Greg Miller, video game columnist for the Columbia Daily Tribune, explained why "Dead Rising" is creating a false sense of security in gamers when they should be preparing for the invevitable zombie onslaught.

We have to apologize for a computer glitch that ate the first half of our interview tonight, but the second half is interesting enough to stand on its own:  Author and intelligence analyst Laura Mansfield told us about a new video from al-Qaeda's #2, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, paintballing for Allah, and a message from a new group in Iraq called the "Conqueror's Cubs".

Heather Baer and Betsy Smith of the Columbia/Boone County Health Department discussed the problem of sexually transmitted diseases in Boone County.

Steven Hedrick, Libertarian Party canadidate for Congress in Missouri's 9th District, talked about his reasons for challenging Republican incumbent Kenny Hulshof.

David Kilpatrick, director of the Columbia Entertainment Company Theatre's production of Sound of Music, and leads Michael Kramer (also chair of the Communications Department at MU) and Meg Phillips, joined us to talk about the show.

Dr. Bill Hastings, the Progressive Party's candidate for Congress in Missouri's 9th District, outlined his position on the issues.

Dr. Gary Parker, president of Local 903 of the American Federation of Government Employees, explained why union members picketed outside the Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital Saturday.  He says management's treatment of nurses at the hospital threatens to affect the care given to vets.

In the wake of the E. coli-contaminated spinach scare, sixth generation farmer and radio broadcaster Trent Loos discussed food production as a matter of national security.

Links:

• Faces of Agriculture
• Feedstuffs Agribusiness Newspaper
  
• Feedstuffs Foodlink
• Loos Tales Podcast
  

Greg Miller, video game columnist for the Columbia Daily Tribune, explained why this week was his worst ever.  It had to do with a red Lego, RBI Baseball, and the Ohio University Bobcats.

Debbie Baldwin, co-artistic director of the PACE Youth Theater, described the benefits to kids of learning theater skills.

Researcher Elmer Price of the U. of Missouri told us about an advance in stem cell research involving the creation of neurons from stem cells isolated from the blood of pigs.  If this process can be adapted to humans, it could be the first step toward deriving cures for some neurological diseases and spinal cord injuries from adult stem cells.

Jerome Corsi, author of several books, including Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry (along with John O'Neill), Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil (along with Craig R. Smith), Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians, and most recently, Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders, broke a news story that will appear at WorldNetDaily tomorrow morning:  Last week, a group of wealthy and powerful government and business leaders met away from the press at a resort in Alberta to talk about "integration" -- merging Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

Links:

• Jerome Corsi article archive at WorldNetDaily
• Jerome Corsi article archive at Human Events Online
• "Integration Talks in Secret:  North American Forum Meets in Banff"
  

Kate Iola, author of the novel Deadstock and a number of articles on agribusiness for publications such as Successful Farming and Agriculture Online, talked about "agroterror".

Intelligence analyst Laura Mansfield joined us for her weekly report on the jihadist websites and newsgroups.  She downplayed the recent warnings of a nuclear terror event, told us about a new video game called Night of Bush Capturing, and described how some terror groups are using paintball as a training exercise.

Law professor Rodney Uphoff of the University of Missouri analyzed the recent federal court decision that declared portions of the NSA's wiretap program unconstitutional.

Doug Hagmann, director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, talked about information he's received of "OTMs" (Other Than Mexicans) caught crossing the border with potassium iodide pills.

Why is this important?  Because KI tablets are usually used to protect the thyroid gland against exposure to radiation.

Links:

• Northeast Intelligence Network
• Law Enforcement Sources Confirm: Illegals crossing border carrying "KI Tablets"
• The Homeland Security Weekly podcast
  

Duane Burghard, Democratic candidate for Congress in Missouri's 9th District, joined Derek Gilbert to lay out his positions on the issues.  And to show off his totally cool MacBook.

Congressman Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) outlined his position on the issues as he runs for a seventh term as representative of Missouri's 9th Congressional District.

Columbia Daily Tribune reporter and video game columnist Greg Miller joined us with news of the new Nintendo Wii and his scientific forecast of the outcome of the Mizzou/New Mexico game (based on running a sim with NCAA 2007).

He was close:  Greg said Mizzou 23-3, and the final score was 27-17.

Expatriate Iraqi blogger Raed Jarrar, now living in the U.S., talked about the violence in Iraq and the diplomatic efforts to bring peace to his home country.


Links:

• Raed in the Middle (his blog)
• "Iraqi Peace Activist Forced to Change T-Shirt Bearing Arabic Script Before Boarding Plane at JFK"
• Iraq's Sectarian Bloodshed 'Made in the USA' by Erik Leaver and Raed Jarrar
  

Jason Rosenbaum, state political reporter for the Columbia Daily Tribune, talked about the state and local political races for the fall.



