According to WOOD News in Central Michigan, the local United States prosecutor's office managed to hook allege darknet firearms dealer Ben Cance into entering a guilty plea on charges related to international firearms trafficking and money laundering (archived). Prosecutors secured Cance's plea and his cooperation in other investigations by dropping charges of "machine gun possession" against Cance. The Judge allowed Cance's release on bond to continue so he could continue collaborating with prosecutors and inform on his past customers some of which are alleged to be in the United Kingdom and Poland. The 30 year old Cance is set to be sentenced by Judge Robert Holmes Bell on January 15th in the Grand Rapids United States District Court.
Category Archives: Government
USMS Schedules Final Silk Road Auction
The United States Marshals Service has announced its final Silk Road auction to sell 44,341 Bitcoins. The Auction will be held November 5th. The Bitcoins will be sold in 21 lots of 2,000 with a 22nd lot of 2,341 Bitcoin. Per the Marshals service this is the last planned sale of Bitcoins criminally seized from Ross Ulbricht by Preet Bharara and his co-conspirators. The full details of the sale along with a calendar of sale milestones is reproduced below: Continue reading
India Imposes and US Considers Tariffs on Hot Rolled Steel
Last week India imposed a 20% tariff on a number of hot rolled steel products to "safeguard" domestic production. According to the Business Standard this has lead domestic producers to drop their customarily negotiated discounts and begin charging customers according to their actual published price sheets (archived). Earlier this month the United States began an investigation (archived) into hot rolled steel products of their own and have just announced that based on early findings they intend to continue the investigation (archived) as imports appear to impose "harm" on US producers in their determination through low prices. The US can be expected to follow India in introducing protectionist tariffs on hot rolled steel soon. As a larger tend expect bureaucracy heavy states struggling to support domestic industry such as the United States and India to begin ramping up their imposition of protectionist tariffs in an effort to keep the remains of their domestic production capacity from being gutted.
FDA Regulatory Overreach Allows Price Gouging
Recently news has been circulating that condemns Turing Pharmaceuticals for price gouging United States consumers of pyrimethamine1 an antimalarial which sells for under ten cents per dose in markets other than the United States where generic forms are available. Pyrimethamine is very popular in areas of the world where malaria is endemic due to its efficacy against most strains of the falciparum and vivax species of the Plasmodium malaria parasite, but in the United States it is typically used to treat toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised patients making it a niche treatment. Turing Pharmaceuticals managed to get a contract to exclusively market pyrimethamine in the United States thanks to FDA regulations. Because the FDA allows them exclusive marketing rights they can set prices arbitrarily, and if they can they must. Continue reading
trade name Daparim, released in 1953 ↩
Have Nude Pics of Yourself, go to Jail
In what is merely the most recent criminalization insanity to manifest in embarrassment of the US, two teenagers in Fayetteville, North Carolina have recently been charged with felonies for sexually exploiting themselves by having nude pictures of their own persons on their own phones. The male, 17, has been charged with exploitation of a minor and was prosecuted as an adult for his "selfies". He subsequently agreed to subject himself to a year of warrantless searches, which somehow has been found by the courts circus to not constitute self-exploitation. His girlfriend, 16, took a plea bargain, which entailed a $200 fine, 30 hours of community service, the inability to use a cell phone for one year, mandatory attendance at a "class in making good decisions", and an "order to stay in school and refrain from using drugs and alcohol". Following his girlfriend's state-mandated metamorphosis from a normal, sexually curious teenager to the passive victim of local mores well out of touch with reality, the male involved in the case accepted a "similar" plea bargain. Continue reading
Ferguson Government's Creditworthiness Reclassified as 'Junk'
Ferguson, Missouri the site of numerous clashes over the past year between rebels and Government forces has had their creditworthiness as evaluated by Moody's reduced seven levels from Aa3 to Ba1 "junk" status (archived). Moody's cites a rapid deterioration in Ferguson's financial health following the beginning of the rebellion, and if Ferguson's government continues to conceal information about how their efforts to stabilize the situation have adversely affect their finances Moody's has threatened to withdraw their rating of Ferguson completely. Ferguson government leader James Knowles considers Moody's action "unfair" and that the embattled government is financially healthy enough to not require further debt issuances at this time. Moody's is predicting Ferguson's government could be insolvent by 2017.
War on Engineering: Teen Arrested for Building Clock
Police in Irving, Texas arrested a teenager on Monday for bringing a a clock he produced on his personal time to school to show off to his Engineering instructors. Up until today local authorities were intending to pursue "hoax bomb" charges against the teenager, Ahmed Mohamed in spite of his constant assertions that the device he created was nothing more than a clock. Ahmed was involved in robotics club in Middle School and wanted to make a project at home he could use to demonstrate his engineering prowess for his new High School teachers. Ahmed's teachers upon hearing the clock beep pulled him out of class and alerted police who arrested him and drew up initial charges (archived). School principal Dan Cummings summarily suspended Ahmed from school grounds for three days. Continue reading
Obama Brings Fish to Orgasm In Alaska Vacation Hijinks
CNN and numerous other outlets are reporting that in a depraved act of bestiality the Commander in Chief of the American socialist state Barack Obama has brought a male salmon to orgasm in from of a crowd of spectators (archived). The event occurred during Obama's current vacation to Alaska where he went to an area known to have numerous horny stud salmon in mating form. In the brief time he handled on of the fish he was able to bring the fish to drip its seed all over his shoes. In the past Obama has made it known he is an enemy of Bitcoin and General Purpose Computing going so far as to issue oppressive instructions to law enforcement while denying mercy for a brave American patriot who had opposed his efforts to impose socialist hegemony in cyberspace. It is unknown at the present whether Michelle Obama had given her assent to Barack's hookup with the fish, or if she knew at all about Barack's sexual proclivities of the piscine variety.
UK's Cameron Threatens Online Porn Shutdown Unless Online ID Scheme Implemented
Last week United Kingdom prime minister David Cameron issued an ultimatum (archived) directed at internet porn sites demanding they voluntarily produce an "effective" regime for restricting access based on age or he would act legislatively to either force such a scheme or shut them down. Of course "effective" age filters would necessarily mean the creation of a larger online identity regime. The United Kingdom already forces Internet Service Providers to filter internet connections to block pornography unless service subscribers explicitly opt out of the filtering. Further the United Kingdom late last year restricted the kinds of sex acts which may be included in pornography produced in the United Kingdom for online Video on Demand consumption. Continue reading
Tsinghua Unigroup Flirts With Acquisition of DRAM Maker Micron
Chinese state owned enterprise Tsinghua Unigroup is rumored to be flirting with an acquisition of Micron Technology, the last maker of DRAM based in the United States. At the moment prevailing wisdom in the mainstream financial press appears to be that the US Treasury's "Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States" would block a sale to the state owned enterprise and if they don't the Department of Defense would likely block Tsinghua Unigroup or any Chinese firm from purchasing Micron. Continue reading