Altadena's 'Collaboratory' grand opening

WHAT HAPPENED?

The opening of the Eaton Fire Collab was a great success. The parking lot was overflowing, and the 36,000 square foot space was packed shoulder to shoulder with tours, a party, and lots of tabling by non-profit organizations. In the future Free Store (for those who apply in advance) sits the mural shown above, which is about 25 feet long. There was a party going in the central meeting area, along with free snacks. When in full swing, this will be the largest fire recovery hub in California. There is an entire section dedicated to mental health, relaxation, and recovery. It includes art therapy, peer-to-peer counseling, and other psychological resources.

• Eaton Fire Collaborative Opens ‘Collaboratory,’ a Home Base for Recovery (Pasadena Now)
• PEF and the Eaton Fire Collaboratory: A Space for Hope and Healing – Pasadena Educational Foundation
• Altadena Coalition: Community Support and Recovery Initiative | The Altadena Coalition
• LAist.com

Grand opening

Impact artist Ekaterina Sky mural

The EFC Collaboratory is having a grand opening on Tuesday, Oct. 7th, at 540 W. Woodbury Ave. in Altadena (near the intersection of Lincoln and Woodbury). This massive 36,000 square foot compound is the home to many non-profits and an art collective. Our collaboration mural with impact artist Ekaterina Sky is now housed here and visible in the west-facing lounge near the rolling doors. The vision for the remainder of the space will be explained on the day to visitors and guests.

• Eaton Fire Collaboratory Grand Opening
• Tuesday, October 7, 2025 | 4:00 PM – 7:00 pm
• 540 W. Woodbury Ave, Altadena, California

Grand opening of EFC Collaboratory, Altadena

In January 2025, California faced one of the most devastating wildfire seasons in history. Thousands of families were displaced, homes were lost, and entire communities were left reeling in the aftermath.

For the past nine months, the StrongHome Network has been on the ground, serving, supporting, and walking alongside families impacted by these fires. Through collaboration with hundreds of dedicated organizations, SHN has worked tirelessly to help survivors rebuild their lives, restore hope, and begin again.

Now, SHN is thrilled to announce the Grand Opening of the Eaton Fire Collaboratory—a new shared space where over 40 organizations are coming together under one roof to continue this vital work.

The Collaboratory is a place of restoration, partnership, and community. Here, fire-affected families can access a wide range of resources including:

• Essential needs and personal recovery support
• Home rebuilding and construction guidance
• Family and marriage strengthening programs
• Mental health and wellness services
• Business and financial recovery resources.

Following the grand opening, the Eaton Fire Collaboratory will remain open weekly during regular business hours to serve anyone in need of these resources.

Whether one seeks personal support, rebuilding assistance, or community connection, this will be a welcoming space for ongoing recovery and growth. If anyone was impacted by the fires or are passionate about supporting community recovery, all are invited to join SHN for this special event.

Come meet the partners, explore the space, connect with local leaders, and discover how we can all move forward—stronger together.

This event is FREE and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided. stronghomenetwork.com/efc-collaboratory-october-7th

Volunteer: Sunday, Oct. 5th

Volunteer and get involved.

WHAT HAPPENED? Amigosdelosrios.org -- which is saving the remaining trees in Altadena after the Eaton Fire took more than half of them -- cleaned up the green space around the center in preparation for the open house on Tuesday, Oct. 7th.

California Climate Action Corps
LA Works

• Oct. 5, 2025: Greening at the Altadena Collaboratory
• laworks.com/2025fires
• portal.caclimateactioncorps.org
• 626 Night Market (Asian offerings)

2025 LA Fires Upcoming Recovery Events

2025 LA Fires Recovery Events and Offerings — Los Angeles Region Community Recovery Organization

• 
  larcro.org
• larcro.org/volunteer
• Legal Clinics
• Insurance and Financial Workshops
• Government Updates and Resources
• Small Business Support Rebuilding
• Repairs
• Emotional Support Workshops
• betterangeles.la/wildfire/fire-recovery-grant
• Los Angeles Region Community Recovery Organization; (Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen. B. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Invite: Peace Mandala (4/19-20)

INVITATION TO THE PEACE MANDALA

But Jesus stressed inclusiveness and compassion!

