Warrior, poet, author, artist, consultant to film and TV documentaries, interfaith minister/chaplain, motivational speaker, workshop facilitator, meditation teacher and non-paid Veteran advocate and lobbyist. He’s counseled several thousand veterans over the past three decades and been recognized by the US Congress and the State of California for his tireless assistance to veterans and their families dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The story telling and poetry writing of ancient spiritual warriors has a long tradition in bygone eras. The Vietnam War was no different, providing a long creative experience for this author. The poetry and stories in his many books are a direct result of Bill McDonald’s own experiences during that part of his life. Bill McDonald served in Vietnam in 1966-67. He was a crew chief/door-gunner on Huey helicopters (UH-1D) with the 128th Assault Helicopter Company. Bill was awarded numerous medals, including The Distinguished Flying Cross, The Bronze Star, and multiple Air Medals. Because he was wounded during several helicopter shoot-downs, he was awarded the Purple Heart.



He has an AA degree from San Jose City College, and a BA degree from the University of San Francisco. He went back to Vietnam in 2002, with a small group known as “The Peace Patrol” to a warm welcome from his former enemies. He wrote about that experience in 2003 in his first book A Spiritual Warrior’s Journey.

His other book 'WARRIOR: A Spiritual Odyssey' is told by a true warrior. In the book " . . .Rev. Bill  recounts his spiritual journey in selected stories through a life which began with a seemingly unending dysfunctional childhood, included an astonishing tour of duty in Vietnam, and then opened into one of the widest benevolent lives ever. His entire existence has been lived out under a spiritual umbrella that keeps him safe no matter how powerful the storm. Not afraid to go out into the rain, Rev. Bill’s humility, integrity, loyalty, faith and courage is expressed through his every move. His investment in recounting events provides all readers to experience places they’ve only dreamed about. The situations allow reflective readers to parallel the events to their own lives. And in the end, each reader will stand with him at Machu Picchu, Peru and begin his or her own odyssey. In effect this book is a road map to Rev. Bill’s personal, spiritual and emotional destination. Metaphorically the ‘map’ is on the seat of his pickup. When you begin the book he’s essentially handing you the keys and offering you the opportunity to experience his route, after which you’ll be able to tweak your own map." Available on Amazon.

Many of his poems and stories are published in national publications including Parade Magazine (10/06/02), and Self-Realization Fellowship magazine’s summer 1998 edition. Bill is featured in the book God in the Foxhole by Charles W. Sasser (2012), Divine Moments: Ordinary People Having Spiritually Transformative Experiences, by Nancy  Clark (2012), Stories of Faith and Courage from the Vietnam War (Battlefields & Blessings) by Larkin Spivey (2011), Silent Battlefields, by The Military Writers Society of America (2012 member anthology), and others.

He was also part of a documentary film crew that recorded interviews across the country in the fall of 2002, dealing with the effects of the Vietnam War and the Huey helicopter experience called, In The Shadow of The Blade. The film premiered at the LBJ Presidential Library on November 8, 2003 in Austin, Texas. He has since produced, or been a part of four other documentary films that have been shown on PBS TV, The Pentagon Television Network and The Military Channel. He is currently working on a DVD about his healing and spiritual trip back to Vietnam in 2002.



His autobiography entitled A Spiritual Warrior’s Journey, discusses his life experiences, not only in Vietnam, but both before and afterwards . It is his spiritual experiences and the supernatural events that surrounds his life that makes his writing totally unique amongst writers. He is currently working on a follow-up to A Spiritual Warrior’s Journey which deals with a near-death experience that occurred in 2004 in the mountains of India when he fell off a 30 foot sloping cliff. He landed on a large rock looking up at the blue sky. He had no heartbeat or respiration. He drifted away from his own physical body and was looking down at himself on the rock. Then a large cobra snake crawled across his feet, but that is an another story he can tell you if you ask.



Bill is an internationally known inspirational and motivational speaker. He has been an advocate for veteran’s rights and the treatment of PTSD veterans. He is also a chaplain and minister for many non-profit groups and organizations. He speaks to various spiritual organizations across the country about yoga, ESP, angels, NDEs, healing powers, and psychic abilities.



His web site, has had over 30 million visitors since 1998 and continues to be among the most visited of its genre on the internet.

