EDINBURG, Texas — U.S. Border Patrol agents working with their K-9 partners continue to prove effective against hard narcotic smuggling attempts at the Rio Grande Valley checkpoints.
Yesterday morning, agents at the Javier Vega, Jr. Border Patrol Checkpoint referred a passenger car to the secondary inspection area due to a K-9 alert. During the secondary inspection, Agents located several bundles of methamphetamine inside the gas tank. The bundles weighed nearly 20 pounds, with an estimated street value of $632K. Agents arrested the 17 year-old driver and turned the case over to the Kenedy County Sheriff’s Office for prosecution.
Packages containing more than 180 pounds of
methamphetamine seized by U.S. Border Patrol agents
at Falfurrias Checkpoint.
Later that day, agents working at the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint referred a tractor-trailer to the secondary inspection area after a Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the tractor. During the secondary inspection, agents discovered liquid methamphetamine inside one of the tractor’s gas tanks. Agents arrested the driver and notified the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the discovery. Agents requested a hazardous material team to extract the dangerous drug.
That same afternoon, Falfurrias Checkpoint agents sent another tractor-trailer to the secondary inspection area after a Border Patrol K-9 alerted. During the investigation, agents located over 60 bundles of methamphetamine weighing more than 180 pounds and worth an estimated $4.5M. Border Patrol turned the case over to DEA for federal prosecution.
Similarly this morning, Falfurrias Checkpoint agents referred a Ford F250 to the secondary inspection area after a Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the vehicle. During the inspection, agents located more than 50 bundles of cocaine. The narcotics weighed over 130 pounds and are worth an estimated $4.4M. Agents arrested the driver and have referred the case to DEA.
The Rio Grande Valley Sector currently has multiple campaigns focused on rescues and danger awareness, such as “Operation Big Rig” and “No Se Arriesgue” to combat smuggling and ultimately save lives. Call 911 to report suspicious activity; “They’re humans, not cargo!”
Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation. The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements.
Please visit www.cbp.gov to view additional news releases and other information pertaining to Customs and Border Protection. Follow us on Twitter @CBPRGV, @USBPChiefRGV and @USBPDepChiefRGV.
New never before seen footage of the shooting of the Trump supporter in Portland, Oregon on August 29.
1080P video. I slowed it to 90% to make out what is said easier. “Here, here, we got a couple right here.”
Second man: “here?”
“Yeah, he pulled it out.”
Photo By: Petty Officer 1st Class Melissa Leake Department of Defense
By weather.com meteorologists
August 06 2020 12:50 PM EDT
weather.com
Far From Louisiana, Laura Has Brought Smelly Beaches to Florida
Hurricane Laura has washed thousands of sea creatures onto Florida’s Gulf Coast beaches, and they’re starting to stink.
At a Glance
NOAA and Colorado State University have both increased their hurricane season forecasts this week.
NOAA’s forecast calls for 19 to 25 named storms, including 7 to 11 hurricanes.
CSU predicts there could be 24 named storms, including 12 hurricanes.
These forecasts include the 9 named storms and two hurricanes that have already formed this season.
If the forecast holds, 2020’s tropical storm and hurricane names would be used up and require use of the Greek alphabet
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, already busy through early August, could be one of the most active on record, according to two separate outlooks released this week by NOAA and Colorado State University (CSU).
“This year, we expect more, stronger, and longer-lived storms than average, and our predicted ACE range extends well above NOAA’s threshold for an extremely active season,” said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.
The ACE index — short for Accumulated Cyclone Energy — takes into account not just the number, but also the intensity and longevity of storms and hurricanes.
CSU’s outlook released Wednesday calls for 24 named storms, 12 of which are expected to become hurricanes, and five of those hurricanes becoming major hurricanes — Category 3 or higher (115-plus-mph winds) on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
The CSU forecast is almost double the 30-year (1981-2010) average of 13 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes and is four storms, three hurricanes and one major hurricane more than its last outlook issued in early July.
If the forecast holds, 2020 would have the second most number of storms in any season, just behind 2005’s 28 storms. It would also tie both 1969 and 2010 for the second most hurricanes in any season, again trailing only 2005’s 15 hurricanes.
The CSU and NOAA outlooks include the nine named storms and two hurricanes that have already formed.
Named storms tracks of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season through August 5 are shown above. (Notes: The black segments correspond to post-tropical or remnant phases of each storm. The green track with Isaias denotes its time as a potential tropical cyclone.)
