President Obama emphasized proliferation issues at his news conference with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today. Robert McNamara, who died today, is most noted for presiding over much of the escalation of the Vietnam War during the Johnson administration; he was also an increasingly outspoken advocate on nuclear non-proliferation. In 2005, former Secretary of Defense McNamara…

BORIS KAGARLITSKY Director of the Institute for Globalization and Social Movements in Moscow, Kagarlitsky is the author of Empire of the Periphery: Russia and the World System and The Revolt of the Middle Class. He was arrested under Brezhnev and under Yeltsin for his political activism. Kagarlitsky was just interviewed by Russia Today. KATRINA VANDEN…

RICK REYES A veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Reyes has testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said today: “Obama’s plan to step down our presence in Iraqi cities only to step up our presence in Afghan cities gets us no closer to ending these disastrous occupations. Obama’s renaming the…

GREG GRANDIN [in New York City] Greg Grandin teaches history at New York University. He is the author of Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism and The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War. He said today: “Obama needs to align his position with the…

AP reports today: “Developing nations’ hopes for forging a new, more just economic world order appear unlikely to be quickly realized as the United Nations’ Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis draws to a close Friday.” On Thursday, Ecuadorean President Rafeal Correa said member states should consider abolishing the International Monetary Fund. He…

National Transportation Safety Board officials have stated in recent days that they had warned the D.C.-area Metro that trains were in need of upgrades or replacement. Video is here. FRANK HAMMER Hammer is a retired GM employee of 32 years. He was president of United Auto Workers local 909 and also worked in the GM…

REESE ERLICH Just back from covering the Iranian election, Erlich is available for a limited number of interviews with major media. Foreign correspondent and author of The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis, Erlich said today: “This isn’t a ‘Twitter Revolution.’ That description trivializes the broad mass movement…

The British Guardian reports today that Mir Hossein Mousavi “appears to be planning a general strike. A discussion on his Facebook page says: ‘We are working on a general strike plan. Please help us with your ideas if you have expertise on this issue.’” BILL FLETCHER Fletcher is co-founder of the Center for Labor Renewal…

QUENTIN YOUNG, M.D., via Mark Almberg National coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program, Young will be testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), on Wednesday. Young is past president of the American Public Health Association and is a master in the American College of Physicians. A…

RICHARD GROSSMAN Grossman’s work on regulation, corporations and governance includes the books Defying Corporations, Defining Democracy (2001); Fear At Work: Job Blackmail, Labor and the Environment (1982) and the best-selling pamphlet Taking Care of Business: Citizenship and the Charter of Incorporation (1993). He said today: “Regulatory laws and agencies legalize corporate harms, rights denials and…