DR NAFEEZ AHMED is a bestselling author, investigative journalist, international security scholar, policy expert, film maker, strategy & communications consultant, and change activist. This year he is also becoming a novelist with his debut science fiction thriller ZERO POINT.

The focus of Nafeez's work is to catalyse social change in the public interest by harnessing radical, systemic approaches to understanding the interconnections between the world's biggest problems, while developing and highlighting holistic strategies for social transformation. Whether it be foreign policy and terrorism, climate change and energy, or food and the economy, Nafeez deploys the techniques of critical, rigorous and interdisciplinary analysis to join the dots and challenge power, with a view to bring forth constructive change.
 
From April 2013 to July 2014, Nafeez was an environment writer for The Guardian, the world's third most popular newspaper website, where he reported, commented and analysed the geopolitics of interconnected environmental, energy and economic crises at his Guardian hosted blog, Earth Insight. During that period, Nafeez's blog was by far the most popular on the environment site, garnering around 3 million unique views, posting exclusive news reports, and triggering global headlines.

As a journalist, Nafeez has also written features, commentary and analysis for various publications including the Independent on Sunday, The Independent, The Scotsman, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Huffington Post, Foreign Policy, Le Monde diplomatique, The New Statesman, Prospect Magazine, the Gulf Times, Daily News Egypt, Daily Star (Beirut), Pakistan Observer, Tehran Times, Bangkok Post, the Georgian Times, the Prague Post, Open Democracy, Raw Story and New Internationalist. His work has also appeared in policy periodicals such as International Affairs (Chatham House), Survival (International Institute of Strategic Studies), Foreign Policy In Focus (Institute for Policy Studies), and Europe's World (Friends of Europe).

Nafeez's journalistic work combines insider information from senior government, intelligence, industry and other sources with interdisciplinary analysis of specialist literature. Over the last decade, he has broken exclusives on FBI whistleblowers and pre-9/11 intelligence warnings; the role of energy in the 2003 Iraq War; pre-7/7 intelligence failures; the 2006 liquid bomb plot; the link between the 'Arab Spring' and ecological, economic and energy crises in the Middle East and North Africa; the depletion of strategic mineral energy resources; cutting-edge climate science; counter-terrorism strategy in the AfPak region; sustainable rural development in Pakistan; the role of energy crisis in the Israel-Palestine conflict; among many others.

Nafeez is co-producer, writer and presenter of the critically-acclaimed documentary feature film, The Crisis of Civilization (2011), adapted by director and producer Dean Puckett from Nafeez's latest book, A User's Guide to the Crisis of Civilization: And How to Save It (Pluto, Macmillan, 2010). The film was endorsed by BAFTA Lifetime award-winning filmmaker Nick Broomfield, and was selected as a Festival Favourite at the Leeds International Film Festival, as well as winning several other film festival awards. It has been broadcast nationally on Link TV in the United States, and in parts of Western and Eastern Europe.

Nafeez's other books include The London Bombings: An Independent Inquiry (Duckworth, 2006); The War on Truth: 9/11, Disinformation and the Anatomy of Terrorism (Interlink, 2005); Behind the War on Terror: Western Secret Strategy and the Struggle for Iraq (New Society, 2003) and The War on Freedom: How & Why America was Attacked, September 11, 2001 (Progressive, 2002). The latter is archived in the '9/11 Commission Materials' Special Collection at theUS National Archives in Washington DC - it was among 99 books made available to each 9/11 Commissioner of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States to use during their investigations. The book was also a finalist for the 2003 Naples Prize, Italy's most prestigious literary award.

Since 2001, Nafeez is founding Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Development (IPRD), an independent nonprofit digital transmedia think tank for the public interest. Currently, he is also Co-Director of The Concordia Forum, an independent nonprofit think tank and leadership network working to strengthen trans-Atlantic civil society partnerships.

Nafeez's academic work revolves around the historical sociology and political ecology of mass violence in the context of civilizational systems, and focuses on bridging disciplinary divides across the natural and social sciences. He has taught international politics, contemporary history, empire and globalisation at the University of Sussex's School of Global Studies (from where he obtained his PhD in International Relations and MA in Contemporary War & Peace Studies) and Brunel University's Politics & History Unit, where in 2012 he was Visiting Lecturer in Globalisation & Current Affairs. He won the 2010 Routledge-GCP&S Essay Prize for his seminal paper in the journal Global Change, Peace & Security, The International Relations of Crisis and the Crisis of International Relations.

Nafeez's writings have been translated into French, German, Italian, Arabic, Spanish and Chinese. His books have been reviewed positively in the Journal of Peace Research (Sage); Development and Change (Wiley-Blackwell); Middle East Journal (Middle East Institute), Socialism and Democracy (Routledge); Library Journal (Reed Elsevier); among others - and his work is widely cited in high-quality peer-reviewed social science literature. His work has been used by the Coroner's Inquiry into 7/7; the US Army Air University's 'Causes of War' collection (2007); the UK Ministry of Defence's Joint Services Command & Staff College Research Guide on Counter-Terrorism and the GWOT (2008); Chatham House's Middle East Programme; the International Labour Organization's (ILO) 'World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization' social science bibliography on impacts of globalization (2003); the Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies (2010), among others.

