The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that makeup products from two popular brands of cosmetics contain the carcinogenic substance asbestos. FDA tests of three powdered makeup products from Claire’s, and one from the brand Justice, tested positive for asbestos, which can cause cancer. Both retailers market their products to young girls and teens.
Asbestos is believed to cause mesothelioma, a type of cancer affecting the lining of the chest and abdomen, and is linked to an increased risk of other forms of cancer and lung disease. The FDA released a safety alert about the products and called for more expansive authority to regulate cosmetics, saying the law about its role has not been updated since it first entered into force in 1938. Americans spend some $60 billion a year on cosmetics, though the industry is largely unregulated.
“The current law does not require cosmetics to be reviewed and approved by the FDA prior to being sold to American consumers,” it said, adding that total responsibility for the safety of these products now rests with the companies that make them. “To be clear, there are currently no legal requirements for any cosmetic manufacturer marketing products to American consumers to test their products for safety,” the FDA said. Because of the lack of regulation, the agency says that in this case, it did not have the authority to force Claire’s to pull the potentially dangerous products off store shelves. The F.D.A. called on the industry to be more forthcoming about its safety procedures, especially in relation to how it sources and tests talc. The agency said it had used the most sensitive methods available to test 34 cosmetic products from four talc suppliers in 2010 and found no traces of asbestos.
The FDA said the Justice product, a shimmer powder, had already been recalled from the market in 2017. Claire’s says that “out of an abundance of caution,” it has removed the three products — eye shadows, compact powder and contour powder — from stores and is also removing any remaining talc based cosmetic products (talc sometimes contains asbestos). Claire’s disputes the test results, saying they “show significant errors” and claims its “products are safe.” The retailer says the tests “have mischaracterized fibers in the products as asbestos.”
Independent testers dispute Claire’s claim that these products are safe. Consumer advocacy group, the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, released results last March that said its testing showed that the same three Claire’s products contained asbestos. After the U.S. PIRG report, the Dutch government said they also found asbestos in two of Claire’s products.
Regulators are trying to keep a closer eye on companies after the New York Times and Reuters reported late last year that Johnson & Johnson had known for decades about the risk of asbestos contamination in its popular baby powder and other talc-based body powders, but tried to keep negative information from reaching the public. The company received subpoenas for more information last month from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department.
Read more
R&B singer R. Kelly’s legal troubles seem far from over with Chicago police charging him with failure to pay more than $161,000 in child support owed to his ex-wife Andrea-for their three children. The arrest came just two weeks after he was arrested and charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault against four women and girls—three of whom were under the age of consent at the time. Prosecutors say three of Kelly’s victims were underage girls and that Kelly abused them over a span of about a dozen years. Kelly was once again released from custody after someone paid his bail three days after his arrest.
His second arrest came just hours after an interview with Gayle King where he became visibly upset and was screaming and cursing. During the interview, which broadcast on ”CBS This Morning,” Kelly again denied the allegations that have followed him for years as well as the more recent allegations that he is holding several young women in what has been described as a sex cult. The 52 year old singer went from tears to yelling throughout the interview as he claims that the accusations are lies. During the tense interview, at times, Kelly jumped from his seat, standing over King as he yelled and pounded on his chest.
- Kelly: “I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I’m fighting for my [bleep] life! Y’all are killing me with this [bleep]! I gave y’all 30 years of my [bleep] career!”
Gayle King: “Robert.”
- Kelly: “Thirty years of my career, and y’all are trying to kill me!”
During the interview, when asked about whether he pays child support to his ex-wife, he claimed to only have about $350,000 left in his bank account.
Kelly has faced scrutiny for more than a decade, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at his record sales over the years. He is notably known for his music as much as the allegations involving underage girls. It’s been well-known that Kelly settled four cases involving underage girls before his 2002 indictment. During the six years it took that case to go to trial, Kelly churned out hits like “I Believe I Can Fly,” “I Wish” and “Fiesta”. He was eventually found not guilty and though the allegations were well known, they faded from the publics’ mind as his record sales soared.