(Data: NOAA/NHC)
If the forecast number of named storms from CSU and the upper-end of the NOAA’s outlook happen, it would use up the entire list of 2020 tropical storm and hurricane names and require use of the Greek alphabet for the remaining named storms. That’s only happened once before in the record-smashing 2005 hurricane season.
Here is the list of 2020 Atlantic tropical storm and hurricane names. As of August 5, the next named storm will be “Josephine”. If all 21 names are used, subsequent storm names will be named after Greek letters, starting with “Alpha”. If there are 24 named storms, the final name would be “Gamma”.
During the record-breaking 2005 season, CSU’s August forecast predicted 20 named storms, 10 hurricanes and 6 major hurricanes.
Here are the factors CSU, NOAA and other seasonal forecasters are keying on for a very active season.
Trending Toward La Niña
El Niño/La Niña, the periodic warming/cooling of the equatorial eastern and central Pacific Ocean, can shift weather patterns over a period of months. Its status is always one factor that’s considered in hurricane season forecasting.
ENSO conditions are expected to remain either neutral — neither El Niño nor La Niña — or trend toward La Niña by fall.
La Niña typically corresponds with a more active hurricane season because the cooler waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean end up causing less wind shear along with weaker low-level winds in the Caribbean Sea.
In fact, Colorado State University tropical scientist and lead author of seasonal forecasters, Phil Klotzbach, noted that July wind shear over the Caribbean Sea was second lowest in 41 years, behind only the record 2005 hurricane season’s July shear. Wind shear rips apart developing tropical cyclones and can at least disrupt or weaken active tropical storms and hurricanes.
La Niña can also enhance rising motion over the Atlantic Basin, making it easier for storms to develop.
The La Niña years of 2010 and 2011 are among several tied for the third-most-active Atlantic seasons on record. Both years had 19 named storms.
The next La Niña year, 2016, was also active, with 15 named storms that included Category 5 Hurricane Matthew and three other major hurricanes. La Niña conditions developed midway through the hyperactive and catastrophic 2017 season that produced Harvey, Irma and Maria.
Warm Ocean
One of the other ingredients that meteorologists consider in hurricane season outlooks is current sea-surface temperatures across the Atlantic Ocean.
Klotzbach noted that water temperatures between the Lesser Antilles and the west African coast in early August were the fourth warmest since the early 1980s, exceeded only by three notoriously active hurricane seasons: 2005, 2010 and 2017.
Furthermore, climate models suggest that most of, if not the entire, Atlantic Basin will be warmer than average the remainder of the hurricane season.
An above-average number of tropical storms and hurricanes is more likely if temperatures in the main development region (MDR) between Africa and the Caribbean Sea are warmer than average.
Assuming other atmospheric factors are favorable, warmer waters in this MDR allow tropical waves — the formative engines that can eventually become tropical storms — to get closer to the Caribbean and the U.S.
The active West African monsoon is expected to produce both stronger tropical waves migrating west off Africa and a more conducive environment for development in the tropical Atlantic Basin in 2020, Klotzbach noted.
What Does This Mean for the United States?
While there have been nine named storms already this season, much of the hurricane season still lies ahead.
Using the ACE index mentioned earlier, there is roughly 90 percent of the hurricane season still ahead as of early August. This includes what is typically the most active stretch from late August into September.
While a higher number of named storms and hurricanes raises the odds of more landfalls, there is no strong correlation between the number of storms or hurricanes and U.S. landfalls in any given season.
One or more of the remaining named storms predicted to develop this season could hit the U.S. or none at all. That’s why residents of the coastal U.S. should prepare each year no matter the forecast.
For example, the 2010 Atlantic season tied for the second most hurricanes (12) and third most named storms (19) of any season since 1851.
Despite all those, only one tropical storm, and no hurricanes, made landfall in the mainland U.S.
Hurricane Earl made an unnerving tease of the East Coast, brushing the Outer Banks of North Carolina before recurving away. Hurricane Alex made landfall in northeast Mexico, but did bring some flooding rain into Deep South Texas.
So the season was active, but the U.S. mainland impact was relatively low, as winds steering each storm or hurricane acted to keep them largely away.
Tracks of all storms and hurricanes in the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. Only one tropical storm – Bonnie – made a continental U.S. landfall in 2010, despite the high number of both storms and hurricanes. Track segments in black indicate when each storm became a remnant low, or was in its pre-depression phase.
(Data: NOAA/NHC)
We’ve also seen seemingly inactive seasons deliver the one big landfall.
