This is very tempting, but a budget seat with Ryanair is genuinely “bare bones”, cattle class. Although Ryanair is an international airline, the very cheapness of the tickets puts me off…. They have never had a major incident as far as I am aware, but surely with such cheap prices, something’s other than legroom must be compromised.

I am fortunate I can afford to fly SAS instead… I would rather pay a little more… I’m not sure if this is false security, but peace of mind, warranted or not is worth it.

Dave: My suggestion would be to look at whether an airline has embraced DEI policies. Then look to see if it was involved in any of the many recent incidents. The reason I have written about United and American is that both seem to have experienced most of these problems. Others have as well, but the bulk appear to have been with these two airlines.

This will likely change, as I think almost all major corporations adopted DEI policies after 2020. The consequences will just take longer with some businesses.

Any tips on what would be the best course of action from the customer’s point of view?

I stated that these dumbing down mandates would be coming to Sweden as a matter of course.

Greece, you can’t get far enough from your home country that is now a Socialist wonderland of “equity”.

You pick and choose what you understand.

Enjoy your retirement.

I kinda admire your gung-ho attitude to flying, but having friends in the industry, there is an understanding that with the advent of budget airlines, the rubbish wages and increased pressure on pilots, the ground team and flight crew, the wheels are going to fall off from time to time.. ( sometimes literally)

I don’t want to have to vet my airline for their safety record, but it’s now become the case that I should. I guess going down in an airliner is a pretty spectacular way to pull the plug, but I’d rather not pull the plug just yet.

I chose to send my kids to “International English School” , which has an excellent academic record, and at least half the lessons taught in English. ( For obvious reasons)

There is no crisis in the Swedish education system. The standards remain “world class” , and if I accidentally created another child, I would have them educated here, no question. It is one of the many ways I see my tax krona getting put to good use in the transparent socialist society I live in.

I find it kinda amusing that you state that your friends wife has her pupils recite the pledge of independence, then accuse a system you know nothing about of indoctrination… Glass houses… Stones… Etc…

And my final word on this subject…. My wonderful little chickens are close to both fleeing the nest. When this occurs I will use the savings I have been lucky enough to be able to put to one side, and I will be heading off to Greece. Sod this cold northern country… My retirement will be spent sipping ouzo and playing backgammon in the shade in the village square. ( Then we can talk about corrupt government and the abuse of unions… But I will have a great tan!)

The airline industry has always had some maintainable troubles.

Back in 1978 during the Carter administration(peanuts served in the plane by the pound) I was on a direct flight from San Antonio to Cleveland. One stop in Dallas.
Well about halfway to Dallas the plane started to fill with smoke. Well emergency landing in Dallas, hop off plane and wait for 6 hours for a new plane.
This plane went from Dallas to Atlanta to Cleveland. Guess what? On landing in Atlanta the plane lost all hydraulics. Hop off plane and wait 6 hours for the next one.

In my time I have been on three planes that experienced troubles and was forced to land. I have literally watched two planes crash in from of me and watched one mishap on landing.
I have flown in two aircraft where parts fell off in flight and one which needed duct tape to keep a door shut.
One helicopter that dripped hydraulic fluid and shook so bad I thought my kidneys would fall out.the whole flight.
My mother says that my first flight was on a military transport that she could see light through the missing rivet holes in the side of the plane and one engine smoked half the flight.

I have slept through storms and lightning strikes.

At this point any flight I can walk away from is a great flight.
If the pilot is brave enough to get in and fly it I am good to go.

And that is why the Liberals and the radical Left want exclusive control over how and what children are educated, without any parental input that is. Sweden’s descent into full indoctrination was missed by your children, but the dumbing down is coming. Timing is everything in life.

In the short term your kids are on a great path to fulfilling their personal goals and prosperity in their lives. I think you rationally made the correct move to Sweden for both you and your children given what the education system in England has turned into given their extreme Left turn and their “politically correct” “progressive” dumbing down Socialist indoctrination in education.

And once again you prove my point with your proactive life choices about the short term you have made in your own life. You know why you left England.

But what does the long-term hold for such situations? Where might you move next if and when Sweden becomes too much like good old England?

I suspect your children might make similar choices for themselves about their freedom, but where will be their run for freedom? The EAU? Dubai? Ice Land? Certainly not Canada.

America? Stay tuned on that.

Related side story: A good friend of mine is married to a fine woman from Ireland, and she runs a preschool. She teaches the basics, math, spelling, letters, writing, and every day before things get going, she has the children recite the pledge of allegiance.

