Search

Prince Andrew to appeal loss of another royal perk

Prince Andrew has lost another costly royal perk in the wake of his various controversies, but his appeal against it may spark ire among Brits struggling with a cost-of-living crisis. The former royal has been told he will no longer be granted taxpayer-funded armed guards from next month, nearly a year after he was stripped of his titles and duties after his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was publicised. Unlike titles and duties, security for the royal family is determined by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, including the Home Office, Metropolitan Police and palace officials. According to The Sun, insider sources said Andrew has written to the Home Office and Met Police over losing his security detail. ''He is going to write to the Home Office and the Met Police to complain about losing his taxpayer-funded security,'' the source told the outlet. Currently, Andrew is escorted by police guards whenever he leaves the grounds of Windsor, with the escort estimated to cost taxpayers up to three million pounds ($NZ 5.8 million) a year. With the UK facing a cost-of-living crisis and skyrocketing bills this winter, there is speculation that Andrew’s complaints may cause more negative reactions towards him. ''He doesn't seem to understand that he's in disgrace and people don't want to hear from him anymore - especially him with his begging bowl,” a Labour MP said, as reported by Express UK. The latest loss comes after the 62-year-old was told to stop using His Royal Highness and his royal military titles in January, with his royal patronages also returned to the late Queen. In the following months, Andrew settled a lawsuit launched against him by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager. With the ultimate decision surrounding his security detail lying with Home Secretary Suella Braverman and given his recent controversies, it seems unlikely that Andrew’s appeal will be a success. Image: Getty Images