The Compassionate Service Society hosts the World Peace Gathering and Peace Mandala on [Hitler's birthday and International Weed Day 4:20] April 20th, 2025, with the goal of bringing comfort and empathy to those suffering. How?

The practice of inner peace unfolds kindness and compassion (metta and karuna) in every heart that participates. California Buddhist monks and nuns are joining in the:

• 

  11 faces of Avalokiteśvara (Tibet)

  Peace Mandala
• Sunday, April 20, 2025
• 4:00 pm-9:00 pm
• Anaheim Convention Center
• 800 W. Katella Avenue
• Anaheim, Orange County 92802
• Registration World Peace
• Discover Peace and Joy | Compassionate Service Society
• Registration to become a temporary Left-Home Monk or Nun – World Peace Gathering (April 10-21, 2025)

White Avalokiteshvara

Participation brings about grace and faith (blessings and confidence) to the community and solace to the untold suffering the world is currently witnessing. Help us bring blessings to ALL.

[We can be the Buddhist Goddess of Compassion Kwan Yin that hears the cries of the world.]

Mandala Program

• 
  4:00-5:00 pm - Purification ceremony
• 5:00-5:30 pm - Refreshments and light dinner
• 5:30-6:00 pm - Line up to enter Mandala
• 6:00-8:00 pm - Peace Mandala
• 8:00-8:59 pm - Monastics receive offerings
• 9:00-9:01 pm - Program ends

Upcoming Events

April 10-April 21 (compassheart.com)

Discover Peace & Joy | Compassionate Service Society | Prayer Plaques and Urns

.

The goddess who hears the cries of the world

Ulan Bator's Gandan Monastery Avalokiteśvara

Tibetan Chenrezig (Kwan Yin), Pelling, Sikkim

In Mahayana Buddhism, the term Ishvara is used as part of the compound Avalokiteśvara ("lord who hears the cries of the world"), the name of a bodhisattva revered for his compassion (who transformed into Goddess Kwan Yin). When referring to the divine feminine, particularly in Shaktism, Ishvari is often used. More

• 300 volunteers needed to help:
• Compassionate Service Society
• (714) 625-8966
• 420 South Brookhurst Street
• Anaheim, Orange County, CA 92804

MandyKahn.com via PRS.org

• Ven. Heng Der, Ven. Heng Chang (compassheart.com); Ven. Karunananda, Bodhi Mission Vihara, LBC; Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Yosemite Facelift: volunteer clean up (video)

Jen Bradford, Dhr. Seven, Xochitl (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

If the Native Paiute kept it clean, so can we.

Throughout the year, Yosemite National Park has several special events such as Junior Ranger Day, Earth Day (both in April), Apple Picking Day (mid August), and Yosemite Facelift (late September), where volunteers can just show up, no application needed.

These events are listed on this website (Drop-in Volunteering and Special Events, Yosemite National Park, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov) when the dates are known for each year.

Before long, the snow comes and closes roads.

For all special events and drop-in days, the park asks participants to wear long pants and closed-toe shoes, appropriate gear for the weather, and to bring sun protection, water, and snacks.

The park provides tools and protective equipment. All participants must sign a volunteer agreement [42 kb DOCX]. To fill out the form in advance, it will be posted with each special event or drop-in project as they are planned.

(It can also be signed on the day of the project on-site). Guardians must sign the form for participants under the age of 18. More

Volunteering, meditating in Burma (video)

ThabarwaVolunteering.com, ThaBarWa Centre; Ellie Marsh, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Here's a usual day in the all-volunteer ThaBarWa Centre as international volunteers help the Buddhist monastics, patients, projects, as well as meditating, eating, and enjoying each others' company (Summer 2018). This short video is a snapshot of life in Buddhist Asia for Western travelers, made by a lovely Latin couple. Gracias. Facebook: @thabarwavolunteering, Instagram: @thabarwavolunteering. Contact us with any question. It's crazy here, so I stayed ten months.

   

QUESTION: Venerable sir, should monastics improve society?

