The Ethiopian transport minister has announced that early investigations have revealed clear similarities between the crashes of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and October’s Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia. The Transportation Department has launched investigations into regulators’ approvals of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, as well as into the development of the aircraft. Just after take-off, both flights, which killed all crew and passengers on board, experienced unpredictable climbs and descents before crashing. Both pilots immediately recognized a problem and tried to return to the airport.
The United States and many other countries have grounded the Max 8s and larger Max 9s as Boeing faces the challenge of proving the jets are safe to fly amid suspicions that faulty sensors and software contributed to the two crashes in less than five months. Both Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 lacked an optional safety feature that could have saved the lives of 346 people. The safety feature, called an “angle of attack indicator” and an “angle of attack disagree light”—are indicators that Boeing offers only at an additional cost. Another similarity believed to have played a role in both crashes is that the planes’ automated “anti-stall” systems inadvertently pushed both planes’ noses downward.
Pilot training requirements on this software came under scrutiny in the days after the March 10th crash with reports that the pilot and co-pilot had never received updated training on a Boeing 737 Max 8 simulator, even though the airline had the technology available since January. A cockpit recording indicates that the pilots of the doomed Flight 302 were referencing safety manuals but were unable to fix the problem before they crashed. Officials are probing why pilot manuals did not address the feature. Reports are now emerging that the Lion Air flight almost went down the day before the deadly accident, but an off-duty pilot riding in the cockpit knew how to disable a malfunctioning flight control system, which was likely pushing the nose of the plane down.
U.S.-based manufacturer Boeing, which is now under heightened scrutiny around the world, has said previously pilots who have flown earlier models didn’t need additional training. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao ordered an audit of the training and certification process for Boeing’s 737 MAX 8 aircraft. U.S. prosecutors are also looking into the development of Boeing’s 737 Max jets and a Justice Department probe will examine the way Boeing was regulated by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Boeing has said it has “full confidence” in the planes’ safety. Engineers are making changes to the system designed to prevent an aerodynamic stall if sensors detect that the jet’s nose is pointed too high and its speed is too slow. American Airlines pilot and spokesman for their union, Dennis Tajer said that airline officials told the unions that Boeing intends to offer pilots about a 15-minute iPad course to train them on the new flight-control software on Max jets that is suspected of playing a role in the crashes. He called that amount of training unacceptable. “Our sense is it’s a rush to comply — ‘let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,'” Tajer said. “I’m in a rush to protect my passengers.”
These disturbing updates come as families of victims of last October’s Lion Air crash say they were pressured by the airline to sign a pledge not to pursue legal action against the company, in exchange for about $90,000 in compensation which was the minimum amount the families were entitled to under Indonesian law.
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Daily HI4E.org Trivia Contest Winners For The Week Ending: Sunday, March 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, March 24th, 2019 was:
KRISTINA ROSSON
Lawrenceburg, TN
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 3/18/19 thru 3/24/19 are:
3/18/19
Misty Shallcross
Nikki Hunsaker
Hayley Cordaro
Tera Wardrip
Marcy Coull
Priscilla Shimp
Kristina Rosson
Jeanne Marie Rousseau
Brandy Marie
Christy Marie
Mya Murphy
Mary Ellen Laferriere
Vickie Gipson
Sarah Bellestri Shih
Krystal Larsen
Mary Achio
Kim Avery
