John B. Wells welcomed neuropsychologist Mario Beauregard for a discussion on his research into the relationship between the mind and brain. According to the materialist view of mainstream biology, humans are simply sophisticated biological machines, and mind and consciousness merely electrical and chemical activity in the brain, Beauregard explained. He credited quantum physics with 'dematerializing' scientific thought, and pointed to near death experiences (NDEs) as evidence that mind and consciousness are more than electrochemical brain signals. NDEs produced during a state of cardiac arrest are of particular interest to Beauregard, as higher brain functioning ceases to occur. Despite this fact, studies have documented cases of NDEs during cardiac arrest, which "strongly suggests that the brain does not produce mind and consciousness," he noted.

The mind is connected to the whole body at a psychosomatic level, Beauregard continued. To illustrate his point, Beauregard presented findings from a brain imaging study by neurologists in Vancouver, British Columbia. A group of subjects suffering from a severe form of Parkinson's Disease were given a placebo (distilled water) and told it would help improve their condition. Incredibly, participants who most believed in the treatment regained some motor activity, had a significant decrease in tremors, and their scans showed increased dopamine released in the brain, he reported. "What you believe about a treatment, regardless of its efficacy, can really transform what's going on in your brain and in your body," Beauregard said. Such research suggests the brain may act as an interface between the physical world and the psychic or mind level, he added. Beauregard also spoke about how the mind can affect the expression of genes, as well as alter brain function.

Surveillance State

In the first hour, geopolitical analyst Craig B. Hulet talked about the government performing key word searches on personal e-mails and numerous other ways they encroach on privacy and civil liberties. "It's safe to say that every single cell phone conversation, email, [and] what you do on the Internet is being data mined," he said. The rights of citizens are being systematically dismantled through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), H.R. 347, and the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), Hulet explained. Such laws allow government and military agencies to revoke citizenship, disallow the right to assemble and protest, use propaganda against their own people, dictate broadcast programming, as well as collect and analyze data collected from websites and email, he continued. Hulet shared his own story of being shut down after sending an email that contained certain words flagged by the NSA. "We are now truly the enemies of the state," he warned.