Money & Banking

Three evolutionary perks of singing

We’re enjoying the one time of year when protests of “I can’t sing!” are laid aside and we sing carols with others. For some this is a once-a-year special event; the rest of the year is left to the professionals to handle the singing (except, perhaps, some alone time in the shower or car). Music – and singing in particular, as the oldest and only ubiquitous form of music creation – plays a central role in our lives and shared community experiences, and this has been true for every culture for as far back as we can trace our <a href="http://msx.sagepub.com/content/12/1_suppl/147.short">human ancestors</a>. So does singing in a group provide specific and tangible benefits, or is it merely a curious ability that provides entertainment through creative expression? This is a question currently of great interest to evolutionary theorists, linguists, psychologists and musicologists. The debate took off when psychologist <a href="http://stevenpinker.com/biocv">Steven Pinker</a> stated his opinion that music is a spandrel – a useless evolutionary by-product of another, useful, trait. In this case, he <a href="http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/media/1998_02_07_independentsunday.html">suggested</a> that music is a spandrel of language development, providing no advantage and serving no purpose. There are strong links between music and language development, although there is no consensus on the actual nature of the relationship. <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=5N-5ufxUuJkC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=mithen+language+music&ots=Nmz7BqWOGN&sig=cORWFrjZRXp0u0foYweaNXpVgsA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=mithen%20language%20music&f=false">Arguments</a> include theories that: <ul> <li>language developed from music</li> <li>music sprang from language</li> <li>they both developed from a proto-language that was musical in nature</li> <li>they developed concurrently.</li> </ul> A <a href="http://pom.sagepub.com/content/33/3/269.short">strong body</a> of <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jaah/2010/00000001/00000001/art00003">research</a> conducted with choirs indicates that membership has many benefits to individual wellbeing and physical health. It is possible these effects are due to people – the singers – participating in something they enjoy doing. Or, there may be something more elemental taking place.<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/" class="license"></a> If these findings are viewed through an evolutionary lens, though, there is compelling evidence that music making provided some very specific benefits for our ancestors. Specifically, there are three theories which have been proposed that, if true, may explain these effects while suggesting that group singing is still beneficial to all: <ol> <li>singing creates a shared emotional experience</li> <li>singing increases social bonding</li> <li>singing improves cognitive function.</li> </ol> Sing us a song, you’re the hominid Our hominid ancestors used music to create <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/40285265?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21105364197793">shared emotional experiences</a>. This would have been particularly important for early hominids struggling to survive, because emotions serve as a kind of “red flag” to our cognitive processing systems, signalling that something critical requires attention. Emotions prioritise the many options that we may have at any given time, and reduces “data overload” from the bombardment of senses that we experience. Hominids, like many other primates, could have developed very small social groups, or even no social groups. But the ability for a large group to work cooperatively together was more advantageous than individuals attempting to survive alone. In order to cooperate, individuals needed to subsume their individual priorities for action, and learn to delay gratification so that the good of the group could take precedence (such as forgoing eating or sleeping in order to build a shelter). Group singing likely provided a rewarding, positive activity where emotional empathy could be developed. We know that interacting with music today is, for <a href="https://theconversation.com/video-why-some-people-just-dont-like-music-28605">almost everyone</a>, both an emotional and overwhelmingly positive experience. Music is also used to reinforce positive moods and manage negative moods. Adolescents regularly use music as an effective <a href="http://pom.sagepub.com/content/35/1/88.short">mood regulator</a>. Others put music to targeted purposes; many athletes use music to put them in a mood state that supports peak performance (and research shows it to be an <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25202850">effective strategy</a>). Music’s ability to change or reinforce a mood relies on the same principle of emotion contagion. Social significance Second, music engagement would likely have led to increased <a href="http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4615-1221-9_9#page-1">pro-social behaviours</a>. This would be supported by a shared emotional state, which relies on empathic skills (empathy) to spread. But music is also at the centre of where we first learn to be sociable – in the <a href="http://msx.sagepub.com/content/3/1_suppl/29.short">mother-infant bond</a>. Infants are mesmerised by their mothers’ infant-directed singing. It is a communication tool between mother and infant, and is highly companionable in nature.<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/" class="license"></a> Listening to a mother sing has an immediate and profound impact on an infant’s arousal and attention, including physical responses. These musical communications are highly effective despite the infant not understanding the linguistics involved. They are also universal; lullabies are recognisable as such in virtually <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/pmu/10/2/73/">every culture</a> on Earth. There are strong indications that group music making and social behaviours are still linked today. Individuals with <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/40300863?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21105364472083">Williams Syndrome</a>, in addition to profound cognitive deficits, are known for both their love of music and their incredible sociability. Music therapy has been shown to reliably <a href="http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD004381/BEHAV_music-therapy-for-people-with-autism-spectrum-disorder">improve social behaviours</a> in individuals on the autism spectrum. Choir members consistently report that <a href="http://rsh.sagepub.com/content/121/4/248.short">social bonds</a> are one of the primary benefits of choir membership. More experimental studies indicate that instrumental jazz musicians use the <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/charles_limb_your_brain_on_improv?language=en">communication centres</a> of their brains when coordinating play, and that guitarists and even audience members experience synchronised brain waves when a duet is played (see video below). <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DQwDVf3ydUM"></iframe></div> Studies also show that musical interactions increase both <a href="http://pom.sagepub.com/content/41/4/484.short">empathy</a> and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513810000462">pro-social behaviours</a> in children. Taken together, the evidence points to a strong link between co-creation of music and improved social bonding. Getting ahead Finally, evolutionary theorists argue that it was their musicality that allowed hominids to develop what is known as the “<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/317/5843/1344.short">social brain</a>”, while others argue that the complex brain we enjoy today developed to keep track of large social networks. It may have been a bit of both. By creating a shared emotional experience and increasing members’ pro-social behaviours, group singing supported complex social networks. Tracking and managing complex social networks may have led to the development of the neocortex. This brain region supports the suite of abilities known as <a href="http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/executive+function">executive function</a>, which provide the skills necessary to make and implement long-term plans. It also supports cognitive flexibility, which is a style of fluid cognition that allows humans to successfully pair concepts that don’t generally go together, resulting in creative, insightful, and elegant ideas and solutions. We already know that a positive mood state <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057740801703129">supports</a> cognitive flexibility, while stress and anxiety act as <a href="http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/jocn.2007.19.3.468#.VI6nV3s2V4M">inhibitors</a>. Co-creating music may support improved cognitive skills through other pathways as well, although these links have not been explored. Of course all theories concerning the use of music by early hominid groups is conjecture, resting on the scant pieces of evidence the fossil record leaves us as well as what we know about our own musicality today. But the questions are important, because it can inform us about our own relationship to music. If the theories outlined here are correct, it may benefit us both as individuals and as a community to normalise and promote music co-creation. Participating in singing ought to be more than a once-a-year activity.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35367/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susan-maury-147257">Susan Maury</a>, PhD candidate in Psychology, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-together-now-three-evolutionary-perks-of-singing-35367">original article</a>.