Nafeez is a regular media commentator and has appeared on BBC Newsnight, BBC News 24, BBC World Today, BBC World News with George Alagiah, BBC Radio Five Live, BBC Asian Network, Channel 4, Sky News, C-SPAN Book TV, CNN, FOX News with Sean Hannity, Bloomberg, PBS Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, Al-Jazeera English, Press TV, Islam Channel, US National Public Radio, the US Progressive Radio Network, David Barsamian's Alternative Radio, TUC Radio, and hundreds of other radio and TV shows in the USA, UK, and Europe.

He is also cited and reviewed in the New York Times (Thomas Friedman), Sunday Times (Bryan Appleyard), Times Higher Educational Supplement, The Guardian (Steven Poole), The Independent (Yasmin Alibhai Brown), The Observer (Gore Vidal), Big Issue Magazine, and Vanity Fair (Christopher Hitchens), among other publications.

Nafeez has advised the British Foreign Office, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the UK Defence Academy, the Metropolitan Police Service on delivery of the Home Office's Channel Project, and the UK Parliamentary Inquiry into UK counter-terrorism strategy. He has also consulted for projects funded by the US State Department and the UK Department for Communities and Local Government. In 2005, he testified in US Congress on Western security policy toward al-Qaeda.

About Zero Point - Science Fiction Novel by Nafeez Ahmed

Near future Great Britain is on the brink of collapse. Mass riots. Economic meltdown. Blackouts. And a new oil war in Iraq to keep the world economy afloat.

Iraq War veteran and war crimes whistleblower David Ariel is sick of violence, and trying to make ends meet working for Specialist Protection. But after Prime Minister Carson is brutally assassinated by extremists on Ariel's watch, he is covertly targeted by a compromised police investigation.

When forensics discover that Carson's assassination inexplicably defied the very laws of physics, bodies drop like flies as key witnesses are murdered in impossible circumstances.

Fleeing for his life while London is locked-down under martial law, Ariel gets a phone call from Iraq he will never forget. His estranged girlfriend, journalist Julia Stephenson, warns that the Carson killing is just the beginning of a wider plot to bring the West to its knees. Then she disappears.

Ariel's blood-soaked race against time to track the terror cells behind Carson's death tumbles into the cross-fire of a hidden battle between mysterious rogue intelligence agencies. The goal: to monopolise black budget technologies which could unlock the universe's darkest, arcane secrets.

As the world he thought he knew unravels, Ariel faces off against bent coppers, double-crossing agents, psychic killers and super soldiers to complete a black ops mission like no other: stop Quantum Apocalypse.

Barbara Frank, Holistic Health Practitioner, Internationally Certified Lymphologist uses Folk Medicine, Homeopathy, Chinese Medicine, herbs and unique natural detoxing. Serving the community for 37 years. Author of ”How To Take 10 Years Off Your Face And Add 10 Years To Your Life Naturally.”

Entertainers and Celebrities are always in the public eye and constantly on our minds. Whether it is because they are acting in something on TV or Film, or acting up in their personal lives, it is on the news, in magazine, and all over the Internet for all the world to see, judge, comment, etc. Yet, the Entertainers and Celebrities are people too. Have we ever stopped to ask, what is their real story? How do they see the world and people?

Tonight’s guest is a man who has worked in the Entertainment Industry for over a half a century, and who has worked in so many of fields of it, with so many well known stars. He has appeared in Prime Time Television Shows, Big Budget Films, and Commercials, acted on Broadway, sung at the Met, Produced over 1,000 TV Commercials, and Produced and Directed over Fifty TV shows, and is still doing it.

Hear the story of a news maker and star maker himself, Ben Bryant.

Ben Bryant – Bio

I have been in the production business since my college days. Until 1972 I was a successful actor and singer in theatre, film, the Metropolitan Opera and TV.

In ’70, seeking to exercise my burgeoning interest in film production, I joined the award winning Group One Productions of Hollywood. I quickly developed production skills on a multitude of projects ranging from two-man second-unit shoots to Carole King’s 1974 Central Park concert (12 cameras and a union crew of over 100.)

Until the early ‘90s I worked in film and TV as a producer and first Assistant Director. Based in New York, I’ve served in one or more of those capacities on over 1,000 commercials and dozens of corporate films for clients including ABC-TV, AT&T, Exxon, Ford, GM, IBM, MacDonald’s, Miller Beer, Porsche-Audi, Proctor & Gamble, and Volkswagen. This work was done in more than half the fifty states, Jamaica and Canada. I’ve also worked as production manager or first AD on five theatrical and TV movies.

