Adam Banner

Criminal Defense Attorney

Despite President Obama's turkey pardon speech urging "compassion for those in need," his presidency has been marked by a dearth of compassion and mercy for those serving long sentences for minor drug crimes.

Arzu Kaya Uranli

Editor, Zaman USA

When you use a proper hashtag, you can be heard and make a difference as we are seeing nowadays. If you have something to say, it's the place to be. Honestly, I believe everybody in Turkey needs it right now!

Roger Friedland

Professor of Religious Studies and Sociology, UC Santa Barbara

Everyone was keeping an eye on Turkey, hopeful that this country would show the way that liberal democracy and political Islam might together find an alternative path to modernity.

Evagelos Sotiropoulos

Orthodox Christian, freelance columnist, part-time political scientist

The historic city of Berlin will host an historic international conference on religious freedom this week.

Emre Celik

President, Rumi Forum

Does such skepticism further ostracize the 'other' or does it give rise to greater motivation and encouragement for such communities, groups and organizations to be more proactive?

Steven Raichlen

Grilling Authority, www.barbecuebible.com

Remarkably, 88 out of 100 people in the U.S. eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day, according to the National Turkey Foundation. So you can safely conclude 88 people out of 100 will be hungering for leftovers on Black Friday, formerly known as The-Day-After-Thanksgiving.

Magda Abu-Fadil

Director of Media Unlimited in Lebanon

What an eye-catching headline! The tarboush, a/k/a the fez of Middle Eastern and Arab lore, was pegged as the root cause of the recent flap between ...

Magda Abu-Fadil

Director of Media Unlimited in Lebanon

What an eye-catching headline! The tarboush, a/k/a the fez of Middle Eastern and Arab lore, was pegged as the root cause of the recent flap between ...

El Guapo

Satirist; Founder of The Daily Refried; 'Official Latino Spokesperson/model; Prophet'

What gives? Our resident Daily Refried psychologist says it's a rather straightforward answer.

Navina Khanna

Co-founder of Live Real and a Movement Strategy Center Fellow

What haunts me most is not the countless studies that document the inhumane treatment of animals or the research by the Environmental Working Group that established that each ounce of turkey consumed has the carbon footprint of driving a mile in a car.

David Ropeik

Author, 'How Risky Is It, Really?'

That mushy steamed spinach au gratin? The Brussels sprouts in... whatever that sauce is? There may be more than a bit of green left on the plate when you push the chair back from the Thanksgiving dinner table. And if you get any grief for not finishing your vegetables, you may have evolution, and fear, to blame.

Amir Madani

Author, 'Afghanistan'

The fact that the U.S. red line has evolved from "no enrichment of uranium" to "no nuclear bomb" has been the chief facilitator of this accord. Although this is carefully and correctly called merely a first step, it is a historic win-win for all parties.

Tom Cramer

Late Boom, Early X

have had many blessings in my life; the most important being the first. I was born into a wonderful family, and was lucky enough to grow up in a safe, comfortable suburb on the southwest side of Chicago. I have been very fortunate, and I am deeply grateful.

Ege Ozyegin

Junior, University of Pennsylvania

The Occupy Gezi Movement demonstrated a few key issues about Turkey that need attention and deserve some critical thinking.

Leah Hadad

Writer, cook, baker, recipe developer, comany owner

My mash-up recipe of choice is subtle and fun: a turkey-shaped pumpkin challah, or, as I like to call it, Turkallah.

Layla Demay

French journalist, author and documentary film director

We, French people, don't eat turkey for Thanksgiving, for the simple reason that we don't celebrate Thanksgiving.