Da de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican tradition that spans from Nov. 1 to 2 every year. It is a time to remember loved ones who have passed away.

People dont celebrate their loved ones by being sad, but rather it is a moment of remembrance and honorance of their loved ones legacies.

The Department of Chicano and Chicana Studies at San Diego State commemorates the Day of the Dead with their annual altar at the Chicano and Chicana Collection in the Love Library.

In the Love Library, students, professors and community members created and decorated this altar.

On Nov. 1, the room was filled with not only students and faculty, but also alumni, family members and Chicano/a activists who came to honor those whose photos were put up the altar.

Every year the department creates a theme, and this year the altar is dedicated to the activist leaders, faculty and students who have helped form the Department of Chicano and Chicana Studies over the last 50 years.

The altar also pays tribute to the Central Americans and Mexicans who lost their lives migrating to the U.S.

Professor Norma Iglesias-Prieto and her students assembled the altar to honor the dead and to make a political statement. They named the commemoration, Those Who Have Came Before: Stolen and Offered Lives.

Something that is affecting our community today are the kids who have been separated from their families, who are in cages and that some have died in the hands of immigration authorities, Iglesias-Prieto said. So we dont want to lose this opportunity to remember those children who have died and are linked to our hearts.

The altar was made for the community to learn more about more than just the cultural side of this tradition. The Department of Chicano and Chicana Studies wants those who attend the commemoration and visit the altar to learn about those who have lost their lives fighting for Chicano/a community.

It is more than just a tradition, it is about the people we are honoring, Iglesias-Prieto said. We want people to remember their legacy and to know that the lifestyle we have today is thanks to those who fight for us before.

The altar has been Iglesias-Prietos tradition for the last 15 years, and this is the first year it has been held in the Love Library, making it the biggest it has ever been to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Department of Chicano and Chicana Studies at SDSU.

Iglesias-Prieto said it took her, her students and 30 volunteers over 1,000 hours to make this altar possible.

Grandmothers and mothers of the students and department faculty formed part of the volunteers who helped create the items on the ofrenda (altar), making it more than just a school project, but giving it a family feel as well.

Every item on the ofrenda was handmade and has been in the making since May 2019.

Each of the altars seven colorful steps have traditional foods, marigolds, candles and several other items to offer to those who have been put on the ofrenda.

The altar has the photos of 27 Chicano activists, leaders and educators. The Chicano department also wanted to commemorate the lives of five children who have died in the hands of immigration authorities.

Chicano and Chicana studies senior Mnica Van Deerlin Murillois, one of the students who worked on this project for the last seven months, said it was more than just an experience of cultural and indigenous significance. She said it was to bring awareness to the several children who have died caged up in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers.

We know there has been a lot of children that have died in ICE detention centers and border captivity, so this is why we also included photos of children that have been killed in hands of ICE and immigration law enforcement as well, Murillo said.

Chicano and Chicana studies senior Ana Miguel is one of eight students who worked countless hours on campus and in Iglesias-Prietos garage to make the altar. She said it is important to know there is a political meaning to this altar and hopes that the audience leaves with more awareness of what is happening in the Chicano/a community today.

I feel like a lot of people are coming in just thinking it is pretty, but it is more than that, Miguel said. There is a history behind Da de los Muertos and its not just full of color. It is where we connect with our ancestors, it is where they come back to us and we are also recognizing the Chicano activists for the work that they did.

Musicians received visitors.

The community was received with live music by La Rondalla Amerindia de Aztln, a band formed by former professors and alumni of SDSU, a music performance by department Professor Coral Mcfarland Thuet, speeches from professors of the department and traditional Pan de Muerto, Bread of the Dead, with coffee.

The altar includes handmade biography books to explain who is on the ofrenda, and will be open to the public until Nov. 15.

The Day of the Dead is a personal but also a community celebration, so the other goal of our celebration is to help form a community, Iglesias-Prieto said. We need to be together, especially in difficult times.

See original here:
Day of the Dead takes on political issues - Daily Aztec

WE HAVE ALL experienced stress in the workplace at one time or another. Even when were lucky enough to love what we do, its normal to experience some level of stress throughout the day.

In todays busy world, the workplace can sometimes feel like an emotional roller coaster. Long hours, tight deadlines, and ever-increasing demands can leave us feeling worried, drained, and overwhelmed.

When stress exceeds our ability to cope, it stops being helpful and starts causing damage to our mind. It can make us feel anxious and overwhelmed, dampening our job satisfaction and productivity.

If stress on the job is interfering with your work performance, health, or personal life, its time to take action.

We encourage all our clients, customers, staff and students to take regular booster breaks 15 minutes, or whatever you can spare, to unwind, away from phone calls, computers, TVs, and smartphones. Whether that time is spent reconnecting with colleagues, taking a walk, reading a book or listening to music.

No matter what you do for a living, or how stressful your job is, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce your overall stress levels and regain a sense of control at work.

Implementing some of the following practices will help:

Take care of your body

Eating well is key to overall health, including your mental well-being. Be sure to eat nutritious meals, drink plenty of water and get enough sleep. Getting too little or too much sleep can have a big impact on how you feel.

