UNSHELTERED, by Barbara Kingsolver. (Harper Perennial, $17.99.) Two narratives, one set in the 21st century and one in the 19th, entwine in this novel about two familes that occupy the same house centuries apart. Each seeks elusive shelter as it reels from its own set of disruptions. Kingsolver has given us another densely packed and intricately imagined book, Meg Wolitzer wrote in these pages.

PALACES FOR THE PEOPLE: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life, by Eric Klinenberg. (Broadway Books, $18.) Klinenberg, an N.Y.U. sociologist, argues that designing public building projects like streets and schools to maximize human connections solves a host of social ills. Anyone interested in cities will find this book an engaging survey, our reviewer, Pete Buttigieg, wrote.

COME WITH ME, by Helen Schulman. (Harper Perennial, $16.99.) Set in Silicon Valley and Fukushima, Japan, Schulmans sixth novel centers on a long-married couple, the parents of three children, who plunge into real-world and cyber experiences that shake the foundations of their staid, affluent life. Our reviewer, Stephen McCauley, called the book strikingly original, compelling and beautifully written.

NINE PINTS: A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood, by Rose George. (Picador, $18.) This exploration of that crucial bodily fluid encompasses the ancient practice of bloodletting, the lucrative market in plasma transfusions and the authors harrowing personal experiences. The Timess Dwight Garner applauded Georges no-nonsense briskness and potent moral sensibility.

I AM DYNAMITE! A Life of Nietzsche, by Sue Prideaux. (Tim Duggan Books, $18.). This intimate biography of the sickly 19th-century philosopher who became an unwitting intellectual pillar of the Third Reich moves between his life, his published work and his personal writings. The Timess Parul Sehgal praised Prideauxs attentive, scrupulous portrait.

MEMOIRS OF AN EX-PROM QUEEN, by Alix Kates Shulman. (Picador, $17.) Published in 1972 and immediately embraced as a feminist classic, this reissued novel follows its heroine from teenage triumphs and humiliations in an Ohio suburb through snuffed-out ambitions and a disastrous marriage to a hard-fought kind of freedom, sexual and otherwise. Sasha Davis might well be a female cousin of Alexander Portnoy, Marylin Bender wrote in these pages.

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New in Paperback: Unsheltered and Come With Me - The New York Times

With the Halloween hullabaloo put to rest now, the nation will try on another way of being as it moves into our official and utterly noncontroversial season of thanksgiving.

This year, that preparation for me begins with reflections on the decorative little notebooks I have kept since I was a teenager to jot down quotes the words all around that spoke to me once and deserved rereading.

I compare this quote book collection to boxes of hand-dipped assorted chocolates. Some quotes taste as fanciful as strawberry buttercream filling and others as intense as dark chocolate truffles.

As in: A party without cake is just a meeting, according to Julia Child, American chef, author, and television cooking show pioneer.

On the next page, a thought from German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche: Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.

Some quotes might as well be chocolate-covered dried apricots for their practical nourishment.

Founding Father Benjamin Franklin likely folded his spectacles and took leave of his desk after writing: Well done is better than well said.

Other quotes in these notebooks remind me of my favorite candy. That would be the old-fashioned, chocolate covered fairy candy also known as sponge candy, seafoam and angel food for its near weightlessness.

The body is a sacred garment, said Martha Graham, avant garde American modern dancer and choreographer.Finally, my quote collection includes mystery candy, such as the enigmatic question in the bible in John 1:38 where Jesus stops and turns to look at two guys trailing him.

What do you want? he asks.

But this handwritten collection lacks the quote I need now to capture my gratitude in time for Thanksgiving later this month.

A kitschy, Hallmarkesque version of what I have in mind appears on some wedding and birthday invitations when hosts request no gifts: Your presence is the present.

These words put clogs on the ballerina.

Still, it captures the gist of my gratitude. I am most thankful this year for the gift of presence Gods and everyones. But I am especially thankful for the returning presence of my youngest son, Ray, now 9.

Thirteen months ago our family, his teachers, our neighbors and church family watched him tumble into a stupor.

Some of you may remember when I wrote about this crisis a year ago during Rays overnight hospitalization to rule out meningitis, a brain tumor, and seizures as causal.

These tests failed to explain his catatonic demeanor, flat affect and deteriorating skills.

The low point came late one night as I shopped alone at Target for diapers more than five years after this boy with Down syndrome finally learned the last toilet training step locking the door behind him to take care of his business privately.