The 1992 hurricane season produced only seven storms. However, one of those was Hurricane Andrew, which devastated South Florida as one of only four hurricanes to landfall in the U.S. at Category 5 intensity, easily the nation’s costliest hurricane, at the time.
HURRICANE ANDREW (1992)
Aerial view of a mobile-home community in Dade County, Florida, devastated by Category 5 Hurricane Andrew in August 1992.
(Bob Epstein/FEMA)
And 1983 was even quieter than 1992.
Only four named storms — less than half the named storms already in 2020 — developed that entire season, the least of any Atlantic hurricane season since 1930.
But one of those four was Alicia.
This Category 3 hurricane pummeled the Houston metro area with high winds that shattered glass in the city’s skyscrapers, claimed 21 lives and was, itself, a billion-dollar disaster.
Named storm tracks of the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season. Despite only four named storms, one of them, Alicia, was a billion-dollar disaster in Texas
A hurricane season can deliver many storms but have little impact, or deliver few storms, but one or more slamming into the U.S. with major impact.
That’s why residents in the hurricane zone should prepare each year no matter what the seasonal forecast is.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
Everyone has been clamoring about the importance of physical fitness, but have you ever thought of them as life-saving? Do competitions get your blood pumping? What about the opportunity of meeting new people or just the sheer exercise that accompanies the fun? These just scratch the surface of how sports can save your life. Explore greater details here!
Disease Prevention
The far-reaching effects of sports on disease prevention are clearly apparent. By playing sports regularly, you can sidestep several diseases such as diabetes, cancer, obesity, depression, and cardiovascular disorders. Sports require you to be physically fit and help you maintain your optimal body weight, which lowers the risk of developing conditions consequent to obesity.
Enhance Psychosocial health
Many patients have an underlying psychosocial disorder, which is often left undiagnosed and untreated. Studies have proven that sports play a therapeutic role in many psychological disorders. Physical self—esteem is a vital aspect of mental health, and those who get involved in sport from a young age find it motivating and inspiring and carry it well into adulthood.
Healthy Discipline
A positive change in the environment can bring about a new perspective. This has a significant influence on future opportunities, and one is forced to make choices that are beneficial for overall health, such as eating healthy or drinking more water. Playing sports requires discipline, which is then carried over to other areas of life as well.
Improves Sleep
The connection between the quality of sleep and sports is still unclear, but research shows that playing regularly does boost sleep quality after a few months. The basic premise is to stick to it for that period so you can gain all the benefits and hope that this becomes a habit.
Impacts Relationships
We may not realize it, but our physical health affects our mental health, which takes a toll on our relationships. This could lead to depression and anxiety. Exercise releases endorphins, which make us feel good about ourselves, and this is exhibited in all our life areas, whether personal or professional.
Final Thoughts
Playing sports regularly is an amazing gateway to all other healthy life choices. It connects you with people interested in the same things that keep you motivated and on the right track. Don’t wait for another day to pick up a sport as a hobby.
Archery is flaming hot right now, and so are the characters that go around shooting arrows like pros making it look like a child’s game. Fairytale shows like HBO’s Game of Thrones, ABC television show, Once Upon a Time, AMC’s The Walking Dead, and The History Channel’s series The Viking have made the sport as magical as the celebrity characters that shoot a bow and arrow.
There are many renowned characters like Oliver Queen and Katniss Everdeen who make us wish they existed in real life, saving lives with their bows and arrows. However, some characters transcended the reel and went on to become expert archers in real life. These are the ones that have set our hearts on fire with or without flaming arrows.
From executing flawless martial arts moves in the “X-Men” to singing in “Les Miserables,” Hugh Jackman has added a crossbow in his arsenal – only as if his good looks weren’t enough to kill!
Chris Pratt is a hunter (which he revealed in a talk-show) and likes to hunt squirrels and eat them for Thanksgiving. The Jurassic World hunk really knows how to improve his game. Yes, of course, we meant hunting!
The savior every woman wished she had in the character he played in “Safe Haven”, Josh Duhamel is a handsome jack of all trades and showed off his archery skills in the Ellen DeGeneres Show. He not only hit the bull’s eye but also stole the heart of every woman present in the audience.
The famous actress and model not only runs with the supernatural crowd of “Buffy” and “Angel” but has her eyes set on real-life creatures as well, such as elk. She showed off her skills on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and told everyone that she’s more than a pretty face with legs for days.
