[Jar Design A330 Crack Cocaine
Gildo Santiago
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that on March 19, 2021, the United States Postal Service executed a federal search warrant on a parcel sent from Puerto Rico after a drug K-9 alerted to the presence of a controlled substance. A Pennsylvania State Police laboratory confirmed that the parcel contained over 500 grams of cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance. Subsequently, law enforcement replaced the cocaine with sham, a substance designed to look like cocaine. Law enforcement then prepared for a controlled delivery operation at the residence where the parcel was to be delivered in Troy Hill, Pennsylvania.
Prior to the controlled delivery, law enforcement placed physical surveillance at the Troy Hill residence. Surveillance observed Kenneth Kim Parks, a resident of California, exit his rental vehicle, knock on the door of the residence, and interact with his cellular phone. After no one answered, Parks returned to his vehicle, which was parked in front of the residence.
Judge Hardy scheduled sentencing for May 25, 2023, at 9:30 am. The law provides for a term of imprisonment not more than 20 years, a fine of $1,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
We crossed border at Copacabana on Lake Titicaca and took a mini bus to La Paz. The scenery around the lake was stunning. I just sat by the window and watched as we twisted around mountains, with the lake constantly moving into the distance but from so many angles.
Our guide explained that it had grown organically since the 1980s when miners and farmers moved to city living. The government has been reluctant to enforce regulations re building and commerce, in the hope that the residents will be self sufficient. They even turn a blind eye to contraband.
The international airport is in El Alto, as there is enough flat land there. The airport is one of highest, and in fact the highest international airport in the world. Due to the high elevation, at 4062m, and thin air, the runway is 4000m, much longer than usual. Even so, Boeing 747 and Airbus A330 cannot operate out of the airport.
I was struck by the sight on reaching the edge of the valley that is La Paz. Unlike Quito that sits on a high plain, surrounded by higher mountains, La Paz sit in a crater-like valley at 3,640m elevation. It was a windy road dropping 400m to the city and traffic jams.
After most of the passenger were dropped off, we were asked to wait while the minibus was filled with bits and pieces from an earlier event at a nearby hotel. Our guide said thank you, but we never really understood what all the bits were for.
We drove to the lookout at Killi Killi for a broad view of the valley that La Paz occupies. From there we drove down to the lowest point of the valley at 3,200m and then to Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). The valley is much like Cappadochia in Turkey, the soft clay has been eroded by the rains that fall between November and April and then the winds that blow in August. Erosion continues, however the area has been designated a place for the people to enjoy, but some conservation is in place, as they are restricted to walk ways.
La Paz has the highest golf course, the highest tennis courts and the highest soccer stadium. Our guide Jimena told us that in the high altitude the ball travels more slowly but for a longer distance. This confuses the visitors, so the home team enjoy much success here.
From the Valley of the Moon we caught two of the five cable cars that have been built in the city. Mi Telefrico is an answer to moving people over the difficult terrain, where train lines above and under the ground would be difficult to construct, and is part of the public transport system. They are low cost at 3 Boliviano (approximately 60 Australian cents) per ride. The carriages carry ten people and they run very close together with efficiently run stations. There are plans for another 4 or 5 systems, with at least three to be completed this year.
Our last stop was the Witches Market, so called because it is an area where many herbs and medicines are sold, as well as tokens for good luck. Most bizzare are the llama foetuses, that are collected when extremely cold weather occurs and the mother llama is unable to carry her baby.
But that gave us the perfect opportunity to watch the the competitors of the Dakar Rally come into town. The first motor bike passed through about 3pm and the parade continued through rain and demonstrations all through the night. As each team arrived into Plaza San Francisco (St Francis Square), they announced themselves with horns. I heard the last one at 6am.
Bolivia and in particular La Paz is famous for its demonstrations and at the beginning of the Dakar Rally parade there was a small group trying to upset the parade, they shouted, jeered and threw objects at the competitors. After a lengthy game of cat and mouse with the police they finally dispersed.
Our only tourist outing was to visit the Museo de la Coca (Coca Museum) with its interesting story of the use of coca, particularly the leaves, by the Andeans, and then the development of the cocaine drug with its insidious outcomes.