His acclaimed poetry book Purple Hearts deals with poetry from the Vietnam War and is available to organizations to sell for fund raising. His award winning poetry book “Sacred Eye – Poetry in Search of the Divine” won a $25,000 marketing and promotional award from Booksurge Publisher (March 2004).



Bill works with several non-profit foundations doing projects for the people of Vietnam and for the vision of world peace. He also helps veterans and their families through his support network and other PTSD organizations.



He is the founder of two of the biggest author organizations in north America – The Military Writer’s Society of America (MWSA) http://www.mwsadispatches.com/ and The American Author’s Association (AAA).



Bill has appeared and been interviewed on various issues and subject matters by over 300 radio and TV stations and newspapers since 2001.



Bill was born in San Francisco, California and was raised on the west coast – living in California, Oregon, and Hawaii. He was a surfer, SCUBA Diver Instructor, and Lifeguard in his early days. Spent over 30 years in management with the USPS and retired in early 2001 as a Safety Manager. He now lives with his wife of 45 years in Elk Grove, California. He has two adult children and six grandchildren. He used to spend part of each year away in India at an ashram in the jungles outside of Pune. But recent health issues have keep his travels within the USA – were he takes off for several months on the road helping non-profit organizations and promoting events and other authors. If you, or your organization, needs to connect with him he can be reached at:

Bill McDonald

Spiritual Warrior Productions

Post Office Box 2441

Elk Grove, CA 95759-2441

Email Address: Angelnet@surewest.net

IAN PLIMER is Professor Emeritus of Earth Science at The University of Melbourne. He was formerly Professor at the Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich and at the University of Newcastle. He won the Leopold von Buch Medal for Science and has thrice won the Eureka Prize, the latest of which was for his book A Short History of Planet Earth. Professor Plimer has published over 120 scientific papers and books and 6 books for the lay person on topics raging from religious fundamentalism to mining history. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, member of numerous professional organisations and serves on many national and international scientific commissions. He is currently edits the Academic Press Encyclopaedia of Geology, is filming a BBC natural science program and continues his weekly ABC regional radio broadcasts. He is a director of a UK and Australian listed public companies.

BOOKS BY IAN PLIMER...

HEAVEN AND HELL: The Pope condemns the poor to eternal poverty by Ian Plimer

The Encylical Letter of Pope Francis Laudato Si "care for our common home" was influenced by atheists, communists and green activists. The Pope advocates burdening the Third World with inefficient unreliable high cost renewable energy and agriculture thereby keeping the poor in eternal poverty. Only when Third World children can do homework at night using cheap coal-fired electricity can they escape from poverty. Looking purely at the science rather than the theology, Ian Plimer shows the failure of the current Pope in his understanding of the real issues affecting poverty, especially in Third World countries.

Not for Greens: He Who Sups with the Devil Should Have a Long Spoon by Ian Plimer

The processes required to make a humble stainless steel teaspoon are remarkably complicated and every stage involves risk, coal, energy, capital, international trade and finance. Stainless steel cutlery has taken thousands of years of experimentation and knowledge to evolve and the end result is that we can eat without killing ourselves with bacteria. We are in the best times to have ever lived on planet Earth and the future will only be better. All this we take for granted. Greens may have started as genuine environmentalists. Much of the green movement has now morphed into an unelected extremist political pressure group accountable to no one. Greens create problems, many of which are concocted, and provide no solutions because of a lack of basic knowledge. This book examines green policies in the light of established knowledge and shows that they are unrealistic. Policies by greens adopted by supine governments have resulted in rising costs, increased taxes, political instability, energy poverty, decreased longevity and environmental degradation and they don't achieve their ideological aims. Wind, solar and biomass energy emit more carbon dioxide than they save and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions does nothing to change climate and only empties the pocket. No stainless steel teaspoon could be made using green "alternative energy". This book argues that unless the greens live sustainably in caves in the forest and use no trappings of the modern world, then they should be regarded as hypocrites and treated with the disdain they deserve.

Heaven and Earth: Global Warming, the Missing Science by Ian Plimer

Climate, sea level, and ice sheets have always changed, and the changes observed today are less than those of the past. Climate changes are cyclical and are driven by the Earth's position in the galaxy, the sun, wobbles in the Earth's orbit, ocean currents, and plate tectonics. In previous times, atmospheric carbon dioxide was far higher than at present but did not drive climate change. No runaway greenhouse effect or acid oceans occurred during times of excessively high carbon dioxide. During past glaciations, carbon dioxide was higher than it is today. The non-scientific popular political view is that humans change climate. Do we have reason for concern about possible human-induced climate change?

