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Maryland Commercial Fisherman Sentenced to Prison for Illegal Harvesting of Rockfish

Thomas L. Hallock, a commercial fisherman licensed in Maryland, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., to 12 months in prison, for illegally overfishing striped bass also known as rockfish. He was also fined $4,000 and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $40,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to the benefit of the Chesapeake Bay Striped Bass Restoration Account.



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Owner of Korean Commercial Cargo Vessel & Chief Engineer Plead Guilty to Marine Pollution Related Charges

STX Pan Ocean Co. Ltd. (STX), headquartered in Seoul, Korea, and the owner of the commercial cargo ship, M/V Ocean Jade, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy as well as falsifying and failing to properly maintain records meant to ensure compliance with maritime pollution laws. The chief engineer of the M/V Ocean Jade, Hong Hak Kang, a Korean citizen, also pleaded guilty today to failing to maintain environmental records and making false statements.



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More Commercial Fishermen Sentenced for Illegal Harvesting of Rockfish

Three more commercial fishermen were sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., for illegally harvesting and under-reporting their catch of striped bass, also known as rockfish. The sentencings are part of the on-going prosecution of individuals and wholesalers who have participated in a black market to overfish and under-report rockfish catch from the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding waterways, which is the largest spawning ground for striped bass on the East Coast.



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Another Commercial Fisherman Sentenced to Prison for Illegal Harvesting of Rockfish

Keith A. Collins, a commercial fisherman licensed in Maryland, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., to 13 months in prison for illegally overfishing striped bass also known as rockfish. He was also fined $4,500 and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $70,569 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to the benefit of the Chesapeake Bay Striped Bass Restoration Account.



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Father and Son Commercial Fishermen Plead Guilty to Illegal Harvesting of Rockfish

A father and son pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., to illegally over fishing striped bass, also known as rockfish, from 2003 through 2006.



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Operator of Commercial Ship Inspected in Port of Tampa Fined $725,000 for Oil-Pollution Related Crime

Aksat Denizcilik Ve Ticaret A.S., a Turkish corporation that operated the commercial ship M/T Kerim, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Fla., to two felony counts for knowingly failing to fully and accurately maintain an oil record book, which tracks pollutant discharge.



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Illinois Commercial Print Broker Pleads Guilty to Making False Statement to the Government Printing Office

An Illinois commercial print broker pleaded guilty today to making false statements in a bid submitted to the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO).



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New England Commercial Fisherman Charged with Lacey Act Crimes for Illegally Harvesting Striped Bass

Daniel B. Birkbeck, 46, of North Stonington, Conn., was charged today in federal court with trafficking in and falsifying records for illegally harvested Atlantic Striped Bass.



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New England Commercial Fisherman Charged with Lacey Act Crimes for Illegally Harvesting Striped Bass

Daniel B. Birkbeck, 46, of North Stonington, Conn., was charged today in federal court with trafficking in and falsifying records for illegally harvested Atlantic Striped Bass.



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Philadelphia Woman Convicted for Role in Fraudulent Commercial Driver’s Licenses Scheme

After a five-day trial, a federal jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found Irina Rakhman, 54, guilty of conspiracy to produce fraudulent identification documents.



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Pennsylvania Husband and Wife Sentenced to Prison for Fraudulent Commercial Driver’s Licenses Scheme

A Pennsylvania husband and wife were sentenced yesterday to 30 months and 24 months in prison, respectively, for their participation in a scheme to provide out-of-state residents with Pennsylvania driver’s licenses and Pennsylvania commercial driver’s licenses.



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United States Intervenes in Suit Against American Commercial College Inc. Alleging False Claims Act Violations

The United States has intervened in a whistleblower suit pending under the False Claims Act against American Commercial College Inc. (ACC), a chain of for-profit colleges located in west Texas.



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Commercial Fisherman Charged with Witness Tampering Related to an Investigation into the Illegal Harvesting of Striped Bass

Michael D. Hayden Jr., 41, of Tilghman’s Island, Md., was arrested yesterday on charges of witness tampering and retaliation in connection with an investigation of felony Lacey Act violations related to the illegal harvesting of striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay.