At his nadir over the holidays, Ray forgot how to zip his coat, failed to recognize my mom, and stopped playing with his toys.

No one in our extended family knew what to give him for Christmas.

Meanwhile, the psychiatrist at the Sie Center for Down Syndrome at Childrens Hospital Colorado in Aurora treated him with anti-anxiety medication and continued to speculate along with the psychologist that the essential Ray was still in there just on retreat for some reason.

May be the world got too big for this boy?

Then, in mid January, Ray just as inexplicably turned a corner. He became more present again just as photos developed in a dark room do from fuzzy to sharp, ever so gradually.

And as snow swirled outside that month I began picturing Rays recovery as a snow shoveling operation. With just a glimmer of his presence again, I began to hope that one day he could put his hand on a shovel and clear paths the blizzard in his mind closed.

This hope helped me appreciate the sacred side of snow shoveling as I watched Ray for the first time in a long time help my husband shovel after snowstorms this week.

Without the return of his presence, this boy would shiver in the cold.

For this reason, the simple scene the shovel scraping on concrete, the powder flying and landing in puffs confirmed the power of presence. Confirmed for me how it changes the landscape from the heavens to the earth.

Meanwhile, fresh thanksgiving over this big deal disguised as a small one led me to the quote I would like to hold longer: The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks, American playwright Tennessee Williams wrote.

Pam Mellskog can be reached at p.mellskog@gmail.com or at 303-746-0942. For more posts and photos, please visit timescall.com/mommy-musings-blog.

Originally posted here:
Mommy musings: The sacred side of snow shoveling - Longmont Times-Call

This November the Davis Arts Center presents Art Box Sculptures, a solo exhibition featuring work by Jonathan C. Lewis that benefits the Arts Center. The exhibit includes approximately two dozen of his boxes mixed-media sculptures, most contained within a box and all born of a quote.

The exhibition will also challenge the viewer to write their favorite work and enter a drawing to win one of the unsold pieces at the end of the exhibit.

Art Box Sculptures runs Monday, Nov. 4, through Friday, Nov. 15. The Second Friday ArtAbout reception is from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8. Lewis will be present during the free reception. All ages are welcome.

Lewis is somewhat self-deprecating when asked about his boxes. He states that its a misnomer to call him an artist he considers himself a glueist. Lewis shares that the art world calls his boxes mixed media or assemblage and others categorize the work as outsider or folk art. The boxes have a keen aesthetic, informed by decades of involvement with the arts.

In the 80s, he opened and curated the City Gallery in downtown Sacramento. It was also during this period that he encountered the shadow boxes of Joseph Cornell on display in the Chicago Art Institute work he says informed his boxes many decades later.

Each box is born of a statement. The sources are wide and varied from Michelle Obama, Paul McCartney and Gabby Douglas to Cassia Leo and Friedrich Nietzsche. Jonathan uses the statement as the basis of the resulting work. He starts arranging found objects in and around the base box.

He shares that he has a large collection of found ephemera, salvage or reclaimed objects which means that many days of the week I can be found rummaging through junkyards, thrift shops, yard sales and the occasional antique collectables fair.

Many of the boxes are infused with his quick wit and humor others are somber with the juxtaposition of objects forcing one to question the historic roles played by culture, politics and society.

There is yet another level of Lewis being a glueist, and that is in his professional life. Jonathan is a lifelong social justice activist and accomplished social entrepreneur who brings together people and ideas to improve the world. He is the founder of MCE Social Capital, a social venture organization that leverages $110 million of private capital to finance tiny business loans to deeply impoverished people, mostly women, in 46 developing countries.

Lewis is also the co-founder of Copia Global, an Amazon-like consumer catalog serving the base of the economic pyramid in Kenya. He is also the author of The Unfin sh d Social Entrepreneur.

Visit hiswebsite to see and learn more about his work.

Jonathan C. Lewis twine, wood, acrylic paint and paper piece String Theory will be part of his show Art Box Sculptures, on display in November at the Davis Arts Center.Courtesy photo

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Art Box Sculptures are much more than meets the eye - Davis Enterprise

Its 5.30 pm on 1 February 2020. The Union budget for 2020-21 has been presented, the panels microphones have been tested, and the studios cameras have gone live. Up for analysis is the Indian automobile sector.

