The death of Henry Hill on Tuesday, June 12 might not have caused the uproar that the recent deaths of other celebrities has caused; however, Hill’s death might allow one to reflect upon the attention he gave to a secret. This is an organization that was denied by its members, officials and other powerful people for decades. Henry Hill’s 1986 autobiography “Wiseguy” outed the Cosa Nostra, “this thing of ours,” the Mob, the Mafia to the unknowing American public.

Spoiler Alert!

According to crime reporter Nicholas Pilegg, who was also Hill’s writing partner, Hill wrote his autobiography because after years of Federal Racketeering trials, he needed money to pay his lawyers. This book was the real thing. No longer would the public revel in Puzo’s “Godfather” series as the quintessence of organized crime. Hills book took to new heights exactly what the American public craved: the glamor of the Mob.

In reality, Hill was not the head of any organized crime syndicate. He could not by rights become a “made” man, a full member in the Cosa Nostra, because he was born of an Irish-American mother. However, he spun a story that was so incredible, so outlandish that those of us living in smaller places in America were compelled to sit up and take notice. Stories that we had dismissed as mere fairytales were revealed, and guess what? They were all true! There really were people who lived by a code of silence, rubbed shoulders with celebrities, and controlled all sorts of criminal activities. Small town America was transfixed.

Henry Hill grew up in the Brownsville area of Brooklyn, New York. He too was transfixed by the power of the men who socialized and worked their legitimate businesses across the street from Hill’s family home. By the time he was a teenager, Hill was running errands, picking up loan payments and bets for members of the Lucchese family. His eagerness facilitated a bricklayer’s union card presented to him by two of the Vario brothers, themselves members of the Lucchese family. With a union card, he was put on the payroll of a local construction company as a “no show”. Hill received a salary and was not compelled to complete any work. Hill found that once he had this “legitimate” job, he no longer had time to attend school. The Vario brothers and Hill threatened the mailman when he continued to deliver truancy notices to his house.

Hill eventually joined the Army to escape the notice of the FBI and served three years, all while maintaining his mob contacts. When he completed his enlistment, he began the most notorious phase of his career that included arson, a stolen car ring and hijacking trucks. These crimes led to bigger ones, which led to his involvement in the Lufthansa Heist, the robbery of the airlines warehouse. One of the most expensive robberies in history, the Lufthansa Heist takings are estimated at $5 million dollars and more than three-quarters of a million dollars in jewels.

After the Lufthansa Heist, Hill’s associates began dying, all of who had participated in the Lufthansa Heist. Figuring he was next with nowhere to turn, Hill became an informant. With his help, 50 convictions were made against his former associates.

Hill’s story and later the movie “Goodfellas,” based on his book, allowed America a glimpse into a lifestyle that can only be described as glamorous and helped perpetuate a love of the genre. Recent Mafia based movies and television shows including “The Sopranos” and “Mob Doctor” help keep the appetite for the Mob alive and well.

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Spanair the fourth biggest airline of Spain has collapsed. Frequented and known by its low costs,  and covering several routes from Spain to Europe and Africa, the airline has shut down living around 20,000 passengers without a flight and more than 4.000 have lost their jobs.

The Spanish government is the one currently taking the legal procedures, and communicated that the Spanair will face a 9 million fee due to its collapse.

Since 2010, the company has been facing enormous loses. In that precise year it had reported a total operational loss of 115 million.

The Cataluña government has injected around 150 million of euros in order to help the company stay on float. But on Friday it revealed that they won’t be financing anything more.

Several competitor companies have taken the lead, and have started to adopt the expected procedures to see this collapse as an opportunity.

Vueling has been the primary beneficiary.  Being Iberia´s partner it has taken the lead by assuming and offering a great amount of the routes that Spanair offered.  The company also revealed that it will be incorporation 33 new flight frequencies, offering five new routes.

One route will be from Barcelona to Berlin and Hamburg, another route will be from Bilbao, to Tenerife, Las Palmas y Lanzarote in the Canarias Islands.

Vueling also exposed : “This expansion of operations, will allow to continue with the  growing and expansion plans that Vueling has launched for this summer season, and wit will consolidate its leadership position in Barcelona.”

Another competitor such as Ryanair exposed on Monday that it was examining the opportunities ahead, the company commented: “ We  notoriously see it as an opportunity to expand our routes”. The vice president of the company Michael Cawley said : “ If the Government stops  once in for all wasting money on Spanair, we will be in position to catch some of their routes”.

According to the government of Cataluña , a total of 1.457 claims have been collected. Of those who 104 have been made on  Aena Counters and 1.353 in the offices of the Catalan Consumer Agency in El Prat Airport.

Several airlines have relocated around 12,000 Spanair’s passanger .  Vueling (4.145 passanger), Iberia (5.000 passangers), Air Europa 2.600 (passangers) y Lufthansa (500 passangers).

Spanair has posted a declaration on its website, to inform the procedures that will be taken to its customers.

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