Music

End of economy perk we all took for granted

Passengers were less than impressed on their final 90-minute slog of the 22 hour long flight from London to Sydney. As many were looking forward to a hot breakfast, they were greeted with a sad little sandwich. This could soon be the new norm in economy long-haul flights. However, an aviation analyst has explained that as long-haul flights become the norm, hot breakfasts in economy could be a thing of the past. “It could be the end of the hot breakfast in economy,” one aviation analyst told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/lufthansa-signals-end-to-economy-class-perk-we-all-took-for-granted/news-story/6804d7726aff3584156602e7d8a87d6c">news.com.au</a>. It seems like airlines could be following in the footsteps of the German giant airline Lufthansa, who let it slip that they were ditching their second hot meal on all flights of more than 10 hours in length. However, the airline didn’t put out a press release on the matter but it was picked up by airline blogs. “Over the past few months, we have carried out over 80 flights with various test scenarios. Thus, it was possible for us to establish a modern service according to current customer wishes thanks to feedback from our customers,” Lufthansa’s Asia-Pacific Head of Communications Klaus Pokorny told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/lufthansa-signals-end-to-economy-class-perk-we-all-took-for-granted/news-story/6804d7726aff3584156602e7d8a87d6c">news.com.au</a>. “Many customers like the possibility of either enjoying this second meal immediately or packing it for the rest of their journey,” Pokorny explained. However, Qantas has insisted that they’re not following suit, although an aviation expert warns that others airlines might be tempted to follow the trend. “The price point for most people is the economy fare and so we now have these low fares airlines that aren’t actually low cost airlines,” the aviation consultant explained. “People will buy bundles off a base fare, like having a hot breakfast, and the airlines will end up with more revenue. “It’s the way of the future. It could be the end of the (included) hot breakfast in economy.”

Travel Trouble

5 body hacks to perk you right up

1. Check your posture While gazing at the floor from a standing position, you should be able to see the tops of your shoes without craning your neck. Slouching doesn’t just make you look tired – it makes you feel tired, too, because it places excess strain on your neck, back and hips; plus, when your joints aren’t properly aligned, your whole body has to work harder than it should. Additionally, standing tall will improve the flow of oxygen to your brain, which increases your alertness and attentiveness. 2. Expose yourself to light Environmental cues play a huge role in the body’s energy cycles, and regular exposure to natural light has been shown to maintain higher energy levels in people suffering from fatigue. Open the curtains or step outside periodically and soak up some natural sunlight. 3. Use good scents This isn’t about dousing yourself with your favourite perfume. It’s about harnessing the power of aromatherapy to lift your spirits when you need it. Take a whiff of peppermint, rosemary or jasmine when you feel droopy. Research shows these scents increase alertness and attentiveness. 4. Surround yourself with energising colours Focusing your eyes on a vibrant shade of red, orange or yellow has an energy-boosting effect on the body, partly because these hues represent heat and radiant energy (think fire or sun). 5. Use your soundtracks Studies have found that listening to soothing music helps you get a good night’s sleep, while upbeat tunes with over 120 beats per minute will rev your energy. Written by Dr Holly Phillips. This article first appeared in <a href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/tips/Five-Body-Hacks-to-Perk-You-Right-Up">Reader’s Digest.</a> For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRN87V">here’s out subscription offer.</a> <img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" />

