Play Nice The NM Devils Chessboard thread.

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BOSTON — A U.S. Army Special Forces veteran accused, along with his son, of smuggling former Nissan Motor Co. Chair Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box is imploring U.S. officials to block their extradition.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, days after a judge cleared the way for the pair to be handed over to Japan, Michael Taylor said he fears they will be treated unfairly in the Japanese legal system. Taylor, a former Green Beret and private security specialist from Massachusetts, said he feels betrayed that the U.S. would try to turn him over to Japan after his service to the country.

You dedicate your time in the military and you serve in combat and you do a whole bunch of other things,” Taylor said from the suburban Boston jail where he and his son, Peter Taylor, have been locked up since May. “And now they volunteer to extradite me and my son to Japan for something like this? Yeah, you feel a great sense of betrayal.”


The White House didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment about the case. The State Department referred questions to the Department of Justice. A DOJ spokesperson said anyone extradited to Japan to be tried for alleged crimes committed there “will be afforded all due process and other rights typically available to all defendants facing criminal charges in Japan.”

Taylor refused to discuss the details of the case because of the possibility he will be tried in Japan. But he insisted that his son “wasn’t involved” and was not in Japan when Ghosn left.

Prosecutors have described it as one of the most “brazen and well-orchestrated escape acts in recent history.” Authorities say the Taylors were paid at least $1.3 million for their help. Ghosn wired more than $860,000 to a company linked to Peter Taylor shortly before the escape and Ghosn’s son later made $500,000 in cryptocurrency payments, authorities said.

On the day of the escape, Michael Taylor flew into Osaka on a chartered jet with another man, George-Antoine Zayek, carrying two large black boxes and pretending to be musicians with audio equipment, authorities said. Meanwhile, Ghosn, free on bail, headed to the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo and met up with Peter Taylor, who was already in Japan, authorities say.

The elder Taylor and Zayek met up with the two others at the Grand Hyatt and shortly after, they split up. Peter Taylor hopped on a flight to China while the others got on a bullet train and went back to another hotel near the airport, where Taylor and Zayek had booked a room. They all went in; only Ghosn’s rescuers were seen walking out.

Authorities say Ghosn was inside one of the big black boxes. At the airport, the boxes passed through a security checkpoint without being checked and were loaded onto a private jet headed for Turkey, officials said.

In 2012, federal prosecutors alleged Taylor had won a U.S. military contract to train Afghan soldiers by using secret information passed along from an American officer. When Taylor learned the contract was being investigated, he asked an FBI agent and friend to intervene, prosecutors charged. Taylor spent 14 months in jail before agreeing to plead guilty to two counts.

Associated Press reporters Mike Balsamo and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
 

Swallow_Wood

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BOSTON — A U.S. Army Special Forces veteran accused, along with his son, of smuggling former Nissan Motor Co. Chair Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box is imploring U.S. officials to block their extradition.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, days after a judge cleared the way for the pair to be handed over to Japan, Michael Taylor said he fears they will be treated unfairly in the Japanese legal system. Taylor, a former Green Beret and private security specialist from Massachusetts, said he feels betrayed that the U.S. would try to turn him over to Japan after his service to the country.

You dedicate your time in the military and you serve in combat and you do a whole bunch of other things,” Taylor said from the suburban Boston jail where he and his son, Peter Taylor, have been locked up since May. “And now they volunteer to extradite me and my son to Japan for something like this? Yeah, you feel a great sense of betrayal.”


The White House didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment about the case. The State Department referred questions to the Department of Justice. A DOJ spokesperson said anyone extradited to Japan to be tried for alleged crimes committed there “will be afforded all due process and other rights typically available to all defendants facing criminal charges in Japan.”

Taylor refused to discuss the details of the case because of the possibility he will be tried in Japan. But he insisted that his son “wasn’t involved” and was not in Japan when Ghosn left.

