Almost two months after his arrest by the FBI regarding cryptocurrency related charges, host of Free Talk Live Ian Freeman has been granted bail.
The decision came after a half hour zoom hearing before Judge Joseph Laplante. When discussing the matter of cash bail, the prosecution had originally suggested $200,000 but alleged that Freeman could have millions of dollars in hidden assets. Judge Laplante stated that he did not want to be a vehicle for discovery for either side and eventually set cash bail at $200,000 but allowed for the Shire Free Church to put up two properties as collateral to insure that Freeman doesn’t flee.
Freeman’s defense attorney Mark Sisti mentioned that New Hampshire is suffering a shortage of bail bondsmen and that it was not a likely option for Freeman.
During the hearing Judge Laplante spoke directly to Freeman and spoke plainly, saying that he was accused of a “white collar crime” and isn’t a violent danger to his community. Laplante stated that he agreed with the Magistrate’s decision to deny Freeman bail but now he believes that Freeman will not be difficult to monitor, and added: “the leash is going to be short”.
“Don’t be tempted to test US probation by pushing the edge of the envelop,” Judge Laplante said to Freeman regarding continuing his cryptocurrency trading business after release.
Judge Laplante also stressed how the conditions aren’t set up for Freeman to fail but rather to make sure he makes it to his 2022 court date.
One “deal breaking” condition of the release is that all of the firearms in the building Freeman will be living in must be removed for the safety of the probation officer.
The prosecution had no objections nor did Freeman and Judge Laplante said he suspects the orders would be ready by tomorrow.
This past Tuesday new mover Bonnie got fully initiated into the community with her first FBI raid. It was 6 am, and her roommate was yelling “get down stairs” and the whole house was loud. She grabs a robe and Coconut, her dog. She does not have time to grab her glasses. A rifle held by an FBI agent was pointing into the now broken window as Coconut, not accustomed to this type of chaos, runs out the broken down door. Bonnie is instructed NOT to take time to put her robe on before coming down stairs. They are ordered outside by the FBI agent. Bonnie is naked, as instructed by the FBI agent, and tries to put her robe on. The agent insists she comes out now and naked, until Ian objects “she’s naked; what are we going to do about this?” She is then graced with the highest kindness the Federal Government can provide- permission to put on a towel type robe before walking into the New Hampshire cold. Records show it would have been just under 20 degrees at the time. Ian had a robe and slippers on.
The supposedly offensive promo has a limited amount of footage that could possibly be objectionable. Was it the scenes of two men being arrested? A photo of a massive 420 rally in Central Square in 2009? A man speaking into a megaphone? A photo of a band playing or people playing a card game in Railroad Square? A large group of people standing around the “Welcome to New Hampshire” sign at the Vermont border? The 4:20 pumpkin?
Two days prior to this strike, another decade-old :15 promo was allegedly found objectionable, this one featuring then-libertarian Penn Jillette saying he should move to Keene to join the Free Staters. I appealed the finding, and YouTube reversed it, once again allowing the video to be played. So, when the subsequent takedown happened this weekend, I also appealed it, asking in my appeal where the supposed “harmful or dangerous” content was. They upheld their decision to block the short promo video and give the account a “strike”. Of course, they declined to state exactly what it was in those scant fifteen seconds that was so offensive.
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The strike would have been a warning, but the account had recently received a warning in late February when YouTube removed a video promoting the new White Rose Society for violating their “medical misinformation” policy. So, that’s two videos taken down within a few weeks, hence the strike and now the account is not allowed to have uploads or live streams, among other things, for a week.
Luckily, we’ve been cultivating our exit plan from YouTube for years.
Now, YouTube has increased its rate of finding things it doesn’t like about our videos. It may not be long before our entire channel is taken down. If you haven’t looked seriously at LBRY yet, now is the time to do it. In 2020, they launched Odysee, a video platform built on LBRY. I’ve created a handy url to take you right to the Free Keene channel on Odysee: video.freekeene.com. Unlike YouTube, LBRY/Odysee has no strikes and videos cannot be taken down. It’s true content freedom, and blockchain-powered. You can get the LBRY app or just follow our channel on Odysee.
From now on, this :30 migrate-to-LBRY promo will play at the end of every upload I am able to make to YouTube before they shut us down completely:
Now, YouTube has struck again and banned a video some amazing editor made about the return of the White Rose Society. I was honored to discover someone from the new White Rose Society had taken some audio from my radio show, “Free Talk Live“, where we were discussing the new White Rose and their amazing counter-propaganda activism. I uploaded it to the FreeKeene YouTube and it was nearly immediately removed for violating their “medical misinformation policy”, which says, “YouTube doesn’t allow content that explicitly disputes the efficacy of local health authorities’ or World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on social distancing and self isolation that may lead people to act against that guidance.”