Sayadaw U Ottamasara, the abbot at ThaBarWa, explains if and how Buddhist monastics should attempt to improve society. Q&A session, Dec. 2014, ThaBarWa Meditation Center, Thanlyin, Rangoon, Burma (Yangon, Myanmar).

Good deeds: volunteering in Burma (video)

ThaBarWa Centre, Thanlyin, Burma; Sayalay, Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

ThaBarWa: International Volunteers

(April 27, 2017) ThaBarWa Meditation Center in Burma (which the military dictatorship insists now be called "Myanmar") has international volunteers interested in meditation and doing good deeds. For more information, see facebook.com, thabarwavolunteering, instagram.com. To contact the center directly, email: infothabarwa@gmail.com.

Our federal income TAX is VOLUNTARY

Adel Weiss (weissparis.com); Diego Rivers, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

We've "elected" (volunteered) to pay federal income tax, so we can revoke our election.

IRS payment website fails on Federal US income tax day; extensions to be granted

Pay my goddamn taxes, peons.

It's nearly April 15th. Is there a way to legally exit the U.S. Tax Club? The federal income tax is voluntary. Are American taxpayers fed up with handing over a large percentage of their hard-earned money to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) every year?

"Your income tax is 100 percent voluntary tax, and your liquor tax is 100 percent enforced tax."

- Dwight Avis, head of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax division in 1953 speech to Congress 

See flyer (weissparis.com/assets)

If so Weiss+Associates Financial Freedom Consultants can help Americans keep their money. But how can this be achieved in a manner that will not make a person a target?

Use the law. The U.S. Supreme Court declared the Federal income tax to be unconstitutional unless the law included the population-based Rule of Apportionment. The 16th Amendment clearly excluded this requirement.

Americans can, however, VOLUNTEER to join the Tax Club. And if anyone can volunteer his or her way in, that person can also EXIT.

Truth is, no one actually reads the Constitution

Please be aware. There are two "United States." The Constitutional Republic -- the 50 states of the Union -- is vastly different from the corporate "United States" in regard to the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

People born in the District of Columbia and territories like Puerto Rico do not have the Constitutional protections that are inalienable to [not able to be taken away from] other Americans.

It's up to you to clarify your true and correct status as a sovereign Constitutional American. The Revocation of Election Weiss+Associates offers meets the criteria for opting out of the Tax Club -- an option provided by the U.S. Congress, not Weiss+Associates.

This frees you from any obligation to file and pay the U.S. Federal Income Tax for the current tax year plus all future years.

• email: bilateral@gmx.com
• or pvermeister@gmx.com
• Also on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
• OFFICE HOURS: 9:00 am–3:00 pm
• Central European time, Monday-Wednesday

To the naysayers

Balance budget on backs of women...

This website (weissparis.com) contains volumes of valuable information about the LAW. Weiss and associates point out what the law states regarding the misapplication toward those who are not truly liable.

Weiss and associates understand many live in fear of their government, and part of that comes from the repeated silence from government employees -- your servants. It is their responsibility to inform We The People (whom they serve) on legitimate questions regarding the law. 

 

THE LAW applies to the government AS MUCH as it applies to the People. And it is your job -- as the sovereign -- to demand they follow the law.

Read (and re-read) Weiss+Associates' Mission Statement above. If you correspond with a government employee, require of them to show you THE LAW, and reject any hyperbole they may offer to dance around the key subject of jurisdiction.

No government employee or agency has EVER shown us THE LAW as it relates to an obligation upon American Nationals (those living and working in the Constitutional Republic) to file a Form 1040 without first making an election.

Most critical-thinking people can assume this equates to the fact that no law exists. If you remain skeptical, the truth is self-evident. Force your government to answer the key element: SHOW ME THE LAW!

If they ever produce such a document, please forward it to Weiss + Associates, because its 25+ years of research has shown that the Federal Income Tax was only levied upon the National Government without apportionment. More

Indian Film Festival of L.A. (April 11-15, 2018)

Indianfilmfestival.org; Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

I love Indian films in LA!