Jason Rosenbaum

Links:

• Columbia Daily Tribune
• The Vote 2006 Blog
  

Feedback (secret identity: software engineer Matthew Atherton), the winner of the SciFi Channel's reality series Who Wants to Be a Superhero?, talked about his experiences on the show and what lies ahead.


Links:

• Feedback's page at the SciFi Channel
• Feedback's website
  

The Mansfield Report:  Intelligence analyst Laura Mansfield explained the significance of the new videotapes from Al Qaeda. How is it that Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's #2 man, feels so secure that he can produce professional quality video messages?

Link:

• Laura Mansfield's website

We talked with Dr. Glen Cameron of Mizzou's School of Journalism about his recent study showing that the media reports terror threats differently than the Department of Homeland Security.

Link:

• Homeland Security and Media Evaluate Terror Threats Differently

We talked with Chuck Leake of Missouri Task Force 1 about his experience at Ground Zero, and Capt. Brian Weimer of the University of Missouri Police discussed changes in security at Mizzou in the wake of 9/11.

We were joined by the crews of the USS Horizon and the USS Phoenix, the local chapters of Starfleet International, to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the debut of Star Trek.

Links:

• USS Phoenix MySpace page
  
• USS Horizon website
• The Overseas Coupon Program
  

We were joined by the crews of the USS Horizon and the USS Phoenix, the local chapters of Starfleet International, to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the debut of Star Trek.

Links:

• USS Phoenix MySpace page
  
• USS Horizon website
• The Overseas Coupon Program
  

Doug Hagmann, director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, talked about an ongoing investigation in London, Ontario.

Tuesday night (Sept. 5), a HAZMAT team there responded to a "Level 3 Emergency", the most serious category of threat.  Police and a chemical disposal company worked through the night to remove hazardous chemicals and the radioactive material from a chemistry lab in a private home in London.

Questions abound:  Who owns the lab, which had been "recently utilized"?  How much radioactive material was found?  Is the location of London--which sits roughly halfway between Detroit on one side and Toronto and Buffalo on the other--significant?

Links:

1. Investigative report by Doug Hagmann and Judi MacLeod, Editor and Founder of CanadaFreePress.com
   
2. Northeast Intelligence Network
3. Canada Free Press
4. HQ Intel Alert
5. Doug Hagmann's Homeland Security Weekly podcast
   

Republican Senator Jim Talent, on his way to Kansas City for a Friday campaign stop with President Bush, took time out to discuss energy policy, illegal immigration, and his views on Amendment 2.

Link:

• Senator Talent's campaign site
  

Missouri State Auditor and Democratic senate candidate Claire McCaskill called in from the campaign trail to discuss her positions on energy, national security, and Amendment 2.

Link:

• Claire McCaskill's campaign site
  

Daniel Ellsberg, who ignited a national firestorm in 1971 with the release of the Pentagon Papers, talked about the parallels between Vietnam and Iraq.

Link:

• Daniel Ellsberg's website
  

Fat Momma (AKA Nell Wilson) of the reality show Who Wants to Be a Superhero? joined Derek Gilbert to talk about her experiences on the show and her message for kids of all ages.

Links:

• Fat Momma's website
• Fat Momma's superhero page at SciFi.com
• Fat Momma's MySpace page
  

Columbia, Missouri Assistant City Manager Paula Hertwig-Hopkins described the Community Visioning Project that the city hopes will encourage residents to brainstorm and come up with ideas for shaping Columbia's future.

Author and intelligence analyst Laura Mansfield gave us her assessment of the new Al Qaeda videotape featuring "Assam the American" and the news that Pakistan says it won't arrest Osama bin Laden.

Capt. Brian Weimer of the University of Missouri Police talked to us about the new parking regualtions along Providence Road, and also the banning of "bulk quantities" of alcohol.

John Fougere, spokesman for Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, warned us about a new phone scam that's targeting Missourians.

Intelligence analyst Laura Mansfield joined us to talk about jihadi websites hidden on American web servers.

She also had breaking news -- as of just before showtime -- about announcements posted to Islamic websites of a forthcoming video from Al Qaeda's #2 man, Ayman al Zawahiri.  Her analysis of this one:  Ominous.

• Laura Mansfield's website
• Laura Mansfield's blog

Robert Smale, history professor at the University of Missouri and analyst of Latin American politics, filled us in on the continuing protests over the July 2 presidential election in Mexico.

Greg Miller, video game columnist for the Columbia Daily Tribune, joined Derek Gilbert to speculate on the winner of the new TV reality series Who Wants to Be a Superhero?  (Derek was wrong; Feedback was chosen over Fat Momma.)

Greg also shared his inside info about forthcoming video game consoles from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft.  (And he gets paid to write about this stuff!)

Links:

• Greg Miller's "Game Over" column
• The Game Over Blog