The smoldering actress who played the protagonist Grand Admiral Artemisia in “300: Rise of an Empire” was trained in all the methods of a warrior. She not only delved into an intense fitness regime to do all her stunts but became quite proficient with swords, knives, and a bow and arrow. She was a well-liked villain, and these skills only add to her charm.
With these hot archers running loose and playing tag with our hearts, it’s tough to pin down a favorite. It looks like cupid has given up and has handed his bow and arrow to these celebrities, but they were already doing a pretty good job without him, wouldn’t you say?
The beloved star Chadwick Boseman, 43 was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2016, two years before the release of his Marvel blockbuster, Black Panther. With much sadness his colon cancer escalated to stage 4 over the last four years.
Chadwick kept his diagnosis very private and away form the press. He continued to work during his illness always giving an outstanding performance. Chadwick was the first African American Marvel hero playing the character of the King T’Challa in the film Black Panther.
His death occurred on the day the MLB celebrated Jackie Robinson day, honoring the first African American major league baseball player.
“He has played several historical figures, such as Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013), James Brown in Get on Up (2014), and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall (2017). His role as the superhero Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including in Black Panther (2018), made him an international star, winning him a NAACP Image Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Boseman’s other film roles included 21 Bridges (2019), which he also co-produced, and Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods (2020). His final film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, will release posthumously on Netflix. He died on August 28, 2020 after privately dealing with colon cancer for four years.” Source Wikipedia
Our hearts and prayers go out to his family and may he rest in peace.
Lighted areas shown in nighttime images are not real-time depictions of city lights. The layer is derived from a compilation of JPSS VIIRS Day Night Band images and is included for orientation purposes.
Hurricane Laura appears to have narrowly missed the heart of the U.S. fuel-making and chemicals infrastructure along the Gulf Coast, and caused less mayhem than forecasts predicted.
Officials still had to cope with a chlorine leak and fire at BioLab, a chemical manufacturing facility the Lake Charles, La., area, and Motiva Enterprises reported a leak at its Port Arthur, Tex., refinery, but said it occurred during the shutdown of the refinery before the hurricane had arrived.
While Laura has been downgraded to a tropical depression, almost 800K homes and businesses across Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas are still without power.
Coca-Cola plans 4,000 layoffs, as company announces global reorganization
Beverage giant Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) plans to lay off 4000 employees. The company has announced strategic steps to reorganize the company for future growth. Coca-Cola will focus on new operating units both regionally and locally allowing them to work with global teams for new ideas. Voluntary severance packages will be offered throughout its workforce in the United States and Canada, as well as Puerto Rico. Due to the effects of the coronavirus it will prepare for a global severance program costing Coca-Cola up to 550-million-dollars for a global reorganization.
Coca-Cola suffered due to many entertainment centers including movie theaters that sell their soft drinks forced to close during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. Agrees to Pay Over $122 Million to Resolve FCPA Case
Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. (Herbalife), a U.S.-based publicly traded global nutrition company, has agreed to pay total penalties of more than $122 million to resolve the government’s investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The resolution arises out of Herbalife’s scheme to falsify books and records and provide corrupt payments and benefits to Chinese government officials for the purpose of obtaining, retaining, and increasing Herbalife’s business in China. This includes a criminal penalty of over $55 million and approximately $67 million to be paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a related matter.
Herbalife entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in connection with a criminal information filed today in the Southern District of New York charging Herbalife with one count of conspiracy to violate the books and records provision of the FCPA.
“By engaging in a decade-long scheme to falsify its books and records to conceal corrupt and other improper payments to Chinese officials and state-owned entities, Herbalife misrepresented important information made available to investors,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The integrity of our financial markets depends on the timely and accurate disclosure of material information about companies’ operations. Today’s resolution reflects the department’s ongoing commitment to combating international corruption and ensuring that investors can trust the accuracy of the financial statements of publicly traded companies.”
“As admitted in the deferred prosecution agreement entered into today, Herbalife approved the extensive and systematic corrupt payments to Chinese government officials over a 10-year period to promote and expand Herbalife’s business in China,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss of the Southern District of New York. “Moreover, in an effort to conceal this widespread corruption scheme, Herbalife maintained false accounting records to mischaracterize these improper payments as permissible business expenses. In addition to admitting its criminal conduct, Herbalife has agreed to pay combined penalties of more than $123 million. This case signifies this Office’s commitment to ensuring that companies operating in the United States do not gain an unfair advantage through corruption and illegal bribes of foreign officials.”
