* Posts by Lars

4256 publicly visible posts • joined 21 May 2007

UK science stuck in 'holding pattern' on EU funding by Brexit, says minister

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Re: Brexit got done

@Charlie Clark

Any link to the "voting to terminate treaties with the EU".

Any help in here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland%E2%80%93European_Union_relations

"On 15 November 2021, Maroš Šefčovič, EU Vice President responsible for Swiss-EU negotiations and Brexit struck a more conciliatory tone with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, when they met in Brussels. The two sides agreed to establish a structured political dialog at ministerial level, and re-open bilateral talks in early 2022. The Swiss Foreign minister in particular insisted that Switzerland will be integrated back into the Erasmus+ and the Horizon Europe programmes. At stake are a number of agreements between Switzerland and the EU, including future access to EU's electricity market, as well as EU citizens' availability of Swiss social security benefits.".

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Re: Brexit got done

@Charlie Clark

Any link to the "voting to terminate treaties with the EU".

Any help in here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland%E2%80%93European_Union_relations

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Re: Brexit got done

@AC

"Unless you think the people of the Republic of Ireland don't want unification? That's the only possible reason to object.".

To object to what, all I have pointed out that it's not just about NI.

And if the decision in NI to unification was very quarrelsome then there is no guaranty about the outcome in Ireland.

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Re: Brexit got done

@codejunky

I think you should have mentioned you use nominal GDP, using ppp and your information corresponds with my list using ppp.

The numbers for 2021 are the one of interest today.

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Re: Brexit got done

@Alan Brown

To be a bit more accurate:

"On 12 January 1960, the Treaty on the European Free Trade Association was initiated in the Golden Hall of the Stockholm City Hall.

The founding members of the EFTA were: Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. During the 1960s, these countries were often referred to as the "Outer Seven", as opposed to the Inner Six of the then European Economic Community (EEC).".

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Re: Brexit got done

@AC

Why not? They're the ones who have to live with this mess.

The reunification involves both NI and Ireland. The protocol involves the British Government and the EU and if the hard border is the Belfast Agreement then again it's not just up to the NI.

How difficult is that to work out.

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Re: Brexit got done

@Justthefacts

"Which are in fact the top 3 nations in the world then?".

Lets try Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (2020), for a change.

"GDP (purchasing power parity) compares the gross domestic product (GDP) or value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. A nation's GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates is the sum value of all goods and services produced in the country valued at prices prevailing in the United States."

1. China

2. United States

3. India

4. Japan

5. Germany

6. Russia

7. Indonesia

8. Brazil

9. France

10. United Kingdom

11. Turkey

12. Italy

https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/real-gdp-purchasing-power-parity/country-comparison/

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Re: One sub postmaster's story

@Justthefacts

"-winter-day-in-haparanda-sweden".

Good work, you did manage to find a roundabout in Sweden close to the Arctic Circle not for pedestrians.

The simple fact is that the move from traffic lights to roundabouts started years ago in the Nordic countries.

And there are a hell of a lot of them, and naturally for pedestrians and bikes too, and we do stop and let them pass first, the pedestrians have priority, or as it's rather said "cars are obliged to give way". Motorways are different.

From the EU stats I find the Nordic countries all fit in the top10. Norway does too but is not in EU stats.

There is a lot to all of this including the number of pedestrians in the traffic.

For those interested in stuff like this I would recommend "Not just bikes" on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RRE2rDw4k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU&t=489s

PS. I am not sure if I read the "mandatory" the way you mean it.

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Re: One sub postmaster's story

@ghp

I suggest you use Google translate to make it easier. I did get it but it's easier like this.

"With and without a pedestrian crossing, pedestrians have priority over vehicles exiting the roundabout".

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Re: "Where does it say that's happening?"

@LybsterRoy

I think the Wikipedia has got it all fairly well.

" Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug that is well-established for use in animals and people.[1]

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, laboratory research suggested ivermectin might have a role in preventing or treating COVID-19.[2] Online misinformation campaigns and advocacy boosted the drug's profile among the public. While scientists and physicians largely remained sceptical, some nations adopted ivermectin as part of their pandemic-control efforts. Some people, desperate to use ivermectin without a prescription, took veterinary preparations leading to shortages of supplies of ivermectin for animal treatment — the FDA tweeted "You are not a horse" to draw attention to the issue.[3]

Subsequent research failed to confirm the utility of ivermectin for COVID-19,[4] and in 2021 it emerged that many of the studies demonstrating benefit were faulty, misleading, or fraudulent.[5][6] Nevertheless, misinformation about ivermectin continued to be propagated on social media and the drug remained a cause célèbre for anti-vaccinationists and conspiracy theorists."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivermectin_during_the_COVID-19_pandemic#Research

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Re: Brexit got done

"the suggestion that Norway has something to lose makes no sense."

I suppose that behind that suggestion, that did not come from Norway, was the feeling that a big bully with great difficulties in sticking to its agreements might not be interesting to the Norwegians.

Still EFTA was never a choice due to the single market and more.

Norway was just one of Farage's snake oil salesman tricks.

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Re: Brexit got done

"an NI referendum offering a choice of reunification, the protocol or a hard border.".

No it's not up to the NI alone at all.

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Re: Brexit got done

"if the EU would stop using the NI protocol and the fishing dispute"

Total rubbish Phil O'Sophical.

It's the British who suddenly want to change the agreement signed by the British government.

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Re: Brexit got done

@Cris G

Yes I would agree with you.

Could it be you feel the big bad EU has forced Britain to take part in all those meddling endeavours.

The thing is that we are bigger together in Europe and it's not just about money but about people and resources too.

And there are lots of people on both side of the Channel who hope the cooperation should continue regardless of Brexit.

Some Brits have this tendency of proudly claiming they are the fifth greatest in the world, probably not true, but regardless, if you add up the 1 to 4 countries then Britain is just above 5% of that sum. The five pence you would not care to pick up in a urinal.

Some get it some don't.

EU directs €11bn toward European Chips Act to build homegrown semiconductor industry

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Re: Economy

The EIB

"The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB is a not-for-profit organisation which funds projects that achieve the policy aims of the European Union through loans, guarantees and technical assistance."

"The EIB is not funded through the budget of the EU. Instead, it raises money through the international capital markets by issuing bonds. The EIB is rated triple-A, the most credit-worthy rating on the bond market, by ‘The Big Three’ credit rating agencies Moody's, Standard and Poor's, and Fitch. Each Member State pays capital into the EIB's reserves which is broadly in line with their share of EU gross domestic product".

"Since its inception in 1958 the EIB has invested over one trillion euros. It primarily funds projects that ‘cannot be entirely financed by the various means available in the individual Member States’. "

EIB has reserves for €526 billion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Central_Bank

Arm's $66bn sale to Nvidia is off: Deal collapses after world's competition regulators raise concerns

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Re: Typical UK short sighted profiteering

"Can you imagine Germany allowing the sale of VW".

I can sort of see your point, but the size comparison makes it a bit silly as the difference is immense. Less than 10.000 employees against more than 300.000 for instance.

I could well imagine that Germany sold companies the size of ARM.

Your point is really about the British and the Germans and not about Britain and Germany.

Joined up thinking: Europe to oversee trio of projects for homegrown chips, HPC gear

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Re: Somewhat late to the party

With that attitude it's always too late.

Glad they want to invest.

US House passes bill to boost chip manufacturing and R&D

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Re: EU Competition?

@Justthefacts

So GPS is a rubbish as Galileo only Galileo is a bit better.

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Re: With 27 countries involved (and 27 languages)

"and the French seem keen on taking the line".

That is a very old English slur and has nothing to do with the reality.

English will remain an official language in the EU, or as it's said "bad English".

Please try to stop weeping and tearing your hair, it's pathetic.

PS. English become important in Europe not because of the British but the Americans.

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Re: EU Competition?

What's up with you Justthefacts.

Galileo is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that went live in 2016.

