(Kim Iversen) Sept. 3, 2025: A full court press took place in Washington DC today as victims of Jeffrey Epstein spoke out.
SPONSOR (Venice AI): venice.ai/kim and use code kim to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using this code will result in 20% off a pro plan.
Guest Host Wisty Winston, Kurt Metzger (The Jimmy Dore Show); Kim Iversen, Release the Epstein Files, Sept. 3, 2025; Pfc. Sandoval, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(Emrick Garam | Business Coaching for Entrepreneurs) April 6, 2011: tinyurl.com/bv92vyw Been there? Heard of this landmark? This healers' bookstore is a must see in Los Angeles. This famous bookstore is closing! Try to talk about it, to save this jewel of a store, holding events with famous teachers, authors, and speakers. Namaste. Music: "Again" by Secrets in Stereo.
As part of our continuing series "Adventures in Church," we this morning enjoyed a peaceful Sunday service with the Quakers, one of the best forms of Christianity we have ever come to know (which also has a few others worth mentioning: Gnostic, Unitarian Universalist, and Seventh Day Adventist). This morning at the Friends' Meeting in Pasadena, one Friend stood up to remember Bodhi Tree Bookstore Co-Founder Phil Thompson.
(Ronnie Pontiac) PHIL THOMPSON of the Bodhi Tree Bookstore, West Los Angeles, shuffled off the mortal coil yesterday [Halloween 2024]. Many people owe him gratitude. Phil had a high paying job designing weapons of mass destruction for the U.S., but instead he decided to quit it and open a spiritual bookstore. What a magical place the store was! Read about its amazing history below.*
(Wisdom Quarterly) It's hard to overstate the importance of LA's own New Age mecca, Bodhi Tree Books, second in importance only to its namesake, the original treein ancient Proto-India even before the area came to be known as Buddhist Bihar.
There would be no Wisdom Quarterly (which began in print form) without it because so much that was learned and is now shared in these pages was gleaned from one corner of the store that sold Buddhist Publication Society books. (Hundreds of those Bodhi Leaves and Wheel titles are now available FREE from BPS.lk in Kandy, Sri Lanka).
All the other books about other religions in the emporium are out of print or available on storekiller Bezos' venture (amazon.com). We prefer to support independent bookstores like Alexandria II and Vroman's so long as they last. Thompson is survived by his fellow founder and family.
WARNING: It's hard to film a movie, even in West Hollywood, so close to where the movie industry became a worldwide business. This good idea devolves into a violent and sophomoric attempt, funny only for its location and what it may have been trying to say originally. Blood, gore, bad acting.
FILM: Foxfur: Bodhi Tree Bookstore
(Damon Packard) 12/16/11. Set in December of 2012, following the arrival of Foxfur and Khris at the Bodhi Tree Bookstore and following Khris' encounter with the Pleiadian beam ship above the Bodhi Tree. Foxfur disappears and Dewshine appears. Bob Lazar is wandering the aisles, wondering why no one came to his book signing.
Are all Plejarens blond beauties?
Semjase is a real Pleiadean or Plejaren ET, a beautiful Nordic alien, who contacted Billy Meier. He is the founder of a UFO religion called the "Free Community of Interests for the Border and Spiritual Sciences and Ufological Studies" and a contactee whose stacks of UFO photos are claimed to show alien UFO spacecraft (vimanas). Meier claims he is in regular contact with ET beings, which he calls the Plejaren [2]. He further presented metal samples, sound recordings, and film footage as evidence. How is it possible? It is said that Meier claims to be the seventh reincarnation after six prophets common to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam: Enoch, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Immanuel (aka Jesus), and Muhammad [3]. More
David Icke is discovered working the cash register at the bookstore under new cholo (Mexican gang member) management after his vanishing in early 2012. The bookstore was located under the Hollywood sign, just a few miles from the studios, next to the glass pyramid that is the Beverly Center. Scenes from the upcoming mini feature FOXFUR.