Rosanne Clark
Trish Musgrave
Michelle Cervantes
3/19/19
Amber Chandler
Sherry Lilly
Be Schwerin
Jennifer Vega
Jessica Steiner
Shannon Rush
Nacole Patrick
April Ashcraft
Johanna Landsaw-Davis
Trish Musgrave
Dave Miller
Karen Brunet Moore
Karen Bondehagen
Taschia Miller
Christy George
Bea Patrick
Brittany Doerfler
Katherine Oliveira
Debbie Gremlin
Trish Hysell
Lenis Abshire
3/20/19
Stephanie Beckwith
April Ashcraft
Angela Janisse
Be Schwerin
Eric Sanders
Jill Nauyokas
Eleazar Ruiz
Kimberly Snyder
Amanda Sue
Ashley Agner
Stacy Nelson
Tonya Velazquez
Derelys Peterson
Tiffany Greene Elliott
Samantha Smith
Becky VanGinkel
Phylicia Phillips
Barbara Austin
Alyssa DiFazio
Suzie Mize Lockhart
Kassie Lynn DiFazio
3/21/19
Adaria Johnson
Tonya Velazquez
Jennifer Ramlet
Jennifer Lang
Jessica Davis
Kristina Rosson
Taschia Miller
Edward John
Brittany Doerfler
Ambreen Rouf
Trish Musgrave
Tiffany Greene Elliott
Sarah Bellestri Shih
Trish Hysell
Jade Good
Melissa Mae
Amanda Sue
Cheryl Hall
Lisa David Carr
Samantha Smith
3/22/19
Dean Bruss
Brooke Scott
Lisa A Mazola
Brandy Marie
Lisa Puckett
Beth Cleveland
Lisa David Carr
Priscilla Shimp
Andrea Ayala
Alyssa DiFazio
Jeremy Mclaughlin
Jillian Dollarhide
Nikki Hunsaker
Kari Wagoner
Jenifer Garza
Christina Radcliff
Kim Avery
Brittany Doerfler
Mary Pettiford
Patricia Goodman
Debbie Smith
Karen Brunet Moore
3/23/19
Jo Bagavathula Bevara
Brittany Doerfler
Misty Shallcross
Samantha Brwn
Natasha Berry
Be Schwerin
Martha Prescott
Tiffany Greene Elliott
Nicole Blaha
Christy Hawkes
Lisa A Mazola
Beth Cleveland
Jill Nauyokas
Tracy Heyer
April Ashcraft
Marcy Coull
Amber McGrath
Audessa Vaught
Derelys Peterson
Alison Giffune Paige
Laurel Klem
Andrea Ayala
Priscilla Shimp
3/24/19
Be Schwerin
Alysia Jackson
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Debbie Bloxom
Rhonda Grisham
Brooke Scott
Amber Chandler
Brandy Marie
Jenifer Garza
Karen Brunet Moore
Amy Chavis
Diane Hamric
April Ashcraft
Rose Elizabeth Cantu
Tonya Velazquez
Nicole Blaha
Amanda Sue
Eric Johnson
Kathleen Hickman
Jo Bagavathula Bevara
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.
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Hollywood actresses and a slew of chief executives are among 50 wealthy people charged in the largest college cheating scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice. Those indicted in the investigation, dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues,” allegedly paid bribes of up to $6.5 million to get their children into elite colleges, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California, federal prosecutors said.
At a news conference, Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts said “This case is about the widening corruption of elite college admissions through the steady application of wealth combined with fraud. There can be no separate college admissions system for the wealthy and, I’ll add, there will not be a separate criminal justice system either.” Lelling said “The parents charged in the case are a catalog of wealth and privilege. They include, for example, the CEOs of private and public companies, successful securities and real estate investors, two well-known actresses, a famous fashion designer and the co-chairman of a global law firm.”
The ringleader of the scam is William Singer, owner of a college counseling service called Key Worldwide Foundation and a company called Edge College & Career Network. Singer allegedly accepted bribes totaling $25 million from parents between 2011 and 2018 “to guarantee their children’s admission to elite schools.” Singer, of Newport Beach, California, pleaded guilty in a Boston federal court on charges of racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice.
Steven Masera, 69, the accountant and financial officer for the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation, was also indicted. Mark Riddell, a private school counselor in Bradenton, Florida, and Masera allegedly worked closely with Singer in the scam, according to the indictment. According to the indictment, Mikaela Sanford, 32, of Folsom, California, another employee of the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation, and David Sidoo, 59, of Vancouver, Canada, were also indicted for allegedly working closely with Singer to facilitate the scam.