The teachers in the local school are all aware and have commented on when they receive students of my friend’s fine Irish wife. They are ALL miles a head of the other children in their education. She has given them a foundation in how to learn, not what to learn.

And where does that excellence in education come from? A government preschool program? NO.

A daycare program paid for by government? No.

It comes from two parents who have found the best preschool for their child, and they pay for it out of pocket. And it is worth it.

And what goes on in America, and I assume will soon be a part of the Swedish education system mandate? Teachers’ unions fighting tooth and claw so that parents cannot have free transportability and choice as to what school is the best performing school for their child to attend.

Excellence? Or Indoctrination?

The Left desperately need the Indoctrination model to prevail.

My Lad is now 18 and heading off to Japan to continue his studies after the summer ( subsidised by the benevolent dictator known as “Father”) , and my daughter just turned 16 and after the summer is going to start collage studying media, with the aim of getting into film making.

I am very proud of them both, and very pleased they have doors open to them that I never even knew existed at their age, but where did all those years go? It only seems like yesterday we were arguing about childcare, and now they are all grown up and preparing to leave the nest.

To quote Ferris Bueller.. ” life moves pretty fast… If you don’t stop and look around from time to time you might miss something “

Not a Communist or Marxist by name, but a Communist and Marxist by default and ideology.

Whether you realize it or not.

The proof?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13207697/Shocking-moment-California-cops-tackle-teens-Long-Beach-Pike-Outlets.html

This and many other comparable instances in America are what your ideology results in.

The ever-growing dependency on government for all and every need of the populous can result in nothing more and nothing less than chaos, depression, institutional welfare and a societal death spiral.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/02/first-edition-sweden-violence

You like all Liberals and now dedicated radicalized Marxists and a threat to the civilized world by default are a danger to yourself and all who surround you. And you have no idea of what your “Compassion” for others has the potential to cause.

The forcing of dissimilar cultures together as per the Globalist One World Agenda can only result in extreme violence and death. And that by their own words is what their end goal is. You are in the middle of it and have not a clue.

And THAT is the long-term truth of the matter Lee S.

Up until Brexit I held a UK passport, but was a Swedish resident, after Brexit it became problematic so now I ( and my kids) hold dual nationality.
So I am a citizen of both Sweden and the UK. Just to clarify, My country of residence is Sweden, and I pay tax only in Sweden.

As far as I can figure out, you’re a British citizen who physically lives in Europe. Is that correct?

You guys believe in low taxation, and let every man fend for themselves.

I believe in higher taxation, with benefits for the population, one of which is affordable education, helping the poor gain skills to find better paying jobs.

A person that cannot afford to better themselves will forever remain a net draw on the state. An educated person will earn more, pay more tax back into the system, and their descendants will have a much better chance to thrive, keeping the wheel turning and continuing to raise fellow citizens out of the poverty trap.

You guys are convinced I am wrong, I am convinced you guys are wrong, and I guess never the ‘twain shall meet, but it’s worth contemplating that poverty levels are much higher in the US than in most of Europe, and higher than all the left leaning European countries.

I am not a Marxist, I am not a commie, I am a boots on the ground reporter letting you know that other systems of government are available… And some of them work.

Jeff Wright: “Who is John Galt?”

A lot of competent people are simply throwing up their hands and are retiring instead of fighting back.

And the fact is—outside of Elon’s purchase of Twitter—there is no patriotic counterpart to Soros.

Say what you will about him—but he isn’t afraid to get his checkbook out to pay bail for his followers.

I’m not seeing that reciprocated by-and-large.

Thus industries, careers, and companies can suffer from brain drain, and employers are left with the lesser-abled people for promotion, propagating the disaster throughout the company and industry. It is independent of ethnicity, race, or skin color.

The left likes to think that people are virtuous and will work as hard as they can and will accept only the minimum of what they need. From each according to his ability (maximum work); to each according to his need (minimal reward). Few of the people who believe this are hard workers, they get others to do the work.

The truth is that people want the best or want the most that they can get for the lowest effort. It is why we search for lower prices for better products. It is enlightened self interest that has us work for other people or produce products that other people are willing to buy. However, if we aren’t going to be paid well for our abilities, we seek other employers or other products that pay better for the effort we put into them.

Thus, marxism is doomed to failure and has never succeeded anywhere it has been tried. DIE is doomed to failure. Affirmative Action has been a horrific failure, and we are right back where we were when Affirmative Action was foist upon us, which is why they are now trying the DIE philosophy.

