More Than Just Music and Stunts - A Corporate Social Responsibility

Despite the fact that the main focus of the Vans Warped Tour happens to be on putting up great music for the people, but raising concern about environment issues has also been an equally important priority for them. Vans Warped Tour launched a Warped Eco-Initiative which made it the most environment friendly event in North America. With the initiative, the Vans Warped Tour switched over to bio diesel for running their tour buses and production trucks. Having more than 17 tour buses and close to 19 production trucks, running around in the US for two months, meant consuming a lot of fuel. Having been converted to bio diesel, Vans Warped Tour significantly reduced the usage of traditional fuel and thereby reduced a lot of pollution. By utilizing a renewable resource such as bio diesel, Vans Warped Tour proved the fact that bio diesel could actually be used on a regular basis and yet meet the essential efficiency requirements.

Everyone involved in the Vans Warped Tour propagates and encourages following the three R's of Restoration:

A. Reduce the consumption of non renewable resources.

B. Reuse the existing articles before trashing them.

C. Recycle products and articles.

Warped Eco-Initiative has become a cult movement which has greatly inspired the youth to take the first step in restoring beauty on the planet earth. The youth have been overly keyed up to stand for the cause and make an attempt for the big change. And it's not that the Vans Warped Tour has no incentive for them- volunteers are provided free access to the tour and are given away a whole lot of goodies like T-shirts, caps, souvenirs and many other items.

Vans Warped Tour believes in giving back to the society. At the open atmosphere, the tour builds up booths where you can find a number of vendors addressing socially relevant causes. The vendors constitute environmental rights activists, civil rights activists and even anti-racism organizations. Leaving aside these, a number of charitable organizations such as Teen Suicides, National Hope Line Network, and many more are also set up at the tour. In fact a tent by the name of 'Girl Garage' addresses the issues in an innovative way. The fans that happen to visit the tent are asked to design their T-shirts and bid for Vans shoes. All the proceedings from the sale of T-shirts and the shoes go to the suicide charitable trusts.

The Vans Warped Tour also contributes to causes such as the American Red Cross, Cancer Care and even AIDS research centers. In fact, with the sale of every 4 tickets at the tour, $1 gets credited to 'Camp Hollywood Heart'- an institution that takes care of the families that have been affected by HIV/AIDS. In 2005, the tour contributed more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the victims of hurricane Katrina. But money is not only the way through which they contribute/donate - many times, artists of the tour come together and supply prefabricated homes to the families in need.

Things Healer's Learn, Part 11 - Each Moment is a Convergence

It's so very easy to forget everything that happens and everyone involved is connected in some way. Most people, most of the time, fixate on one aspect of their experience to the neglect of the others. You could say this is a by-product of our human wiring that seems to say we're meant to handle only a limited number of things at a time. This may be true, but our choices and enculturation play a major part in what we believe we can handle at any one time. How we experience ourselves in relationship to others and our environment is under more of our control than we often realize.

If you look toward indigenous cultures, you'll find what appears to be a moment to moment awareness of much more than just the Self. One way of putting it is that the experience of Self happens within the context of a much greater whole.

In terms of their relationship with the environment, though it may not be fair to generalize, the orientation leans toward being a part of rather than separate from everything else that is. Animism, where most everything has a spirit of some sort, recognizes that just like everything else, the human has a spirit, as opposed to our dominant culture which states the only thing with a spirit is us. In Animism, ALL the spirits dance with each other.

Even in terms of time, indigenous cultures recognize this moment as the gathering place for every moment that has been experienced by the ancestors and the jumping off place for stewardship of the generations to come.

Most often, these orientations are present in indigenous languages themselves, which place the object first, rather than the subject, as in "The box was placed by me," rather than "I placed the box." There is both an implied relationship and a certain amount of mutual dependency implicit in this way of thinking.

The Lakota phrase "Mitakuye Oyasin" speaks to this orientation. Roughly translated, it says "all my relations." It applies to time, to place, to weather, to person, animal, stone, plant and on and on throughout every thing or event, living or dead in the universe. It says, "There is nothing that separates any part of this experience from another." We are all the expression of what is.

One metaphor for this is seeing the world through the eyes of the heart.

Poets have been speaking of the consciousness of the heart since there have been poets. A commonality that they all seem to speak of is that, when you think with your heart your vision embraces the physical, emotional, spiritual and lyrical; in essence, the complete dance of life rather than one aspect of it.

Anyone who has ever been a child or in love can recall vivid periods when experiencing the environment was all-encompassing; where the senses were opened and what they saw was more than what was in front of them. The experience of the moment included everything in the periphery, both internal and external, and "self" was a part of that, rather than the center of it all.

Can you recall times in your life when the seat of your consciousness was centered more in your chest than in your head? Where, rather than looking out through the windows of your eyes as an observer, you were an extension of your surroundings?