The Galileo system has a greater accuracy than GPS, having an accuracy of less than 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) when using broadcast ephemeris (GPS: 3 metres or 9.8 feet)[20] and a signal-in-space ranging error (SISRE) of 1.6 centimetres or 0.63 inches (GPS: 2.3 centimetres or 0.91 inches, GLONASS and BeiDou: 4–6 centimetres or 1.6–2.4 inches) when using real-time corrections for satellite orbits and clocks.

Effective 1 April 2018, all new vehicles sold in Europe must support eCall, an automatic emergency response system that dials 112 and transmits Galileo location data in the event of an accident.

Or is it this that annoys you.

"Until late 2018, Galileo was not authorized for use in the United States, and as such, only variably worked on devices that could receive Galileo signals, within United States territory.[179] The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) position on the matter was (and remains) that non-GPS radio navigation satellite systems (RNSS) receivers must be granted a license to receive said signals.[180] A waiver of this requirement for Galileo was requested by the EU and submitted in 2015, and on 6 January 2017, public comment on the matter was requested.[181] On 15 November 2018, the FCC granted the requested waiver, explicitly allowing non-federal consumer devices to access Galileo E1 and E5 frequencies.[182][183] However, most devices, including smartphones still require operating system updates or similar updates to allow the use of Galileo signals within the United States."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(satellite_navigation)

SpaceX is doing well but the Falcon 9 was just too small and expensive for the James Webb telescope.

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Re: EU Competition?

@Justthefacts

As I wrote the EU is not a country but 27 countries and it goes without saying that those countries export and import a lot more than the USA alone and I think there is a lot of strength in that.

Regarding the US GDP per capita, I am sure those numbers would become more similar if the 0.1 per centers were deleted from that comparison on both sides.

As for the numbers the World Bank is just a private bank and we find this about it.

"In 2021, an independent inquiry of the World Bank's Doing Business reports by the law firm WilmerHale found that World Bank leaders, including then-Chief Executive Kristalina Georgieva and then-President Jim Yong Kim,[89] pressured staff members of the bank to alter data to inflate the rankings for China, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank#Criticisms_and_controversy

Some EU countries exports here:

Germany $1.672 trillion (2020)

France $746.9 billion (2020 est.)

Britain $742 billion (2020 est.)

Netherlands $719.8 billion (2020 est.)

Italy $558.3 billion (2020 est.)

Spain $392.9 billion (2020 est.)

Poland $333.5 billion (2020 est.)

Sweden $240.1 billion (2020 est)

Denmark $191.5 billion (2020 est.)

Finland $119.9 billion (2019 est.)

Total 5716,9

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Re: EU Competition?

It's hard to compare a union of 27 countries to one country alone. Then again the USA is a country of 50 states with lots of different state laws too.

Still I think steamnut is perhaps downplaying the EU a bit too much..

So lets compare some numbers here, using the CIA World factbook, they have numbers for the EU combined, numbers a bit old and would then include the UK, but still there are some interesting differences.

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

EU $19,885,625,000,000 (2019 est.) USA $19,846,720,000,000 (2020 est.)

Real GDP per capita

EU $44,436 (2019 est.) USA $60,200 (2020 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate)

EU $17.11 trillion (2017 est.) USA $21,433,228,000,000 (2019 est.)

Labor force

EU 238.9 million (2016 est.) USA 146.128 million (2020 est.)

Exports

EU $7,102,345,000,000 (2019 est.) USA $2,127,250,000,000 (2020 est)

Imports

EU $6,649,513,000,000 (2019 est.) USA $2,808,960,000,000 (2020 est.)

Population below poverty line

EU 9.8% (2013 est.) USA 15.1% (2010 est.)

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Not only!

EU digital sovereignty project Gaia-X hands out ID tech contracts

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A goal of Gaia-X

"The reported objective of GAIA-X is to design the next generation of a federated European data infrastructure. To accomplish this it hopes to specify common requirements for a European data infrastructure and develop a reference implementation.#

.......