Stay active

Exercise offers many benefits and when you exercise; your brain releases the feel-good chemicals, endorphins, giving you an instant mood boost. From going for a long walk and participating in outdoors sports to taking a fitness class, there are hundreds of ways you can be active.

Regardless of your age and fitness level, exercise can make you feel good about yourself, as well as protect you from all kinds of health problems. Even 10 minutes of exercise every day can have a positive impact on both your physical and mental health.

Connect with family, friends and colleagues

Have people around you that matter and enrich your life. Build relationships with the people around you and invest time connecting with people at home, work and in your community.

A great level of social support and encouragement is essential for your happiness and emotional health, even if its just from a handful of people.

Value yourself

Treat yourself with kindness and respect, and avoid self-criticism. Make time for your hobbies and do something you enjoy. Whether its taking a long walk, doing a daily crossword or going to the cinema, its positive for your wellbeing to do something that makes you feel good.

Set realistic goals

Aim high, but be realistic. Create realistic goals and take steps to achieve them. Even small steps are a sign of progress. Keep moving forward.

Dont be a hero

If you over-commit by taking on too many projects with unrealistic deadlines, you will not only lose credibility at work but you will also stress yourself out unnecessarily. If you can delegate or share the responsibility for some projects, go ahead.

Take your 15

Booster breaks, whether they are 15 minutes or five, have been proven to reduce stress, fatigue and mental pressure. Making time for regular breaks, regardless of how busy you are, will make a real difference to your productivity, job satisfaction and overall well-being.

Get help when you need it

Seeking help is a sign of strength not a weakness. Dont think that youre wasting someones time; its always OK to accept that youre not always able to cope. We all need help and support from time to time.

Elbha Purcell is head of dietetics and well-being at Aramark Northern Europe, which is running its TAKE15 campaign during the month of October.

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If stress at work is interfering with your performance or personal life, take action - Fora.ie

A performance bond is a financial instrument that helps ensure the successful completion of a large project in areas like road construction or real estate development.

A performance bond is issued by one party to contract to the other party as a guarantee against the issuing party's failure to meet their obligations under the contract, or to delivery on the level of performance specified in the agreement. Performance bonds are typically provided by a financial institution such as a bank or an insurance company. The bond would be paid for by the party providing the services under the agreement.

Performance bonds are common in industries like construction and real estate development. A performance bond may also be required for some commodities transactions. The performance bond in that case is to ensure that the commodity being sold is actually available and will be delivered if the buyer indeed wants to take delivery.

There are three parties to a performance bond:

A performance bond is not insurance. If there is a claim against the bond by the obligee, the surety will pay the amount of the bond to the obligee, but they will look to the principal to make good on the amount paid out. Performance bonds are only given to financially stable firms.

A payment bond is often obtained along with a performance bond. A payment bond is essentially an agreement between the obligee, the principal and the surety to ensure that laborers on the project get paid. This also extends to any sub-contractors used, as well as suppliers of materials.

Private sector companies or governmental entities who hire contractors for major projects should, of course, be sure the contractor has proper insurance coverage in addition to any type of performance or surety bond coverage they might provide. This would include various types of liability coverage and other applicable types of business insurance.

Performance bonds are usually required for government-related projects such as building a bridge or for road constructions. They are common for private sector construction projects as well.

The performance bond protects against a contractor failing to deliver the work as specified in the contract. The contract must be specific about the work to be performed, the results expected and the timing.

A performance bond can also protect against a situation in which the contractor declares bankruptcy or encounters other financial issues that would preclude the contractor from completing the work.

Payment of the performance bond can only be made to the obligee, such as a property owner orgovernmental entity who commissioned the work, in the case of road construction or other public-works type project.

When applying for a performance bond, the surety will require information from the contractor such as:

Overall, the surety will want to ensure that the principal of the bond is financially stable. Again, a performance bond is not insurance.

In the event the contractor does not complete the work, the surety may either cover the cost of hiring a new contractor to complete the project or provide compensation to the obligee and allow them to use the money to complete the project as they deem fit.

Typically, a performance bond will be required by law or by rule for major public construction projects. Private construction projects may also require a performance bond, this will depend on the terms of the contract and the preferences of the party commissioning the work.

A performance bond has both benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits of using a performance bond can include:

There are some potential drawbacks that can be associated with a performance bond as well:

The cost of a performance bond can vary, but in general it tends to be about 1% of the value of the contract. On larger contracts in excess of $1 million, the cost mightgo up to 1.5% or even 2%. Every surety's terms will be a bit different. The creditworthiness and financial strength of the principal will also be a factor in the ultimate cost.

Continue reading here:
What Is a Performance Bond and How Does It Work? - TheStreet.com

BORIS Johnson has surged into a 17-point lead over Labour's Jeremy Corbyn - on the first full day of election campaigning.

The first poll of the campaign put the Conservatives on 41 points, with Labour trailing on just 24.

The Ipsos Mori poll shows the Tories have soared eight points in a month and reveals the public has a scathing view of Mr Corbyn's leadership.

The leftie Labour leader's personal ratings remain at rock bottom, with just 15 per cent of voters happy with his performance and 75 per cent unhappy - delivering a devastating net score of minus 60.

Eight in ten voters think he has done "a bad job" at handling Brexit with neither Remain nor Leave voters backing his performance.

And over half of Labour supporters think Mr Corbyn has dealt with Brexit badly.

