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A carnival featuring traditional games and an advancement ceremony for cub scouts transitioning to junior scouts in celebration of World Children’s Day 2024 was held yesterday at the Brunei Darussalam Scouts Association (PPNBD) headquarters in Kampong Beribi, Gadong. Organised by PPNBD through its Cub Scout Section, the event aimed to promote outdoor activities and raise awareness of traditional and historical games. It also sought to instil teamwork, discipline, and social skills among participants, while preserving the nation’s cultural heritage. The carnival offered a platform to showcase various traditional games, encouraging children and adults to engage in preserving Brunei’s rich cultural legacy. The active involvement of participants aimed to foster positive values and enrich their experiences. The highlight of the event was the advancement ceremony for Year 6 cub scouts moving to Year 7, marking their transition to junior scouts. The ceremony celebrated their contributions as cub scouts while symbolising a new chapter of responsibility and preparation for future challenges at the junior scout level. The event also focused on increasing awareness of the importance of traditional games in children’s development, fostering physical and mental skills through sports and games, and enhancing community and parental involvement in outdoor activities. The carnival emphasised the values of sportsmanship and cooperation among participants, aligning with its objective to nurture holistic development in children through engaging and meaningful activities. – Lyna Mohamad ABOVE & BELOW: Photos show junior scouts at the event. PHOTO: PPNBD PHOTO: PPNBDMouth taping – sealing the mouth with tape to keep it closed while at rest – has made its way across Instagram and TikTok , and into season seven of the popular reality show Love is Blind . The trend is touted as a way to stop snoring, treat sleep apnoea and improve sleep. Preliminary studies suggest mouth taping may help treat habitual open-mouth breathing , snoring and some mild cases of obstructive sleep apnoea, which occurs when the upper airway becomes blocked repeatedly while sleeping, causing people to stop breathing temporarily. But there is not enough research on how effective it is, who might benefit from it and who should avoid it, experts say. Mouth breathing can temporarily alter the anatomy in the throat, making it narrower and prone to collapse. Credit: SHUTTERSTOCK “In all likelihood, the isolated effect of mouth taping is mild,” says David Kent, an associate professor of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre. The idea behind mouth taping is to encourage nose breathing while sleeping. People are meant to breathe through their nose as it is the body’s air filtration system. Air is breathed in through the nostrils and into the nasal cavity where the mucus membrane captures debris, particles and pathogens, and involuntary responses such as sneezing expel pollutants. Loading The nasal cavity also warms and humidifies the air before it enters the lungs, to prevent damage to the respiratory system. When allergies, illness or structural abnormalities inhibit effective nose breathing, however, people may open their mouths involuntarily as they sleep to get air. Mouth breathing can temporarily alter the anatomy in the throat, making it narrower and prone to collapse. Long term, it can be associated with dental problems such as cavities and gum disease; sleep disorders; and decreased lung function and an exacerbation of symptoms in people with asthma. In one study , 20 people with mild sleep apnoea and a main complaint of snoring participated in a home sleep test, sealing their mouths with silicone hypoallergenic tape before bed. Those with nasal obstruction used medication and a nasal spray to alleviate symptoms before taping their mouths shut. Sixty-five per cent of them saw a significant improvement in their snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea. What else you should know: Speak with your healthcare provider to ensure mouth taping is safe for you and to rule out more serious issues that may require medical intervention, experts say. Do not use household tape or duct tape. Use hypoallergenic tape that is designed for the skin. There is even tape marketed for mouth taping. Try it the first time while you’re awake to make sure you can tolerate it. In most cases, mouth taping is considered a low-risk treatment. While people who cannot breathe properly through the nose because of anatomical or health issues may find mouth taping uncomfortable, it is not likely to pose an immediate danger for most people. When unable to get enough air, most people will wake up and remove the tape, experts say. But people should consult their