hotspur [he/him]
I mean its just like burning an asset though–he can’t really be used for undercover work as easily after, and it’s a specialized type of work. Like sure, they can find something else for him to do, but my understanding is you typically try and maintain cover indefinitely, having your big mug on a widely distributed digital wanted poster that internet dorks can spend hours squinting at is non-ideal. kinda like when bellingcat blows FSB dudes cover. Sure, there’s loads more of those dudes waiting to go poison people, but they’re specialized operatives, and don’t just grow on trees… If he is truly part of an OP, my guess would be that the FBI isn’t in on it, much like there was lots of internal compliance at capitol police and DHS, etc, but FBI is now dropping the hammer on participants. On the other hand, I guess the other way to look at it is that this was some informant/chud they co-opted, used like a burner phone and don’t have any future plans for, in which case, the wanted poster would be intelligent to use.
this is my read also. It seems like maybe there was some fishy stuff up at the top, but the rank and file were just sorta hung out to dry, and they made choices in the moment based on the situation and/or their latent sympathies. I mean screw them generally, but from an organizational standpoint they definitely got fucked over. Must be fun to be cop and realize your “brother” law enforcement agencies aren’t coming to help you or back you up… against a bunch of thin blue line supporters, no less haha.
I don’t disagree per se, but the article says that the plane operates at 20,000 meters ceiling, Wikipedia says SR-71 had 26,000m operational ceiling, so this thing is high up, but not as high as the blackbird. Not sure how much of a difference that makes for the air and heat issues.
The company that makes this thing is making ballistic super sonic rockets for China, so I think the implication in the article is that this thing is basically a rocket with wings.
Per the article the prototype was flow at around 20,000m and they’re specifically going up there for the efficiency reason. The design also has a “high lift-to-drag ratio” that is apparently helping out.
This one has some more detail, no way to confirm its veracity however. https://theasialive.com/chinas-yunxing-jet-completes-test-flight-eyes-supersonic-commercial-travel-by-2027/2024/10/29
It could all be marketing hype, but there are a couple other companies in US and UK working on similar projects.
Yeah it’s a bit of a dilemma. On the one hand, it’s probably not ethically all that great that humans practice intense eugenics creating non-natural dogs for work and companionship. That said, they did, and the dogs exist. I suppose I could buy an argument that we need to phase out breeding and domestic pet ownership on a moral level along the lines of the moral argument against breeding and killing livestock, etc, but until that day, there is a net ethical good in responsible pet ownership.
For my personal example, I have a Dutch Shepherd from a police line of dogs (dutch KNPV). She did not have the maximum desirable traits that the breeder looks for, so he didn’t want to breed her, and would have likely sent her to central america for “executive protection” duty, ie guarding some rich asshole or cartel boss or whatever. Instead, we got her, and she gets lots of scratching, delicious food and gets to chase squirrels and guard her den (our home). It’s not a horrible outcome for her, and certainly is a great outcome for us–she gives us lots of love and companionship.
re: dogs working, it’s another tricky concept. If the working involves what would be abuse, I’d completely agree. For some dogs, like mine, that have been generationally selected to have high drive, they are actually much happier and more content if they have “jobs”. In our case, since we’re not professional dog handlers, her jobs are silly things around the house, like holding on her place mat, or fetching things, or “helping” me with the compost. But working dogs get a lot of satisfaction out of using their noses, and other abilities, in concert with a handler to do stuff.
like the other comment said, it’s a fluid situation. It was bombed/shelled earlier, but was still operational. I think it’s now been physically raided by troops, and majority of the staff has been forcibly expelled or arrested. per a news program I saw an hour ago, the hospital was turning away casualties from the overnight bombing that killed 100 people in one building, since they have no capacity to do anything at this point. I suspect the couple of staff still left are doing what they can for any patients they still have, though I know the kids that were on ventilators died when they shelled the hospital earlier, so who even knows. I unwisely watched this news program over lunch, and they had images of the children loaded into body bags 2-3 per bag, open. Those photos should be plastered all over billboards across America: this is where the bombs go.