Scenes featuring Paris Wagner, Khris Kaneff, Rigg Kennedy, Erica Rhodes, Bob Ellis, Jared Cyr, Ervin J Ross, Kristine Caluya, Joseph Olibrice, Christopher Turner, Rick Klu, Linda Mintz, Stanley Griego, Abraham Rubio, Craig Henderson, Vincenzo De Ghoulie, Bogart Linares, Carlos Minoz, Tony Mendera, and Stephen Walter as the property manager. Written and directed by Damon Packard. A Stephen Carter Production.
*Illuminate Heart and Mind: Bodhi Tree Books
Ronnie Pontiac, via Threads, Nov. 1, 2024, and medium.com, March 8, 2020
How do you know if you're hip?
Like a Tibetan wind horse, for decades the flag of the Bodhi Tree Bookstore rode the breeze above Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood.
At first the freak flag flew to attract only the most underground. Then it became the flag over the capitol of the New Age. Who could count the number...that have known the complementary Bodhi Tree bookmark, with its tree logo, and the slogan: "Books to Illuminate the Heart and Mind"?
At first, run by hippies for hippies, with only a few portraits of spiritual masters on the walls, it seemed like a mirage conspired by a couple of dropouts. Then punk rockers arrived, because at the Bodhi Tree they could find books by William Burroughs, Patti Smith, and Bukowski.
As the New Age grew from a mild trickle to a mighty river, for enthusiasts the Bodhi Tree became not only the top destination in Southern California, but for many, in the United States...
[Co-Founders] Stan Madson and Phil Thompson were a couple of literal rocket scientists, aerospace engineers to be exact. They weren’t the only young people who wanted to do something more positive with their lives at the end of the 1960s.
However, they are among the few who actually did it. They created the Bodhi Tree Bookstore. In an interview with Ray Hemachandra in 2006, Stan talked about the origins of the Bodhi Tree Bookstore. It all began when he attended an event headlined by Timothy Leary:
“Tim Leary was there in a white gown, and he opened by having The Grateful Dead play music. I had never heard of The Grateful Dead. Leary said the idea was to tune in, turn on, and drop out.” But Stan was working in aerospace, he couldn’t take the plunge.
Next came Zen meditation. Then a serendipitous meeting while on a walk in Calabasas led to “a session of private talks with Krishnamurti on an estate in Malibu. So about 30 of us were sitting around talking with Krishnamurti.”
Transcendental meditation followed. “Out of all of this, and sitting around and talking amongst ourselves, we decided that there was something intrinsically wrong with doing aerospace and supporting the practice of thermonuclear war.” Years later, looking back on his life, he expressed his happiness that he had found [Buddhist] “right livelihood.”
Phil and Elsa Thompson and Stan and Fran Madson partnered with Dan and Marj Morris to open the Bodhi Tree Book and Tea Shop. The songs on the radio at the time almost tell its story. The Beatles had broken up. We can be sure “The Long and Winding Road” was playing on the transistor radio when they were hammering together the shelves and painting the walls in the modest Bodhi Tree 1.0.
The Beatles travel to India to meet their guru.
“Let it Be” had been on the radio for a few months already, along with Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Sly and the Family Stone had a hit with “Everybody is a Star,” a song title to bring a smile to any Platonist, Paracelsian, or Thelemite.
On July 10, 1970, the Bodhi Tree opened. Bodhi Tree’s first Christmas, George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” was Number 1. But Janis Joplin had just died that October. Jimi Hendrix had died only a few weeks before Janis. Jim Morrison would die the following summer.
Soon the clean mellow sound of California folk pop, the introspection of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and Carole King, ruled the airwaves. People turned inward in search of answers to suddenly pressing questions about the meaning of life, the laws of good health, and the history of human spirituality.
By 1976 the Bodhi Tree’s business had doubled then redoubled and so on so rapidly that they bought the building they had been leasing. The labor of love they themselves didn’t expect to last very long had become a success.
