In the first half, Nick Begich, a prominent figure in Alaska's political landscape and author of several books, discussed his return to public discourse after a three-and-a-half-year hiatus and suggested various government reforms. Delving into Alaska's vast resources, Begich highlighted the state's importance as "the treasury of the nation," possessing strategic minerals and untapped oil and gas reserves. He criticized outdated legislation like the Jones Act, which complicates resource distribution, noting that Alaska's resources are generally not shipped to US ports and locations, which creates "a big mess for the country." The conversation shifted to his new website, TheHiddenMonks.com, which aims to inspire individuals to recognize their potential impact in the world. He explained, "I think there's a lot of people that underestimate what their possibilities are."
In outlining the historical context of government oversight and abuses, he pointed out the need for transparency and accountability, and proposed a robust whistleblower mechanism to ensure truthfulness within government agencies and contractors. He also advocated for a reformed Freedom of Information Act that could better serve the public interest, as well as a plan to reduce US postal delivery to four days a week to save money. He touched on the notion of the "Deep State" within governance, which he characterized as not an organized group but rather "a lot of self-interested individuals that are picking the purse of the public in one form or another." Reflecting on societal polarization, he attributed much of the current divisiveness to the isolation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how this lack of interaction led to a significant shift.
-------------
John Fraser is currently a member of the Spontaneous Cases Committee and the Council of the Society for Psychical Research. In the latter half he explored the interconnectedness of paranormal phenomena including hauntings and poltergeists. "I've found a correlation between ghosts and poltergeists; you don't get one without the other," he remarked. We need an open-mindedness in paranormal research, he argued, adding that many phenomena might stem from a shared source. "It appears to be something internal within us, rather than something external," he theorized, citing the famous Enfield poltergeist incident as an example of where the concerns of the entity seemed to be more related to the teenage girl at the center of the case, rather than an outside force speaking through her.
Expressing concern about how modern investigators approach these subjects, he noted that "a lot of people investigate them as demonolgists... which puts the answer before the question" in a somewhat biased fashion. Recalling his explorations in Transylvania, he found that many vampire tales could be reinterpreted as poltergeist cases, noting, "It's probably just their cultural way of explaining something really weird going on." Discussing hypnotic regression, he reflected on his past experiences within a regression group, stating, "I probably started off as a skeptic, but I was fascinated." He noted that while some subjects seemed to recreate past lives, many of their claims were unverifiable. Instead, he suggested that these sessions might tap into "ESP" rather than actual past life memories.
During the last half-hour, George featured an interview with spiritual warrior Bill Bean from the 2/22/19 show.
News segment guests: Lauren Weinstein, Steve Kates