This book's 504 pages and over 2,300 references to peer-reviewed scientific literature and other authoritative sources engagingly synthesize what we know about the sun, earth, ice, water, and air. Importantly, in a parallel to his 1994 book challenging “creation science,” Telling Lies for God, Ian Plimer describes Al Gore's book and movie An Inconvenient Truth as long on scientific “misrepresentations.” “Trying to deal with these misrepresentations is somewhat like trying to argue with creationists,” he writes, “who misquote, concoct evidence, quote out of context, ignore contrary evidence, and create evidence ex nihilo.”

Telling Lies for God: Reason vs Creationism by Ian Plimer

This controversial analysis of creationism examines the arguments put forward to support the acceptance of a literal interpretation of the Biblical account of creation, and presents counterarguments from a scientific viewpoint. Also critically examines the material that many creationists use to support their beliefs. Includes a bibliography. The author is professor of geology at the University of Melbourne.

Sonja is originally from Vienna, Austria and now lives in the Chicago area. A student of Astrology for well over 20 years, she has been a member of the National Council for Geocosmic Research (NCGR) since 1997, receiving her NCGR Level 1 certification in 2005.

She has written monthly Horoscopes for MahalayaLife.com and the online magazine "Urban CampFire". She has been interviewed for her astrological insight on several internet radio shows, including "A Charmed Life", "The Reality Manifest Show" and "That's the Beauty of it All". She was also a guest on "Astrology, Numerology Now" -- a TV show hosted by Z Starman. In addition, she was the host of her own (fully sponsored) Astrology show on BiteSizeTV until July 2013. 

Her passion is for connecting with people and helping them transform their lives. This led her to train as a life coach, in addition to her lifelong study of astrology. She currently serves dozens of clients across several continents, via Skype and phone.

She currently also enjoys sharing her online Soul-Based Astrology curriculum, as well as teaching her in-person “Soul Journey” courses all over the world. 

To learn more about Sonja’s service and get great free content, visit her online at Facebook/AstrologerCoach.SonjaFrancis

On either sites you will find her regular Astrology forecasts -- written and video -- and a link to her twitter feed.

SAM MORRIS

Sam Morris is the founder of Zen Warrior Training®. In 1999, just after leading a bicycling trip for nine teenagers across the United States, Sam was in a car accident caused by a drunk driver which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Rather than becoming the victim of his circumstances, Sam learned and created a system of mental and physical training that brought him more vitality and clarity than he had before his injury. In addition to coaching private clients and businesses in Zen Warrior Training®, Sam teaches classes in Santa Monica, CA, a monthly men’s group called “Zen for Men,” Zen Warrior Training youth programs, and workshops throughout the country.

Sam resides in Los Angeles with his wife Meghan, founder of Amba Yoga™, and their two dogs. He is committed to serving humanity through helping individuals strengthen their awareness of their personal power.

MELISSA REBRONJA

I am a Hypnotherapist with over 15 years’ experience helping people heal and empower themselves. My modalities include Hypnotherapy, Relationship and Life Coaching, Energy Healing and more.  I hold a safe space for you to relax into your Authentic Presence. I’ve traveled a long way to be the light I am today. I was raised in a harsh culture and abusive family environment, in a country eventually destroyed by war. 

I learned that the only way out… is through; feeling and forgiving the past, surrendering and trusting the future, living fully in the present, here, now, today.  It is my mission to help heal our collective heart, helping YOU live, love and prosper by being your most authentic self. I’ve helped many people remove blocks, heal pain and ultimately discover themselves as their own source of everything they need.

My clients come from the worlds of entertainment, business, music and all walks of life.

I have musical albums released under my full name and EMAR, singing devotional music in over ten different languages. I am currently pioneering a new genre of music called  Hypnotic Dance Meditation, and writing my first book. 

MELISSA REBRONJA (EMAR)

MY LIFE:

Hi, my name is Melissa Rebronja also known as EMAR (pronounced as my initials M.R.). I love people. I want every human to be happy. I was born in a beautiful country that no longer exists. As a child, my first piece of writing began “My wish is that…”. I wished that people who had no limbs would grow them. And people who were sad would be happy. My teacher made me read it in front of the class.

