Schutzstaffel, as in protective service would probably be a better description of what they actually do I guess

Secret service better fits sg like the CIA

I had to do a double take on that abbreviation

The extreme right gained some seats, but they are very far from winning an election. They actually underperformed expectations and are actively losing ground eg. in France or the NL. Even Orbán’s regime seems to have found a challenger.

The fight is not over yet, but this election has been very far from a far right win.

As long as Twitter does business in the EU, it has to follow the law.

Commercial flights don’t typically use uncontrolled airports. That said, it could also be on the pilots, hence the investigation.

If the journos did their jobs, they could have probably checked out LiveATC for the comms.

DSA enforcement is spicy, since the EU can create its own team to fight disinfo on Twitter, and charge it to Musk, in addition to the massive fine.

There was no buffer zone. Poland, Slovakia, the Baltics were under Russian military occupation for most of the last century.

Russian soldiers were on the NATO border even back then. Soviet troops suppressed multiple revolutions aimed at creating an actual buffer zone, in 1956, in 1968 and so on. The bullet holes are still there. Some who fought are still alive.

When the Wall fell, all these “buffer zone” countries wanted to join NATO because they knew the Russians will come back.

Ukraine was indeed a buffer zone. Ukraine wanted to be one. Everyone signed that in Budapest. And yet when Ukraine wanted to do something and go its own way separate from Russia, but not into NATO either, Russia invaded in 2014.

Russia broke that buffer zone. And sincerely, Eastern Europe has agency and can decide who its allies are. Russia has always been an enemy, and if you look at Finland, even dealing with the devil itself had better outcomes than giving an inch to Russia.

Again, look at it from Eastern Europe. What’s the good choice?

Being independent is a choice as well, and most tried that. They mostly got invaded by both sides, either being raped and pillaged in tandem or one after the other.

What’s the good choice Poland or the Baltics should take?

How does this relate to Afghanistan wanting to have NATO neighbours or not? The original debate was whether Russia was justified to be hostile to neighbours joining NATO, and you brought up Afghanistan as an example.

Yet the Afghanistan neighbours involved in the NATO invasion were not NATO members, they were in fact NATO-hostile. So the lessons seems less “don’t have NATO neighbours” but “ally with your trustworthy neighbours that won’t sell you out”.

And all that said, NATO and the US in the Middle East and Asia is not the same as NATO in Eastern Europe. I agree that the US should fuck off all the way back to where they came from, but Russia is more of a clear and present danger than the US is. At least here. There are no good guys, only the bad one near you with a rifle and the one far away with a loan.

Linkerbaan, put yourself into the shoes of any Eastern European country in 1930, and decide who to ally with. I bet however you answer that question, there will be a nice example why it was a dogshit choice. It is not that much different now, except the collective West seems less bad than the Third Reich was.

Lawfare it to hell and back?

Well, yes?

I guess they have as much to do with it as “industry leaders”.

The US Afganistan invasion was supplied through Pakistan, and to a lesser extent, the old Russian lines that Russia used in its own invasion. Georgia was also an intermediary to a lesser degree.

None of these are NATO members.

They typically don’t.

Oh fuck me

The thing is, a lot of it might not. See Russia for an example.

I read the original paper a few months ago, actually manufacturers can choose between an auditory warning, vibrating the wheel, pushing back on the pedal, or outright slowing the car down.

https://road-safety-charter.ec.europa.eu/resources-knowledge/media-and-press/intelligent-speed-assistance-isa-set-become-mandatory-across

You’re right ofc, I remembered this on vaguely.

I stand corrected, original point still stands though

Apparently Mélenchon supported the annexation but not the war, supported Putin’s foreign politics but not his domestic policies.

There is more to it than left and right. Orbán is mostly neither, Fico is a far left Putin supporter.

IIRC it’s not an audio alarm, the car will push back on the pedal so that if you push past the limit it will need a bit more force.

And even if they were just speakers, they would most likely be the main speakers, so you’d be taking out your sound system.

TM and Livenation own the venues as well IIRC.