Anchor: Gentlemen and lady, before I throw the discussion open, I want to personally congratulate the finance minister for a mature, growth-oriented and inclusive budget. It is a budget of the young, for the young and by the young. As the nation gets

Automaker chief executive officer: Butwe are here to discuss what the budget has done for the auto industry. We have been in the dumps for

Anchor: You will get your chance to speak, sir. Please do not disturb the flow of the debate. This 70-year long pessimism cannot be tolerated or encouraged anymore

Component maker CEO: Excuse me, weve been pessimistic only for the last 16 months.

Policymaker: Let me clarify. The world is undergoing a recession, but we have circumvented it. All data shows that. Key indicators are positive.

Component maker CEO: But what about the auto industry? This budget again offers too little and too late. BS6 is just two months away. Manufacturing is still crippled

Anchor: The data proves otherwise, sir.

Automaker CEO: Manufacturing has been down for long. Last quarter, it was flat. 5 biscuit packs and 3 tea pouches are still down. Look at undergarment and tooth powder sales.

Anchor: Please dont fuss over biscuits and briefs. You should focus on your business. The nation demands it.

Component maker CEO: Exactly, that is my point

Anchor: I will come to you later. The policymaker wants to make a point. Do you want to rebut the automobile industry?

Policymaker: Last budget, the sceptics had predicted that the industry will sink. But we are standing, every Indian is standing. We have overcome the global recession. As Nietzsche said, what does not kill us makes us stronger.

Car dealer: Stronger? Standing? A total of 483 dealerships have shut down, close to 36,000 people are out of jobs.

Component maker CEO: Seventeen plants have shut down. No fresh investment. Were operating at 65% capacity. Nearly half a million contract workers jobless till now.

Policymaker: Sorry, that data is unsubstantiated. Moreover, our think tank has released the report called New Age Employment For New India. There are 23 new opportunities being created. Those who lost jobs would have already got absorbed in these new streams.

Anchor: There, look at the positive side; jobs are back. We even have new entrants in the Indian market. Sir, you are a new entrant in India. Tell the viewers

New entrant country head: We Chinese. We assemble electric scooters here. Indian government very open to Chinese companies now. We appreciate Make in India policy.

Millennial: Excuse me.

Anchor: Please wait for your turn, young lady. The policymaker has a point.

Policymaker: Me? Okay. While on Nietzsche, he who has a why" to live, can bear with almost any how".

Banker: May I have a word in?

Anchor: No. Yes, you are the moneybags

Banker: We have always supported nation building, gone out of our way to fund dealers operations. Also, we are charging no loan processing fees for months now. Automakers produced a lot the last year, and pumped it all into the pipeline. The network hardly had any working capital to fund the inventory.

Anchor: Why was that?

Banker: Well, quite a few had invested their money in real estatehotels and resorts. And then the sector tanked.

Anchor: Oho! So, they were all diverting money from one business to another and now acting helpless. You want the government to bail you out? This is totally unacceptable!

Banker: Not all of them, actually.

Anchor: Ones misdeeds cannot force the government to its knees. You simply cannot blackmail policymakers to reduce taxes to cover up for your own follies.

Automaker CEO: I object to that. It is the industry that has been brought to its knees, and you need not break ones knees for that, you need to break the ankles. Taxation is the ankle.

Anchor: This knee and ankle bit is this also Nietzsche?

Automaker CEO: No, I made it up.

Anchor: Ha, posturing as usual. Lets stick to the point.

Component maker CEO: That is exactly my point. We are beating around the bush, without getting to the core GST, jobs, scrappage, BS6

Millennial: Excuse me

Anchor: Oh well, what is it?

Millennial: Could I leave? You guys sort this out. My Uber is waiting, and its getting dark.

Anchor: That does it! Hey, hold on...

Avik Chattopadhyay is co-founder of Expereal, a brand and business strategy firm

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Opinion | A panel discussion to expect after the next budget - Livemint

Forget Camus or even Heidegger; Pierce Brosnan just conquered nihilism with an outfit so dark it made Nietzsche look like a court jester. In doing so he put the rest of Paris to shame, issuing a challenge to gallic men (and graphic designers) everywhere: the rest of the world is onto you.

What is he onto? The laziest style hack in the history of fashion: wearing all (or mostly all) black. Specifically, in Pierces case, this involved wearing dark trousers, a black crew neck tee shirt, black dress shoes and a Harrington style navy jacketas he left his Paris hotel on Wednesday evening.