Attention to the allegations were reignited in January after the six-part Lifetime docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly” aired. It featured interviews with seven accusers and former members of his inner circle. They all said Kelly preys on vulnerable women and young girls. All of the girls were willing involved with him but were underage at the time. They claim that at the time, they loved him and began their relationships believing they had a special connection but began to realize that he had a sickness.
Gayle King also asked King about the two women that currently live with Kelly, whose parents both claim he has isolated them- abusing and brainwashing their daughters. Aspiring singer Jocelyn Savage, 23, met Kelly when she was just 17 years old and has been living with Kelly since she was 19. She broke off contact with her parents soon after she began living with him. Another aspiring singer, Azriel Clary, 20, also met Kelly when she was 17 years old and she broke off contact soon after moving in with him. In an interview with Gayle King, Clary and Jocelyn defended R. Kelly saying, that their parents are just after money and that they were happy being his girlfriends and living with him. R.Kelly was in the room during the interview.
Read more
Daily HI4E.org Trivia Contest Winners For The Week Ending: Sunday, March 10th, 2019.
In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, March 10th, 2019 was:
DON REDFIELD Jr.
Manchester CT
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift Card.
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook fan and “Like and Follow” either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
The trivia drawing entries 3/4/19 thru 3/10/19 are:
3/4/19
Jennifer Ramlet
April Ashcraft
Brittany Doerfler
Misty Shallcross
Cheryl Hall
Jill Nauyokas
Amber Gildark Lowery
Joann Tompkins-Winborn
Carol Jean
Wendi Black
Ashley Agner
Stephanie Beckwith
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Nacole Patrick
Laure Ondoua
Tiffany Greene Elliott
Melissa Mae
Brittany Light
Shannon Schleif
Nancy Pfirrman Schools
Brandy Marie
Jenifer Garza
Bea Patrick
Lori Sexton Leal
Kendra Lynne Ramsey
Dean Bruss
3/5/19
Jill Nauyokas
Wendi Black
Trish Hysell
Priscilla Shimp
Sarah Bellestri Shih
Brandy Marie
Diane Hamric
Wayne Gallas
Trish Marks
Cassandra Berholtz
Karen Brunet Moore
Christina Domingue
Becky VanGinkel
Erica Hansen
Tanya Holmes
Abby Noelle
Stephanie Marie Walls
Nia Rammal
Lisa A Mazola
Marcy Coull
Amber Gildark Lowery
Christina Radcliff
3/6/19
April Ashcraft
Crystal Young
Jill Nauyokas
Kalynnilene Carter
Kim Avery
Be Schwerin
Morgan Alexandra
Jenifer Garza
Cassandra Berholtz
Kendra George
Nicole Blaha
Tonya Velazquez
Tabitha Sinks
Brandy Marie
Annette Broxton
Jessica Steiner
Wendi Black
Josephine Casey
Eric Sanders
Anna Ashley Pinder
Shannon Rush
3/7/19
Nicole Blaha
Jenifer Garza
Phylicia Phillips
Nikki Hunsaker
Brittany Doerfler
Kim Avery
Patricia Oehlert Vazquez
Lori Capobianco
Samantha Brwn
Brooke Scott
Eleazar Ruiz
Emily Rice Bowersock
Rebecca Hueller Crum
Natasha Berry
Shannon Schleif
Shannon Rush
Susanne Killion
Jeanne Marie Rousseau
Nancy Scharnhorst
Beth Epley Minton
3/8/19
Nacole Patrick
Barbara Carter
Carol Jean
April Ashcraft
Amber Gildark Lowery
Jodi Stevens
Brittany Doerfler
Edward John
Karen Bondehagen
Alexis Maureen
Jenifer Garza
Shannon Rush
Josephine Casey
Bea Patrick
Meg Marshall
Beth Epley Minton
Priscilla Shimp
Karen Goodwin Delaney
Dale Fish
Kathi Taylor
3/9/19
Wilma Mast
Sheila Carvell
Hayley Cordaro
Jenifer Garza
Barbara Austin
Jennifer Vega
Karen Brunet Moore
Dale Fish
Johanna Landsaw-Davis
Vickie Gipson
Jessica Steiner
Alyssa DiFazio
Melissa Barnes Walker
Brittany Doerfler
Michelle Webb
Candace Berholtz
Debbie Gremlin
Eric Sanders
Alicia Dansby
Kassie Lynn DiFazio
3/10/19
Brandy Marie
Patricia Oehlert Vazquez
Brandi K Chaney
Alyssa DiFazio
Beth Cleveland
Don Redfield Jr.
