pen a national column ripping that fan base as the worst in baseball. Particularly when that fan base is your own.

Page Gardner, 06/21/12

Founder of The Voter Participation Center

We all know dogs don't vote. But that fact is news to the right wing. They are using the story of a dead dog getting a voter registration application in the mail to fan the flames of -- you guessed it -- so-called "voter fraud."

Marty Steffens, 06/21/12

Professor and Endowed Chair, University of Missouri School of Journalism

Researching the Civil War leads us down a lot of very dark alleys. Little did I know that researching wartime scarcity of paper for a forthcoming book would lead me to the subject of Southern starvation and the image of stewed kittens.

Brandon Wetherbee, 06/21/12

Assistant editor, HuffPost DC

In my limited experience, I've found that gender, sexual preference and race don't necessarily matter when it comes to funny. I have found that there are more male than female comics. There is a problem and it's not Adam Carolla's viewpoint.

Michael Marx, 06/21/12

Director, Beyond Oil Campaign, Sierra Club

Public transportation ridership is surging nationwide -- whether it's bus, light-rail or train, Americans are using transit.

Marshall Fine, 06/21/12

Author and film critic, hollywoodandfine.com

Scafaria, who wrote the script for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, says she was pushed to end life on Earth by her experience on that earlier film -- and by the growing media interest in the Mayan calendar's supposed prediction of the world ending in 2012.

Kumera Genet, 06/21/12

Youth employment professional

Many Israelis feel that the growing number of African migrants is a threat to Israeli sovereignty at worst or at least a drain on public resources. So who are these African migrants?

Lisa Belkin, 06/21/12

Senior Columnist on Life/Work/Family, Huffington Post

Women have done all the contorting that they can possibly do to cram their dual desires for work and children into the workplace as it exists. Now it is time for the workplace to cram, contort and change instead.