After years of supporting directors I decided to apply the skills learned from some of the best and, in ’89, began producing and directing a TV show, Love is the Power. Since then I’ve been working solely in video, producing and directing approximately 70 multi-camera TV shows and over 50 live concerts and documentaries. I now take many projects from concept through completion; often writing, producing, directing, shooting and editing.

A member of the Directors’ Guild of America since ’79, I hold a B.A. In theatre and music from Whittier College.

In 2011, inspired by nothing more than idle time, I began what I thought was a short essay on my childhood in Tennessee. I became so engaged in my memories that the next thing I knew it was two weeks later and I had written twenty-five or thirty pages. I realized that I was beginning to write an autobiography.

Three Stages, book one of this memoir, is the story of my first thirty-seven years – from a small Tennessee town to Hollywood and New York. It comprises my adventures at Hollywood High, Whittier College (where I played football under future NFL greats, George Allen and Don Coryell), in the USAF then as an actor and singer.

The book is filled with stories about the bizarre and funny incidents that happened both on and off stage during my fifteen years as a successful working actor and of the great and not-so-great stars I worked with.

During my next twenty years as a producer and AD (First Assistant Director) I often found myself in social situations – both with fellow film professionals and “civilians” – recounting bizarre or otherwise interesting and funny tales of my adventures in production. At least a dozen times someone said, “You should write a book.” I often joked that, due to the nature of my work, should I ever create such a tome it would be titled Circumstances Beyond My Control. Having finished Three Stages, the obvious next step was this volume.

This book comprises the often hilarious, sometimes exciting series of stories about my adventures in the challenging world of film production. These tales will take you on a stimulating journey that will include an amazing variety of film assignments and locations throughout the US and Jamaica.

I’m currently (September 2014) almost finished with the third and last book, Waiting for Elizabeth which picks up my story at age 55 during a rocky personal and professional period as I migrated from producing to becoming a video director and editor.

To learn more about our guest, Ben Bryant, or to buy his books, visit www.entertainmentbooksbyben.com/
Or
Video Business site:  www.benbryantvideo.com/

JONAH BOLT A STARSEED The signs were there from the very beginning, just looking at his birth announcement alone. Jonah Bolt Yolman Arrived on Mother Gaia January 1st, 1979. He was the first baby born New Years Day in his county and hit the spotlight right from the start. Jonah was raised in South Florida, USA and at an early age he started to see his talents and creativity blossom. As a child Jonah was always intuitive and driven by an unseen force to progress forward, always helping and guiding others to their destiny. By the age of 12, he already had several pieces of his work published. Poetry, articles, songs & thoughts all seemed to ring truth and take front page. At 13, Jonah rewrote a hit Michael Jackson song into talking about going green. The song itself was so powerful the entire school sang it from kindergarten up. The school then video taped everyone singing it and sent the video to President Bush. A message from Jonah saying, “Start cleaning up and save our planet”. At the age of 19, Jonah moved to New York City where he began to encounter many more interesting experiences. He has had many dreams & visions during his life that have developed into real experiences. He was present at the 9/11 tragedy, intuitively the night before he told his girlfriend to call in sick to work that day to go to a doctor appontment. She did, but lost 3 people in her office on the 81st floor of The World Trade Center. On his way to work that day the trained stopped on top of the bridge into Manhattan at 9:05 am. As he was watching tower one burn the 2nd plane hit the tower shortly after. In 2002 he went to Israel, the first night he arrived he was in Tel Aviv blocks away when the first ever two female suicide bombers struck. The following year Jonah was in London, the bombings happened 2 blocks from his friends work there. One of the only subways he took while visiting him. The next year Jonah arrived in Thailand and was actually on the opposite side of the island when the tsunami hit. Months previous, Jonah had changed his trip from Phuket which was wiped out to KO Sumo. Jonah is a world traveler that has experienced our planet and many events that most would only read about in the news. Some of Jonah's travels have included Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Amsterdam, Switzerland, France, Monaco, Spain, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, London, Israel, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, BVI's, Bahamas, USVI's and Mexico. Jonah has a deep connection to music, is naturally outgoing, and open minded. He is an intuitive leader on a spiritual path toward Ascension. "I know we are not alone in the universe and we are all headed home. Years ago I began my travels in the direction and flow of life. Everything is happening for a reason, things will always work themselves out!"

Dean Back plays Bass Guitar for Theory of a Deadman.  The band just released it's fifth album, Savages, on July 29, 2014.  Theory of a Deadman has hits like: All or Nothing, Not Meant to Be, Bad Girlfriend, Hurricane, & many more.      Photo courtesy of Amy Willard

Michael Grey hosts "The Michael Grey Show". He came to 710 ESPN Seattle in 2013 from ESPN's affiliate in Omaha, Neb. and previously worked at WBBL in Grand Rapids, Mich. Michael started in radio in 1997 in the rock music world at Grand Rapids stations WGRD and WKLQ. Follow Michael: @TheMichaelGrey

Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks' in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.