A decade later, I wrote an essay about the war & destruction of my homeland. I got an A+ with this note: “Outstanding! A valuable document. Keep it for reading to your children after the madness has died down.”

I have no children and I don’t know if the madness has died down. But here we are…

I have lived in four different cities (Belgrade, Toronto, Vancouver & LA) in three different countries (former Yugoslavia, Canada & USA). I have friends that I love from all different religions and cultures all over the world. My family consists of Atheists, Muslims and Christians. I LOVE all of them. I see our world as ONE.

My wish is for everyone to love each other. When I see people being good to each other it touches my heart.

The first song I ever wrote was about the madness of war & separation, ”It Could’ve Been Me”. Later, as I embraced my voice as a messenger of peace, I wrote ”Sutra” and EMAR came to be. It’s about returning home, forgiveness and love.

I sing in many different languages ’cause I want everyone on Earth to relate. I celebrate many different cultures in my music ’cause I want YOU to know you belong, no matter what color, religion or nation you are.

I sing and write about love & forgiveness. I want peace and oneness for ALL of us. Thank-you for reading and listening. I feel blessed by your presence on my page.

Love,
Melissa Rebronja EMAR

PRESS BIO:

Melissa Rebronja EMAR is a songstress who knows no borders.

World traveler, mystic, LA Lady.

As a songwriter and recording artist, her green eyes gaze into the sky and beyond, feet firmly planted on the urban streets she calls home.

Marrying world, acoustic, spiritual, and pop sounds, she creates a musical space that MOVES, where celebration becomes devotion becomes freedom.

She was born in Belgrade, gateway between the West and the Orient, razed to the ground time and time again in its chaotic history, but still standing where the Danube and the Sava Rivers meet, its red heart beating. There, she dreamed of becoming a singer, practicing in the mirror with an imaginary mic. The mic wouldn’t be imaginary for long.

When she was a teenager, she left the walnut tree in her back yard and moved to Canada. She came to know this young country as her home, and herself as North American.

Her debut album, EMBRACE YOURSELF, included the radio single & BRAVO TV video “Beautiful” as well as the huge Itunes download, her haunting version of “Wonderwall.” She quickly followed up with YOU’LL BE MINE.

Following her gypsy spirit into new musical realms, she then released one album and one EPs under the name EMAR. She won rave reviews from international media, dj’s and fans for SACRED SOUL, on which she sang in English, Serbian, Hindi, Persian, and Arabic. She added Mandarin, Gypsy, and Farsi to the mix on MOON, proving how far from your mother tongue you can go to express yourself when the spirit moves you.

Exposed to war in her place of birth, she knows about the bruised places on the earth and in our souls, and the power of music to heal and unite.

Music moving from one tribe to all tribes, radiating compassion and communion.

What will her next incarnation be? As always, she will dance between the street smart and the spiritual. Tough and tender.

Taking us all on her magic carpet ride.

She likes company.

Stay tuned.

MIKE GRAVEL was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to French Canadian immigrants. He attended French-speaking Catholic schools and as a teenager, when he wasn't working with his father and brothers in the house painting and construction business, volunteered in local Springfield politics, developing an avid interest in government.

Senator Gravel enlisted in the U.S. Army (1951-54) and served as special adjutant in the Communication Intelligence Services and as a Special Agent in the Counter Intelligence Corps. He received a B.S. in Economics from Columbia University, New York City, and holds four honorary degrees in law and public affairs.

Mike Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963-66, and as Speaker from 1965-66. He then represented Alaska in the U.S. Senate from 1969-81. He served on the Finance, Interior, and Environmental and Public Works committees, chairing the Energy, Water Resources, Buildings and Grounds, and Environmental Pollution subcommittees.

In 1971, he waged a successful one-man filibuster for five months that forced the Nixon administration to cut a deal, effectively ending the draft in the United States. He is most prominently known for his release of the Pentagon Papers, the secret official study that revealed the lies and manipulations of successive U.S. administrations that misled the country into the Vietnam War. After the New York Times published portions of the leaked study, the Nixon administration moved to block any further publication of information and to punish any newspaper publisher who revealed the contents.

From the floor of the senate, Gravel (a junior senator at the time) insisted that his constituents had a right to know the truth behind the war and proceeded to read 4,100 pages of the 7,000 page document into the senate record. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Senator Gravel did not have the right and responsibility to share official documents with his constituents.