It may have kept off the cold but it couldnt stop the Paparazzi, who snapped Brosnan walking from the hotel foyer to his car, as he continues a month-long trip with his wife of 18 years, Keely Shaye Smith.

Image: Daily Mail via Spread Pictures

Walking with Keely, Pierce sauntered the 20-yard dash, even throwing a peace sign on his way. The retired 007 then (presumably) re-embarked upon the Paris leg of his European jaunt, which has so far included such jealousy-inducing locations as Italys Portofino and Icelands blue lagoon.

Image: Daily Mail via Spread Pictures

So, style implications for men? The first is this: as long as you wear well-fitted garments, and carry yourself with a bit of esteem (a la Brosnan) then it is possible to rock black on black (or dark on dark) without looking like a teenager.

The second point is a warning: unless you purchase a hero piece like Brosnans navy jacket from the hotel to car shot (which, judging by his impeccable taste, we guess is a Barbour, Proof or Grayers creation) and have a couple of Hollywood blockbusters under your belt, you wont be considered a style icon.

But hey, Brosnans more recent Montparnasse outfit (which he posted to Instagram yesterday), is something we can all aspire to, as is his version of the basic tourist getup (see: above).

Regular jeans, black tee and well fitted black zip-up jacket: here we come.

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Pierce Brosnan Is At It Again & This Time He Outdressed All Of Paris - D'Marge

Meng Wanzhous birthday wishes to her father RenZhengfei.Twitter/Huawei

It was a heart-warming message, speaking of a daughters affection for her parent and cherished family traditions now indefinitely on hold.

A fathers love is like the mountains, towering and strong, Meng Wanzhou gushed on the WeChat social-media site, wishing father Ren Zhengfei well as he turned 75 a few days ago.

It was no ordinary birthday card. The note was written from house arrest in Vancouver, where the Huawei chief financial officer is battling a U.S. extradition request, to a father who is also CEO of the telecom behemoth.

I cant be there with you, eating the food you make, listening to you chitchat, touching your wrinkles or kissing your smiling face, said the handwritten note. And I cant be there to take your critical advice. Remember, you owe me this. Please make it up after I get back home.

But it was not just who sent and received the message posted by Huawei on its Twitter feed and reported by Communist Party-owned Global Times that made it unusual. The heartfelt greeting, accompanied by a photo of Meng wearing her court-mandated ankle bracelet, also seemed at odds with a complicated father-daughter relationship, part of an intriguing family history.

Meng Wanzhou and Ren Zhengfei had a complicated father-daughter relationship, with the Huawei founder admitting he neglected his children.Postmedia

Ren has said in recent months that he missed his daughter very much. But he also admitted largely neglecting his children as he built up one of the worlds largest tech companies, that he doesnt think Meng is CEO material, and that she was on the verge of quitting just before her arrest.

The reason we are not close is that when she was little, I joined the military. For 11 months out of a year, I couldnt be with my kids, he told a news conference in January. I was close to none of my three children So all I can say is, as a father, I feel I owe them.

Ren has been long divorced from Mengs mother, Meng Jun a commissar of Maos fanatical Red Guards when they first met and has since remarried. A company spokesman said media reports of a third wife are false.

His daughter from the second spouse, 25 years younger than the Huawei executive, burst into the limelight about the same time her half sister was arrested, for much different reasons. Annabel Yao was featured in Paris Match, Vogue and other media when she took part in Pariss Bal des Dbutantes, an exclusive coming-of-age gala.

Yao also revealed a love of ballet, which she still performs while chasing a computer science degree at Harvard University.

Rens son, Ren Ping, is an executive at a Huawei subsidiary. All three siblings have taken their mothers family names for large stretches of their lives.

In a March interview with CTV, the father said Meng was not happy working here and wanted to quit, though he later said she had changed her mind. But the father suggested his daughter would never replace him as chief executive.

She has always been a manager and a manager is good at managing a wide span of issues, Ren told CTV. But for a leader, you need to have a strong vertical ability. You need to be able to see things happening in 10 or 20 years She wont be a successor because she doesnt have this background.

As for languishing on bail in a multi-million-dollar Vancouver mansion Ren seemed to invoke Nietzsche in suggesting it would only make his daughter stronger.

Cuts and bruises toughen her up, and even since ancient times, heroes were born of hardship, he told CNBC in April. I think this challenge will be good for my daughter.