In contrast, eight in 10 Tory backers say Mr Johnson is doing a good job on Brexit.

And the survey found the Tory leader enjoys the best personal ratings of any party leader for two years.

Some 46 are happy against 44 who are unhappy - a net score of plus two.

But Mr Corbyn played down his poor poll ratings when asked about them at his election campaign launch in Battersea, south London.

He said: "It's not about me. It is not about any individual on this platform. It's not a presidential election."

The poll shows Mr Johnson has increased the Tory party's lead over Labour by an extra seven points since becoming PM.

In July the Tories enjoyed a ten point lead.

WHAT A BERC Retiring Speaker John Bercow 'demands 1MILLION to appear on I'm A Celebrity'

Live Blog

NIGE DAY Election LIVE: Latest news as Farage launches Brexit Party campaign

DEAL PLEA Tory MPs urge Nigel Farage to stand candidates AGAINST them to help win election

CASHING IN Boris vows to pour billions into left-behind towns to woo Labour leave voters

DISGRACE Fury as top Corbynista says its sickening that Brits wear 'racist' poppies

The Ipsos Mori poll put the Lib Dems on 20 per cent, the Brexit party down on 7 points and the Greens on 3.

1

Link:
Boris Johnson surges into a 17-point lead over Jeremy Corbyn on the first full day of General Election - The Sun

Our guide to dance performances happening this weekend and in the week ahead.

EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE at the Joyce Theater (Nov. 5-6, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 7, 8 p.m.). Asherie, a choreographer and B-girl, is infectiously charismatic: Her nickname, Bounce, aptly describes both her physical buoyancy and her lightness of spirit. In Odeon, her companys official Joyce debut, Asherie engages with the music of the early-20th-century Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth, whose creative mix of musical styles, from waltzes to tangos to ragtime, reflects Asheries own blend of dance, from street and house dance to vogueing to concert dance. Adding to the charm of this production, the live music is overseen by Ehud Asherie, Ephrats brother, an accomplished jazz pianist. 212-242-0800, joyce.org

NAIRY BAGHRAMIAN AND MARIA HASSABI at 1014 Fifth Avenue (Nov. 6-8, 7 p.m.; through Nov. 10). A stately townhouse, built in 1906 and facing the Metropolitan Museum of Art, becomes a muse for Baghramian and Hassabi in Entre Deux Actes (Mnage Quatre). Presented by the Kitchen, a Chelsea-based arts organization, the work is a dialogue between dance and architecture and an examination of the inherent theatricality of domestic space. The influence of furniture designer Janette Laverrire, a friend of Baghramians who died in 2011, is present in the piece, as are erotic photographs by Carlo Mollino. The four lovers referred to in the title are those two artists and Baghramian and Hassabi. Currently all tickets have sold out, but more may be released closer to the performance dates. A waiting list will be available at the box office one hour before each show.212-255-5793, thekitchen.org

MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS at BAM Harvey Theater (Nov. 7-9, 7:30 p.m.). The great tragedy The Bacchae, by Euripides, centers on the hedonistic god Dionysus quest for revenge, famously told with the help of a lively Greek chorus. In Bacchae: Prelude to a Purge, Freitas, born in Cape Verde, takes that tale as her starting point and gives it a surreal spin with a chorus of eight dancers and five trumpeters whose funky moves and eccentric music making conjure an unpredictable theatrical world. In her bacchanal, Freitas dispenses with narrative, using dark, wacky humor and a cheeky take on Ravels Bolero to present a society of the absurd. 718-636-4100, bam.org

[Read about the events that our other critics have chosen for the week ahead.]

FROM THE HORSES MOUTH at the 14th Street Y (Nov. 7-8, 7:30 p.m.; through Nov. 10). For 21 years, Tina Croll and Jamie Cunningham have celebrated important personalities and milestones of modern dance with this series, a unique fusion of performance, storytelling and history. This iteration focuses on the 75th anniversary of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, located at the New York Public Librarys Performing Arts branch in Lincoln Center, an invaluable archive that has been protected and expanded over the years by a fiercely dedicated staff. Dance luminaries writers, historians, dancers and choreographers among them have lined up for this production to honor the collections legacy. Supplementary programming includes a critics panel on Wednesday and a lecture-demonstration on Nov. 8.14streety.org/fthm

KIA LABEIJA at Performance Space New York (Nov. 7-9, 7 p.m.). To many, LaBeija is a formidable presence on the vogueing scene, a dynamite dancer and a respected activist. Shes also an insightful photographer and a performance artist in conversation with dance history. This week, she presents Untitled, the Black Act, which responds to the modernist ballet Das Triadische Ballett, made over 100 years ago by Oskar Schlemmer, a choreographer and designer associated with the Bauhaus school. LaBeija zeros in on the dances third part, set on a black stage and infused with an otherworldly mysticism. She maintains the sense of wonder but makes it more personal, reimagining Schlemmers restrictive costumes in her quest for freedom. 212-477-5829, performancespacenewyork.org