Dan and Marj decided to move on, perhaps because the Bodhi Tree was turning into a demanding business. On the last day of November in 1972, Phil and Elsa along with Stan and Fran formed a corporation called Bodhi Tree Bookstore Incorporated. They dropped the tea shop but always offered free tea for customers to drink and a wide selection of exotic and rare blends, both packaged and bulk, the latter to be scooped out of big glass jars and poured into ever present plastic bags.
In 1978, the small bookcase of used books grew into a stucco cottage next door that became Bodhi Tree Used Book Branch. It had a few shelves on the porch outside the old wooden door offering free books at any hour.
When shoppers entered, they breathed in the aromatic delights of the bulk herb room. Shelves of big mason jars filled with dried lavender, rose petals, licorice root, eyebright, star anise, chamomile, eucalyptus leaves, teas, and of course catnip. More:
This event is the in-person version of a hybrid retreat which will take place both in-person and online. To register for the online version of this event, click here.
To see clearly is to see things as they truly are, absent of our distortions, judgments, and stories. When we see clearly, we shed negativity and stress and live more freely.
Join Senior InsightLA Teacher Melissa McKay for a non-residential weekend insight meditation (vipassana) retreat.
Cultivate tranquility and clear inner seeing by spending time in silence, alternating between periods of sitting and walking meditation.
About Vipassana
Can I be mindful of chocolate for insight?
Vipassana is an ancient, transformative Buddhist meditation technique. Through self-observation, deep insight arises. In Vipassana, we focus attention on the body and mind, observing sensations and the movement of energy as it arises only to dissipate again.
Among the many benefits of Vipassana is the cultivation of inner peace and clarity. To see clearly is to see things, most importantly ourselves, as they truly are.
Who is this retreat for?
This weekend retreat is for anyone who is ready to deepen their meditation practice and live with greater lucidity and therefore with greater ease.
Suitable for all levels, this non-residential weekend experience is a good opportunity for those who would like to learn more about intensive retreat practice.
Where is it?
This event takes place in-person at the Benedict Canyon Retreat House, Beverly Hill and online via Zoom. Find directions, information on what to bring, and more at this link. As a non-residential retreat, participants will return home Friday and Saturday evening.
About Melissa McKay
The Buddha became enlightened by adding vipassana (insight) to his samadhi (stillness).
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Melissa McKay has been practicing meditation since the mid 1990’s. She has trained in Vipassana (insight, mindfulness) meditation and metta (loving-kindness) meditation in Burma and the United States.
Her first retreat was with Sayadaw U Pandita. The profound changes she saw in herself gave her a strong confidence (saddha, faith) and dedication to the practice. She continues to attend intensive meditation retreats yearly and has trained for over 10,000 hours. Learn more about Melissa McKay here.
“Melissa is one of the most experienced practitioners of the new generation of teachers.”
-Jack Kornfield
“Melissa is so obviously immersed in the teachings and shares them with such grace and eloquence. She makes herself so accessible and genuinely cares about her students. I felt so held in the light of her awareness.” -Anonymous Student
“Melissa is a thoughtful teacher known for her deep care of students and skillfulness in making esoteric teachings accessible and relatable to modern day living.”
-Lodro Rinzler (author and teacher)
Schedule
Friday:
6:30 pm-7:30 pm Introduction and Talk
7:30-7:45 Stretch
7:45-8:30 Meditation
Saturday and Sunday:
6:00 am-6:45 am Meditation at home (optional)
6:45-8:00vBreakfast at home
8:30-9:30 Guided meditation
9:30-10:15 Walking meditation
10:15-11:00 Sitting meditation
11:00-11:30 Walking meditation
11:30 am-1:00 pm Lunch and rest
1:00-2:00 pm Sitting meditation
2:00-2:45 pm Walking meditation
2:45-3:30 pm Sitting meditation
3:30-4:00 Tea and optional talking
4:00-5:00 Questions and Discussion
5:00-9:00 Continue practice at home (optional Saturday only)
Fox 11 News, Los Angeles local; Editors, Wisdom Quarterly
Burning police cars has become fashionable again as it was in the 1980s (kfbk.iheart.com).