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Huawei CFOs loving house-arrest card to CEO father belies complicated relationship - The Province

Over the years it took me time to not view myself from a stigmatic vantage point. I had learned many false notions from popular culture, conversations throughout my life, and from medical staff as well. Getting rid of the stigma I had towards myself has been a big step in improving my mental health.

When I made my first in-patient stay at a local hospital I was absolutely terrified of the doctor. He was stern and cold and in my mind he represented doctors who I had seen in movies and TV. He had no personability and I wasnt able to make a connection to him.

His decision to intentionally disconnect from me fed into my belief that I was less human at that moment. It fed into the feeling of being an other and inferior and being a unit that needed treatment as opposed to a person who needed to get his life back. From the start of care there was a seed planted in my mind that he was the doctor, I was the patient, and that I was a problem that needed to be solved. I began viewing myself as a problem that needed to be solved which was a difficult way to go through the world.

Hearing the diagnosis that I had schizophrenia was even more terrifying. I pushed it away at first because of all the stigma surrounding the word. In later years I figured out that schizophrenia was a word to encompass the symptoms I had already experienced and nothing additional was going to happen. Realizing this was a major relief but it took about two years.

These symptoms came in the form of having disorganized thinking, some obsessive-compulsive behaviors, occasionally seeing and hearing things, sleeplessness, extreme highs and lows emotionally, and experiencing a multitude of anxiety that made me unable to speak, think, and process language at times. For me, schizoaffective disorder has been nothing more than these things. Originally hearing the word schizophrenia associated with my identity worried me that I would become like people I had seen in the movies and on television. Over time I figured out that I wasnt anything like those people and no one with psychosis really is.

Not viewing myself as a problem to be solved took even more years of work to unravel. I had read Nietzsche and deep within my mind was the will to power also known as the will to truth. I believed my ability to find the truth was going to lead me out of the depths of my schizophrenia symptoms which was partially true.

However, over the years I developed a rigid belief system that was solely focused on finding the deepest truth within any and every situation which was damaging. This became a major barrier in connecting to others and being able to have a good social life. I had some individual friends but I was in a lot of pain.

I originally thought I was in a lot of pain because of the traumatic experiences that caused the illness but I learned the illness is a series of judgments and fears interconnected with pain from traumatic experiences. To break down these thought webs I couldnt get rid of my will to truth necessarily but I had to learn some better social skills and priorities surrounding my will to truth and the purpose for it as well. When working on getting healthier I still had to give myself absolute truths but I had to learn the time and place to do so in conversations with others.

I had to learn to put everyone elses health and well-being as well as my own before my desire to know the truth and my desire for others to know the truth. There were many instances I should have let things go and I should have allowed people to say and do the wrong things however I was correcting everything everyone was saying. I also learned that there are many truths about a situation that can be shared and you dont have to give someone an absolute truth to get through a conversation where you are in disagreement. I thought I only had to ingest good information to get to the absolute deepest truths so that I could recover from schizoaffective disorder. I also thought that other people needed the truth all the time so that they could improve as well.

The irony of the situation was that in some instances I needed the truth, but my will to truth was a source of pain and suffering. It kept me distant from everyone in my life. Once I began figuring out that Im a human being first who is allowed to should enjoy life and that solving problems comes afterward I began connecting to others much better.

Much of my illness was structured around my desire to write, help others, and to keep improving. I had to learn peoples feelings, emotions, and wellbeing always come before the truth. I learned that our health and well-being is the purpose for the truth and this set me free from my self-destructing desire to constantly find truth.

The truth is an instrument to help us become healthier, not to constrain us and trap us within obsessive rituals. The more I deconstructed the thought webs of striving towards intellectual excellence the healthier I became and as I became healthier my writing improved in ways it otherwise wouldnt have been able to.

This created a paradigm shift in seeing myself in a more human way as opposed to a problem that needed to be solved. I decided my life has to come before my writing and my work. Before this, I had been living a lifestyle of efficiency, minimalism, perfectionism, and conditioning myself with behavioral and cognitive practices just for the sake of improving my writing.

Unlearning this was incredibly helpful to feeling better and getting healthier and when I learned that everyones health and wellness come first, including my own, it alleviated the mental restraints I had self-imposed upon myself. I had to unlearn what I thought was self-help to liberate my mind.

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The Will to Truth - Existentialism and Psychosis - The Good Men Project

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.

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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.

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