[U] So… I Will Likely Forward A Copy Of This Post To USDC Judge Cote’s Chambers… And To The FTC’s Offices In Manhattan…

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UPDATED: 12.13.2025 AM — The stock of Q/C Technologies, which was at $7.93 a few days before Martin signed on as a strategic advisor… is now at $4.77, on the NASDAQ — it has nearly been cut in half in the three days since he joined the team. Charming. End, updated portion.

I admit that I went down a bit of a rabbit hole, trying to figure out what — exactly it is — that the ’34 Act reporting company calling itself QC Technologies actually… does.

It sent out splashy press releases a few weeks ago saying it was now focusing on the development of “quantum class” computing solutions that would rely on photonic / speed of light technology (whatever that might mean!) the company had licensed in… from… somewhere. Fine.

BUT… TNF Pharmaceuticals (which was only a name change — not a dissolution, or divestiture) still maintains an active website, promoting the drugs-in-development at right.

Martin is being paid $150,000 a year (in cash) to act as a strategic advisor to this company — and getting warrants and restricted stock, vesting over time.

So, as far as I can tell — and I did some looking — I looked in the official SEC filings, as well… the company has nowhere said it has divested the pharmaceuticals R&D businesses, nor that it has ceased all work on those “med pot/CBD” projects. [The TNF website still makes health claims for them, too.]

My point? The final orders the FTC won before USDC Judge Cote in 2021-22, in Manhattan (and subsequently affirmed by the US Supreme Court) expressly prohibit Martin from acting in any paid form, for any company in the pharmaceuticals businesses.

He cannot simply change the company’s name — as say they are “de-emphasizing” the medical pot development biz… in order to take cash for helping to sell on or close out these pharmaceutical clinical trial projects. This is exactly what his USDC final injunctions / FTC banning-orders forbid him from doing.

Look — I get it: just last week, his supposed portfolio of pharma related and computing related stock investments (and shorts) — one he was crowing about, daily on his YouTube live-streams… utterly imploded. Went to zero (on a stupidly specific short he put on, against a drug development co.), and he was outright liquidated — for margin calls. [Just like in 2014-15, right?!]

He is flat out of cash flow runway. So, he needs to feed his baby, and pay his rent, in New York. So he signs on to a serial failure of a public company. For cash. But he cannot violate his lifetime banning order, in doing so.

Onward, resolutely.

See ya’ in the funny papers, man.

नमस्ते

Ahh… It Was Well-Past Its NASA-Rated Engineering Life-Span, At Mars… But Would Be An Important Loss (If Permanent)…

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Some truly regular readers may recall that about eight years ago, the team at NASA | JPL burned the engines for a bit, to lift Maven to an orbit that would be safely above the tiny moon Phobos’ orbital path… and that went quite smoothly. The craft… sailed onward.

It is (I suppose) possible that it was struck by an entirely new space rock (too small to see, from 40 million miles off), whilst traversing the dark side (relative to our radio signals) of Mars, in early December of 2025. NASA engineers were never able to re-acquire a signal [after it peeked out from sailing behind Barsoom, this last time]. Maybe the circuits just succumbed to space radiation. We may never know. But here’s to hopin’ this twisty lil’ guy wakes up, and dials home, again:

…NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft, in orbit around Mars, experienced a loss of signal with ground stations on Earth on Dec. 6. Telemetry from MAVEN had showed all subsystems working normally before it orbited behind the Red Planet. After the spacecraft emerged from behind Mars, NASA’s Deep Space Network did not observe a signal.

The spacecraft and operations teams are investigating the anomaly to address the situation. More information will be shared once it becomes available.

The MAVEN spacecraft launched in November 2013 and entered Mars’ orbit in September 2014. The mission’s goal is to explore the planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and solar wind to explore the loss of the Martian atmosphere to space. Understanding atmospheric loss gives scientists insight into the history of the Red Planet’s atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability. The spacecraft also serves as a communications relay station for rovers on the Martian surface. Last year, MAVEN celebrated its 10th anniversary in orbit at Mars….

We do use three other spacecraft for relay of comms, from Mars — so this is/was a redundant capability — but it still will be missed, as it reduces the data speeds and increases latency, for commands, at various points in the orbital path — of Barsoom. Keep a good thought, will you?