doctor, particularly when they do not breathe well through their nose and are breathing through their mouth while awake, including while exercising, says Robson Capasso, chief of sleep surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Mouth taping should not be used on children or adults who are unable to remove the tape on their own. Loading The main concern is people may believe mouth taping is an alternative to well-studied treatments such as continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machines, for breathing disorders such as sleep apnoea, which can lead to sleep deprivation and fatigue, and increases certain cardiovascular risks , experts say. “There may be a medical condition that’s triggering the mouth breathing,” says Beth Malow, a professor of neurology and pediatrics, and the director of Vanderbilt University’s sleep division. Try it under the guidance of a physician because “you don’t want to mask a problem by mouth taping,” she says. The bottom line Some studies suggest mouth taping may help with snoring and mild sleep apnoea in some people, but more research is needed. Before trying it, consult your healthcare provider to ensure it is safe for you and to avoid masking a more serious condition. Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter . Get it in your inbox every Monday . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Sleep Natural therapies Wellness Most Viewed in Lifestyle Loading
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Sam Cane’s All Blacks legacy: Courage, criticism and a fitting farewell - Paul LewisChuck Woolery, the affable, smooth-talking game show host of “Wheel of Fortune,” “Love Connection” and “Scrabble” who later became a right-wing podcaster, skewering liberals and accusing the U.S. government of lying about COVID-19, has died. He was 83. Mark Young, Woolery's podcast co-host and friend, said in an email early Sunday that Woolery died at his home in Texas with his wife, Kristen, present. “Chuck was a dear friend and brother and a tremendous man of faith, life will not be the same without him,” Young wrote. Woolery, with his matinee idol looks, coiffed hair and ease with witty banter, was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007 and earned a daytime Emmy nomination in 1978. In 1983, Woolery began an 11-year run as host of TV’s “Love Connection,” for which he coined the phrase, “We’ll be back in two minutes and two seconds,” a two-fingered signature dubbed the “2 and 2.” In 1984, he hosted TV’s “Scrabble,” simultaneously hosting two game shows on TV until 1990. “Love Connection,” which aired long before the dawn of dating apps, had a premise that featured either a single man or single woman who would watch audition tapes of three potential mates and then pick one for a date. A couple of weeks after the date, the guest would sit with Woolery in front of a studio audience and tell everybody about the date. The audience would vote on the three contestants, and if the audience agreed with the guest’s choice, “Love Connection” would offer to pay for a second date. Woolery told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2003 that his favorite set of lovebirds was a man aged 91 and a woman aged 87. "She had so much eye makeup on, she looked like a stolen Corvette. He was so old he said, ‘I remember wagon trains.’ The poor guy. She took him on a balloon ride.” Other career highlights included hosting the shows “Lingo," “Greed” and “The Chuck Woolery Show,” as well as hosting the short-lived syndicated revival of “The Dating Game” from 1998 to 2000 and an ill-fated 1991 talk show. In 1992, he played himself in two episodes of TV’s “Melrose Place.” Woolery became the subject of the Game Show Network’s first attempt at a reality show, “Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned,” which premiered in 2003. It shared the title of the pop song in 1968 by Woolery and his rock group, the Avant-Garde. It lasted six episode and was panned by critics. Woolery began his TV career at a show that has become a mainstay. Although most associated with Pat Sajak and Vanna White, “Wheel of Fortune” debuted Jan. 6, 1975, on NBC with Woolery welcoming contestants and the audience. Woolery, then 33, was trying to make it in Nashville as a singer. “Wheel of Fortune” started life as “Shopper’s Bazaar,” incorporating Hangman-style puzzles and a roulette wheel. After Woolery appeared on “The Merv Griffin Show” singing “Delta Dawn,” Merv Griffin asked him to host the new show with Susan Stafford. “I had an interview that stretched to 15, 20 minutes,” Woolery told The New York Times in 2003. “After the show, when Merv asked if I wanted to do a game show, I thought, ‘Great, a guy with a bad jacket and an equally bad mustache who doesn’t care what you have to say — that’s the guy I want to be.’” NBC initially passed, but they retooled it as “Wheel of Fortune” and got the green light. After a few years, Woolery demanded a raise to US$500,000 a year, or what host Peter Marshall was making on “Hollywood Squares.” Griffin balked and replaced Woolery with weather reporter Pat Sajak. “Both Chuck and Susie did a fine job, and ‘Wheel’ did well enough on NBC, although it never approached the kind of ratings success that ‘Jeopardy!’ achieved in its heyday,” Griffin said in “Merv: Making the Good Life Last,” an autobiography from the 2000s co-written by David Bender. Woolery earned an Emmy nod as host. Born in Ashland, Kentucky, Woolery served in the U.S. navy before attending college. He played double bass in a folk trio, then formed the psychedelic rock duo The Avant-Garde in 1967 while working as a truck driver to support himself as a musician. The Avant-Garde, which tourbed in a refitted Cadillac hearse, had the Top 40 hit “Naturally Stoned,” with Woolery singing, “When I put my mind on you alone/I can get a good sensation/Feel like I’m naturally stoned.” After The Avant-Garde broke up, Woolery released his debut solo single “I’ve Been Wrong” in 1969 and several more singles with Columbia before transitioning to country music by the 1970s. He released two solo singles, “Forgive My Heart” and “Love Me, Love Me.” Woolery wrote or co-wrote songs for himself and everyone from Pat Boone to Tammy Wynette. On Wynette’s 1971 album “We Sure Can Love Each Other,” Woolery wrote “The Joys of Being a Woman” with lyrics including “See our baby on the swing/Hear her laugh, hear her scream.” After his TV career ended, Woolery went into podcasting. In an interview with The New York Times, he called himself a gun-rights activist and described himself as a conservative libertarian and constitutionalist. He said he hadn’t revealed his politics in liberal Hollywood for fear of retribution. He teamed up with Mark Young in 2014 for the podcast “Blunt Force Truth” and soon became a full supporter of Donald Trump while arguing minorities don’t need civil rights and causing a firestorm by tweeting an antisemitic comment linking Soviet Communists to Judaism. “President Obama’s popularity is a fantasy only held by him and his dwindling legion of juice-box-drinking, anxiety-dog-hugging, safe-space-hiding snowflakes,” he said. Woolery also was active online, retweeting articles from Conservative Brief, insisting Democrats were trying to install a system of Marxism and spreading headlines such as “Impeach him! Devastating photo of Joe Biden leaks.” During the early stages of the pandemic, Woolery initially accused medical professionals and Democrats of lying about the virus in an effort to hurt the economy and Trump’s chances for reelection to the presidency. “The most outrageous lies are the ones about COVID-19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, media, Democrats, our doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it,” Woolery wrote in July 2020. Trump retweeted that post to his 83 million followers . By the end of the month, nearly 4.5 million Americans had been infected with COVID-19 and more than 150,000 had died. Just days later, Woolery changed his stance, announcing his son had contracted COVID-19 . “To further clarify and add perspective, COVID-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus, and I feel for of those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones,” Woolery posted before his account was deleted. Woolery later explained on his podcast that he never called COVID-19 “a hoax” or said “it’s not real,” just that “we’ve been lied to.” Woolery also said it was “an honor to have your president retweet what your thoughts are and think it’s important enough to do that.” In addition to his wife, Woolery is survived by his sons Michael and Sean and his daughter Melissa, Young said.
Rachel Christian | (TNS) Bankrate.com Just because retirement planning involves some guesswork doesn’t mean it has to be a total mystery. Related Articles Business | The year in money: inflation eased, optimism ticked upward Business | Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds Business | How to protect your communications through encryption Business | How Florida’s push for affordable housing is faring as new year approaches Business | About 2.6 million Stanley cups recalled after malfunctions caused burns. Is your mug included? Whether you’ve been saving since your first job or you’re getting a late start, you can leverage expert-recommended strategies to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. And if you’re not quite on track, don’t sweat it — the experts we spoke to offered actionable tips to help you close the gap. You might have a general idea of how much money you need to save for retirement . A few