The key word in that sentence is “Directive” (from the government) related to hiring based not on qualifications but based on DEI mandated “special class of human” people. Which is not to say that disadvantaged people cannot be identified and properly trained. But it cannot be based solely upon skin color. That is actually against duly passed law in America.

Government has absolutely NOTHING to do with excellence in anyone getting ahead. Although they will try to sell that concept to all. Instead, what in fact they are selling is a dependency on government model which is exactly like the problem when corporation base everything only on the bottom line. Same exact thing, its a bout retaining power I.E. money and not about the core issue of quality and safety.

And that is how government (or corporate leadership) of either party stay inserted in people’s lives and that relates to votes and political power.

And what is the rule related to political power, Lee S? If unchecked in the light of day, it will be perverted and corrupted in order to retain power.

To my point: https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/battery-powered-world-a-slow-motion-train-wreck

Directives based in an ideology political or corporate from government can and usually do have dire costs. For other people that is.

These kinds of directives for instance in the forced EV market from governments has the real-world potential to cause the bankruptcy of many of the major car companies. And then because they have caused the damage government will be forced to write the check to those companies because of their unnatural in the real-world directives. You know, because they care about you.

It becomes by necessity a self-sustaining self-interested spiral right into the dirt. That is the result of mandates and directives by government.

Example: https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/why-do-vaccinated-people-represent-most-covid-19-deaths-right-now/

The “good intension” of government, any government usually has long term deleterious effects in the real world. Government is a necessary evil.

I would however agree with your point about when the corporate bottom line usurps excellence in leadership, management and maintenance. They all become terrified about the quarterly bottom line. Corporate bottom line = retaining political power by any means necessary. Same thing.

The only answer to this naturally destructive cycle is forced transparency and an Objective law and justice system that reveals some great degree of truth to the public.

That is the only way. If not it, then what? Subjective authoritarian mandates and directives. Choose one.

It comes down to greed, and the bending of rules that were never meant to be bent in the name of profit.

Sometimes the pursuit of maximising shareholder profit shouldn’t be a company’s Nr. 1 goal.

I think there is a great case to be made for opening roads to education to minority students… Ethnic minorities, both over there, and here over the pond tend to be poorer, let’s educate the poor and help them get less poor.

I ABSOLUTELY do not agree with choosing a job candidate on the basis of creed or colour, but I also don’t believe this is even a “thing” …. Companies may be encouraged to diversify their workforce, but any company that employs an under qualified person ahead of a qualified person because of whatever guidelines is leaving themselves open to just as much legal grief if things go wrong than if they had ignored the directive.. This is just not a thing. They are not coming to steal your kids jobs if you are white!

On kinda the same subject tho… I have a friend who works as ground crew maintenance guy for a well known Scandinavian airline, and his opinion is that it is just a matter of time before the biggest budget airlines in Europe looses a plane due to poor maintenance.

I have been flying back and forth to the UK a lot recently, but I am willing to pay a little more to fly with a safer airline. In these days of ridiculous cheap seats prices, I believe it is worth it…. You pays your money, you takes your chances…

And there is the biggest problem with all these Affirmative Action, Civil Rights Act, and DIE policies. People assume that minorities are hired and promoted solely due to skin color and are not qualified in their own right. Even the people of color who are competent or even the best in their fields are assumed by too many Americans to be there solely to fill an Affirmative Action quota. Thus, the disrespect for all minorities that the left has always had now has becomes an American cultural phenomenon.

It is as though the left knew what it was doing when they embraced these policies. Are they really clowns, or are they intentional with these additional misdeeds? If they make sure that the policies result in lower quality, then who do Americans blame? That’s right, the favored minorities, so yet again, the left manages to convince us that minorities, by their very nature (skin color) are unqualified for the important jobs. Who should Americans really blame? The leftists who instituted the policies that result in the distrust of all minorities with the accusation placed upon all non-minorities. Even Obama declared whites to be racist, based solely upon their genetic makeup, but he did not say what at what level of genetic makeup (skin shade) racism ends and an angelic nature begins.

Do not underestimate the evil of the left, the intolerance of Woodrow Wilson, the horrific policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or the road to hell that Lynden Baines Johnson paved, with bad intentions, for us to take.

It has been two generations, and Affirmative Action has failed completely. DIE will fare no better. They have proven themselves to be the problem, not the solution. It is time for these two policies to be abandoned for Martin Luther King’s dream of a world that the racist Democrats despise and have rejected.