Today, science is showing us the heart is an organ that does far more than just pump blood. In embryonic development, both the brain and the heart are composed of atrial-neural cells; which means they each can function as either brain or heart cells. As differentiation occurs, the brain cells specialize into a strictly neurological function. While about 35 percent of the cells in the heart are devoted strictly to pumping related activity, however, the remaining 65 percent continue to function as neurological cells.

Seeing through the eyes of your heart - experiencing that sense of convergence in the moment -- is a concept you can test out for yourself. Spend some quiet time breathing into your heart. Continue doing so until you can feel expansiveness in your chest, your heart actually beating, or the blood pulsing through your veins and arteries. Stay in that place for a few minutes, keeping your awareness on your breathing and heart. Then, maintaining that attention, look into a mirror at yourself.

By just being open to the possibility, you will begin to notice a wonderful latticework of connection that includes you, the people you're with, and the environment that envelopes you, within the context of the time all these things are occurring.

Out of that, you begin to sense the subtleties of how the moment brings you all together. And when your intention is to promote healing, you will find more tools becoming available for you to use.

The Importance of Honoring Mothers and Fathers

With another year full of family events coming upon us, those of us that are lucky enough to have parents to honor will celebrate Mother's and Father's Day. We set aside one day a year for this, but it should be something we do everyday of the year, as commanded by God. There is a good reason for this, or else He wouldn't have commanded it!

Exodus 20:12 "Honor thy father and mother that you may enjoy a long life in the land the Lord gives you." (Amplified)

Note that this commandment comes with a promise attatched to it. A long, healthy existence requires our gratefulness to God for who we are. It's impossible to thank God for our existence unless we also thank our parents. By rejecting them, we are rejecting who we are. This kind of rejection can lead to illnesses and dissolutions, and even death, both spiritual and physical. It's just not possible to reject ourselves, our parents and claim to love God.

When the human soul remains unhealed of self rejection, that spirit becomes open to all kinds of evils. We have known these kinds of people in history as Hitler and Bin Ladin and Hussein. But the good news in found in the book of Malachi 4:6. It speaks of an 'Elijah' to come, "He will turn the hearts of fathers towards the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers..."

In order to become a disciple of Christ we must first, "Hear and Do" the words of the Master, and that includes honoring our parents. This commandment cannot be skipped over for any reason.

This requires honesty with ourselves, who we are and who and what our parents are (or were) and how we truly feel about them.

If we hold any kind of unforgiveness against them, we must truly confess wrong attitudes and ask to be forgiven. Sometimes this may require seeking counsel from a spiritual leader, but most importantly it must be handed over to God. He will work this out at His will. He doesn't intend for us to handle things like this on our own.

Eph.5:20 "Always giving thanks for all things on behalf our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father."

This simply means that we are included in the eternal life of God who heals all wounds and allows us to stop demanding perfection and satisfaction. We need to remember that we were chosen by God! This is the true kingdom message-Mk.10:29-30; Is.56:5. God has so much more in store for us if we let Him take the lead in our lives.

A good example of how pointless our lives are without God is found when Job after his affliction stood before God and realized that nothing else mattered. God revealed His sovereignty to Job and made him realize that everything else in his own life was pointless. The same goes for us today, if we just hand it all over to God, our own problems will just fall away and won't matter either in His presence.

Our lives are not something that we can stand aside and consider what it would be like to have a different one. It's just not possible to be serarated from our own lives, but instead we must find the goodness of God within the lives we do have. If we can't believe that He has done well by us, then finding peace will be impossible and we will never experience the security that He has planned for us.

Without God's goodness and the fellowhip of Jesus in who we are, They cannot become the foundation for an abundant and obedient life that God desires for all His childrent to have. He only desires to dwell within each and every one of us in order to make our lives glorious in every aspect. Realizing this is being in the Light and knowing the whole plan God has for us.

Jesus expains this relationship in further detail in the book of John chapter 14. It's the Father's wish that we are all one in eachother. If we come to Christ, we can then come to the Father. It's a beautiful reltaionship.

Many people who are unbelievers feel that this just won't do justice to the bitter facts of life. We say ther are exceptions to this ideal way of thinking. There are those who have suffered sexual abuse, dreaded diseases, birth defects, wars, terrible natural and manmade disasters, and many other terrible, unfair things, too many to mention. The truth is that every person carries his or her own burden that seems unfair. But, we can't focus on these things as the primaray part of who we are. Instead, if at all possible and with true faith in God, it can be done, we only have to choose this focus on God for ourselves. When we do, His world and who we are in it will then reveal a glorious destiny of our own.

It's a wonderful thing when our gratitude focuses toward redemption and on the future that God has given us, no matter what may come our way. This will then result in us being able to receive and welcome our lives as it's been and will be.