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Four Commercial Fishermen Indicted in Maryland for Illegal Harvest and Interstate Sale of Striped Bass from Chesapeake Bay

Four commercial fishermen and one company were indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in Baltimore for a criminal conspiracy involving the illegal harvesting and interstate sale of striped bass on the Chesapeake Bay.



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U.S. Charges Five Chinese Military Hackers for Cyber Espionage Against U.S. Corporations and a Labor Organization for Commercial Advantage

A grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania (WDPA) indicted five Chinese military hackers for computer hacking, economic espionage and other offenses directed at six American victims in the U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar products industries.



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Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Commercial Cleaning Systems

The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Commercial Cleaning Systems, a janitorial services company with headquarters in Denver. The agreement resolves claims that the company discriminated against work-authorized non-U.S. citizens in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)



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168 Juveniles Recovered in Nationwide Operation Targeting Commercial Child Sex Trafficking

During the past week, the FBI, its local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) conducted Operation Cross Country VIII, a week-long enforcement action to address commercial child sex trafficking throughout the United States



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The politics of commercial diplomacy, Ex-Im and beyond


As of last week, it has been a full year since the U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank—the government export credit agency which lends money to foreign buyers of American exports—has been unable to approve loans over $10 million. This is because Senator Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, is single-handedly holding up the nomination of a third member to the Ex-Im Bank’s five person board; all transactions over $10 million require board approval, and short of its required quorum of three members, no major loans can get through. Looking beyond the immediate fight over Ex-Im, however, underlying trends in both American and international politics suggest commercial diplomacy is on the rise.

The Ex-Im Bank is but one of many instruments of American commercial diplomacy; there is a wide range of policies the government uses to actively help individual American companies compete abroad. Through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. government sells political risk insurance to American firms investing in “risky” developing countries. Moreover, U.S. ambassadors frequently lobby foreign governments to award procurement contracts to American firms. Similarly, officials from the Department of State, Department of Commerce, and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative often advocate for U.S. companies involved in investment disputes with foreign governments. What distinguishes active commercial diplomacy from general foreign economic policy—such as signing trade agreements—is that in involves deploying the resources and reputation of the government to help specific firms in particular transactions, rather than broadly setting the rules of the road for all firms to follow. It represents a significantly greater co-mingling of interests and activities between public and private actors.

While both Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker have placed considerable emphasis on advancing commercial diplomacy, the long running struggle to keep Ex-Im operating underlines the political fault lines that cut through the issue. On the one hand, as highlighted in the Ex-Im fight, commercial diplomacy can be criticized as crony capitalism or corporate welfare. Government resources are being used to support private gains. Thus those who prefer free and unfettered markets may see commercial diplomacy as simply another form of unnecessary government intervention, akin to industrial policy. At the same time, as globalization has come under attack from both the left and the right in this election cycle, it is easy to see how encouraging further globalization through commercial diplomacy could face populist pushback. Those supporting commercial diplomacy tend to favor greater integration in the global economy—a view which has found little support in the 2016 campaigns to date.

And yet, the current trends in American political debates over globalization may ultimately presage more, not less, reliance on commercial diplomacy. If politicians increasingly view the global economy through a zero-sum, mercantilist lens, they may be more eager to use the power and purse of the U.S. government to help American firms “win” abroad. Indeed, Congress, which has historically been more protectionist than the executive branch, has also consistently pushed the State Department to do more to actively defend the interests of U.S. companies operating overseas (see, for example, here and here). Aggressively fighting to help U.S. companies win contracts and compete abroad could be one plank of an “America First” policy. Thus even if America, and the world, becomes more protectionist, foreign economic policy may become even more preoccupied with assertive commercial diplomacy, even as interest in seeking mutual benefits through economic liberalization subsides.