Jennifer Vega
Dawn Raasch
Kim Avery
Kimberly Snyder
Jennifer Alford
Tiffany Greene Elliott
Suzie Mize Lockhart
Tiffany Borek
Kathleen Hickman
Eleazar Ruiz
Alysia Jackson
Tracy Heyer
Dale Fish
Sheila Carvell
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better.
Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
—————————————————————-
At Health Insurance 4 Everyone, we not only want to improve our customer service but also interact with our customers on a social media level that wasn’t available before. Interested in connecting with us? Look us up on….
Twitter: Healthinsurane4 (Follow Us On Twitter To Receive Faster Notifications When Daily Trivia Questions Posted, & To Be Immediately Notified When Weekly AmEX Gift Card Winners Are Announced!!)
Click-On for LinkedIn To Follow Our Posts: LinkedIn
Like us on facebook: HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions, LLC
Over 54,000 Combined Fans/Followers To Our Social Media Sites, & We’re Growing Daily!
Follow Mark Shuster, Founder/Owner at Health & Life Solutions, LLC for daily health tips!
Mark Shuster FaceBook Link
Follow our word press blog and read about everything from health insurance and reform news to healthy living and current events!
Company Blogs
Find out more about LegalShield, our corporate partner which gives you the power to talk to an attorney about any legal issue, and offering high-quality Identity Theft plans.
LegalShield
Read more
Police in Boulder, Colorado, have launched an internal affairs investigation after video surfaced showing a police officer drawing a pistol on a black man who was picking up trash outside his own home on March 1st. The police officer, who called other officers to the scene, is on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues.
According to the police department, an officer observed a man sitting in a partially enclosed patio area behind a “private property” sign and asked if the man was allowed to be there. The man said he lived and worked at the building and produced an identification card but the officer continued to question the man. The unidentified man is a student at Naropa University in Boulder, and the building is listed as a school residence.
The 16 minute video shows the officer approaching the man, who was using a trash picker and bucket to clean up his yard. The officer is shown talking with the man and has his hand on his hip, near his gun. As the video continues, several other officers arrive at the scene as the man is shouting “You’re on my property with a gun in your hand, threatening to shoot me because I’m picking up trash. I hope that camera is on.” The man’s roommate, who is filming, is shouting “He’s picking up trash, and you have your hand on your gun? He lives here, go home!” The officer repeatedly tells the man to drop his weapon and both the man and his roommate respond that he does not have a weapon.
The man is shouting that he lives there, on private property and is picking up trash outside his dorm. He refuses to sit down and tells police to get off his property before asking if they are going to shoot him, tase him or beat him up for picking up trash outside his own home. The man holds the trash picker in the air saying “you’re calling this a weapon?” and the officer responds that it can be used as a weapon. The man argues that it is not ok for them to harass him with their hands on their guns for picking up trash in his front yard and repeatedly tells them to leave. His roommate who is filming comments that one of the officers is holding a shotgun.
A total of eight officers responded, including a supervisor and it was later confirmed by police that the object the man was holding was used to pick up trash. Boulder police released a statement saying “Officers ultimately determined that the man had a legal right to be on the property and returned the man’s school identification card,” the release said. “All officers left the area and no further action was taken.” In a police report, the officer claimed the man was uncooperative and “unwilling to put down a blunt object”—even though the man and his roommate repeatedly identified the object as a trash picker. The officer who drew his weapon has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.
The video has gone viral and sparked outrage throughout the community. During a city council meeting, Police Chief Greg Testa told the crowd: “All aspects of this incident, specifically the actions of the initial officer, are being investigated… in contrast to what was stated in the video that is on social media, body-worn camera video indicates that only one officer had a handgun out, and it was pointed at the ground.”