"The stated goal of this digital ecosystem is to ensure that companies and business models from Europe can be competitive. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAIA-X

Jeff Bezos adds some more overheads to his $485m yacht by taking down historic bridge

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Re: Picture or it didn't happen

Rith people have always built big yachts, take Lipton for instance and why not Gates, Allen and Jobs and the rest of them, but I give him credit for the sailing ability.

Nothing to see here and it's clearly less fuss with the bridge than the alternative.

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Jeff Bezos' 127m/ 417ft Y721 sailing yacht

Jeff Bezos' yacht and Rotterdam's Koningshaven bridge is not such a good match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjXiAE6bK9g

UK's new Brexit Freedom Bill promises already-slated GDPR reform, easier gene editing rules

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Re: Chlorinated chicken

@Jellied Eel

Why would the EU not want to protect it's own agribusiness.

I have a feeling there are Brits too who would like to protect it's own agribusiness, if not in the government apparently, and for reasons that have nothing to do with cheaper.

Are you sure it would not be even cheaper to get chicken from China and India.

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Re: Fingers crossed

@Justthefacts

You would write less rubbish if you started to read a bit more before you write.

From where did you get what you write - "with a name like that, you are meant to assume that it is lending to European infrastructure projects".

Quoting the Wikipedia we get a more proper view:

"The EIB is a not-for-profit organisation which funds projects that achieve the policy aims of the European Union through loans, guarantees and technical assistance.

The EIB focuses on the areas of climate, environment, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), development, cohesion and infrastructure. It has played a large role in providing finance during crises including the 2008 financial crash and the COVID-19 pandemic. Since its inception in 1958 the EIB has invested over one trillion euros. It primarily funds projects that ‘cannot be entirely financed by the various means available in the individual Member States’.

The EIB is rated triple-A, the most credit-worthy rating on the bond market, by ‘The Big Three’ credit rating agencies Moody's, Standard and Poor's, and Fitch.

The EIB is one of the biggest financiers of green finance in the world.".

On a less serious note, perhaps It's not always a good idea to read too much into a name, take the United Kingdom or Great Britain for instance and actually the European Investment Bank is an investment bank.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Investment_Bank

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Re: Operation Distract-The-Electorate in full swing

@Loyal Commenter

"Watch your backs to make sure they're not creeping up on you again."

Advice I hope the British would start taking serious too, very serious.

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Re: A Cool Billion ! Roll Up, Roll Up !

"You are wrong, CE only has a temporary exemption for being suitable for the UK market.".

You will see that temporary extended for decades perhaps longer.

And the UKCA will most likely be forgotten as totally unnecessary and worthless.

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Re: A Cool Billion ! Roll Up, Roll Up !

@H in The Hague

"On the whole, UK health and safety regs are stricter than those in other countries and possibly better observed and enforced."

"On the whole" are apparently magical words, leave them out and the sentence becomes a bit of a yoke and simply very naive.

That remainds me of a woman who I think was working for the BBC who said on TV - "the British Parliamentary system is the envy of the whole world".

Such a nice thing to say but has it actually anything to do with the reality.

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@mark l 2

Freedom worked in Brexit so it will be tried forever like the rollout and the I didn't do it.

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Re: OK.

For "bon appetit" and the US try Food inc on youTube.

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Re: OK.

"The simple option is not to buy processed crap."

You do know iẗ́̈́'s also "romantic" crap and simply not possible for everybody all the time.

What's with the potatoes, specially local or what. Was the olive oilve oil locally produced and was it cold pressed.

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Re: Marmite

"Marmite is a savoury food spread made from yeast extract that was invented by German scientist Justus von Liebig and originally made in the United Kingdom. It is a by-product of beer brewing and is currently produced by British company Unilever. The product is notable as a vegan source of B vitamins, including supplemental vitamin B12. A traditional use is to spread it very thinly on buttered toast."

"In Denmark, food safety legislation dictates that foodstuffs that contain added vitamins can only be sold by retailers which have been licensed by the Veterinary and Food Administration.[32] During May 2011, the company that imports the product to Denmark revealed that it was not licensed and had therefore stopped selling the product: this resulted in widespread but inaccurate reports by the British media that Marmite had been banned by the Danish authorities.[33][34] The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration stated during 2015 that Marmite had not been banned in the country, but that fortified foods need to be tested for safety and approved before they can be marketed in the country.[35] The issue was resolved in 2016, after the completion of a 2014 supplier-requested test."