नमस्ते

Some European Space Agency News: A Super-Speedy, And Gargantuan Blast — From The Black Hole At The Center Of Spiral Galaxy NGC 3783, 130 Million Light Years Off…

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Last night, I re-watched an episode of the PBS series called Nova, on black hole detection (originally aired in 2018). . . and as luck would have it, the European Space Agency has a great new bit of interstellar science — about the so-called super-massives [weighing in at over 70 million times the mass of our Sun!], and their ability to generate vast jets, travelling at one-fifth the speed of light.

This discovery was made by XRISM’s Resolve instrument — and indicates that such blasts can form in under a few hours, and dissipate, just as rapidly.

[Of course, since the vast x-ray emissions from it are just reaching us today, this cataclysmic event occurred about 130 million years ago — not more than eye-blink though, on the cosmic time-scales.] Here’s the latest from ESA — on all that:

…Leading X-ray space telescopes XMM-Newton and XRISM have spotted an extraordinary blast from a supermassive black hole. In a matter of hours, the gravitational monster whipped up powerful winds, flinging material out into space at eye-watering speeds of 60,000 km per second.

The gigantic black hole lurks within NGC 3783, a beautiful spiral galaxy imaged recently by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Astronomers spotted a bright X-ray flare erupt from the black hole before swiftly fading away. As it faded, fast winds emerged, raging at one-fifth of the speed of light….

“We’ve not watched a black hole create winds this speedily before,” says lead researcher Liyi Gu at Space Research Organisation Netherlands (SRON). “For the first time, we’ve seen how a rapid burst of X-ray light from a black hole immediately triggers ultra-fast winds, with these winds forming in just a single day….”

Now you know… what an infinitesimal, fragile, and ethereal beauty our sparkling blue life-raft is… in all of this, right? Amazing!

Do take good care of one another, as it may turn out that this and now, is all we will ever be, or have. I seriously doubt we are unique in all the Universe, but a single blast like this would wipe out potentially hundreds of millions of civilizations (were they out there — anywhere near NGC 3783, some 130 million years ago). We are so very… lucky, indeed.

नमस्ते

This Is Not Just A Win For Gov. Newsom — This Is A Win For The Notion Of… Limited Federal Powers, As Framed By The Founders Of Our Nation.

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This clearly-correct precedent will (of course) be appealed by Tangerine 2.0 — but the troops are once again solely under the control of the California CoC, one Gavin Newsom.

There will be no staying this injunction. And this precedent will effectively end the Illinois litigation, while setting the Supremes on a course to have to address a likely split in the Circuits, between 7 and 9, among others on the one hand, and the Fifth on the other. Here’s USDC Senior Judge Breyer’s excellent opinion, just handed down:

…The Founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances….

Defendants, however, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one. Six months after they first federalized the California National Guard, Defendants still retain control of approximately 300 Guardsmen, despite no evidence that execution of federal law is impeded in any way — let alone significantly. What’s more, Defendants have sent California Guardsmen into other states, effectively creating a national police force made up of state troops. In response to Plaintiffs’ motion to enjoin this conduct, Defendants take the position that, after a valid initial federalization, all subsequent re-federalizations are completely, and forever, unreviewable by the courts. Defendants’ position is contrary to law.

Accordingly, the Court ENJOINS Defendants’ federalization of California National Guard troops….

Section 12406 “authorizes federalization only when one of its factual predicates is presently satisfied.” Reply at 1 (emphasis in original) (citing Portland FOFCOL at 37). Accordingly, each affirmative order authorizing federalization — whether a subsequent, distinct federalization or what Defendants call an extension — must comply with Section 12406’s exigency requirements at the time it is effectuated…. [and that — the Noemites / Trumpians / Millerites and Feds have not done.]

Excellent news. Onward resolutely — the Illinois version remains pending at the Supremes, for a decision, at any time. Grin.

नमस्ते

[UPDATE: Now Down ~28% @ Lunchtime!] QCLC Stock Down Almost 20%, Since Shkreli Was Named As A “Strategic” Advisor… Grin.