PAUL MAHEKE AND MELIKA NGOMBE KOLONGO at Abrons Arts Center (Nov. 7-9, 7 p.m.). Maheke, a choreographer and performer of Congolese descent working in video and sound, explores identity, memory and history in his work; Ngombe Kolongo, also known as Nkisi, is an experimental musician, born in Congo, who is doing the same. Their work Snsa, a Performa biennial commission, takes inspiration from African Cosmology of the Bantu-Kongo: Principles of Life and Living, a 1991 book about the religious and philosophical principles of the Bantu-Kongo people of Central Africa. One meaning of the Bantu word snsa is to reveal, and Maheke and Nkisi use gesture, sound and light to create a work meditating on visibility and invisibility. 866-811-4111, abronsartscenter.org

Read the original:
6 Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend - The New York Times

By: Erin Williams

Muncie, INPlySpace, an artist-in-residence program of the Muncie Arts and Culture Council, welcomes the Fall 2019 residents: Dana Harper, Sarah Trad, and Sydney Pursel. The visiting artists will be in Muncie for a period of four to twelve weeks this fall and will be leading public, collaborative art projects throughout the city until early December.

Dana Lynn Harper (Columbus, OH) joins PlySpace as the Fall Resident Fellow. While in Muncie, Harper will work with the Art Education Department at the Ball State University School of Art to engage students in a public Wand Making Workshop focusing on creative play. The Wand Making Workshop will be hosted at Minnetrista on November 2nd, from 2-4 PM. Details about this workshop can be found on the PlySpace.org website and social media. As part of her fellowship, Harper will also speak about her work at the Ball State University School of Art on October 29th from 6-7 PM in the Arts & Journalism Building, room 225. This lecture is open to the public.

In addition, Harper will exhibit a new series of work, Field Guides, at the PlySpace Gallery on November 7th from 5-8 PM, during the First Thursday gallery walk in November. Field Guides is a playful and boisterous sculptural exhibition exploring the artists belief in spirit guides. Spirit guides are believed to be supernatural beings that provide support, guidance, and love when we need it most. This abstract idea is translated into hanging sculptures made up of layers of texture, pattern, and color, and utilizing textiles, paper, and plastics. Harper holds a BFA from The Ohio State University in 2009 and an MFA from Penn State University in 2013. Harper was awarded an ArtPrize Seed Grant, ArtFile Emerging Artist Grant and a Ringholz Foundation Award. In addition, Harper was awarded an NEA studio grant to attend an artist residency at Womens Studio Workshop. She has had solo exhibitions at Front/Space Gallery & Museum, Manifest Gallery and ROY G BIV among many others.

Sarah Trad (Philadelphia, PA) is a video artist and curator. She joins PlySpace as a Resident Co-Fellow in November. Trad will work with the Islamic community in Muncie, and with the Ball State University School of Art, to teach community centered workshops on traditional Middle Eastern design using the nuno felting technique. Samples completed during these workshops will be exhibited in a public exhibition. Trad will also produce new work while at PlySpace, focusing on her own Middle Eastern heritage. She has participated in multiple artist residencies including the 77Art Residency in Rutland, Vermont and is a recipient of the Carol N. Schmuckler Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film. Sarahs work has been shown at The Warehouse Gallery (Syracuse, NY), Kitchen Table Gallery (Philadelphia, PA), Gravy Studio and Gallery (Philadelphia, PA) and the Everson Museum of Art (Syracuse, NY). She is currently a part of the Philadelphia artist-run gallery, Little Berlin.

Sydney Jane Brooke Campbell Maybrier Pursel (Lawrence, KS) joins PlySpace as the second Resident Co-Fellow in November. While at PlySpace, Pursel will complete a rendition of her project, The Feast, an educational performance where she creates handmade plates and place settings that celebrate the many Native American tribes of the United States. Pursel will cook and serve Native American traditional foods from Native American-owned companies using her handcrafted plates. The event hopes to educate, bring awareness to, and spark dialogue surrounding issues affecting Indian Country, both historically and presently. More information about The Feast, including how to participate, will be announced on the PlySpace website (www.plyspace.org).

Pursel is an interdisciplinary artist specializing in interactive, socially engaged, and performance arts. Through art she explores personal identity drawing from her Indigenous and Irish Catholic roots. Her work has been shown at public parks, universities, galleries, and alternative spaces across the U.S. and Canada. Pursel received her MFA in Expanded Media at the University of Kansas and her BFA in Painting from the University of Missouri. She was the first recipient of the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists, received a Rocket Grant through the Charlotte Street Foundation and the Spencer Museum of Art, was selected for the Indigenous Arts Initiative Residency program through the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission and the University of Kansas, was awarded a BeWildReWild Community Art Grant through the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. Pursel is an enrolled member of the Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.

Both Trad and Pursel will speak about their work during a special PlySpace panel discussion held November 14th from 6-8 PM at the Ball State University School of Art, Arts & Journalism Building, Rm 225. They will be joined by artist Toby Kaufmann-Buhler (Lafayette, IN) and moderator Tania Said (Muncie, IN), Director of Education for the David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University. Heritage in Practice: A Panel Discussion will ask the three interdisciplinary artists to reflect on their use of personal and cultural heritage in their artwork. Each panelist has a unique method for working within the sometimes sticky practice of uniting art, performance, and installation with personal family heritage, genealogy, or culture. The artists will share a short presentation about how they successfully use personal, family, and cultural heritage in their work and will discuss the complexities of heritage work as a panel.

