Miami007

Yes - we just had 25 cm of rain (10 inches) on Wednesday in parts of Miami. City and County government are issuing warnings. You would see State Governors on TV warning residents of approaching hurricanes or snowstorms - happens every year. national weather forecasting agencies in many countries are government funded. Their warnings are "government" communication.

Maybe it is time to review an institution which is 99 years old. The fact that the rule has been in place since 1955, doesn't make it relevant in 2024. Back then very few people ventured abroad in old age. You also had fewer young people leaving their home country. Basically, the rule penalizes anyone who wants to be close to family living abroad when they are old. What is the logical rationale to freeze pensions at the level of a person leaving? The older person uses less of other government services (especially medical care) in the UK. It would actually be cheaper for the government to have every retiree leave Hiding behind a missing reciprocal agreement with Thailand is ridiculous. How many typical Thais move to the UK in retirement? Even if Thailand were to pay them benefits in the UK, how far would that THB pension get them in UK? Some posted that people should have known and made a personal decision. Let's be honest, how many people were aware of it before reading the post. How many would even start to think that their retirement would not increase if they live in Country A? Maybe the lady could have maintained a PO Box or physical address in the UK to avoid this issue. But 20 years ago, online banking to get money transferred was much more difficult than today. I will definitely check the USA rules for their benefits now as I am planning to leave in retirement. Last but not least, governments do change longstanding rules when there is sufficient pressure. Germany did not allow dual-citizenship (except in rare cases) but is now changing the law to allow Germans living abroad to accept citizenship of that country as well. Still waiting for Austria to do so

Maybe it is time to review an institution which is 99 years old. The fact that the rule has been in place since 1955, doesn't make it relevant in 2024. Back then very few people ventured abroad in old age. You also had fewer young people leaving their home country. Basically, the rule penalizes anyone who wants to be close to family living abroad when they are old. What is the logical rationale to freeze pensions at the level of a person leaving? The older person uses less of other government services (especially medical care) in the UK. It would actually be cheaper for the government to have every retiree leave Hiding behind a missing reciprocal agreement with Thailand is ridiculous. How many typical Thais move to the UK in retirement? Even if Thailand were to pay them benefits in the UK, how far would that THB pension get them in UK? Some posted that people should have known and made a personal decision. Let's be honest, how many people were aware of it before reading the post. How many would even start to think that their retirement would not increase if they live in Country A? Maybe the lady could have maintained a PO Box or physical address in the UK to avoid this issue. But 20 years ago, online banking to get money transferred was much more difficult than today. I will definitely check the USA rules for their benefits now as I am planning to leave in retirement. Last but not least, governments do change longstanding rules when there is sufficient pressure. Germany did not allow dual-citizenship (except in rare cases) but is now changing the law to allow Germans living abroad to accept citizenship of that country as well. Still waiting for Austria to do so

You really don't remember the ads for vaccines??? They clearly stated that the vaccines would prevent infection and transmission. Even during Omicron after the 3rd shot. I am NOT talking about approval requirements, but what the ads and media told us the vaccines would do. "Crush the virus" and "saving your grandparents" comes to mind. In the USA they at least admit that politicians and medical experts told the public things which were not true as the public could not handle the truth (according to New York Times). BTW, if you want to be technical, the vaccines were given on an Emergency Use basis - not even a full approval. Again, in the USA and in Europe people stopped taking boosters / new vaccines, wearing masks and the world is not coming to an end. Covid is not even mentioned much, if at all.

In the USA very few have received boosters from 2022-2024 - and hardly anyone is wearing masks in public or is isolating themselves. But there is no Covid panic and nobody is talking about shortages of hospital beds. There are certainly infected people- but if the media is not getting their knickers in a twist, people just carry on with life. By now, the majority of the population had Covid at least once and survived. Data of deaths by age-group clearly shows that there was limited danger for anyone under 60. Data and experience also showed that vaccination did not prevent infection and did not prevent onward transmission. That was fairly evident when Omicron started in late 2021. It is also a fact, that vaccination was originally presented as "protecting the vaccinated person and preventing transmission" (and therefore society). That changed to "preventing death and serious illness". There is no reason to panic and shut down the economy or life. The article also does a poor job providing context- how do these numbers compare to the peak of Covid?