quick calculations can give you an estimate, but to truly appreciate where you stand, you’ll need to dive into the numbers. Here’s how to get started. A good rule of thumb to estimate your retirement savings goal is the Rule of 25 . Simply multiply your desired annual retirement income by 25. The result is roughly how much you’ll need to save before hitting retirement. For example, if you plan to spend $50,000 a year, you’ll need about $1.25 million to make it a reality. The Rule of 25 is based on the idea that withdrawing 4% annually from your retirement savings should last you about 30 years. While it’s not an exact science by any means — health care costs and lifestyle changes can skew the numbers, for example — the Rule of 25 can be a good starting point to figure out how much you need to save. Fidelity Investments, a behemoth in the retirement planning space, offers savings guidelines to help you determine if you’re on track . —By age 30: Save 1x your annual salary —By age 40: Save 3x your annual salary —By age 50: Save 6x your annual salary —By age 60: Save 8x your annual salary —By age 67: Save 10x your annual salary For example, if you earn $60,000 annually, you should aim for $600,000 in savings by age 67. But like the Rule of 25, Fidelity’s guidelines offer a 10,000-foot look at retirement goals, and they’re not customized to your situation. Maybe you earned a low salary in your 20s, but you’re working hard in your 30s to make up for it. Use these estimates as a benchmark — but don’t get discouraged if you’re lagging behind. Now it’s time to zoom in a little. To get a clearer snapshot of your progress, use an online retirement calculator. These tools factor in your age, current savings, income and lifestyle goals to estimate whether you’re on track. You’ll get a more refined estimate without crunching the numbers yourself. Bankrate’s retirement calculator even lets you input different rates of return on your investments and accounts for estimated annual salary increases. Having a general savings goal is nice, but to avoid falling short in retirement, you’ll need more than a ballpark figure. Experts recommend creating a retirement budget to get an up-close-and-personal look at how much you’ll really need once you leave the workforce. First, estimate how much you’ll spend per month in retirement. While some costs will increase, like health care, others will likely decrease, like dining out and commuting. “Estimating expenses can be challenging for some people, so as a starting point, I often use your net take-home pay,” says Jeff DeLarme, a certified financial planner and president of DeLarme Wealth Management. For example, if you receive a direct deposit of $2,500 every two weeks from work, use $5,000 as your estimated monthly spending in retirement. “Assuming this was enough to pay the bills while working, we can use $5,000 a month as a starting budget to plan for,” says DeLarme. Next, map out your sources of income in retirement. Social Security is the largest income stream for most retirees, but don’t neglect other inflows, such as: —Workplace retirement accounts, like 401(k)s —Personal retirement accounts, like a traditional or Roth IRA —Pensions —Annuities —Selling your home or business —Rental income —Inheritance “If there’s a gap between your expected expenses and income, you’ll have a good idea of how much you need to save,” says Mike Hunsberger, a certified financial planner and owner of Next Mission Financial Planning. From there, you can adjust your savings and investment strategy accordingly. For something as important (and complex) as retirement planning, it pays to speak with a professional. Financial advisers can analyze your savings, investments and retirement goals to create a personalized plan. Advisers use special planning software that account for more variables than an online calculator, giving you a much more precise, granular look at your financial life in retirement. Many financial advisers can also help you optimize your tax strategy, which can potentially save you thousands of dollars over time. Make sure the adviser you hire is a fiduciary , meaning they’re legally obligated to prioritize your interests over their own. A fiduciary won’t push investments to earn a commission or recommend products that aren’t aligned with your needs. A certified financial planner is one of the most well-recognized designations for fiduciaries. You can use Bankrate’s adviser matching tool to find a certified financial planner in your area in minutes. Maybe you did the math and realized you’re not quite where you need to be. Don’t panic if you’re behind schedule. Here are five strategies experts recommend to help you catch up on your retirement savings . Cutting expenses now frees up more cash to invest in your retirement accounts. Evaluate