Prosecutors have described it as one of the most “brazen and well-orchestrated escape acts in recent history.” Authorities say the Taylors were paid at least $1.3 million for their help. Ghosn wired more than $860,000 to a company linked to Peter Taylor shortly before the escape and Ghosn’s son later made $500,000 in cryptocurrency payments, authorities said.

On the day of the escape, Michael Taylor flew into Osaka on a chartered jet with another man, George-Antoine Zayek, carrying two large black boxes and pretending to be musicians with audio equipment, authorities said. Meanwhile, Ghosn, free on bail, headed to the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo and met up with Peter Taylor, who was already in Japan, authorities say.

The elder Taylor and Zayek met up with the two others at the Grand Hyatt and shortly after, they split up. Peter Taylor hopped on a flight to China while the others got on a bullet train and went back to another hotel near the airport, where Taylor and Zayek had booked a room. They all went in; only Ghosn’s rescuers were seen walking out.

Authorities say Ghosn was inside one of the big black boxes. At the airport, the boxes passed through a security checkpoint without being checked and were loaded onto a private jet headed for Turkey, officials said.

In 2012, federal prosecutors alleged Taylor had won a U.S. military contract to train Afghan soldiers by using secret information passed along from an American officer. When Taylor learned the contract was being investigated, he asked an FBI agent and friend to intervene, prosecutors charged. Taylor spent 14 months in jail before agreeing to plead guilty to two counts.

Associated Press reporters Mike Balsamo and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
So American exceptionalism extends to their citizens being exempt from prosecution in foreign countries because the served in the military?

Go * yourself son.
 
Feb 11, 2013
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3 and a 1/2 years for Navalny a good move D.R. ?
Trouble brewing come Spring.
Never a good idea to jail politicians.
They’re trying to paint Navalny as some sort of Mi6/traitor now.
but in Putin’s Russia, politicians need friends and if you’re not in with the ‘clic’ you’ve probably gotta find your own friends. So no doubt the truth lies somewhere in between, but still you don’t go after political opponents with law enforcement, unless it’s for corruption and you’re prepared to get investigated first.

 

Swallow_Wood

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Never a good idea to jail politicians.
They’re trying to paint Navalny as some sort of Mi6/traitor now.
but in Putin’s Russia, politicians need friends and if you’re not in with the ‘clic’ you’ve probably gotta find your own friends. So no doubt the truth lies somewhere in between, but still you don’t go after political opponents with law enforcement, unless it’s for corruption and you’re prepared to get investigated first.


the navalny thing is interesting

One one hand you have Vladimir Putin, who for all intents and purposes is the modern Russian dictator, who has enriched himself and his cronies for the better part of 30 years from state resources at the expense of his people, who has annexed a part of Ukraine, sowed dissent against the West and driven right wing political ideologies into the mainstream in the west. He also has the nasty habit of murdering reporters who dare to focus a spotlight on him and a penchant for imprisoning political opponents.

On the other hand there is Navalny, seemingly looking for meaningful financial support from a foreign power to put pressure on and hopefully remove this lovable rogue from power.

What is also interesting is where RT got this vision, and why. RT clearly are the foreign voice of the state hierarchy, and in this 'expose' imply that Navalny will give billions to investors. Or is that saving certain influential elites billions from Putin led shakedowns that have happened with regularity over the last 30 years?

Anyways, traitor is an interesting term. There is no greater traitor to the Russian people than Vladimir 'my buddy the cello player is a multi-billionaire for some reason, but yeah sure, its all his money' Putin.
 
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the navalny thing is interesting

One one hand you have Vladimir Putin, who for all intents and purposes is the modern Russian dictator, who has enriched himself and his cronies for the better part of 30 years from state resources at the expense of his people, who has annexed a part of Ukraine, sowed dissent against the West and driven right wing political ideologies into the mainstream in the west. He also has the nasty habit of murdering reporters who dare to focus a spotlight on him and a penchant for imprisoning political opponents.