It's tough to make out behind the blur but graffiti seems to read "Fudge The Police" (kfbk)
Police vehicles were attacked and damaged in Beverly Hills in defiance of curfew as protestors preferred to vandalize than loot.
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What have police done?
Floyd's death ruled "homicide" (murder) by asphyxiation, but there were THREE knees used on him, not just Officer Derek Chauvin leaning into his neck for nearly nine minutes. Officer Tou Thao stood by content to watch it happen, already having one serious police brutality case on his record after his victim successfully sued his police department. Will all four murderers be charged?
Plant Based News (PBN) announces the premiere of its new documentary Vegan 2019 at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills.
In recent years the vegan movement has skyrocketed. No longer a niche environmentally-sensitive, cruelty-free food movement, the V-word now makes regular appearances in mainstream media.
Data puts the number of vegans in the UK, for example, anywhere between 600,000 and 3.5 million, depending the data source.
In a bid to investigate this phenomenal growth, PBN Founder Klaus Mitchell created Vegan 2019 -- a documentary that takes a deep-dive into how and why plant-based diets are rising in prominence. It looks at some of the most significant vegan moments of the year.
For the first time, fast food giants put plant-based "meats" center-stage. Burger King launched its "Impossible Whopper," and KFC tested plant-based mock-chicken in the US and UK.
UK stalwart Greggs saw its profits soar after launching its viral vegan sausage roll, and plant-based tech company Beyond Meat launched on the NASDAQ.
While these innovations in animal-free food garnered debate, top vegan athletes were showing how it’s not only possible to survive on a vegan diet but to thrive, excel, and beat the meat eaters.
Tennis ace and plant-based enthusiast Novak Djokovic showed mental and physical prowess beating Roger Federer in a thrilling five-set Wimbledon final.
The link between athleticism and plant-based eating is set to be explored even further, with the release of highly-anticipated documentary The Game Changers.
This year saw more people becoming aware of the environmental dangers of animal ranching. This warning was hammered home when news of Amazon Rainforest fires swept across mainstream news.
Millions of people pinned their hopes of change on teenage vegan climate activist Greta Thunberg, who fearlessly gave speeches in front of world leaders, blasting them for stealing the future from young people.
Vegan 2019 features leading names in the world of entertainment, sports, and animal advocacy, whose stories weave together to create a thrilling tapestry of a vibrant movement.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A featuring special guests. Proceeds from the screening will be used to cover the cost of the event and support the work of Plant Based News.More
BuddhaFest LA embraces mindfulness and compassion through a unique mix of inspiring films, modern wisdom teachings, meditation, and live music. Individual events and an entire weekend of wisdom, inspiration, and community. Featuring:
Prof. Robert Thurman (tibethouse.us), Uma Thurman's dad
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is L.A.'s biggest airport, one of the most used in the U.S.
It is far from many miles from most destinations, because L.A. is not really a city. It is an enormous megalopolis of about 50 cities and countless neighborhoods.
So people spend a lot on taxis (the worst choice), Uber and Lyft (convenient but overpriced choices), limousines (vans), and rides from friends and family. No public transportation was built all the way to the airport -- but this is all right because there is a cheap way to get to and from the airport.
Come see the walled off Hollywood star of TV star Donald Trump. No foreigners.
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TRAIN: Getting into town from LAX via Metro Rail is very cheap. BUT it requires a free shuttle bus ride (5:00 AM to midnight) and changing Metro trains.
However, the change of trains is a good thing because once you're connected to the Metro rail system, you have easy access to explore the many diverse neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area, which include:
BuddhaFest embraces the principles of mindfulness and compassion through a unique mix of inspiring films, modern wisdom teachings, meditation, and live music. SEATS ARE RESERVED: Get some today for best selection. Save now on early bird tickets. More
The story of true Norwegian black metal and its most
notorious practitioners -- a group of young men with a flair for
publicity, church-burning, and murder: MAYHEM.