your budget and identify areas where you can cut costs, like dining out, streaming subscriptions or shopping. Don’t rule out bigger lifestyle changes either, especially if retirement is rapidly approaching. Housing is the biggest monthly expense for most people. Getting creative here can help amplify the amount you can sock away, says Joseph Boughan, a certified financial planner and managing member at Parkmount Financial Partners. It can also reduce your expenses in retirement, so you may not need to save as much as before. “Downsizing can be a great way to cut expenses,” says Boughan. “This can even free up cash if you don’t end up needing all that money for a new home.” Moving somewhere with lower property taxes or income taxes can also help bring your retirement plan back in line. And if you’re a renter, making tough short-term decisions, like taking on a roommate or moving to a lower cost-of-living area, can free up hundreds of dollars a month for your retirement. “Everyone’s plan is unique, so exploring all the options is important,” Boughan says. Joe Conroy, a certified financial planner and owner of Harford Retirement Planners, recommends taking a “retirement test drive” as you near your target date. “Start to live on what income you think you can afford in retirement and stash all the extra income into savings and investments,” says Conroy. “If you can make it through each month, you’re ready for retirement. If you run short, then adjust your plan accordingly.” Working a little longer can be a game-changer for your retirement nest egg. Not only does it give you more time to save, it also gives your investments room to grow. “Working longer or even just part time for a few years early in retirement is one of the best ways to reduce the amount of money you need to save,” says Hunsberger. Postponing retirement can also boost your Social Security benefits . “You can claim as early as 62, but your benefits will be reduced significantly,” says Hunsberger. Meanwhile, each year you delay claiming Social Security benefits beyond your full retirement age , your monthly check will increase by 8%, though this benefit maxes out at age 70. So waiting can really pay off. It may seem obvious, but if you’re behind on retirement savings, you’ll need to boost your contributions as much as possible. Here are a few ways to make saving for retirement easier: —Increase your contribution rate: Allocate a larger portion of your paycheck to a workplace retirement plan. Even bumping up your contributions by 1% or 2% can make a huge difference down the road. —Take advantage of your employer match: Don’t leave free money on the table. Many employers will chip in between 3 and 5% depending on your plan, so make sure you’re contributing enough to take advantage of the benefit. —Use “unexpected” money to catch up: If you get a raise or bonus at work, funnel part of it directly into your 401(k). And if you get a refund at tax time, siphon some of it off to beef up your IRA. If you’ve been investing in low-risk, low-return investments, you may not be keeping up with inflation, let alone growing your nest egg. Reallocating part of your portfolio to stocks or low-cost growth exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is one way to get your money working harder. Higher-risk investments like stocks carry more volatility but also offer higher potential returns. Work with a financial adviser or use a robo-adviser to strike the right balance between growth and your personal risk tolerance. Contribution limits for 401(k) plans and IRAs are higher for people over 50. For 2025, employees aged 50 and up who participate in most 401(k) plans or the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan can save up to $31,000 annually, including a $7,500 catch-up contribution . But thanks to SECURE 2.0 , a sweeping retirement law, a new higher catch-up contribution limit of $11,250 applies for employees ages 60 to 63. So, if you’re in this age group, you can squirrel away a whopping $34,750 a year during the final stretch of your career. Of course, you’ll need a big salary (think six figures) in order to take full advantage of such massive contribution limits. But if you can afford it, these catch-up allowances can put your plan back on track, especially if you struggled to save much early in your career. There’s no GPS to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. If you’ve veered off course or aren’t sure where to start, begin by getting a quick estimate of how much you’ll need before mapping out a retirement budget. And if you’re behind, don’t panic — adjusting your spending, boosting your contributions and speaking with a financial adviser can help you catch up. ©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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