If the U.S. government does start to prioritize more actively helping American firms in their foreign operations, it will still have a ways to go to catch up to many other countries. China, of course, is well known for using state resources to advance the commercial goals of Chinese firms venturing abroad—which should not be surprising, given that many of these firms are state-owned enterprises. But a number of other advanced democracies—including Japan, Korea, Germany, and France—also have closer and more coordinated relationships between big business and government than the U.S. does. And most of these countries show no signs of slowing down. As a recent report (PDF) from the Ex-Im bank notes, “In the wake of slowing global growth, foreign export credit agencies are becoming more aggressive.” In fact, some of these agencies are capitalizing on Ex-Im’s current plight, offering American companies export financing in return for the promise of job creation. General Electric Co., for instance, recently announced it would expand production in France because Coface, the French equivalent of Ex-Im, will finance GE projects in a number of emerging markets—the type of financing that GE used to get from Ex-Im.

Looking forward, unilateral disarmament in the competitive world of commercial diplomacy—as the U.S. is currently doing with the Ex-Im Bank—is likely to become increasingly rare. The ultimate effects of this accelerating international competition, in both economic and political terms, remain to be seen.

      
 
 




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New Wave Energy Device Could See 200 Commercial Units in the Next Five Years

The Searaser takes a novel approach to wave energy generation. New owners Ecotricity - pioneers of wind power in Britain - are aiming for mass deployment in the next five years.




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Feds Grant Ocean Power Technologies Permit to Build First Commercial Wave Farm in U.S.

Wave power is a promising source of clean energy, but it is usually overlooked because wind and solar power are farther along.




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Will Vermont move forward with commercial hemp?

Mat McDermott, now writing at Motherboard, has an interview with Vermont Representative Teo Zagar about about the progress that state has made in moving towards commercial hemp production.




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The sharing economy comes into the commercial kitchen

Commercial kitchens are really expensive to build. Why not share?




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New BMW commercial humanizes the BMW i8

Well, as much as you can humanize a $136,000 sports car.




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First Commercial Tidal Power Project in US Launches in Maine

Though only powering 75-100 homes at launch, the TidGen Cobscook Bay project, in Eastport, Maine, is slated to expand to ten times its initial size.




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International agreement bans commercial fishing in the Arctic

As melting ice opens up new potential for exploitation in the Arctic, a new ban aims to protect much of the fragile ecosystem.




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All-electric commercial airplane takes first flight

“December 10, 2019 will be remembered as the day the electric aviation age started.”




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How commercials get us to buy stuff we don't need

I've done it, you've done it, we've all done it. But why do we do it?






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Henkel's Persil® ProClean®, Releases First-Ever Super Bowl® Commercial - Persil ProClean“#1 Rated” Super Bowl Commercial

A leading consumer testing publication recently tested the top laundry detergent brands in America. Persil ProClean 2in1 didn’t only beat Tide, it beat every single detergent tested.






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Holiday Inn Express® Brand Reunites With Actor/Comedian Rob Riggle For Latest Stay Smart® Campaign - Coffee Tasting Commercial

With a Keurig® in every room at Holiday Inn Express® hotels, smart travelers – like actor/comedian Rob Riggle – can get a great cup of coffee with just the push of a button.





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The Holiday Inn® Brand Partners With Small Business Owners In Next Evolution Of Its Journey To Extraordinary Campaign - Sword & Plough Commercial

When traveling, the hotel becomes Sword & Plough’s mobile office, and Holiday Inn® hotels have become an integral extension of their team while on the road.




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NASCAR Icons Goodyear, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Expand Relationship - Goodyear’s ‘Made’ Commercial

When it comes to performance under pressure, Dale Jr. and Goodyear are forged from the same fire. Like Goodyear, the Earnhardt name has a long history in NASCAR and we’re proud to say we’re Driven Like Jr.






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Holiday Inn Express® Brand Reunites With Actor/Comedian Rob Riggle For Latest Stay Smart® Campaign - Coffee Tasting Commercial

With a Keurig® in every room at Holiday Inn Express® hotels, smart travelers – like actor/comedian Rob Riggle – can get a great cup of coffee with just the push of a button.





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The Holiday Inn® Brand Partners With Small Business Owners In Next Evolution Of Its Journey To Extraordinary Campaign - Sword & Plough Commercial

When traveling, the hotel becomes Sword & Plough’s mobile office, and Holiday Inn® hotels have become an integral extension of their team while on the road.