Explore IFFLA

• Purchase All-Access or Fest Pass today!
• Watch IFFLA alumni interviews on YouTube
• Become a patron
• Volunteer for IFFLA

Announcements

• The 16th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles hosts a Master Class with Kunal Nayyar, announces jury, and adds world premiere screening
• The 16th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles announces lineup and gala screenings
• 16th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles announces 2018 dates and call for entries
• Tweets by @iffla

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• 
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Feed the needy: Food Not Bombs (volunteer)

Pat Macpherson, Irma Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly; FoodNotBombs.net

WANTED: Looking for enthusiastic and committed new members for the Reseda Chapter of Food Not Bombs. Help is particularly needed from those willing to drive and/or those with transportation to carry goods.

Willing to cook and prepare healthy food using goods provided? All help is welcome!

We provide fresh produce and vegan food FREE for the community. If interested, please contact us via Craigslist email. We appreciate all volunteers! We are active only on Sunday afternoons. For more information about the organization, visit FoodNotBombs.net.

No Satanic sex killers, please. Unless you have a van with the windows blacked out...or other transportation. No, no, not even if you have transportation. Thanks!

Holy Mother (Amma Sri Karunamayi) in LA

Wisdom Quarterly; KarunaMayi.org

This is an introduction to Amma Sri Karunamayi, revered in India as a manifestation of the Divine Mother. She travels the world teaching meditation and promoting world peace and unity among all people and religions. Amma has many charitable missions which she supports in India and encourages us all to participate in our home countries by volunteering and engaging in charity of all kinds.

• Amma in Los Angeles, March 31-April 7, 2013
• (213) 268-2260 or email LosAngeles@Karunamayi.org
• March 31: Sri Ashta Lakshmi Temple, North Hollywood (puja)
• April 4: AHIAH Center for Spiritual Living (darshan)
• April 5: AHIAH, Pasadena (Saraswati mantra diksha)
• April 6: Angelus Mountain Center (meditation)
• April 7: Sri Ashta Lakshmi (Homa Sacred Fire Ceremony)

Coastal Cleanup Days 2012

ArroyoSeco.org; HealTheBay.org; Wisdom Quarterly

It is often asked in inter-religious circles, "Why does Los Angeles have such thick smog?" Answer: "So god can't see what they're doing down there."

 

But Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012 is another in Heal the Bay's  ongoing efforts to clean up the nation's largest megalopolis.

  

Help save the planet one area at a time. This cleanup centers on the arroyo seco ("dry river bed") where the San Gabriel River feeds the Santa Monica Bay. Sign up online at HEALTHEBAY.ORG/CCD.

• For more info: info@arroyoseco.org or see CCD2012

Holiday volunteering in the park

One never goes wrong with an Eclectic Holiday (hoardedordinaries)

HOLIDAY DINNERS-IN-THE-PARK
The largest potluck in the nation

For over 35 years Union Station Homeless Services has hosted annual Dinners-in-the-Park on Thanksgiving and Xmas, providing warm holiday meals for people in the community. Over 7,500 meals were served last holiday season to the homeless, seniors, those alone over the holidays or unable to afford a holiday meal.

• Dec. 25th online pre-registration for Xmas Dinner-in-the-Park is now closed. Join Wisdom Quarterly volunteers by coming DIRECTLY to Central Park, 219 South Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena (near the Del Mar Station, Metro Gold Line) on Xmas Day.

On Christmas Day more than 2,000 toys were distributed to children in our Santa's Village [to save them from Krampus the Scandinavian Christmas troll]. Held every year in Pasadena's Central Park, these events bring together volunteers to serve a healthy meal and holiday cheer to our less fortunate community members.

Union Station is thankful for the in-kind donations of vegetables, side dishes, desserts, and new toys that make it all possible. See the impact of community giving by contributing to Holiday Dinners-in-the-Park. How can I help? More

• GIVE A GOOD MEAL
• Buddhist holiday bric-a-brac
• Hindu-Christian eclectic Xmas
  
• Mexican Jews attract attention (some good)
  
• "General Grant" the Nation's Xmas tree
• VIDEO: Jews and Japanese in Los Angeles