Oslo, 1987, 17-year-old Euronymous is determined to escape his idyllic
Scandinavian hometown and create “true Norwegian black metal” with his
band, MAYHEM. He’s joined by equally fanatical youths, Dead and Varg.
Believing that they’re on the cusp of a musical revolution, the group
gets even darker driven by the black metal dogma to spread evil.
They
begin burning down churches throughout the countryside and stealing
tombstones for their record store. But when the press catches up with
them and Euronymous takes more credit than he’s earned for the group’s
violent acts, Varg, fresh out of jail, arranges a dark encounter to
settle the score and ultimately determine who the darkest black metal musician is. Tickets
FilmWeek on AirTalk (scpr.org, Feb. 15, 2019) is a one-hour weekly segment looking at films, offering movie reviews, filmmaker interviews, and discussions on various aspects of the film industry. Today's film is all about extremely heavy Scandinavian metal and the kids who took (take) it very seriously: lordsofchaosfilm.com
(VICE) It's true: true Norwegian black metal and chaos
"Lords of Chaos" (Noisey) is a teenager's quest to launch Norwegian black metal in Oslo in the early 1990s. It results in very violent outcomes. In theaters Feb. 8, 2019 (On Demand Feb. 22, 2019). Directed by Jonas Åkerlund. CAST: Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, Jack Kilmer, Sky Ferreira, and Valter Skarsgård. WEBSITE: lordsofchaosfilm.com. Like "Lords of Chaos" on facebook.com, twitter.com, instagram.com.
WARNING: Cussing, shocking antics, excesses of the 1970 people would rather forget!
Teenagers had a race for the night time, spent my cash on every high I could find, wasted time in every school in L.A., getting loose, I didn't care what the kids say.
CHORUS: We're white punks on dope. Mom and dad live in Hollywood, hang myself when I get enough rope. Can't clean up, though I know I should. White punks on dope...
("TV-Glotzer" in German*) Nina Hagen's spinon a classic tune, late 70s
Other dudes are living in the ghetto (wa-oo-wa-oo-wa-oo-wa-ooooo), but born in Beverly Hills don't seem much better (wa-oo-wa-oo-wa-oo-wa-ooooo).
I go crazy 'cause my folks are so bleeding rich (wa-oo-wa-oo-wa-oo-wa-ooooo), have to score when I get that rich white punk itch. Sounds real classy, living in a chateau (wa-oo-wa-oo-wa-oo-wa-ooooo). So lonely, all the other kids will never know. CHORUS. White punks on dope...
"White Punks on Dope" Nina Hagen version
*GERMAN TV-Glotzer: Alone! The world has forgotten about me. I am hanging around. F*cked it up with everyone. No desire to do a thing. I feel old, like my grandma in a swamp. I turn on the [TV] box: the Daltons, Waltons, everyone. I stare from East to West, 2, 5, 4. No way I can decide. Everything here is so beautifully colorful! I stare at the TV. (She stares at the TV). I stare at the TV. (She stares at the TV). Wow! I am so dead! Was this my life already? My beautiful imagination! My sensors all have had it! I turn on the box, happiness, smooth smooth, fun fun! I stare from East to West, 2, 5, 4. No way I can decide. Everything here is so beautifully colorful! I stare at the TV. (She stares at the TV). I stare at the TV. (She stares at the TV). Yeah! I am going nuts. I won't touch another book. Literature? Puke, puke! Makes me sick. And the medical novels I've read with twelve. Boy, I am so well-read! Hey! And the refreshment waffles have leaked, gag gag. And this f*cking chocolate makes me fatter and fatter and fatter and fatter and, oh dear! I turn on the box -- happiness, smooth smooth, fun fun! I stare from East to West, 2, 5, 4. No way I can decide. Everything here is so beautifully colorful! I stare at the TV...TV TV TV TV is a drug. TV is addictive. TV TV TV TV...