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Coronavirus: Rising commercial PPE costs 'frustrating', says care home CEO

The CEO of Methodist Homes says a secure supply chain from government would mean avoiding inflated prices.




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Indian Jury in Favour of Altruistic Surrogacy, Not Commercial Surrogacy

Since the Union cabinet has banned the commercial surrogacy, many people from the industry have called this move as regressive and insensitive while some




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Legal –Retail Banking –Commercial Banking-MORTGAGES for a BANK in Hyderabad

Company: One March India
Qualification: Bachelors of Law (B.L/L.L.B)
Experience: 5 to 10
Salary: 6.00 to 10.00
location: Hyderabad / Secunderabad
Ref: 24789982
Summary: The Code- Legal –Retail Banking –Commercial Banking”” • Location – Hyderbad • Present Salary/CTC (Fixed+ Variables) •....




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Canada Exports Commercial And Service Industry Machinery

Exports (Bop) - Commercial And Service Industry Machinery in Canada decreased to 289.80 CAD Million in March from 378.80 CAD Million in February of 2020. Exports (Bop) - Commercial And Service Industry Ma in Canada averaged 178.65 CAD Million from 1988 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 438.80 CAD Million in March of 2001 and a record low of 38 CAD Million in December of 1991. This page includes a chart with historical data for Canada Exports of (bop) - Commercial And Service Industr.




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United States Commercial and Industrial Loans

Loans to Private Sector in the United States increased to 2586.16 USD Billion in March from 2358.13 USD Billion in February of 2020. Loans to Private Sector in the United States averaged 624.33 USD Billion from 1950 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 2586.16 USD Billion in March of 2020 and a record low of 13.65 USD Billion in January of 1950. This page provides - United States Loans to Private Sector - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.




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China Sales Value of Commercial Residential Buildings

New Home Sales in China increased to 17934 CNY Hundreds of millions in March from 7198 CNY Hundreds of millions in February of 2020. New Home Sales in China averaged 22908.56 CNY Hundreds of millions from 1999 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 139440 CNY Hundreds of millions in December of 2019 and a record low of 78.19 CNY Hundreds of millions in February of 1999. In China, commercial housing sales refers to the total contract price of the sale of new commercial housing during the reporting period (that is, the total contract price confirmed in the formal sales contract signed by both parties). This indicator shows cumulative data. This page provides - China Sales Value of Commercial Residential Buildings- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.




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Myanmar Sales Tax Rate - Commercial Tax

The Sales Tax Rate in Myanmar stands at 5 percent. Sales Tax Rate in Myanmar averaged 15.71 percent from 2014 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 30 percent in 2015 and a record low of 5 percent in 2017. In Myanmar, the sales tax rate is a tax charged to consumers based on the purchase price of certain goods and services. The benchmark we use for the sales tax rate refers to the highest rate. Revenues from the Sales Tax Rate are an important source of income for the government of Myanmar. This page provides - Myanmar Sales Tax Rate | VAT - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.




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United States Imports - Other Commercial Vessels, New & Used(Census Basis)

Imports - Other Commercial Vessels, New & Used(Census Basis) in the United States increased to 10.71 USD Million in March from 9.33 USD Million in February of 2020. Imports - Other Commercial Vessels, New & Used(Cen in the United States averaged 9.37 USD Million from 1989 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 149.51 USD Million in January of 2004 and a record low of 0.28 USD Million in August of 1991. This page includes a chart with historical data for the United States Imports of Other Commercial Vessels, New & Used(c.




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Venezuela Commercial Bank Loan Rate

Interbank Rate in Venezuela increased to 33.18 percent in March from 29.20 percent in February of 2020. Interbank Rate in Venezuela averaged 25.57 percent from 1982 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 72.23 percent in September of 1998 and a record low of 12.48 percent in September of 1987. In Venezuela, the interbank rate is the rate of interest charged on short-term loans made between banks. This page provides - Venezuela Commercial Bank Loan Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.