Read more
The State Department has said it will not intervene in the case of a Saudi man accused of killing a 15-year-old American student in a hit-and-run in Portland, Oregon. Twenty year old Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah is believed to have fled the United States back to Saudi Arabia, with the help of Saudi officials, who reportedly helped him obtain a fake passport in order to fly him out of the U.S. An Oregonian reporter has revealed there are several similar cases of Saudi nationals accused of crimes that are suspected of receiving assistance fleeing the US by Saudi officials.
In October 2018, reporter Shane Dixon Kavanaugh received a tip from federal law enforcement about the case involving Abdulrahman Noorah, the Saudi national accused in the fatal hit and run death of 15-year-old Fallon Smart in Portland, Oregon. Noorah had lived in Portland since 2014 on a student visa living off an $1,800 monthly stipend paid for by the Saudi government. In August 2016, he was driving with a suspended license when he struck Fallon Smart as she tried to cross at 43rd Avenue in Portland. Witnesses told police the driver was speeding and did not attempt to stop. Noorah was arrested the next day and charged with manslaughter, felony hit and run and reckless driving.
Noorah was considered a high flight risk and likely would have remained in custody had the Saudi government not paid the $100,000 bond set on his $1 million bail. He was put on house arrest and ordered to wear a GPS monitoring system. According to Kavanaugh’s report, on June 10th, Noorah received permission from his release supervisor, Deputy Kari Kolberg, to study at the community college’s Southeast 82nd Avenue campus. That afternoon a GMC Yukon XL arrived outside the host home where he had been living and picked him up. GPS data from Noorah’s monitor bracelet shows he never went to the campus but instead traveled east along Southeast Division Street until the SUV arrived at Portland Sand & Gravel on 106th Avenue.
It is believed that his GPS monitoring device was removed on this day but his release supervisor didn’t discover he was missing until two days later on June 12th. Investigators later discovered a bag packed at the home. After the U.S. launched an international manhunt for Noorah, the Saudi government reached out to the Department of Homeland Security in July and told officials Noorah returned to Saudi Arabia on June 17th, five days after the SUV at picked him up. Federal law enforcement believes that the Saudi government helped Noorah escape prosecution and return to Saudi Arabia by getting him a fake passport and flying him out of the country on a private plane.
While investigating this case, Kavanaugh uncovered four similar cases in Oregon and more cases in other states, where young Saudi students were accused of serious crimes, from rape to possession of child photography. Many of them were bailed out by the Saudi government and all of them have since disappeared. After Kavanaugh’s report started receiving national attention the Saudi government released the following statement “The notion that the Saudi government actively helps citizens evade justice after they have been implicated in legal wrongdoing in the U.S. is not true,” said the statement issued by the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. “Contrary to some media reports, Saudi diplomatic missions in the United States do not issue travel documents to citizens engaged in legal proceedings.”
Read more
Daily HI4E.org Trivia Contest Winners For The Week Ending: Sunday, March 3rd, 2019.
In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, March 3rd, 2019 was:
SARAH FRANK
Maple Grove MN
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift Card.