Singer would allegedly instruct parents to seek extended time for the children to take entrance exams or obtain medical documentation that their child had a learning disability, according to the indictment. The parents were then told to get the location of the test changed to one of two testing centers, one in Houston and another in West Hollywood, California, where test administrators Niki Williams, 44, of Houston and Igor Dvorskiy, 52, of Sherman Oaks, California, helped carry out the scam, the indictment alleges. Riddell, 36, allegedly took ACT and SAT tests for students whose parents had paid bribes to Singer. Singer typically paid Riddell $10,000 for each student’s test.
Singer also allegedly bribed school coaches to give to his clients’ admissions slots reserved for student athletes in sports including crew and soccer. He went as far as to stage fake photos of his student clients engaging in sports they never played, or to digitally place the faces of his clients onto images found online of athletes.
Others charged in the probe include nine coaches at elite schools, two SAT and ACT exam administrators, one exam proctor, a college administrator and 33 parents, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. Robert Zangrillo, 52, of Miami, founder and CEO of the private investment firm Dragon Global; Bill McGlashan, 55, of Mill Valley, California, a businessman and international private equity investor; Gordon Caplan, a New York attorney; and Gregory Abbott, 68, founder and chairman of International Dispensing Corp., a New York food and beverage packaging company, and his wife, Marcia Abbott, 59.
Huffman’s husband, actor William H. Macy, was not indicted, but according to the court document he and Huffman were caught on a recorded conversation with a corroborating witness in the case, allegedly discussing a $15,000 payment to ensure their younger daughter scored high on a college entrance exam. Actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli allegedly paid $500,000 to USC to have their two daughters falsely designated as crew recruits, though neither daughter ever participated in the sport.
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An Ethiopian Airlines flight traveling from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya, crashed, killing all 157 passengers and crew on board. The Boeing 737 Max 8 jetliner was carrying passengers of 35 different nationalities, including eight Americans and 21 United Nations staffers. Sunday’s crash triggered a global grounding of Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after data suggested similarities between the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash and the Indonesian Lion Air Flight 610 crash in October that killed 189 people.
The pilot of the Boeing 737 jetliner that crashed Sunday immediately noticed trouble as the plane accelerated wildly after takeoff. Within one minute of Flight 302’s departure, Captain Yared Getachew calmly reported a “flight control” problem. “Break break, request back to home,” the captain told air traffic controllers as they scrambled to divert two other flights approaching the airport. “Request vector for landing.”
Air traffic controllers knew the plane was in trouble even before the pilot radioed in that he wanted to turn the plane around. They noticed the plane’s speed accelerated inexplicably and it oscillated up and down by hundreds of feet. Radar showed the aircraft’s altitude was well below what is known as the minimum safe height from the ground during a climb. The plane appeared to stabilize and climbed to a higher altitude, but then began to speed up again in a way that is deemed unsafe. The plane then sped up even more just before it disappeared from radar screens and crashed six minutes after takeoff.
The ill-fated flight crashed near the town of Bishoftu, about 39 miles southeast of Bole International Airport. The plane’s crash left a large crater and debris from the Boeing 737 jet was broken into hundreds of small pieces, making the task of recovering each part complex. The largest engine piece on the site was around the size of a small table. Several dozen forensic investigators and Ethiopian Airlines employees slowly combed the crash site in search of any evidence, raising their hands when they come across anything significant.
The flight data and cockpit voice recorders were sent to Paris where French aviation authorities will probe the heavily damaged black boxes for clues to the tragedy. Preliminary conclusions will take several days and aircraft accident investigations can often take years to complete. Senior Transportation Correspondent David Kerley said investigators will look into the MAX 8’s autopilot functions and the training of the pilots who flew the plane, as well as a mechanical part of the control system that alters the up-and-down movement of the plane’s nose. The mechanism, called a “jackscrew,” is a threaded rod in the tail section of the aircraft that affects the plane’s stability.
