ALI GHARIB, agharib at americanprogress.org Gharib is a national security reporter for Think Progress. He wrote “Suspect in Custody for Norwegian Terror Attacks Allegedly an Anti-Islam Right-wing Extremist” and co-wrote “Right-wing Pundits Jumped to Blame Muslims and ‘Jihadists’ for Norway Attacks.” He cites Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post, Michelle Malkin, Andrew Breitbart, the Wall…

DEVIN BURGHART, dburghart at gmail.com Burghart is vice president of the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights and just wrote the piece “Norway Terror Suspect Described as Far-Right Nationalist Islamophobe.” Burghart tweeted: “UPDATE: Looks like the Norway terror suspect is a fan of the Tea Party’s favorite Islamophobe, Pam Geller.” Burghart has toured…

President Obama recently stated: “We have a Democratic president and administration that is prepared to sign a tough package that includes both spending cuts, modifications to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare that would strengthen those systems and allow them to move forward, and would include a revenue component.” NANCY ALTMAN, njalt at aol.com Altman is…

AP reports: “‘Somalia is facing its worst food security crisis in the last 20 years,’ said Mark Bowden, the U.N.’s top official in charge of humanitarian aid in Somalia. ‘This desperate situation requires urgent action to save lives … it’s likely that conditions will deteriorate further in six months.'” JAMES JENNINGS, jimjennings at earthlink.net Available…

NICHOLAS JOHNSON, mailbox at nicholasjohnson.org Johnson is currently in the D.C. area and is available for a limited number of interviews. Now teaching at the University of Iowa College of Law, Johnson is a former FCC commissioner who helped block the attempted takeover of ABC by ITT in the 1960s. He said today: “Murdoch is…

STEVEN KULL, skull at pipa.org Kull is director of the Program for Public Consultation, a joint program of the Center on Policy Attitudes and the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, which released the study “Public Proposes Federal Budget Dramatically Different Than House or White House.” The study found: “When a representative…

The Los Angeles Times reports today: “More than 400 inmates at four California prisons are in the third week of a hunger strike to protest long, punitive stays in isolation cells. … “Inmate advocates say thousands of inmates have joined the strike, which began July 1. Many are beginning to show dramatic weight loss and…

Dow Jones reports: “The Senate Finance committee plans Thursday to make another attempt to start informal debate on proposed trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, after Republicans on the panel boycotted last week’s meeting.” ARTHUR STAMOULIS, arthur at citizenstrade.org Executive director of the Citizens Trade Campaign, Stamoulis said today: “Nobody outside Washington is…

AP reports: “Reigniting a partisan fight over banking regulations, President Barack Obama intends to nominate former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to lead a consumer protection bureau that was a central feature of a law overhauling the rules that govern the financial sector. “Obama plans to announce the nomination formally on Monday, the White House…

AP reports “Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing U.S. commander in Afghanistan [and incoming CIA director], and his soon-to-be successor met with top military leaders in Pakistan on Thursday.” Meanwhile, the head of Pakistani intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, is in Washington, D.C. meeting with top U.S. officials. FRED BRANFMAN, fredbranfman at aol.com Branfman just wrote…