If you’d like to join the White Rose, you’ll need the Telegram app. Then click this link: t.me/jointhewhiterose Check the pinned post for instructions and the latest sticker pack.
Pho Keene Great is now accepting cryptocurrencies!
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been on a major run up in recent months, but a bunch of Keene-area businesses were ahead of the curve. A variety of locally owned establishments jumped onboard with NH-based crypto payments processor Anypay in 2020 including Keene Barber, YOLO, Pho Keene Great, and the brand-new Mighty Moose Mart. Thus far, in 2021 Rogue Taxi and Lucky 7s Bar and Grille have begun accepting cryptocurrency.
Keene has long been a world-leader in local businesses accepting Bitcoin per capita and it continues to live up to its name of Crypto Mecca. This summer, two downtown businesses located right next door to each other, Keene Barber and YOLO – a local frozen yogurt shop – started accepting crypto. That means Keene has three distinct businesses in a row that are taking cryptocurrency from customers, as YOLO is next to Corner News – which first received Bitcoin in 2013.
Keene’s world-famous Pho Keene Great, which at one time made international headlines for the City of Keene’s attack against the name of their pho noodle restaurant, is now accepting multiple cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), DASH, Bitcoin SV (BSV), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). PKG’s food is fantastic and yet another delicious option of now several food establishments in downtown Keene accepting crypto including indian food, pizza, burgers, and bbq.
Near the end of 2020, Keene added its third crypto-accepting convenience store. Yes, three of the area’s neighborhood stores accept multiple cryptocurrencies. Keene is an amazing place. It started with Corner News all the way back in 2013, then Campus Convenience in 2019 and the all-new Mighty Moose Mart opened its doors accepting crypto in November of 2020. Mighty Moose Mart is offering custom-made sandwiches and other hot, fresh food, as well as beer, wine, tobacco, and the usual convenience store items. They’ll even give you a 5% discount if you pay in cryptocurrency!
The brand-new Mighty Moose Mart at 661 Marlboro St.
Early this year, Rogue Taxi became the first taxi company in the area to accept cryptocurrency and recently Lucky 7s Bar & Grille also began accepting multiple cryptos. Lucky 7s is located inside the Keene Casino and run by the same owner of Thirsty Owl, which had taken crypto for years before closing due to the economic difficulties imposed by the destructive government mandates being forced down peoples’ throats.
Here’s a cool interactive map showing businesses that take cryptocurrency, which cryptos, and how active the business is with crypocurrency sales.
If you own a business and want to accept cryptocurrency at your point-of-sale, first you need a wallet to hold your coins, like Edge Wallet. Then, install the Anypay app and copy your wallet addresses from your wallet to the Anypay settings. Within minutes, you’ll be all set to accept multiple cryptocurrencies of your choice, like BTC, DASH, BCH, BSV, LTC, and now DOGE!
To learn more about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, check out our resources here and visit the Bitcoin Embassy at 661 Marlboro St in Keene right next door to Mighty Moose Mart and sign up for Bitcoin 101.
It used to be a horrible experience getting paid with bitcoin and other digital assets. You had to get a QR code, and paste a long code on your website, that would invariably be scoured by bots and recorded by 3rd parties for malicious reasons, then plaster them onto your website, and then somehow monitor them for payments. And even after all that, you still don’t know who sent you the payment, or if it was the right amount. What a sad mess.
Forget all that! Now you can have a slick button that you copy/paste onto your website and boom: You accept Bitcoin. A lightning fast and highly professional experience awaits you.
Add an attractive bitcoin payment button to your web store, to your blog page, to anywhere you want! No technical skills required. Just create a free Anypay account, enter the addresses where you want payments to go, and then create as many “Anypay Buttons” as you want. Stick with one currency or make it multi-coin. Redirect users to a success page, or don’t. Require their email address before payment, or let them pay you anonymously.
All payments go directly from the customer to you — Anypay never steps between you and your money. Not even for a second. You get an email every time you get paid, and you can track all your payments with a simple dashboard. Export your history to a CSV file to make your accountant smile instead of frown.
You won’t believe how easy it is.
Get the payment experience you and your users deserve. It takes only a few minutes to set up a free Anypay account.