Data from the “black boxes,” devices will provide further guidance for investigators as well as some answers for the families of the victims. The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent U.S. agency that investigates transportation accidents and issues widely-respected safety recommendations, also sent three additional investigators to assist in the analysis.
Many speculate whether the software in the plane’s autopilot system might have played a role in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, as it seemed to have done in the fatal crash of an Indonesian Lion Air 737 MAX 8. In the October 2018 Lion Air crash, it appears the pilots failed to disengage the autopilot when the plane’s nose began pitching up and down. It’s possible they were unaware of how to do so since some pilots have complained that the information to disengage autopilot was not readily available, and others have raised concerns about the adequacy of the training process.
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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.
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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
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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.”
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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.
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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!
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A New York City federal jury rendered a guilty verdict on all 10 federal criminal counts against notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, after a 3-month trial. The counts include conspiracy to launder drug money, international distribution of drugs, the use of firearms and engaging in a criminal enterprise. The 61 year old faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for the guilty verdict of leading a continuing criminal enterprise, and a sentence of up to life imprisonment on the remaining drug counts. He will be sentenced on June 25.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera once headed a criminal enterprise that spanned continents and triggered waves of bloodshed throughout his native Mexico, claiming more than 100,000 lives in drug-related violence. During the more than 200 hours of testimony at the Federal District Court in Brooklyn, 56 witnesses took to the stand with stories of murder, violence, spying, widespread corruption and even one tale of the drug lord escaping arrest in 2014 by climbing naked through a sewer alongside a former lover. The kingpin is just as notorious for leading the violent cartel as he is for his extensive measures of escaping arrest and daring prison escapes. Since Guzmán’s capture in 2016 and extradition one year later, he has been kept in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison with little to no human interaction for as many as 23 hours a day.
Over 2½ months, the partially sequestered and anonymous jury sat through testimony from 56 witnesses about unspeakable torture and ghastly murders, corruption at nearly every level of Mexico’s government, narco-mistresses, gold-plated AK-47s and monogrammed, diamond-encrusted pistols. Fourteen of those witnesses — mostly admitted drug traffickers and cartel associates — cooperated with prosecutors in hopes of reducing their own prison sentences. There were also surveillance photos, intercepted phone calls and text messages involving Guzmán, as well as evidence showing extravagant firepower and bricks of cocaine that dropped with the force of potato sacks.
The jury deliberated roughly 34 hours over six days before rendering guilty verdicts on all 10 counts. Jurors did not look at the defendant, who reportedly pocketed nearly $14 billion in cash proceeds as the decades-long head of the Sinaloa cartel. Under El Chapo, the Sinaloa cartel smuggled narcotics to wholesale distributors in Arizona, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York. Federal prosecutors said they will seek a forfeiture judgment for billions of dollars constituting the cartel’s illegal drug-trafficking proceeds.
One of Guzmán’s lawyers described him as “extremely upbeat” after the verdict, “He’s a fighter, he’s not done yet by far” defense attorney Michael Lambert said. After jurors left the room, Guzmán waved and smiled at his wife, Emma Coronel, a former beauty queen and courtroom regular who smiled back and touched her hand to her heart. Another member of the defense team, Jeffrey Lichtman, said they waged a vigorous defense and are disappointed in the jury’s verdict but they plan to file an appeal on a number of issues.
According to experts, his conviction will not diminish the power and reach of the Sinaloa cartel. According to researchers, the violent crime group has not been affected despite the arrests of some of the cartel’s top leaders and important associates. El Chapo created an extraodinary criminal organization that operates in more than 40 countries and was designed to carry on even in his absence. Once El Chapo started running from authorities, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, who lead a faction of the cartel, made sure the cartel still functioned, which he still does to this day.
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