U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan • Hacker News Board

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#201

Post by dantheman » Wed, May 20, 2020, 7:04 PM UTC

gremlinsinc wrote: post #174

klenwell wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess we moved from Eisenhower's concern about the influence of the Military-Industrial complex to concerns about the privatization of the Military-Industrial complex. Have we entered a new phase: Gig-Economization of the Military-Industrial complex? This passage from a 2011 NPR article on the 50th anniversary of Eisenhower's warning caught my attention: Eisenhower was worried about the costs of an arms race with t…

What I wouldn't give for an Eisenhower Republican resurgence and an FDR Democrat resurgence...minus the racism or segregationism allowing policies. But fiscally and socially, they were way better than anybody we've got in politics now.

Look closely at FDRs policies and their effects they were a disaster.

Here's a good book on it: https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Man-History-Great-Depressio...

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#202

Post by NotSammyHagar » Wed, May 20, 2020, 7:05 PM UTC

jeffreyrogers wrote: post #131

eloisius wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I met a guy at NewSpace several years ago and we were talking about the role of the US military in space exploration. I was expressing my wariness of a militarized space force, the possibility of us ending up under a military junta, etc, but he was less worried. He kept making the point that mercenaries were the norm in the past and that the US military actually has an incredible record for never seizing control. He…

The US military has only been around for 250 years and look at how much the country has changed in that time. The idea of the welfare state would be totally incomprehensible to the founders[0]. I think the idea of the military as separate from the rest of the state is contingent on that state operating in the interests of the people. Or at least, not against the interests of the people. And history shows that no soci…

I see you weren't meaning to focus on welfare state by your edit. The US is different than revolutionary times in many ways, perhaps more significantly in women's rights, slavery, prisons, illegality of many actions.

I think the whole idea of the US being the world's most powerful country and acting outside our borders would have been something the founders would have struggled with, because they fought a war to get away from the world's most powerful country.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#203

Post by usefulcat » Wed, May 20, 2020, 7:06 PM UTC

brewdad wrote: post #178

samdamsamm wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should also acknowledge the desperate lengths to which the US government has gone to soil any honor accrued in any previous wars. On the recent anniversary of the fall of Auschwitz, The White House twitter account claimed it as a victory of ‘The United States and UK’. Supposedly the already-dishonest ‘Allied Troops’ is not cutting it anymore. (The Red Army liberated Auschwitz)

Not to defend Trump, I can't think of more than a handful of times I've ever agreed with him, but can you imagine the uproar had he praised Russia for their efforts at Auschwitz? Probably would have been best to praise the result without mentioning any specific parties involved in carrying it out. Then again, Trump isn't really known for thinking in nuance.

> can you imagine the uproar had he praised Russia for their efforts at Auschwitz?

From his supporters? Bearing in mind that he has a well established history of openly admiring Putin? I don't see why that would be a problem at all.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#204

Post by unhomedcoder » Wed, May 20, 2020, 7:06 PM UTC

oh_sigh wrote: post #198

unhomedcoder wrote: post #185

you know the plausible conspiracy theory that FANG etc companies for the past 15 years have been deploying an anti-competitive strategy of soaking up tech talent into excessively compensated jobs and putting them to work on vaporware BS projects that get canned after 3-5 years? even though GoogaAppaFaceSoftZon waste billions of dollars keeping tech nerds on the hamster wheel, that is still cheaper than the risk of ha…

> into excessively compensated jobs This is the problem with your conspiracy theory. I work for a FAANG, and maybe about 1/3rd of the people who quit end up leaving to start or join a startup. Paying them tons of money gives them the exact resources to go off and start that competitor.

if 90% of tech talent stays at FAANG, collects their pay check which puts them in the top 3% of income earners, and never leaves the Walled Garden Golden Handcuffs of FAANG, that shows the strategy works to suppress potential competitors. not to mention while you are employed at FAANG, you are forbidden from contributing to open source projects and the Company automatically owns any side projects you may create.

when i look at the 500,000 Galaxy Brain coders working at GoogaAppaFaceSoftZon, i hear a giant sucking sound from the open source ecosystem.

if only 10% of tech talent leave before 5 years, that is still a lot fewer Ronin wandering out there who might eventually threaten the Shogun.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#205

Post by braythwayt » Wed, May 20, 2020, 7:07 PM UTC

pnw_hazor wrote: post #188

braythwayt wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Under no circumstances am I claiming that Japan has an acceptable justice system, or that it is no worse than the US. I do claim that using “the first world” as a standard of justice is a flawed argument. I think we can argue that Japan’s justice system is flawed, without introducing the claim that the first world has a worthy standard of justice. If we do, I think it’s fair game to point out that the first-world has…

I meant first [world] standards in the sense of the elements I listed: due process, right to an attorney, presumption of innocence, right to bail, independent judiciary, and such. Not all first world countries excel at all of them, but Japan does not really have any of them. Immigration is a different animal than criminal justice for various historical or policy reasons. Like many countries, Japan has its problems th…

I certainly accept that every other first-world country claims to have these to one degree or another, and that for most of my lifetime, considered exceptions to these practices to be aberrations.