Interested in a two-session "health and beauty" seminar just for women? Why two sessions? One is for "beauty" [or what passes for beauty in our agist, racist, shadist, post-colonial society]. The other is for below the waistline, you know, down there.
SESSION 1 (MEN ALLOWED), 10:00 am-11:15 pm: New technologies for looking younger WITHOUT surgery: Tighten and firm skin for a more beautiful appearance and a natural, youthful look. Presented by Liftique Founder and Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Dr. Robert Applebaum (see below) of Beverly Hills.
Discover how Liftique uses the latest FDA-approved energy based medical technologies, which are able to reduce, correct, and postpone the most common signs of visible aging -- without surgery or painful procedures.
Learn how Liftique’s “one and done” premier procedure activates the body’s OWN skin-tightening mechanism -- for a naturally-youthful appearance with no “over-pulled” look.
See dozens of actual patients' before-and-after results and hear about their experiences.
Plus learn:
Old, white, and rich? (actual patient)
Scientific facts on how “anti-aging” creams and “skin tightening” serums compare to the latest advances in skin tightening, firming and rejuvenation.
Why an increasing number of women and men are asking for alternatives to traditional face and neck lift surgeries.
The difference between “non-surgical” and “minimally-invasive,” and why a combination of both treatment protocols is optimal.
What doctors and patients are saying about The LIFTIQUE™ “one and done” premier procedure for face, chin, jowl tightening, and neck smoothing -- as well as unsightly bra rolls, back fat, and loose arm skin.
SESSION 2 (11:30 am-12:30 pm): New technologies for the non-surgical treatment of restrictive or painful pelvic floor disorders presented by Chief Medical Director of Liftique Blush Dr. Karram.
(WOMEN ONLY)Discover how new energy-based technologies are making it possible for women to stop having to live with embarrassing, limiting, or painful pelvic floor disorders. Learn how Liftique Blush:
Treats bladder dysfunction and leakage, stress or urge incontinence, OAB syndrome or chronic urinary tract infections.
Treats female sexual dysfunction such as vaginal dryness and painful intercourse caused by the onset of menopausal conditions and estrogen-positive breast cancer.
Improves the quality of life and helps a woman enjoy new levels of freedom and partner intimacy.
Uses the latest, safest, non-surgical technologies and a customized treatment program to improve and treat pelvic floor disorders.
Offers a comprehensive, fully customized pelvic floor health program.
BuddhaFest embraces the principles of mindfulness and compassion through a unique mix of inspiring films, modern wisdom teachings, meditation, and live music.
The response to this year’s BuddhaFest has been incredible. This is the final week to reserve DISCOUNT SEATS with early bird pricing. This year’s lineup of presenters includes:
"Crane Song" filmed in Himalayan Buddhist India, in Ladakh's capital Leh, home of Hemis Gompa, where Issa/Jesus of Nazareth trained. Tenzin Choegyal sings, "Drops of rain wash away the love songs written in the sand. Love though unwritten remains long after in the Heart"
A new feature of BuddhaFest this year is the opportunity to go deeper with individual teachers. Select from one of five daylong intensives to attend on the final day.
Seats for most events are reserved this year, so get them today for the best selection. Save now with discountTICKETS, early bird deadline: Friday, April 27, 2018.
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FilmWeek on AirTalk (scpr.org, Feb. 15, 2019) is a one-hour weekly segment looking at films, offering movie reviews, filmmaker interviews, and discussions on various aspects of the film industry. Today's film is all about extremely heavy Scandinavian metal and the kids who took (take) it very seriously: lordsofchaosfilm.com
Treats bladder dysfunction and leakage, stress or urge incontinence, OAB syndrome or chronic urinary tract infections. 
Zen for Nothing, West Coast premiere