More information about PlySpace Fall Term events can be found on the PlySpace website at http://www.PlySpace.org/events and the PlySpace Facebook page. Learn more about the residents by visiting http://www.PlySpace.org/our-residents. Questions or comments about the PlySpace Residency program, events, and community collaborations can be directed to the Residency Coordinator, Erin Williams, at hello@plyspace.org.

PlySpace is a program of Muncie Arts and Culture Council in partnership with the City of Muncie, Ball State University School of Art, and Sustainable Muncie Corporation. PlySpace is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Follow this link:
Muncie Arts and Culture Council Announces Fall 2019 PlySpace Residents and Events - munciejournal.com

Yesterday, two things happened at Apple that seem unrelated, but actually have more to do with one another than you might think. The company released a high-end version of its AirPods, now called the AirPods Pro. It did thison the same day it announced its third-quarter earnings. And while the two things aren't directly connected, the AirPods Pro represent Apple's best chance at turning around its financial performance as iPhone growth continues to slow.

We'll get to the financial results in a minute, but first, the new toys. The new AirPods Pro are, in my opinion, the best in-ear buds you can buy based on the combination of smart design, incredible sound, and top-notch noise cancellation. They're almost $100 more than the previous version ($50 more than the wireless charging case version), but that's worth it for the better fit, sweat-resistant design, and noise cancellation.

Here's my breakdown of why they're worth it, plus why they matter so much to Apple:

Design

The AirPods Pro are actually a little shorter, but stockier than the original AirPods. They also extend into the ear canal further than the non-pro version, which means they form a much better seal. You'll also notice that they have a flat area on the stem, which is where you can use tap controls to play or pause music, skip to the next song, or toggle through the various noise-cancellation settings (we'll get to that in a minute).

I've long been a huge fan of the original AirPods, even more than I thought I would be. Overall, the Pro version seem a little more balanced in my ear, perhaps due to the fact that it feels like more of the weight is resting in your ear instead of hanging out.And, just like the AirPods, connecting them to your devices is simple and fast. In fact, the AirPods Pro seem to do an even better job of switching back and forth between different devices.

By the way, in addition to the noise cancellation, which we'll get to in a second, they have another ridiculously cool feature.They work with the "Find My" feature on the iPhone, meaning that if you lose them, they'll show up on a map.

And, even better, for the times when you realize that the map shows they're in your homeor office, or wherever, you can have them play a sound to help you find them in the seat cushion. It even lets you choose which earbud to play since it's not that helpful for the left earbud to be chirping if you're holding it in your hand while looking for the right.

Sound

Thanks to the audio-sharing feature, I was able to compare the AirPods Pro against both the AirPods and the PowerBeats Pro. While I'm not going to pretend my comparison was highly scientific, the AirPods Pro sound really good. They were fuller and clearer than the AirPods, and while the PowerBeats Pro have more deep punchy bass, the AirPods Pro have a more balanced tone throughout. Bottom line: they sound really, really good.

Part of that is because of all the technology Apple has packed into such a small piece of hardware. Apple says the AirPods Pro have an in-ear microphone that listens inside your ear, which not only helps with noise cancellation but also tunes the sound based on the shape of your ear.

Noise Cancellation

I imagine this is the reason you came to this party, and Apple doesn't disappoint. The active noise cancellation (ANC) is really good. In fact, I was sitting in my carwhen I first put them in my ears, and I actually thought my car had stopped running. If you love the simplicity of the AirPods butcrave the ability to shut out the outside world, say on an airplaneor in a busy office, the Pro version delivers.

But even more impressive, is the Transparency modewhich actually pipes in just a bit of ambient noise for those times when you need to be more aware of your surroundings. since the AirPods Pro form a seal, just turning off ANC doesn't necessarily let in much ambient noise, but in a totally Apple-way, the company solves that problem for when you're walking down a busy street, or just want to know what's happening around you while you work.

Why They Matter to Apple

The other release yesterday forApple was its quarterly earnings announcement. The big news is that while iPhone sales were down a little over 9 percent, the company actually increased its revenue by almost 2 percent, largely driven by wearables. In fact, Apple says its wearable category--made up of AirPods and Apple Watch--grew by 54 percent. Most of that growth was driven by AirPods, which are already Apple's second-best-selling product launch (after the original iPad).

That's not hard to believe when you see the ubiquitous white stems hanging out of every pair of ears on the subway or in a coffee shop.Apple's wearable products are easily its best growth driver over the next five years, largely because the smartphone market is already so saturated.

But even more importantly, wearables, and especially the AirPods, are a driver for growth because they are smart and personal, which is what Apple's brand has always represented. People love Apple's products because they have a personal connectionand because they just work.

In that regard, the AirPods Pro are the perfect Apple product. They sound amazing, are super simple to use, and they are designed to be worn. It doesn't get any more personal than that.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

See the original post here:
The AirPods Pro Are the Best In-Ear Buds You Can Buy, and Apple's Most Important Product - Inc.

Muhammed Goolab, executive committee member of the South African Reward Association (Sara), answers frequently asked questions about your pay.

* Why do my friends get paid more than me if we do the same work? Several factors determine individual pay levels. Some industries pay more for a specific skill, or may even pay a premium for skills on which they place more value.

A company's financial performance, as well as the individual's performance, can also contribute to different salaries for the same skill.