On the other hand there is Navalny, seemingly looking for meaningful financial support from a foreign power to put pressure on and hopefully remove this lovable rogue from power.

What is also interesting is where RT got this vision, and why. RT clearly are the foreign voice of the state hierarchy, and in this 'expose' imply that Navalny will give billions to investors. Or is that saving certain influential elites billions from Putin led shakedowns that have happened with regularity over the last 30 years?

Anyways, traitor is an interesting term. There is no greater traitor to the Russian people than Vladimir 'my buddy the cello player is a multi-billionaire for some reason, but yeah sure, its all his money' Putin.
The other funny thing is how much of the dodgy Russian money ended up in the UK banks and with Sir Richard Dearlove helping Putin initial rise to power,

so like good spymasters would do you run with the hares and hunt with the foxes..
 
How very black and white of you....
I honestly haven’t followed much of his career but was he always?
or was it more of a case after X attempts on his life decided to make some new friends?

When you're meeting with British intelligence and working out how they'll strip your country after installing you as leader, that's called being a traitor.
 
the navalny thing is interesting

One one hand you have Vladimir Putin, who for all intents and purposes is the modern Russian dictator, who has enriched himself and his cronies for the better part of 30 years from state resources at the expense of his people,

Wait til you hear about about what the good friendly business people that the West assisted and promoted in the 90s did.

And not 30 years. He's been in some form of power since 1999.

Putin isn't some mysterious thing, he's very much what he does on the tin.

He's KGB. He was KGB, he still is KGB.

His rule is the KGB taking control of the country back from gangsters who were stripping it bare at massive direct cost to the average Russian.

Putin saved Russia.
 
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Wait til you hear about about what the good friendly business people that the West assisted and promoted in the 90s did.

And not 30 years. He's been in some form of power since 1999.

Putin isn't some mysterious thing, he's very much what he does on the tin.

He's KGB. He was KGB, he still is KGB.

His rule is the KGB taking control of the country back from gangsters who were stripping it bare at massive direct cost to the average Russian.

Putin saved Russia.
The worlds ungentlemanly warriors, when the war ended, they were all well trained, broke, tried but had a hell of a lot of international connections..
it’s not surprising they all ended up in each other’s pockets. less of a ‘your my bitch now’ mentally, to more mutual beneficial relationships.
 
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Swallow_Wood

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Wait til you hear about about what the good friendly business people that the West assisted and promoted in the 90s did.

And not 30 years. He's been in some form of power since 1999.

Putin isn't some mysterious thing, he's very much what he does on the tin.

He's KGB. He was KGB, he still is KGB.

His rule is the KGB taking control of the country back from gangsters who were stripping it bare at massive direct cost to the average Russian.

Putin saved Russia.
Not saying that the post USSR Federation wasn't a cesspool of corruption, it was 100%. And not saying that a whole bunch of peeps weren't stripping Russia for all its worth, cos they were.

But Checka Vlad was dipping his wick too in St. Petersburg, then dipping it event further from 96 as part of Yeltsin's team until he took power in 99, when he could then redirect the flow of funds from the oligarchs into his and his friends back pockets.

He's a gangster. A very, very dangerous gangster who used the power of office to curry influence and has for the past 20 years used the powers of state to secure his own rule and enrich who he wants to enrich.

So yeah, he saved Russia. Saved it for himself.
 
The worlds ungentlemanly warriors, when the war ended, they were all well trained, broke, tried but had a hell of a lot of international connections..
it’s not surprising they all ended up in each other’s pockets. less of a ‘your my b*tch now’ mentally, to more mutual beneficial relationships.

Putin is genuine Russian patriot, of that I have no doubt.

His grandfather was Lenin's cook and he had brothers he never met die during the Siege of Leningrad.
 
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Putin is genuine Russian patriot, of that I have no doubt.

