JOSEPH GERSON Gerson is director of programs for the American Friends Service Committee in New England and the author of several books. He has traveled extensively in Asia and is able to comment on various aspects of Obama’s trip as well as to put media in touch with people in various countries Obama is visiting.…

The New York Times reports today: “Peter W. Galbraith, an influential former American ambassador, is a powerful voice on Iraq who helped shape the views of policy makers like Joseph R. Biden Jr. and John Kerry. In the summer of 2005, he was also an adviser to the Kurdish regional government as Iraq wrote its…

GWENDOLYN MINK Mink is co-editor of the two-volume Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics and Policy and author of Welfare’s End. She has been following various aspects of healthcare reform legislation. She said today: “The House bill includes a section calling for home visits by nurses to poor pregnant families and…

The Washington Post today features a story headlined “Dodd’s reform plan takes aim at the Fed: Curbs on central bank are at odds with administration’s vision.” Sen. Dodd’s proposal would also “merge numerous federal banking regulators under a single roof,” McClatchy reports. ANDREW COCKBURN Cockburn is co-producer of the new film “American Casino.” He said…

SETH MANZEL Manzel is on the board of Iraq Veterans Against the War and is executive director of GI Voice, which operates Coffee Strong near Fort Lewis in Washington State. He deployed to northern Iraq from 2004-2005 where he worked as a driver, machine gunner and vehicle commander. He was in the Army infantry from…

TRUDY LIEBERMAN Lieberman directs the health and medical reporting program in the graduate school of journalism at City University of New York and is a contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review. A complete archive of her Campaign Desk articles can be found here . Her pieces include a string of articles titled “Who Will…

BRUCE DIXON Dixon is managing editor of Black Agenda Report, which is one of the groups organizing the “Black is Back” gathering Saturday in D.C. He recently wrote the piece “If Democrats Don’t Pass Health Insurance Reform This Year, What Do We Lose? And What Do We Gain?” The article states: “In the year since…

DAHR JAMAIL Jamail is the author of “The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. He just wrote “Mass Shooting Indicates Breakdown of Military.” AARON GLANTZ Glantz is an editor at New America Media and author of “The War Comes Home: Washington’s Battle Against America’s Veterans.” He just wrote the…

SCOTT HORTON Horton is an attorney specializing in international law and human rights. He is also a legal affairs contributor to Harper’s Magazine, where he writes the blog No Comment. He said today: “The 23 American officials convicted were involved in a conspiracy to seize Abu Omar, who is an Egyptian cleric, while he was…

CHARLES IDELSON, DONNA SMITH Idelson is a spokesperson for the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. Politico reported late Tuesday: “Single-payer activists and labor union members held a sit-in at House Speaker Pelosi’s San Fransisco office today where 11 [in fact 12] people were arrested, said Chuck Idelson, spokesman for the California Nurses Association/National Nurses…