According to its admissions, between 2007 and 2016, Herbalife knowingly and willfully conspired with others in a scheme to falsify its books and records and provide corrupt payments and benefits to Chinese government officials. Herbalife carried out the scheme for the purpose of obtaining, retaining, and increasing Herbalife’s business in China by, among other things, (1) obtaining and retaining certain direct selling licenses for its wholly-owned subsidiaries in China (Herbalife China); (2) improperly influencing certain Chinese governmental investigations into Herbalife China’s compliance with Chinese laws; and (3) improperly influencing certain Chinese state-owned and state-controlled media for the purpose of removing negative media reports about Herbalife China.
For example, in late 2006 through early 2007, during the time period that Herbalife China’s application for its first direct selling license was pending, Herbalife China provided corrupt payments and benefits to Chinese government officials, including government officials responsible for awarding that direct selling license, and falsely recorded and booked those corrupt expenses. Around the same time period, an officer and high-level executive of Herbalife suggested to a high-level executive of Herbalife China that Herbalife China personnel falsify expense reimbursement documents in connection with entertainment of Chinese government officials.
Thereafter, Herbalife continued to provide improper payments and benefits to Chinese government officials. Herbalife also continued to falsely record certain improper payments and benefits as “travel and entertainment expenses” and to maintain false Sarbanes-Oxley sub-certification letters in Herbalife’s books, records, and accounts.
As part of the agreement, Herbalife agreed to continue to cooperate with the U.S. government in any ongoing or future criminal investigations concerning Herbalife, its executives, employees, or agents. In addition, under the agreement, Herbalife agreed to enhance its compliance program and to report to the government on the implementation of its enhanced compliance program.
The government reached this resolution with Herbalife based on a number of factors, including the failure to timely disclose the conduct that triggered the investigation; the nature and seriousness of the offense, which spanned approximately a decade and involved high level employees; the lack of an effective compliance program at the time of the misconduct; and credit for the company’s cooperation. Herbalife also engaged in remedial measures, including terminating and disciplining individuals who orchestrated the misconduct, adopting heightened controls and anti-corruption protocols, and significantly increasing the resources devoted to compliance.
The criminal monetary penalty for Herbalife reflects a 25 percent reduction off the bottom of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines fine range because of Herbalife’s full cooperation with the government’s investigation.
In a related matter with the SEC, Herbalife agreed to pay the SEC disgorgement and prejudgment interest totaling approximately $67 million.
The FBI’s New York Field Office investigated the case. Trial Attorney Jason Manning of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua A. Naftalis and Scott A. Hartman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case.
The department appreciates the significant cooperation provided by the SEC in this case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance.
The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/foreign-corrupt-practices-act.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Abbott Laboratories. Abbott’s BinaxNOW test is about the size of a credit card.
Abbot Labs stock is up due to the new 15- minute test for the Coronavirus.
$111.46
Up 8.278.01% as of 10:41 AM August 27th 2020.
Cue our sixth COVID-19 test, the BinaxNOWâ„¢ COVID-19 Ag Card rapid antigen test, which has received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This test offers results in 15 minutes and is available as an aid to diagnose the virus that causes COVID-19.
The BinaxNOW test can be displayed on our new optional app – available at no charge – for iPhone and Android devices called NAVICAâ„¢. This first-of-its-kind app will allow people who test negative to have a temporary encrypted digital health pass that displays their results. Source: Abbot Labs
HOW IT WORKS:
A healthcare provider swabs the patient’s nose and twirls that sample on a test card with a testing reagent added. After waiting 15 minutes, the healthcare provider reads the results directly from the testing card. One line indicates a negative result; two lines indicate a positive result. Source: FDA
WHERE IT CAN BE USED:
This test could be used at point-of-care settings, like a doctor’s office, emergency room or some schools. This test has been authorized for use in patients suspected of COVID-19 by their healthcare provider within seven days of symptom onset. Given the simple nature of this test, it is likely that these tests could be made broadly available. According to the test manufacturer, Abbott, it plans to make up to 50 million tests available monthly in the U.S. at the beginning of October 2020. . Source: FDA
Archery is flaming hot right now, and so are the characters that go around shooting arrows like pros making it look like a child’s game. Fairytale shows like HBO’s Game of Thrones, ABC television show, Once Upon a Time, AMC’s The Walking Dead, and The History Channel’s series The Viking have made the sport as magical as the celebrity characters that shoot a bow and arrow.
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