* How do I get more cash out of my salary? Most organisations in South Africa offer cost-to-company packages which indicate the total direct and indirect (for example, pension and medical scheme benefits) pay that an employee receives in a year.

Cost-to-company packages generally allow employees to adjust some of the benefits of their package, such as pension fund and medical scheme contributions.

Excerpt from:
Understand how to get the best out of your pay - Independent Online

This week: He kupu i t mtou Kaikmihana, that's Te Reo for "a word from the Commissioner". I'm taking a look at Inland Revenue's annual report for the year ended 30th June 2019.

Each year, every government department prepares an annual report for its minister and for the reporting lines to Parliament. These will set out its activities in the previous 12 months, its performance against agreed measures and also include its financial statements.

Inland Revenues is a treasure trove of information as you can imagine, a lot of detail to poke through here. And in fact, there is so much in this I could probably spend two or three podcasts on the matter. Instead, what I'm going to do this week is start with some headline numbers about Inland Revenue itself, the tax it collects and the data it shares and then finish with some observations about the state of the organisation itself.

The report is grouped around five areas. They are Making It Easier for Customers, Helping Meet People Meet Their Obligations, Managing Ourselves Well, Governance and Management and the biggie, How We Performed, a sort of NCEA assessment of Inland Revenue.

Big budget, big staff levels

Now Inland Revenue was given $847.5 million in appropriations for the year 2018-19 to spend and it actually finished up spending $828 million of that. The bulk of it goes to what it calls Services for customers, $616 million. Then the other areas that receives money are policy advice, $11 million, services to other agencies, $6 million and the big one, Business Transformation, $215 million.

It spent about 97% of its budget. And it is saying in one of the headline items that the Commissioner points out in ther report is that through Business Transformation to date, it's released $60 million in administration savings and improved compliance outcomes as a result by raising additional revenue of about $90 million.

So to achieve that result Inland Revenue has just over 5,000 staff as of 30th June 2019, now that is down 800 since 2015 and about 90% are full time now. The average age is 44.6 which is quite old, I think. And a really interesting point here is that 65% of all its staff are female, but, and women will not be surprised to see this, is that 50% of all managers are male. One of Inland Revenues metrics is trying to improve on that matter.

But there's been a fair amount of churn through its staff. I mean 938 staff left during the year, which is a near 20% loss. Now, they hire people as well, and that's something that I'll pick up on later on. So, it's got a lot of money to deliver services. But a fair chunk of that $200 million is in part of the Business Transformation, which has been its main focus.

"The one that takes"

Anyway, for the year it collected $77.9 billion of tax revenue. Now included in that is nearly $985 million of tax differences. It identified this as part of its audit activities and investigation activities. That is a fairly significant number and we will see more of that going on.

But Inland Revenue, its main focus through the year quite frankly, has been managing its transformation to implement its so-called Business Transformation. And the key thing here was Release Three, the third stage of its transformation, which happened in April. That was when it moved over Pay As You Earn and also was the stage where it was automatically issuing refunds and assessments for taxpayers.

That as you are probably well aware, put huge strain on its resources. The report notes on page 31, "We received 41% of all calls for the year between April and June 2019." This was over 1.6 million calls compared with 1.4 million for the same period previously in 2018. I will say that they suffered a disruption because of the having to evacuate the office in Palmerston North, the call centre there, because it was found to be earthquake prone.

But quite apart from all the calls that received, people also quite reasonably turned up at their offices and the Manukau office had more than a thousand visits on some days. Many people also then went online with massive numbers of people were hitting the online system. Between 26th of April when the system went live and the end of June, there were 16.9 million login to its myIR system, an increase of 90%, or nearly double from the same period in 2018. On its busiest day, there were almost 500,000 logins, so the system put itself under some strain, but Inland Revenue feels it managed with that. It's a matter of debate whether you think that, but there's no doubt it was an ambitious call on an ambitious project and I would expect that next year it should run a little bit more smoothly.

Interestingly, it's now saying that 88.8% of all returns were filed digitally up from 83% in previous years and that 86.8% of tax payments were made on time, which is down from 87.9% and this is a measure that I think Inland Revenue needs to have a closer look at because it has a penalty system. But we do know that the payment on time rate between 85 and 87% is no better than other tax agencies that don't charge late payment penalties, and this has been a bane of my life. I think it's clogged up the system and it's particularly noticeable when you look at what happens with child support debt. You have a penalty system. It's not working. It's been clearly not working both by its own standards and judged internationally and yet we still persist with it.

Talking of tax debt, at 30th June 2019 Inland Revenues' tax debt, excluding student loans and child support stood at $3.5 billion, up 13% from 2018 when it was $3.1 billion. That's after writing off $532 million of overdue debt and in the previous June 2018 year it wrote off $613 million.

The key thing of note here is that the level of GST debt is up 45% from $815 million to $1.18 billion and the amount of Pay As You Earn is also up 24% from $375 million to $466 million. They're explaining that that rise in overall debt being the result of a number of factors including late filing penalties and late payment penalties, interest in default assessments.

Is the penalties system working?