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook fan and “Like and Follow” either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
2/25/19
Joann Tompkins-Winborn
Christy Hawkes
Derek Jennings
Jenifer Garza
Maria Bouchard
Sheila Carvell
Ashley Agner
Brittany Light
Tabitha Sinks
Nikki Hunsaker
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Nicole Blaha
Tracy Heyer
Anna Nichols
Carrie Vucinaj
Kayla Clemons
Marcy Coull
Angela Janisse
Melanie Messing
Robin Jedele
Kimberly Snyder
2/26/19
Brittany Doerfler
Andrew W Sauer
2/27/19
Nicole Blaha
Stevie Rosson
Derek Jennings
Jenifer Garza
Cheryl Hall
Alyssa DiFazio
Be Schwerin
Melissa Barnes Walker
Joanna Hacker
Lenis Abshire
Priscilla Shimp
Jennifer Vega
Dale Fish
Jill Nauyokas
Paula M Bondy
Vickie Gipson
Amanda Saltsman
Shannon Schleif
Kim Avery
Tracy Heyer
Sheila Carvell
2/28/19
Jennifer Ramlet
Kara Kilhoffer
Derek Jennings
Jenifer Garza
Tracy Heyer
April Ashcraft
Cassandra Berholtz
Kacie Rogers
Sheila Carvell
Melissa Turner Baker
Lori Sexton Leal
Rebecca Hueller Crum
Kim Avery
Jill Nauyokas
Marcy Coull
Angela Hendricks
Sarah Frank
Connie Lynn Merritt
Alicia Johnson
Nia Rammal
Beth Kumjian
Dean Bruss
Shannon Rush
Jen Freese
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
Kimberly Taylor Hall
3/1/19
Bethany Doerfler
Jennifer Vega
Kristi Cervantes
Jenifer Garza
Rosanne Clark
Traci Anderson
Shannon Schleif
Sherry Lilly
Teena Sierson
April Ashcraft
Barbara Carter
Tonya Velazquez
Jillian Dollarhide
Wendi Black
Ashley Agner
Jennifer Ramlet
Shannon Rush
Amber Gildark Lowery
Kassi Krick-King
Nicole Flynn
Christie Marie
Crystal Young
Sarah Frank
3/2/19
Christy Marie
Christy Hawkes
Sarah Frank
Alicia Johnson
Lori Sexton Leal
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
Sherri Kidwell
Tabitha Sinks
Pallavi Deshmukh
Amanda Sue
April Ashcraft
Taschia Miller
Samantha Smith
Jennifer Ramlet
Jenifer Garza
Michelle Webb
Lori Capobianco
Cassandra Berholtz
Kimberly Snyder
Nicole Blaha
Sunney Michelle Johnson
3/3/19
Nicole Blaha
Kimberly Snyder
Misty Shallcross
Be Schwerin
Nai Merri
Darlene Whyte
Amie-Lee George
Sarah Harrison
Charlotte Dennis
Sheila Carvell
Nikki Hunsaker
Michael Ingelido
Lori Sexton Leal
Kim Avery
Brandy Marie
Crystal Young
Carole Jacobs
Janice McKay Donahue
Stephanie Beckwith
Kizzy Alvarez DeSantis
Eric Sanders
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better.
Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
—————————————————————-
At Health Insurance 4 Everyone, we not only want to improve our customer service but also interact with our customers on a social media level that wasn’t available before. Interested in connecting with us? Look us up on….
Twitter: Healthinsurane4 (Follow Us On Twitter To Receive Faster Notifications When Daily Trivia Questions Posted, & To Be Immediately Notified When Weekly AmEX Gift Card Winners Are Announced!!)
Click-On for LinkedIn To Follow Our Posts: LinkedIn
Like us on facebook: HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions, LLC
Over 54,000 Combined Fans/Followers To Our Social Media Sites, & We’re Growing Daily!
Follow Mark Shuster, Founder/Owner at Health & Life Solutions, LLC for daily health tips!
Mark Shuster FaceBook Link
Follow our word press blog and read about everything from health insurance and reform news to healthy living and current events!
Company Blogs
Find out more about LegalShield, our corporate partner which gives you the power to talk to an attorney about any legal issue, and offering high-quality Identity Theft plans.
LegalShield
Read more
The billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, was charged with two counts of soliciting sex during a wide ranging sting operation investigating prostitution and human trafficking at day spas in South Florida. The charges against Mr. Kraft, 77, in Jupiter, Fla., came after the police used video surveillance to observe activity inside several day spas and massage parlors. Prosecutors say they have video evidence of Kraft engaging in the criminal acts. While Mr. Kraft lives in Massachusetts, he has owned property in Palm Beach, Fla., for a number of years. Kraft is accused of patronizing a spa in Jupiter called Orchids of Asia, a small storefront business in a strip mall on two occasions.