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Here on Wednesday morning — the stock has fallen another nearly 5%, after losing ~13% in yesterday’s session.

The day before the announcement, it had traded as high as $7.93 on the NASDAQ, and it now sits at $6.28, as I write this at 9:45 am Eastern. I guess savvy capitalists realize Martin Shkreli’s “advice” may (once again) include felonious behavior — and that rarely works out well, for the company involved. Here’s the financial rag’s story, from yesterday:

…Shares of Q/C Technologies, Inc. (QCLS) crashed over 13% in volatile trading on Tuesday, after the company appointed Martin Shkreli as a strategic advisor.

Earlier in the session, QCLS had climbed more than 11%. However, trading was twice halted within the first 15 minutes of the market opening….

Yep — do be careful out there. It all comes with a sincere H/T, to my SEC visitors as of 8:30 am Eastern. Do take a look folks! Onward, grinning.

नमस्ते

Once Again, Noem And Stephen Miller Are Appealing An Order To Treat CHILDREN Humanely. They Cannot Be Held In Adult Jails For Over 72 Hours, Ever — Especially When ICE / BP Sees So Few Of Them.

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Let that sink in. Just as in Tangerine 1.0, when Trump contended in the Ninth Cir. that children did not need toothbrushes, soap or water(!?) — now he is appealing an order to move kids to more “school like” facilities within 72 hours at the outside, and in any event, as soon as possibile — out of windowless CPB adult jail cells.

Who are these… truly horrible… human beings? What is wrong with them?! These are kids — many not even 11 years old yet. Jesus. See this latest pleading, with attached sworn declarations, in the now 40 years old Flores class action litigation, in the able USDC Judge Dolly Gee’s courtroom in LA:

…[The Noemite/Miller/Tangerine] Defendants attempt to minimize the import of its no-release policy by presenting it as a percentage of the whole, 4.87% represents a staggering 154 children detained in squalid CBP conditions for over 72 hours in September alone, with the highest time in custody reaching over a month. Kahn Decl. ¶ 3. This is despite continued low numbers of border encounters. The JC CBP Report indicates that only approximately 105 children crossed the border each day of September, on average. Id.

October data is just as troubling, with 115 children detained in CBP custody over 72 hours. Kahn Decl. ¶ 4. As detailed in the table below, the longest detention in October was 29 days. Id. Based on this data, at least one child spent nearly a month in the barren, jail-like conditions of CBP. Thirty-six children were detained for over five days, eighteen of whom were detained over a week, five of whom were detained for over ten days, and three of whom were detained for over two weeks. Given the low numbers of children crossing the border, Defendants provide no reasonable justification for forcing any child to stay detained in the harsh conditions of a windowless CBP cell for weeks or a month….

This is a central failure of what was [at least in the JFK / Camelot 1962 mythology] that “shining beacon on a hill” nation: how we treat the least of our brothers and sisters. Damn. Out.

नमस्ते

Martin Shkreli: The Proverbial “Bad Penny” That Won’t Go… Away.

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MARTIN SIGNS UP TO COLLECT STOCK PURCHASE WARRANTS AND RESTRICTED STOCK, FROM A ’34 ACT REPORTING COMPANY… IN ARGUABLE VIOLATION OF HIS CRIMINAL CONVICTION ORDERS(?). WILD.

So… after he “lost” 100% of his (likely mythical) trading portfolio in a single day — betting stupidly on a short that blew upward by 360% (also in a single day, liquidating his position on a supposed margin call)… he says he’s back as a “consultant” and connector — to a optical computing R&D company.

Which would be fine… if Q/C Technologies, Inc. was a private company.

But it is a ’34 Act reporting company — it is a PUBLIC company, traded on the NASDAQ. Moreover, it has been working on commercialization of two therapeutic platforms based on well-defined targets: Isomyosamine and Supera-CBD.

It sum, it is a life-sciences focused (potentially FDA regulated) medical pot / drug discovery company [until just about two months ago, that is]. That reads directly on his FTC lifetime banning order, affirmed by the US Supreme Court in 2024.

In addition to being paid $150,000 cash a year, he will earn stock purchase warrants, and restricted stock.