Caring

The perks of having an ‘older’ phone

If you feel as though you're losing your life to the digital demands of your phone, then it might be time to downgrade to a "dumb" phone. They're what we used to call a mobile before our devices got clever and we started calling them smartphones. But now "dumb" or "brick" phones may be poised to make a comeback, with Nokia reportedly bringing back its most famous phone, the 3310, which is similar to the 2280 that many people owned last decade. Those old models can only make and receive calls and send texts, though some have quirky games included, such as Snake. There are no apps, no social media and no access to the internet. However, some people are still using them. Christopher House, 42, of Wellington, loves his Nokia 6070 that he bought for $25 off TradeMe. "I don't always want to be on. I've got internet at home and at work and I don't want it in places in between." "I love technology but I just don't want it in my life 24/7." He said the best thing about his Nokia was the week-long battery life. "It's built like an actual brick and unlike some of the other Nokias it doesn't 'pants dial' (accidently call someone when bumped in your pocket). He said the only minor drawback of not having a smartphone is when he gets lost and needs a map, though if he does he relies on strangers for help. House said his phone can attract a bit of attention. "It definitely gets a second look and people ask about it. The battery life usually gets a reaction." House knows that his Nokia will not last long. Spark has switched off its 2G network and he expects his provider, Vodafone, to do the same soon. "I'll ride this wave until the end of the 2G network and then I'll see if they're releasing new dumb phones for 4G and I'll consider buying one of those." Why would you go back to a dumb phone? Smartphones can keep you connected all day and night, giving you access to your family and friends, sharing and consuming photos and videos, providing instant news and replacing your camera and watch. However, those features come with a price. They can consume your time and cause you to be distracted or addicted (known as Nomophobia – an abbreviation for no-mobile-phone-phobia). A dumb phone can reduce these issues, mainly because there's little reason to look at one. There's no social media notifications, no YouTube videos to watch and no apps to browse aimlessly through. Another advantage is cutting your costs. You can potentially save up to $1000 on the purchase price (most dumb phones sell for less than $100) and you also cut your monthly costs as you don't need data. Other perks include a battery life of several days, if not weeks, a durable design, and almost no chance of getting your data hacked as you are not accessing services that use the cloud. However, there are downsides. First, no selfies, or really any decent photography of any kind. If a dumb phone does have a camera, then it only has a 0.3MP camera compared to the 12MP of today's smartphones. Also, there's no map app to help you find your way when driving through a strange city. You many also feel left out. News travels fast and having no smartphone may mean you miss out on what just happened with family and friends or in the media. However, dumb phones face a steep climb if they are to make a comeback. Research by Horizon Poll in November 2015 showed about 80 per cent of adults owned a smartphone. It predicted then that would now be a 92 per cent ownership rate. However, if you do want to go back to a more simple time in your digital life, then a dumb phone could be the answer. House said he doesn't miss owning a smartphone. "I enjoy walking to work and people watching than reading about the latest Trump Twitter disaster." Do you think you could ever go back to a ‘dumb’ phone? Written by Blayne Slabbert. Republished with permission of <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz</a>.

Technology

12 perks of being single

At times “singledom” is considered an almost undesirable status, but we know there are plenty of over-60 singletons out there loving life. And here are plenty of reasons why this is a relationship status to embrace! <ol> <li>You can eat whatever you want whenever you want. There’s no need to take your partner’s dislike of seafood into consideration every time you’re making dinner. </li> <li>You never ever have to compromise about what to watch on TV. If you want to watch a sappy rom-com or a blockbuster action movie, you will do it!</li> <li>You don’t have to worry about a snoring partner who hogs the blanket. Plus, you can sleep on whatever side of the bed you want.</li> <li>Your house can be cleaned to your very high standards (or your very low ones) without someone nagging or resisting you.</li> <li>You are the one and only boss of your time. That means the freedom to do whatever you want to fill your days, no matter how trivial it may seem to others.</li> <li>You now have more time and energy to pour into your long-term friendships and family relationships.</li> <li>Instead of staying in with your partner, you are more motivated to try new experiences and adventures.</li> <li>You can book a holiday, restaurant or anything really without having to consult your significant other. Big, small, and medium decisions are yours, and yours alone, to make.</li> <li>You are not financially tied to anyone, which means you can spend your money as you see please.</li> <li>You don’t have to deal with your partner’s friends, family and others who you might not have necessarily liked, but had to put a smile on your face.</li> <li>You can be “selfish” and focus solely on yourself to create the life you want (and love).</li> <li>Most importantly, you learn there’s a difference between loneliness and being alone. You start to truly enjoy and appreciate your own company, in ways that you never did before.</li> </ol> Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/relationships/2016/08/ways-to-be-happier-and-why-your-relationship-depends-on-it/">25 ways to be happier (and why your relationship depends on it)</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/relationships/2016/08/how-to-tell-people-about-your-divorce/">How to tell people about your divorce</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/relationships/2016/08/why-some-people-take-breakups-harder-than-others/">Why some people take breakups harder than others</a>