To the degree that we are talking about aspirations, I accept your suggestion.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#206

Post by pnw_hazor » Wed, May 20, 2020, 7:08 PM UTC

colejohnson66 wrote: post #195

pnw_hazor wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Corrupt prosecutors are evil and way too common. Prosecutors are supposed to be the gatekeeper -- they should be a bulwark against injustice. I wish there was some plea offer reform to stop prosecutors from making coercive plea offers. I think that is one of the worse offenses against justice. E.g., offering plea deals with a choice of pleading guilty to a misdemeanor with no jail or you get multiple felonies thrown…

Plea bargains are evil . It’s my belief that if your case is not rock solid enough that you need to resort to a plea bargain, you shouldn’t be prosecuting that person. Also, how are plea bargains not perjury? You’re saying, “I did it” even if you didn’t.

I feel the policy behind plea bargains is sound. Some of the problems the Japan criminal justice has is because plea bargains are not generally allowed except for recent limited reforms that in some ways make things worse.

Many US-style plea bargains are reasonable and do not require defendants to lie because they are pleading guilty to lesser included crimes rather than lying about what they did.

The problem is when plea bargaining is used as a weapon that encourages false confessions or false guilty pleas. Or, more generally, when the choice to plead guilty or go to trial is unbalanced such that defendants will not even try to force the government to prove their case. This is bad for justice.

The Feds are big into this. They wield/abuse 18 U.S. Code § 1001 (making false statements a felony) with abandon. A defendant can be faced with $100,000s in legal fees with the potential of decades in federal prison or they can plead guilty to one count of 18 USC 1001, it happens everyday (probably several times a day).

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#207

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 » Wed, May 20, 2020, 7:08 PM UTC

entee wrote: post #145

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mission of the Navy SEAL squad is to locate, close with, and destroy book deals. Edit: I'm also tired of being lectured on integrity, honor, sacrifice, and duty only to see them cower in the face of questions about Eddie Gallagher.

Should be noted that a number of people in Gallagher’s unit came forward and raised issues. It’s one of the reasons he was prosecuted in the first place.

Yes. But the very vocal and public SEAL "influencers" I'll call them, say nothing. Those are the ones who lecture via Twitter, Youtube, books, and podcasts about honor, integrity, courage, doing the right thing, etc.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#208

Post by jki275 » Wed, May 20, 2020, 7:13 PM UTC

munk-a wrote: post #103

kthxbye123 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Between their salaries, hazard pay, pensions, government hiring and contracting preferences, free lifetime healthcare, free tuition, free graduate tuition, free job retraining and zero-interest mortgages, U.S. soldiers are amply compensated, and there are plenty of legitimate opportunities available for guys from elite units like the Green Berets. None of the guys writing tell-alls or turning to a life of internation…

Is this the same free lifetime healthcare that other vets get that involves frequent denials and years long waiting lists to get treatment? The US is pretty terrible to their armed forces - but they're quite nice to the R&D side of the military, because that's the side that's in competition with private industry.

There's no free lifetime healthcare.

It's less expensive than private health care, but it's not free, and it doesn't cover everything, and it's standard government run bullshit. And it goes away as soon as you become medicare eligible and you have to go on medicare.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#209

Post by smcl » Wed, May 20, 2020, 7:14 PM UTC

pyuser583 wrote: post #179

smcl wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't read a great deal about them in the papers, but what I have read is that they have a frighteningly high conviction rate - meaning that either - the police are really good at finding the perpetrators of crimes - the state are really careful about only taking cases to trial they are extremely confident they can win - ... or that simply being tried in court sufficient for convince everyone judges and/or juries…

It’s number two.

Ahh I imagine that means a lot of crimes go unsolved then?

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#210

Post by bb611 » Wed, May 20, 2020, 7:15 PM UTC

rsynnott wrote: post #190

blaser-waffle wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As true with code as with pulling triggers. Work for the Feds and pull 150k around DC and a security clearance. Some of the seniors at big contractors pull big $$$. Meanwhile, you can get a total comp of 400k or more working for a FAANGM out west while smoking weed everyday and banging foreigners. My understanding is that the SOF and SEALs get paid well, even as enlisted folks (who get paid less than officers), but w…

> and banging foreigners Wait, what?

Pretty sure GP is talking about restricted/banned activities for government workers and contractors with clearances:

- You may not smoke marijuana - it violates federal law.

- You are required to regularly report on close contact with foreign nationals, though I'm not sure a casual hookup meets that criteria. But if you're in an ongoing sexual relationship with a foreign national the Feds will want to know.