All of the sexual encounters that have resulted in charges were videotaped as part of the prostitution investigation. Investigators had been conducting surveillance of massage parlors in the area for 6 months and have charged nearly 200 people, though only a fraction have been arrested so far. The police said that the massage parlors and spas had been used for prostitution and that many of the women involved were considered to be victims. Many of the women involved in the case came to the U.S. from China on temporary visas, and some reportedly had sex with 1,000 men a year. The investigation involved several law enforcement agencies and resulted in raids and arrests connected to nearly a dozen businesses in the region. At least one person was charged with human trafficking while others, including several women, are accused of racketeering and money laundering. More than two dozen customers, men ranging in age from their 30s to at least one in his 80s, have been arrested.
Acting on a tip, the police began their investigation of Orchids of Asia by searching online reviews for the business, several of which used a slang term for a sex act that was available to male customers. After conducting 24-hour video surveillance in November, the police noticed that only male clients had entered. A Florida Department of Health investigator inspected the business on behalf of the police and noticed several indications that women were living there, including beds, dressers with personal items and a refrigerator containing food and condiments.
One day in January, the police stopped men leaving the spa and the men told police officers that they had taken part in sex acts during their visits. Using that information, the police obtained a search warrant allowing them to monitor and record conduct inside the spa on video. At 11:30pm on January 17th, the police entered the Orchids of Asia massage parlor under the pretense of investigating the report of a suspicious package. They evacuated the parlor and set up surveillance cameras to capture what went on inside. For five days, starting on Jan. 18, the police monitored the video, and they said they had observed more than 20 men receiving manual or oral stimulation during massage sessions. Police say they did not observe sexual intercourse in any of the instances.
It is extremely difficult for law enforcement to takedown the rings that operate these types of parlors and even more difficult to prove human trafficking charges because of workers’ reluctance to testify, cultural barriers and an international business structure that makes identifying the masterminds next to impossible. In the last several years, law enforcement has started to view the women in these situations as victims and have cracked down on arresting johns in an effort to eliminate the demand. In many cases, they refer these women to social services after a parlor is raided. Many of the women who are working in these establishments are recruited from rural parts of China with promises of legal employment in the US. Some are fleeing domestic abuse, have little education or their families are heavily in debt. Agencies in China charge them thousands in travel fees to the US and they agree to work off the debt, eventually being forced into the sex trade with little to no other options for housing or income once in the US.
Read more
The US Government has said that Hoda Muthana, a 24 year old Alabama woman who fled to Syria in 2014 to join ISIS fighters will not be allowed to return to the United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Muthana is not a U.S. citizen, but her attorneys insist she does hold U.S. citizenship and was born in Hackensack, New Jersey. She is now in a refugee camp in Syria with her 18-month-old son.
In 2014, Muthana, then a 20-year-old student, apparently left Alabama after first registering for classes and then withdrawing and getting a refund check. She lied to her parents saying she was traveling to Georgia for a university event. She went to Turkey instead and was then smuggled into Syria to join the Islamic State at the height of the Caliphate. She reportedly served as a recruiter and urged attacks on the West.
Muthana briefly made headlines again after her takfiri husband of 87 days was allegedly killed during an airstrike carried out by the Royal Jordanian Air Force on March 17, 2015. Now, years later, with the militant group she belonged to driven out of Syria, she is hoping to return to the United States. Along with 12 other Americans, mostly women and children, Muthana is being held by U.S. Kurdish allies in Syria. She claims she regrets her decision to join the group and is ready to face the consequences of her act -including jail time. She said during a recent interview “I hope they excuse me because of how young and ignorant I was. Now I’m changed. Now I’m a mother and I have none of the ideology and hopefully everyone will see it when I come back. I hope America doesn’t think I’m a threat to them and I hope they can accept me.”
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s unprecedented statement declaring that Muthana was not a U.S. citizen with no legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the United States has been controversial. Muthana, was in fact, born in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1994 which does make her a U.S. citizen via birthright. Some believe she is not a U.S. citizen because her father was a Yemeni diplomat in the U.S. on official business. The US Constitution grants citizenship to everyone born in the country – with the exception of children of diplomats, as they are not under US jurisdiction.