Relationships

8 perks of getting older you might not know about

I think most of us will agree, ageing can be scary to come to terms with. But, it’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, your golden years should be your best yet. Here are 10 great things you may not have realised about getting older. <ol> <li>Better immunity against colds – if you were one of those people who got sick every flu season, you may have noticed it’s no longer the case. This is because after 60-odd years, your body has well and truly learnt to identify nasty germs and knows how to attack them, as it remembers exactly how it dealt with the cold last time and the time before, and on and on.</li> <li>Better immunity against virus outbreaks – a whopping 50 million people were killed by the 1918 flu pandemic, but the age range with the highest death toll was surprisingly those between 20 and 40. Likewise, when the swine flu shook the world in 2009, most deaths struck those under the age of 65.</li> <li>Fewer allergies – while it’s still not known why certain people get allergies, we do know that as we enter our 50s and 60s, allergy symptoms are much less common.</li> <li>Smarter – OK, so this one mightn’t come as a surprise to most of us, but given the declining ability of our brains in areas such as memory and abstract thinking with age, our intelligence and problem-solving abilities actually increase.</li> <li>Better sex – a recent survey found that 74 per cent and 70 per cent of women over 60 reported sex was more satisfying than in their 40s. In fact, research has shown that women in their 80s still achieved orgasm “always” or “most of the time” during intercourse.</li> <li>Less migraines – sufferer of the dreaded super headache? Swedish researchers found that migraines became less frequent, less painful and shorter the older sufferers got.</li> <li>Less perspiration – our sweat glands tend to shrink as we age, so people in their 50s and older will perspire much less than those in their 20s.</li> <li>Better life expectancy – now that you’ve made it to this age, you’re more likely than ever before to see your 90s. These days, 80-year-old women actually have an incredible 95 per cent chance of living another year!</li> </ol> Tell us in the comments below, what do you think is the best part of growing older? Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/07/can-we-really-take-old-age-one-day-at-a-time/">Can we really take old age one day at a time?</a> <a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/06/over-60s-fitness-gurus/">Over-60s fitness gurus prove it’s never too late to get fit</a> <a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/06/not-getting-older-just-more-complex/">You’re not getting older, you’re getting more complex</a>

Retirement Life

12 childhood perks you only appreciate when you’re an adult

It’s a strange paradox: when you’re young, all you want to do is be an adult. But it’s only when you grow up that you realise how good you had it! You reach that moment when you’re lining up to pay a bill or are stuck in traffic when you think, “I’d give anything to just be a kid!” With the benefit of hindsight, we chart the perks of childhood that only adults appreciate. 1. The ability to nap anywhere, anytime Tired? Take a nap. Bored? Take a nap. It’s 3pm? Take a nap. As a kid, it was your prerogative to lie down and get a moment of peace whenever and where ever you wanted. 2. Tantrums are totally acceptable Wouldn’t it be great if the next time the line at the supermarket was too long you could start screaming and fall to the floor until you got your way? 3. Never having to cook You finished school, came home and dinner was ready. Every. Day. It’s like your mum was your own personal chef! We definitely took that perk for granted. 4. Chilling in a pram Kids have it great. They literally sit back while someone else pushes them around. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could relax in a chair and get walked to the shops? Not going to happen. 5. You can talk without a filter Ever just wish you could say what you really think? When you’re a kid, you take for granted that no one blinks an eye if you tell it how it is. 6. Bath time As an adult, taking a bath is a treat. You have to wait until there’s no one home and turn your phone off just to get some sweet me-time. Rewind to childhood, when it was bath time every night. We had it good! 7. Getting treats for being good When you were a kid, rewards were always sweet. Whether you got good grades in class or were just celebrating the weekend with Dad, getting Mr Whippy or a Freddo Frog was a pretty standard treat. 8. School holidays Can we take a moment to appreciate the amazing break that is the school holidays? You get three months. Three months vacation every year! Try telling your employer you’re heading on holidays for three months now and you’ll lose your job. 9. Extravagant themed birthday cakes Ah, the sheer joy when it was your birthday and mum brought out an amazing Barbie-doll inspired homemade birthday cake. Back then, the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book gave mum enough baking ideas to last for years. Now, you’d be lucky to get a cake from the supermarket. 10. Clothing is optional When you’re a kid, no one looks twice if they see you running half naked under the sprinklers in summer. You get to wear whatever you want, even if that means pairing your favourite tutu with a Mickey Mouse top. If only the office’s casual Friday policy was as lenient. 11. Sick days Remember the days of having a slight cold or just feeling a bit off, and getting totally looked after? You’d take the day off school and settle on the couch for a full schedule of daytime TV and snacks galore. 12. Not having a phone For our generation, being a kid meant simpler times. You didn’t have to compete with friends for the hottest new mobile phone, didn’t constantly feel the need check Facebook and weren’t glued to your screen. Now, we’re expected to be connected and contactable 24/7. Sometimes it just makes you want to be a kid again.

News

Over 60

News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information

Keep up to date