His grandfather was Lenin's cook and he had brothers he never met die during the Siege of Leningrad.
I’ve no doubt Putin loves Russia, but all of his cronies send billions maybe trillions off to the UK banks..
as I said this isn’t some sort of handler situation, they are all in it for the money.. noone could care less what he does with Russia, as long as those $ are flowing into the banks.

Is it any surprise that the moment Navalny gets any sort of momentum, his meeting with mi6 gets leaked. They’re either the worse spies in the world, or they knew about the recording..

and this isn’t the first time Putin’s been weirdly helped by the brits either.
 
He's a gangster. A very, very dangerous gangster who used the power of office to curry influence and has for the past 20 years used the powers of state to secure his own rule and enrich who he wants to enrich.

So yeah, he saved Russia. Saved it for himself.

No.

A true gangster would never have risked his own personal safety and prestige entering into a situation as perilous as Syria in 2015.

A true gangster would have said, screw Assad, he's on his own, I ain't sticking my neck out for him.

Instead Putin staked EVERYTHING on a very risky enterprise to bail out an ally because he knew that Russian credibility and prestige depended on it.
 
I’ve no doubt Putin loves Russia, but all of his cronies send billions maybe trillions off to the UK banks..

Politicians look to get rich from politics shocker.
 
It’s quiet telling where they send their money too.. Swiss, German, French, Chinese all would’ve done just a good a a job..

London is a giant money laundering centre.

EVERYONE sends their money there to be washed.
 

Swallow_Wood

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No.

A true gangster would never have risked his own personal safety and prestige entering into a situation as perilous as Syria in 2015.

A true gangster would have said, screw Assad, he's on his own, I ain't sticking my neck out for him.

Instead Putin staked EVERYTHING on a very risky enterprise to bail out an ally because he knew that Russian credibility and prestige depended on it.
I think you are being far too magnanimous to Vladimir on this one. He didn't intervene for noble reasons. Assad was his long term ally in the region and Putin saw an opportunity to shore up ongoing Russian influence in the Middle East by getting involved, rather than risking the downfall of Assad and the hands of either Isis, Iran or the US. All the powers were balls deep in that one and Vlad didn't' want to be left without a dance partner.

The guys is a gangster with a carefully constructed public political face.

Btw, how did he put his own personal safety on the line? Genuinely curious.
 
I think you are being far too magnanimous to Vladimir on this one. He didn't intervene for noble reasons. Assad was his long term ally in the region and Putin saw an opportunity to shore up ongoing Russian influence in the Middle East by getting involved, rather than risking the downfall of Assad and the hands of either Isis, Iran or the US. All the powers were balls deep in that one and Vlad didn't' want to be left without a dance partner.

Yeah, that's what I said. That's not the behaviour of a gangster. That's the behaviour of a statesman.

Btw, how did he put his own personal safety on the line? Genuinely curious.

Because if Syria had gone wrong, and ended up with major Russians casualties and/or defeat ... and remember Saint Nobel Prize Obama was saying he'd turn it into an quagmire for the Russians ... Putin would have been overthrown.

If he was overthrown rather than exiting on his own terms, that would mean he was either killed, or imprisoned.
 

Swallow_Wood

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Yeah, that's what I said. That's not the behaviour of a gangster. That's the behaviour of a statesman.



Because if Syria had gone wrong, and ended up with major Russians casualties and/or defeat ... and remember Saint Nobel Prize Obama was saying he'd turn it into an quagmire for the Russians ... Putin would have been overthrown.

If he was overthrown rather than exiting on his own terms, that would mean he was either killed, or imprisoned.
Right, so Putin is now a noble statesman rather than a foreign affairs pragmatist who kills reporters and political dissidents and makes billions off his own people.
 
Look at how s**t gets framed.



Ooooh, riot cops protecting Putin in Moscow!

Do they think we didn't see what happened in the US over the last few months ffs.
 
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