It doesn’t give me much confidence.

Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, Kim Fox, Kim Gardner, Eric Adamas, Tiffany Henyard the list is long.

All recently empowered individuals of color, all radically indoctrinated, “The white man must be replaced” social warriors are all on board with the overthrowing of the Constitution and what it structures, which is an Objective not Subjective law and justice system.

They are essentially Marxist in nature and can justify the “By any means necessary” Subjective form of political warfare in the pursuit of “Justice” and “equity” and the absolute authoritarian control of the country.

But they have one long term problem in their pursuit of absolute authoritarian power, the long-term unassailable construction of the Constitution.

The ONLY way that they can prevail in the long term is by the indoctrination of the young by controlling the school system. Check.

And by the usurping and destruction of the legal and justice system. And that at this moment in time remains to be seen. But they are working on it.

Fully indoctrinated and on board with the program recently empowered people of color in America are justifying the total destruction of the country and want to replace its structure with………………………………………….?????????????

Authoritarian rule and absolute adherence to their dictates. That is all they have.

In other words, they have no viable alternative that seeks actual equality, prosperity and freedom. They believe that parasitism is a viable model for a country and its governance.

How do I make these observations and understand this is not based in racism but in truth?

https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/my-mind-is-my-own-church

“The Founders fundamentally recognized that a King, a Religion or a Government would always be a direct threat to the individual’s freedom. What you do not bestow you cannot take away. BRILLIANT and unassailable!”

“To be replaced with what? The only alternative? A more subjective and authoritarian form of government where mandates and compelled behavior against common sense and individual self-interests must prevail. No thank you.”

And these what you can only describe as Communists seek to destroy it all in the name of “Equity”.

Subjective self-delusion is the best delusion of all, and millions have paid with their lives in pursuit of those self-delusions in pursuit of absolute authoritarian power.

Lord forgive them for they know not what they do. But that is no excuse for their ignorance.

It is hard to imagine just what market segment Tesla was going after with their Cybertruck, but it sounds like it, too, was designed and built by clowns who were clueless about what trucks (mostly) are and what they are supposed to do in the real world. (Imagine NASA building a truck… Hummmm. You don’t suppose that Cybertruck was actually designed to work on Mars…)

https://slate.com/technology/2024/03/tesla-cybertruck-elon-musk-accident.htmlhttps://slate.com/technology/2024/03/tesla-cybertruck-elon-musk-accident.html

Granted, there is certainly a “market” for high dollar, show-off “toy” trucks* that do nothing so much as illustrate Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class, and the Cybertruck — for all of its early production faults — may be just what the self indulgent, influencer class is looking for. Have fun**. The pity is, Tesla apparently did not give much thought to producing a small, sturdy, affordable, real world vehicle that might appeal to ordinary people who need a dependable pickup and are willing to experiment with owning an EV. God, no;
we’ll let the Chinese build useful, affordable stuff like that for average people.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/2019/01/28/china-electric-pickup-truck-coming-us/38965181/

This one is slow and has very limited range, but you get the idea. Here’s another:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/2019/01/28/china-electric-pickup-truck-coming-us/38965181/

but copy-catting Ford and GM:

https://www.carscoops.com/2024/01/2025-byd-pickup-everything-we-know-about-chinas-electrified-ford-ranger-rival/

*”Show-Off trucks costing upwards of $50,000 have become the the bread and butter of the domestic auto industry, and they seem to be able — somehow — to sell every one that they make at a healthy profit.

**The Cybertruck reminds me of the old joke about the two happiest days of a boat owner…

On the other side of this equation, check out what a good used, low mileage Ford Ranger pickup costs these days, and you will discover that, yes, Virginia, there is a booming market for small, economical pickups that work in the real world. The old Toyota and Nisan pickups are good, too. Again, it is too bad that Tesla didn’t choose to go after *this* market***, but perhaps they will have a change of heart.

***Ford’s new “Ranger” truck is an overwrought, overweight, vastly overpriced caricature — a “clown truck”? — of its original namesake, apparently pitched to young, affluent twenty-somethings (and/or those well heeled folks experiencing a mid-life crisis) who want to make a “statement” about their trendy lifestyle and how cool they are.

PS — How come DeLoreans didn’t rust? (Or do they?) And what did they know back in the early 1980s that we don’t know now?

“Simply refuse to submit to fear”.

Just accept the “new” normal, get on the plane and shut your pie hole!

Don’t worry, A.I. will take of everyone.