He then published The Senator Gravel Edition, The Pentagon Papers, Beacon Press (1971). This publication resulted in litigation, Gravel v. U.S., resulting in a landmark Supreme Court decision (No. 71-1017-1026) relative to the Speech and Debate Clause (Article 1, Section 6) of the United States Constitution.

He has worked as a cab driver in New York City, a clerk on Wall Street and as a brakeman on the Alaska Railroad.  He founded and served as president of The Democracy Foundation, Philadelphia II, and Direct Democracy, nonprofit corporations dedicated to the establishment of direct democracy in the United States through the enactment of the National Initiative for Democracy by American voters.

Books authored by Senator Gravel are Jobs and More Jobs, and Citizen Power. He lectures and writes about governance, foreign affairs, economics, Social Security, tax reform, energy, environmental issues and democracy.

Senator Gravel is married to Whitney Stewart Gravel and has two grown children: Martin Gravel living in Colorado and Lynne Gravel Mosier, living in California. The Gravels have four grandchildren: Renee, Alex, Madison and Mackenzie.

THE RAY SHASHO SHOW WELCOMES PRODIGIOUS SINGER AND SONGWRITER BETH HART

Grammy Award-nominated singer/songwriter Beth Hart has been recognized across the world as one of the great live vocalists of our time. For 20 years, she has been leveling audiences with her incredible power, range and soul. A Planetmosh critic said, “I was just blown away by Beth’s voice!”, and American Songwriter proclaimed, “Beth’s tough, throaty voice…she uses that powerful instrument to best effect on dramatic, arena filling ballads.” Four of the greatest lead guitar legends in the business knew this, which is why they asked her to perform with them: in concert with Jeff Beck, in concert and on two spellbinding albums (Don’t Explain and Seesaw) with Joe Bonamassa, on two powerhouse records with Slash (on Beth’s own track, Sister Heroine, and on Slash’s Mother Maria) and on a very special blues album (Rhythm and Blues) with Buddy Guy. It’s no wonder she’s been nominated for two Blues Music Awards.

Concert fans know her work all too well, because of the many distinctions her work has earned: • Hit single, L.A. Song (Out Of This Town) - #6 in the Billboard Modern AC Chart and #7 in the Adult Top 40 Chart. • Album, Bang Bang Boom Boom, made it to #3 in the U.S. Billboard Top Blues Album Chart. • Album collaborations with Joe Bonamassa, Seesaw and Don’t Explain, made it to the top (#1 and #3) of the Billboard Blues Albums Chart, to #8 and #22 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums Chart and into the Billboard 200. • Albums Leave The Light On and 37 Days (recorded live) each produced #1 hit singles in Denmark.

And her upcoming album release, Better Than Home, just may be her most profound statement to date, with soulsearching ballads and up-tempo building-shakers. She plans to follow up with an extensive tour that will pack houses all over the world. Time and time again Beth has sold out venues in cities as New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tbilisi, Sydney and Melbourne. But maybe her greatest live performance to date was seen by millions of television viewers, when her tribute to Buddy Guy on the Kennedy Center Honors Special received one of the only 2 standing ovations of the evening, led by President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. Every live performance gets a standing ovation, because no one knows how to rock the house better than Beth Hart. When she sings clocks stop, hearts dance and neck-hair tingles…it’s that compelling!

Beth Hart “Better Than Home” is her latest release …

This album isn’t about the problems Beth’s faced in her life. Instead, she’s choosing to find the good things that have been there all along: accepting and loving her parents for who they really are, appreciating a good husband, facing her fears head on and ultimately finding ways to heal and convert that positive energy into music that moves people. This is an incredibly moving, self written and composed, album that’s going to reach people on a very personal level, because a one-of-a-kind artist found the perfect formula for exposing her very private inner voice and empowering it with her legendary outer voice. Because of that, it simply doesn’t get better than Beth Hart’s, self written and composed, Better Than Home.

Track Listing:

01 Might As Well Smile

02 Tell ‘Em To Hold On

03 Tell Her You Belong To Me

04 Trouble

05 Better Than Home

06 St. Teresa

07 We’re Still Living In The City

08 The Mood That I’m In

09 Mechanical Heart

10 As Long As I Have A Song

11 Mama This One’s For You (bonus)* *Bonus track: available on limited edition only.

For upcoming shows visit Beth Hart's Official Website

Truth, Education, Conversation, Action ,co -host from American Freedom Watch Radio and more...