The Spaniards first banned coca leaf chewing amongst their slaves, until they found that the slaves were more effective with it, it hid the aches and pains caused by their hard work and increased their motivation.
The first drink to use cocaine was Vin Mariani, made in Corsica, France in 1863. It was a tonic and patent medicine made from Bordeaux wine and coca leaves and claimed to increase energy, appetite and mood.
In 1885 in the USA John S Pemberton created a version of Vin Mariani, but added the Africa Kola nut for caffeine. When prohibition was passed in Georgia, Pemberton developed a non-alcoholic, carbonated form which he called Coca-Cola.
The Nathan Bedford Forrest Statue is a 25 feet (7.6 m) equestrian statue of Confederate Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Now removed, the statue was formerly located on a narrow strip of private land in front of multiple Confederate and Southern state flags near Nashville, Tennessee, the capital city of Tennessee, and was visible from Interstate 65 at 701D Hogan Road. The work, by attorney and amateur sculptor Jack Kershaw, was unveiled in 1998.[1] Widely mocked by national media, it drew decades of controversy and vandalism, and was removed on December 7, 2021. Critics said the work's distorted facial features bore little resemblance to Forrest himself.[1] Forrest was depicted with a sword held high in his right hand, while mounted on a rearing horse flanked by Confederate battle flags.
The monument was designed by Jack Kershaw, a Vanderbilt University alumnus, co-founder of the League of the South (a white nationalist and white supremacist organization) a member of The General Joseph E. Johnston Camp 28 Sons of Confederate Veterans, and a former lawyer to James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr.[2] In the face of public criticism of the installation, Kershaw defended the statue by saying, "Somebody needs to say a good word for slavery."[2][3]
Bill Dorris, friend of Kershaw and owner of the statue, told NPR in 2011: "As an artist, mediocre. As a thinker, he (Kershaw) was way ahead of a lot of people in his time." Dorris described Kershaw's process of sculpting: "Jack got some materials that I use to make bathtubs with. And he started with a butcher knife. That's the end result that you see out there right now."[4] Kershaw told an interviewer that his Forrest is "crying 'Follow me!'"[5]
The cartoonish character representing Forrest on the molded polyurethane sculpture was displayed on a rearing horse while both pointing a gun in his left hand in a direction behind him (presumably, at either his own or Union troops) and a sword in the right hand.[6][7] The horse section of the statue was covered in gold leaf, while the section of the statue representing Forrest is covered in silver leaf. The statue itself was 25 feet tall.[8]
The statue was installed in 1998, surrounded by two cellphone transmission towers and thirteen flag poles (flying the Confederate battle flag and various other Confederate and state flags) on 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) of land then privately owned by Nashville businessman Bill Dorris.[9] The property at 701D Hogan Rd is long and narrow, with Interstate 65 on one side and railway tracks on the other.[4]
The monument was visible from the interstate by the northbound shoulder near mile marker 77 south of downtown Nashville. Around the time the statue was installed, the state cleared vegetation to make it more visible from the Interstate, primarily due to the efforts of then-Tennessee State Senator Douglas Henry (D-Nashville).[10] The statue was controversial since before it was installed.[11]
The statue was dedicated on July 11, 1998 by the Joseph E. Johnston Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who invited "40 other SCV camps, the United Daughters of the Confederacy and 10 re-enactment groups in period dress."[12] The SCV camp called it one of its most ambitious projects and noted the additional sponsorship of The Southern League and the Mary Noel Kershaw Foundation.[8] In total, the dedication ceremony was attended by approximately 400 people, including Alberta Martin, who was once believed to be the last surviving widow of a Confederate soldier, and Tennessee State Senator Douglas Henry.[11]
The statue was shot at more than once, vandalized regularly over the years, and more recently defaced with Black Lives Matter slogans, but always repaired.[15][16] Protestors once tried to pull it down by tying it to a train.[17] It was protected by a padlocked gate. At the time of its removal, it had been splattered with pink paint and spray-painted with the word "monster."[18]
In July 2015 the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County sought permission to plant landscape screening in front of the monument to obscure its view from the interstate, but the request was denied by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.[10]
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