Muthana’s father has filed an emergency lawsuit asking a federal court to affirm that his daughter is a US citizen and to let her return along with her toddler son. In the lawsuit, Muthana’s father said he was asked by Yemen to surrender his diplomatic identity card on June 2, 1994, as the Arab country descended into one of its civil wars. Hoda Muthana was born in New Jersey on Oct 28 of that year and the family later settled in Hoover, Alabama. The State Department initially questioned her right to citizenship when her father sought a passport for her as a child because US records showed he had been a diplomat until February 1995, the lawsuit said. The State Department accepted a letter from the US mission to the UN that affirmed that he had ended his position before his daughter’s birth, and granted her a passport. The lawsuit said that Hoda Muthana was also entitled to citizenship due to her mother, as she became a US permanent resident, anticipating the loss of diplomatic status, in July 1994.
Read more
In Aurora, Illinois, 45-year-old Gary Martin, used a Smith & Wesson handgun, in a 90 minute workplace shooting spree. Martin killed five of his coworkers and wounded six others, including five police officers before being killed by police gun fire. Martin had worked at the water valve manufacturer Henry Pratt Co. for 15 years and opened fire on his coworkers during a meeting, after learning of his termination.
Police said Martin, 45, likely brought his handgun to work because he knew he was being fired from his job. Three of the victims were killed inside the meeting room and two others were killed nearby. The victims were identified as Clayton Parks, a human resources manager who began working at Henry Pratt in November; Trevor Wehner, 21, a human resources intern on his first day with the company; Russell Beyer, a union chairman who worked at Henry Pratt for more than 20 years; Vicente Juarez, a stock room attendant and fork lift operator who had been with the company since 2006 and Josh Pinkard, a plant manager who had worked with the company for 13 years in Alabama before transferring to Aurora last year.
A sixth employee and five Aurora police officers were also shot and expected to survive. Responding officers arrived at the shooting scene four minutes after the first 911 calls were placed. Martin shot and wounded five officers during initial exchanges of gunfire. He then retreated into the 29,000 square foot building, where police found him roughly 90 minutes later. He again fired at officers and was fatally shot.
The five officers shot include a 39-year-old man with 13 years of service, a 52-year-old man with 25 years of service, a 52-year-old man with 24 years of service, a 53-year-old man with 30 years of service and a 24-year-old man with almost four years of service. A sixth officer, a 23-year-old man with two years on the job, was treated a knee injury sustained during the incident.
In 1995, Martin was convicted of felony aggravated assault in Mississippi and served less than two years in prison for a violent assault against a former girlfriend that included hitting her with a baseball bat and stabbing her with a knife. Martin had previously been arrested by Aurora police officers on six different occasions, including for domestic violence and traffic incidents. His last arrest in Aurora was for violating an order of protection in 2008. Martin was not legally allowed to possess a gun in Illinois because of his prior felony conviction in Mississippi.
However, in 2014, he successfully applied for an Illinois Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card and bought a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun. When Martin tried to procure a concealed carry license that same year, the Mississippi conviction came up during a background check. Martin was denied a concealed carry license, his FOID card was revoked and he was notified to forfeit his firearm to local law enforcement. Authorities never confiscated his gun. His most recent arrest was in 2017 in Oswego, Ill., for disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.
City officials in Aurora have started a GoFundMe account to help families who lost loved ones in the tragic shooting. https://www.gofundme.com/f/aurora-strong-community-fund The GoFundMe has a goal of raising $50,000 to “relieve the extreme financial burdens families are experiencing during this difficult time,” according to the city.
Read more
Daily HI4E.org Trivia Contest Winners For The Week Ending: Sunday, February 24th, 2019.
In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, February 24th, 2019 was:
TESSA DAVIS
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift Card.
