CHRISTINE AHN, christineahn at mac.com, Ahn is executive director of the Korea Policy Institute and a member of Korean Americans for Fair Trade. She said today: “While Kim Jong Il’s death comes as a great shock, his illness since 2008 has long been reported in the media, and had set in motion succession plans for…

The Washington Post reports on the current spending package: “Social conservatives won a ban on government-funded abortions in Washington, D.C., and restored a longstanding ban on funding for needle exchange programs used to prevent the spread of HIV. But efforts to take away federal funding for Planned Parenthood failed, as expected.”

RAED JARRAR, jarrar.raed at gmail.com Jarrar is an Iraqi-American blogger and political analyst based in Washington, D.C. He said today: “Millions of Iraqis are celebrating the U.S. withdrawal this month, in what is widely viewed as a condemnation of the U.S. military involvement in Iraq. This is especially true with the final attempt by the…

GAR ALPEROVITZ, via John Duda, jduda at democracycollaborative.org, KEANE BHATT, keanebhatt at gmail.com THOMAS HANNAH, tmhanna at democracycollaborative.org Alperovitz, author of the just-released new edition of America Beyond Capitalism wrote an op-ed titled “Worker-Owners of America, Unite!” published in today’s New York Times. The piece states: “A mere 1 percent of Americans own just under…

SHAHID BUTTAR, via Amy E. Ferrer, media at bordc.org Buttar is executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, which is organizing a news conference today at the National Press Club on the National Defense Authorization Act. He said today: “By naming ‘the protester’ as its ‘Person of the Year,’ Time magazine recognized the…

SAM PIZZIGATI, editor at toomuchonline.org, Pizzigati edits “Too Much” the weekly Institute for Policy Studies newsletter on excess and inequality. He just wrote the piece “The 10 Greediest Americans of 2011,’ which lists the following: 10. Michael T. Duke, Wal-Mart CEO: Duke takes home his millions — $18.7 million in the company’s latest fiscal year…

Video stream of protests at the Climate talks from today. The Guardian is providing live coverage. MICHAEL DORSEY, michael.dorsey at dartmouth.edu, Professor at the Environmental Studies Program at Dartmouth College, Dorsey said this afternoon: “This current draft text in circulation is a death sentence for Africa. Countries may not even examine progress until 2015. The…

he following analysts are available for a limited number of interviews: REESE ERLICH, rerlich at pacbell.net Foreign correspondent Erlich’s books include The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis and Conversations with Terrorists: Middle East Leaders on Politics, Violence, and Empire. He said: “The CIA has now acknowledged that…

Global climate talks in Durban, South Africa are now in their final week. ANDREW BUTLER, campaigner at riseup.net Butler is executive producer of the new film “Carbon Markets, Trading Our Future”. He said today: “The same financial institutions who have brought the global economy to its knees, whilst at the same time personally profiting from…

MICHAEL DORSEY, michael.dorsey at dartmouth.edu, “The arrival of lead U.S. negotiator for the United States, Todd Stern, in Durban South Africa spells doom for Africa and the planet,” said Dartmouth College Professor Michael Dorsey, after leaving a closed briefing with U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Stern and the U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Climate…