Moreover, as I understand his FTC banning order’s resolution (including accepting a agreed settlement of the over $12 million he owed in fines and penalties and expense reimbursement to the FTC, SEC and the US Attorneys offices in Brooklyn), he agreed never to accept a role, for pay — at any public company doing pharma work… and, at least NOT payable in the securities of a public company. Ever.

I’ll be back with some more specific citations (to his court ordered terms), but this is just… Stoopid, with two “Os”.

Even if the company does actually “FLIP” — to solely a optical computing developer, it still is closing out a… pharma biz. He cannot be around for that, for any type of pay.

[Meanwhile, he is still paying Dr. Koestler’s lawyers month by month to continue to try to chase him for the now-nearly $8 million he owes under federal court judgments, to the Estate of Koestler (Deceased).]

Damn. Out.

नमस्ते

Touchdown! — Jonny Kim, Back On Terra Firma…

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Jonny Kim is now sitting comfortably, bundled under a thermal blanket, on the steppes of remote Kazakhstan.

A light snow was falling, from thickly overcast skies, at 11:03:33 PM Central time (10:03:33 AM in Kazakhstan) as he landed.

One of the two Russian Cosmonauts was taken directly to the medical tent, but the Mission Commander sat out in the cold weather with Jonny Kim — and chatted amiably, with Russian reporters.

There you have it. Onward.

नमस्ते

No, Prof. Loeb — 3I/ATLAS Is No More Than A Large Interstellar Ball Of Primordial Ices… And, Yet Our Last Great Chance To View It, Arrives Soon…

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This is just a shortish late evening squib — to make plain that Harvard’s Prof. Avi Loeb is… not very credible, in his push to argue that the ice ball shows “signs of being the product of intelligent design“.

But come mid-December, it will have moved far enough away from the Sun that the JWST will get a very good set of eyes on it — the JWST has by far the best eyes human=kind has ever launched. And its infrared images — at very high resolution, too — of the supposed twin tails 3I/ATLAS now spouts… will be the definitive word on the subject.

No other telescope (on Earth, or in space) will have nearly as fine imagery of it. So do stay tuned, so we might definitively put this stuff to bed, with JWST data — in a couple more months:

…NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope reobserved interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS Nov. 30, with its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument. At the time, the comet was about 178 million miles (286 million kilometers) from Earth. Hubble tracked the comet as it moved across the sky. As a result, background stars appear as streaks of light.

Hubble previously observed 3I/ATLAS in July, shortly after its discovery, and a number of NASA missions have since studied the comet as well. Observations are expected to continue for several more months as 3I/ATLAS heads out of the solar system….

Onward, smiling just the same… as Prof. Loeb does challenge us to think out of the box, to be sure.

नमस्ते

Stupidly, Hinderaker Entirely Fails To Mention [Let Alone Grapple With] The Supremes’ CONTROLLING Precedent, In The FTC “Firing” Case…

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

Welp. Not surprising in the least — Hinderaker simply ignores… the actual SCOTUS’s prior decisions. See, Humphrey’s Executor v. US, 295 US 602 (1935).

Sure, the Supremes can, and (to come out the way John wildly hopes, tonight) — must — expressly overrule Humphrey’s Executor — a case decided on precisely these same facts, and same agency, even (the FTC)… from 1935.

But they will have to explain why this has been considered settled law for 90 years — yet was suddenly, this term, labeled as “wrong” — and yet they never bothered to over-rule it, in nine-tenths of the last century’s time. [They also should explain why they’ve implicitly followed it — all those decades — in no less than fifteen other cases, at the lower courts’ levels.]

My bet?

There simply aren’t five votes to toss Humphrey’s Executor [even though this has long been Justice Roberts’ own pet peeve, for decades on end].

The argument — to and fro, was just that — argument. For show (to mollify MAGAts, that Roberts is one of them), not substance — the actual work of crafting binding legal opinions, in important cases (on separation of powers).

The money bets say FTC remains an independent agency, as does FDA and IRS and SEC and of course, the Federal Reserve.

Do stay tuned — but laugh with me, at John’s wide incompetence on matters of law.

He truly is… senile. And that is… sad.

O U T.