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook fan and “Like and Follow” either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
The trivia drawing entries 2/18/19 thru 2/24/19 are:
2/18/19
Jodi Stevens
Karen Brunet Moore
Kimberly Snyder
Brandy Marie
April Ashcraft
Jill Nauyokas
Carrie Vucinaj
Sheila Carvell
Kim Avery
Heather Wheeler Shaw
Lisa David Carr
Tonya Velazquez
Jennifer Ramlet
Jenifer Garza
Kathleen Hickman
Tessa Davis
Kristina Harris
Lenis Abshire
Vickie Gipson
Stacy Nelson
Amie-Lee George
2/19/19
Hayley Cordaro
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Nacole Patrick
Mike Adamski
Karen Brunet Moore
April Ashcraft
Tracy Shafer
Kim Avery
Joann Tompkins-Winborn
Brittany Light
Christine M Miller-Borowczyk
Jill Nauyokas
Bea Patrick
Michelle Webb
Angela Janisse
Brooke Scott
Ashley Agner
Tracy Heyer
Alyssa DiFazio
Sheila Carvell
2/20/19
Nicole Blaha
Jennifer Ramlet
Patricia Oehlert Vazquez
Brooke Scott
Jenifer Garza
Dale Fish
Traci Anderson
Rosanne Clark
Holly Cajigas
Maria Skoytellis
Connie Lynn Merritt
Amber Conaway
Derek Jennings
Heather Wheeler Shaw
Megan Rhyne
Beth Johnson Titus
Melissa Barnes Walker
Angela Janisse
Tracy Heyer
Morgan Alexandra
Nelle Bailey
2/21/19
Jill Nauyokas
Be Schwerin
Jenifer Garza
Nacole Patrick
Kellina Fernell Murphy
Nicole Blaha
Christy Hawkes
April Ashcraft
Karen Bondehagen
Stevie Rosson
Priscilla Shimp
Harley Magoon
Melissa Mae
Bea Patrick
Kayla Hernandez
Derek Michelle Polk
Jean Simmons Homfeld
Patricia Oehlert Vazquez
Stephanie Marie Walls
Shannon Scott
2/22/19
April Ashcraft
Alyssa DiFazio
Tiffany Greene Elliott
Jill Nauyokas
Eleazar Ruiz
Marilyn Wall
JR Eddington
Ashley Agner
Jennifer Ramlet
Maria Bouchard
Brandy Marie
Britta Brown Lawson
Mike Adamski
Jeremy Mclaughlin
Dawn Raasch
Sarah Harrison
Kendra George
Althea Thomas
Eva Biggs
Kathleen Hickman
2/23/19
Jill Nauyokas
Jenifer Garza
Amber Chandler
Christy Marie
Joann Tompkins-Winborn
Jakara Jaxn
Alicia Johnson
Josephine Casey
Thalia BinBunz
Angela Janisse
Diane Hamric
Donna Porter
Karen Brunet Moore
Dale Fish
Lori Sexton Leal
Alexis Maureen
Tonya Velazquez
Brooke Scott
Thomas Ryan Gan
Rosanne Clark
Shannon Scott
2/24/19
Andrea Timms-Hill
Kim Avery
Jill Nauyokas
Vickie Gipson
Brandy Marie
Carl Buddy Mizell
Geri Rus
Adaria Johnson
Rebecca Hueller Crum
Dale Fish
Brandi K Chaney
Wayne Gallas
Jennifer Alford
Angela Janisse
Christy Marie
Jennifer Ramlet
Sarah Bellestri Shih
Pam Johnson Rowland
Alisa Jones
Kimberly Snyder
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better.
Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
—————————————————————-
At Health Insurance 4 Everyone, we not only want to improve our customer service but also interact with our customers on a social media level that wasn’t available before. Interested in connecting with us? Look us up on….
Twitter: Healthinsurane4 (Follow Us On Twitter To Receive Faster Notifications When Daily Trivia Questions Posted, & To Be Immediately Notified When Weekly AmEX Gift Card Winners Are Announced!!)
Click-On for LinkedIn To Follow Our Posts: LinkedIn
Like us on facebook: HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions, LLC
Over 54,000 Combined Fans/Followers To Our Social Media Sites, & We’re Growing Daily!
Follow Mark Shuster, Founder/Owner at Health & Life Solutions, LLC for daily health tips!
Mark Shuster FaceBook Link
Follow our word press blog and read about everything from health insurance and reform news to healthy living and current events!
Company Blogs
Find out more about LegalShield, our corporate partner which gives you the power to talk to an attorney about any legal issue, and offering high-quality Identity Theft plans.
LegalShield
Read more
