Baht Simpson

I understand how the State Pension is funded TF, and I realize that reform is needed going forward. My gripe is about means testing State Pensions. Apart from the moral issue of arbitrarily taking away or reducing a pension that someone may have contributed to in full, which we can discuss, how do you means test 12m people? This will necessitate obtaining financial information on these people on a yearly basis. The administration cost will be phenomenal and will be ongoing. Also State Pensions are taxed if you are above the nominal tax allowance. A reduction would mean less tax from pensioners into the exchequer.

O.k. No need to be sarcastic. I'm not financially illiterate; I worked in finance for 40 years. The bank I worked for did close their final salary pensions but froze them and honored their commitment at maturity, substituting them with a shared private pension system. So all contributions up to the pension date were honored, which is what I think should happen with State Pensions.

Poor devil. ☹️

It's bizarre that a pension that is based on contributions by individuals and companies over the course of a working lifetime is seen by you as an extreme sense of entitlement. It's actually a real entitlement. It's not charity. I don't know of anyone that feels they are entitled to anything more than the years they have contributed.

I don't think most people believe he's a fascist, just an egotistical idiot.

You can always tell a good presidential candidate. He's the one fleecing his supporters by flogging bibles at $59.99 a pop to fund his legal bills on corruption charges. 😀 It's his favourite book. Lol

Like the Young Gay Conservatives (sic) in the U.K. On their website there was precious little about gay rights when I looked. These groups are just an attempt to attract the gay vote.

He's becoming more and more dangerous as he becomes more and more desperate. But he's a known quantity. If there are substantial Americans who cannot see what he represents now then they have a bleak future. And there have always been self-loathing gays who act as useful idiots for the right.

The original article is very poor and at the end provides a link to a paid advert for financial advice, which I guess is the point. A following article probably hints at the real problem. And this boomer thing is getting annoying now.

The Mainland Vintage cheddar is actually not that bad but you're probably right on Australian cheeses in general.

U.K. social benefits. https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits

Probably not a good idea to detail your security arrangements online.

That'll be the next fraud to be investigated. The government has started referring to state pension as a benefit not an entitlement. It's easy to stop benefits.

As I understand it the DWP can look at your bank account now but only with a specific request if they suspect fraud. This new regulation will put the onus on the banks to monitor accounts for customers receiving benefits to ascertain there is no money coming in not declared to DWP, rather like KYC regulations. I imagine if the banks do see monthly income they will inform them and a request for details will be issued to investigate the matter. The banks should be informed who is receiving benefit so other accounts shouldn't be monitored but the worry is that of eventual overreach. Another worry is that banks will see this as substantial extra work and will levy a charge on all customers.

Sounds like one has brained you. Quit the drugs.

Could be a Thai Guava tree. We have a huge one in the garden and it usually starts to shed its fruit this time of year. The fruit is green and hard and could easily brain you.

I'm not sure if I'm impressed or appalled.

Give him The Cat. :😀 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_o'_nine_tails

The locals were teasing me the other night. "Are you David?" 😄 They said David is black and we know you are white. Amusement was had all round.

So you're going to give up your property, business and family because you're fed up. That's the spirit.

Remind me which country doesn't have its own rules and laws? When you go to Laos and you fill in the temp visa application and hand over your fee there's a box at the bottom with the words "Our country, our taxes." This is obviously in response to people complaining.

Cowardly violence is never a slight transgression.

20 years or so ago we used to see a plethera of butterflies and moths in the garden including the odd enormous Atlas Moth. One day a year the garden would be alive with thousands of small yellow butterflies. Sadly I haven't seen either for many years, possibly because of the pollution.

This article is very helpful. https://dokmaidogma.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/how-to-make-a-butterfly-friendly-garden/ In my garden the Vinca (Periwinkle) plants seem the most popular and are easy to grow.

"How do you resist temptation?" Grow up?