That all just bears out the point I've just made, if people aren't paying on time and we're hammering with penalties and we're still not collecting it, maybe Inland Revenue needs to rethink its approach about those penalties. Because you can see that in child support, the amount of child support debt is actually down a little bit in June 2019 to $2.2 billion, but $1.6 billion of that represents penalties.

As part of its efforts to collect Child Support,Inland Revenue's obtained four arrest warrants from the courts, of which one was executed and so far, it's collected $11,000 as a result of that. And then it's looked at another 14 summonses for examination of financial means and 20 charging orders against property and warrants. Key focus here is chasing down people who are overseas who owe child support and under its reciprocal arrangement with Australia, collected about $46.4 million from Australia.

It actually sent $14.7 million over to Australia. And this information sharing is one of the things that Inland Revenue does a lot of, which people don't realise here. For example, the repot talks about passport information sharing programme with the Department of Internal Affairs and that resulted in 1,409 contact records match for parents who had a child support debt in 2018-2019. As a result, 120 customers made payments of over $234,000.

Information sharing

It sent plenty of information with the Australian Tax Office (ATO) in relation to student loan customers. They sent 149,000 requests to the ATO asking, "Can you tell us all about that?" And maybe that's not doing as well as it should do because the level of overdue student loan debt is now $1.48 billion and that's up 12% basically because of overseas-based student loan holders. In fact, they issued a couple of arrest warrants.

The information sharing goes not just to the ATO, it goes with WorkSafe is one area where it's passed information to other agencies. And the big one, the one that people should be really aware of, and I'm starting to see come across my desk, is international compliance. Inland Revenue and New Zealand are part of the Common Reporting Standard or the initiative run by the OECD to counter offshore tax evasion. In September 2018 Inland Revenue swapped data with other tax agencies around the world. It sent out 600,000 account reports too other agencies saying "We have people here [with financial accounts] who have an overseas address or overseas tax information number, there's 600,000 of them. In turn Inland Revenue received similar details about over 700,000 such accounts. You may recall that I've mentioned in a past podcastthat Inland Revenue's looking into this in more detail and that is just the tip of the iceberg, the 700,000 records to work through. That's a lot of people. And I think quite a few more than what I've seen will be receiving a "Please tell us a bit more about your finances."

Enforcing compliance

Talking about tax evasion and addressing additional compliance, Inland Revenue overall found discrepancies as I called it, of $985 million and its return on its investment was $7.54 per dollar. In other words, every dollar it put into its investigation activities, it got $7.54 back identified $985 million in total tax position differences. That involved over 12,305 cases.

There are some interesting snippets in here about high wealth individuals, that is people worth more than $50 million. According to Inland Revenue, high-wealth individual customers and their respective groups pay more than $700 million in income tax and collect over $1 billion of pay as you earn. So that's a fairly significant amount of the over $80 billion of tax income.

This is a reasonably small group of people representing maybe 200-300 people in there, and Inland Revenue says they identified $44 million of discrepancies as a result of investigations into this area.

In the hidden economy, theres some very interesting stuff in here. They found an additional revenue of about $109 million and that is they also found over fraudulent refunds and entitlements about another $30 million. But what's interesting to see here is that the proportion of people saying that they participated in cash jobs is starting to fall slightly.

Fewer people are asking for this. When they started measuring this in 2011, 34% of people said they participate in a cash job. It's now down to 27% but the level of people who said they were likely to ask for a cash price discount has gone from 27% and dropped to 16%. However, the number of people who said they would report themselves as being likely to participate in cash jobs, is 19%, same as 2018.

And here's the big one though. Only 49% of people agreed in 2018 that cash jobs were acceptable, but that's down from 72% in 2011. That's one of those interesting measures that people point the finger at multinationals but are not averse to getting a bit of a discount for cash.

It's the same thing, whether it's tax avoidance by a multinational or flat-out tax evasion. You're on the same spectrum. Well, the argument would be that tax avoidance is within the means of the law. Whereas tax evasion, taking a discount for cash isn't. Anyway, it's encouraging to see this improvement in behaviours there.

Bright-line test returns

And finally, the tax revenue they collected from property tax compliance that is looking at the Bright-line test, et cetera, had a return for investment of $9.58 per dollar. So that's nearly 50% above its target of $6.42 per dollar. And that added another $109 million. And just on the Bright-line test Inland Revenue got in touch with a thousand taxpayers over their returns filed in the 2017 income year about the Bright-line test possibly applying.

So that's a fair snippet of what Inland Revenue has done during the year. And there's plenty more in the report to go through and I might pick out particular aspects in future podcasts.

The IRD has poor staff engagement

Well what about the state of the organisation itself? How did it perform against its measures? According to Inland Revenue it achieved 36 out of the 48 output performance targets for the year and that's compared with 43 out of 50 in the 2017-18 year. Now where it fell down in its own measures is its services for customers when it met 28 of the 40. But it met all the other top performance targets for services to other agencies, policy advice and on Business Transformation.

But the area that concerns me is the staff engagement rate. I deal with Inland Revenue staff pretty much every day, and I deal with them at all levels. Those who are answering the phones, dealing with requests up to the policy officials. What I think the Revenue Minister and the Finance and Expenditure Committee should be concerned about is that the staff engagement by Inland Revenue's own measure is a mere 29%.

That's actually an improvement from the year to June 2018 when it was 27% and when this was first measured in the June 2017 year, it was 44% and even then that annual report noted that that was below the Australasian government average or expectation of 51%.