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Re: OK.

I believe most countries have tried to decrease the amount of salt used in food for obvious reasons for many many years, or is that something unknown for some people.

It's damned good stuff to prevent things from rot, fish, meat and also wooden ships long ago.

As for Liquorice:

"Mixing it with ammonium chloride (salmiak) is also popular as it is in Finland. A popular example of salmiak liquorice in the Netherlands is known as zoute drop (salty liquorice), but contains very little salt, i.e., sodium chloride."

And if you want the read the history of salt, the title of the book is "salt" and worth a read.

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Some points

Some points about it all here too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjsa4GT8keo

A Look At The Prime Minister's "Brexit Benefits" Document!

And

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zYVnusG37A

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Re: Marmite

I have never met a salty pig, could it be that somebody is adding salt after death according to taste in various countries.

Remote code execution vulnerability in Samba due to macOS interop module

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Re: CIFS?

*nix* is still the dominating OS in Samba and nginx, as for "religious wars" we don't hear about them in Microsoft as they are internal.

Stats from netcraft.com.

UK government responds to post-Brexit concerns and of course it's all the fault of those pesky EU negotiators

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Re: Brexit was One Long Snivel.

"If Brexit should have taught us anything, it is that, taken as a group, the populace are not well informed or clever enough to decide their own political destiny."

Yes, of course, but iẗ́s also obvious that affordable and good education for the whole population helps a lot while a two party system doesn't at all.

Our old friend Socrates did worry about it long ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLJBzhcSWTk&list=LLSKzalg5s0rjExeDy91F8uw&index=155

Can you spot the British candymen.

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Re: .....but in the "sunny uplands" this sort of c**k up never happens, does it?

@Tilda Rice

Such vice words, It's obvious you did not fall for the vaccine and thus you avoided having the Bill Gates micro chip implanted in your brains preventing you from thinking straight and rationally.

Lucky you.

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Re: .....but in the "sunny uplands" this sort of c**k up never happens, does it?

Yes Paris is just round the corner.

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Re: .....but in the "sunny uplands" this sort of c**k up never happens, does it?

@Malcolm Weir

When you mention EMA and I suppose that to be the European Medicines Agency, David Davis comes to my mind.

As I remember two EU agencies resided happily in London but Davis came to suggest that the UK would have nothing against them staying in the UK after Brexit.

How do you deal with things like that, I still think he was quite serious about it.

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Re: .....but in the "sunny uplands" this sort of c**k up never happens, does it?

@Bogle

The "https://vaccinetracker.ecdc.europa.eu/public/extensions/COVID-19/vaccine-tracker.html#uptake-tab"

you provided says 83.5 fully vaccinated not 81.5.

(not that it matters)

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Re: No kidding.

Some of Bill Cash here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgU8xYM71DQ

Bill Cash on why a no-deal Brexit would be fine

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Re: .....but in the "sunny uplands" this sort of c**k up never happens, does it?

@Bogle

The Swedes admitted they made a mistake and made a change but still the numbers in comparison to their neighbours are very telling.

Sweden 154.1

Denmark 64.0

Norway 26.9

Finland 35.2

The Swedish "mistake" was deliberate, they (he) went for it in "belief".

Boris was apparently thinking of the same solution (do nothing), losing time, or then he is just rubbish at making decisions and add to that that Britain is a island and could have done so much better.

(and the Americans have lost more people than soldiers and civilians in WW2)

US Navy in mad dash to salvage F-35C that fell off a carrier into South China Sea

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Re: Probably similar to the experiences of some Tesla drivers.

There is still more good than bad in automation in aviation, and that knowledge is accumulating something that doesn't happen with us as each pilot will always start from scratch.

Reading about accidents I get the feeling a lot more accidents are caused by human error than anything else.