The important thing here to remember is that the heart of our beings lies within our families and our parents. It's simply impossible to be thankful for who we are without being thankful to our parents.

By telling your parents you love them, you are telling God that you love the life He gave you. Remember, He chose you! Tag you're it!!!

Unravelling The Real Estate Buying Process in Canada

If you're a foreign national thinking about investing in the real estate market in Canada here's a run down of the typical buying process you should expect to encounter together with a general explanation of mortgages available to assist with the purchase.

First things first though, you have to find your ideal property of course!

But let's assume you've done that with the help of a good estate agent and you're ready to move forward with an offer.

It's important to know that from the outset the entire process surrounding the buying and selling of real estate in Canada is a regulated process. This means the process should follow the basic format as described below and that you will be protected throughout by the rules governing the process and the actions of those involved in it.

Once you find your dream home in Canada you make a financial offer to purchase to the vendor - probably via your agent - which your estate agent is legally bound to submit to the vendor whether or not it matches the asking price. Negotiations proceed until a purchase price is agreed upon between you and the vendor, at which point both parties sign the 'Offer to Purchase' - also known as 'Agreement of Purchase & Sale'.

This is a preliminary contract and it is either 'firm' or 'conditional'

A conditional preliminary contract usually contains terms relating to the successful securing of finance to buy, or to the satisfactory completion of building surveys etc., and it only becomes firm when all the conditions have been met.

If you are using a mortgage to purchase your home it is essential to have this noted as one of the terms, because if you fail to secure your mortgage and the contract falls through you will want your deposit back!

A firm preliminary contract is not subject to any terms or conditions, if it is broken by the purchaser they lose their deposit, if it is broken by the vendor they may be subject to a financial penalty.

Your deposit will be required when signing the Offer to Purchase, and the contract will contain your completion date.

When the completion date is reached and all conditions for the fulfilment of the contract have been met, the remainder of the purchase price together with all fees will be payable.

Monies are paid to the vendor via the solicitor or notaire handling the legalities of the sale. At this point both the purchaser and the vendor sign the 'definitive contract' which is called 'Acte de Vente' in Quebec.

If purchasing in Quebec this final part of the sale is managed by a notaire who in this case is a government official - s/he is responsible for the conveyancing and as a result s/he represents both the purchaser and the vendor...it therefore makes sense to employ your own legal representative in Canada to make sure your best interests are served and protected throughout the process.

Fees you will likely incur on top of mortgage arrangement fees, legal and survey fees include provincial fees and land transfer taxes. Provincial fees are around CAD 100 depending on the province in which you're purchasing, and they are charged for transferring the title of the property etc. Land transfer taxes are again determined by each province and they are calculated as a set percentage of the purchase price.

If you are interested in securing a mortgage to fund your purchase it is interesting to note than depending on your country of origin and circumstances, there are a number of major financial institutions in Canada willing to lend to non-resident buyers.

The following is only meant to serve as a general guide to Canadian mortgages - it may not apply in every case.

Most Canadian mortgages are what's known as "full status" - a full status loan is where complete checks are made on the borrower's credit history and income.

To apply for such a mortgage you will have to have proof of income and outgoings. Such finance can be raised for the purchase of property, the renovation of real estate or for house construction purposes.

Generally a 35% deposit is required and the purchaser is also responsible for all legal fees involved in the arrangement and purchase process. 35% is just a guideline, some provinces require deposits of up to 50%, and in special circumstances a deposit lower than 35% may be acceptable.

Most mortgages are repayment over a maximum of 25 years with pay back due for completion before the purchaser's 70th birthday. Most lenders make life cover a further lending requirement.

When it comes to eligibility for a loan and size of a loan you need to know the following: -

- Eligibility is based on the applicant's current ability to fulfil the financial terms of the loan, it is not based on any potential rental income the applicant may generate from the property he is hoping to purchase with the mortgage.

- Taking the applicant's gross income into account, 40% should cover all existing outgoings and commitments AND the monthly repayments for the proposed new mortgage.

- If you're self employed then your income will be taken as the average of your last three years' net income.

- If you have existing rental and/or investment income this may be taken into consideration as well.

- Outgoings in this context are any current mortgage or rent you pay, any personal loans or credit card payments you have and any child support payments you have to make.

If your mortgage application is successful it will of course be secured on the property you're buying in Canada and not on any property you currently hold in which ever country you are a resident.

The mortgage company carry out a valuation of the property you're looking to buy to make sure it's worth the purchase price, and you'll probably end up paying any fees they incur making this valuation. Finance arrangement fees can sometimes be charged as well, they are usually 1% of the loan amount.

The money you borrow will be paid to the vendor via the solicitor or notaire responsible for the completion of the purchase contract and process.

That's it in a nutshell!

As stated though, the entire real estate purchase process and application for a mortgage will depend on personal circumstances.