These measurements have only happened in the last three years. The 2016 report simply notes that staff engagement rose during the year. Now if its staff engagement rose during the year 2016 it implies that the staff engagement since the Business Transformation project really took off, which began in 2016 has halved to all intents and purposes. That is a major concern because it affects everyone in the system. Taxpayers, if Inland Revenue staff are of low morale, that feeds through to the rest of how they deal with us. The pressures they're under and there's wider implications for the government of underperformance in revenue collection. So I think this is a matter that the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Inland Revenue management and the Minister of Revenue and The Finance and Expenditure Select Committee should all be asking very hard questions as to what's going on here.

The staff turnover in Inland Revenue has been quite dramatic over the past five years the organisation is losing on average just under 700 people a year and that's a lot of experience to be walking out the door. And so from a base of 5,800 in 2015, you can say that two thirds of that, almost 60% of those that were there in 2015 would appear to have gone by now. That's a massive turnover. The report notes that the turnover has decreased but it is expected to increase commenting, "Turnover turnover's decreasing, reflecting the period of significant organizational changes occurred in 2017-18, as we work through further changes to reach our future operating model, we expect turnover is likely to increase."

"Customers"? Really?

I don't like being called a customer by Inland Revenue. It's actually quite amusing to see the use of the word "customer" here in the report. The report refers to customers over 500 times, but taxpayers, merely 47 times. But as a stakeholder, as a tax agent and as a taxpayer, the performance of Inland Revenue is very dependent on the morale of its staff. And what I'm seeing here in this report and it continues a trend that has emerged in the last three reports is not good.

I have experienced that. When you're talking with Inland Revenue staff, you can sense that they're frustrated, they're incredibly professional, they're always professional. I know people will say, "I've had bad experiences with Inland Revenue," but my experience is they're wholly professional at all times, but they're being asked to do a lot.

There's now overtime back, and the report says it saw 740 odd people had to come in and work extra hours [as part of Release 3]. They shifted a whole pile of people from the investigation area to help with the phones. And that's not something that should be a regular pattern. And so already pressured staff have been asked to do a lot and to see the staff engagement is just 29% is a major concern to me.

Well that's it for the Week in tax. More next week. I'm Terry Baucher, and you can find this podcast on my website, http://www.baucher.tax or wherever you get your podcasts. Please send me your feedback and tell your friends and clients. Until next time, have a great week. Ka kite no!

This article is a transcript of the October 25, 2019 edition of The Week In Tax, a podcast by Terry Baucher. This transcript is here with permission andhas been lightly edited for clarity.

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Terry Baucher takes his annual chance to review the performance of the IRD and finds professionalism but frustratingly low levels of improvement and...

Maro Itoje heads a list of England players snubbed by World Rugby for its player of the year award despite their march to the World Cup final. Tom Curry is the only member of Eddie Joness squad on the six-man shortlist and while the 21-year-old would become the youngest ever recipient of the award, a number of his team-mates are notable by their absence.

Itoje was named man of the match for his performance against New Zealand in last weekends World Cup semi-final and has been among the standout performances throughout the tournament. Like a host of other England players, including Owen Farrell, George Ford, Kyle Sinckler and Manu Tuilagi, he can consider himself unfortunate to be overlooked for the prestigious award, however.

Englands opponents in Saturdays final have two representatives on the shortlist with the flying winger Cheslin Kolbe joined by Pieter-Steph du Toit, having also played a key role in claiming the Rugby Championship title for South Africa. Alun Wyn Jones, who captained Wales to the Six Nations grand slam and World Cup semi-final, the All Black flanker Ardie Savea and the USAs Joe Taufetee who earlier this year became the most prolific try-scoring front-row forward in history, complete the nominees.

The 21-year-old Curry is the youngest member of Englands squad but he will not become the youngest ever World Cup winner if Eddie Joness side lift the trophy. That record is still held by Frans Steyn, who was 20 when South Africa beat England in the 2007 final, and who is on the bench for the Springboks on Saturday.

The average of Englands XV is 27 years and 60 days, making it the youngest team to start a World Cup final in the professional era, however. And the 23-year-old Sam Underhill, who has dovetailed to devastating effect at flanker with Curry, said: Its definitely a positive having younger players in the side. Theres a lot of energy and enthusiasm to be had from that. Its been good for the squad dynamic as well, as we can mix experience with guys who are keen to learn, which has been good. So I think by and large its been a good thing, but I dont think its something that you really notice.

You look at the younger players and they dont seem that young. You look at Tom Curry; hes the youngest in the squad but he doesnt seem like a young player or a junior player which fills you with a lot of confidence.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry has sent a good luck message to the England squad before Saturdays final. Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the Duke of Sussex will be in attendance for the match. He is a longstanding England supporter as well as being a patron of the Rugby Football Union and included a photograph of his five-month old son Archie in an England jersey in his video message.

When asked if he had received support from the Royal Family, Underhill said: Not personally! But as a group weve had a couple of messages from Prince Harry. He sent us a nice message of support, which was nice to receive. He showed his little lad in an England shirt, so that was a nice touch. Im still waiting on my personal message!

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England World Cup final stars snubbed on player of the year shortlist - The Guardian